Cowardly Stepmother Dressed As the Hero

Although Liuli was precious in this era, it was not without it.

Cao Mi remembered that in a news article he had read, it was clearly mentioned that the sword of Goujian, the king of Yue unearthed in modern times, was inlaid with glazed decorations.

That is to say, during the Warring States Period in ancient China, or even before the Warring States Period, the Chinese nation already knew how to refine colored glaze.

But in fact, although this kind of glass is somewhat similar to modern glass, in fact, the main components of the two are very different.

As the princess of Bei'an, Cao Mi had naturally seen strange things made of colored glaze. However, most of those things are colored, and the degree of transparency is not enough.

This kind of colored glass may be interesting to play with, but it is still far from a lens that can see through.

Seeing Qi You's wealthy appearance, Cao Mi shook his head helplessly.

She said, "My lord doesn't know something. The colored glass I want is the kind that I can see clearly the outline of the lord even if we are separated from you and me. It's not the glazed jade plate in the room."

Qi You nodded: "So that's how it is..."

Seeing that he understood, Cao Mi smiled and said, "Well... it's also possible to use transparent crystals.

"If there is no clue about the development of Liuli, I will let someone try to find some crystals first."

Seeing that she was not thinking, Qi You raised his eyebrows and asked, "Such clear glass and crystals are very valuable. What do you want them for?"

Cao Mi glanced at him and said directly: "I want to use them to grind them into lenses to magnify those 'little bugs'.

"Can't you see it with your own eyes?"

Qi You tilted his head and thought for a while, then poured a basin of cold water: "Those 'little bugs' you mentioned can't be seen with the naked eye, so using crystal lenses shouldn't help."

"Today's crystal lenses are still relatively rough, and there is room for improvement." Cao Mi defended.

The application of glass and crystal in ancient times did not stop at the level of decoration.

As early as in ancient China, Mozi, a great thinker in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, mentioned many optical principles in his "Mo Jing", such as the imaging of small holes and the reflection and refraction of light.

In modern times, Cao Mi once visited museums and even saw a flat cylindrical crystal lens unearthed from a Han tomb.

This "magnifying crystal mirror", which was made before 67 AD, has a magnification of about five times.

So just now Qi You was not surprised when he heard the principle of crystal lens magnification mentioned by Cao Mi.

As the dignified King of Bei'an, he has seen similar things, but he doesn't believe that crystal lenses can achieve the effect Cao Mi said.

After glancing at Cao Mi several times, Qi Youcai said, "Your idea...it's interesting."

Cao Mi snorted, "Crystal is so expensive, and high-quality ones are hard to come by, anyway, I'll let someone try to get the transparent glass out first.

"It can't be made into a magnified thing, but it can also be made into a decoration or something to sell."

This is actually Cao Mi's real consideration.

She didn't think about crystals directly at first, she just felt that crystals were not enough for her to toss--

It is not difficult to grind into lenses, but to manufacture microscopes and telescopes, can we not consider the consumption of materials in the process of invention?

All of them are made of natural transparent crystals. Even someone as rich and powerful as Cao Mi is a little bit painful.

And if you can make your own glaze, it will be different. Not only will the cost be reduced, but some "unqualified products" can still be turned upside down, processed into decorations and sold, and a wave of blood will be returned.

"Yeah." Qi You curled the corners of his mouth and said, "Crystal and colored glass are indeed expensive."

Cao Mi nodded, intending to open the page: "Well, in short...that's it. But it's too early to talk about this, wait until I have a look at it."

"No need." Qi You leaned against the head of the bed and suddenly said.

Cao Mi looked at him suspiciously, and Qi You explained: "The transparent glass, separated between you and me, can see clearly, my people have already made it."

Hearing this, Cao Mi widened his eyes in surprise.

"It's made? When?" she asked with some gaffe.

Qi You thought for a while, and said, "It's about the recent time.

"Last year, I asked you about the method of smelting iron. I definitely can't sell the iron I have made. I can only find some other means to make some profits.

"It just so happened that the cement craftsmen you sent over did not know what went wrong when building a new kiln. They used some lime mixed with other things to burn out crystal glazed particles.

"I asked the people below to allocate a part of the staff to develop this kind of glass.

