Chapter 050: Glass Mirror

As if to prove what he said just now, Yuan Ming went to talk to several other craftsmen, that is, Master Liu's junior brothers.

If he hadn't squatted on the stone and took notes, Xiao Wu would probably think that he was just killing time chatting.

Xiao Wu didn't understand and didn't want to understand, so he silently looked away. He had a lot of other things to do.

And Yuan Ming also got enough information from these people, including some methods of digging wells, which were of course extremely superficial and did not involve the content of inheritance.

After asking Master Liu and getting his consent, Yuan Ming prepared to write all these into the storybook.

At this time, he didn't know that his unintentional act directly opened up a new field of making money.

Yuan Ming stayed in the mountain for a long time that day. King Yong spent a lot of money to build this manor. He found the best carpenters, stonemasons, and farmers from Shifang Town to shine in their respective fields.

Under the temptation of super high wages, these people seemed to be tireless. They worked from morning to night, and ran up and down the mountain except for meal time. In

half a day, the pavilion above King Yong’s head had been built very well, and it looked not much different from the one in his town government yard.

Yuan Ming took advantage of it and sat on the desk inside, bowing his head and writing quietly.

Until the sun set, King Yong waved to Xiao Wu, and then saw Xiao Wu walking over with a group of people.

These people stood in a row, holding drawings in their hands, and reported today's results to King Yong.

The craftsmen were lowly people, and before today, they had never thought that one day they would have face-to-face communication with the king. Therefore, even if they were very satisfied with their work, they still couldn't help feeling uneasy when they handed it over to the king for judgment.

Fortunately, King Yong was a very kind superior.

After listening to their reports one by one, King Yong waved his hand, and the guards brought up a plate of gold leaves.

"These are your rewards for today. It will be the same every day in the future, and they will be handed over to you at this time."

As he said, the guards walked up to them with the plate and gave each of them a gold leaf.

Everyone was ecstatic, and some even put the gold leaf in their mouths and bit it. After feeling the extreme hardness, they immediately showed a surprised expression on their faces.

"Thank you, Your Highness. We will definitely work harder and do every detail well. We will never let Your Highness down." They shouted in unison.

King Yong nodded and told them to go back and rest and come back tomorrow.

Everyone went out, and only King Yong and Yuan Ming were left in the pavilion.

Looking back and seeing Yuan Ming's complicated eyes, King Yong wondered, "Why are you looking at me like this?" After saying that, he suddenly realized, "Don't worry, you have one too."

He personally took out two gold leaves from the plate and handed them to Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming took it without hesitation. Although he didn't mean it just now, he would be a fool not to take the money.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will also fulfill my duty and write a storybook that will satisfy Your Majesty."

Yong Wang smiled and said, "Speaking of which, the book you wrote before and the recipe of peach blossom wine made me a lot of money, but it's much more than that."

Yuan Ming said, "Those have been paid, two contracts for silver and goods."

Yong Wang raised his eyebrows and said, "Okay! I hope you can make more money for me in the future. By then, I will definitely not treat you badly."

"I will." Yuan Ming said arrogantly, without any humility.

But this time, King Yong felt that what he said was true. Regardless of other things, his hands that could write stories that most people liked and were willing to pay for would definitely make him a lot of money.

Taking the gold leaf, Yuan Ming went down the mountain first. On the way home, he was thinking about buying some snacks for Ji Qingyue, and he slipped into a grocery store.

The shelves were full of goods, in addition to various candied snacks, there were also many small gadgets.

Yuan Ming walked to the shelf full of mirrors, and one of the mirrors attracted his attention. The mirror was not big, only the size of his palm, but the mirror surface was very clear and bright. He moved closer and could even see the fine lines on his face.

The clerk had noticed him a long time ago. Seeing that he was interested in the mirror, he quickly came over to introduce it to the store, saying, "Sir, you have good taste! This is the latest glass mirror in our store. It was brought here by the foreigners from the other side of the sea. There is only one in the whole Shifang Town, and it is of excellent quality. If you give it to a girl or boy you like, he will definitely be very satisfied!"

