The study was more than just a place where "idlers were not permitted to enter."
Many heads of influential families would specifically order guards to watch over their studies, forbidding all female family members from approaching, even their own wives.
The guards, seeing Pei Ying arrive, merely saluted her without offering the slightest obstruction, clearly having received prior orders.
After Xin Jin deftly lit the lamps within the study, she said in a low voice, "Madam, this servant will wait outside the door. Please call if you need anything."
Xin Jin was well aware that she shouldn't linger in such a sensitive place as the study, and hurried out as soon as her task was done.
Having come in a rush, her mind preoccupied with the sudden inspiration she had finally grasped, Pei Ying hadn't noticed Xin Jin following her. Now, she said to her, "Xin Jin, there's no need for you to wait outside. Go back and rest first. There's a small couch inside; I'll sleep here once I'm finished. There's nothing else requiring your service."
Xin Jin hesitated.
Pei Ying smiled slightly. "It's fine. You may go. The guards are on night watch outside; I can call them if needed."
This time, Xin Jin didn't hesitate further and took her leave from Pei Ying.
The study door closed once again.
Pei Ying spread open her small notebook and resumed her writing and sketching.
Earlier, Huo Tingshan had said to her: This matter cannot be rushed; have some water first. Is there anything your husband can do to help ease your worries? Just tell me, my lady.
A rather ordinary sentence, but two words in it had sparked something in her mind.
Water. Row.
She remembered.
In the early Han Dynasty, bellows for blowing air used bellows and wind sacks, both initially driven by human power.
Later, they switched to animal power using oxen and sheep. And later still, people found animal power wasn't entirely stable either, so they turned their gaze from animals to nature.
The clever ancients thought of harnessing water power.
Similar in principle to modern wind and hydroelectric power, the ancients built waterwheels by water sources and connected them to iron-smelting furnaces, using air sacks as linkages.
The flowing water turned the wheel, which in turn operated the air sacks or bellows. This method not only saved farm animals but also provided a more stable hydraulic blast than human or animal power.
This blast method was called "water-row bellows" because the chambers composing the furnace were arranged in rows.
With this idea, Pei Ying worked much faster.
Time always flies when one is focused on a task. By the time Pei Ying finished drawing the diagram for the water-row bellows, the full moon in the sky had already shifted westward.
It was past midnight, but she was still unusually alert and energetic. Just as Pei Ying thought to press on and finish outlining the subsequent steps, the study door opened.
Hearing the sound, Pei Ying looked up and saw someone who shouldn't be here at this hour—yet could be.
Looking at that tall figure, Pei Ying was taken aback. "Huo Tingshan, why are you here?"
The man simply said, "My lady rarely burns the midnight oil. I came to see."
Only then did Pei Ying belatedly turn to look out the window. The window was open. The night was clear, with no clouds obscuring the sky—a rare scene of a bright moon and sparse stars.
But the westering moon clearly indicated the late hour.
Pei Ying was skeptical of his explanation. "Just to see? If you have urgent military dispatches to handle, I can find another place to work. I won't disturb your discussions."
It wasn't like emergencies hadn't happened before. Sometimes, guards would bring urgent military news in the dead of night, and he'd get up and go to the study.
"No military dispatches." Huo Tingshan walked over, stood beside her, and looked down at her work.
The water-row bellows were drawn, complete with connected air sacks and a clay blast furnace.
It was all very novel, things Huo Tingshan had never seen before. But he was generally familiar with the iron-smelting process. In fact, in the early days of taking command of the Youzhou army, he used to visit the armory workshops frequently.
Now, looking at the drawings and making connections, he understood most of it.
Huo Tingshan: "The diagrams my lady has drawn are truly ingenious."
"If you were to go to the future, you'd find that compared to it, everything now is like children playing with mud." Pei Ying thought of those forests of steel and the cranes that could easily lift hundreds of tons with just a few levers and buttons.
The Industrial Revolution opened a completely new chapter in history, carving a chasm as deep as an abyss between what came before and after.
"Since my lady speaks of the future with such wonder, why not take me to see it?" He shifted his gaze to her.
