Lu Yan immediately rode his horse to chase after them, but a merchant caravan passed by and blocked his way. When he wanted to chase them again, the carriage was nowhere to be seen.
He said to the servant beside him, "Did you see the carriage just now? Go and find out whose carriage it is and where the glass on it came from."
The servant looked at his master cautiously and said with a bitter face, "My Lord, that is the Qin family's carriage."
Lu Yan's expression changed slightly. He was very reluctant to believe that this was the Qin family he knew: "Which Qin family?"
The servant didn't dare to say it was Qin Wan's carriage. He only said vaguely, "It's the Qin family. That's the Qin family's young lady's carriage."
Lu Yan didn't want to have much contact with the Qin family right now. Every time he came into contact with them, something bad would happen. He turned his horse around and said, "Let's go find Carpenter Li."
Craftsman Li is the best glass craftsman in the capital. The glass lamps he makes are very beautiful. It’s a pity that he can’t make good glass windows.
The servant was puzzled: "Didn't Master Li say he couldn't make it?"
"But he has a wide network of contacts." Lu Yan didn't want to find Liuli through Qin Wan, so he could only go through Li the Carpenter.
Craftsman Li had just obtained a piece of glass the size of a palm, which was smooth and translucent. He was just looking at it with great joy when Lu Yan arrived.
Lu Yan pointed at the colored glass in his hand and asked, "Did Master Li just make this?"
Carpenter Li shook his head. "It was just sent by an old friend. Would you like to take a look, Lord?"
The palm-sized glass was hazy and had some bubbles, but the color was very good, there were not many impurities, and the light transmittance was many times better than what he had found before.
Lu Yan was delighted: "How big can they make this kind of glass? And how many can they make?"
Craftsman Li said, "I heard from them that they can make at least three feet square at present, and with time they will be able to make glass that is thicker and more transparent than this."
Lu Yan's eyes lit up: "Please help me order some colored glaze from him. I want thirty yuan!"
Carpenter Li looked at Lu Yan, hesitated for a moment, and shook his head, saying, "My old friend is now working for the Qin family. If the Marquis wants to buy this glass, he should go to the Qin family."
It’s the Qin family again!
Lu Yan clenched his fist and said, "Go find him privately and ask him to make it. Money is not a problem."
Craftsman Li stared at Lu Yan in surprise, his face sullen. "Marquis Pingyang, you are a marquis, and so are the Qin family. How could a mere craftsman like us afford to offend both of you? Furthermore, if it were truly that simple, that one person could create the colored glaze, how could we let him leave the workshop so easily?"
Colored glaze is expensive. If I had such a skilled craftsman under my command, I would have locked him up and not allowed him to go out.
Lu Yan knew immediately that the craftsman definitely didn't have the complete formula. His eyes dimmed, and after a moment he said, "Then contact the Qin family and ask them to help me buy the colored glaze."
Craftsman Li agreed to this. The affairs of the Pingyang Marquis Mansion and the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion had caused a sensation in the city, and craftsmen like them also knew about it.
"My lord, this price is not cheap." Carpenter Li still reminded him.
Lu Yan had been tossing and turning with this colored glass for a long time and was already exhausted. Now, as long as he could buy it, he didn't mind if Craftsman Li made a little profit from it: "Go ask the price, I want the biggest one."
Lu Yan was waiting here for Craftsman Li and asked him to go and contact the contact person.
When Qin Wan met the steward and learned that Lu Yan wanted to buy colored glass, she was quite surprised: "A man named Lu wants this colored glass?"
The steward replied, "Yes, I contacted them through Craftsman Li. I heard that the Bai family requested a glazed greenhouse. A full glazed window isn't enough; they need an entire wall covered in glazed glass."
Qin Wan imagined what a greenhouse made of Wuxiang Liuli would look like. It seemed pretty nice, didn’t it?
Seeing Qin Wan remained silent, the steward told her everything he knew: "Lord Lu had Yangshi Lei make a sample. He used colored glaze for the two windows and also dug out a large piece of colored glaze for the roof. I heard that Mrs. Bai was still not satisfied and insisted that the entire wall be covered with colored glaze."
Tao Yao's eyes lit up as she listened. She looked at Qin Wan expectantly, "Miss..."
How could Qin Wan not know what this money-grubber was thinking? She smiled and said, "Then sell it to him. A square foot of colored glass costs ten taels of silver on the market now, but our Wuxiang colored glass is more transparent and more beautiful than the colored glass on the market."
"So we want one hundred taels of silver per side. A two-foot square will cost three hundred taels of silver, and a three-foot square will cost one thousand taels of silver. Tell him if he wants it or not, and if he doesn't, forget it."
The steward took the order and went down. Qin Wan had already pulled Tao Yao aside and asked, "How many broken pieces of glass do we have left? Go find that type of Lei and make some glass houses for me to see. If they look good, we can make some glass houses too."
"Yangshi Lei's price is very expensive." Tao Yao suddenly felt pain in her heart.
Yangshi Lei is a famous construction craftsman. It is expensive to ask him to make a design and it is even more expensive to ask him to build a house.
Qin Wan smiled slyly: "But someone gave us money."
Tao Yao grinned. Even though she killed Lu Yan with a fierce blow, she still felt pain in her flesh!
Carpenter Li wanted to raise the price, but when he heard the price, he gave up. The price was too high. He would never spend the money. So he told Lu Yan the price honestly: "Three feet square of colored glaze costs one thousand taels of silver. I'll just take my hand, so you can give me a few taels of silver."
Lu Yan gasped. A one-foot piece was only a hundred taels, but three feet was a thousand taels. "Why?"
Craftsman Li said, "You know how difficult it is to make colored glaze. If I could make colored glaze three feet square, I would sell it at the same price. If you don't believe me, you can come with me to the workshop and take a look."
Lu Yan naturally didn't believe it, so he followed Craftsman Li into his workshop. After staying there for a few days, he realized that although the production of colored glaze seemed simple, it was actually extremely difficult.
Making large glass ornaments is much simpler than making flat glass windows.
Craftsman Li conducted several experiments in the workshop and was able to make a glass vase that was more than three feet high, but he could not make a glass window that was two feet square, let alone a crystal clear glass window.
Carpenter Li gave up. He couldn't afford the materials and time, and he also had orders to deliver. "My Lord, I really tried my best."
Lu Yan had no choice but to give Li the craftsman twenty taels of silver. He couldn't let him work in vain: "Help me order the colored glaze."
After receiving the money, Carpenter Li went to find the manager of Wuxiang Liuli. Not long after, he found Lu Yan and said, "This thing is fragile, so the transportation must be done by the Marquis himself. You must pay a 30% deposit upfront, and the remaining 70% when you pick it up. If you do not pick it up, the deposit is non-refundable."
As soon as Lu Yan heard this, he knew it was Qin Wan's idea: "This woman is too vicious!"
Craftsman Li curled his lips and said, "It's the same here. Making things is not easy. If we don't take a deposit, what if the product is finished and the owner runs away? Wouldn't we lose so much money that we can't even afford to eat the northwest wind?"
Lu Yan knew this, but he was not happy that Qin Wan had taken all the money. He immediately went back to get the silver, but found that there was no money left at home.
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