The next day, Jiang Muyu went to the dyeing workshop.

The shopkeeper took her to inspect the entire dyeing workshop.

The dyeing workshop is not large, it is a small courtyard surrounded by four rooms. In the courtyard, rows of drying poles are hung with dyed cloth.

There are only eight workers in total, five of whom are middle-aged, three women and two men. They are mainly responsible for boiling cloth, dyeing, and drying it for shaping.

There were only two young men who did delivery work, and a girl who was not yet 15 years old, who was the daughter of the shopkeeper and was responsible for mixing the dyes and colors on a daily basis.

The whole thing feels like a federation of the elderly, the weak, women and children.

Jiang Muyu checked the dyed cloths and his brows furrowed the more he looked. It's not that the cloths were dyed badly, but the colors were too traditional and the patterns were old-fashioned and not novel enough. Even if the materials were good, it would be difficult to sell them.

"Shopkeeper Huang, call over the girl who is in charge of mixing the dyes."

"yes."

After a while, the shopkeeper Huang came with a little girl in light green clothes. She looked about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a round face and big eyes, like a little cat.

Huang, the shopkeeper, said, "Madam, this is our little daughter Xu'er."

Jiang Muyu's face was relatively gentle. He pointed at the cloth on the table and asked, "Did you mix these patterns?"

Xuer nodded and said, "Your Majesty, it is me."

"The craftsmanship is good, but it's too traditional. The colors are not bold and the design is not innovative." She picked up a piece of brown cloth and said, "This kind of pattern was eliminated by Jinxiu House two years ago."

Xuer's face froze.

Jiang Muyu stretched out her slender white finger and pointed at the other piece of cloth in front of her, saying, "This purple color with this pattern, I'm afraid King Yan will dislike it if I use it to make a birthday robe."

Huang the shopkeeper and Xu'er did not dare to refute, and both looked unhappy.

"Don't blame me for saying such harsh words. You should know how low the sales of the materials you have made have been in recent years. If it weren't for the low price, how many clothing shops would buy such ugly and tearful cloth?"

Huang, the shopkeeper, said with a bitter face, "Madam, my daughter has done her best. In the early years, we had a top color matching female worker in our shop, but she asked for a raise in her monthly salary after working here for less than two years. I gave her a raise at first, but later she was not satisfied and asked for an increase of ten taels. The monthly salary of us and the workers combined is less than twenty taels. How can we afford to give her ten taels each?"

"So she just walked away?"

Xuer gritted her teeth and said, "It would have been fine if she had left in a dignified manner, but that guy not only turned around and went to Jinxiu Manor, but also took our dyeing recipes with him. He is such an ungrateful person!"

Huang, the shopkeeper, said, "Yes, our dyeing workshop was originally run by a master named Cai, who had her own unique craftsmanship. The cloth produced by our dyeing workshop was famous in the capital in those years. Jinxiu Zhuang and Lingqie Pavilion had come to us to purchase goods. Later, Master Cai retired due to old age, and introduced her apprentice Xianniang to us. Unexpectedly, this person was arrogant and looked down on our small dyeing workshop."

He sighed as he said this, "Since then, our dyeing business has plummeted, and replacing several workers has been of no avail."

Jiang Muyu nodded in understanding, "Then you sold the dyeing factory, so it came into my mother's hands?"

"Yes, thanks to the help of Madam Hou, the brand of this dyeing factory has survived to this day, but it was only after much struggle."

This struggle lasted for more than ten years and was not easy.

The original owner was counting on these run-down shops to make a living, no wonder he couldn't make much money after selling them all.

Jiang Muyu helplessly held his forehead.

She is not very good at dyeing and matching colors, but she can find help.

So she said, "Stop working today. Stop producing those ugly materials. Wait for me to bring a new master to you."

Xuer looked at her, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

Jiang Muyu said: "Just say what you want to say."

Xuer said: "My lady, I really want to learn how to dye cloth."

“Sometimes passion and ability are two different things. You need a certain amount of talent to do anything.”

The light in Xuer's eyes dimmed and she lowered her head silently.

"It's just..." Jiang Muyu raised his hand and rubbed her head, smiling warmly, "If you really like it, hard work can surpass talent."

"Really?" Xuer's big eyes were full of hope and sparkling.