"About a month or two ago, the colored glass they fired became more and more transparent. Now... it should be able to achieve the look you want."

After listening to Cao Mi, he was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth: "Is this...is that so?"

Qi You coughed and said, "Well...but those things may not have been processed into beautiful ornaments, so they didn't send them to the mansion.

"If you need it, I'll ask Qi San to run to Huaitong and get it for you."

"Okay!" Cao Mi nodded happily.

Things that had no clue at first were suddenly ready to be finished. This efficiency is enough for anyone to be overjoyed.

Even if the glass on Qi You's side can't be made into lenses, they must have had a lot of experience. As long as they continue to improve, they can always produce something that meets the standard.

After Cao Mi was overjoyed, he suddenly remembered something, and asked again, "Well... This kind of glass that was just developed is very expensive, right?"

She still remembered that Qi You persuaded him to let people develop this kind of thing to make money.

Qi You glanced at her and asked, "Why, do you want to count money with me?"

Cao Mi pulled the corner of his mouth and smiled: "Well... I mean, didn't you also give me money before? Now I actually don't lack..."

Under Qi You's gaze, her voice became smaller and smaller until she could no longer speak.

Seeing that she didn't speak anymore, Qi You then moved his eyes away.

After tidying up the hair on his shoulders, he said lightly, "I'll let Qi San arrange it, you just wait."

Cao Mi stiffened his neck and nodded, and said, "Okay, thank you my lord."

When Qi You heard the words, he closed his eyes and quietly closed his eyes to rest in peace.

Without his gaze, Cao Mi returned to normal.

She moved her gaze up secretly, and finally stopped on the rare serene face of King Bei'an.

A young man in his early twenties is incomparably handsome. In modern times, he is the kind of male god-level figure who can make a mess of a short video. It is impossible to see that he is a cold-faced prince who has experienced battles and a father of three children. .

Cao Mi pinched the corner of his clothes, and for a moment, he felt that his breathing and heartbeat were abnormal.

——

Qi You was out of danger, his injuries were slowly improving, and the dignified atmosphere in the palace became active again.

Among them, the happiest is the three children who have not seen their father for a long time.

It seems that in order to make up for the long parting of this year, the three children especially love to run to the yard of Qiyou.

When Cao Mi was dealing with his own affairs, every time he asked about the whereabouts of the three children, Dong Li replied eight times out of ten: "The sons are with the prince."

The other two times were at the school on Lin Confucius' side.

And Qi You, who is still recovering from his injury, has no time to deal with those complicated official duties every day, and just has the energy to deal with the three children who report every day.

Now, in order to take care of Qi Rui and the twins, his yard is covered with warm woolen blankets, making it a place for the three children to play.

Sometimes, even if there is nothing to do, the three little radishes sit next to their father, admiring the snowflakes outside the window together, and they can sit for an entire hour.

As the youngest child, Qi Ran was originally a little afraid of Qi You. But because Qi You was injured at this time, he was still a little weak on weekdays, and sometimes he needed to help him carry tea and pour water. In this way, it seems that Xiao Pangdun has re-acquainted with his father, making his relationship with Qi You close a lot without knowing it.

In this way, half a month passed, and when Qi You was barely able to get out of bed and walk on his own, the atmosphere of the Spring Festival was approaching.

When Cao Mi came with people, the three children were sitting under the porch with Qi You, basking in the rare warm sun in winter, while listening to Qi You telling the story of his battle.

Qi Youhui doesn't tell many stories, he can't make it up, all the things he tells are what he has personally experienced.

He said and said many stories, the plot is the same, maybe the wording of each narrative is different. But the three children just couldn't get tired of listening. Every time Qiyou opened his mouth, they could stare at him without moving.

The three little golden boys who had "entered meditation" did not come back to their senses until Cao Mi coughed behind them, and found that his mother had come over.

Xiao Pang Dun Qi Ran immediately abandoned Qi You and rushed towards Cao Mi.

"Mother." He said stickily, "I miss you so much!"

Cao Mi pretended to be angry and said, "Do you miss me?

"I can hear the maid in your yard saying that when you get up early in the morning, you run to your father's side. Hey... it's almost like you forgot your mother."

Qi Ran's face stiffened, and he responded, "No, it's not."

