The Farm Girl's Charismatic Fortune-Chapter 63 - 61 Is Xuanbao a Skilled Swindler
Chapter 63: Chapter 61 Is Xuanbao a Skilled Swindler?
Chapter 63 -61 Is Xuanbao a Skilled Swindler?
Xuanyuan Granny Lei remembered that Xiaojiu had been able to hold a brush and write by himself at the age of one.
The first character, a bit clumsy in movement, was somewhat askew, but the second character improved a bit, the third even more so, and the fourth, the fifth… they got more and more beautiful as he went!
By the time a piece was finished down to the last character, she felt that her son, who fancied himself a calligrapher, couldn’t compare to her grandson’s writing!
It was the same with Xuanbao now.
Looking at the characters on the paper, the beginning and the following ones, each character was increasingly perfected, steadier and more beautiful as he wrote.
Had one not seen it with their own eyes, who would believe it?
Were the children now all so impressive?
Or was it just her family’s children that were such prodigies?
“Xuanbao, is this your first time practicing calligraphy?” Xuanyuan Granny Lei excitedly asked.
“Yeah! I was too busy before, too busy!” Ruo Xuan’s plump little chubby paws held the brush firmly as she transcribed the content from her mind.
She smelled the faint scent of soybeans and a hint of sweetness, distractedly glanced at the tofu pudding sprinkled with a layer of white sugar, one bowl had an especially large amount, the white sugar piling up like little mounds!
It looked so sweet and delicious at a glance.
She couldn’t help but speed up her hand movements.
From the scrawl of a dog’s crawl to the work of a master calligrapher, the whole piece flowed like a child’s handwriting journal, very harmonious, and a delight to the eye!
Beautiful!
Xuanyuan Granny Lei started off admiring Xuanbao’s handwriting, but as she watched, something didn’t seem right, the content of Xuanbao’s writing…
It shocked her even… even more!
Typography?
“Xuanbao, is this a printing technique you’re writing about?”
“Mm-hmm, yes.”
Ruo Xuan had written about Bi Sheng’s movable type printing method with clay characters.
“Is this something you came up with, Xuanbao?” Xuanyuan Granny Lei was extremely amazed.
“No, it was thought of by a person named Bi Sheng.” Ruo Xuan pointed to the corner of her paper where the inventor’s name was noted.
Finally finished writing! Ruo Xuan couldn’t wait to start enjoying the fragrant and sweet tofu pudding, meanwhile calling Xuanyuan Que over to have some together.
Xuanyuan Granny Lei breathed a sigh of relief, she had said that coming up with such a printing technique at the age of three was almost too clever by half.
Xuanyuan Granny Lei casually asked, “Who is Bi Sheng?”
Such a talented person must be recruited to the Imperial Court to serve the nation!
Ruo Xuan then told of what she had read about Bi Sheng’s origins.
Xuanyuan Granny Lei narrowed her eyes: A person from Qizhou during the Northern Song Dynasty’s Qinglei years?
What was the Northern Song dynasty?
The Qinglei years, which year was that?
And where was Qizhou?
Why hadn’t she heard of any of it?
“Xuanbao, where did you learn about this person?”
“From books! I copied these printing techniques down from this very book.” Ruo Xuan, while eating her tofu pudding, pointed to a book on the desk.
Xuanyuan Granny Lei picked up the book and flipped through it, but there were no words to be found, just a blank book.
Realizing something, she couldn’t help but smile.
Xuanbao must have intentionally made up a person to avoid having people discover that the printing technique was actually her own idea!
Clever children enjoy hiding their talents, just like Xiaojiu, who was very intelligent from a young age, drawing military formations so brilliantly that even Zhenguo Duke would not stop praising him.
But because he was reserved by nature, did not like to talk, and did not enjoy showing off, few people knew about it.
In fact, at his young age, he had read many books and knew much, but it was all about concealing his abilities.
Xuanyuan Dowager also didn’t expose her, but smiled and praised, “Then this person is truly formidable, to think of such a method. If typography can indeed print books, that would save so much trouble.”
