CHAPTER 357: CHAPTER 354: GATHERING TOGETHER

Chun Shan brought the Scripture Paper to Yang Wu.

Every year, Yang Wu transcribes Buddhist Scriptures. She has practiced her calligraphy well, and her writing looks especially beautiful on the scriptures.

Chun Shan whispered, "It might get even more expensive later on, as the New Year approaches, which is the time when the temple’s incense burns brightly. Moreover, this year’s Jianguo Temple Scripture Paper is different from previous years; the color is more vibrant, the paper doesn’t resist ink, and the words written on it appear fuller and more appealing. Why not give it a try?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Wu perked up immediately and instructed Chun Shan to prepare the ink. As she wrote the first character, her eyes lit up, noticing a clear difference; the pen moved smoothly on the paper.

"Quickly," Yang Wu said, "Bring the scriptures. I want to write quickly and strive to be the first to present them to the Empress."

Even if the Empress doesn’t wish to see her, she can always figure out a way to send them into the palace.

Yang Wu wrote for a straight hour, looking at the characters she had written with satisfaction. "Where did this Scripture Paper come from?"

Chun Shan said, "I don’t know. Jianguo Temple only claims it’s made by them, and perhaps that’s true since every piece bears the temple’s seal."

Yang Wu cherished the Scripture Paper but lamented that she had no Silver Coin. If it weren’t for Xu Yuanyu secretly sending some Silver, she wouldn’t even be able to afford a few sheets.

How had she suffered such hardships? Since she was old enough to remember, her father had been granted a residence, living peacefully in the Capital with a monthly salary. He was often invited to palace banquets, yet now she had to pin her hopes on the Buddhist Scriptures.

...

The Chen Family Village’s carriage traveled on, and although the journey was long and everyone was in a hurry, causing some fatigue, no one felt tired.

Looking back over the journey, they had passed through many states, prefectures, and villages, even making a deliberate stop at the Xingzhou merchandise depot, encountering many novel things.

"The further south you go, the better," said Hei Dan, "Better than our Zhenzhou."

Mrs. Gao glanced at Hei Dan, "Of course it’s better than Zhenzhou; haven’t we just finished fighting a war? You must understand, over here..."

Before Mrs. Gao could finish, Hei Dan eagerly said, "Within two years, we’ll be just as good, we’ll have such markets, everyone will wear new clothes, and mother can wear a golden hairpin."

Mrs. Gao didn’t dare to dream of a golden hairpin; wearing one in Silver would delight her.

Old Mrs. Chen looked at the beaming Mrs. Gao and asked, "What are you secretly laughing about?"

"Nothing, nothing," Mrs. Gao held Old Mrs. Chen’s arm, "Even if there’s a golden hairpin, you’d wear it first."

Old Mrs. Chen replied, "I don’t fancy that. So many nice things, why wear them on the head? Aren’t you afraid your head can’t lift up because of the weight? Better tied at the waist; it’s more substantial."

"Right," Mrs. Gao said, "We don’t want gold; with that Silver Coin, we’d better make more spinning wheels."

Old Mrs. Chen’s hand moved away from her waist, sighing, no hope, everyone’s learning from Miss Chen here, just thinking of ways to spend Silver Coin.

The carriage continued to the inn.

Old Mrs. Chen got off and said, "It’s not dark yet. Why aren’t we continuing our journey?"

The court’s little eunuch accompanying the carriage slid off the horse, panting, "Old Madam, we traveled quickly today. This inn was reserved yesterday. Please rest inside; we’ll reach the Capital in another two days."

Old Mrs. Chen nodded, "Thank you, Officer."

The little eunuch watched the people from Chen Family Village enter the inn, breathing a sigh of relief. He had assumed with Old Mrs. Chen’s age, they would need to look after her all the way, yet despite her stooped appearance, she was energetic, as were the robust young lads from Chen Family Village, full of vitality. Some even preferred running alongside the carriage, keeping up with its pace.

