The servant looked bewildered as he emerged from the house.
He had been following his master out of the palace for more than half a month, and he had long wanted to go back, fearing that something might go wrong if he stayed too long, which was something he couldn't afford to do.
So he asked, "Your Highness, wasn't it said that we could just take him back to Jingzhou together?"
The young man with fair skin nodded, "Yes!"
"He just said that as long as he sells the ice and earns enough money, he will go to Jingzhou, and Your Highness can just buy it!"
For the servant, silver notes were nothing special; once they were given, that was that. Getting back to Jingzhou was the most important thing right now.
The young man with fair skin shook his head: "I originally wanted to buy it, but I changed my mind at the last minute."
She then smiled and said, "The first reason I called him back was because I valued his poetry. The second was his unconventional personality. He could have easily made a name for himself through poetry, and wealth would have been plentiful, but he insisted on earning his own money bit by bit by selling things. Since that's the case, I couldn't easily deny him this pursuit. The third reason is..."
The young man, with his delicate features, paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"It seems to be just as he said; it would seem a bit strange to only mention two points!"
"..."
The servant looked at his master's strange appearance and was a little worried.
Could it be that he was influenced by that young master Ah Kun?
"But Your Highness... if he can't earn money for a while, won't he be unable to go to Jingzhou? Can we keep waiting for him?"
"No way!"
The young man with pink hair waved his hand, his face full of trust: "I don't think he will disappoint! Besides, although I won't buy his ice, it's not impossible for me to help him out along the way! I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next!"
After walking a few steps and glancing around, he instructed, "Guizhi, let's not stay at an inn today. There are many empty houses around here, let's buy one!"
His tone was so casual, as if he were buying a cabbage.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
...
He came, he took out a stack of silver notes, and then he left.
Heartbroken at losing such a lucrative opportunity, Jing Zhe was devastated, but he quickly rallied and began making arrangements for the next steps.
He sent Hanhan back to Mangshan because there was a large bamboo forest on the back of Mangshan that was empty. He instructed Hanhan to find people on the mountain to cut down more bamboo as thick as a forearm and cut it into sections into bamboo tubes. He wanted to get at least a hundred or so tubes to transport down the mountain.
Hearing that Hanhan was to do this kind of errand-running and physical work, Pangqiu and the others finally felt a little better.
Next, Jing Zhe sent someone to the street to buy mung beans and several pounds of sugar. He then used a large pot to boil mung bean soup and let it cool after it boiled.
There were three side rooms and a woodshed in the backyard. The woodshed was already filled with saltpeter. Jing Zhe then chose a shady side room and asked Fatty to find someone to seal all the windows with mud. He also found a lot of straw outside and covered the ground and walls with it.
Afterwards, Jing Zhe led a few people out to buy two water vats, one large and one small. They placed the large vat inside the small vat in the prepared room, added water to them, and cleaned the storefront, wiping all the tables and chairs clean.
Jing Zhe personally wrote the shop name and handed it to one of the people to take out for mounting and plaque making. It would be hung up that night, and the shop could open normally the next day.
Everything is ready, and we're just waiting for Hanhan to come back.
Fatty and his men did whatever they were told without uttering a word of complaint. Finally, when they had a moment to rest, he asked curiously, "Young Chieftain, what are we doing?"
"Making ice".
"Really made ice?"
Fatty Ball had overheard Jing Zhe and that pretty young man talking before, and they seemed to have mentioned ice, but he still couldn't imagine that ice could really be made in the summer.
Jing Zhe then took out the small porcelain jar, removed the blanket, opened the lid, and handed it over, saying, "Take a look!"
Fatty and the others looked on with curiosity, and when they got closer to take a look, their eyes widened!
"This is... real ice?"
When this jar of ice was brought down from Mangshan Mountain, it was perfectly frozen. After the journey, and because it was opened once at Chunshuilou and Zuimenglou along the way, much of the ice in the jar has melted, with only a large piece of ice remaining in the middle.
Even so, it still shocked Fatty and his friends.
"Try it and you'll know if it's real."
Fatty was skeptical, but couldn't resist taking a sip anyway.
"happy!"
The sun is shining brightly outside, and it's so refreshing to hide in a corner and take a sip of ice water!
Seeing this, the others rushed to grab it, and before long, the can of ice water was empty, and they were still not satisfied.
"You've drunk an ounce of silver in one go!"
Jing Zhe said with a smile.
"One tael of silver? And this jar of ice?"
Fatty clicked his tongue and exclaimed in surprise.
"What, you think it's not worth it?"
Seeing Jing Zhe's ambiguous smile, Fatty slapped his thigh and immediately said, "Worth it! Definitely worth it! Although I, Fatty, am a rough man, I know that in this summer, no one but the royal family can enjoy ice! How can one tael of silver be expensive if you can enjoy the same things as the royal family?"
Jing Zhe nodded in satisfaction.
...
Before the sun had even set, Hanhan returned carrying a large bundle filled with sections of small bamboo tubes. Because they had just been cut, the tubes were both moist and clean.
By this time, the mung bean soup had cooled down.
Jing Zhe added all the sugar he bought to the mung bean soup, stirred it well, and had it put into bamboo tubes, with a bamboo skewer inserted into each tube.
Once everything was ready, the bamboo tubes were tied together and placed in a small vat inside the room. Saltpeter was then added to the water in the large vat. After doing all this, Jing Zhe left the room and closed the door tightly.
"Alright, that's enough for today. We'll wait until tomorrow!"
Jing Zhe clapped his hands and said with a smile.
Fat Ball and the others were also rubbing their hands together excitedly, eager to get started.
"Young Master, shall we go check out a place every man dreams of visiting? Hehehe..."
Fatty scratched his head, looking embarrassed.
Jing Zhe looked at the sky and said, "It's not the right time yet. It's too early, and there will be people outside who can see us. Even if we go, we won't be able to relax. Let's eat first and go out when it's completely dark! Then we can enjoy ourselves to the fullest!"
"Young Master is right, let's wait until it gets dark! Hehehe!"
Fatty and the others grinned widely and chuckled sheepishly.
————
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