Chapter 301: Volume 1, Chapter 301: A Chance for Revenge

Even though Dowager Consort Liu was always bold, she was still startled by the Empress's words. "Your Majesty the Empress, you want me to manage the dyeing workshop? That's not appropriate, is it? As a dowager consort, how could I show my face in public?"

Dowager Consort Liu understood this much—they were already fortunate to be allowed to remain in the Hou Gong, and they dared not easily stir up trouble.

"Right now I have no one available to use. If I had any other choice, I wouldn't trouble you, Dowager Consort," Rong Luoge said with a smile. "If you're willing to help me manage it for a while first, I'll find someone to replace you after some time. If you like it over at the dyeing workshop, you can keep managing it in the future—however you prefer when the time comes."

Dowager Consort Liu was tempted. Previously, she'd had no choice, and being able to stay in the Hou Gong was already thanks to the Empress's help, but who wanted to be cooped up for a lifetime?

Though they were in the Hou Gong, no one restricted their movements, but neither she nor Dowager Consort Zhong wanted to cause trouble. Normally they just stayed in Dongming Hall and rarely went out. Occasionally they would take Yile out to get some sun, but they never went far.

If she could go to the dyeing workshop and help the Empress, firstly she'd have a place to go and something to do, and secondly, Her Majesty the Empress certainly wouldn't treat her poorly—she could also save up more of a dowry for Yile.

With that thought, Dowager Consort Liu immediately agreed. "All right, I'll listen to Your Majesty the Empress. As long as you trust me, I'll go. Come to think of it, weaving and dyeing are of one family—I know a thing or two about it myself."

"Then that's truly wonderful," Rong Luoge said, looking at her with a smile. "I'm short of just the right people."

Dowager Consort Liu smiled and took the initiative to ask Her Majesty the Empress, "Then when should I go over and take a look?"

"Whenever you'd like to go is fine." Rong Luoge then called Rong Xin in. "Go prepare a token for Dowager Consort Liu for entering and exiting the Hou Gong and the dyeing workshop."

After speaking, she looked at Dowager Consort Liu again. "After all, from now on you'll be entering and exiting through the West Palace Gate. It concerns the safety of the Hou Gong, so the token is absolutely necessary. Without a token, no one may enter or leave the Hou Gong."

Dowager Consort Liu hastily committed this to memory. "Your Majesty the Empress being so thorough is only proper."

Rong Xin soon brought the token and presented it to Dowager Consort Liu with both hands.

Dowager Consort Liu took it, and then heard the Empress say further, "Rong Xin, from now on Dowager Consort Liu will be managing affairs at the dyeing workshop. Set aside what you're doing for now and personally lead the way for Dowager Consort Liu. Go to the dyeing workshop first to get familiar with things, and while you're at it, introduce Kang Shufei and Madam Qiongzhang to Dowager Consort Liu."

Rong Xin agreed at once and looked toward Dowager Consort Liu.

Dowager Consort Liu, however, wasn't in a hurry to leave. She looked at Her Majesty the Empress and asked, "Your Majesty the Empress, I heard that the Weaving Workshop's fabrics have already started being sold outside?"

Rong Luoge nodded. "The patterns have already been sent out. Once the fabric is produced, it can be sold."

"Then does Your Majesty have a suitable candidate for shopkeeper?"

Rong Luoge also had a bit of a headache over this. She'd originally thought of having He Huai or Jing Chu come over, but both of them had duties of their own, and she hadn't yet found a suitable person. From the sound of Dowager Consort Liu's words, did she have someone to recommend?

"Do you have someone to recommend, Dowager Consort?" Rong Luoge asked directly.