He wanted to explain, but after holding it for a while, he couldn't say why.

Cao Mi smiled, let him go for the time being, and took him back to Qi You.

There are charcoal stoves burning hot on all sides under the corridor. This corner is baked warmly, and it must not be cold.

Cao Mi greeted the maids behind him to put their things down, and said, "I'm afraid you'll get bored running here all the time, so I prepared some bamboo strips and red paper.

"There is no class today, everyone is idle, let's make lanterns."

Lanterns are actually lanterns.

The Sheng Dynasty also had the custom of appreciating lanterns on the Lantern Festival. Before and after the Chinese New Year, every household began to prepare lanterns. "Placing lanterns with colorful lights" actually symbolizes "colored dragons and Zhaoxiang, and the people and the country are strong".

"Lanterns?!" Qi An touched the red paper in front of him with shining eyes.

Cao Mi nodded: "It's New Year's Eve, this year, the three young masters of our family are putting up the lanterns by themselves."

Qi Ran nodded straight while holding the venue: "Okay, okay!"

Cao Mi glanced at Qi You, saw that he was also looking up at him, his eyes were full of interest, and he didn't look dissatisfied at all, so he breathed a sigh of relief, and greeted the maids to start preparing.

Pointing to what was placed on the blanket, she started talking to the three children about the steps to paste up the lanterns.

There are many kinds of lanterns, and the complex ones are like revolving lanterns. They can be called works of art, and they are not made by ordinary people.

But if you don't pursue the ultimate, it's not difficult to simply make a lantern.

Cao Mi's original intention was to find some manual work for the three children as a pastime. Naturally, he would not think about challenging difficult tasks.

At this time, the maids brought up materials such as bamboo strips and red paper, and she said: "Let's use bamboo strips to make a lantern look, tie it with a string, and then stick the red paper with rice pulp, so that That's it.

"Wait until the new year, put the candles in the lanterns, you can hang them in front of the door, or carry them in your hand to enjoy."

The three children are still young, the eldest Qi Rui is only seven years old after the new year, and things like lanterns are still very tempting to them.

After listening to Cao Mi's explanation, the three children who consciously understood immediately started to move.

Cao Mi also began to get busy.

When she got started, she felt that she had underestimated the difficulty of making lanterns.

Lanterns are generally round, but there are also square ones.

However, it is actually quite difficult to make a regular outline with bamboo strips.

Just when she was competing with the bamboo strip in her hand, Qi You took the bamboo strip from her hand.

He said, "This bamboo strip is too thick and needs to be cut."

After he finished speaking, he picked up the small knife next to him, pressed his thumb against the back of the knife, and easily split the bamboo strips into two.

The thinned bamboo strips were easily bent in his hands, forming a regular circle. Qi You took another bundle of strings from the side, and a simple lantern skeleton came out.

Cao Mi saw that his movements flowed smoothly without any effort, and he consciously learned the essence.

She was in high spirits, turned her head and picked up the other knife next to her, and prepared to split the bamboo strips in every way.

However, the woman's physical strength was small, and it took a lot of effort for her to finally cut the blade into the bamboo strip. mark.

Qi You watched her toss and toss, and when she saw it, she took the knife and bamboo strips away from her: "Don't cut it, I'll do it."

Cao Mi held up his thumb and wanted to cry without tears.

Looking at Qi You's light movements, she suddenly asked, "You... don't you feel pain?"

There was a smile on the corner of Qi You's mouth, and before he turned to respond to Cao Mi, he had already dealt with another bamboo strip.

He put the knife aside, stretched out his right hand holding the knife just now, showed it in front of Cao Mi, and said, "I'm a person who is used to holding a knife and spear, and it's different from a girl like you."

Cao Mi looked at it intently, only to feel that the joints of the hands were moderate in size, but the phalanges were slender, not rough at all, but more like playing the zither and flute.

She stretched out her hand curiously and touched the right thumb that Qi You also used to hold the back of the knife.

The temperature of the skin I started with was a little high, and it was slightly frosted, which was indeed tougher than it looked just now.

Cao Mi nodded in surprise and said, "Is this a cocoon? I heard that the person holding a knife should have a cocoon on the wrist..."

