Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 173 - 172: Like Father, Like Daughter

Bai Qihong left, and Yan Daoxin stood up, circled around Zhu Yu once, and scrutinized her from head to toe: "You are indeed intriguing! Quite brave, and you seem to have a knack for forensic examination and healing.

And today, you unexpectedly showed expertise in breaking stones and opening mountains?"

"Haven’t you heard the saying?" Zhu Yu shrugged, "Like father, like daughter.

The Black Iron, a specialty of Shuo Country, is refined from Black Iron Stone, which is extremely hard, even harder than that Black Stone Mountain.

If there wasn’t the skill of ’turning big stones into small, and small stones into nothing,’ those priceless Black Iron weapons wouldn’t exist."

Listening to her words, Yan Daoxin wasn’t simply confused; instead, he was even more astonished: "I heard that among the Shuo People, daughters are generally raised just to become adults and get married, with little regard for anything else.

Wealthy families, wishing their daughters to marry well, might hire tutors to teach them reading and writing, but nothing more.

Unexpectedly, your father is an exception, teaching you even such things!"

"He didn’t teach me; do I not have my own eyes and ears?" Zhu Yu said, half laughing, half crying.

Zhu Cheng couldn’t have valued and nurtured a concubine’s daughter like this.

Even her pampered legitimate sister only had better clothes and more maids for serving in comparison to the other concubine-born sisters, with a few more valuable ornaments in her room.

Besides learning to read and write with all her sisters, Princess Shuo also specially hired an embroidery girl to teach her needlework.

As for the skills that Zhu Cheng was particularly adept at, he only intended to pass them on to his sons, never thinking of teaching them to his daughters.

However, when he discussed these matters openly with Zhu Yu’s brothers at home, he never avoided the female members of the family.

The other sisters had no interest in these matters and couldn’t be bothered to listen, but Zhu Yu was curious and eavesdropped on their conversations every time, so while she never had the chance to actually try working on them, she became very familiar with the methods over time.

She never imagined there would be an opportunity to put this knowledge to use.

Zhu Yu couldn’t help but recall an old saying she often heard elders say in her past life—"There’s nothing learned in this world that goes to waste."

A while later, Bai Qihong hurried back, soaking wet, and said the preparations were underway, and some materials had been procured, so they could start heading out and begin work as soon as possible.

The subsequent supplies of tung oil and pine resin would also be sent directly to Black Stone Mountain in due course.

Thus, the group set off toward Black Stone Mountain.

Bai Qihong, true to his word, earnestly executed Lu Qing’s plan after agreeing to it, leaving only a few people to slowly advance the canal digging to the east, while taking everyone else with him in a grand procession to open the mountain.

It poured rain along the way, making their journey difficult, and it took them over half an hour to arrive.

At the foot of the mountain, Bai Qihong selected a spot he considered ideal for the canal and instructed the craftsmen to first build a shed for storing firewood and tung oil, as Zhu Yu had directed, then to search the vicinity for a place the workers could rest and spend the night.

Zhu Yu called over some craftsmen and asked them to coat the rock face at the foot of the mountain with a thick layer of tung oil and pine resin, then pile up the wood beneath it, and once everything was ready, set the wood on fire.

Due to the continuous rain, the wood was damp and difficult to ignite, but fortunately, the tung oil over it caught fire quickly, turning into a roaring blaze within moments.

Flames leaped up the wood piled beneath the rock face, igniting the tung oil and pine resin; soon, the oil-painted rock face turned into a wall of fire.

Since Zhu Yu had instructed the craftsmen to apply the coatings thickly, many layers in fact, the fire blazed fiercely and didn’t go out for a long time, burning the rock until it turned noticeably whiter.

Zhu Yu observed until she felt it was ready, then signaled them to bring water and pour it over the white-hot rock face.

Buckets of cold water splashed over, and although the stone seemed unchanged superficially, they did faintly hear a few cracking sounds, the kind you associate with something fracturing, audible only to those nearby.

Zhu Yu gestured for them to stop pouring water and instructed them to reapply tung oil and pine resin, add more wood, and light the fire again.

The craftsmen promptly repeated the process, and soon, the intense flames once more licked the rock face.

This continued, alternating between burning and dousing with water.

After several iterations, the cracking noises grew more distinct, and with an audible shattering sound that everyone around could clearly hear, a lightning-like crack appeared on the rock face.

The craftsmen were amazed. Previously, they might have harbored some doubts about this pale-faced director’s commands, but they complied as Lord Bai had ordered.

Now, seeing the rock face that even an axe could only mark with a shallow white line crack open with a fissure as wide as a finger, they were convinced and impressed.

"Please, fasten those iron wedges securely into the crack and keep burning until they’re red-hot, then douse them with water!" Zhu Yu walked up, touched the crack, and felt more assured, conveying orders to the craftsmen in a more confident tone.

The craftsmen responded quickly, busily working as they hammered the iron wedges firmly into the crack, coated the rock face thickly again with tung oil and pine resin, and set it afire once more. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Through this cyclical process, after many repetitions, the initial crack widened, and new smaller cracks began to appear around it.

By nightfall, multiple cracks had formed on the rock face, not yet sufficient to compromise its integrity, but the progress was enough to raise spirits.

Bai Qihong initially watched Zhu Yu direct the craftsmen tirelessly, back and forth, without understanding the full scope of it until the evidence unfolded before him, filling his eyes with unchecked delight.

His lifelong dream of constructing a great canal to benefit countless people, once thought impossible, now seemed suddenly within reach, causing his heart to surge with excitement.

However, this effective method was time-consuming and labor-intensive. Bai Qihong quickly organized the craftsmen into groups to alternate between burning the rock face and resting, ensuring the work could continue day and night.