Pei Ying was stunned. "How can I show you? If there were a way back, I..." (After seeing our daughter,) I would have taken her back with me.
Before she could finish her sentence, she was lifted into the air.
The sudden ascent made Pei Ying instinctively grab his arm. The man, after picking her up, even laughed and gave her a playful toss.
"Huo Tingshan!"
Pei Ying was thoroughly startled, busy clutching his arm and clothes, and forgot what she had been about to say.
The inner chamber of the study had a small couch for temporary rest. Fang Gang's provisional governor's residence was quite extravagant, and the study's couch was no exception—much larger than those in ordinary homes.
But no matter how large, it was still just a spacious single couch. With two people on it now, it was naturally cramped.
Pei Ying was squeezed against the wall, pressed against it on one side and against him on the other. She was resigned: "So this is what you meant by taking you to see it? 'You can find anything in your dreams,' is that it?"
Huo Tingshan chuckled. "Why wouldn't this count?"
Pei Ying: "..."
The small couch wasn't wide. Huo Tingshan pulled half of her body onto his, holding her close as he usually did.
It wasn't long before Pei Ying protested: "Move over a bit. It's hot."
The man replied lazily, "Can't. The couch is only this big."
Pei Ying paused for a moment, then suddenly understood. She opened her eyes wide to look at him in the darkness. "So there really were no urgent military dispatches? You came to the study purely to sleep?"
In the dark, she heard him hum in affirmation, and that was that.
Pei Ying was speechless.
However, once the rhythm was broken and the tightly wound string of focus relaxed, Pei Ying felt overwhelmingly drowsy. She was soon enveloped in fatigue, her eyelids too heavy to keep open.
Under normal circumstances, she would have insisted again that it was hot and demanded to return to the main bedchamber to sleep. But now she was too tired, tired enough to make do. She closed her eyes and fell asleep shortly after.
Listening to the even breathing of the person in his arms, Huo Tingshan in the darkness slowly closed his eyes.
This felt right.
They slept soundly through the night.
...
Over the next few days, Pei Ying continued to focus her energy on steelmaking, producing drawing after drawing.
Huo Tingshan summoned a soldier from Youzhou she had never met before—a man named Xia Xuan, who seemed to have been in charge of the armory workshops and was an insider in the field.
Pei Ying worked directly with him. Xia Xuan grew more excited with each drawing he received.
He had likely retired from the battlefield; the ring and little fingers on his right hand were severed at the base. But it didn't hinder him from gripping the drawings tightly with his remaining three fingers as if they were priceless treasures.
"Madam, this design is absolutely brilliant!" Xia Xuan exclaimed, his face flushed with excitement.
But after the excitement came worry.
The drawings were excellent, depicting iron-smelting methods far more advanced than the current ones, but they couldn't be tested immediately.
They are still in Jingzhou, having only taken control of the Chenyuan Pass and the neighboring Lingwen County. To put it bluntly, their position is currently full of holes. If such important information were to leak, the losses would be immeasurable.
He could take the diagrams to Sizhou and start iron smelting there, but that would involve other problems...
Having the diagrams is one thing; they would inevitably encounter other minor issues during the smelting process, and he would need to consult the Lady of the house. But the Lady is in Jingzhou. The back-and-forth journey would be too time-consuming. The best solution would be for the Lady to return to Sizhou with them.
Xia Xuan explained his concerns and request to his superior, hoping for approval. He expected either agreement or at least consideration, but never anticipated—
"Not possible." The two words were cold and hard, leaving no room for discussion.
Xia Xuan couldn't help blurting out in astonishment, "Great General, why?"
The man's ink-black eyes shifted slightly, like some kind of cold, inorganic substance. "No reason. This matter is not open for discussion."
Xia Xuan was utterly bewildered.
While they were speaking, Pei Ying was right there beside them.
After Xia Xuan withdrew, she looked at the man by her side. "Huo Tingshan, what he says makes sense. Jingzhou isn't suitable for iron smelting, but Sizhou is different. It's already your territory. With the army garrisoned there, secrecy would be much higher."
"My lady cannot travel far." Huo Tingshan stated with reason and evidence. "That petty man surnamed Ji in Chang'an is still watching you. Once he detects your departure, he will certainly make a move."
