Gu Yuzhi was having a private conversation with Wen Shu at the temporary post when the unmarried guards Zhang and Qi soon noticed that he was missing.
Guard Zhang, in particular, was more perceptive. He slapped his forehead and exclaimed inwardly, "Oh no!"
Most of the followers who came to the northern desert with His Highness have gotten married and their wives and children have come with them, but Consort Tai Xian was unable to come.
At such a joyous occasion, His Highness secretly hid away; he must have been overcome with sadness at the sight of the scene.
Without a second thought, Guard Zhang led the guards towards Gu Yuzhi's room.
"Your Highness!" Guard Zhang called out from the doorway, "Your Highness, Consort Shu and the other ladies have sent you other gifts. Would you like to see them now?"
Gu Yuzhi wiped away his tears, jumped off the chair, and ran to the door, saying in a hoarse voice, "I want to see it, I want to see it, Guard Zhang, what is it?"
Guard Zhang quickly looked up at Gu Yuzhi and saw that his eyes were indeed red, and not only that, even the tip of his nose was red.
He sighed inwardly, but smiled and waved to the people behind him. Two strangers walked over.
Guard Zhang said, "Your Highness, these two are gifts from Consort Shu; they are renowned craftsmen from a jewelry shop."
As he spoke, he handed over a box: "Your Highness, look at this. This was also given to you by Consort Shu. It contains contracts from several mines."
Gu Yuzhi took the contracts blankly and opened them, only to find that all of them were already signed with names.
With this contract, Gu Yuzhi's jewelry store could directly purchase raw materials from their family's mine, reducing the store's costs.
Gu Yuzhi was stunned for a moment, never expecting that his sister-in-law, Consort Shu, would give him such a big gift. He couldn't even think about the sad things that had happened before.
The two craftsmen stepped forward and knelt down respectfully: "We, Zuo Zhu and Dong Xiang, pay our respects to Your Highness Prince Wen. May Your Highness live a thousand years!"
"Xiao Zuozhu is more skilled in gold and silver jewelry."
"Young Dong Xiang is more skilled in the setting of pearls, jade and other jewelry."
Gu Yuzhi didn't quite understand, but he knew that these two people should have a fairly comprehensive understanding, so he said "oh" and told them to stand up and wait aside.
Guard Zhang then took out the other gifts, and he looked at them one by one. Finally, his gaze settled on the small box in Guard Zhang's hand. He opened it and saw that inside was a smooth and translucent jade ruyi.
Underneath the jade ruyi were letters from his mother.
Gu Yuzhi didn't have time to look at anything else and hurriedly unfolded the letter. Only then did he realize that the jade ruyi his mother had given him had been blessed by the abbot of the national temple. It could not only protect him, but also have the effect of calming the mind and improving eyesight when placed by his pillow.
Gu Yuzhi puffed out his cheeks while holding the jade ruyi: "Guard Zhang, do you know how troublesome it was for my mother to send me this jade ruyi?"
He had heard of the abbot of the temple before, and naturally knew that items he had personally blessed were extremely rare outside the palace, and there were even rumors that he rarely blessed anything for others!
Guard Zhang had no idea about these details, so he could only shake his head and say, "I don't know. But I think that Your Highness is a prince who has made great contributions to the people of Sang Dynasty. If the abbot of the State Temple knew that Consort Taixian had asked for this jade ruyi for Your Highness, he would be overjoyed."
Did Gu Yu know that because of sweet potatoes and potatoes, his title of King Wen had spread throughout the Sang Dynasty?
Therefore, he could not believe what Guard Zhang said, that the abbot of the temple would be overjoyed.
But after repeatedly touching the jade ruyi, he truly believed that his mother had not been mistreated in the palace.
Having studied under Manager Wen for so long, Gu Yuzhi was still able to discern the quality of the jade ruyi. He had never owned a piece of jade of this quality when he was in the palace.
Judging from this small example, the mother's life in the palace must have been quite good.
Only then did a genuine smile appear on Gu Yuzhi's face. He touched the jade ruyi again and again, unable to put it down, and said, "My mother gave me this jade ruyi. I wonder if she still has any."
Just as Guard Zhang was about to speak, Gu Yuzhi raised his head and said proudly, "It doesn't matter if I don't have one, I own a mine now."
Guard Zhang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, Your Highness is right. Now that you have a jade mine, the jewelry for Consort Taixian and all the ladies in the harem will depend on you in the future."
This was originally just a casual remark from Guard Zhang to distract Gu Yuzhi, but to his surprise, Gu Yuzhi's eyes lit up and he took it to heart!
He turned to look at the two craftsmen: "Can you design jewelry? Can you make it yourself? Do you take on apprentices?"
Having established so many businesses, Gu Yuzhi naturally knew that what the jewelry business needed most to operate was highly professional craftsmen like these.
But if the jewelry shop only has these two craftsmen, that won't do.
So he needed to ask the two men if they would take on apprentices. If they would, then Guard Shen could arrange for recruitment.
If you don't bring...
Gu Yuzhi puffed out his cheeks and thought, "Then we'll have to poach people from somewhere else!"
Zuo Zhu and Dong Xiang immediately knelt down again.
When they came to the northern desert, the shopkeeper said that Consort Shu valued Prince Wen highly and told them not to be arrogant just because they had some skills, and to show him respect.
They were filled with trepidation, fearing that His Highness would become arrogant due to the emperor's favor...
But to their surprise, their worries dissipated unconsciously upon hearing Prince Wen's youthful yet logical voice.
Zuo Zhu rested his head firmly on the back of his hand and respectfully replied, "Your Highness, I am here to mentor a disciple."
Dong Xiang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, that's right. Zuo Zhu and I also have apprentices in the capital. This time, we each brought two apprentices with us to Mobei."
However, the apprentices they brought were all newcomers to the industry and were not yet qualified to work independently.
However, Gu Yuzhi didn't care about any of this.
His eyes lit up when he heard the two of them say they would take on apprentices, and he clenched his little fist and shouted, "Sister-in-law Shufei is such a good person!"
He made a gesture of raising his hand with his palm facing upwards: "You all get up quickly."
After the two stood respectfully in place, he continued, "The jewelry store hasn't opened yet, so you don't need to go to work for the time being. You can go to our mine first and then choose some apprentices."
He's a rich man now, so there's no need for him to rush into opening a jewelry store.
Zuo Zhu and Dong Xiang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, Your Highness, we will follow your instructions."
After the two men left, Guard Zhang continued, "The Consort Xian gave His Highness three thousand taels of gold, which I have already deposited into the treasury with the steward."
With Xie Changshi absent, the steward took on the heavy responsibility of guarding the storeroom.
It was precisely because Guard Zhang had sent the silver back in advance and knew that Gu Yuzhi was not in Changzhou that he brought Xie Changshi and his family members directly to Xinliang.
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