The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 197 No place to vent the rumors

For several days after the Buddha's birthday, Liuli never set foot in the workshop - Kang seemed to be determined to make Liuli return to her lost ways. During the whole day, she either took her to major Buddhist temples to offer incense and listen to secular sermons, or she would Begging her to help copy scriptures, several aunts in the An family praised her for copying scriptures neatly, and they seemed to want her to become a professional scripture copyist from now on. Liuli couldn't refuse directly, and it was really annoying. . It was Pei Xingjian who saw her troubles and said lightly to An Sanlang, "Madam is busy day and night now, but I can't even say a few words to her in a day." Xiaotan reported early the next morning that Kang ordered someone to deliver a letter, saying that she had something to do today and would not come again.

Liuli was stunned for a moment, almost with tears in her eyes.

Pei Xingjian was about to go out. When he saw her appearance, he couldn't help laughing. After thinking about it, he said to her, "Sister-in-law will definitely not come to look for you like she did these past few days. It's just that people in the world like to live by themselves." Man, if you can’t force yourself to the end, you might as well refuse it outright the first time.”

Liuli responded "Okay" in a dull voice. Of course she knew the truth, but Kang and several aunts from the An family really did good for her. They looked at the smiling faces that were genuinely happy because she was getting better and better. , the word "no" became more and more heavy on the tip of her tongue...

Pei Xingjian looked at her for a long time and sighed, "Well, if you can't say it, you can't say it. Tell me earlier in the future, and I will be the evil person."

 Does he still need to come forward for such a trivial matter? Liuli was a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say. Pei Xingjian smiled and changed the subject, "What are you planning to do today?"

Liuli said, "The new white cloth has been woven in the past two days. I want to go and have a look!"

Pei Xingjian was a little surprised, "So fast? I can't leave today..."

Liuli looked at Pei Xingjian. He was dressed very formally. He was wearing a dark green round-necked robe with tortoise shell and silk. He also had a saber and an arithmetic bag on his belt. He looked like he had serious official business to do. He suddenly thought of the past few days. I heard that Mr. Kang mentioned that a monk from the Great Buddha Temple filed a complaint with the government. It seemed that the new monk was bullied and framed by the old monks in the temple. He hurriedly asked, "But the case of the Great Buddha Temple? Is it possible that it will be tried in the courtyard of the Governor's Mansion again?" Case?" Thinking of the sensation of the last cattle theft case, he couldn't help but frowned, "I'm afraid it will attract a lot of people!"

Pei Xingjian smiled and shook his head, "There won't be any outsiders in this trial." There was something meaningful in his smile.

Just when Liuli was about to ask again, Pei Xingjian said seriously, "Prince Qu has not been in a good mood these days. If you meet him in the workshop, it is best not to argue with him."

 Qu Chongyu is in a bad mood? When did he feel better? Liuli only found it a bit funny, but seeing that Pei Xingjian didn't seem to be joking, she nodded in agreement. After sending Pei Xingjian out, he changed into a beige silk-covered Hu suit that was not easily stained with lint, and headed straight to the workshop with Aqin.

However, I haven't set foot in it for eight or nine days, and the workshop in front of me seems to have changed: there are two more desks in the front yard, and more carpenters are busy making rolling machines and slingshots; The originally empty workshops were filled with weaving machines and weaving machines. Dozens of women were busy with their heads down, and the sound of creaking and creaking could be heard endlessly.

Master Li didn’t know where he had gone, but the young apprentice who was familiar with her smiled when he saw Liuli, “Why hasn’t Mrs. Kudi come for so many days? Master Li has been talking about you for a few days.”

Liuli smiled and said, "But the white cloth has already been woven?"

The young apprentice smiled and said, "That's right. Madam, please come with me."

In a warehouse in the front yard, there were several neatly folded white piles on the felt mat, and a few rags placed on top. Liuli hurriedly picked them up and touched them, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief. After using a slingshot to remove impurities and loosen the cotton fibers, the cotton fibers turned out to be much smoother, and the woven white sheets were obviously finer and softer than those seen in the market, and were enough to be used as daily outerwear or quilt tops. She looked carefully at the light a few more times and felt that although there were fewer impurities, the cotton thread seemed not even enough and slender enough. She nodded and said, "It is much stronger than before." She was about to ask the little apprentice again about the cotton thread. Then I heard a cold voice coming from behind, "This kind of white quilt is only suitable for common people to make clothes, and it is far from the best white quilt!"

 Die Peacock! If fine cotton could be spun so easily, would all the people in Xizhou be idiots? Liuli put down the white stack and was about to retort when Pei Xingjian's words suddenly came to her mind. She took a breath, turned around and nodded calmly, "It's true what the prince said, this white stack is indeed too thick. I've seen it. , because the spun thread is not even and thin enough.”

