Chapter 165: Strange Tools and Quiet Laughter

Could it be that something is going on between these two?

As this thought crossed his mind, the way he looked at the two of them gained a bit more scrutiny.

“Go draw up the blueprints and write the manufacturing methods beside them,” Wang Jian glanced at Gongsun Xing, then turned to Yue Mingxuan and said. “Since it will be used for the heart opening surgery, I will instruct them to use dark gold iron for the blade.”

Dark gold iron? Wasn’t that extremely expensive?

Thinking of how empty his pockets were, he probably couldn’t afford even a single piece of dark gold iron.

So, Yue Mingxuan spoke up a little awkwardly. “Then… about the money, could I repay you slowly?”

Wang Jian was about to say something, but Gongsun Xing cut in first, stopping him.

“Have you forgotten what I said? Whether you succeed or fail, Silver Needle Sect will take responsibility for you.”

Yue Mingxuan nodded.

Since someone was willing to pay, he wouldn’t pretend to be proud and refuse.

After all, he really was short on money.

Wang Jian looked at Gongsun Xing with a half-smile and said, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll name an astronomical price?”

Gongsun Xing sat down beside him, picked up a strand of his hair, and slowly twirled it around his fingers. “No matter how expensive it is, it can’t be more expensive than Young Master Wang’s consultation fee.”

Hearing this, Wang Jian’s face flushed slightly with anger. “Gongsun Xing, you truly are a cunning fox.”

Gongsun Xing smiled and lightly tapped Wang Jian’s nose. “Young Master Wang, is this the first day you’ve known me? If I don’t earn a bit more silver, everyone in Silver Needle Sect will starve to death.”

Yue Mingxuan stared at the interaction between the two men in front of him and momentarily dumbfounded.

He was so shocked that he could not utter a single word.

It was surely because handsome men together were simply too pleasing to the eye.

Just like the pair right in front of him.

Wang Jian glanced at Yue Mingxuan and brushed Gongsun Xing’s hand away.

Yue Mingxuan immediately took the hint and said tactfully, “Uh… you two carry on. I’ll go and draw the blueprint first.”

With that, he slipped out at once.

Wang Jian’s glance had clearly been meant to send him away, if he stayed any longer, who knew when he would actually get his surgical instruments.

When Yue Mingxuan returned to the flower hall, he instantly sensed that everything was different.

The tea placed on the low table was at just the right temperature, accompanied by exquisite pastries.

Not to mention that everything had already been laid out neatly.

One whiff of the ink was enough to tell that it was top-grade ink and there was even a small attendant specially assigned to grind it.

Compared to his earlier cold wait on a hard bench, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Yue Mingxuan did not stand on ceremony.

He sat down directly, took a sip of fragrant tea, ate a bite of the imperial kitchen’s specially made pastries, and leisurely began drawing the blueprint.

After all, once the couple inside started getting affectionate, they surely would not be paying attention to time.

This gave him the perfect opportunity to think slowly and draw carefully.

By the time Yue Mingxuan finished drawing all the diagrams, the sun had already tilted toward the west.

He rubbed his slightly bulging stomach and thinking this was great.

He had eaten so many pastries that he could even skip dinner.

Seeing that Gongsun Xing still had not come out, he felt too embarrassed to barge in and disturb the two of them, so he could only idly twirl the brush in his hand.

He did not even notice when ink splashed onto his mask.

When Gongsun Xing and Wang Jian walked in, this was exactly the scene that greeted them.

The blueprints were stacked neatly to one side.

All the attending eunuchs had their heads lowered, looking as though they wanted to laugh but dared not.

Meanwhile, Yue Mingxuan had unknowingly painted himself a full opera-style face on his mask.

Wang Jian suppressed his laughter and instructed the eunuch beside him, “Go fetch a mirror for Young Master Yue.”

The eunuch quickly brought over a bronze mirror and handed it to Yue Mingxuan.

When he looked at into the mirror, Yue Mingxuan realized that he could practically go straight on stage to perform an opera.

Annoyed, he pushed the mirror away, only to see Gongsun Xing and Wang Jian both struggling to hold back their laughter.

He looked at the two of them and gave an awkward smile. “A slip of the hand… uh, a slip of the hand.”

Gongsun Xing helped Wang Jian sit down slowly on a chair and looked at Yue Mingxuan with a smile, saying nothing.

Wang Jian, on the other hand, showed no mercy at all and burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha, well, Mingxuan, switching careers to opera singing might actually suit you.”

Yue Mingxuan was not angry at being teased.

After seeing the painted mask in the mirror, even he himself had felt like laughing.

Besides, he was the one asking favors of the two great figures before him, being laughed at was a small price to pay.

Seeing Wang Jian laugh so happily, Gongsun Xing patted his hand and said, “Your wound hasn’t healed yet. Be careful not to tear it.”

Hearing this, Wang Jian forcibly suppressed his laughter and said to Yue Mingxuan, “Where are the blueprint? Bring them to me.”

Yue Mingxuan obediently handed the blueprints over to Wang Jian.

Wang Jian took them and casually flipped through them.

Gradually, the smile on his face faded and his expression grew serious.

The strangely shaped objects drawn on the blueprint were things he had never seen before.

Yet with his understanding of forging, he could tell that every item depicted was an exquisitely crafted object perfectly suited to manual work.

Whether it was the curvature or the form, everything was just right.

“Did you come up with all these instruments yourself?” he asked.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep