Perhaps because he had never seen a woman like this before, Hongli stared at her, completely ignoring the displeasure of the male envoy beside him.
Seeing Hongli lose his composure like this, Qingyu's anger rose up, but she still obediently bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor."
No matter how much she disliked Hongli, she would put on a show and resolutely not let foreigners see her family as a laughing stock.
Hongli, on the other hand, was given face but didn't take it. He didn't even glance at Qingyu and said indifferently, "No need for formalities." His eyes remained fixed on the female envoy.
To avoid being ridiculed, Qingyu walked in front of the female envoy, interrupting Hongli's gaze. Hongli then withdrew his burning gaze and immediately put on an expression of disgust.
"You must be the Empress of this Great Qing Empire!" the female envoy said in unfamiliar language.
Qingyu nodded and then said, "Welcome to this place. You can call me Qingyu. I don't know how to address you?"
The fluent English astonished the two envoys. Although the intonation was slightly different, the envoys could understand it perfectly.
Although Qingyu didn't get into a top university like a 985 or 211 university, after more than ten years of hard work, she still has no problem with basic communication.
“I never thought there were such talented people here, I am truly shocked!” the male envoy said first.
“Me too,” the female envoy echoed.
The two exchanged a glance, and the female envoy bowed slightly, introducing herself in fluent English: "My name is Anna Drave, and this is Elizabeth Dradwig. It's an honor to be here."
Qingyu nodded slightly upon hearing this, "It's been a long and arduous journey!"
If the previous emperors had known that their wives possessed this ability, they would have been beaming with joy, since having more talents is always a good thing.
But when it came to Hongli, he was displeased. He looked at Qingyu with a gloomy expression and said, "In the great Qing Dynasty, you, as the Empress, not only do you not speak the local language, but you also communicate in the language of such a small country. Do you not respect me at all?"
His inexplicable outburst of anger left the two envoys speechless.
Qingyu could only awkwardly laugh and say to the envoy, "He doesn't understand what we're saying, which is why he's a bit impatient. I hope you don't take it to heart."
She was doing everything she could to save face for the Qing Dynasty, but Hongli thought she was just showing off her talent.
"Oh!" The envoy nodded thoughtfully, and said in a stuttering voice, "I see. However, our language is very simple. I believe that with His Majesty's intelligence, he will be able to learn it soon."
This was just a polite remark, but Hongli really thought he was very clever and learned it in no time. Soon, he swept the gloom off his face.
He then asked, "May I ask what brings you two here from so far away?"
The female envoy first exchanged a glance with the male envoy, and then the male envoy took out the same thing from the steel box and said, "As long as the Qing Dynasty is willing to pay 10,000 taels, we will tell you the technology to make spinning machines."
However, Hongli glanced at it and chuckled, thinking that the envoy was out of his mind. Aren't all spinning machines the same? Why would he want 10,000 taels?
It was this chuckle that increased the envoy's dissatisfaction with Hongli.
“This is… a spinning jenny,” Qingyu said earnestly.
Although it was much smaller and was still a model, Qingyu recognized it at a glance.
"Qingyu has a keen eye." The female envoy praised her with a thumbs up, a genuine compliment.
The spinning jenny and the steam engine were hallmarks of the First Industrial Revolution.
Seeing the envoy praising Qingyu, Hongli became dissatisfied again and said sarcastically, "It's just a spinning machine; we have plenty of those here."
“No…this is different from the spinning machines here,” the male envoy said, shaking his head.
"What's the difference?" Hongli said with a sneer, his eyes full of disdain.
The male envoy explained, “From what I understand, the spinning machines in the Great Qing Empire can only produce four ounces of yarn every five hours. Even skilled weavers can only make about ten yards of cloth per day. But this Spinning Jenny is different; it can produce eight times the amount of yarn you would produce in eight hours.”
But Hongli clearly didn't believe it: "That's impossible! Don't try to fool me, I won't fall for your tricks."
Ignorant and arrogant are the perfect words to describe Hongli. Qingyu didn't want Hongli to continue, so she interrupted him, saying, "I believe you. Not only this spinning machine, but you also have steam engines there. When they run, they are several times faster than our Akhal-Teke horses."
The envoy's mouth gaped open in disbelief. How could a woman confined to the palace know so much?
They initially thought Qingyu had learned about language and the spinning jenny from books, but they had only just begun learning about the steam engine and hadn't yet informed anyone. How did she know about it?
Before the envoys could react from their shock, Hongli sternly rebuked Qingyu, "Ulanara Qingyu, don't say such unrealistic things here. You are disgracing me. As for the means of transportation, apart from the Akhal-Teke horse, I have never seen anything faster."
"I don't know who's making a fool of themselves," Qingyu said with a wry smile, shaking her head. "If it were any other emperor, he would have already taken the spinning jenny to study it."
Qingyu really didn't want to argue with him, so she could only turn her gaze to the two envoys.
The male envoy quickly realized what was happening and said with a smile, "Qingyu is very knowledgeable, originally..."
Upon hearing the envoy praise Qingyu again, Hongli became even more furious. "She married me when she was thirteen and has been staying in the capital ever since. What makes her so knowledgeable? She's just a woman with long hair and short brains, believing whatever others say."
Hongli's repeated ignorance had thoroughly angered Qingyu, and she could no longer hold back. "You say I am ignorant, then tell me, how far is England, where the envoy is located, from us? Is it in the south or the north?"
"As if you knew it," Hongli said with a sneer.
"How could I not know?" Qingyu laughed sarcastically, then ordered the eunuch to bring a football and cover it with a layer of paper.
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