A Demonstration in the Palace

"No, I must go to the palace immediately and tell the Emperor about this," said Grand Princess Shangde.

Zhao Ruxi's spinning machine could spin yarn without human intervention. With hundreds of shuttles spinning, it was completely incomparable to the existing spinning machines in the Great Jin. Grand Princess Shangde intuitively felt that this thing was extraordinary and would have a profound impact on the Great Jin Dynasty.

If not now, when will we get the chance to help Zhao Ruxi gain favor with the Emperor?

She won't even need to say anything to the Emperor; he will find a way to seek justice for Zhao Ruxi and reward her.

"Zhiwei, may I bring this machine into the palace?" Grand Princess Shangde asked.

The emperor certainly couldn't leave the palace. But without seeing the machine, all her eloquent descriptions would be in vain. Without seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn't possibly grasp its benefits through mere imagination.

"Of course," Zhao Ruxi said, "But we'll have to disassemble the machine and transport it there, then reassemble it."

This machine is not only big, but also quite complicated. It can't be transported like this.

This put Grand Princess Shangde in a difficult position.

"Why don't you come to the palace with me?" Grand Princess Shangde asked.

Zhao Ruxi immediately shook her head vigorously, "That's inconvenient. I'll have two carpenters accompany you to the palace. They made this machine."

Are you kidding me? She's a woman who's neither a member of the royal family nor holds any official position, going to see the emperor. What if the emperor takes a liking to her, or some unexpected event forces her to marry him? Wouldn't her life be ruined?

It's best to stay as far away from the palace as possible.

Fortunately, although she was busy with her own affairs during the past six months, she maintained a strong grasp of the workshop.

The three managers and the workshop head not only had to report to her regularly on the situation of everyone in the workshop, but she also asked Xiao Lingyan to send a secret guard to occasionally visit the workshop and secretly observe and supervise the craftsmen.

When she was hiring craftsmen, she had a middleman screen them first, and she also sent people to inquire about their character. If someone was not of good character, she would not hire them at all. After they came to the workshop, she paid them very high wages, and with proper management, the craftsmen in the workshop were all very content and there were no incidents of them causing trouble or resigning.

When she decided to develop the textile industry, she asked her bodyguards to select two carpenters for her. After improving the textile machine, she had them assemble and test it. Therefore, these two craftsmen were quite familiar with the machine.

These two people come from impeccable families, and their identities and conduct have passed the vetting by the secret guards. There won't be any problems, and she's not worried that they might suddenly turn into assassins and try to kill the emperor.

"If you are not comfortable letting strangers into the palace and get close to the Emperor, you can have the Ministry of Works send two people. I will teach them how to disassemble, assemble, and operate this machine; they can learn in a few days."

Madam Cui understood Zhao Ruxi's concerns and quickly said, "It might be inconvenient for Zhiwei enter the palace. Why don't we have the Ministry of Works send someone instead?"

Grand Princess Shangde was too excited to think about these things at the moment, but she realized it now.

Although her emperor brother wasn't a lecherous man, Zhao Ruxi was beautiful and talented, and her paintings were highly praised by the emperor. If the emperor saw her after she entered the palace, her brother might not let her leave and would keep her there.

She couldn't let Zhao Ruxi get hurt.

The imperial harem is not a place fit for humans. Even if she was a princess, once she left, she wouldn't want to go back, let alone those who were concubines.

Moreover, the Emperor is older than Zhao Ruxi's father.

"There's no need to ask anyone from the Ministry of Works. Just have your carpenter from your household come to the palace with me," she said.

This textile machine was developed by Zhao Ruxi herself. Now that officials from the Ministry of Works are here, who knows what ulterior motives they might have? They wouldn't dare steal the credit in front of her, but they might try to get a share of the profits.

At that time, not only will the Emperor have a stake in their textile workshops, but the Ministry of Works might also get involved, taking away a portion of the profits for no reason.

Zhao Ruxi is a reliable person, so the carpenter she recommended should be fine. She can have the carpenter install the spinning machine first, then have them go out before letting the Emperor visit it, so they won't meet each other and there won't be any unexpected problems.

Zhao Ruxi immediately summoned the two carpenters and showed them to Grand Princess Shangde.

Grand Princess Shangde glanced at them a few times, then looked at her guards. Seeing the guards nod slightly, she knew that these two were just ordinary people who did not know martial arts. She then ordered, "Disassemble this machine, put it in the carriage, and then come with me to the palace."

The two carpenters were already nervous when they began to pay their respects to the princess. Now, hearing that they would have to enter the palace, they were even more flustered. They looked up and nervously called out to Zhao Ruxi, "Miss..."

"Go ahead, it's alright. Just go into the palace, set up the machine, and teach the eunuchs how to spin yarn. Once they've learned, you can leave. You don't need to demonstrate it in front of the Emperor," Zhao Ruxi said.

Her words were a reminder to Grand Princess Shangde about how to conduct herself after entering the palace.

If anything unexpected happens, she'll be beheaded, so she had to say that.

"Yes, that's it." Grand Princess Shangde smiled, her gaze towards Zhao Ruxi full of admiration. "Zhiwei, you think the same way I do."

She gave the carpenter a few more instructions before leading them into the capital.

Upon reaching the palace gates, she abandoned her spinning wheel and carpentry work, and entered the palace alone.

When the eunuch went to the main hall to report, he also mentioned that the eldest princess had brought a large object to the palace gate in two carriages.

Xiao Ge was discussing matters with his ministers when he heard this and became curious. He quickly dismissed the ministers and summoned Grand Princess Shangde to an audience.

"I heard you brought something big to the palace gate?" he asked as soon as he saw Grand Princess Shangde.

Grand Princess Shangde was bowing when she heard this, and she stopped, her face beaming, and said, "It's a machine that can spin yarn automatically without anyone having to lift a finger."

"Huh?" Xiao Ge thought she had misheard. "Say it again."

Grand Princess Shangde repeated her words triumphantly.

Xiao Ge looked at Grand Princess Shangde with suspicion, still unable to understand.

However, Grand Princess Shangde has always been reliable and is not a playful person.

He turned and ordered the head steward, "Go, have someone bring the things in."

Grand Princess Shangde quickly said, "Send those two carpenters into the palace as well. Find a room and have them install the mechanism, then teach you how to operate it. After you've learned, come and invite the Emperor over to see it."

The head steward agreed and went out to make the arrangements.

People and things were naturally thoroughly inspected by the Imperial Guards to ensure there were no problems before being allowed into the palace. Instead of using horses, they were carried directly into the palace by manpower. They were installed according to Grand Princess Shangde's instructions. After the eunuchs learned how to do it, they invited the emperor to come and take a look.