Chapter 121: Glass Farm

After Eddard's soap experiment succeeded, the soap workshop in Winterfell was soon put into operation.

A laundress who had served in Winterfell for decades became the person in charge of the soap workshop.

Her name was Dori, and she was the sister of Ser Rodrik Cassel, the master-at-arms of Winterfell; she was also the aunt of Jory Cassel, the Captain of the Guard of Winterfell.

"Lord Eddard, I have spent half my life in Winterfell as a laundress; I never expected that I would one day become the soap manager," this petite, plain old woman told Eddard. "I will certainly not fail Lord Eddard's expectations."

To keep the technology secret, the workers in the soap workshop were all family members of the Winterfell household guards—for example, Desmond's wife, Kane's sister and mother, Jacks's parents, Alyn's siblings, and Haris Moran's cousin. These people became the first batch of soap workers in Winterfell.

The White Knife brought shells shipped from White Harbor every day; in the future, relying on lard, shells, and wood ash, Winterfell would be able to produce soap in a steady stream.

Every bar of soap was stamped with the sigil of the direwolf using a mold.

When Catelyn Stark used Winterfell's own soap for the first time while soaking in the hot springs with Lady Barbrey, Catelyn was as happy as a bride.

"Eddard is truly a good man who cares for his family. When I complained to him that soap prices had risen, he researched it himself and created soap."

Lady Barbrey was more envious. "I never expected Duke Eddard to have such a talent for craftsmanship! To think he could actually create soap; even Brandon could not do such a thing."

Other projects in the Winter Town were progressing just as gratifyingly.

The sons of the Glassmaster Ortega brought several wagons of glass from Braavos; after the glass workshop began operations, glass was produced in a steady stream, and the first batch of glass farms had been completed.

According to Eddard's plan, nine glass farms would need to be built surrounding Winterfell in the future, each several times the size of Winterfell's Glass Garden.

Relying on the hot springs and the insulation of the glass, even when winter descended and the earth froze, the glass farms could still provide for Winterfell.

The architect Donnel was responsible for the construction of the glass farms, and he took Eddard, Catelyn Stark, and Maester Farmer to visit them.

The chubby Maester Farmer always had dirty clothes because he was dedicated to the study of agriculture and minerals, spending almost every day in the manors and mines.

Donnel said excitedly, "Most of the glass farm is located underground, and the glass-covered roof rises one meter above the ground to ensure good lighting. The water source is also very sufficient, and due to the geothermal heat, a constant temperature can be maintained year-round."

Catelyn Stark placed her slender hand over her heart. "When the cold winter arrives, the glass farm will be Winterfell's vegetable basket!"

Maester Farmer looked up at the glass roof and sighed, "Lord Eddard, the nobles in the south only treat glass as a luxury item. Only Lord Eddard would use glass to build glass farms, allowing the common people to no longer suffer from hunger in the cold winter. What a great project for the benefit of the people this is!"

Eddard cast a look of approval at Donnel. "Donnel, you have done very well; this glass farm is perfect."

Donnel said with satisfaction, "Lord Eddard, I used to think that only by designing great buildings like Harrenhal, the Eyrie, the Hightower, Highgarden, or the Wall could one leave a name in history. Now I realize that designing sewers and glass farms can help people just the same."

When the architect Donnel first arrived in Winterfell, he was a young man with wild, impractical ideas. As soon as he arrived in Winterfell, he proposed to Eddard that they expand Winterfell by building several castles like Spring City, Midsummer Town, and Jin Qiu Cheng, expand the Kingsroad, and build a "Sea Wall" on the West Coast, among other impractical projects.

Under Eddard's guidance, Donnel became pragmatic. He completed projects such as the forge, the barracks, the stables, the grand market, and the Winter Town sewers, and the glass farms were also proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Catelyn looked up at the glass, feeling the sunlight spilling down from the dome.

"In such a large glass farm, I want to plant turnips and cabbage."

Eddard smiled and shook his head. "Catelyn, it is still summer; you can clear any piece of wasteland to plant vegetables. This is the first glass farm, so we cannot plant vegetables here."

Catelyn was surprised. "If not vegetables, what will you plant?"

Eddard gestured, and the guard Dawson handed over a bag; Eddard took some seeds from the bag.

"These are all flower seeds that I entrusted Lord Wyman to bring from White Harbor. I have decided that in this glass farm, I will set aside a few acres to plant flowers. Inside, there are Michelia, Oncidium, Tuberose, Daphne, Osmanthus, Jasmine, Freesia..."

Catelyn raised an eyebrow. "You want to plant flowers in the glass farm? Eddard, are you going to indulge in pleasure? These flowers are colorful and look very nice, but they cannot be eaten as food; you must plant vegetables!"

Eddard apologized with a smile, "Catelyn, vegetables can be grown in the open air, but flowers are delicate and can only survive in the glass farm. Besides, I am only using a portion of the glass farm for flowers; we have other glass farms under construction. These flowers are not for decoration; I want to use them to make perfume."

"Perfume?" Catelyn was skeptical. "Don't try to fool me. Although you created soap, making perfume is much more expensive than making soap."

Eddard smiled mysteriously. "Rest assured, I have the Maester and the Alchemist to help; I will certainly be able to develop perfume. Once Winterfell sells perfume, a single bottle will be able to buy a cartload of turnips."

In Westeros, almost all perfume was imported from the Free Cities; perfume was something only nobles and wealthy merchants could afford, and it was sold at a high price.

Perfume was a highly profitable industry, which was why Eddard decided to produce it. Now, Eddard had developed a distiller; the distiller could not only brew alcohol but could also be used to extract plant essences.

"Besides making perfume, we can also make aromatic candles," Eddard told Catelyn. "We will find a way to mix the plant essences into the wax using the petals harvested from the glass farm, and we can make aromatic candles."

Only then did Catelyn reveal a smile. "Aromatic candles are worth a try. Lysa Arryn once sent some aromatic candles, saying they were a specialty of Candlehold in the Vale, which is the territory of the Wickley family. Lysa Arryn told me in her letter that the Wickley family made their fortune relying on aromatic candles; their aromatic candles are not only popular throughout the Seven Kingdoms but are also sold to Lys, Tyrosh, and even Volantis."

Eddard handed the bag of flower seeds to Maester Farmer. "Arrange for the servants to plant these. Besides flowers, I also plan to plant medicinal herbs in the glass farm. Herbs can help the people of Winterfell heal their illnesses and pains."

Maester Farmer took the bag. "Lord Eddard, you are just like 'Greenhand' Jiaersi; you have sown the seeds and planted hope."

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(End of chapter)