As soon as Yang Xianrong and Sima Ying walked into the first courtyard, they saw Xiao Ruobai and Liu Yao standing in front of a large basket of silkworm cocoons talking. The two of them looked at each other with questions in their eyes.
Liu Yao had been talking to Liu Sheng and Liu Gu yesterday, and it seemed that something was going on. Because Yang Xianrong was very tired, he didn't ask him too much. Later, he and Sima Ying also made a plan to go out secretly without notifying Liu Yao.
At this time, Yang Xianrong couldn't think of any reason when he met here.
"Queen, Your Majesty." Xiao Ruobai had already seen them. Seeing that they were dressed in casual clothes, he lowered his voice very low, which was regarded as a gift to the two of them.
"Yeah." Sima Ying obviously didn't know what to say, so she just responded first and looked at Liu Yao. Liu Yao looked calm and said with a smile: "Originally I wanted to call you, but I felt that I had to take a rest after being so tired for the past few days. So, I went to the front hall and made an appointment with Magistrate Xiao to come to Huansha House. Take a look and gain some knowledge.”
"Yes, Qingyang County is very famous for its silk fabrics, from the most primitive silkworm cocoons to Sichuan embroidery, there is everything you need. The Queen can also go to the backyard to have a look."
"Yeah." Yang Xianrong couldn't help but chuckle again when he saw Sima Ying quietly wrapping the remaining bun in mulberry leaves and putting it into his wide sleeves.
"What is the third sister laughing at?" Liu Yao's eyes were sharp.
"Oh, it's nothing, it's just that these silkworm cocoons are white and plump and very cute." Yang Xianrong couldn't say that they secretly ate steamed buns outside.
"It's cute, but it can't be transported over long distances. It has to be reeled and rinsed here before the silk thread is made."
"Although I say this, it's best to make silk here before transporting it away. Things like silk thread are still fragile and easily damaged." Xiao Ruobai explained.
"Brother Liu, want to buy?" Sima Ying asked.
"I just want to buy some to take back." Liu Yao nodded, "It's really beautiful. I'll give it to my family as a New Year gift."
"Brother Liu is leaving?" Yang Xianrong suddenly became a little unhappy, "We have just arrived, why do we have to stay a few more days?"
"Well, in a few days. Just came to take a look." Liu Yao replied with a smile, but did not look at her.
"There are many people here, let's go to the backyard and have a look." Many people came in at the door to deliver silkworm cocoons. Xiao Ruobai said to them, "The backyard is very beautiful for dyeing and drying. If you don't mind, you can also take a look at me. My mother made Shu embroidery."
"Okay." Yang Xianrong turned around and entered the courtyard behind.
Xiao Ruobai led them into the separate courtyard, which was also the place where tribute fabrics for the royal family were made. After all, it is for royal use only, and it also requires strict production processes and material selection standards. He really knew this very well and talked about it endlessly.
The weavers here are almost all women. They are very serious and meticulous and keep the working environment clean and tidy at all times.
There are two older grandmas who are responsible for cleaning anytime and anywhere. From the moment they entered the door, they could see that these two were busy and never stopped at all.
Dyeing silk is also an extremely complex project. The dip dyeing method used here is that the silk fabric is immersed in the dyeing vat to dye all the silk fabrics. After that, depending on the color, it is divided into one-time dyeing and several-time dyeing. Each time the fabric is dip-dyed, it gets a different hue.
Of course, the role of dyes is also needed.
The silk fabrics produced in Huansha in Qingyang County are large in quantity and rich in color, so in the backyard silk dyeing place, there is a room dedicated to storing dyes. Bottles and cans filled the room, and they were filled with admiration.
"Are all these dyes?" Liu Yao asked.
"No, no." Xiao Ruobai began to explain again, "There are dyes. For example, this jar is for madder, and this jar is for color additives, cleaning materials for removing sericin. There are also spices here. Add them to The silk will continue to emit a delicate fragrance for several years, and there is no need to incense it.”
"Does it smell like osmanthus?" Yang Xianrong liked the smell very much.
"Of course." Xiao Ruobai pointed to the rows of clay pots on the shelf by the window, "The smells here are different, you can smell them."
Before Yang Xianrong stretched out his hand, he asked again: "Can I take it off and smell it?"
"Okay, okay." Xiao Ruobai stretched out his hand, "Which scent do you want to smell? I'll get it for you."
"Oh, everything is fine." Seeing so many jars at once, Yang Xianrong didn't know which one to smell first.
"Then just take one." Xiao Ruobai reached out and took one from the shelf and handed it to Yang Xianrong. It's white powder, nothing special. There is a faint fragrance of lotus, but you can't get close enough to smell it.
Yang Xianrong handed it to Sima Ying. Sima Ying didn't hear it, just glanced at it and handed it to Liu Yao. Liu Yao even asked if he could touch it? Xiao Ruobai also agreed.
Just like that, one takes it, one smells it, one passes it on, and one touches it. The four of them were really on an assembly line, and they smelled most of the rack in an instant.
"Okay, I can't smell it anymore, I can't even distinguish the smell." Yang Xianrong rubbed his nose, "It all smells good."
"Yes, it is the mellowest aroma that can leave a deep taste in silk fabrics." As he spoke, Xiao Ruobai suddenly kicked a clay pot at his feet. The quality of the can was not very good either, and it actually cracked just like that.
There was simply nothing in the jar, only some yellow-brown residual powder stuck to the pottery shards, which was different from the fragrant powder just now.
The two cleaning ladies just heard the noise and hurriedly came over with a broom and said repeatedly: "Oh, be careful, you may have pricked your foot. Jinniang pricked her foot last month, and now It’s not healed yet.”
"No, I remember she had diarrhea for several days and lost a lot of weight."
Sima Ying tugged on Yang Xianrong's sleeves and motioned for her to stand back. Liu Yao leaned down and wanted to help the grannies clean up.
However, he looked down and suddenly reached out to touch the powder stained inside the broken pottery piece, then put it in his mouth to taste it, and suddenly looked at Xiao Ruobai: "County Magistrate Xiao, what is this? "
"What?" Xiao Ruobai didn't understand what he meant for a moment.
"This tastes a bit bitter. Is it also a dye? But there is no fragrance?" Liu Yao was quite serious. "Are these spices for sale? I can buy some."
"Brother Liu, how much do you want to buy?" Xiao Ruobai laughed.
"I have a lot of family members, so it's always good to buy more." Liu Yao also laughed, "It's okay, I have two brothers following me, just ask them to get it back later."
"Okay, then I'll ask the manager of the Huansha Institute to figure it out with you later." Xiao Ruobai was very happy, this is a big deal.
However, when Yang Xianrong looked at Liu Yao and the powder he spit out after tasting it briefly, his heart moved.