"Of course it's true. I'll find a master for you and you can learn from him. But whether you can learn well or not depends on yourself."

"Okay, I will work hard and live up to your expectations!"

"Um."

Jiang Muyu looked at her happy face, as if he was seeing a big-eyed Persian cat.

After returning to the palace, Jiang Muyu immediately asked Yunshan to send a visiting card to the Chu Mansion.

It was a coincidence that as soon as she sent the visiting card, Chu Yu immediately replied and said he would talk to her at noon today.

Jiang Muyu had a quick lunch and went to the Chu Mansion in a carriage.

"My lady, we're here."

After hearing the coachman's message, Jiang Muyu got off the carriage and immediately saw Chu Yu standing in front of the mansion gate waiting for her.

The woman was slightly plump, with a pearl necklace around her neck, a dark orange brocade shirt with a peony and flying bird pattern, a wide belt with a white gold thread pattern around her waist, several gold hairpins on her hair, a jade bracelet on her left wrist, and two gold rings on her right hand. The word "rich" was clearly written on her face.

The moment Jiang Muyu saw her, it was as if he saw the God of Wealth waving at him.

When Chu Yu saw her, she came forward, bowed, and said, "I, a commoner, Chu Yu, have seen the princess."

"Mrs. Chu, there's no need to be so polite."

She walked up cheerfully and took Chu Yu's hand, looking like a good sister. "I wanted to send you a letter a while ago, but I was so tied up in all those trivial matters that I couldn't get away."

Chu Yu smiled and asked, "What have you been busy with these days, Madam?"

Jiang Muyu said, "I went to inspect the farm under my name right after I came back from Putuo Temple. I have been busy managing the business in the past two days. There are so many things to do and I have no experience. I am always a little hectic when I do them. So I came to you to learn from you."

She did not call herself "this concubine" in front of Chu Yu in order to bring them closer.

Chu Yu was a little surprised, "The Queen actually still cares about the affairs of the farm and the shop?"

"These are part of the dowry my mother gave me. I haven't managed them well in the past few years. Recently, I checked the accounts and found many problems. That's why I had to take care of them myself."

"so it is."

Chu Yu took her to the main room and asked the maid to serve tea and snacks.

"Your Majesty, please taste this tea. My caravan brought it back from Dongxu Pandu. It tastes very special. The things in my house may not be as exquisite as those in the royal palace, but they are definitely novel."

Jiang Muyu took a sip. Although the tea was hot, it felt cool in her throat and left a lingering fragrance on her lips and teeth. It was very similar to a kind of tea she had drunk in modern times.

She nodded. "It's really special. It's quite different from any tea I've had before."

"Is that so?" Chu Yu ate his snacks and asked, "Has the Madam's shop run into any trouble?"

"You figured it out." Jiang Muyu put down the teacup and said, "Then I won't hide it from you. My dyeing workshop is in need of a color matching master. I don't know where to recruit someone at the moment, so I thought that your Lingqie Pavilion makes clothes and should have its own dyeing workshop, so I wanted to ask you a thing or two."

"Then you have finally found the right person." Chu Yu finished a snack, wiped his hands, and said, "Your Highness, you came at the right time. A few days ago, an embroiderer came to Lingqie Pavilion to look for work, but unfortunately I don't need any embroiderers. She said she could dye cloth, too. At that time, I asked her to show me her skills, and I was amazed."

As she spoke, she called a maid forward and said, "Go and bring up the cloth that Tan Niang dyed for the princess to see."

"Yes." The maid then retreated.

Jiang Muyu asked: "The person who could shock Madam Chu must have great skills, but why didn't you keep her?"

"You'll see it later."

Soon, the maid came back with a piece of cloth and spread it out in front of Jiang Muyu.

Jiang Muyu understood immediately.

This piece of cloth is very exquisite, with bold and novel colors and a pattern that is unique at the time, but it is very different from the style of Lingqie Pavilion.

Ayane Kaku is like an independent modern brand. It has its own clothing style, with a variety of colors and patterns that form its own characteristics.

However, the cloth dyed by this Tan Niang was too bright and did not fit in with the Lingqi Pavilion, which mainly served high-ranking officials and nobles. No wonder Chu Yu did not use her.