The young apprentice on the side nodded with admiration, "Madam, you have good eyesight. This white pile is no better than silk and linen thread. The thread will break if it is pulled too thin. Now it takes several weft machines to spin the thread to be used by one weaving machine." , The master craftsman is also trying to discuss with the lady how to make spinning thread easier."

Liuli said thoughtfully, "Why don't you take me to take a look first." Then he looked at Qu Chongyu, "Do you have any ideas, Prince?"

Qu Chongyu stood at the door, looking at Liuli's calm face. He felt as if a fist had been punched into the pile of white. Not only did he have nowhere to apply force, but his chest felt empty and uncomfortable. His tone couldn't help but become colder, "Where am I?" If you have any ideas, of course I’m waiting to hear Madam’s opinion!”

Liuli smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you're welcome," and followed the young apprentice out. Qu Chongyu was stunned for a long time, but he frowned and followed.

There is a row of workshops in the backyard. The one at the end only has a huge desk. On the desk is a white pile that has become soft and white. Several strong women are lowering their heads to comb the cotton with their hands and rub out tampons. . Liuli naturally knew that putting the cotton sliver on the weft car would make the thread drawn out more even, but rubbing it with her hands like this... She picked up the coiled cotton sliver on the side, looked at it seriously for a moment, and shook her head slightly.

Seeing her disapproving look, Qu Chongyu sneered in his heart. This method of making strips first and then spinning threads was figured out by the people of Xizhou over many years. She, who had never seen Baidian before arriving in Xizhou, really thought Do you think you know it from birth? There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone, "I wonder what Madam Cudi has to say? But do you think this white stack of strips is useless?"

Liuli rolled her eyes in her heart and replied calmly, "I don't dare." Then she turned to ask the young apprentice, "Why don't you see Master Li today?"

The young apprentice looked back at the outer courtyard and said, "The master went to the Great Buddha Temple early this morning to fulfill his vows. He should have been back long ago. I wonder if something happened on the way."

Liuli nodded and pondered for a moment, "Can you help me find some smooth long sticks? The top and bottom should be about the same thickness, preferably slightly thinner than a finger. They can be made of wood, bamboo, or straw. Look for more. Come here and find some fine-tooth combs.”

Although the young apprentice didn't know why Liuli suddenly wanted such an irrelevant thing, he had become accustomed to her whims these days, so he nodded with a smile and turned around to leave.

Qu Chongyu glanced at Liuli several times in confusion, wanting to ask what the use of this thing was, but when he said it, he said coldly, "It turns out that Madam has another wonderful idea. We really have to wait and see."

Liuli was still a little annoyed in her heart, but now she turned into amusement - this peacock seems to be in a really bad mood, so why is it eager to make everyone feel bad? She doesn't!

Liuli raised her head and looked at Qu Chongyu with a smile, "I don't dare to take it seriously. I just accidentally remembered the situation of drawing silk from silkworm cocoons, and wanted to try it randomly to make the prince laugh." Qu Chongyu was startled and suddenly didn't know how to respond. Okay, if you continue to make sarcastic remarks, you will only look like you have no grace, but if you immediately become pleasant, wouldn't it be even more ridiculous? For a moment, I could only nodded casually, "Ma'am, please help yourself." Feeling that I couldn't stay any longer, I turned around and headed to the front yard.

In the front yard, more than a dozen sets of completed rolling carts and slingshots have been put into the warehouse, and the ready-made slingshots are stacked throughout the room. Qu Chongyu walked around and knew: at the current speed, the number of slingshots in Xizhou this winter will be Each village can get one set. With the current texture of Baidie, I think starting from next spring, people in Xizhou will no longer have to use large tracts of good land to grow mulberry and hemp. They can just plant some Baidie on the sand fields, which will be enough for their own use and interbreeding... He should have breathed a sigh of relief. , but for some reason, I felt even more upset.

A master craftsman hesitated for a moment, then came over and said, "Your Majesty, everything else is going well now, but there are some difficulties in spinning the thread. Firstly, it is too slow. Secondly, thick thread is easy to get, but this thin thread is really good." It can’t be pulled out, you see…”

Qu Chongyu frowned and said, "I know." After these few days, he knew that the key to weaving thin white folds was spinning thread. However, he still had some ideas about making a weft machine, but he was a complete amateur on how to spin thread. .

Seeing the little apprentice just now excitedly carrying a handful of Shu millet stalks to the backyard, Qu Chongyu hesitated for a long time and then walked over. He saw Liuli doing something with his head down in the room, and several strip-rollers. The women gathered around her, and someone took the thing in her hand and went to the small room of the weft-laying car. After a while, cheers were heard in the room, and a woman poked her head out with a smile, " The white stacked strips made by Mrs. Kudi are really useful!" There was a sound of laughter and laughter in the room, and everyone got a Sichuan millet stalk and got busy.

