Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

How could someone just casually pick up a few wild grasses and give them away like that? Isn't he afraid of upsetting his mother?

Bai Su smiled mysteriously: "I guarantee that His Majesty will not only not be angry, but will also particularly like this gift and praise you highly."

"Just follow my instructions and send someone to find these things. Also, send some skilled craftsmen from the palace."

He originally wanted to find some people to help, but then he thought that since there was a princess guarding the place, he might as well ask her to transfer some people from the palace.

After all, the people in the palace are all top-notch experts, much stronger than those in the common people.

Hu Yu blinked his heterochromatic eyes and snorted, "I'd like to see what you're going to do with these things."

As she spoke, she dispatched her casual guards to fetch some people from the palace.

The two ate some snacks and chatted for a while. Soon, seven or eight people came over, led by guards.

These men had honest-looking faces, wore coarse cloth clothes, had slightly dark complexions, and had many calluses on their hands; they were clearly experienced old craftsmen.

The attendant clasped his hands and reported, "Your Highness, these are some of the most skilled master craftsmen in the palace."

Hu Yu pursed his lips and pointed to Bai Su beside him: "Just listen to his instructions in a moment."

Everyone turned their attention to the young master standing to the side. Although they didn't know who Bai Su was, the fact that the princess was by his side meant that he was no ordinary person and someone that they, as mere craftsmen, could not afford to offend.

Upon realizing this, the group quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Excellency."

"I am but a lowly Vice Minister, so there is no need for you to be nervous."

As Bai Su spoke, he looked at the men's clothes and noticed that although they were dressed simply, the thick calluses on their hands indicated that they had been in the business for many years. With this group of skilled workers, he felt more confident.

Seeing Bai Su staring intently at them, the craftsmen asked nervously, "What brings you here, young master?"

Bai Su snapped out of his daze and said seriously, "The main reason I've called you all here is to ask you to help me make something. This thing may take some time and effort, but I guarantee that if it is successfully made, His Majesty will reward everyone present with mansions, land, and even bestow titles upon them."

"What!"

The men were all stunned.

Not to mention them, even Hu Yi was stunned for a moment.

It should be noted that obtaining a noble title in the Great Xia Dynasty was extremely difficult. In the past, only those who had beheaded enemies on the battlefield or whose grain yield far exceeded that of ordinary people were eligible to receive one.

This young master Bai only asked them to come and help him, saying that if they did a good job, His Majesty would bestow upon them a title and a mansion. How could they not be shocked?

What exactly does this young master Bai want to do that surpasses the merits of farming and warfare?

Soon, a group of people, under Bai Su's command, were busily engaged in their work.

Hu Su felt a tickle in his heart, wanting to ask Bai Su what she was up to, but he was worried about interfering with Bai Su's work. So he suppressed his curiosity and stood at the door, his heterochromatic eyes blinking as he watched.

Bai Su focused intently on giving instructions: "Yes, yes, that's it. Don't use too much force, or it will break. These are all priceless treasures."

Hu Yi walked over, somewhat surprised, and said, "I never expected that a pile of weeds could be turned into such a thin cloth."

Bai Su chuckled lightly: "No, this is not cloth, but paper."

The mold in the craftsman's hand swayed twice in the murky water, and a thin, transparent sheet of paper appeared inside the mold. It was peeled off and left to dry.

And next to it was already a thick stack of dried paper.

Bai Su stroked his chin and exclaimed, "With this paper, writing and drawing will be much more convenient in the future."

Can this thing write?

A hint of suspicion flashed in Hu Yi's eyes. Although she had used silk to write before, the silk was made of very particular materials and was extremely expensive.

This thing called paper is made from wheat stalks, bamboo, and reeds that can be found everywhere in the fields and are not worth much, yet it can be used for writing and drawing like silk, which is really hard to believe.

"Whether you can write or not, why don't you try and see?"

Bai Su had someone bring her a sheet of paper that had been dried and handed her a writing brush.

Hu Yu pondered for a while, then skillfully wrote down "Five Vermin" with his brush.

Juanjuan's ink marks were clearly visible on the rice paper, and she couldn't help but open her mouth in surprise.

It's so easy to use, so lightweight, and so inexpensive—it's practically a miracle product!

No wonder Bai Su was so confident just now, saying that as long as they made this thing, their mother would bestow titles upon them.

After all, the so-called "learned scholar of this era" sounds impressive, but in reality, it only amounted to a few hundred scrolls of bamboo slips.

If each bamboo slip containing several hundred characters were copied onto paper, it would be the thickness of several books—it would be an absolute treasure!

Hu Yi held the paper, his expression excited, and said, "With this, the palace can copy thousands of books a day."

Bai Su scoffed, "What's a thousand books? I can write a thousand articles a day by myself."

"How is it possible for one person to write a thousand articles?"

"Young master, are you perhaps a deity?"

Everyone's faces showed astonishment.

Hu Yi didn't believe it at all, and said with a smile, "Even if you had six hands, you couldn't finish writing it in a day."

Bai Su smiled mysteriously: "Want to make a bet?"

"bet."

Hu Yi's eyelids twitched, and a blush rose on her fair face. She asked warily, "What do you want to bet?"

Bai Su smiled and said, "If I can write a thousand articles, you... how about giving me a shoulder massage?"

Hu Yu asked suspiciously, "Are you sure it's that simple?"

Bai Su rubbed her nose: "This time it's that simple, how about that?"

"Fine, then I'll bet you. If you lose, I'll... make you eat a whole sausage and see how uncomfortable you feel." Hu Yu gritted her teeth, looking at Bai Su with a mixture of shame and anger, clearly still holding a grudge about what happened that day.

The small, sharp canine teeth that were revealed in anger caused a cold sweat to break out on Bai Su's forehead.

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Hu Yu Drinks Milk

"Sir, the items you requested have been prepared."

Just as Bai Su was feeling a little awkward, a craftsman walked quickly over from a distance.

In his hands he was also holding a long board bound by an iron frame, covered with densely raised carvings of the imperial court's small seal script, but these characters were all reversed, making it look very strange.

Bai Su specifically instructed, "Be careful, these are all treasures."

Hu Yi's attention was immediately drawn: "Honey? Is this what you meant by someone being able to write a thousand articles a day?"

She picked up a dark mold, a hint of doubt flickering in her heterochromatic eyes. She really couldn't guess how Bai Su could use this thing to write an article.

Bai Su chuckled and explained, "This small piece is called a type block. This thing is called movable type printing. A printing plate consists of hundreds of type blocks. These type blocks can be fired by craftsmen and used to print articles. You see..."

As he spoke, he directed the craftsmen beside him to arrange the characters in order, brush them with ink, and then pick up a piece of paper and print them on.

In just a moment, a neat and beautiful article appeared on the snow-white paper, with delicate ink marks that immediately caught the eye.

Bai Su picked up the paper, gently blew on it, and waited until the ink was almost dry before handing the Xuan paper to Hu Yi beside her: "How is it?"

Hu Yu looked down curiously and was immediately stunned.

The inscription clearly read: "In ancient times, men did not till the land, for the fruits of grass and trees were enough to eat; women did not weave, for the skins of birds and animals were enough to clothe them..."

Her thin lips parted as if they could fit an egg: "This...this is one of the five vermin in Han Feizi. It took me an entire afternoon to write it. And you wrote it in the blink of an eye?"

Bai Su smiled and said, "If you are skilled, it is not a problem for one person to print several thousand copies a day. Whatever book you want, I can print it for you."

Hu Yi was amazed by the efficiency of the printing, but when she heard Bai Su say this, her delicate eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the fixed text blocks: "Wait... you said you can print whatever you want, does that mean the content of this book can be changed at will?"

Bai Su nodded and said, "You guessed right. The most ingenious aspect of movable type printing lies in the 'movable' character itself, which implies flexibility."

“These characters are all individually made of clay and can be arranged in any order to form any content. Once you brush ink on them, just print them and a completely new article will appear.”

"If you print just a few books, you might not see any advantage compared to handwritten books. But once you expand the scale to thousands or tens of thousands, the advantages of printing technology will be fully realized."

"These things are made from cheap materials and have low costs. As the scale expands, the cost of printing books will continue to decrease. The more books you print, the cheaper they will become. In the future, a book may even cost less than two or three coins."

Hu Yi was stunned, his mouth agape, unable to utter a word.

As the current princess, although she often slacks off, she still has a basic understanding and naturally knows what this means.

In comparison, Fusu presented his mother with a map depicting the landscapes of the six kingdoms.

The two things Bai Su created are truly national treasures.

Hu Su slowly raised his head, a strange light flashing in his eyes as he looked at Bai Su, his gaze lingering on her.

She recalled her mother's evaluation of Bai Su, saying that Bai Su possessed the talent of Han Fei and could single-handedly defeat a million soldiers. She had initially thought it was an exaggeration, but now, upon seeing her mother's assessment, she realized it was no exaggeration.

As expected of the person she liked, looking at Bai Su who was talking eloquently in front of her, she couldn't help but curl her nose, her heart filled with pride. What did her sister have to compare with her?

Bai Su did all of this, but it was all for her own sake.

Hu Su stared at Bai Su with adoring eyes, his tone unconsciously softening slightly: "Can you really print whatever you want?"

Bai Su looked at her with some surprise. Why had this girl suddenly become so gentle?

He paused for a moment, then said, "Of course, I'll demonstrate for you."

As he spoke, he picked up a few character blocks, thought of a simple phrase, pieced them together, and then printed them on rice paper.

Hu Yu tiptoed and curiously peered over, only to see the words written on it: "Every stroke tells a story of spring and autumn, every dot embroiders tenderness, every movement and stillness is full of affection, I will hold your hand for a lifetime."

Bai Su didn't think much about this one; it's mainly because it's relatively simple, using only the character "一" (yi), making the character blocks easy to find.

But Hu Yi was stunned when he saw these touching words of love.

Her fair face flushed instantly, and she glanced shyly at Bai Su.

This wicked thing! If she wants to say these sweet words to herself, can't she wait until the outsiders have left? With so many people watching, does Her Highness Hu have any dignity left?

but……

Hu Yu glanced at the captivating words with his heterochromatic eyes, then thought about how much Bai Su had done for him.

She bit her lip shyly, her fair fingers trembled slightly, and then she tentatively reached out.

Bai Su was about to give some instructions to the craftsmen when she suddenly felt a small, warm, jade-like hand appear in her own. She was startled and looked at Hu Su beside her.

But her face flushed, she turned her head away, and muttered under her breath, "You got off easy, you bad thing."

Bai Su looked at her unusually shy demeanor, like that of a well-behaved child bride, and couldn't help but smile: "I'm glad Your Highness likes it."