Chapter 69: Volume 1, Chapter 69 Selling at a Sky-High Price

Rong Luoge didn't sleep very soundly that night; there was another person beside her, which made her feel a bit uneasy, and when she got up early in the morning, there was no one by her side.

With her usual vigilance, she still didn't notice.

When she moved a bit, it made a sound; Rong Xin and Que Cai, accompanied by palace maids, streamed in to help her get up, change clothes, do her hair, wash her hands and face. So many people circled around her in the room, yet not a single sound was heard.

Rong Luoge thought to herself, "Impressive," but she couldn't show any fear on her face—so embarrassing.

After the whole routine, when she finally sat at the dining table, her stomach was already making the hollow‑city ruse.

The morning meal was very lavish, mostly things she liked; Rong Luoge thought the Crown Prince was still meticulous and thoughtful, and it felt extremely pleasant to eat.

After finishing the breakfast, Rong Xin finally stepped forward and said softly, "Good Lady, are you going to pay your respects to the Empress Mother today?"

Rong Luoge was startled for a moment, "Do I have to go?"

Rong Xin was also taken aback by the question, and the master and servant stared at each other.

Rong Luoge couldn't help but laugh, and looked at Rong Xin, "Don't be afraid, tell me the rules here; I don't understand them well."

Rong Xin relaxed her tone; Good Lady is truly easy to get along with, and as her mood eased a bit, she began to explain in detail.

"Good Lady's rank is just below the Crown Princess; since the Eastern Palace currently has no Crown Princess, logically Good Lady should go to pay respects." Rong Xin paused, "If the Eastern Palace later has a Crown Princess, then Good Lady would also be qualified to accompany in paying respects to the Empress Mother; only Good Lady has such dignity, and concubines below Good Lady do not have this honor."

Rong Luoge's mouth twitched; she thought, it's fine to forgo such dignity.

"What if I don't go?" Rong Luoge asked.

Rong Xin looked up and met Que Cai's gaze; both had a hint of helplessness in their eyes—an honor that no one else could obtain, yet Good Lady seemed indifferent.

"Good Lady, if you pay respects to the Empress Mother and earn her favor, then even if the Eastern Palace later gets a Crown Princess, having the Empress Mother watch over you would still be a good thing," Rong Xin earnestly advised.

Rong Luoge thought that she wouldn't stay here for many years, so there was no need to curry favor with the Empress, and with her former status as Consort of the Qi Prince, she couldn't win the Empress's favor anyway.

Doing those useless tasks would waste time, and besides she wasn't truly the Eastern Palace's Good Lady, so Rong Luoge instantly decided: not going!

Rong Xin was on the verge of tears, but since the mistress had decided, they, as slaves, had no choice but to obey.

Rong Luoge still had to take her medicine on schedule; a bowl of bitter medicine went down, truly making her nostalgic for modern pills.

"You all go about your business, I'll go to the study and sit for a while," Rong Luoge still wasn't used to having someone constantly by her side; it made her very uncomfortable.

Rong Xin and the others bowed and stepped back obediently; Chang Xin Palace was neither large nor small, but not tiny either, and there were still many tasks.

Rong Luoge entered the study, sat at the desk, spread out paper, picked up a brush and pondered carefully; she knew that Prince Qi and the others each had a fief.

Having a fief meant a long‑term, stable, abundant income, especially Prince Qi's fief, which lay in a fertile, bountiful region, yielding a particularly impressive annual revenue.

The Crown Prince was different; as the heir, he would eventually sit on that throne, but he had no fief.

In other words, the Crown Prince currently owned no private property; if the contest were merely about personal coffers, he might not be able to outdo Prince Qi.

Rong Luoge, accustomed to preparing for rain before it falls, mulled over how to make money most quickly and wisely.

If she followed conventional business methods, to be honest, she wasn't a business prodigy; profits and losses would each be about half, so that route wasn't very suitable for her.

But making money off the beaten path, she indeed had a knack for it.

Before, doing it alone was impossible; without anyone as a backing, everything was inconvenient.

If she teamed up with the Crown Prince, it would be much easier.

High‑profit industries, such as reselling salt routes or taking a share of the canal transport, would inevitably draw Prince Qi's and others' attention if they got involved, so that wouldn't work.

Rong Luoge could only approach it from a technical angle—something that wouldn't attract Prince Qi's notice yet could yield huge profits in a short time. After racking her brain, she finally thought of something.

Rong Luoge is someone who can sit still extremely well; her profession demands more patience and stamina than ordinary people, requiring her to learn many task skills for each mission objective.

Those things that were once the most tedious and tormenting, who could have imagined they'd one day become her survival skills.

Han Xinglan returned from the palace, his complexion a bit off; after sitting in the back hall for a while to settle his thoughts, he then headed toward Chang Xin Palace.

The moment he entered, he sensed an unusual quiet; his steps paused as he looked at Que Cai and asked, "Where is Good Lady?"

"Returning, Your Highness, the mistress is in the study," Que Cai bowed and replied.

Han Xinglan turned a corner toward the study; at the doorway, Rong Xin saw the prince and immediately crouched, saluted, and drew the curtain, "Your Highness, peace."

Han Xinglan stepped inside; the study had been specially tidied, the whole room unusually spacious, with a particularly large desk by the window. At that moment the desk was a mess, piled with various crumpled sheets of paper.

Han Xinglan walked over slowly, bent his head, and saw that the crumpled papers were covered with line drawings. He picked up one, unfolded it, and saw a somewhat unfamiliar object—something resembling a loom, yet different from any loom he had seen.

Rong Luoge heard the voice, turned her head, and seeing Han Xinglan was unsurprising, "Back so early?"

Han Xinglan nodded, "Nothing much, I just came back to see you. How does your body feel today?"

"Much better; the wound on my arm has scabbed over, and in two more days it will heal." Rong Luoge thought, finally I won't have to take the bitter medicine again.

"What is this you drew? It looks like a loom, but not quite."

"Oh, Your Highness even knows about looms? I thought someone as noble as you had never seen such a thing."

Han Xinglan could tell Rong Luoge was in good spirits; her teasing lightened his suppressed mood, and he laughed, "As the heir, I also have to study agriculture. These are exactly the looms we learned about in the mulberry‑elm class, so of course I recognize them."

Being the Crown Prince isn't easy; the scope of study is rather broad.

"Your Highness sheltered me in the Eastern Palace, and I'll earn you some pocket money; this thing is called a Jacquard machine." Rong Luoge tilted her body, letting Han Xinglan see her final draft.

"Jacquard machine?" Han Xinglan stared at the item on the drawing, examining it closely.

Rong Luoge gave a brief explanation, "The patterns on the garments you wear now are embroidered stitch by stitch by the embroiderer, or dyed with tie‑dye, but a Jacquard machine can weave the patterns itself."

Han Xinglan was taken aback, "Is that so? That's actually a good thing."

Rong Luoge had specifically looked into it; in this era the weaving and dyeing technology was still at the simple loom stage. Although looms with double shafts and foot‑pedal shuttle looms existed, the Jacquard machine was still a void.

If she sold this blueprint to a major weaver, she could certainly fetch a sky‑high price; it was truly a revolutionary marvel.