"Lord Nie, please see, I didn't lie to you. I'm exchanging this movable type printing technology for engraving."
Su Luo continued to explain to Nie Hanlin: "This printing technique uses movable type. The wood particles for engraving the characters in the printing plate can be changed as needed, so printing more than a dozen books a day is not a problem."
Nie Hanlin picked up the paper that Su Luo had printed and examined it. The characters were barely passable, but if this movable type printing was used throughout the entire Shangshu Pavilion, the daily book production volume could increase by more than thirty times.
Nangong Chiyu also picked up the sheet of paper that Su Luo had printed and looked at it, then looked at the movable type printing plate she had made.
She really could produce more than ten books a day with this; she wasn't exaggerating. Nangong Chiyu's gaze towards Su Luo this time held a hint of appreciation.
"Vice Minister of Agriculture, I must admit that your movable type printing technology is excellent, and I am also very interested in it."
This technology is undoubtedly a major invention for our dynasty. Vice Minister of Agriculture, you are very intelligent, but I fear I am unable to meet your requirements.
Nie Hanlin's eyes dimmed. If he couldn't create something to exchange for this technology with Su Luo, he wouldn't use it. This was a principle of his scholarly integrity.
"Lord Nie, why are you not up to the task?"
Su Luo could see that he was already very interested, his eyes were full of love for movable type printing.
"The Vice Minister of Agriculture heard about my deeds ten years ago. If you want to know why now, the Vice Minister of Agriculture will know at a glance."
As he spoke, Nie Hanlin picked up a small carving knife and began carving the small pieces of wood that Su Luo had prepared.
His technique was very skillful, but as he turned to carve under the light reflecting in through the window, his eyes narrowed into slits.
He carved the small piece of wood through it in one go, rendering it useless. When he picked up another one, he poked his hand until it bled.
"Lord Nie, are you alright?"
Nie Hanlin looked at the blood flowing from his fingers, pursed his lips, and hated himself for not being as brave as he used to be.
"Deputy Minister of Agriculture, this is why I am not competent for the job. I have been looking at books for many years, reading and copying them, and my eyes are no longer good."
"You said that if I could carve larger characters, I could still rely on the warmth of those days, but for such small characters, I have the will but not the strength..."
The room fell silent immediately. If it had been a rejection, Su Luo could have salvaged the situation, but Nie Hanlin's eyesight was failing, and no matter how good his engraving skills were, it wouldn't have helped.
After a long while, Nangong Chiyu held out his hand to Su Luo and said, "Do you think this is alright?"
Su Luo looked at the small wooden pellet between his fingers; it turned out to be a character 'Su' that he had carved out.
Su Luo's gaze was immediately drawn to the wooden particle in his hand. She grasped his outstretched palm with her right hand and carefully examined the words on it.
The lettering is intact, without any damage, and is carved precisely in the center of the small wooden particle.
"Prince Yu, you can actually carve characters? You can even carve such small characters, that's wonderful! I knew there was always a way out."
Su Luo took the small character from Nangong Chiyu's fingers before releasing her grip on his hand.
"Lord Nie, these words were carved by Prince Yu."
Su Luo felt that Nangong Chiyu could carve the characters on it, and the characters would be perfectly round and usable.
Su Luo and Nie Hanlin were studying the words he had carved, but he hadn't yet retracted his outstretched hand.
Just now, Su Luo took the initiative to hold his hand. He rarely interacts with women, and he always felt disgusted whenever Nangong Manyu tried to hold his hand.
Nangong Chiyu scoffed, "It's probably because neither he nor Su Luo wanted anything from each other, and they didn't care, that they weren't disgusted."
“Vice Minister of Agriculture, the character ‘Yu Wang’ is acceptable. With my guidance, I can definitely carve the character you desire.”
Su Luo put away the things and finally looked at Nangong Chiyu properly: "Prince Yu, can you help me carve some words?"
Nangong Chiyu leaned back in his chair, his hands resting on the armrests, looking languid.
Why should I help you?
Su Luo: "I'll give you acupuncture, and you carve words for me!"
Nangong Chiyu sneered, "If I hadn't obtained His Majesty's decree, would the Deputy Minister of Agriculture have been able to perform acupuncture on me?"
Will it?
Su Luo certainly wouldn't. That time at the Imperial Hospital was only because of the circumstances and Manyu's pleading. She would rather spend her time at Fu Man Lou and the estate that His Majesty bestowed upon her.
"Your Highness is joking. I am a woman, and my medical skills are not very good. I am afraid that I will not be of much help to Your Highness's illness."
If your illness cannot be cured in one or two years, or even ten or eight years, then I will have no choice but to go before His Majesty to beg for forgiveness.
"Instead of wasting time, I'd better go see His Majesty now and get away with the punishment sooner rather than later, since I haven't even left the palace yet."
Su Luo knew that if there were other ways to treat Nangong Chiyu's illness, he would never have come to her. Since they both couldn't live without each other, why didn't they help each other?
"Su Luo, do you intend to defy the imperial decree?"
Su Luo remained calm and composed. "No, I said I was going to apologize. Given my contribution to the current development of Nanning, His Majesty certainly won't punish me."
At most, he would reprimand them a couple of times. Since ancient times, even emperors who sought the elixir of immortality failed to kill everyone in the world.
"Am I so incompetent in my medical skills that I have violated the laws of Nanning Kingdom?"
Su Luo is currently the most valued person by His Majesty and the Imperial Preceptor in the court, second only to Nangong Chiyu.
The land of Nanning needs Nangong Chiyu to protect it, and the agriculture and sericulture of Nanning need her skills and knowledge.
Given the current situation, why should Su Luo let herself suffer a loss? Dealing with Nangong Chiyu is much simpler than dealing with Nie Hanlin.
"Su Luo... how dare you!"
Nangong Chiyu almost gritted his teeth as he called out her name.
"Thank you, Prince Yu. I will write down the characters that need to be engraved later. You don't need to engrave the whole book."
In order to be able to remember his past, Nangong Chiyu had no choice but to agree, but he was also curious as to how he could carve words.
These hands seem to have muscle memory; they pick up a carving knife and do it on their own without having to think about anything.
"Prince Yu, seeing your exceptional talent for engraving, I will teach you a few more tips and tricks, and I guarantee you will achieve great success."
Nangong Chiyu, whether threatened by Su Luo or simply interested, studied with Nie Hanlin while taking notes.
He even remembered the proper way to hold each carving knife very carefully, and in the end, Nie Hanlin even gave him his own set of carving tools.
After leaving the Shangshu Pavilion, the two each carried a box out. Nie Hanlin taught Nangong Chiyu how to carve characters, and Nangong Chiyu then carved characters for her.
In exchange, Su Luo also passed on her movable type printing technique to the Shangshu Pavilion.
The two walked to the place where the carriages were placed at the palace gate. This was the first palace gate. Only after passing through this gate could one be considered to have truly left the palace.
"Your Highness!"
Chi Yi had a sword at his waist, long and narrow eyes, and rarely smiled. He came over and took the things from Nangong Chiyu's hands.
"Your Highness, the Fifth Princess has been waiting for you here for a long time."
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