Print and publish?
Paper was expensive in this world, and commoners simply would not spend money on books. Any book running to hundreds of thousands or millions of characters cost at least one silver coin, enough to feed a family of three for two or three days. Ordinary commoners could not possibly afford one!
Only nobles and wealthy people would buy them!
Sales were limited!
In fact, Jiang Jie was nowhere near as famous as Master Trouvere. Even with Princess Calia helping him find sales channels, he probably would not sell very many copies in the end, certainly not as many as Trouvere's books. The money he could ultimately earn was very limited.
Even a hundred or so gold coins would be a very good result!
Besides, did anyone really think this world had no piracy?
Once a book was printed and published, unscrupulous merchants would soon copy it outright and sell it at a lower price! Otherwise, given Master Trouvere's fame and the staggering human population of the entire Eastern Kingdoms, even if only one person in a hundred bought a copy, sales would have exceeded ten thousand!
Jiang Jie had a better plan.
"Not print and publish it? Then how will you make money?" Princess Calia was genuinely puzzled now. Looking at the fifteen-year-old boy before her, she wondered what crafty idea he was cooking up this time.
Jiang Jie smiled. "Publishing can wait. I hope you can help me find a bard with the best gift of gab, Princess Calia. I want to teach them a very novel way of making money: storytelling!"
Storytelling was a very ancient performing art, probably originating in the Song dynasty.
It had started as a means for blind beggars to earn a living, then gradually gained popularity. By the era before Jiang Jie transmigrated, quite a few masters of pingshu and pinghua storytelling had emerged.
Jiang Jie had grown up listening to The Story of Yue Fei and The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties!
A good storyteller could bring a novel's plot vividly to life, making it witty and entertaining one moment and heart-stopping the next. It was immensely captivating!
Jiang Jie was unwilling to print and publish partly because it might not make much money, but even more because it would take too long to turn a profit.
After a book was written, it still had to pass through many stages before it could be printed and published. Add finding sales channels, selling it, and finally receiving the money, and it became a very lengthy process. It might well take a month or two.
Jiang Jie could not wait!
He needed money right now!
And he needed a great, great deal of it!
Storytelling was different.
He discussed it with Princess Calia and the young maid for two hours, working out a complete plan that would guarantee daily income as soon as the storytelling began. How much income would depend on the publicity and the bard's ability.
At two in the afternoon, the young maid brought Jiang Jie to a small room. A large bathing tub had already been set up inside, half full of scalding water.
"Call me if you need anything. I'll be right outside." Although the young maid's heart was fluttering and she was very fond of Jiang Jie, they had not yet reached a deeper level of intimacy, so she could not possibly stay. She quickly left and closed the door.
Jiang Jie hurriedly tossed in the medicinal herbs, then tested the water...
It really was scalding!
Of course, it had to be hot. Only then could the medicinal properties infuse the water and make the medicinal bath more effective.
"Host, you can take your medicinal bath now." The lazy voice of Xiao Feng, the AI, sounded in his mind.
Jiang Jie nearly jumped. "Xiao Feng, are you trying to murder your own... murder me for my money? That water's scalding! Are you trying to boil me alive?"
"Are you stupid? Actively circulate the Black Tortoise Longevity Art and spread your internal energy to your skin. You'll naturally be able to withstand this much heat. You know, plenty of Xiantian martial artists cultivate right in flames at hundreds or thousands of degrees! There are even stronger martial artists who cultivate in magma! They go to planets with surface temperatures of thousands of degrees to cultivate! Also, the hotter the medicinal bath, the more it opens the pores all over your body, and the better the effect! Do you want to speed up your cultivation or not?" Xiao Feng yawned.
"Yes!"
Jiang Jie gritted his teeth.
It was only hot water! What was there to be afraid of?
Besides, the hot water had been sitting there for a while. It wasn't a hundred degrees anymore, eighty at most. He was a martial artist at the first layer of the Acquired Realm, after all. He had skipped the ordinary martial artist stages of Ming Jin, An Jin, and Hua Jin. Could he really be afraid of eighty-degree water?
Hurriedly stripping off all his clothes, Jiang Jie actively circulated the Black Tortoise Longevity Art.
The Black Tortoise Longevity Art allowed passive cultivation, but that was only for cultivating, continuously generating and increasing internal energy within the body.
Actively circulating the Black Tortoise Longevity Art, however, allowed him to control the internal energy in his body and direct it where he wanted, such as his skin.
Jiang Jie was not very practiced at it, but practice made perfect.
He tested the water. Although it was scalding, he could still bear it.
Gritting his teeth, he jumped in!
The young maid had been hiding outside all along because she really wanted to know what a medicinal bath involved and whether it actually worked. Of course, he was even more concerned about young Nicholas's safety.
Hmm, the water's still very hot. He'll probably have to wait a long time before taking the medicinal bath. Should I get Nicholas some cold water? But Nicholas didn't ask me to. Maybe he doesn't need it? Or perhaps you can't mix cold water into a medicinal bath?
While the young maid was agonizing over it, she suddenly heard a string of screams.
"Aaaah!"
It was Nicholas's voice!
The young maid panicked, hurriedly pushed the door open, and rushed inside!
The next moment, he saw Jiang Jie standing in the wooden tub, staring at her with wide eyes through the billowing steam. He actually seemed... fine?
"Aaaah!"
The young maid screamed too, because she had seen Jiang Jie's completely naked body!
Although this world's customs were much like those of medieval Europe and more permissive than those of Huaxia, the young maid had never seen any man's body in her life. Her little face instantly turned as red as an apple!
Both of them froze. For a moment, neither made a sound, and they simply stared at each other.
A full minute passed, and only after the young maid had seen every part of Jiang Jie's body did she scream again, turn, run out, and close the door, her little face flushed.
"Daphne, what happened?" Princess Calia was in a nearby corridor at the time. Hearing the two successive bouts of screaming, she hurried over to ask.
"N-nothing, Your Highness. Nicholas just took his medicinal bath directly in the hot water, and it scared me. But he's fine. Absolutely fine!" The young maid did not dare say she had just rushed in and seen Jiang Jie in the buff. Wouldn't Her Highness laugh herself to death?
"A hot medicinal bath? It seems our little Nicholas is tougher and more capable than we thought!" Princess Calia smiled, then turned and left.
Only then did the young maid pat her chest. Her Highness probably didn't notice me blushing, did she? My face is so hot, and my heart's beating so fast!
Ooh, so that's what a man's body looks like! It's so embarrassing to look at... Young Nicholas really is strong. I never thought he'd have so much muscle when he looks so thin. Slim with his clothes on, muscular with them off... The young maid shyly covered her face.