Chapter 988: Chapter 988: Do You Know Who Drew the Blueprint?

Other people also thought this woman might be insane, didn’t they? She was giving off a strange, jarring vibe with her sudden laughter.

“Hahaha.” Shu Yu finally laughed enough, straightened up, wiped the corner of her eye, and turned to look at Ms. Mei with a smile, “You said that the blueprints were poorly drawn, like something a child would sketch? Do you know who created them?”

Ms. Mei replied, “Who drew them? God himself? They’re still terribly ugly, that’s undeniable.”

“Not quite that exaggerated. No, they weren’t drawn by God himself. However, these blueprints were actually created by Vice Minister of Ministry of Industry from the capital, Lord Yao Tianqin.”

Ms. Mei’s eyes widened, “W-Who did you say?!”

It wasn’t the first time Shu Yu had taken the opportunity to bluff using borrowed influence. Since Lord Yao had provided her father with so many blueprints, she thought she might as well use his name when needed.

“Of course, Lord Yao is an official in the capital, someone you wouldn’t recognize. But surely, you’ve heard about the high-speed cylindrical irrigation tool that’s being vigorously promoted across prefectures and counties lately? That’s something Lord Yao designed and manufactured, and which earned high praise from the Emperor himself. And now you have the audacity to say that the blueprints drawn by Lord Yao are subpar? Just whom are you questioning here? Lord Yao’s capabilities, the Emperor’s judgment, or the very irrigation tools that have benefited the nation and brought convenience to the people?!”

Shu Yu questioned them line by line, each one falling like a hammer striking hard on Ms. Mei’s heart.

As her final words landed, Ms. Mei’s face instantly turned pale.

“N-No, that’s impossible.” Ms. Mei abruptly raised her head and blurted out, “You’re just trying to scare me. How could you possibly know the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry from the capital, much less have his blueprints?”

Beside her, Ms. Yu steadied herself and echoed in agreement, “That’s right. Where did you even get those blueprints? Did you steal them?”

“The blueprints were naturally gifted to me by Lord Yao.”

Ms. Mei let out a cold laugh, “How absurd. Do you think you’re someone so important that he would give such valuable items to you?”

Before Shu Yu had a chance to introduce herself, Ding Yuehua stepped forward, as if to vent her own frustration, and declared, “This is my friend, Lu Shuyu, the recently conferred Monarch Lu Xiang, whose title is known to everybody in the city. Yu had been in the southwest before, and Lord Yao was in the southwest too. Is it so strange that they know each other? Not to mention, Yu’s father and Lord Yao are close friends. You recklessly destroyed Lord Yao’s painstaking efforts. On what grounds are you acting so self-righteous here?”

Ms. Yu and Ms. Mei abruptly turned to look at Shu Yu. Lu… Lu Xiang? She was Lu Xiang?

Their legs turned slightly weak, and had it not been for the maids supporting them, they might have collapsed to the ground.

To ordinary people, the title of Monarch might signify a remarkable person, but to the Fan family, they were someone to lightly curry favor with, not someone to fear or revere.

Ms. Yu had even followed her cousin to the prefecture in the past to attend a county magistrate’s banquet — she had considered herself somewhat worldly.

But Lord Yao from the capital was entirely different. He was a Capital Official.

Even if they were living comfortably within the prefecture and showed little interest in farming tools, they’d still heard about the high-speed cylindrical tool — clearly renowned across the Dasu dynasty.

And Lord Yao, the inventor of this tool, even if not one of the imperial court’s heavyweights among the capital’s officials, was definitely a favorite and emerging figure admired by the Emperor.

And now, the blueprints created by such a man had been reduced to ashes… destroyed by Ms. Mei?

Ms. Mei and Ms. Yu couldn’t stop themselves from trembling, and a heavy, eerie silence swept through the courtyard.

Little did anyone know, there was a shadowy figure lurking just outside the courtyard, observing everything inside with meticulous focus.