Chapter 761 Princess 10
In Nanwu, in a deep alley, a quiet house stands with no one around.
But as a royal secret guard, Tianjiu could tell as soon as he arrived at the house that there were countless pairs of eyes staring at him.
Tianjiu stepped forward cautiously. As soon as he stepped forward, he could feel the coldness falling on him getting heavier and heavier.
Although Tian Jiu knew that the people inside were all His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's men, his habit as a martial artist had already made him arch his back and take a defensive posture.
He resisted the pressure and knocked on the door quickly.
"Who?"
As soon as the knock on the door sounded, an inconspicuous and vigilant voice came from inside the door.
Tianjiu could feel that the extremely light and steady breathing inside the door became dangerous.
"Tian Jiu."
There seemed to be silence inside the door for a moment.
Tianjiu's voice was so low that it was almost inaudible, but he believed that the people inside could hear him. He said, "I am here on the orders of Princess Fengning to deliver a letter to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Sure enough, not long after, the door creaked open.
"Come in."
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Beijing.
The eldest princess's mansion.
The eldest princess sat on the chaise longue, sipping her tea leisurely, her eyes looking at Gu Zhouyan with interest.
Gu Zhouyan was very well behaved today. He didn't go anywhere and stayed at home.
Thinking about the fact that he had just stopped her from sending someone to Feng Ning, the eldest princess still felt a little strange.
Gu Zhouyan knew that the princess was looking at him, but he had gotten over his initial discomfort. At this moment, he was even sitting on a chair and playing with a wooden block.
"I am tired."
Seeing this, the eldest princess's mouth twitched. She didn't know what was wrong with her son today. In the past, he would have run away early, but today he was free. Forget it, no matter what was wrong with him, she didn't have time to stay here and stare at him.
The princess put down her teacup and chased him away: "Go wherever you want to go. Don't stay here and get in my way."
The princess was quite confident in her son. Although he was a little bully, he knew that there were certain things he couldn't touch. He was good at eating and drinking, but he would never touch whoring or gambling.
Hearing this, Gu Zhouyan smiled and said, "Mom, you want to rest. I won't disturb you anymore. Your son is here to tell you--"
"Little Prince!"
Before Gu Zhouyan could finish his words, he was interrupted by a hurried voice.
"Princess Fengning sent someone to deliver something, saying it was a thank you gift for the young prince's help."
Gu Zhouyan's lazy look disappeared instantly. His eyes lit up and he ran towards the servant at the door impatiently.
"This is Feng Ning's gift to me." He immediately took the gift box from the servant, the corners of his lips curled up, but he suppressed them desperately, holding back the excitement of unpacking: "Humph, I helped her so much, this gift may not be given to me personally."
The eldest princess was a little surprised when she saw this scene. When did Zhou Yan and Feng Ning become so close?
Also, what help did Zhou Yan give Feng Ning?
No one knows a child better than his mother. When the princess saw Gu Zhouyan like this, she knew that he liked the gift very much, although... he didn't even open it.
"Zhou Yan, what's going on? Are you and Feng Ning hiding something from me?"
Gu Zhouyan was holding the gift box and mumbling something, when he suddenly heard his mother's voice behind him. His expression was stiff for a moment, and when he turned around, he looked cynical again and said vaguely:
"I just helped Feng Ning a favor, and she gave me a thank you gift. It's no big deal."
"A thank you gift?" The eldest princess' beautiful phoenix eyes swept over the gift box in her son's hand. The fancy packaging was quite to Gu Zhouyan's liking.
When Gu Zhouyan saw her looking at him, he unconsciously hugged the box in his hand tightly, as if he was holding some invaluable treasure and was afraid that it would be snatched away.
The princess stared at Gu Zhouyan's hand without leaving a trace, thinking about something in her heart, but the smile on her face gradually became thicker. She even joked when she saw the little bully like this: "It's a matter of reciprocity. Why don't you let mother pick a few people——"
"Mother!" When the young prince heard this, he interrupted hurriedly as if he was stressed: "Feng Ning is busy and has no time to think about this."
"Ha." The princess smiled and said, "I didn't say anything. Why are you so anxious?"
The young prince saw her joking and his expression froze:
"I'm not in a hurry."
"I, I have something else to do, so I won't disturb my mother's rest."
After he said that, he ran away holding the gift box.
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This is Sheng Huan.
After handing over the movable type printing business, she was apparently free and was now walking in the garden.
As for the craftsmen who used to work in the princess's mansion, because they were the first people to come into contact with movable type printing, they had more experience than ordinary people, and they were brought to the palace to help not long ago.
"These potatoes seem to have adapted well. I think they will grow well in the future."
