Chapter 120: Let's Knead Charcoal Together

Xu Yue Yao had long suspected that some things might no longer be as she remembered.

As a result, many things were confirmed last night.

Among them, Xu Yue Nong's mother was a concubine kept by the Jin Yang Marquis in Jing Cheng; the Marquis favored her greatly, and it is said she is still pregnant with a child.

Therefore, she could often come visit Xu Yue Nong.

As for this, the governess aunt also pretended not to see and let things slide.

Thus, Xu Yue Yao knew the information she brought.

Yesterday, the Grand Princess's villa exploded, but no one was injured.

Neither the Grand Princess's entourage nor the villa's long-term workers and servants were harmed by the blast.

The more Xu Yue Yao listened, the more she felt something was off, but she feared others would suspect her, so she dared not ask further.

She felt it was wrong, this is wrong.

It shouldn't be like this!

The Grand Princess, with all her dear grandsons, should have all been blown up!

The Grand Princess's two sons would also feel guilty and uneasy because of this.

Moreover, because of this, both mansions have become sparsely populated and declining.

But are people still alive?

This is wrong!

And furthermore…

The Sixth Prince of Qi Wang Fu has indeed returned safely.

He is missing neither an arm nor a leg.

These news made Xu Yue Yao extremely uneasy.

Precisely because she is now trapped here and unable to do anything, this makes her both anxious and uneasy.

Compared to her unease, Sui Sui is happy again right now!

Although Princess Consort of Qi thought playing with charcoal was too dirty, easily soiling clothes and face.

However, a child's happiness is the most important.

So she gritted her teeth and brought Sui Sui along.

Kneading charcoal is not a simple matter.

If the proportion is not suitable, the subsequent burning will be poor, greatly affecting the value of the honeycomb medium itself.

Sui Sui remembers the proportion.

But she doesn't understand.

She doesn't understand how the three-seven split works exactly.

She knows who gets the three.

She also knows who gets the seven.

But when it comes to actually making it on site, she doesn't understand.

What should she do if she doesn't understand?

Sui Sui was worried at first.

"Is this right?"

"Or should we knead it like this?"

"That should also work, right?"

…

Sui Sui didn't know what to do, so she just kneaded randomly there.

The little girl is both smart and not smart.

The not-smart part is that she clearly knows the proportion but doesn't understand its meaning.

So she cannot make it according to the normal proportion.

The smart part is that not understanding the meaning doesn't matter, but she has a foolish method.

Since she doesn't know how to do it.

Then she will knead each proportion one by one.

There must be one that's correct, right?

So first, a little yellow mud, then add charcoal residue, add water, and then start kneading.

The water proportion also needs attention.

However, this is still easy to grasp, and Sui Sui's production is not bad.

The little girl initially remembered how she had allocated.

Later, as she kept kneading, she forgot.

Moreover, when one becomes overly absorbed in a task, it's easy to forget time and also forget the surroundings.

After Sui Sui kneaded a large amount of charcoal, she felt her face itch, rubbed it a bit, her head itched, she rubbed it a bit.

Here she rubbed a bit, there she touched a bit.

Here it turned black, there it turned yellow, there it might still be stained with water…

Princess Consort of Qi helped Sui Sui on the side, watching the little girl turn into a flower face, and couldn't help laughing.

Princess Consort of Qi initially felt a bit dirty, no matter what, unwilling to lower her dignity to really play with mud.

But seeing the little girl play with increasing enthusiasm, later even humming a little tune for her own amusement, and the kneading becoming more proper, Princess Consort of Qi also couldn't suppress her childlike heart.

She looked again and again, endured again and again, then closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, rolled up her sleeves and followed along.

Seeing this, Aunt Qiu's brow twitched; she was already calculating the Princess Consort's spare clothes at Zhuangzi.

Thinking there were clothes, Aunt Qiu felt much more at ease.

Aunt Xiang constantly paid attention to Sui Sui's mood and life here.

From time to time she came to ask, 'Thirsty? Hungry?'

……

Nuan Dong and Nuan Xia were squatting to one side, watching the little girl play.

Seeing the Princess Consort join in making the charcoal balls, the two little girls glanced at each other, each seeing longing in the other's eyes.

But they were a bit shy to join in.

The Princess Consort of Qi, watching from the side, understood and said with a smile, 'Just keep the girls company playing; their happiness is most important.'

Having received the Princess Consort's order, the two dared to cautiously touch the yellow mud and charcoal ash.

This thing…

It looks kind of interesting.

Although making them gets dirty, it looks like fun.

While the Princess Consort of Qi played with Sui Sui, she would also observe the charcoal that Sui Sui finally made.

They were round and plump, and the little girl would also lift her hand to poke some holes in them.

The Princess Consort of Qi looked curious and asked with a smile, 'Why poke so many little holes? Is it to hold spices?'

The Princess Consort of Qi had people prepare spices that could be mixed into the charcoal balls.

But Sui Sui said she didn't need them, and she wasn't sure she could make them anyway, so there was no point wasting things.

The Princess Consort of Qi guessed these might be used to stuff spices.

Anyway, once mixed in, the burning effect should be the same, right?

However, the charcoal balls they are currently using contain very little yellow mud.

It merely serves as a binder.

But in the charcoal balls Sui Sui makes, she puts a lot of it.

Although that proportion was also arranged by her to let Sui Sui play more happily.

Yet Sui Sui seems quite interested in those proportions with more yellow mud mixed in.

When making them, she is also especially conscientious.

Although the little girl is young, her work is truly meticulous.

She constantly adjusts the size of the charcoal balls, the smoothness of the little cylinders, and the size of the holes.

Every hole on the charcoal balls is poked by Sui Sui using the same finger.

Hearing the Mother Consort ask about these holes, Sui Sui tilted her head and explained, 'It's to make it burn more completely.'

The holes let the charcoal balls connect, improving airflow; the benefit is that they ignite quickly, burn easily, and burn more completely.

That is why honeycomb coal has the best cost‑performance ratio.

The nobility may not care about this bit of charcoal fire; seeing them add spices to the charcoal balls shows they are not short of money.

However, for the poor common folk,

if there were a piece that could burn longer and more thoroughly, how wonderful that would be!

Because mixing in a certain proportion of yellow mud lowers the cost of the charcoal balls, and given their longer‑burning value, many common people can grit their teeth and buy them for winter storage.

Although it is now approaching summer, every year there will still be winter.

In some flat, firewood‑scarce plains, they even start stockpiling this year's winter charcoal from the beginning of spring.

The Princess Consort of Qi doesn't understand how more complete combustion works, and she doesn't need to.

She only needs to know the charcoal price and roughly how much to purchase each winter.

Now hearing Sui Sui's explanation, she smiled and wanted to pat the little girl's head, but seeing her own fingertip blackened, she could only temporarily give up: 'My Sui Sui, you're really clever.'

The second watch is at 19:00.