Five Big Bosses are Too Clingy After Transmigrating into a Book - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Sitting Down on Shen Cangzhu’s Lap

Chu Xingchen had indeed found a solution—a kang (heated brick bed). Rebuild the houses and add a kang; wouldn’t that solve the heating problem?

The State of Chu had not yet invented the ‘kang,’ this anti-cold artifact, which was why the heating problem remained unresolved. Fortunately, Chu Xingchen was from the modern world.

“…That’s it. Has everyone understood?”

Chu Xingchen was serious about solving the problem. Before the meeting, she had quickly sketched a diagram of the kang. She then used the drawing to explain the principles in detail, planning to quickly train people to build kangs in Nanshan County, which coincided perfectly with the reconstruction efforts.

When Chu Xingchen finished, no one voiced support. One official who had mocked her earlier stood up and said, “The Crown Princess is indeed highly talented, but your humble subject truly cannot comprehend. I have other matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave first.”

The man speaking was one of Chen Ruoshui’s secret admirers, a ‘small fish’ in her pond. Under his lead, everyone started leaving, with no one offering support.

Chu Xingchen took a deep breath. Her power was limited, and her reputation was so bad that everyone assumed her idea was fanciful and refused to execute her orders.

Even if she used her identity as the Crown Princess to forcefully command execution, the compliance would be superficial and would delay things.

Chu Xingchen skipped lunch, sat for a while, and then got up and left.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the Crown Princess was finally done with her nonsense. Chen Ruoshui’s ‘fish’ sneered, taking the opportunity to spread rumors about the Crown Princess being ridiculous, incompetent, and fanciful.

Chu Xingchen didn’t care what they thought behind her back. Facing Wan Dong’s worried gaze, she smiled slightly. “It’s fine. Let them witness the charm of the kang first, then they’ll understand its power.”

The saying, ‘Wife, children, and a warm kang,’ wasn’t just words. Anyone who saw the charm of the kang would be won over.

By the time Chu Xingchen returned to the Eastern Palace, she had a plan. If those officials wouldn’t support her, one person definitely would listen to her.

“Zhou Buyan, I need your help.”

The moment Chu Xingchen spoke, Zhou Buyan silently appeared before her. “Find a few people to help me…”

Chu Xingchen was the master of the Eastern Palace and had the final say there. The shadow guards Zhou Buyan found always executed her orders unconditionally. So, construction began quickly in the afternoon, using ordinary materials specifically.

Such a significant commotion couldn’t be hidden from Xiao Wang, Ling Zhou, and Shen Cangzhu. Ling Zhou was the first to sneak over to observe, and upon returning, he immediately sought out Xiao Wang and Shen Cangzhu.

Originally, the three of them represented competing factions and naturally had some rivalry, but their shared disdain for Xie Ziqing made their relationship quite amicable.

“Those shadow guards are the Crown Princess’s claws. They’ve done so many bad things before, either helping her take revenge or punishing someone for her. If any girl was rumored to like Xie Ziqing, she’d have them go punish that girl.”

“She’d even have them punish anyone who said anything remotely unpleasant about Xie Ziqing. Those shadow guards, her running dogs, have bitten so many people, yet today they were moving bricks. I suspected I was seeing things.”

Ling Zhou recounted what he saw, taking a drink of water to calm his nerves.

It wasn’t just Ling Zhou who was surprised; the shadow guards themselves were astonished. They normally executed any mission given, but this task was truly strange. Only their strong psychological fortitude kept them from stopping.

But they were shadow guards. Though unaccustomed and uncomfortable, they didn’t question it. They followed orders efficiently, which satisfied Chu Xingchen.

While she was satisfied, Xiao Wang and Shen Cangzhu were utterly confused. After Ling Zhou finished speaking, he went back up onto the roof to secretly observe Chu Xingchen and the shadow guards again.

“I want to see what exactly you are trying to do!”

Ling Zhou’s gaze was intense. He hid well, but Zhou Buyan glanced in his direction a few times.

While Ling Zhou was perched on the roof, Xiao Wang finished dealing with some palace affairs. After pondering for a moment, he decided to visit, out of a sense of responsibility for managing the Eastern Palace.

Chu Xingchen’s eyes lit up when she saw Xiao Wang. His appearance was simply too outstanding, immediately putting her in a good mood.

Xiao Wang looked exactly like the ‘god-like handsome male lead’ from the novels, a perfect physical recreation. Seeing him, and then thinking about the ugly male leads in modern historical dramas, Chu Xingchen felt sorry for herself.

Chu Xingchen did not conceal the reason for the project from Xiao Wang. She explained it briefly: “…It will be finished soon. I’ll invite Lord Xiao to see it then. I apologize, I forgot to inform you earlier.”

Xiao Wang saw her apologize and speak so politely, completely abandoning her previous manner of treating him like a servant or butler. He shook his head, indicating he didn’t mind.

Chu Xingchen wanted to ease the tension between herself and Xiao Wang, so she continued talking. Xiao Wang, however, seemed slightly distracted. Chu Xingchen had a smudge of dirt on her face, which she hadn’t noticed, and she was smiling brightly. Her skin was fair, making the dirt exceptionally obvious, and it bothered him immensely.

Whether it was the beautiful sunset, her relaxed smile, or his sheer inability to tolerate the smudge, Xiao Wang instinctively reached out and wiped the dirt away.

He wiped it with his handkerchief. Only after he finished did he realize what he had done. His hand froze there, as he could almost predict her cursing him for being shameless and seductive.

Unexpectedly, while Xiao Wang was frozen, Chu Xingchen was also stunned, completely motionless, her eyes wide.

Chu Xingchen was genuinely surprised by the sudden action. Being helped by such a handsome man, with a faint scent of cedar wood reaching her nose, and being looked at like that, she found it a bit overwhelming.

It was Xiao Wang who recovered first. He calmly withdrew his hand. “A bit of dirt.”

Chu Xingchen touched her face. “Tha… thank you.”

Xiao Wang shook his head, bowed, and took his leave. Chu Xingchen looked at his tall, straight back, sighing with admiration. People are truly different. Some people look elegant and handsome even from behind.

The lurking Ling Zhou snapped out of his daze, looked at Xiao Wang’s slightly hurried departure, gasped in shock, and covered his mouth as he scurried away.

That night, even the usually carefree Ling Zhou suffered from a bit of insomnia. The next day, he couldn’t resist secretly returning to observe.

When he arrived, Chu Xingchen was already busy. She wore a white-edged red cloak, fluffy and conspicuous against the white snow, making it impossible to look away.

Chu Xingchen was in red, and Zhou Buyan, standing beside her, was in black. The two of them together were surprisingly harmonious and well-matched. Ling Zhou looked down at his own dark red clothing, tugged at it, and felt strange. Why is she also wearing red?

Chu Xingchen was unaware of Ling Zhou’s secret visit. The progress on the kang was good. Because of the number of people, it was actually completed the previous day and had been fired to dry overnight. Now, only the final touches remained.

The kang was successfully built, but the shadow guards only followed commands and didn’t quite grasp the underlying principles. Chu Xingchen simply took a branch and drew on the ground while explaining, only letting them continue once they understood.

Shen Cangzhu arrived while she was explaining. Seeing her concentration, he did not interrupt.

Hearing a servant greet him, Chu Xingchen quickly stood up, but she stepped on her skirt hem. As a result, she immediately lost her balance and tumbled back down, accidentally sitting on Shen Cangzhu’s foot and bumping her head against his leg.