Chapter 1
Cities can have personalities, and even genders. Yi City is like a capable but occasionally lazy proprietress, possessing both clever skills and a beautiful figure, making people linger. The beauty of Danyang City, however, is masculine, magnificent. The entire city gives the feeling of an old soldier who has experienced battles, returning his knife to its sheath and his arrows to the quiver, settling down by the river to fish, enjoying life and happiness in the same way, but when the critical moment arrives, that knife and bow are still sharp and deadly.

Danyang is located on the Luozhong Plain, between the Luo River and the Qing River, a peaceful and fertile place. But this ancient city, starting as a military fortress and constantly expanding to its present size, seems to have many aspects that can be appreciated. The towering city walls and the fluttering military flags give a sense of solemnity and killing intent, but entering the city, the bustling and lively market scene makes one feel as if the inside and outside are not the same city at all. The temperament of this city is rich and complex.

After Ye Tao and his group settled in the Qing Luo Inn, which the Du family opened in the capital, Lu Dan went to report back to the princess. The servants sent by Min Yue exchanged a few polite words and then left, heading to the Min family in the capital before returning to Yi City. The few people sent by Qi Zhentao, however, were in no hurry. They would wait until Ye Tao had withdrawn the money from the Zuo family and settled everything before leaving. Two clever apprentices were sent to find Dai Yuege, while Ye Tao directed the other apprentices and workers to clean the two large courtyards they had rented, assigning rooms for everyone, a whole heap of chores.

Speaking of which, what Ye Tao found very strange was that in Danyang, although there were no explicit regulations, the names of the various levels of hostels could not be confused. For example, the lowest level, with very ordinary conditions, was called a "kezhan" (inn); more comfortable ones, with slightly more luxurious decorations, became "xingshe" (travel lodge); and the higher-end ones could use the name "binguan" (hotel). This kind of positioning and grading was very much like the grading of modern society's economy hotels - ordinary star hotels - luxury five-star hotels. But in this era, there was no star rating agency, not even a guild to restrain the industry, so what name to use and how to position oneself was entirely up to the boss's mood. Some deliberately mixed up the names and levels of their hostels to show off their status or to appear approachable, but most merchants and travelers coming to Danyang would still choose different levels of hostels according to their needs and financial resources.

The Du family's Qing Luo Inn was not originally large enough to accommodate so many of them. Fortunately, the Du family had planned to expand in the capital and bought the two courtyards behind the original inn, freeing them up for them to live in.

Just as everyone was busy, Lu Dan brought a message from the princess: tomorrow at noon, Baowen Hall, chat over lunch. The noon appointment was a bit rough, but there was no way around it, that was the nature of this era. In fact, with economic development and the expansion of some large commercial firms and industries, there was now a class that valued a few thousand taels per shichen (two-hour period), a class that needed precise daily timekeeping, a market existed, but there was no product to satisfy this market. In this era, the attendants that wealthy merchants, celebrities, and high-ranking officials and nobles were sure to bring with them had an important function: running to the nearest sundial to check the time and report back. Those clever and intelligent ones who could learn to accurately tell the time by glancing at the sky or looking at the proportion of the shadow would save a lot of effort.

However, this was a market that Ye Tao could not satisfy for the time being. The grandfather clock only proved that precise timekeeping was possible, but how to carry a precise timepiece with you was another matter. Ye Tao remembered that in his original time, in Europe, handheld clocks with 9-inch dials were used to perform this function for a long time. In this time, with Ye Tao's efforts, this scene was very likely to appear in Dongping Kingdom first.

Dai Yuege also came soon after. However, after only a few words, he left in a hurry again. Only then did Ye Tao learn that after several contacts with the shopkeeper sent by Tan Weixin and the land had been secured, Tan Weixin had already allocated the first phase of the project funds, and the basic construction of the Yi Zhan Lou was underway. Since only half of the construction team this time were the old partners brought from Yi City, although the complete set of construction machinery had been brought over, Dai Yuege was still very worried and insisted on watching at the site all the time. Although they had been "trained," mastering fairly complex construction machinery and being able to build the magnificent buildings on the drawings in accordance with very strict construction specifications and requirements was not something that could go wrong even a little bit.

The next day at noon, the luncheon in Baowen Hall was obviously not convened on the spur of the moment, and Ye Tao was the unexpected guest at this luncheon.

"Young Master Ye," seeing Ye Tao again, a suppressed eagerness flashed in Tan Weixin's eyes, but she introduced the guests participating in this small luncheon to Ye Tao in a calm tone. "These are all noble and wealthy sons and daughters of Dongping, the sons and daughters of the ruling ministers, and can be called the leaders of the next generation in Dongping. This is the daughter of Grand Tutor Huang, this is the son of Governor Gui of Liyang... and this is the well-known Young Master Min of the Min family, Min Yannian... and this one is my younger sister."

