Chapter 152 Dyeing Method
Xie Xuchuan walked over and looked up to see the torn "Shen Family Dyeing Manual".
A flicker of shock crossed his eyes: "Grandmother, this... Yuanzhu's dyeing pattern is yours..."
"no."
Xie San Niang said, "Your second uncle instigated Mian He to steal it."
"Then we..."
Xie Xuchuan lowered his eyes: "It should be returned to Yuanzhu."
Xie San Niang said, "Do you think Shen Yuanzhu doesn't know that the dyeing manual was taken by your second uncle? Now that the farming and weaving chart has been replaced, the agreement between the two families back then can be considered fulfilled. Although things are not perfect, the final outcome is good. Why not just go with the flow and continue like this?"
"If you want to return the dyeing manual to Yuanzhu, I won't interfere. In any case, I've already had a copy made and sent to the Xie family's weaving and dyeing workshop."
Xie Sanniang was a little tired: "I'm leaving this to you. If you want to explain to Yuanzhu in person that you have a second uncle who steals chickens and dogs and sneaks into your niece's room, then just go find her."
"But don't say that your grandmother didn't remind you, you should know why she has been unwilling to take out this dyed pearl all this time."
Upon hearing this, Xie Xuchuan lowered his head even further.
How could he not know?
Yuanzhu never took out the dyeing chart because he had betrayed their vow.
But he had his reasons.
Xie Xuchuan looked down, his grip on the dyeing pattern in his hand tightening.
"I understand. I will make good use of the dyeing manual and carry on the family business."
Only in this way will he have a chance...
The hand tightened its grip until it was finally too weak to release.
Resigned to his fate, Xie Xuchuan then opened the dyeing chart and glanced at it.
Take indigo from the shade of Yunshan Mountain, add eight dou of lime and three sheng of sophora japonica flowers for every 100 jin of indigo...
Xie Xuchuan glanced at it, flipped through it casually, but then flipped it back to its original position a moment later.
The sky and water are blue...
His brow furrowed, and a memory from his childhood suddenly surfaced in his mind.
He and Shen Yuanzhu were engaged in childhood. At that time, their families had exchanged technologies and their businesses were thriving.
The two families became very close, and he stayed at the Shen family's house for ten days out of the month.
Xie Xuchuan's memory was somewhat hazy; he could only vaguely recall Ji Zhiyi holding Shen Yuanzhu while he dozed off beside her.
Ji Zhiyi gently patted the Shenyuan Pearl, muttering the dye formula for Tian Shui Bi.
"Aunt Ji, what a lovely name."
Upon hearing this, Ji Zhiyi gently explained, "Tian Shui Bi not only has a beautiful name, but the color it produces is also very striking. To obtain Tian Shui Bi, one must take Yin Lan grass from Daiyun Mountain and harvest it three days after the White Dew solar term."
"Auntie, what does that mean?"
Ji Zhiyi smiled gently: "That means cutting the indigo grass on the third day after the White Dew, and then adding three dou of lime and one sheng of locust flower buds to every hundred catties of indigo..."
Xie Xuchuan recalled that Ji Zhiyi once said that every step must be done strictly according to the dyeing formula, otherwise either the color will be uneven or the color will not be bright enough.
But this dyeing pattern in my hand...
Xie Xuchuan's brows furrowed more and more, and he was momentarily confused about the situation.
"What's wrong?"
"fine."
Xie Xuchuan said, "My grandson will go to the dyeing and textile factory to test the dyeing formula in a little while."
Xie San Niang nodded and waved for him to leave.
Back at Tiqi Courtyard, Xie Xuchuan's hand remained firmly in his grasp. He held the dyeing manual tightly, his mind filled with countless speculations.
Seeing his appearance, Jiang Wansu asked gently, "Xuchuan, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"without……"
Xie Xuchuan thought for a moment, then looked up at Jiang Wansu and said, "Yuanzhu's dyeing manual was stolen by my second uncle."
"I know."
You know?
Jiang Wansu nodded: "Grandmother's attitude clearly shows that she doesn't want Yuanzhu to pursue this matter, so it's likely that it was stolen by someone in the family."
"I just didn't know which branch of the family it was. Now it seems that my second uncle is really too..."
She gently covered her lips, refusing to utter any harsh words.
Xie Xuchuan's eyes darkened slightly.
In fact, he wasn't ignorant of these things; he just didn't want to think of his second uncle as so despicable.
Xie Xuchuan lowered his head and pushed the dyeing pattern in front of him: "This was just given to me by my grandmother. She asked me to go to the dyeing garden to experiment with the dyeing method."
"Grandmother entrusted you with such an important matter because she values you. This is a great thing."
Looking at the yellowed and worn-out dyeing chart, Jiang Wansu felt her heart pounding.
She stepped forward and gently touched it.
This is the "Shen Family Dyeing Manual" that was sought after by everyone in Suzhou Prefecture.
Xie Xuchuan didn't notice her movements and was still lost in thought.
After a long pause, he shook his head and said, "That's not right."
Jiang Wansu was taken aback and withdrew her hand: "What's wrong?"
"The dyeing pattern is incorrect."
After recounting his memories to Jiang Wansu, Xie Xuchuan said, "I clearly remember Aunt Ji saying it was three dou of lime, how come it's eight dou now?"
Jiang Wansu: "Is it because you're young and you've misremembered?"
She picked up the dyeing chart, turned to the page with the color "sky blue", and said softly, "Look, it says three liters of sophora japonica flowers here. Did you mistake it for lime?"
Hearing her say that, Xie Xuchuan also hesitated.
He was still young then, perhaps...
"wrong."
Xie Xuchuan said, "Yuanzhu's mother taught Yuanzhu to recite the 'Shen Family Dyeing Manual' when she was very young, and she would recite it to her every day to lull her to sleep."
"Although I can't remember all of Tianshui Bi's recipe, I should be sure that it contains three dou of lime."
He and Yuanzhu had been engaged for many years, and Aunt Ji treated him like her own son, so she never avoided him when teaching Yuanzhu how to dye her hair.
Although he was young at the time and couldn't understand these things, he eventually got some impression from the repeated visits.
Seeing his certainty, Jiang Wansu said, "If what you say is true, then it means there is a problem with this dyeing method."
"If this dyeing formula is fake, then..."
Xie Xuchuan's eyes were red: "It must be that Second Uncle stole the dyeing manual and didn't want to take it out, so he deliberately wrote a fake one and sent it to Grandmother."
"No, I need to go find my second uncle."
Xie Xuchuan had just stood up when Jiang Wansu pressed him down: "Even if you go to your second uncle, he won't admit it. Instead, he'll only make things worse."
"The most important thing now is to verify the authenticity of the dyeing recipe. If everyone knows about your affair with your second uncle involving the theft of the dyeing recipe, and the dyeing workshop really does produce a 'sky blue' dye, then..."
Jiang Wansu shook her head: "Wouldn't we have let Second Uncle turn the tables on us back then?"
After saying that, she looked at Xie Xuchuan with concern and said, "Assuming there is really a problem with the dyeing pattern, it may not necessarily be related to Second Uncle."
"After all, this dyeing recipe... wasn't just made by my second uncle alone."
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