amaotonovel Chapter 249 The beauty that is veiled yet revealed is even more captivating.
Chapter 249 The beauty that is veiled yet revealed is even more captivating.
Chapter 249 The beauty that is veiled yet revealed is even more captivating.
“Okay,” Huangfu Qiandai Xiamo agreed.
Xia Mo was focused on managing the Xia Family Cloth Shop's business in Haozhou Prefecture. Huangfu Qian was in Haozhou Prefecture, accompanying Xia Mo, but he devised a plan to have his subordinates build water-powered automatic looms and spinning wheels in several other prefectures.
This time, in order to reduce costs even further, the fabric was made of three parts cotton and seven parts linen, making it more durable than a five-part cotton and five-part linen blend. Similarly, the value of the fabric dropped to two hundred coins per bolt, allowing more families to afford to buy fabric and make clothes, so that the whole family would not have to share the same set of clothes when going out.
Meanwhile, the other three Xia family cloth shops had been completed, and the water-powered automatic spinning wheels were already in operation, producing a large amount of silk thread, just waiting for the right time to officially start cloth production.
The head of the You family looked at Huangfu Qian in surprise, then at Xia Mo.
Xia Mo immediately revealed a girlish, vulnerable joy and said, "That's wonderful."
However, the head of the You family had a bad feeling.
Xia Mo smiled gently and said, "Master You, you can go and explain to the other twelve cloth merchants now."
The head of the You family nodded.
What he's after, we must proceed gradually.
After the head of the You family left, Xia Mo separated a wisp of her divine consciousness, shared it with Huangfu Qian, and then attached it to the head of the You family to observe him.
After leaving the Xia family's cloth shop, the head of the You family hurriedly went to find the other twelve cloth merchants to discuss matters.
A system message appeared on the screen in front of the You family head.
Live Stream System: If the selection of tributes for the royal family fails, the main storyline progress will drop drastically to 20%. Please be aware, host.
The head of the You family communicated with the live streaming system in his mind, and the live streaming system displayed the content in his mind.
On the screen, a message pop-up from the head of the You family said: "Haste makes waste. Once I get my hands on the water-powered automatic loom and water-powered automatic spinning wheel technology, my cloth shop will have even more skilled embroiderers. Crushing the Xia family's cloth shop will only take a day."
The head of the You family continued to think to the live streaming system: If you can provide me with those two technologies, I won't need to pretend to back down.
Patriarch You: The fact that the tribute was stolen this time does not mean that I have failed. Temporary gains and losses are not the end result.
The head of the You family was pounding his heart, unsure whether he had successfully persuaded the live-streaming system.
The live streaming system didn't pop up any message windows, and I don't know what they were thinking.
The head of the You family felt uneasy.
Inside the small hall of Xia Family Cloth Shop—
Xia Mo raised an eyebrow and looked at Huangfu Qian.
Huangfu Qian, with a serious expression, met Xia Mo's gaze.
"We still need to put more effort into it," Xia Mo said.
* * *
Three days later—
The eunuch Gao came to select royal tributes, and the results are in.
Fearing accusations of tampering with the offerings, Eunuch Gao placed the tribute items for the competition in an open area in the center of Haozhou City, so that all the city's residents could see them.
Eunuch Gao not only compared the fabrics from the fourteen cloth shops, but also compared the embroidery work from the fourteen cloth shops.
The fabric from Xiajia Cloth Shop is woven more densely and is more durable than that of the other thirteen shops. The fabric is smooth and has no rough feel.
The embroidery patterns exported by Xia Family Cloth Shop also possessed a unique charm, far surpassing the embroidery products offered by the other thirteen cloth merchants.
The eunuch Gao had the people present watch as the Xia family cloth shop selected on the spot to provide royal tribute for the next three years.
Xia Mo decisively used her divine sense to observe the light screen in front of the You family head after the Xia family cloth shop was selected.
The light screen in front of the You family head automatically switched interfaces, entering the task page, popping up the main task, and displaying the progress of the main task.
The head of the You family watched as the progress of the main quest dropped from 69% to 21%, a sudden drop of 48 points.
The head of the You family was so frightened by the progress of the fall that his heart almost stopped.
The head of the You family was nervous about whether the live-streaming system would impose a punishment on him.
Cold sweat covered the forehead of the You family head.
After a while, Patriarch You discovered that the live streaming system had not punished him, which meant that what he had said to the live streaming system three days ago had had an effect, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
With sweat dripping from his forehead, Patriarch You clasped his hands in a generous gesture towards Xia Mo and said, "I was so nervous that I'm sweating. Congratulations to Patriarch Xia on your selection."
Xia Mo nodded with a smile.
She could use her divine sense to transmit her voice, but she deliberately tugged at Huangfu Qian's sleeve.
Huangfu Qian immediately understood and looked around.
"Oh my god..."
Suddenly, gasps of surprise erupted from the onlookers.
"What happened? What happened?!"
Immediately someone responded, and everyone's eyes turned to the two people who had spoken.
Feeling embarrassed by the stares, Zhao Luren said, "My relative bought a bolt of Xia family cloth for 200 wen in Lingzhou Prefecture."
"What?! A bolt of horse that sells for 300 coins in Haozhou Prefecture drops to 200 coins in another prefecture?!"
"Does the Xia Family Cloth Shop not treat us ordinary people like human beings?! How can they treat us so differently?!"
"..."
With deliberate instigation, the onlookers quickly turned their anger towards Xia Mo.
"Patriarch Xia, shouldn't you give us an explanation?!"
"Eunuch Gao! You are an eunuch in the palace, a high-ranking official. You must stand up for us common people!"
"..."
There were indeed some couples who got excited and glared angrily at Xia Mo.
But more than anything, they stared at Xia Mo with hidden anger and incomprehension.
Huangfu Qian stepped forward and stood protectively in front of Xia Mo.
Xia Mo nodded, reached out, and said, "Hold me up on your shoulders, it'll be higher so I can talk to you more easily."
Huangfu Qian: "..."
Even though they are now husband and wife, no husband would ever put his wife on his shoulders in front of so many people!
Xia Mo brought it up on purpose. She looked at Huangfu Qian with feigned confusion and innocence, and said anxiously, "I'm too short. If I stand here and talk, it's really... difficult for my voice to carry."
Huangfu Qian looked at the table next to Eunuch Gao.
In any case, Huangfu Qian would never raise Xia Mo in public.
The eunuch immediately understood and instructed the guard beside him to move the table next to Xia Mo.
As if suddenly realizing what kind of request she had just made, Xia Mo blushed with embarrassment.
Huangfu Qian: "..."
He seemed to understand Xia Mo better than anyone else, completely disregarding worldly opinions, and only Xia Mo truly understood him.
Xia Mo blinked at Huangfu Qian, indicating that she would let it go this time.
Xia Mo gestured for Huangfu Qian to help her to the table.
Huangfu Qian looked at Xia Mo with a mixture of helplessness and doting, then simply supported Xia Mo's waist with both hands and lifted her onto the table.
As summer drew to a close and the veil was blown by the wind onto her face, blurring her features and creating a captivating, veiled beauty.
The lively and noisy scene inexplicably fell silent. The men and women present all focused their attention on Xia Mo, as if they had lost their souls in her and forgot to blink.