"Is this the Young Master Ye of the Ye family of Yi City that my sister often mentions?" A little girl who looked only a little older than Dai Qiuyan stared at Ye Tao curiously.

Ye Tao did not dare to be negligent. Tan Weixin only had one younger sister, and that was Tan Weishi, the little daughter of the king, Princess Yuxiu. Ye Tao looked at Tan Weixin, and Tan Weixin waved her hand knowingly and said, "Don't be so formal, this is just a gathering for everyone to feast together. If you act based on status, it won't be fun at all."

Besides Tan Weishi, the person most curious about Ye Tao was Huang Wan, the daughter of Grand Tutor Huang Xuping. Tan Weixin had sent someone to ask her last night if it was okay to have another man at today's luncheon. Although Tan Weixin had a high status, she had always been very careful about such basic etiquette. But after learning that the person coming today was Ye Tao Ye Canghuai, and knowing that Ye Canghuai was the author of the set of wood carvings that Huang Xuping had hanging in his study, Huang Wan couldn't help but tell her father. As a result, Grand Tutor Huang Xuping was so interested in seeing Ye Tao that if today's luncheon hadn't been a pre-arranged banquet by the king for several ministers, Huang Xuping might have come here to join in the fun. Huang Wan couldn't help but be curious about a young man who could attract such attention from her father.

Ye Tao said gently, "I was born as a craftsman and didn't know much about etiquette in the first place. All of you here are the leaders of the younger generation in Dongping, so I assume you won't hold it against a rustic person like me. If there is anything impolite, please forgive me. In my heart, I have the utmost respect for everyone."

"Don't be so polite. When it comes to talent, I am not as good as you. That music box is legendary now. If a few of us weren't close to Her Highness, and could pester her to listen a few more times, we really wouldn't have known that there could be such magical skills," Gui Jiu said cheerfully.

"I dare not accept such praise. That music box is just a toy. Besides listening to the sound, it's really useless," Ye Tao said modestly.

"Being able to please people and make them happy isn't that a great use? Aren't those delicate and beautiful trinkets completely useless? Yet, aren't there still hordes of people rushing to buy them for their homes?" Min Yannian said nonchalantly.

Having already learned that the grandfather clock had been successfully manufactured and that Ye Tao had brought two samples to Danyang, how could Tan Weixin not guess Ye Tao's intention to take this opportunity to promote it? At this moment, she chimed in, "It's not a toy now. Young Master Ye has brought some very useful new things this time."

"Oh? What is it? Can we see it?" They were all young people with the same curiosity, and their curiosity about new things suddenly exploded.

"I wouldn't dare to hide my clumsiness. This thing is downstairs," Ye Tao said awkwardly, "The thing is heavy, so is everyone going to...?"

Liu Yong, who had been standing behind Tan Weixin, quickly stopped everyone from standing up and going downstairs, and said, "Please sit still, everyone. Let me take care of it."

Almost in the blink of an eye, Liu Yong effortlessly carried a huge wooden box, almost as tall as him, up the stairs. At his command, two guards removed the outer packaging, revealing the true appearance of the grandfather clock.

"A clock?" Min Yue was Min Yannian's uncle. With such an uncle guarding the sea frontier, Min Yannian's horizons had long been opened by the things that Min Yue brought back to the Min family mansion in the capital every year. Looking at the huge dial and the "zi chou yin mao chen si wu wei shen you xu hai" markings on it, he was also stunned for a moment.

"Indeed," Ye Tao said proudly, "Although this clock is not as accurate as the sundial, which uses the creation of heaven and earth as its measure, it is better because it can tell the time anytime and anywhere. The error of this clock is no more than seven thousand two hundredths of a shichen per day, and its precision is no less than that of a pendulum clock manufactured by Westerners."

Amidst the praises of the crowd, Ye Tao continued, "I've also installed some small gadgets inside. It just so happens that noon is almost here."

As soon as Ye Tao finished speaking, the grandfather clock chimed the 12 o'clock noon bells. The timekeeping function of this clock was currently set to the music box setting. After striking once, a melodious and lively tune rang out. Listening to the timbre, it was the sound of the music box that was now famous throughout the capital. The music box was already ingenious, and the clock was an extremely high achievement of craftsmanship in this era. When the two were combined, the aggregate effect created was far more than just one plus one equals two.

With the accounts of these energetic young people, Ye Tao, the grandfather clock, and the music box immediately became the keywords of the entire city.

Famous... completely famous.