Before she could finish her words, the hand she was withdrawing was held by Qi You again.

Qi You held her palm with four fingers, and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

The pulp of the thumb that Cao Mi had touched just now scraped the soft skin of the back of her hand one by one.

"It's a little cold." Qi You commented.

Cao Mi's face instantly turned red.

She tried to pull out her hand, but failed, she could only explain: "I just came over from the yard, and there was indeed a bit of wind on the road.

"But it's warm here, probably...it'll be hot again later."

"Well, if your hands are the same as your face, and you can say it's hot as long as it's hot, that's fine." Qi You didn't let go, but instead used a serious tone, saying something similar to flirting.

"Ah?" Cao Mi hadn't reacted yet, but Hong Yan's face burned even more.

Qi You switched to the wrist and continued to rub her hand.

He explained: "Here is the cocoon left by the knife.

"Using a knife requires force from the wrist, and the handle of the knife will repeatedly rub this place, leaving a thick callus.

"This part of the palm is left by the gun. When the long-gun dances, you need to hold the gun tightly..."

He was like this, while explaining, rubbing his cocoon on Cao Mi's hand.

Those calluses were rougher than the finger pads that Cao Mi had just felt, and when Qi You rubbed it, Cao Mi could even feel a slight tingling.

The stinging pain was not very strong, and after Qi You removed the cocoon, it turned into a fine itching.

The itch followed the rich nerve endings in her hands, and climbed all the way up her slightly blocked throat, her hot cheeks, and passed straight to the Tianling cover above her head.

Then, along the blood, it spread to the limbs and bones.

Cao Mi even forgot to resist, and let Qi You caress her hand little by little, even every knuckle, every inch of skin.

It wasn't until the twins' laughter came from his ear that Cao Mi came back to his senses.

"Father, what are you doing?" Qi An asked with a smile.

He got close to Cao Mi, grabbed Cao Mi's right hand, and said, "I want to touch my mother's hand too!"

Qi Ran also rushed over to join in the fun.

He looked left and right, gave up Cao Mi's left hand that was tightly held by Qi You, and chose his right hand, which was more likely to be competitive, and competed with Qi An: "I want to touch, I want to touch!"

Cao Mi was so embarrassed by the two children that he wanted to jump directly into the frozen lake in the courtyard.

She quickly withdrew her hands and said incoherently, "Why! Go back and make lanterns!"

Qi Ran still had some regrets, and said, "Mother's hand is so easy to touch... No wonder my father has been touching it for so long.

"But I only touched a little bit. Why does my mother only let my father touch it, or I touch it?"

He said, and tilted his head, as if he was thirsty for knowledge.

Cao Mi gritted his teeth and said forcefully, "He...your father is not touching my hand...he is, telling me about the calluses that will appear when holding a knife!"

When he said these words, Cao Mi turned his body on his side the whole time, and didn't dare to look at Qi You on his left.

But when Qi You heard her explanation, he smiled comfortably, and said to Qi An and Qi Ran, "Yes, we are studying cocoons."

Cao Mi frantically pulled a piece of red paper next to him: "Come on, Qi An, Qi Ran, you two, come and help me cut the paper."

The twins looked at each other and nodded.

After this little episode, everything seemed to be back to normal.

Qi You took the older Qi Rui and started making lantern skeletons, while Cao Mi took the twins and tossed the red lantern paper.

Dong Li brought someone to a low table, Cao Mi sat on the wool blanket on the porch, and the twins stood just right.

Dipped in ink, Cao Mi wrote the word "Fu" on the paper.

She had calmed down a little and said to the twins: "You learn from your mother, write or draw something on this crimson paper.

"After the ink dries, we will cut off the ink that we wrote on, put a piece of light red tissue paper inside the red paper, and paste it on the lantern together.

"In this way, when the light from the candle passes through the thin red paper, it will form the appearance of the words or paintings we write."

The twins nodded, indicating that they understood, and started "creating" with pen and paper.

They also took lessons with Master Lin for a long time, and they could recognize and write many characters. Cao Mi didn't expect them to come up with any good works, but he didn't worry that they didn't know how to write.

But she obviously underestimated Little Fatty's ability to be funny.

