Chapter 284: Volume 1, Chapter 284 — Not Making Money When You Can, You Bastard

"What do you want to do?" Lady Mu Thus we output: Mu Guang asked with an excited look on her face. Life had been too dull, and she just wanted to see some entertainment.

In the past, she would not have dared such thoughts. After all, her rank was not particularly high, and she lacked the confidence. But now things were different—she was one of the three ladies, someone with standing in this palace.

Moreover, these people were always trying to share in Her Majesty the Empress's favor, so naturally she had to do something for Her Majesty.

"This time, distribute by palace. Each palace's silks will come in two grades. One is the new patterns sent by the Inner Court Treasury—this kind of shimmering satin does look truly beautiful; made into a palace skirt and worn on the body, it would be lovely walking down the path. The other is ordinary tribute satin. But each of these two kinds must come in portions for two people, understood?"

Having followed Noble Consort Xu for a long time, Lady Mu Thus we output: Mu Guang's mind had become much sharper. She understood as soon as she thought it over and said with a smile, "If the palace servants delivering the goods don't make clear that each kind is to be equally divided, then the consort of the main hall has the right of first choice. It all comes down to each person's way of thinking."

If one were mild-tempered, she would certainly share a portion with the lower-ranked consorts living in the side halls. If one were more domineering, she would likely be unwilling to see anyone dressed better than herself and would naturally hoard the more beautiful satin.

When that moment came, she herself would then divide the satin equally with Lady Rong of Gentle Grace—and in such a comparison, the difference in standing would be immediately apparent.

This method of delivering a slap to the face was indeed deeply humiliating.

"Then I'll have someone deliver them right away," Lady Mu Thus we output: Mu Guang said excitedly.

Noble Consort Xu did not stop her. She kept her head down, reconciling the figures in the ledger. "Her Majesty the Empress has said that for the newly entered palace consorts this year, their spring clothing allotment will include two extra sets. This portion will be paid for from Her Majesty the Empress's private treasury. When you get back, make this matter clear to every palace. Don't let them receive a grace without knowing who it's from."

"All right, Her Majesty the Empress truly has a soft heart." Lady Mu Thus we output: Mu Guang agreed at once, then turned and led her people out.

Making a full round of the Hou Gong was no easy task. She had to personally go through each place one by one, lest some mistake occur and cause Her Majesty the Empress to suffer the fallout.

After Lady Mu Thus we output: Mu Guang left, Noble Consort Xu finished verifying the ledger, then took out another one. This was the private ledger Her Majesty the Empress had asked her to verify. She opened it and flipped through page by page. The earlier pages were fine, but toward the back she noticed something seemed off—the discrepancies in the accounts were rather large.

She picked up her brush and made a mark, then sent someone to the Inner Court Treasury to fetch more ledgers. By the time she finished with all this, it was already dark outside.

In the Phoenix Ceremony Palace, Han Xinglan was talking with Rong Luoge. The two were discussing the matter of the Weaving Workshop, because the court had been full of voices opposing the relocation of the office. Once they learned what was to be done after the relocation, the court erupted into an even greater storm.

Han Xinglan did not mention that the old men in the court had nearly pointed at his nose and called him a foolish ruler. He only said, "The matter has already been settled. In about three or four days the office building can be vacated. Can you produce the blueprints for the Weaving Workshop on your end?"

"I can," Rong Luoge said softly, holding her drowsy son. "I'll produce a general layout on my end. The rest—the dyeing vats and the specific dimensions of the various looms—will need the craftsmen to oversee themselves."

"The craftsmen from the original Weaving Workshop will all be transferred over to you as a whole. Don't worry about that," Han Xinglan said.

"Then I'll also need a batch of silkworm cocoons."

"Silkworm cocoons? What do you need those for?"

"I plan to start from silk reeling. I do have a plan to plant mulberry trees all around the capital in the future and develop sericulture, so that we won't have to worry about the supply of silkworm cocoons being controlled one day. I looked into it—currently, mulberry trees and silkworm cocoons are mostly in the hands of the great houses. This is not friendly news for us, so we need to prepare in advance."

Han Xinglan nodded thoughtfully. "It sounds easy enough to say, but I'm afraid it won't be easy to promote."

The common folk might not be willing to switch from growing grain to planting mulberry trees.

"So our Weaving Workshop needs to reach a proper scale. Before that, we'll have to collect silkworm cocoons from everywhere," Rong Luoge said. "This is also something that requires care and caution on our part. I think Prince Qi has been managing the Inner Court Treasury quite well. Why not hand it over to him?"

Han Xinglan thought it over and decided it would work. "All right, let's do that. After the overall restructuring of the Inner Court Treasury, everything is now in good order. The method of holding individuals accountable is indeed very effective—when problems arise, there's no more passing the buck. I think your method could be applied to the court as well."

Han Xinglan's words made Rong Luoge laugh. "Use it if you want to. I did it to avoid trouble. You know what those people in the Inner Court Treasury are like—they have no real skills, but when it comes to passing the buck, they're first-rate."

Kangkang was sleeping soundly. Rong Luoge called the wet nurse in and had her carefully carry the boy away.

When only the two of them remained, Han Xinglan, now in the full vigor of his prime, could not very well retire early—otherwise, just sitting there looking but unable to touch would truly be more than he could bear.

Counting the days, in another half month they could lift the abstinence.

Rather than entering the bed curtains only to suffer in vain, it would be better to go to the study, where the two of them could do something meaningful.

So Han Xinglan took Rong Luoge to the study. One of them reviewed memorials while the other sketched drafts of the Weaving Workshop.

This counted as Rong Luoge being forced to work overtime, but considering that the one keeping her company was the Emperor, she endured it.

Once she started drawing, she stopped caring about whether it was overtime or not. She had always been a meticulous person. She took out the reference materials she had prepared and cross-checked them page by page before drawing each line onto the blueprint.

There was no need to worry too much about the weaving side. Whether it was the pattern loom, the waist loom, or the gauze loom, all were already prepared. What she was mainly thinking about now was dyeing.

Although there were many varieties of colors in dyeing today, the colors were far less vivid than those of later generations. In ancient times, dyes came from nature. Colored minerals ground into powder were used to make what was called stone dyeing. Stone dyeing accounted for a considerable proportion—dark red hematite, also called ochre; bright red cinnabar; green malachite; blue azurite; yellow orpiment; and so on.

Besides these, there were other methods. Take bright red, for example—the raw material for this pigment was safflower cakes, boiled with dark plum water, then clarified with lye to obtain it.

Besides bright red, the depth of shades in the red family—such as lotus red, peach red, silver red, and water red—all depended on the quantity of safflower cakes used. This was what was commonly called a secret formula.

As Rong Luoge wrote, she paused. She remembered that yellow silk could not be dyed into these colors, but white silk could.

There was also wood red, which required the addition of alum and gallnut to dye. Grape-green required first dipping the fabric into an indigo vat to dye it deep blue, then overdyeing it in dark sappanwood water to achieve the result.

Rong Luoge's eyes lit up at this thought. Actually, safflower dye feared agarwood and musk the most. If red garments were stored together with these spices, the red color would fade.

If those great houses tried to trip her up, she could completely use this to trick them in return.

Not making money when you can, you bastard!