The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 181 Getting worse is a mixed blessing

The southwest area of ​​Xizhou City is now full of workshops. Behind the thick earth walls, there are various workshops separated into square courtyards. Walking in the alleys like a chessboard among the workshops, various sounds and smells come from both sides. Most of the attacks are far from pleasant.

 After turning several turns, a single-family courtyard appeared deep in the alley. The boy who led the way knocked on the closed door. After a while, the door opened a crack, and the janitor looked at the boy's face before opening most of it.

The boy quickly turned around and said with a smile, "Madam, please come in."

Liuli nodded and walked in. Ayan followed closely behind her, looking around with some vigilance. But they saw that there was a large courtyard inside. There were houses divided into small rooms on both sides of the front patio, and the backyard was through the hall in the middle. In the main room, there was a figure wearing a robe like blue water. Hearing the footsteps, he turned around leisurely, and a faint smile made his already handsome and long face even more moving.

 “Excuse me, Mrs. Cudi.”

Liuli smiled so hard that her eyes turned into crescent moons, and her voice was a bit sweeter than usual, "The Crown Prince is so polite! Since I received a full hundred gold from the Crown Prince, isn't this what I should do for you?" She said today She was wearing a pink Baoxiang patterned jacket, paired with a long skirt of the same color, and a white rabbit fur half-sleeve on the outside. Her whole body was a bit pink, which matched the voice very well.

Qu Chongyu subconsciously wanted to frown, but in the end he just lowered his eyes slightly, "Madam, Chongyu admires your wonderful idea, but there are some details that I still can't figure out, and I hope Madam can give me some advice."

Liuli raised her brows triumphantly, "This engraving couldn't be easier! If you don't understand anything, just ask me!"

Qu Chongyu smiled and said nothing. He moved his hand back and said, "Ma'am, please come this way."

Liuli followed him through the main room and walked to the backyard. She saw Anjuro already in the courtyard. There were wooden boards and other items on a table beside him. Several craftsmen were busy. When he saw Liuli, he smiled apologetically and said, "Prince Ask carefully, I don’t understand these things very well, so I can only ask someone to invite you.”

Liuli smiled and said, "It's okay. I accept people's money. I should answer their questions."

Qu Chongyu was not taboo about talking about money and silk with others on weekdays, but he had never seen someone talk about gold and wealth like this. The impatience in his heart suddenly surged, and he stopped being polite and pointed at the table. The wooden board on the top, "According to the lady, this wooden board needs to be soaked for several months and then thoroughly dried before use. Just now Juro brought a piece over, and it turned out to be much easier to use, but I don't know why? Furthermore, such a wooden board needs to be Where to buy it?”

Liuli shook his head and said, "I don't know why. I just know that all the carved wooden boards in Jia Val's shop must be treated in this way, otherwise they will easily have burrs during carving. Such wooden boards in Xizhou City are probably the only ones in Jia Val's shop. There are still some in the store.”

Qu Chongyu couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise, "Jia Vale Store?"

Liuli's eyes widened in surprise, and she blinked for a few times before saying, "Of course it's the Jiavalian shop! I used to work as a painter in the Jiavalian shop for half a year, and I'm used to seeing stereotyped dyeing of cloth, so I thought of the flowers carved on wooden boards. If you can dye cloth, you can probably carve characters and print books. I didn’t expect this to be the case! Naturally, the wood boards and tissue paper used for the engraving this time were the wood boards and tissue paper from Jia Vale Shop. If it hadn’t been for the prince’s inquiry, I wouldn’t have known about other wood boards and paper. Paper is not enough." He laughed happily again, "I didn't expect that the prince would be so generous and willing to pay a hundred gold for such a trivial matter!"

Qu Chongyu was stunned for a moment, looking at this cute and shallow smiling face, he felt his chest was tight, and finally managed to squeeze out a smile, "So, it's such a coincidence!"

Liuli nodded with a smile, "What a coincidence! Prince, do you have anything else to ask?"

Qu Chongyu secretly took a deep breath and did not answer, but turned to look at the piece of pear wood on the table that was more than one foot wide and three feet long, as if a large lotus flower suddenly bloomed on it. I calmed down and thought about it, thinking that such a wooden board can be sawed into at least seven or eight book boards. There are more than 20 boards, which is enough to print two or three Buddhist scriptures. I asked Anjuro casually, "I don't know if this is the case in Jiavalian's shop." How many boards are left?”

Liuli smiled and said, "There are about thirty yuan left." Since Jing Jingzhi wants to open a Jia Valer shop, he must bring enough carved wooden boards. The store brought a full sixty or seventy yuan, which is not enough for printing calendars. It's just a few pieces lost, but in this situation, naturally I can't tell the truth.

Qu Chongyu breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, I'll buy them all!"

Liuli had a surprised look on her face, and smiled again, "Your Majesty is really good at joking. If he sells everything to you, what kind of business does the Jiavalian store do?"

Qu Chongyu was startled for a while and then said, "Then sell it to me for twenty yuan."

Liuli laughed so hard, "Your Majesty, you are really good at joking. This flowerpot is the most expensive. If someone customized a four-color flowerboard, they would have to make six pieces and three sets of flowerboards, leaving ten pieces, both times. How can we still open the door if we don’t do enough?”

Listening to the silver bell-like laughter, Qu Chongyu felt his head swell, and his tone involuntarily became indifferent, "As long as Jiavalian sells the wooden boards to me first, I will ask people to go to Dunhuang and buy this kind of stuff right away." It only takes a month for the board to come back, and I will pay double the compensation for the loss caused by stopping the business for this month!" Liuli clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, you are really generous!" He turned around and asked Anjuro, " I wonder if the Jiavalian store won’t accept custom orders for a month, is fifty yuan enough to compensate?”