Qu Chongyu couldn't help but walked into the house, but saw that these women had replaced their hands with fine-tooth combs with bristles. After combing the white combs, they wrapped them around the Shu millet stalks, and finally made a few inches of hollow white combs. The strips were hurriedly sent to the weaving room.

Qu Chongyu frowned, "What are you doing?"

Liuli turned around and saw the face with a dyspepsia look on her face. After a change of thought, she became more and more cheerful, "After sorting it out like this, the thread will be more evenly stretched when it is put on the weft cart. But is it enough to make a thin white fold?" , I want to go and have a look, Prince, can I go there with you?"

Qu Chongyu paused for a moment, then turned around and walked towards the carriage house silently. Several women in the weft car room were hand-operating the weft car to combine the newly made cotton slivers and pull them into thin strips on the spinning wheel. The yarn can be used for weaving, but when I tried to pull it into a thinner yarn, it still broke into two pieces with a "bang". I tried several times on several weft machines, but it still remained the same. , someone sighed, "At least the thread drawn out this time is even and thinner than the first one."

Liuli frowned and said nothing. Judging from the current situation, the problem with the thin yarn seems to have little to do with the craftsmanship. Could it be that the cotton fiber is too short and the texture is too poor, so it cannot be spun into a fine white layer? But didn’t Qu Chongyu say that in the past, the fine white layers spun by the royal family of Gaochang were as soft as silk? After thinking for a long time, I could only sigh, "Let's weave these yarns into white folds first." Looking back, I realized that unknowingly, the sun had reached the zenith, and it was almost noon. After a while, he couldn't knit it, so he still said to Qu Chongyu, "If nothing happens, Your Majesty, I will leave first and come back later."

Qu Chongyu is wondering if he can replace the weft wheel with a foot pedal, can he spin two more threads at a time? After hearing this sentence, he came back to his senses. He looked up and saw Liuli's calm smiling face. He felt depressed for a while and said in a cold voice, "Ma'am, please help yourself!" After saying this, I suddenly remembered that it seemed that I had said this twice.

Liuli seemed oblivious, nodded slightly, smiled, turned around and walked to the front yard. Qu Chongyu stood there, only feeling that there was an evil fire in his chest that had nowhere to vent: This Kudi family would not change its nature sooner or later, but it happened that it turned out like this after he made up his mind to eradicate it!

As he walked around the yard, he felt that the rolling carts, slingshots, and weft carts were all extremely dazzling. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, the door suddenly opened, and Master Li, who had not been seen all morning, walked in sweating profusely and almost bumped into Qu Chongyu.

Qu Chongyu couldn't help but his face darkened, "Where did you come from?"

Master Li saw clearly that it was Qu Chongyu and was so frightened that he hurriedly saluted and said, "Today I am going to the Great Buddha Temple to fulfill my vows."

Are you still willing to wait until this time? Qu Chongyu frowned even more, suppressed his anger and said, "It's better to come back earlier in the future."

 The young apprentice who came up from the side also handed over the water and said softly, "Ms. Kudi asked about you today and said that she would come back in the future."

Master Li slapped his thigh and said, "Where is the future? From now on, I will just burn incense in the temple here. If I don't go there, the monks in any big Buddhist temple will not necessarily be much better than us laymen!"

Qu Chongyu had already walked to the door. When he heard these words, he couldn't help but turned around and said, "Today, the Duhu Mansion is hearing a case, and you are asked to listen to it again?"

Master Li shook his head hurriedly, "Where can I listen? The entire road was blocked by the guards. I was stuck on the road for more than an hour. Many people came in and out, and I could only hear the noise in the distance. , Those people who came out refused to say anything, so they were obviously shameful, what kind of Buddhist pure land!"

Qu Chongyu was startled and felt that something was wrong. If he didn't let people listen, how could he make it worse than if he did? But this happened to be the one who went to Pei Xingjian to tell him, and he turned out to be... The evil fire in his heart suddenly burned stronger. After staying for a moment, he finally walked out without saying a word, and opened the door with a bang. The fall made the mountain ring.

Master Li was drinking water. He was so frightened by the sound that he almost threw the water ladle in his hand to the ground. He quickly asked his apprentice in a low voice, "Did Madam Kudi choke with the Crown Prince again today?"

The young apprentice shook his head blankly, "Ms. Kudi didn't say a word to the prince today."

 Master Li looked at the door and sighed. These days, the prince's temperament is really getting weirder and weirder!

I’ve written four thousand words, so I’m a little late. I’m sorry. The millet used to roll cotton strips is sorghum.

 (End of this chapter)