The clerk was eloquent and praised the mirror to the heavens in just a few words. Unfortunately, the person he was facing was Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming was very clear-headed and looked at him rationally, "Since this mirror is so good and there is only one, why hasn't it been sold yet?" The

clerk immediately wilted when he heard this. He knew that he couldn't fool the person in front of him, so he simply told the truth.

"Sir, I'm not lying to you. This mirror is really good, and there is only one. However, good things will naturally have a higher price, and it is too small..."

Yuan Ming immediately understood the meaning of the words. The mirror is beautiful, but it is too expensive. Ordinary people can't afford it, but it is too small for rich people to look down on.

"How much?"

The waiter was immediately shocked and slowly stretched out two fingers to him.

Two taels? Judging from the waiter's expression, it must be more than this price.

"Twenty li?" Yuan Ming raised his eyebrows.

The clerk nodded and explained quickly: "It's a bit expensive, but it's definitely worth it. This is not an ordinary copper mirror. It's made entirely of colored glass, with rubies inlaid on the back. It's low-key and luxurious, and the size is just right to hold in your hand..."

The clerk talked incessantly, but Yuan Ming didn't really listen. He thought of something else.

Colored glass originated from the Western Regions. When it was first introduced to this country, it really caused a sensation because people had never seen a mirror that could take such a clear picture of their faces.

However, due to the high transportation costs and the fact that people in the Western Regions did not fully master the method of refining colored glass, the production was very low. It was not until ten years later that it became popular in this country.

But only the rich and powerful could afford it, and the common people could only look at it from a distance in the grocery store.

At that time, Yuan Ming and Ji Qingyue had already settled in the capital, and he was just a minor official in the Hanlin Academy. Apart from the meager salary, his family had no other income.

Life was stretched in every way.

Every day he only thought about how to save money by cutting back on his expenses so that he could use it as a door-knocking brick to make friends with high-ranking officials, and he didn't pay any attention to small things like glass.

Until one day, he learned from others that the wife of a certain official he wanted to make friends with recently loved glass very much, and then he began to inquire about such things.

Later, after many people came to him, he spent a huge amount of money to buy a glass mirror inlaid with zircon.

The mirror was very large, half a person's height, and was especially suitable for women to dress up. Later, facts proved that his gift was well given, and the lady was overjoyed. The husband who doted on his wife also became friends with Yuan Ming because of this.

But what Yuan Ming didn't know was that her husband also liked glass.

At that time, Ji Qingyue had become very sensible, and never made Yuan Ming embarrassed, let alone took the initiative to ask him for anything.

When Yuan Ming asked someone to move the glass mirror into the mansion, Ji Qingyue was busy making incense, so he didn't know that Yuan Ming bought the mirror to please others.

He accidentally saw the mirror and foolishly thought it was a birthday gift from Yuan Ming.

Because Ji Qingyue always remembered that when she just found out that she was pregnant, Yuan Ming was overjoyed and said that he would treat him well and bring the best things in the world to him. Ji

Qingyue looked forward to it for a whole month, but on the birthday, Yuan Ming did not return home all night because of his busy affairs. The next day, he just hurriedly said happy birthday to him and gave him a jade peace buckle.

If Ji Qingyue didn't know the existence of the mirror, he might be happy for several months for this peace buckle that had been specially enshrined in the temple for more than ten days.

It was a long time before Yuan Ming found out about this.

When asked about Ji Qingyue's thoughts at the time, Ji Qingyue just said that he was used to it, and that a husband should put business first. It would be a waste to give him the mirror, and giving it to that lady would allow Yuan Ming to spend fewer years on the bench in the Hanlin Academy.

Yuan Ming could no longer remember how he felt when he heard this, but now he just wanted to slap himself hard.

He really owed Ji Qingyue too much.

"Hey, pack up the mirror."