Of course, if it is just to print two or three books, it wouldn’t be time-saving, in fact, it could be said to be troublesome.
But if it were to print hundreds or thousands of copies, that would be extraordinarily timesaving, and since people copying books could make mistakes, with printed characters, there would be no such worries.
It’s simply a blessing for Academies, bookstores, and countless scholars.
For scholars, books wouldn’t have to be sold so expensively anymore, after all, copying a single book takes a long time, and the labor costs several dozen wen.
Ruo Xuan nodded, “It’s possible to print, once my Third Uncle makes it, you will be able to see it, Granny Xuanyuan!”
Xuanyuan Dowager nodded, “This will probably not be easy to make, I will find someone to work with your Third Uncle, to make it as soon as possible.”
Xuanyuan Dowager, holding the piece of paper Xuanbao wrote, couldn’t put it down, the more she looked at it, the more she felt the method was feasible. She was already eager to find someone to try and make it!
“Good!” The more people, the greater the strength, so they could make the type molds faster, and once they were ready, they could print a large number of books!
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“Eat slowly, Granny will go find your father and others to get this matter settled.”
“Okay!” Ruo Xuan sweetly replied.
Xuanyuan Dowager showed the Ruo Family brothers the piece of paper that Xuanbao wrote.
Firstly, the people from the Ruo Family were stunned to know that those characters were written by Xuanbao!
“Is this really written by Xuanbao?” Madam Jiang was incredulous, the handwriting was even better than hers!
Xuanyuan Dowager was very satisfied seeing their shocked expressions, ha ha… when she first saw her grandson writing, she felt the same way. “Of course, I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be fake?”
Suddenly, Madam Jiang felt as if she had lived her years in vain.
The Ruo Family brothers compared the large characters they had just practiced with their sister’s.
What is meant by ‘the difference between heaven and earth,’ they now understood!
The brothers silently returned to their desks and decided to practice an extra hundred large characters every day, wondering if they could ever catch up with their sister’s level?
“Xuanbao is a clever child, these characters are nothing to her. Look at what she wrote, she feels sorry that you brothers earn money with difficulty by copying books, and thought of such a method for printing books.”
Upon hearing this, Ruo Shui seriously looked over it, and couldn’t help feeling a warmth in his eyes. He was so useless as a father to have his daughter worry and fret about the family’s livelihood.
It had driven her to think of such a method!
Granny Lei’s heart was also aching. Children from poor families matured early; if the family weren’t so poor, Xuanbao wouldn’t have needed to repeatedly risk using her various talents!
She said, “This is Xuanbao’s intention. Third Son, hurry up and make the type molds!”
Xuanyuan Dowager nodded, “Right, we must make them as quickly as possible, I will also find people to help.”
“Ruo Jiang, Ruo Shui, give me one of the books you’ve copied, I will use them to make type molds.”
Ruo Jiang and Ruo Shui each gave Xuanyuan Dowager a book they had copied.
Xuanyuan Dowager flipped through and was captivated, becoming more astonished the more she read.
She hadn’t expected Ruo Shui and Ruo Jiang’s handwriting to be so good. Moreover, having read their copied books and noted their insights on reading, she felt it would be a gross waste of talent for the two not to enter into civil service and serve in the Imperial Court.
It wouldn’t do; she had to write a letter to her son!
Moreover, Xuanbao had thought of such an impressive typography, and she wanted to tell her son to give Xuanbao a big reward.
This time it would require an express message of eight hundred li!
Imperial Palace
The Emperor was looking at a pile of letters from his own mother on the dragon desk. At first, he feared that something was wrong with the Empress Dowager!
He hastily opened it to find that every single one was for requesting rewards for someone, and with each request, the demanded rewards grew more and more substantial!
The Emperor fell silent.
Indeed, the Empress Dowager wasn’t well!
Only a few days had passed, and there was almost a letter a day, all demanding rewards.
Could it be that Empress Dowager and Xiaojiu were discovered by someone who uncovered their identities, having encountered a highly capable swindler?
It wouldn’t do; he had to send someone to investigate who dared to be so audacious!
To dupe the Empress Dowager, he would have that person’s entire family put to death!
