When Charles Carter, holding back his anger, walked into the Jiaofang Hall, Martha Clark already had a guest.

Anyone who could come to visit Martha Clark at this time was, of course, someone of special status. He was Simon Clark, that is, Martha Clark's brother. Together with their eldest brother Philip Clark, he had made great contributions to Liu Bang's unification efforts and had achieved many military merits, earning the title of Marquis of Jiancheng.

He had been speaking in a low voice with Martha Clark, but upon seeing Charles Carter, he immediately stopped and said nothing.

Martha Clark looked Charles Carter up and down and said, "Not bad, you didn't get into a fight."

Charles Carter stroked his round little belly and called out, "Mother... I'm hungry."

"I have things to do here. Go find a palace maid and get something to eat yourself."

"Okay."

After Charles Carter left, Simon Clark finally smiled and said, "That rascal is living quite comfortably."

"He didn't accept it?"

"No, he didn't... He refuses to see me anymore... It's my fault, really. Last time I offended him badly, the sword was almost at his neck."

"It's fine, the goal was achieved. You don't need to look for him again in the future."

"What about the Prime Minister?"

"I have my own plans."

"Alright."

When Charles Carter returned, gnawing on some meat and humming to himself, Simon Clark had already left. The Jiaofang Hall had become a bit lively, with several palace maids gathered around a large machine. When Charles Carter came in earlier, this thing clearly hadn't been there, so it must have been brought in after he left.

Martha Clark was a strict person, so although the palace maids were curious, they didn't dare to talk or gossip.

"Wow!"

The moment Charles Carter saw the machine, memories from Liu Chang quickly took over. He rushed to the machine and examined it carefully. The appearance of the machine was actually just a pulley placed on a fixed wooden board—clearly a hand-cranked spinning wheel.

At that moment, Charles Carter was a bit stunned. He hadn't been in this era for very long, and this was the first time he had seen an industrial machine from this time period. Although it was very primitive and made entirely of wood, it was precisely this primitive machinery that made it even more fascinating in Charles Carter's eyes.

"Is this a spinning machine?"

"Who made this??"

Charles Carter hurriedly asked.

Martha Clark was a bit surprised; she hadn't expected Charles Carter to recognize this thing. She calmly said, "I've had it since I was very young."

"Then it must have been made by the Mohists!"

Martha Clark neither confirmed nor denied this, maintaining a cool and aloof demeanor.

"Mother, why did you bring a spinning machine here?"

"To pass the time."

Martha Clark knew how to operate this machine. While Martha Clark was working the machine, Charles Carter sat motionless to the side, watching the ancient device with great concentration. He had thought that, after traveling to this era, he was basically cut off from his profession and would never have the chance to use his skills again.

But this machine in front of him proved that this was not a primitive era completely disconnected from machinery.

A few drops of sweat appeared on Martha Clark's forehead. The machine was indeed much more convenient than manual labor, but it still required hand-cranking, so it was definitely tiring.

Several times, Charles Carter tried to come over and help, but each time Martha Clark grabbed his head and pushed him away mercilessly.

So, Charles Carter could only help by wiping away her sweat and such.

Charles Carter knew very well what Martha Clark was making with this machine. Every piece of clothing he wore was woven by Martha Clark herself... Now that the weather was getting colder, Mother was making him winter clothes. At his age, he grew taller every year, so most of his old clothes no longer fit.

Charles Carter grinned foolishly, sitting beside Martha Clark, rubbing his head against her arm, just wanting to try operating the machine.

In the end, Martha Clark finally agreed that as long as Charles Carter didn't cause any trouble in the next month, he could borrow the spinning wheel to play with.

As an introductory textbook, the "Cangjie Chapter" was indeed a bit difficult.

Perhaps Benjamin Smith, when writing it, overestimated the abilities of future teachers and students, or maybe he underestimated his own talent.

In any case, in the early Han dynasty, the "Cangjie Chapter" as an introductory textbook caused countless confusion in the Han Empire. The main problem was with explanations: different teachers would give different answers when explaining the "Cangjie Chapter." In the palace it was manageable, but in the provinces, less capable teachers would often spout nonsense and mislead their students.

Benjamin Smith did not write the "Cangjie Chapter" as a proper introductory textbook. He infused it with a great deal of his own philosophical essence. This was practically a lifelong psychological shadow for children just starting to learn. Kids who were originally happy to be able to recognize characters, on their very first day of study, were confronted with a philosophical masterpiece written by someone of Benjamin Smith's caliber.

How devastating must that have been?

So, the "Cangjie Chapter" was lost...

This was also something that pained Charles Carter. Recognizing characters was no problem, but explaining Benjamin Smith's Legalist spirit was just too hardcore. Ancient Chinese scholars had a bad habit of making simple things complicated.