Chapter 253: Volume 1, Chapter 253 — Don't Talk to Me

"There's no need for that." Rong Luoge looked at Xu Shuyuan and smiled. "You know about the jacquard loom matter from before."

At the mention of the jacquard loom, Xu Shuyuan nodded. "I know a little. I've also seen the cloth woven by a jacquard loom—it's indeed quite distinctive, and some patterns are rather nice. It's just slow, and the weaver has to be extremely skilled. Moreover, not all the patterns are pretty—most are designs meant for men's clothing."

Rong Luoge smiled and said, "Every pattern requires time to design and then careful study of how to produce it. The scarcity of patterns is also because the jacquard loom hasn't been around for very long."

Xu Shuyuan looked at Noble Consort Rong with some surprise. "Your Highness, you've seen it too?"

Rong Luoge smiled. "I have. I found it interesting. Earlier you said there are few patterns for women—I wanted to ask whether you understand the loom used for weaving luo silk?"

"I don't really understand it either. The luo silk woven nowadays is mostly plain luo—what young girl or young wife would like that? It's mostly only used when making plain garments. Besides, silk gauze and luo are expensive, and ordinary commoners don't wear them."

Silk gauze and luo are silk fabrics—ordinary commoners indeed cannot afford them. Commoners mostly wear cotton and linen, which are durable and cheap.

"If silk gauze and luo could also be jacquard-woven, would you want to wear fabric like that?"

Xu Shuyuan paused for a moment. "If there were pretty patterns, naturally I'd like them."

Silk gauze and luo are soft and fine, exceptionally comfortable to wear, and especially beloved in summer.

"Jacquard-woven luo? Your Highness, that's a fine idea, but I wouldn't know how to make one," Xu Shuyuan said helplessly. "Moreover, jacquard looms are only found at the Ministry of Revenue's Weaving Workshop, and I've heard that the jacquard looms there aren't specifically for jacquard-weaving luo either. Luo fabric is light and thin, so I'm afraid they wouldn't be suitable."

Rong Luoge smiled and nodded. "That's a fair point. But one day in this world, someone will be able to build a machine specifically for jacquard-weaving luo."

Rong Luoge knew of a type of luo loom that was exactly that, but she couldn't quite remember the loom's structure. She'd been thinking about it these past few days, but many things can't be recalled just because you want to.

Though she had studied a rather broad range of subjects, she hadn't studied every single one in depth—some she had only skimmed the surface of.

Something as specialized as a luo loom—among the many types of looms back then, she truly hadn't paid much attention to it.

If it hadn't been for a mission she once received that had some connection to looms, who would learn these things for no reason?

"If such a thing truly existed, that would be wonderful. Ordinary commoners may not use these things, but wealthy families all like novelties. If it could be made, I imagine quite a few people would like to use it," Xu Shuyuan said with a smile. Anyway, if such a thing existed, she would definitely buy some to use.

Silk gauze and luo are comfortable and breathable to wear, especially beloved in the scorching summer. Plain luo, while comfortable, comes in monotonous, overly plain colors—fine for wearing at home, but not quite suitable for going out.

If colorful luo with fresh, beautiful patterns could be woven, she would certainly love it.

Rong Luoge now had a clear idea in mind. She looked at Xu Shuyuan and said, "Alright, I understand. Hand over the matters at the Internal Court Office properly with that Jiang Yin. The New Year is approaching—don't let the Hou Gong's supplies be delayed, lest someone seize on it as a pretext to gossip."

Xu Shuyuan immediately nodded with a serious expression. "Rest assured, Your Highness. I will certainly handle this matter well."

After Xu Shuyuan left, Rong Luoge thought about the luo loom again. Though she couldn't remember the structure in full detail, she vaguely recalled certain things.

She remembered that a renowned artisan she had once visited had mentioned in passing that the twisted gauze structure used by the luo loom for weaving spiral patterns was very peculiar, but she couldn't recall anything more specific for the moment. She only remembered one very conspicuous feature of the luo loom: a bird sitting on a piece of wood… one end connected to something that seemed to be called a harness lever…

At the thought of the harness lever, the memories in Rong Luoge's mind opened up like a breach, and something else faintly flickered through.

But the more anxious she was, the more she couldn't recall. Rong Luoge rubbed her head and sighed.

She wished she could turn into a supercomputer—whatever data she needed, she could just input it and get the information.

Her mind was sharp even among clever people, but her memory capacity had its limits. There was so much to remember—how could she retain everything?

Rong Luoge thought until her head ached. She simply left the study to take a walk, strolling slowly around the courtyard as exercise, while her thoughts inevitably drifted back to the luo loom.

The jacquard weaving process, simply put, combines up-and-down movement with left-and-right movement, weaving in a regular pattern according to the design.

For a novice, just memorizing the path of the pattern is difficult enough. But some skilled weavers can tell how the threads should go with just one glance at the pattern, without even needing to draw out a detailed design.

However, such skilled workers are very hard to come by—that requires considerable experience.

After racking her brain for half a day to no avail, Rong Luoge could only set the matter aside for now and wait until she had a clearer head.

Jacquard weaving was becoming an obsession for Rong Luoge.

Perhaps because what one thinks about by day, one dreams of by night—that night, Rong Luoge had a dream. She dreamed she had gone back again, rushing about on her way to one mission after another, and then she passed by the Weaving Workshop she had once visited. Somehow, as if possessed, she turned a corner and walked in.

Many looms were displayed in this Weaving Workshop, but they were basically all placed there as exhibits, like a small museum. In later eras, textile production had become highly developed, and no one used these old-fashioned looms anymore—not only were they inefficient, but the key issue was that you had to know how to operate them.

Textile machinery in later eras had become extremely intelligent. Textile workers could start work after only simple training, unlike skilled weavers who needed long periods of accumulated experience.

She wandered aimlessly past one loom after another, when suddenly her gaze was drawn by a bird.

The bird sat on a piece of wood. One end was tied with cordage connected to a treadle, and the other end suspended the swing frame. Artisans commonly called it a harness frame. It wasn't needed for weaving plain luo, but it was necessary for weaving patterned silk.

Patterned silk referred to various colorful designs.

In this moment within the dream, even though there was clearly no one beside her, Rong Luoge heard the voice of the craftsman who had guided and introduced things to her back then, every word and sentence surfacing in her mind…

Rong Luoge jolted awake from the dream, immediately got up, threw on her clothes, and headed for the door.

Han Xinglan was roused and quickly sat up, grabbing hold of her and pulling her into an embrace. "What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

Rong Luoge's mind was full of looms. She immediately pried Han Xinglan's hands off. "Don't talk to me."

Han Xinglan:?

Han Xinglan was taken aback, then watched Rong Luoge slip on her shoes and head out the door, supporting her belly. Unable to rest easy, he hurriedly got up and followed.

Soon the entire Yuzhao Gong was roused. Rong Luoge couldn't be bothered with anything else, muttering to herself as she entered the study, picked up a brush, and began to write.

Han Xinglan peeked at what she'd written—what kind of characters were these, missing arms and legs?