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Chapter 118: Briquette, Here We Come
Chapter 118: Briquette, Here We Come
The Princess of Qi slowly adjusted her mindset. Cradling Suisu in her arms, she gently nuzzled the little girl and whispered, "So bright and vibrant. You look absolutely gorgeous."
Upon receiving her mother's approval, Suisu happily looped her arms around the princess's neck and snuggled close to her, saying, "Yes, it's beautiful."
Suisu loved it.
She left the latter half of her sentence unspoken.
However, the meaning she wanted to convey was already clear.
The Princess of Qi understood and gently scratched the little girl's nose with her hand, saying, "Mother loves it too."
"Mother loves it," Suisu echoed happily.
For the rest of the afternoon, the mother and daughter duo happily gazed at the fish.
Initially, the Princess of Qi had planned to take Suisu to the bamboo forest to dig for bamboo shoots.
Although the bamboo forest in their princely mansion wasn't particularly large, it was the season for bamboo shoots to thrive, and they could unearth quite a few.
The Princess of Qi recalled that in previous years, they would usually dig for bamboo shoots in the spring.
Upon further reflection, she became uncertain and decided to ask Aunt Qiu as well.
Aunt Qiu knew about this and laughed as she replied, "The temperature here isn't high enough. They've only just started growing in April, and we'll have to wait until June to find some."
Princess of Qi: ?
Huh?
So, we can't dig for them?
She felt a twinge of disappointment, but it wasn't too strong.
If they couldn't find entertainment within the mansion, they could always go outside to play.
The plan to dig for bamboo shoots was temporarily shelved since the shoots hadn't grown yet.
As the Princess of Qi wasn't sure what kind of activities Suisu enjoyed, she decided to ask her, "Suisu, where do you want to go and play? Tell Mother, and I'll take you there."
In the past, Suisu had also had opportunities to play and have fun.
While the adults worked and took care of household chores, her uncles would also pay little attention to her.
However, there weren't many entertaining things to do in the village.
At that moment, when the princess inquired, Suisu looked just as perplexed.
The system quickly noticed this and took the initiative to remind her gently.
【Beehive Briquettes】
It wasn't that the system wanted to exploit the child, but rather, Suisu had an exceptionally strong interest in this matter.
Even in her sleep during noon, she dreamed about making beehive briquettes.
If the system didn't remind her at that moment, what if Suisu suddenly remembered it later and became sad?
As soon as the system reminded her, Suisu immediately reacted. She hugged the princess's thighs and replied in a crisp voice, "Mother, let's make briquettes! We'll go and make briquettes."
Briquettes?
What was that?
The Princess of Qi was completely baffled by what she heard.
Although the Princess of Qi's family background wasn't particularly prominent, she still came from a wealthy family.
As such, she was entirely unaware of the struggles of the common people.
Moreover, the terminology had changed over time.
Nowadays, people referred to fuel more commonly as 'charcoal' rather than 'coal.'
Therefore, when Suisu mentioned 'making briquettes,' the Princess of Qi was utterly lost.
Seeing that the princess didn't understand, Suisu also became anxious. She kept gesturing as she explained, "You mix coal slag with yellow clay and water, shape it into briquettes, poke holes in them, and they burn so well!"
The little girl spoke hastily, and some of her words weren't entirely clear.
However, the Princess of Qi felt that she had a general idea now.
'Burn'—these three words alone conveyed a simple and clear message.
Was she talking about charcoal?
The Princess of Qi wasn't sure. She gently patted Suisu's back and laughed as she said, "Suisu, don't rush. Let's take our time. Are you talking about charcoal? The kind that you burn?"
If they were talking about making briquettes, then the Princess of Qi understood.
The aristocrats in the capital rather fancied this processed form of charcoal.
Especially the kind infused with various spices—the Princess of Qi favored the jasmine-scented charcoal.
Thus, the charcoal used for burning during the winter was often infused with jasmine.
Moreover, to cater to the tastes of the aristocrats and make this charcoal seem more upscale, they would often use molds to shape the charcoal into various animal forms.
As for the nobles, the key was to make them feel that the money spent was... worth it.
Queen Qi only inquired briefly about the price of charcoal, after all, as a manager, she had to be aware of the market trends to avoid being deceived.
Beyond that, she was clueless.
Briquettes...
That was indeed an unknown territory.
However, seeing how eager Suisu was, nearly jumping with excitement, Queen Qi felt that it might be quite interesting indeed.
Suisu had been anxious earlier because she feared her mother wouldn't understand.
Now that her mother had assured her that there was no rush and to explain slowly, Suisu slowed down, trying to make her pronunciation as clear as possible. "Mother, the charcoal that's been formed into briquettes burns so well!"
Hearing these words, Queen Qi nodded. "Stone charcoal is indeed more long-lasting."
Stone charcoal was another name for coal.
The extraction of stone charcoal was not yet fully developed due to extraction costs and governmental control, so wood charcoal was still more commonly used by the common folk.
Wood charcoal was more readily available as it could be found in the mountains without the need to discover mineral sources, extract them, and then transport them down the mountains.
While wood charcoal was less durable, the abundance of wood made up for it, and with proper forestry management, trees could be planted and grown year after year, providing an endless supply for future generations to harvest and utilize.
During the winter, the manor primarily used stone charcoal.
Of course, it was the processed form of stone charcoal.
It produced less smoke and had a more pleasant fragrance.
The durability of stone charcoal had already been proven.
Queen Qi assumed Suisu was talking about stone charcoal.
There were some communication difficulties between the two.
Suisu thought her mother understood and happily spun around the Queen.
Queen Qi also believed they were on the same page and happily picked up the little girl, even swinging her around a bit.
She couldn't do much more than that, though.
Queen Qi didn't have the strength.
She wanted to toss her up and catch her again, but she was afraid she might drop her.
Regarding this, Queen Qi felt quite regretful.
Should she really start practicing her physical strength with Master Shen?
After their noon rest, Feng Xuanrui and the others tidied up briefly before heading to the manor for their physical education class.
Queen Qi brought Suisu along.
Feng Xuanrui and Feng Xuanbin, taking advantage of their younger age, squeezed in with Suisu in one carriage.
Feng Xuanje looked on enviously from the side, and although Feng Xuan Cang also felt like going, he was the oldest of the brothers present and had to be sensible and understanding, taking care of his younger siblings.
At this time, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to squeeze in with his younger brothers.
Feng Xuanbo looked on sourly and remarked, "It seems us older brothers are really quite useless, eh, Little Five?"
Hearing this, Feng Xuan Cang helplessly patted Little Five's head gently. "You, stop fanning the flames over here."
As he spoke, he also used his eyes to indicate Feng Xuanje's direction.
Feng Xuanje was originally timid and didn't dare to express himself.
Now that Feng Xuanbo had said this, Feng Xuanje looked like he had been frosted over, his soul leaving his body, as he returned to the carriage in a daze.
Feng Xuanbo watched this scene unfold and twisted his lips, but in the end, he didn't say anything further.
The two luxurious carriages soon left the city, heading towards the manor.
Before long, a carriage from the Marquis of Hu's estate followed closely behind.
Upon noticing this, the carriage driver specifically reminded, "Your Highness, the Marquis of Hu's carriage is right behind us."
(End of Chapter)
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