Chapter 172 The Diving Team Adds a New Member
He Zhaojun pulled out a scroll that had been prepared nearby and handed it to Emperor Wen. "Your Majesty, Empress, and Concubine Yue, I know that silk is expensive and difficult to weave, and since the palace advocates frugality, I'm reluctant to use it. Therefore, I, along with Shao Shang, have found a craftsman and developed this material."
"Every piece of silk floss is hard to come by. Raising silkworms and reeling silk takes a lot of time, so it is expensive. But to make something like what you have is even harder to come by. How can you say you are practicing frugality when you are so extravagant and wasteful?" The Fifth Princess asked relentlessly.
He Zhaojun met Yue Fei's gaze and simply smiled. "The raw materials for these things are mostly tree bark, rags, old fishing nets, and the like. Reusing things that were once discarded, how can this not be considered thrifty?"
The Fifth Princess gritted her teeth and said, "You've been to Qingzhu several times! What a waste!"
"Even if we use it, we will use the bamboo from the Third Prince's Mansion. It's our own bamboo, why be polite?" The Third Prince remained calm and retorted to the Fifth Princess.
Emperor Wen couldn't let it go and nodded repeatedly. He immediately picked up the pen and wrote the four words "God bless the Han Dynasty".
"Rather than saying it's a birthday gift, it's more like a gift to Your Majesty and the scholars of the world. Zhaojun, you really have a thoughtful heart." There were tears in Empress Xuan's eyes. As the queen of a country, she certainly knew how important this was to the whole country.
He Zhaojun was delighted to see them, but she had to pour cold water on them first: "Your Majesty, the current technology is still immature and cannot be promoted on a large scale. Moreover, the production is still time-consuming and needs further improvement."
Emperor Wen pulled He Zhaojun aside and said, "It's all right, it's just a small matter. Tell me quickly, what is this thing called? And who made it? I will reward you greatly!"
“This thing is called paper, and the person who invented it was a eunuch named Cai Lun.”[53]
Emperor Wen laughed heartily: "Good, there are rewards, there are rewards, Minister Cao, draft an edict for me! I am happy today, everyone will be rewarded!"
Ling Buyi looked at Shaoshang, who was smiling like a flower and staring at He Zhaojun, and quietly pulled her clothes: "... Shaoshang, I..." He deliberately waved his hand in front of Shaoshang.
Shao Shang then noticed that Ling Buyi's hands were injured from playing the zither for the Queen: "You're hurt!"
Ling Buyi held Shao Shang's hand tightly and refused to let go, even complaining that it hurt. You know, General Ling, the fearless general who had his bones scraped and poisoned before the battle, could fight for three hundred rounds despite his injuries. And now, because of a cut on his finger, he's been pranking his wife.
When He Zhaojun returned to her seat and saw him like this, she had a hard time holding back her laughter.
"Shao Shang ran away, why don't you go check on him?" Wen Ziduan said to He Zhaojun in a cold tone, "I think you two are the real family. It makes Zisheng and I seem so redundant. If I had known this, I would have sat with Zisheng."
He Zhaojun knew that Wen Ziduan was a jealous person and now even disliked Shao Shang, but why didn't he say that he and Ling Buyi were as close as brothers behind the scenes?
"Can I go out for some fresh air and make room for you and Ling Buyi?" As he said that, he stood up and followed Shao Shang's footsteps outside, not remembering that the drunk Fifth Prince was also being urged to go out.
As soon as she caught up with Shao Shang, the Fifth Prince behind her began shouting, "An Chengjun, stop right there! I haven't even properly questioned you about what happened last time and the time before that! What exactly is going on?"
He wasn't too drunk, apparently having been frightened by He Zhaojun's marriage proposal at the banquet. After looking at the two women for a while, he curled his lips and said, "Alright, let's talk about it later... Let's get through this first."
After saying this, he seemed to have made up his mind and jumped into the pond without any further discussion.
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