“Today the teacher had us study ‘Dao Yuan’. I can understand every single character, but when they’re put together, I have absolutely no idea what it means… It’s all mystical nonsense, and he even said that the color of clothes you wear in each season can affect disasters and harvests in different regions… Isn’t that just utter nonsense?”

“Mm.”

Richard loudly insulted the teacher, saying that learning this stuff can’t help govern a country, but the teacher praised him, saying he had his father’s style. I stood up and said this was all nonsense, and that old man actually wanted to hit me. We’re all princes, so why the double standard?”

“Mm.”

Henry answered the teacher’s question correctly and kept flattering the teacher. I’ve figured it out—none of my brothers are good people, except for Second Brother.

“Mm.”

Father’s singing is really awful… Not only is it awful, but we’re not even allowed to say so!

“Mm.”

By candlelight, in the empty room, the mother quietly spun cloth while the son chattered on endlessly.

……

The next day, Charles Carter finally got to sleep in. Today was their day off, so they didn’t have to go to class. They had to attend class sixteen days a month, and the rest of the days were for rest. It’s said that in the Qin Dynasty, they had to attend class fifteen days a month. The Han Dynasty, to avoid being accused of copying the “tyrannical Qin” system, deliberately changed it and added one more day. Honestly, that’s a huge change. You can really tell the Han Dynasty didn’t copy the Qin system.

When Charles Carter woke up, Martha Clark wasn’t in the Jiaofang Palace. He didn’t care where his mother had gone. He asked a palace maid for some food and started eating happily. There were still lots of delicious things left over from yesterday’s banquet, and Martha Clark had brought back quite a bit, all for Charles Carter to eat.

“Young master… Young master Heng is outside the door and wants to see you.”

“Heng? No, I won’t see him!”

Charles Carter still remembered what happened yesterday and shouted loudly.

Actually, as the younger brother, if Henry Carter came, Charles Carter should have gone out to greet him. But this was the Jiaofang Palace, where Martha Clark lived, so Henry Carter could only request an audience and couldn’t just barge in.

The palace maid said helplessly, “I see young master Heng brought a lot of things… If the Empress finds out you made young master Heng wait at the door… I’m afraid…”

“Hmph!”

Only then did Charles Carter get up and swagger toward the door. When he got outside, he noticed the bundle in Henry Carter’s arms. Did he think he could get my forgiveness just by bringing some stuff? No way!

“Heng? What are you doing here?”

Henry Carter saw him and didn’t waste words. He directly opened the bundle in his arms, revealing what was inside.

Charles Carter’s eyes went wide. It was a small saw, about as long as his arm, not much different from the saws common in later generations, except for some differences in craftsmanship and materials.

“What’s this…”

“A longsword is too dangerous, and you can’t use it for woodworking. But this thing works.”

“Brother… Is this for me?”

“Let’s be clear: whatever you do, be careful. Don’t hurt yourself.”

Charles Carter took the saw, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say. He muttered, “But how did you get this?”

“I found a craftsman working on the construction of Weiyang Palace…”

“But how did they dare lend you something like this?”

“Chang… As long as you respect others, they’ll respect you too.”

Charles Carter was overjoyed, playing with the saw in his hand. With this, making things would be much easier. If only he had a woodworking knife, saw blades, a milling machine, drill bits, and mortising tools, that would be even better. But as for those things, George Carter probably couldn’t get them…

“This is great! Once I finish making the spinning wheel, Mother will be so happy. She won’t have to work so hard anymore.”

Henry Carter smiled, looked into the distance, and said seriously, “I hope you can really make it. If you have a talent for this, don’t ever give up.”

“If there really was a machine that could increase weaving efficiency, women could support their families with it, the mulberry growers would benefit greatly, the state treasury would get more income, and most importantly… everyone in the world could afford clothes, and winter wouldn’t be so hard to get through…”

Charles Carter was stunned.

Chapter 9: The Home-Wrecking Demon

Henry Carter left.

But Charles Carter’s heart couldn’t calm down for a long time.

He’d been in this world for a while now. During these days, Charles Carter had been constantly complaining. He felt he didn’t like this backward era at all, and he didn’t belong here. He didn’t understand the meaning of coming here. He’d already given up thinking about it and was ready to just be a feudal prince and muddle through life.

But Henry Carter’s words suddenly woke him up. If even a little thing he made on a whim could benefit the whole world, why not make more?

Instead of wasting his days in the Tianlu Pavilion, he might as well do something meaningful.

This was probably the first time little Charles Carter had ever been so serious. For a whole day, he stood in front of his mother’s spinning wheel, carefully observing it.

Although the principle was more or less the same, this thing was still quite different from the spinning machines of later generations. Charles Carter had taken apart spinning machines many, many years ago, so before he actually started, he needed to make a good draft.