Sheng Huan squatted on the ground and checked the growth of the potatoes. Although the potatoes had not yet sprouted, she could sense that they had regained a lot of vitality.
"Hello, Feng Ning."
Sheng Huan was transferring his spiritual power silently, and suddenly, at this moment, a young man's clear voice came from somewhere high up.
Sheng Huan heard the voice and subconsciously looked up, then she saw the young man sitting on the wall.
"Gu Zhouyan, why are you climbing the wall again?"
When the girl looked over, her eyebrows and eyes were picturesque, with a little light falling into her eyes, like the rippling water in a lake, especially her bright red lips, which opened and closed, and looked exceptionally plump, like a summer peach, sweet as honey.
"I……"
The young prince was stunned for a moment, unable to speak. He looked stupid.
When the girl saw that he didn't say anything, there was a look of surprise in her eyes.
"Gu Zhouyan, I'm going to tell my aunt that you're climbing the wall." She smiled with a certain arrogance: "When the time comes, you can just wait to be beaten."
"Hey, Feng Ning. After all, I have helped you a lot, you can't treat me like this." Gu Zhouyan came back to his senses after hearing this and was shocked.
Sheng Huan couldn't help laughing.
"Okay! How dare you play tricks on me." Seeing this, the young prince knew that he was being fooled.
"Who made you so easy to fool?" Sheng Huan crossed his arms and said, "Next time, if you don't go through the main entrance, you will know when you are mistaken for an assassin and get stabbed."
When the young prince saw her eyes sweeping over him, he naturally did not feel angry, but instead felt inexplicably hot all over. He shook his head to get rid of this discomfort:
"I haven't even mentioned you yet. Our homes are so close, so close. Why don't you give me the gift yourself?"
"I was afraid you weren't home." Sheng Huan said confidently, "If you don't want it, you can return it to me. I printed your copy myself."
"You printed it yourself?" The young prince was a little upset at first, but when he heard that, a warm current rushed up into his heart. This warm current met the girl's lightly blinked eyelashes, and in an instant it rushed directly to his face: "Then, then I will just accept it reluctantly."
"Since you are so reluctant, why not give it back to me."
"Impossible. How can you take back something you gave away?"
The warm spring breeze blew over the two of them, causing the flowers nearby to sway.
In the dark, a servant watched for a long time, and finally... left secretly.
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The eldest princess's residence.
"You said that Zhou Yan didn't go back to the house, but climbed the wall instead?" The eldest princess narrowed her eyes. This brat actually dared to climb the wall!
"That's right, Princess." The servant thought of the scene just now and lowered his voice: "I also heard that the young prince was on the wall, and he seemed to be talking to Princess Fengning, and he didn't even notice me."
"Feng Ning?" The eldest princess sat up straight for a moment, with a bright look in her eyes.
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A few days later.
Prince's Mansion.
The king changed into his official uniform, held his head high and went to court.
When he arrived at the court, Wang Xiang's expression was still serious, but he could not hide his sadness and haggardness.
"Prime Minister Wang, I hope you will express your condolences regarding the Third Young Master's matter." An adult who was familiar with the matter came over and offered comfort.
"Prince Wang recovered quickly and came to court so soon." Some people couldn't stand it and confronted him directly.
Wang Xiang was silent for a while, he did not refute, just shook his head: "This is my son's choice, he knows that he has committed a serious sin. Since he has made the choice, I, as a father, will not stop him. I have nothing to be sad about, what's the problem with him coming to court."
Although he said that, he looked like he was about to burst into tears.
"Hmph, just a show." The right prime minister flicked his sleeves and strode away.
Wang Xiang didn't care. After all, they were all thousand-year-old foxes, so he just did his best to keep a good face. Anyway, there was nothing wrong with it.
"Prince Wang, please accept my condolences."
I don’t know whether the others believed it or not, but they all seemed to believe it and were constantly comforting me.
"The Emperor has arrived!"
Soon, a figure in a bright yellow dragon robe appeared. Emperor Tiancheng walked over and sat on the dragon throne. The crown on his head hung down, looking majestic and domineering.
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
The ministers knelt down quickly.
"Everyone is safe."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
When the ministers stood up, Emperor Tiancheng's eyes fell on Wang Xiang.
"Prince Wang looks much more haggard. Is he in good health? Why don't you stay in the mansion and rest for a few more days?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration." Wang Xiang stopped standing and knelt down again: "But I dare not let personal matters interfere with official business."
Emperor Tiancheng waved his hand and said nothing more to him.
Continue to attend court.
Finally, as time passed and the morning court was about to end, Emperor Tiancheng suddenly spoke.