The guards from the Palace Department were used to rigorous training, and this was no issue for them.

It truly exhausted the few eunuchs and civil servants, feeling as if they were escorting provisions, no wonder the Chen Family Village could deliver military supplies to the eight states.

"Is the food ready?" the eunuch asked the accompanying military leader.

The military leader replied, "It’s ready, sir. Rest assured, everyone will eat well."

The little eunuch was relieved. Before departing Chen Family Village, Old Master Xie had said not to prepare overly exquisite meals along the way, but he agreed to this only verbally, planning to exert his best efforts regardless.

The elaborate dishes and bowls occupied the table, though the amount was limited. He noticed people from Chen Family Village roasting flatbread late at night, their remark being the food was tasty but not filling.

Consequently, he understood how to proceed. Though Old Master Xie and Miss Xie didn’t require him to worry much, they always arrived early to make arrangements.

The group from Chen Family Village certainly had an appetite, with a young lad able to eat three bowls of rice.

They didn’t use the gifted brocade, preferring to wear old clothes on the road, and each prepared two sets of coarse cloth new clothes to change into upon arrival in the Capital.

The little eunuch personally saw Old Mrs. Chen wearing shoes with worn soles, the shoes visibly about to break, yet she adamantly refused to change them, saying they’d be discarded only after more wear as traveling through dust couldn’t bring out any goodness, and besides old shoes were comfortable.

In conclusion, these people truly weren’t different from ordinary villagers. The little eunuch even doubted if Princess Guangyang had really been saved by Chen Family Village, whether she truly considered Old Mrs. Chen her mother, staying in Chen Family Village for years and marrying the official-less Xie Shao Yuan?

Miss Xie had no semblance of a proper lady, showing herself publicly and chatting with small traders at the market and joking with the chef in the kitchen. Passing through any state or county, she would always take a stroll around, and Xie Shao Yuan didn’t restrain her.

The guards accompanying Miss Xie seemed to be from the Song Family, yet the Song Family didn’t seem to mind this familial connection either.

In summary, it didn’t align with a noble lady at all.

The little eunuch wrote a confidential letter detailing all these observations, sending it to his foster father Du Zheng, so that his father could report to the Emperor.

Xie Liangchen, having finished her meal, fiddled with the counting rods in her room.

Chen Yongsheng looked at Xie Shao Yuan, "Are we running out of Silver Coin?"

Xie Shao Yuan nodded, "But the Paper Workshop has produced many paper sheets, they should fetch a good price."

Silver Coin from the village was all used to make spinning wheels; they plan to make a large number, and Chen Yongyi hadn’t accompanied them to the Capital, staying in Zhaozhou to oversee the work.

After a moment’s hesitation, Chen Yongsheng asked, "Why not talk to General Song about allocating Silver from the government office?"

This was something Xie Shao Yuan hadn’t discussed with Xie Liangchen; both father and daughter knew well, "Spinning wheels are for use by villagers in Dai State. Currently, the Dai State Government Office is not well organized yet. If Silver were allocated from Zhenzhou, it would have to be reported layer by layer and couldn’t be casually moved. Besides, involving the Prefecture Government, it could cause complications during investigations."

Even the production of wax paper and flower paper is done at a newly established Paper Workshop, different from the government-run one, which produces official paper, while theirs offers finer-crafted paper sheets.

Xie Liangchen had foresight in these matters to avoid the court using this to create trouble for Song Xian later.

Chen Yongsheng understood, "In the future, I’ll keep the village’s accounts more detailed."

Xie Shao Yuan nodded, looking at Xie Liangchen, "Stop worrying, we’ve traveled the whole day, let’s all rest early!"

Chen Zigeng helped Xie Liangchen gather her writing brushes and ink.

Chen Yongsheng also went out to invite everyone to rest. Just as he stepped out, before greeting Hei Dan in the yard, he heard Hei Dan shout, "General Brother is here."