"If Your Majesty trusts me, I'll recommend someone to you. I knew this person when I was living in the countryside. His surname is Yang, and he's thirteenth in his family, so people call him Yang Shisan. His real name is Yang Yi. His family had been shopkeepers for generations, but by his generation there were too many sons in the family, and disputes were inevitable. Yang Yi's birth mother was a concubine, yet he was exceptionally clever—quick to understand things—and his father valued him greatly. Unexpectedly, this made the main household see him as a thorn in their side. The primary wife then falsely accused Yang Shisan's birth mother of being unchaste and having Yang Shisan through an illicit affair. Suspected by his father, Yang Shisan's birth mother threw herself into a river to prove her innocence. Yang Shisan consequently broke ties with his family and established his own household."

Rong Luoge thought to herself that this person had also suffered quite a bitter fate.

"Back then, because of my stepmother, I was staying at a country estate and life was inevitably tight. Sometimes I'd embroider a few things and ask him to sell them on my behalf. Others helping to sell would get at most a few hundred copper coins, but he could sell them for a tael of silver. If Your Majesty could use him, it would save you a lot of worry. It's just that his reputation isn't very good." Dowager Consort Liu sighed. "Later his father realized he'd been mistaken, but Yang Shisan's birth mother had already died. He wanted Yang Shisan to come back, but Yang Shisan refused. In a fit of rage, his father struck him from the family register."

Rong Luoge naturally didn't care about such things. People of this era valued benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and filial piety, and sometimes couldn't help being pedantic. When she employed people, she looked first at loyalty and second at ability. Yang Shisan sounded like a man of backbone—though of course, his way of doing things would be looked down upon in this ancient world.

But Rong Luoge was no person of this ancient world.

"If he truly has ability, I can naturally use him. Why don't you write a letter to summon him first and let him give it a try before we decide." Rong Luoge was sorely short of people right now, especially business talent. On the Emperor's side, there were plenty of people for governing the state and discussing policy, but those skilled in commerce were truly rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Dowager Consort Liu agreed at once. "Because his reputation isn't very good, no one locally uses him either, and his life is quite hard. If he could come to the capital, it would give him a way out. Your Majesty is doing a good deed."

Rong Luoge said with a smile, "If he truly has ability, I won't treat him poorly either."

At this point, Rong Luoge looked at Dowager Consort Liu again. "Back then, you were set on returning home in glory. Now is a good opportunity. Although you can't leave the palace, I remember you have a maid by your side who entered the palace with you originally. Let her go—it would be a roundabout way of making a name for yourself. What do you think?"

Dowager Consort Liu was overjoyed. "Truly, Your Majesty?"

"Naturally, it's true." Rong Luoge had originally promised to let Dowager Consort Liu hold her head high, but firstly, Dowager Consort Liu hadn't yet completed three years of mourning for the Late Emperor, so it wasn't appropriate to be conspicuous, and secondly, Liu Yuntang's second wife had originally stayed in the capital, but had immediately returned to Yunjiang as soon as things looked bad, leaving Dowager Consort Liu with no recourse.

But now that someone could go to Yunjiang, things were naturally different.

Dowager Consort Liu left in an excited mood. She had to prepare well. No matter what, this trip back, she'd make her own father peel off a layer of skin to subsidize her, and let her good stepmother suffer.

Dowager Consort Liu returned to Dongming Hall, called her maid Zhixia over, and told her. Zhixia was so moved she covered her face and cried. "Miss, we've finally waited for this day. Rest assured, this servant will handle everything properly and make that second wife regret how she treated you back then."

After her excitement, Dowager Consort Liu had Zhixia grind ink and lay out paper for her. She had to write a proper letter to her father, letting him know exactly what injustices his daughter had suffered.

She also had to write about how she was now valued by the Empress in the Hou Gong. After all, the fact that Her Majesty the Empress was willing to use Yang Shisan showed that her words carried weight. Her father would surely realize that his daughter, though she'd become a dowager consort, was by no means useless.

As long as she was useful, her stepmother Lady Luo's days would not be easy. As for the younger brother born to her stepmother...

At this thought, a few shades of disgust rose in Liu Yingying's expression. If not for his birth, why would her father have neglected her time and again? It was also he who listened to Lady Luo's words and always reported her to their father, making her situation even more difficult.

From now on, let him also have a frequent taste of this!