Qi An usually likes to study like Qi Rui. When he first listened to Cao Mi's words, he carefully picked a few auspicious words in his mind and started to write.

Only halfway through the writing, he found that Qi Ran next to him was writing dragons and snakes, obviously not doing "serious things".

Qi An then leaned over.

"What are you drawing?" he asked.

He smiled smugly and said, "Hey, I'm painting my mother! My mother looks so good!"

On the red paper, there is a crooked circle with three dots and one horizontal dotted inside.

If the "creator" is not named, I am afraid that it is difficult for people to associate this thing with the word "human face".

Qi An suddenly burst into laughter.

He jokingly said, "I want to draw too."

Saying that, he simply gave up what he had written halfway, leaned over to Qi Ran, and drew another circle beside the circle: "I draw a father!

"My father is taller than my mother, um... with a silver crown on his head..."

"Hehe!" Qi Ran stared blankly at him writing, and suddenly got inspiration again: "Draw another big brother!"

The twins are like this, you "create" one stroke at a time.

However, the road of creation is always unavoidable.

The conflict arose when they began to paint portraits of each other.

"I'm not that fat at all!" Qi Ran jumped and said angrily, "How can you draw so round!"

"I'm not shorter than you. Look at the legs you drew. They're so short!" Qi An shouted back without showing weakness.

"You have it, you are the shortest!" Qi Ran snorted coldly, "That's what you look like!"

"Then you are too!" Qi An grabbed the brush, "You are a big fat man! Your face is full of flesh! Feel it yourself, and I will draw you a small one!"

Qi Ran had few hearts and couldn't talk about his brother at all, so he turned to find Cao Mi and cried.

In fact, Cao Mi had already noticed that the two were doing doodles, but he didn't take it to heart—how can you expect two four-year-olds to behave properly?

But at this time, seeing that the two were quarreling, she reluctantly came over.

When she saw the work completed by the two of them, she couldn't help laughing and crying: "What are you painting? Huh? This is me? Am I so 'good-looking'?"

Not realizing what she was saying was ironic, she nodded solemnly: "It's beautiful!"

On the other hand, Qi You and Qi Rui, who had made several skeletons, also temporarily put down their work and came over.

When Qi Rui saw his slanted eyes and squinted eyebrows in the painting, the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably, and Qi You said coldly, "It seems that as a father, I need to invite a master who can draw for you to teach you.

"Lin Yi's knowledge is good, but he really lacks in his paintings."

"Ah?" Qi Ran opened her mouth blankly.

He didn't understand why he was just "showing his skills" and was assigned another level of schoolwork.

Seeing that he was about to cry, Cao Mi hurriedly said, "It's alright, alright. Hmm... Actually, it's pretty good after watching it a lot."

She picked up the brush beside her again and said, "Come, mother, come and write a word for this painting. During the Lantern Festival, the two of you can go out with it."

As soon as she hung the pen over the red paper, Qi You came over.

King Bei'an grabbed her hand and said, "Your handwriting is too delicate. I will write the lanterns they mentioned."

Cao Mi is naturally very willing to abdicate and make a virtuous person, but Qi You has no intention of letting her "retire" at all.

He directly put the petite Princess Bei'an in his arms, held her hand and started writing.

King Bei'an's words are like a knife and an axe.

After writing, he turned his head and asked Cao Mi, "How is it?"

Cao Mi didn't read what he wrote at all, just turned his head blankly to look at him.

The distance between the two had reached an extremely dangerous level, and Cao Mi had been forced into a chaotic heartbeat, unable to think at all.

Qi You raised his eyebrows: "What? It's too good to be praised?"

Before Cao Mi could react, he leaned down and covered Cao Mi's lips.

Qi Rui was on the side, ignoring the twins' struggles and covering their eyes.

The lips and teeth of the two adults were entangled, and then Qi You backed away a little, and said happily: "Well... it really is a good word."

On the eaves of the corridor, there are red plums in full bloom, but they still can't compare to the bright color on Princess Bei'an's face at this time.

The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angel who threw the mines: Moon Dusk and Muyue 2;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: 38 bottles of Ye Muning; 00020 bottles; 5 bottles of Han Chi Qingyan; 3 bottles of small oranges; 1 bottle of Chen Zijie;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!