"Today, I want to announce something important to you all."
Everyone was stunned for a moment, not knowing what was going on. After all, what big thing could happen in the capital?
Emperor Tiancheng had no idea what his ministers were thinking, so he laughed out loud: "Princess Fengning discovered movable type printing, which is different from previous printing techniques. In the past few days, after intensive preparations by the Imperial Household Department, the equipment has been completed, and even a large number of books have been printed."
Everyone's heart tightened. Although they all knew that the Imperial Household Department was busy recently, they didn't expect that it was busy with printing technology. But what kind of printing technology could be so worthy of such joy?
Some were suspicious, some were surprised, and they all secretly planned to inquire after the court session.
Wang Xiang was feeling somewhat uneasy. He believed that he still had some understanding of the emperor. It was precisely because of this understanding that he was certain that this printing technique must be very unusual, and its appearance - he had a hunch that it might be very disadvantageous to him.
"If you are interested, you can go to Jinglin Bookstore in the capital after the court session to have a look."
That’s right, Emperor Tiancheng is promoting it.
After all, this movable type printing technology will soon become popular throughout the entire Kyushu continent.
-
After Wang Xiang left the court, he was uneasy.
Sitting in the carriage, he could clearly feel that Suzaku Street was more lively than ever before.
"Brother Lin! Jinglin Bookstore has published many books. You must not know that those books are many times cheaper than usual!"
"I know, I bought several!"
"Brother Chen, I have good news for you. Jinglin Bookstore has published a collection of essays by several top scorers in recent years! If you spend more time studying now, I think you will have a different understanding when you take the imperial examination."
"Brother Lin is right. I can buy three books with the money I used to buy one book. This is suitable for giving to some friends."
There are many wealthy people in Beijing, but there are also students from ordinary families. Any money you can save is a lot.
"Speaking of which, this movable type printing technique is all thanks to Princess Fengning! If it weren't for her, how could we get so many review books?"
"Princess Fengning is truly kindhearted. No wonder the Imperial Observatory called her the Great Fortune Star."
"Fortunately, the princess did not marry Wang Chuheng. Wang Chuheng is a jerk who doesn't appreciate his blessings and is blind. He is obviously not worthy of the princess."
This sound continued along the way.
In the carriage, Wang Xiang's face became increasingly pale.
Princess Fengning! Why is it her again? !
When the carriage passed by Jinglin Bookstore, Wang Xiang saw through the window that the bookstore was crowded with people.
The scholars were so excited that their faces turned red. They no longer looked like scholars at all. They were completely useless!
But... Wang Xiang looked at the crowded bookstore...
He knew that if this was the case in the capital, other smaller places might be even worse.
Wang Xiang thought obscurely: Given the importance the emperor attaches to the imperial examination system, he will definitely not monopolize resources.
Even if there is no monopoly, you will get a lot of money!
"I finally got hold of the 'Collection of Essays'! From now on, I don't have to keep asking my classmates to borrow it!"
The people outside were so excited that their eyes were red. After all, copying books was also a physical job, not to mention that the imperial examination was approaching, everyone was very focused and was even more reluctant to lend their own things to others.
Wang Xiang felt even more gloomy.
He had just come to court today and was in high spirits, but now, everything was wiped out.
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As time went by, movable type printing became popular. Merchants were profit-conscious, and with the help of scholars, word spread quickly and the technology propelled the world's economy to a rapid growth.
royal palace.
"Feng Ning. Here is your silver."
Emperor Tiancheng smiled brightly, waved his hand, and asked the palace servants to deliver a large sum of silver.
Looking at the golden light in front of him, Sheng Huan was stunned: "Father, what is this?"
"The printing technology was provided by you, so of course there is money from you." Emperor Tiancheng was very generous, and fearing that his daughter would not accept it, he continued: "I only gave you 10%, which is already very little."
After all, movable type printing originated from the palace. If merchants outside wanted to use it, they had to pay a certain amount of patent fees.
Emperor Tiancheng did not collect much, after all, his purpose was to promote the imperial examination. But there were many merchants in the world, and many people who wanted to study, so he wanted even more books.
That's how money was accumulated.
"Then I would be disrespectful to refuse." Sheng Huan no longer refused in the face of Emperor Tiancheng's insistence.
Later in the evening, she left the palace.
On that day, she also saw the grand scene in the capital. Even now, more than half a month has passed, she can still see the smiling faces of many scholars on the street.
Sheng Huan looked out the window, his eyes and brows melted by smile.
"This feeling is so good..."
Upon hearing this, Tan Yue quickly confirmed: "Yes, Princess, I have heard many people thanking you several times when I went out."
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