Chapter 423
~ PRODIGAL MASTER ~
The Sixth Princess’s marriage date was set three months later, at the end of January. If it was not for the approaching Chinese New Year, the Imperial Court would really be too busy. The Emperor was so angry that he did not even want to wait three months, so he decided to marry her off to the Su family earlier. Out of sight and out of mind.
The Grand Princess Yi De originally wanted to hold the ceremony before the new year to recognize Mu Yunyao as her granddaughter. But there were only two months until the new year. In addition, Mu Yunyao wanted to preside over the dissemination of the embroidery needle technique. Ni Yun Fang and Bu Xian Luo also would have to settle their accounts book at the end of the year. There are too many things, and they can only be put off until the end of the year.
The Grand Princess Yi De was very sorry. Later, she thought that it would be good to have more time to prepare. If she had enough time, she could prepare more carefully.
Mu Yunyao began to spread the embroidery needle technique matter, and the common folk of the Capital did not have the time to spread the Su family’s rumors. All the women, who wanted to learn the embroidery needle technique, gathered at the academies especially established for them.
Mu Yunyao carefully assigned the embroidery ladies that had rushed over from Jingling City. She had already taught them all the embroidery needle techniques she knew. As for how much they learned, it would depend on their perception.
The time limit of the tenth day of Yue Wang’s confinement soon came to an end. He changed into a new set of clothes and went straight to Ni Yun Fang. In the past, in order to avoid arousing suspicion, he had deliberately concealed his presence and whereabouts. Now that Grand Princess Yi De had revealed that she recognized Mu Yunyao as her granddaughter, Yue Wang didn’t even try to hide anymore and swaggered around Ni Yun Fang.
“Yunyao, Imperial Father punished me with a salary of over half a year. I’m almost unable to open the pot in my residence, so I can only eat and drink with you.”
Mu Yunyao laughed, “Your Royal Highness Yue Wang sure knows how to joke around. You’re the Prince of the Dali Dynasty, yet you’re unable to open the pot after being punished for half a year. How poor are you exactly?”
Yue Wang was sitting upright on Mu Yunyao’s embroidered soft couch. His expression was slightly serious, but his tone was confident and righteous, “You said that you will help me earn a lot of silver taels. Although I earned quite a bit previously, I still have many people to raise, so I’ve almost used up all of them.”
Mu Yunyao turned around and said in surprise, “It’s only been a short time, and you’ve already spent over 10 million silver?” To be able to spend so much silver in such a short time was also a skill.
Yue Wang nodded his head: “In the past, Western Guangdong had a weak foundation. Even after eight years of development, they still did not improve much, and many arrangements were delayed. Now that there is silver tael, a lot of them are filled in. It was expressly difficult to earn silver, but spending it was quite easy. So now we’re running out of silver, and the expenses in residence are tense.”
Mu Yunyao smiled as she glanced at him. This person didn’t see much difficulty when earning silver, “I actually have a way to make silver here. I wonder if Your Royal Highness is interested?”
“Let’s talk about it.” Yue Wang looked at Mu Yunyao, his eyes filled with concentration.
Mu Yunyao sat behind the table and flipped through the account books with one hand while drawing and writing with the other. The sunlight shone on her sides and covered her body with a layer of warm yellow light, like a cat basking in the sun. It made people want to reach out and caress her with their hands. “Over the past few days, Ni Yun Fang has developed rapidly.
The learned process of the embroidery needle technique continued very quickly. More and more people began to understand the embroidery process. Although not everyone makes a living by embroidery, many people did it quite well. When Yue Wang saw those embroideries, doesn’t he have any interest in it?”
“Embroidery? That is to say,Ni Yun Fang can sell a set of clothes for a thousand taels of silver. As for the other shops and stores, they simply cannot make such a huge profit.”
Mu Yunyao put down her brush. “I heard that Western Guangdong is very close to Northern Xinjiang and Yunnan.”
Yue Wang’s brows twitched, and his eyes lit up: “Yunyao, you aren’t trying to sell the embroidery to Northern Xinjiang and Yunnan, are you?”
“Why not? Our tea leaves and silks are extremely popular with the people of Northern Xinjiang and Yunnan. As the number of people who could embroider increased in the Dali Dynasty, the price of embroidery cloth must be a bit cheaper. Rather than fighting over a small profit here, it’s better to keep our sights set on the future.”
Yue Wang thought about it carefully. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was a feasible idea. “This idea is not bad. Northern Xinjiang is a place where war horses flourish, while Yunnan’s cattle and sheep flock together. Thus, if Ni Yun Fang’s embroidery and Bu Xian Luo’s tea leaves used to exchange for these, it must be extremely worthwhile.”
“These are not the big ones. We still have a batch of salt in Linjiang City that has not been touched. We have a austere investigation of the salt tax now, so we don’t know how long we have to wait to sell it. If we find an opportunity to transport it to Western Guangdong and sell it to Northern Xinjiang and Yunnan, our profits might be double.”
Yue Wang stood up and paced back and forth in the room: “That’s right. Western Guangdong is suffering from the bitter cold, and very few people pay attention to it.It used to be bad. But now you can hide people’s eyes and ears with the help of it. Yunyao, you spread the embroidery needle technique all over the place. Is that why you’re doing this?”
“Your Royal Highness Yue Wang has overestimated me. I spread embroidery the needle technique just so I could gain a foothold and gain fame for myself. How could I possibly think about something so long-term?”
Perhaps others would have to take things one step at a time. But for Mu Yunyao, every step seemed to be meticulously planned out. Watching her come all the way from Jingling City to the Capital and forcing the Su family to fail time and time again, it was as if she was always in an invincible position.
“You think very thoroughly as if everything is under your control.”
Mu Yunyao slightly paused for a moment before slowly opening her mouth and smiling, “Foolish people always have their own considerations. I admit that I am not the most intelligent one, so I can only think more about every step in the future. I have thought of innumerable possibilities and calculated countless times. For many people, even if they make a mistake, they have the opportunity to start over again, so they can afford to make a mistake. But for me, if I’m careless, I will lose all of my matches, so I don’t have the qualifications to make myself fail.”
Along the way, if it weren’t for her meticulous planning, she and her mother would only be at the Su family’s mercy, just like in her previous life. If she lost, she wouldn’t even know how she died.
Looking at Mu Yunyao’s nonchalant expression, Yue Wang actually felt an unspeakable bitterness from within. “Yunyao, even though Imperial Aunt is unable officially acknowledge you as part of the Imperial Family, she has already said that she wants to recognize you as her granddaughter. With Imperial Aunt as her backer, you don’t have to be so careful. Even if you did make a mistake, Imperial Aunt would still help you through the difficulties, not to mention … You and me.”
Mu Yunyao’s heart trembled, and a sour and bitter feeling melted from her heart. “Then I’ll need Uncle to take good care of me in the future.”
“I don’t like that name.” He knew that Mu Yunyao’s way of calling him uncle was not only a reminder to her but also a reminder to himself. But emotions were the hardest things to explain clearly in this world. The moment you move your heart, even though you knew it was like a moth flying into a flame, you would not be able to contain the desire to welcome the instant warmth and light.
Mu Yunyao slightly withdrew her finger. After pausing for a moment, she picked up her brush and continued to check the account book, “Then, I’ll still call you Your Royal Highness Yue Wang from now on.”