Lin Yi put down her pen and looked up at Gu Fang, who was practicing calligraphy. She asked in a light tone, "Husband, is there a carpenter in the General's Mansion?"
"Yes," Gu Fang replied without pausing his brush. "I'll have A Fu call him over."
"Please take him to the study," Lin Yi said, her eyes twinkling as she quickly added, "I need to discuss the details with the craftsman, so I won't disturb your leisure here." This was supposed to be a surprise for Gu Fang; if they discussed it in the study, it would be a dead giveaway.
Gu Fang's brush paused slightly at her words. He raised an eyebrow at Lin Yi but ultimately didn't ask further, simply saying calmly, "Arrange it as you wish, madam."
The craftsman arrived quickly. Lin Yi followed A Fu, who had come to inform her, to the study. As they approached the door, she saw a man standing respectfully by the entrance.
"A Fu, is this the carpenter?" Lin Yi asked.
"Yes, madam. His name is Niu Tou," A Fu replied respectfully.
"Niu Tou?" Lin Yi couldn't help turning to A Fu in surprise. "Does he happen to have a brother named Ma Mian?"
"Huh?" A Fu was taken aback and scratched his head in confusion. "No, Niu Tou is an only child. It's said that when his mother gave birth to him, she was still working in the fields. She bent over, and the baby fell out right in front of an ox, hence the name."
Lin Yi was momentarily speechless, then forced a dry laugh. "I see, haha. My mistake." What a grim story. Still working in the fields while about to give birth—Lin Yi sighed inwardly.
As they spoke, they reached Niu Tou. A Fu briefly introduced them and led them into the study.
Once inside, Lin Yi directly handed the design drawing to Niu Tou. "Master Niu, take a look. Can you understand this blueprint?"
Niu Tou took the drawing with both hands and studied it carefully, his expression focused, his brows furrowing and relaxing from time to time. After a long while, he looked up and asked tentatively, "Madam, is this item prepared for the general?"
"Yes," Lin Yi admitted frankly.
Hearing this, a glimmer of hope flashed in A Fu's eyes. He turned and respectfully asked Lin Yi, "Madam, may this old servant also have a look?"
"Of course," Lin Yi agreed readily.
A Fu immediately moved close to Niu Tou, and the two examined the drawing together. Though A Fu didn't understand carpentry, he looked extremely serious, his eyes tracing the lines on the drawing, occasionally letting out soft exclamations of sudden enlightenment.
When A Fu had roughly grasped the ingeniously conceived design on the drawing, he looked up, his eyes slightly reddened, and his voice choked with emotion. "Madam has thought so much for the general! This old servant thanks you on behalf of the general!" He was about to bow.
Lin Yi couldn't bear that. She quickly sidestepped and waved her hands. "The thing hasn't been made yet! Wait until it's done and really useful before thanking me!"
While Lin Yi and A Fu were engaged in refusing and insisting respectively, Niu Tou had already thoroughly studied the design. The two began an in-depth discussion about the wheelchair's structural concept and material choices.
After just a few exchanges, Lin Yi judged that Master Niu had considerable talent in carpentry, even a certain flair. Her design applied some basic modern mechanical principles, and she had been prepared to explain it at length if Niu Tou didn't understand. Unexpectedly, although Niu Tou had never studied systematic theory, his extensive experience crafting various items had allowed him to grasp some simple mechanical laws in practice. Thus, most of the drawing's subtleties were easily understood by Niu Tou after a bit of thought. This was an unexpected delight, far exceeding Lin Yi's expectations.
Even more pleasantly surprising, after estimating the required work time, Niu Tou said it would take no more than seven days to make such a wheelchair.
After confirming the key details one by one with Niu Tou, the preliminary work was concluded. Feeling a weight off her mind, Lin Yi saw it was still early and decided to return to the study to spend more time with her husband, who might become her future collaborator, and strengthen their bond.
On the way back, remembering how Niu Tou walked, she asked casually, "Just now, I noticed Master Niu seemed to have a slight limp?"
"You have sharp eyes, madam." This topic opened A Fu's floodgates. "It's not just Niu Tou. The servants in the General's Mansion were all soldiers wounded or disabled on the battlefield. Some had no relatives, some were abandoned by their families—in short, they had nowhere to go. The general, kind-hearted, took them all into the mansion, giving them food and a place to live."
"The general is truly a good man," Lin Yi said softly. "When I first arrived, I felt very uncertain. He made me feel that this is a place where I can stay at ease."
