To catch a thief, you need to get the stolen goods. Since there's no evidence right now, Madam Jin only had people guard the back door.
When the princess went out dressed as a man again, he ordered a dozen servants to disguise themselves and secretly follow her.
...
Bai Yan and Liu Jin'an from the Ministry of Works arranged to meet at a famous restaurant in Kyoto to discuss matters.
Liu Jin'an, sitting opposite Bai Yan, cupped his hands and said, "Young master, a new batch of embroiderers has entered the textile city and begun training, and the Ministry of Works is also manufacturing textile machines."
“The textile factory is not fully built yet, but we seem to have enough manpower. But, young master, most women stay at home. Even if their husbands’ families are willing to let them out, they are afraid of attracting gossip and are unwilling to work in the textile factory.”
"It has already taken a lot of effort to recruit so many embroiderers. The further we go, the more we will likely be short of manpower." Machines can be made, but where can we find so many embroiderers?
"If we can't find adult embroiderers, can't we find girls too?" Bai Yan clasped her hands together: "The Ministry of Works will recruit people, and the court will be responsible for training girls over eight years old. The court will also provide them with food and drink. After they complete their training, all the cloth they weave in a year will belong to the court, and only then will they receive their own monthly allowance."
Bai Yan then thought of something else: "If there are any abandoned or trafficked girls in the community, the textile factory can buy them all."
Liu Jinan nodded repeatedly as he listened: "That's a good idea. Raising them for a few years will only cost some food, but if they are trained well, the profits from the cloth woven by these embroiderers will far outweigh the cost."
Bai Yan smiled slightly, but didn't say anything about Liu Jinan's words. She simply poured herself a cup of tea.
Liu Jinan thought about it for a while, and suddenly felt a shock: Ever since the rise of the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism, most women in the Southern Dynasties have stayed at home. Now that there are textile factories, a large number of women are working in the factories. Even if some women are unwilling to work because of their reputation, the little girls do not understand anything.
The new batch of girls trained by the textile factory will become the most important part of the Southern Dynasty's economy. Since the textile factory is mainly run by women, there will definitely be female leaders. How could these girls be as obedient to Joan of Arc as the women are now?
"Young master, if those Confucian officials find out about this, it could cause a huge uproar!" Those scholars are all talk and no action. Seeing that the women who should be at home taking care of their husbands and children have gone out, they'll probably tear their textile factory apart.
Bai Yan simply raised an eyebrow and smiled: "So what if they say? If His Majesty wants to make money, and women want to make money, why can't men make money too?"
Seeing that he was confident, Liu Jinan said nothing more.
When he was ordered by his superiors to follow this young master, he had some doubts about him. But these days, his doubts have completely disappeared. The young master is intelligent and his willingness to do something shows that he can handle it.
Ordinary people would naturally not dare to openly oppose those scholars who spout classical phrases, but he had heard people around the young master secretly call him Young Master Bai—his surname was Bai.
Although Liu Jin'an, being a man, felt it was inappropriate for women to appear in public like men, the fact that the textile factory's success would be his achievement, a feat that would be remembered for a thousand years, made him feel no discomfort whatsoever.
"Young master, this humble servant offers you a toast." Liu Jinan raised his wine cup, the rim slightly lower than Bai Yan's.
Bai Yan picked up her cup, about to clash with him, when dozens of men dressed in different ways burst in and, without a word, pounced on Liu Jin'an and tied him up with ropes.
When their gazes fell upon Bai Yan, she had already stood up. She glanced at the group and said, "I'll go with you. But if you dare to hurt me, I'll make sure you all lose your heads."
The servants knew Bai Yan's identity, and were so frightened by her that they didn't dare to act forcefully. Bai Yan took the initiative to step out of the restaurant and get into the carriage outside.
Liu Jin'an, bound hand and foot and forced onto the carriage with a rag stuffed in his mouth, was completely bewildered, whimpering, "Waaah, waaah waaah waaah."
Bai Yan reached out and removed the obstruction from his mouth. Liu Jin'an gagged several times before asking, "Young Master, what's going on? Why do those people seem to know you?"
Bai Yan simply reassured her, "Don't worry, nothing will happen."
Seeing that he was calm and composed, Liu Jinan felt a little relieved. Then he was taken off the carriage and pushed into the mansion.
"Madam, young master, the young mistress has been brought back."
Liu Jin'an was led into the inner hall bound hand and foot and thrown to the ground by the servants. Because of Bai Yan's status as a princess, no one dared to touch her. She found a chair and sat down. Soon after, Madam Jin and Jin Chang'an arrived.
Jin Chang'an had only seen the princess once, on their wedding night. Now, seeing her dressed as a man, casually crossing her legs, he couldn't help but frown: "What kind of behavior is this!"
Madam Jin's face turned icy cold as she slammed her hand on the table: "Sixteenth Princess, you've gone too far in bullying the Jin family! You've only been married a month, and you're already having an affair. Do you think the people of the Jin family are all spineless cowards?!"
Liu Jinan, lying on the ground, stared wide-eyed: "Sixteenth Princess? What sixteenth princess?"
Bai Yan looked at Madam Jin and Jin Chang'an with amusement: "You know that you've been married for less than a month, and he openly frequents prostitutes and doesn't respect me at all. What do you say about that? Your Jin family didn't stop him, but instead welcomed that prostitute into the house. What do you say about that?"
"You expect me, a princess, to serve the same husband as a prostitute?"
"How can you be compared to me!" Jin Chang'an's face was ugly: "You are a woman, so you should keep your chastity."
Although he told the princess on their wedding day that he would never love her, that didn't mean she wasn't his wife. Her laughing and chatting with other men outside—wasn't that like putting a green hat on her own head?
"Besides, I didn't go to the brothel to patronize prostitutes," Jin Chang'an said matter-of-factly. "It was just a casual encounter with a friend."
"Danniang has fallen into prostitution, which is already pitiful. As a high and mighty princess, it's one thing that you don't know how to pity someone's plight, but now you're humiliating her like this?"
Jin Chang'an thought about it more and more and felt that this would not work. If she could not tolerate Dan Niang today, how could she tolerate Yun'er in the future? Now that she had fallen out of favor, he was determined to rescue her from the cold palace.
“Mother, I absolutely cannot remain husband and wife with such a vicious and dissolute woman!” Jin Chang’an said, bowing to Madam Jin.
"Don't worry, my son, I will take care of it for you."
"No..." Liu Jin'an on the ground tried to speak: "Madam, young master, you've all misunderstood!"
Madam Jin said with disgust, "Quickly, gag this adulterer!"
"Young master, no, no, princess, please speak!" Liu Jin'an's mouth was covered, and he looked at the princess with pleading eyes.
The princess said helplessly, "Lord Liu, do you think they'll believe what I say?"
"Ha, it's impressive that you know this." Madam Jin said coldly, then turned to look at everyone: "Block both the front and back doors. Not a single fly can leave my Jin family today. Give this adulterer a good beating and lock him in the woodshed first."
Liu Jinan: "Ugh... ugh ugh ugh!" Didn't you say nothing would happen?!
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