Pei Ying thought for a moment and made a suggestion. "Chenyuan Pass is already at the border of Jingzhou. From here to a Sizhou county town is only two or three days' journey. If you're truly uneasy, you could have Huo Er lead a unit of Black Armored Cavalry to escort me to Luoyang. When Ming Ji arrives in Luoyang, he and I can look out for each other."
Huo Tingshan heard her mention Luoyang, and then his eldest son afterward, and gave a soft mental click of his tongue.
She'd even thought of Luoyang. Who knows how long she'd been secretly planning this.
"Not possible." He repeated the same two words.
Pei Ying frowned upon hearing this. "This is the best solution. Don't you want the steel smelted as soon as possible?"
Huo Tingshan remained silent.
Of course he did. Even if not all hundred thousand troops could be equipped, even just a thousand soldiers outfitted with refined steel would grant him a cavalry force whose combat power would shake the realm.
But it also involved risks he found difficult to bear. He did not wish to shoulder that kind of risk, even if the dangling bait was exceedingly tempting.
Pei Ying understood his worry. "Nothing will happen. Once I reach Luoyang, I'll stick to two points, moving only between the Governor's residence and the smithy. I won't receive any of the relatives who come seeking an audience."
Huo Tingshan said, "My lady, allow me to think on it."
He thought for two days. Two days later, at the dining table, Huo Tingshan announced a decision: he and Pei Ying would return to Luoyang.
Huo Er was utterly shocked. "Father, if you leave, what about the situation here at Chenyuan Pass?"
The current standstill between the various factions was not the end of the war. Who could say on which day the war horns would sound again and the beacon fires be relit?
The tides of war change in the blink of an eye; who could predict them?
Huo Tingshan said with a calm expression, "Huo Er, you are eighteen this year, not eight. When I was your age, I was already leading troops independently. I entrust Chenyuan Pass to you. I leave you a hundred thousand soldiers. Gongsun Taihe and the others will also remain. You will have full authority over affairs in Jingzhou until my return."
Huo Er's eyes widened slightly. His chest seemed instantly filled with a complex mix of emotions, so full it was almost overflowing.
Hesitation, worry, anticipation, excitement...
"Your son accepts the command!" Huo Er declared in a resonant voice.
Huo Tingshan added, "If you encounter matters you cannot decide, have someone deliver a message to Luoyang at top speed."
After the meal, Pei Ying and Huo Tingshan left the hall together.
She hadn't heard the slightest hint from him about him also going to Luoyang; she had only learned of it moments ago at the table.
Pei Ying asked him, "Why did you suddenly decide to go to Luoyang? Taking Chenyuan Pass wasn't easy. If you just leave like this, what if something changes while you're gone?"
Huo Tingshan's tone was even. "Huo Er has grown up. What kind of example does it set for him to always hide behind me? It's time for him to lead troops and make decisions on his own, to experience what it truly means to be a commander. One cannot be too calculating about gains and losses during training. Even if Chenyuan Pass is lost, I have the means to take it back."
Pei Ying couldn't help but think of eagles in the natural world.
When eaglets reach a certain stage, the mother eagle takes them to a cliff and pushes them off, one by one.
Some timid eaglets, too afraid to spread their wings, fall to their deaths. Others bravely flap their wings and learn to fly.
Pei Ying turned her head to look at the man beside her. Sunlight pooled on the sharp angles of his face, yet it didn't seem to warm him much; he appeared rather unfeeling.
In the role of a father, he had sent his not-yet-capped son out for training without hesitation or reluctance.
As if noticing her gaze, he turned his head towards her, his expression softening somewhat. "The last trip to Luoyang was rushed; I didn't get a proper look around. This time, when we go, how about I take you for a tour of Luoyang city?"
For a moment, Pei Ying didn't know what to say. She even felt a slight urge to avoid his gaze, which was gentle yet felt excessively intense to her.
"Mm," she responded softly.
Once the decision to go to Luoyang was made, the military headquarters quickly sprang into action, working at full capacity to pack up their belongings. Just as everything was nearly ready, a special visitor arrived at the residence gates.
Li Qiongqi had come calling.
