"Mother says she has a terrible headache. Do you think I should go to Yonghe Palace to see her?"

Yinzhen shook his head: "No need. I went to see her once. Father said that Mother has a headache and needs to rest. In the future, unless it is a festival, there is no need to go to Yonghe Palace."

Tong Cheng'er nodded. It's better not to go, so as not to really upset people.

Yinzhen knew that his mother was really troubled this time, but he was completely unmoved at the moment.

There's no need to worry about Yonghe Temple anymore; the pencil issue has also made progress.

Although Tong Cheng'er didn't know how to make pencils, she prepared the raw materials and drew a sketch of the pencil's shape.

Encouraged by the generous reward, the five craftsmen produced the first version of the pencil in just ten days.

Tong Cheng'er was reading a storybook when Ru Lan came in.

"Madam, the pencils you asked the craftsmen in the manor to make are finished. Would you like to take a look?"

Of course I have to take a look.

She put down the storybook she was holding: "Let me see it."

Rulan placed the pencil on the table.

Tong Cheng'er: "Find a sharp knife."

She wants to sharpen a pencil.

She brought over the knife and held it up against the pencil. It hadn't been sharpened in years, and she needed to figure out how to use it.

Rulan watched as she brandished the knife and couldn't help but say, "Madam, what are you going to do? Let me do it. This knife is very sharp. If it cuts you, the master will be heartbroken."

Tong Cheng'er shook her head: "No need, no need, I can do it myself."

Sharpening pencils isn't a technical skill; she can do it.

Then she gestured for a while before starting to sharpen a pencil, proving that it really is a skill.

She had sharpened a pencil so badly it was barely presentable, but at least she had managed to get the lead out.

It works.

She wrote two words on the paper with a pencil. The words were as black as ink. There was no problem with that, but the color was too dark. If she wrote a few more lines, her hands would get dirty.

It would be better if the color were a little lighter.

However, this color can be used for painting.

After the experiment was over, she realized that her hands had turned black.

After cleaning her hands, she said to Rulan, "Go to the accounting office and get the silver. These pencils are well made. Give each of them a reward of one hundred taels of silver. Also, bring all five of them over tomorrow. I have other instructions."

Rulan: "Yes, Madam."

Tong Cheng'er was very excited, and Yinzhen could feel her excitement when he returned from his business trip that night.

So he asked, "Did something happy happen today? You seem very happy."

Tong Cheng'er nodded: "Yes, something happy has happened."

Then she led Yinzhen to the study, where there was a row of sharpened pencils on the desk.

Tong Cheng'er asked cheerfully, "Look what this is?"

Yinzhen looked over, then said with some surprise, "You've made a pencil?"

Tong Cheng'er nodded: "Why don't you give it a try and see how it goes?"

Yinzhen held a pencil and wrote on the paper.

Because she was used to writing with a brush, the characters she wrote with a pencil were a bit ugly, something Tong Cheng'er hadn't expected.

However, Yinzhen did not stop. He wrote for a while, and the more he wrote, the better it became, even better than what Tong Cheng'er wrote.

Tong Cheng'er couldn't help but sigh in admiration. He really was a genius. In just a short while, he had surpassed her by more than one or two decades.

Looking at his neat and upright calligraphy, I originally wanted to make a few sarcastic remarks, but now I think I'll pass.

Tong Cheng'er: How do you feel?

Yinzhen nodded: "Very good."

Then Yinzhen remembered to ask her, "What is the cost of these pencils?"

"If we don't count labor costs, the cost of twenty pencils is only one cent. Moreover, we can make improvements based on this cost, and then the cost can be reduced even further."

Nowadays, pencils are made of solid wood, and the wood is directly consumed after use. Tong Cheng'er's next goal is to have the craftsmen try to make a pencil similar to a mechanical pencil, which would use lead directly, thus reducing costs.

She believes that human wisdom is boundless, and that given enough incentive, people will rack their brains to create something truly amazing.

Looking at Yinzhen and then at the pencil on the table, Tong Cheng'er suddenly felt an itch to use her hands.

"Let me draw you a picture!"

Yinzhen was puzzled. He remembered that she didn't seem to know how to paint.

However, since she had said so, Yinzhen nodded: "Okay!"

Tong Cheng'er said to Yinzhen, "Strike a pose that you think looks good."

A nice pose?

How should we arrange it?

Finally, at Tong Cheng'er's instruction, Yinzhen sat down in a chair, holding a book in his hand.

Tong Cheng'er took a pencil and started writing on the paper.

At first, she was clumsy and wasted two sheets of paper before Tong Cheng'er finally got into the swing of things.

Tong Cheng'er scribbled and drew for almost an hour, and a reasonably decent sketch appeared.

"Alright, come over here and see if it looks like it?"

Yinzhen put down the book, walked to the table, and began to look at the painting.

At just one glance, Yinzhen couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "So alike, so incredibly alike!"

Seeing Yinzhen's shocked expression, Tong Cheng'er smiled and said, "How is it?"

"It looks very realistic. I never knew you had such drawing skills."

To Yinzhen's surprise, since he knew his little princess was a lazy girl, and the only thing she could do well was to learn calligraphy that her mother forced her to do.

"If you like it, I'll draw another one for you later."

Yinzhen nodded: "I like it very much."

However, upon seeing the painting, Yinzhen couldn't help but think a bit more. Such a lifelike portrait could have many uses.

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