"You think so too!" A Fu seemed to have found a kindred spirit, his tone growing warmer. "Our general's goodness goes far beyond that. In his early days at the Northern Frontier, there was an exceptionally cold winter. A once-in-a-century snowstorm collapsed countless houses, burying many people alive. The general led his soldiers, digging through the wind and snow for days on end, rescuing many who were still breathing. Later, he personally went to see Song, the governor of Jiuyuan Commandery, and managed to borrow his estate to house the homeless."
Lin Yi listened intently. "The general is both bold and compassionate—truly rare."
"Yes, such a good general, and now..." A Fu's voice dropped, and he wiped his eyes with his sleeve, sobbing. "Heaven is blind."
Seeing A Fu so grieved, Lin Yi didn't know how to console him. She hastily changed the subject to distract him. "By the way, A Fu, does the general have any siblings? I've only seen him alone in the mansion these days."
Unexpectedly, this made A Fu even sadder. His eyes reddening, he sighed heavily. "Our General's Mansion has always valued harmony between husband and wife, with no tradition of taking concubines, so the lineage has been thin. The old general and his wife passed away one after another when the general was young, leaving no other children."
"I see," Lin Yi said, immediately regretting her choice of topic. Seeing A Fu wiping away even more tears, she could only add lamely, "How unfortunate." Then she wisely shut her mouth, daring not to ask further. Still, this conversation gave her new insight into the mansion's family culture. In an era where three wives and four concubines were the norm, Gu Fang's father had remained faithful to one woman—a tradition truly admirable.
Fortunately, the study was not far from his study. Lin Yi almost fled from A Fu, who was crying more and more sorrowfully, and slipped into the study as if chased by a monster.
"What's the matter? Such a rush." Gu Fang put down his book, amused.
"I was just asking A Fu about you," Lin Yi said, walking to her usual spot beside him and sitting down, resting her chin on her hand with a helpless expression. "But as we talked, he started feeling sad about your injury again and couldn't stop crying. I didn't know how to comfort him."
Gu Fang raised an eyebrow at her. "Asking about me? I'm right here. If you have questions, why not ask me directly?"
That was exactly what she wanted to hear! Lin Yi's eyes lit up, and she seized the opportunity. She leaned forward, propping her elbows on Gu Fang's desk, cupped her face in her hands, tilted her head, and stared at him with sparkling eyes. "Really? Really? Then I'll ask! Husband, you won't take concubines, will you?"
Lin Yi's clear, bright eyes fixed on Gu Fang. His heart inexplicably skipped a beat under such a direct and focused gaze. He instinctively lowered his eyelids to avoid her scorching look, but his voice remained steady. "Mm. The Gu family has no such tradition. Besides," he paused, self-deprecatingly, "in my current state, even if I had the intention, I lack the ability."
"No!" Lin Yi was clearly dissatisfied with this answer. Even if they hadn't yet developed feelings, she absolutely could not accept sharing her partner with anyone else. After all, she was a staunch adherent of socialist monogamy, a principle ingrained in her bones.
Lin Yi reached out and gently tugged at Gu Fang's sleeve, giving it a small shake while pouting slightly, lifting her eyes to make them appear as pitiful as possible. "Don't say 'even if you had the intention.' Even if you regain the ability later, you can't have that intention. Husband, can you have only me for your whole life?"
After these few days together, Lin Yi had already figured out that against a gentleman like Gu Fang, who yielded to softness rather than hardness, a combination of coaxing and pushing her luck worked wonders.
Sure enough, faced with her killer move, Gu Fang was completely defenseless. He looked at her slender fingers tugging at his sleeve, then met her eyes that clearly said "I'll cry if you don't agree," and finally conceded, shaking his head with a helpless smile. "Alright."
"Hmph, that's more like it." Lin Yi's face immediately lit up with joy. Her eyes darted, and taking advantage of the good atmosphere, she asked another question that had been nagging her for days, slightly presumptuous but necessary. "Husband, you're twenty-four this year, right? Why did you marry so late? Did you have a fiancée before?" Lin Yi's heart was pounding; after all, this was a novel world, and the fiancée-breaking-engagement trope was a classic. She had to clear any obstacles in advance.
Gu Fang didn't mind her bluntness. He answered calmly, "No, I never had one. My mother believed that men who married later were more mature and steady, so initially, there was no hurry. Later, the Northern Frontier war broke out, enemy forces pressed toward the Imperial City, and I was forced to join the military. The war was intense, with uncertain survival, so I had no time to think about marriage."
Lin Yi's eyes brightened. "So you're saying that from beginning to end, I've been the only one at your side?"
Gu Fang looked at her suddenly radiant eyes and nodded gently. "Mm."