Just as Guan Zhiyue arrived at the entrance of the Cold Palace, Fugui'er rushed over, startling Guan Zhiyue, who had just stepped out of the sedan chair, causing her to stumble.
"Holy crap, what is that?"
"Your Majesty, you've finally returned! This servant pays his respects to Your Majesty!" Fu Gui'er knelt down in front of Guan Zhiyue with a thud.
Guan Zhiyue calmed herself down and looked at the kneeling eunuch, saying, "What's wrong? What great injustice have you suffered?"
Xiao Fugui quickly said, "Your Highness, this servant is from Chaoyang Palace. The Prince has finished firing the glass today, and this servant is waiting here for you to come and take a look."
Upon hearing Fu Gui's words, Guan Zhiyue's eyes widened immediately; the glass recipe had been created.
"Really? Take me to see it quickly."
So before Guan Zhiyue even entered the Cold Palace, she was taken away by Fugui and headed towards Chaoyang Palace.
——
Chaoyang Palace.
"Why haven't they returned yet? Didn't anyone go to the palace gate to greet them?" Li Qishang shouted loudly as he looked at the people who hadn't returned.
The eunuchs and Shang Yao standing to the side were also quite innocent, they just huddled together and didn't dare to say a word.
Li Qishang paced back and forth, until finally Fugui's voice rang out from the doorway.
"Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!"
The others immediately felt relieved upon hearing this, for it was as if a savior had arrived!
"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress! May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and peace!"
Li Qishang looked at the servants kneeling on the ground, and happily rushed to Guan Zhiyue with a piece of six-centimeter-thick glass in his hand.
"Little Yue'er, look! Our glass is finished. Check if it's the thickness you wanted."
Guan Zhiyue looked at the kneeling people and said, "Get up, everyone!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After the servants all stood up, Guan Zhiyue looked at the piece of glass that Li Qishang was holding, touched it, and expressed her satisfaction. The thickness was just right for window glass, so this could be directly installed on the window.
"I never imagined that the Carefree King was so amazing; you actually managed to fire this."
Are there many of these glass blocks? Or was only this one piece fired?
Upon hearing Guan Zhiyue's words, Li Qishang smiled and pulled her into the hall to sit down, placing the glass on a small square table to the side.
"This time we made about twenty pieces. Would these be just enough to make windows?"
Guan Zhiyue nodded. "Yes, but I wonder how long it takes the craftsmen to fire such glass?"
Li Qishang asked someone to bring over the notebook he used to make glass every day. This notebook was given to him by Guan Zhiyue. It was like a diary, recording the steps and quantities of each glass-making process, as well as the final product.
"Here, take a look!" Li Qishang handed the notebook to Guan Zhiyue.
Guan Zhiyue didn't hesitate; she immediately took the notebook and started reading. The notebook contained numerous records: firing time, quantity, temperature, and so on...
"So you only recorded this today?"
"So, does that mean it takes Master a whole day to fire this kind of glass?" Guan Zhiyue asked, handing the notebook to Li Qishang.
Li Qishang shook his head and said, "This is our first attempt, and it should take about a day. But if we know the proportions of the formula, it will naturally be faster. I plan to do an experiment tomorrow."
"Yes, that's possible. Let's see how many pieces of glass of this thickness can be produced in a day."
Guan Zhiyue nodded in agreement, and then prepared to stand up and return to the palace, but suddenly remembered something and looked around.
Seeing that Guan Zhiyue had something to say to him, Li Qishang immediately said to the servants in the room, "All of you may leave. I need to discuss the next steps with the Empress."
The servants all withdrew, and Shang Yao also retreated to the entrance of the hall...
"Little Yue'er, have you been missing me?" Li Qishang teased.
Guan Zhiyue rolled her eyes and said speechlessly, "I miss you, my foot! I'm going to tell you something serious."
"Oh, what's wrong? Tell me about it."
Guan Zhiyue pointed to the notebook and whispered in Li Qishang's ear, "If you memorize this, you'll have to destroy the evidence. Otherwise, once our glassware starts selling on the market, this kind of thing will be a fatal blow."
"You have detailed records of the materials, time, and temperature for firing this. If this falls into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, our glass will no longer be unique in the world; it will be copied by others."
"If your brother still wants to make money then, he'll be living in a dream."
Li Qishang nodded in agreement after hearing Guan Zhiyue's words, indicating that he understood, but he still asked, "Should we give this to my brother to keep?"
Guan Zhiyue retorted, "What nonsense! If you hide anything in this world, there's always the risk of it being discovered. Hiding things is like cutting off your own escape route if you want to get rich."
"If you're reluctant to burn it, go to your elder brother and have him and you memorize the dosage and other ingredients in this recipe. That's the secret to preserving wealth."
Li Qishang nodded. Seeing that Li Qishang had taken her words to heart, Guan Zhiyue stood up and walked towards the door.
"Little Yue'er, what have you been doing lately? I haven't seen you come to Liulichang for a visit." Li Qishang looked at Guan Zhiyue, who was about to leave.
Guan Zhiyue stretched and said, "I'm busy farming! Besides, aren't you in Liulichang? Look at you, you've even made this thing. What would I need to do in Liulichang? Alright, I'm going back to the palace first. You hurry up and take Liuli and the notebook to find your brother."
****
Guan Zhiyue took Bilian back to her cold palace. The first thing she did upon returning was to set up her lucky charm.
"Come on, Bilian, have someone bring over the river clams we brought back and put them all in the pond." Guan Zhiyue walked to the pond that had been dug a few days earlier, and then watched with a happy expression as the little eunuch slowly put the river clams into the pond.
However, Li Qishang was also happily led by someone carrying a notebook and Liuli towards the Imperial Study.
——
The Imperial Study.
"The carefree prince has arrived!" The eunuch's announcement broke the conversation of the people inside.
Li Qiji raised his head from in front of the dragon desk, looked towards the doorway, and then glanced at the ministers sitting in the imperial study.
Among them were Chief Minister Su, as well as several civil and military officials. The Emperor and the others were discussing some border garrison matters when this prince suddenly appeared.
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