Anjuro was dumbfounded a long time ago. He also heard the carvers complain that the business of the Jia Valer shop is not good now. After opening it in Xizhou for a few months, he didn't make a few custom orders. The carvers were idle all day long. Yes, what's the loss if you don't take it for a month now? But at this time, he could only say, "That's enough."

Liuli blinked and looked at Qu Chongyu. Qu Chongyu immediately waved his hand like a fly, "I'll take a hundred guans and send them to your house when you turn around!"

A sweet smile broke out on Liuli's face, "Since the Crown Prince is so considerate, I can't let the Crown Prince suffer. I'll ask the two carvers who made the seals and engravings to work here for a month. If I'm not here, If the prince has something difficult to explain, you can probably ask them. Although they are a bit clumsy, they generally know something about the engraving."

Qu Chongyu had originally planned to ask Liuli a few more words to test her depth, and also thought about asking the palace maid a few words. But now that he heard that there was no need to ask her anymore, he felt greatly relieved. , his whole body became a little lighter, and he was about to say yes, but in the end he endured it for a while, "It's okay. But since Madam is already here, why not help Chongyu first to see if these craftsmen are doing a good job?" "

Liuli covered her mouth and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, you are so polite. What's wrong with that?" She moved lightly and walked up to the craftsman who was pasting up calligraphy paper. She only glanced at it and then frowned and said, "Why is there no type on this paper?" Vertical grid, how can the characters written like this be consistent in size and position? "

The craftsman was startled for a moment, then raised his head and glanced at Qu Chongyu. The unchecked calligraphy had nothing to do with him. Liuli, however, seemed unaware. She took a few more steps and criticized the carver for his wrong way of cutting out the wood. He also criticized the carver for cutting the knife too deeply, for having a delicate voice and showing off his attitude. Anjuro felt something was wrong. He looked at Liuli, who was very different from usual, and then at Ko Chongyu, whose face was getting more and more gloomy. Suddenly, he was so happy that he took two steps forward and said with a smile, "Auntie, you usually just give out ideas." , I don’t like to see people doing these rough jobs. Generally speaking, they don’t know what to do anymore. Why don’t we call the two carvers over earlier and let them discuss it together.”

Liuli said angrily, "Isn't this the prince's order? If I don't tell him, the prince will think that I am hiding something." As he spoke, he sighed and gave Qu Chongyu a resentful look.

Qu Chongyu's scalp suddenly went numb, and he endured it for a while, then smiled and said, "Juro is right, but Chongyu didn't think it through well. It's noisy here, and it's not the place that Madam should come. Madam, just go back and call the two A carver is here."

Liuli had a hesitant look on her face, "Is this... I'm afraid they can't explain it clearly?"

Qu Chongyu smiled hurriedly and said, "If there is something I really don't understand, Chongyu can just send someone to the house to ask for advice."

Liuli thought for a while and then smiled softly, "It doesn't matter, the smell here is really bad and it's very noisy. If I stay here for a long time, I'm afraid I'll get a little bored. If you have any questions, please don't be polite to me." . Otherwise, I would feel a little uneasy after taking the prince's hundred gold!"

Qu Chongyu smiled and bowed, "That's very good. Madam, please go back first. It's inconvenient for Chongyu to send you far away, so please forgive me, Madam."

Liu Li returned the gift and walked out. Anjuro smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I'm going to find the two carvers." He hugged his fists and followed.

Qu Chongyu didn't wait for them to enter the hall, then turned around and walked back to the desk, exhaling a long breath, feeling very depressed - I thought that this Kudi could come up with such an idea, he was extremely talented, but he didn't expect it. It was because I worked as a painter at Jia Vale Shop that I accidentally remembered this episode! If I had known this, why waste my manpower on sending a message to Chang'an on horseback? He had thought that he would become calmer after he understood where the knot in his heart was, but he didn't expect that every time he saw this Cudi, she would make him hate him even more. Although in this way, there was no need to separate I was worried about this woman, but I even forgot to mention the palace maid's matter...

He felt a mixture of joy and sorrow in his heart, and he was lost in thought for a long time before he turned around and gave a few instructions to the leading craftsman, and led the people out of the workshop. Before the city closed in the evening, the two people sent to **** Pei Xingjian came back and reported that Pei Xingjian was indeed looking for a man named Fang Ling. This man should be less than thirty years old, and he was probably leading the pastor. errand. They did not dare to follow too closely, and after turning a few hills, they lost track of Pei Xingjian and his group.

 Fangling? Qu Chongyu nodded, vaguely remembering that Feng Piaopiao mentioned that the palace maid couldn't find her parents and brothers for a while, so she remembered that there was such a cousin who was working as an errand in the shepherd's supervisor, so I'm afraid it would be easier to find him.

Since the Tang Dynasty took over Gaochang fifteen years ago, it has successively sent death row criminals to this place, and sent tens of thousands of soldiers to work in the fields. Naturally, family members followed. It is said that the family of the palace maid came here in this way. They are not locals from Xizhou. They have moved around. Many of them have moved to Tingzhou and other places. It is normal for them to be unable to be found for a while. Qu Chongyu was about to put the matter aside, but after thinking about it, he still said, "Now that you have a name and identity, you can go to the Xizhou Shepherd Supervisor to inquire quietly. If there is any news about this person, report back immediately. Again. Let’s go see if Pei Changshi has returned.”

Qu Chongyu said this casually, but when he heard that Pei Xingjian came back only in the afternoon of the second day, he was quite surprised. Unexpectedly, a few days later, his subordinates reported back and found out about Fang Ling. The news was quite shocking.

  In the Tang Dynasty, Xizhou was the place where serious criminals were exiled...

With tears streaming down his face, he said that this hard week is finally over...

 (End of this chapter)