Early the next morning, Dongfang Yi got up because there was still an important thing to do today.
As the weather got colder more rapidly after the Mid - Autumn Festival, someone as sensitive to cold as she was couldn't bear it. So she had decided to build a fireplace in her palace before the Mid - Autumn Festival banquet.
In winter, she could snuggle up next to the fireplace, roast sweet potatoes and chat with others. The biggest pity was that there was no TV. Otherwise, she would have liked to watch a few episodes of *Empresses in the Palace*. Then she thought that what she was experiencing now was actually a harem legend.
Alas, how on earth did she time - travel? And so far, she had no idea which dynasty this was. Could it be that she had traveled to an alien planet...
Thinking of this, she rolled her eyes at her own wild imagination. She thought to herself that she was really bold. This was her reality, and a single mistake could cost her life.
After thinking this, she shook herself to regain her spirits, patted her own face, said "Come on" to herself, and then walked out of the sleeping chamber, waiting for the craftsmen to arrive.
Not long after, she saw Donghua walking out of the side hall. She seemed not to know what was going on and was peeping furtively into the sleeping chamber.
Dongfang Yi couldn't help finding her appearance funny. She coughed lightly and called out, "Donghua!"
The woman whose name was called suddenly trembled. Her expression froze on her face. She turned around stiffly and said awkwardly, "Ah—Your Majesty! You got up so early today."
Dongfang Yi found her even more amusing but still tried to maintain her dignity on the surface. She pretended to be angry and said, "Donghua! Where did you go last night?"
Hearing this, Donghua trembled even more. As if she had really made a big mistake, she stammered, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I don't know how I ended up in my bed last night."
Her words were sincere, and it was obvious at a glance that she wasn't lying.
Only then did Dongfang Yi burst out laughing.
"Hahahahaha, silly Donghua. It was me who asked Ruba to send you back!"
Donghua's embarrassed expression immediately disappeared, and a look of annoyance appeared on her face. She said, "Your Majesty!"
You should know that when she woke up in her room this morning and found herself in the bed, a sense of panic immediately hit her.
Moreover, she had absolutely no idea what had happened last night. The last scene in her mind was that she was in a small tavern with the Queen and Concubine Shu.
Didn't that mean that she had gotten drunk in front of the two empresses!
When she realized this, her mind was in a complete mess. All kinds of unexpected things popped up in her mind.
She even imagined that the Queen might have met an assassin while she had returned to the palace carelessly.
One could imagine how many shocks she had suffered this morning.
"Your Majesty! You really scared me!" she said and then strode over and threw herself at Dongfang Yi.
Dongfang Yi found her current appearance quite amusing but also saw that she really cared about her. She reached out and scraped the tip of Donghua's nose and said, "I had a great time last night!"
Just then, they heard a female voice from outside the palace. It was Concubine Shu and Concubine Jia who had come.
"Your Majesty, I heard that you're going to install something... a fireplace in the palace today?" Concubine Shu asked.
Dongfang Yi had indeed mentioned this to them before the Mid - Autumn Festival banquet but hadn't specifically told them what a "fireplace" was.
Concubine Jia beside her also looked a bit confused and asked, "Isn't a stove just for making a fire? Isn't it very dangerous to have a stove hanging on the wall?!"
She looked terrified, as if she couldn't accept it at all.
Dongfang Yi couldn't help smiling when she heard her words. Then she began to explain what a "fireplace" was.
"A fireplace is a stove on the wall. But it's not what you think. You need to chisel a hole in the wall and build a chimney on the roof. In this way, the smoke from the fire in the hole can go out of the palace through the chimney. With ventilation, there's no need to worry about a fire."
After saying that, she stared at the three people in front of her. She saw that they all looked blank and confused.
Dongfang Yi couldn't help touching her nose and laughing awkwardly. She knew that if she were to explain the physical knowledge of convection to them, they definitely wouldn't understand.
So she said, "Well, after I've finished building it, I'll invite you all to come and have a look!"
Not long after, they heard a voice from outside the palace saying, "Your Majesty, the craftsmen in the palace are here to pay their respects!"
Hearing this, Dongfang Yi quickly went out of the palace to greet them. When she saw the man wearing a plain hat and a linen robe, she couldn't help thinking in her heart that this was exactly what a craftsman in her mind should look like!
After inviting the craftsman into the palace, she quickly urged the other two concubines in her palace to leave.
She said, "Hurry up, hurry up. I'm going to get busy here. After the 'fireplace' is done, I'll invite you two to come and visit."
Concubine Shu and Concubine Jia just teased her with smiles and then left the Queen's palace chatting and laughing.
"May I ask your name, sir?" Dongfang Yi asked.
The handsome - faced man respectfully bowed and said, "Your humble servant's name is Shen Fu."
After saying that, he tilted his head and smiled at her.
Dongfang Yi immediately thought he was very interesting. After all, not everyone could make such a cute gesture as tilting their head.
So she quickly ran back into the sleeping chamber and took out a drawing she had made and said, "Mr. Shen, I want to build this!"
After looking at the messy things drawn on the drawing in front of him, Shen Fu was speechless. He thought to himself: What on earth is this? If he built it according to this drawing, who knows what kind of thing it would turn out to be.
Thinking of this, he said euphemistically, "Your Majesty the Queen, could you please explain it to your humble servant?"
Dongfang Yi understood the implication in his words. She knew that he was being polite and didn't want to say that her drawing was really bad. So she began to explain the structure of the fireplace she wanted to build to him a bit awkwardly.
After she finished explaining, Shen Fu's eyes sparkled. He seemed a bit incredulous and said, "Your Majesty the Queen really has amazing ideas. Your humble servant has been a craftsman for many years and has never heard of such a wonderful idea!"
Hearing his praise, Dongfang Yi felt a bit proud. She thought to herself that she was from the 21st century. If she couldn't come up with such small ideas, wouldn't it be a waste of all those new technologies?
On the other hand, Helian Qi was in a bad mood. He heard today that a craftsman had gone to the Queen's palace, and the Queen seemed very happy.
He knew that she rarely smiled at him.
But now she was smiling at a craftsman...