Chapter 95: End to All

It was June, and it was already hot. However, men were more inclined to go outside now.

The girls who liked to be pretty were already wearing their gauge dresses. Their necks and slender waists were all shown, and their red lips were alluring.

As a result, many men wandered the street and tried to get a feast with their eyes.

Of course, this wasn’t the key reason why Chang’an was getting more bustling. The most important reason was that the entrance exam of the Martial Arts Academy was about to begin in three days.

After injuring Da Quan that night, Chenya completely disappeared. Regardless of how the royal guards and intelligence agents tried to search for him in the dark, they didn’t find any clues. One reason was that Chang’an was too big. The other reason was that Chenya’s cultivation strength was high.

With the healing ointment from the Royal Guard, Da Quan quickly recovered, but Chen Qingshan still needed to rest.

In less than a month after entering Great Sui, two of his close friends got severely injured. Fang Jie had no idea if Chang’an was a good place or a bad place for him. His close friends got injured, but he was also liked by the Emperor, and he might soar into the clouds after getting the chance to enter the Martial Arts Academy.

Even if Fang Jie couldn’t enter the Martial Arts Academy, a few grand scholars were still interested in him.

Only three days were left until the entrance exam of the Martial Arts Academy, so Fang Jie had to calm down and prepare. Although he learned many things in his previous life and could handle tests on subjects such as math, literature, and arts, he had no confidence in the tests on music and rites, and he had no cultivation strength for the martial test. It would be extremely hard for him to shock everyone in this entrance exam.

After locking himself in the shop and reading books for half a day, Fang Jie felt like his head was going to explode. Earlier, Huai Qiugong, the Head of the Ministry of Rites, sent someone to bring him a book called Rites Records. Fang Jie read it for a bit, and the complicated stuff in there made his head hurt. When he tried to recall the information, he couldn’t get much out of his brain.

On just the simple topic of greeting others, there were many things to look out for. For example, it was different when meeting seniors, juniors, and people on his level. There were even requirements on how low people’s backs should bend, how their legs, arms, and heads should be positioned, and where they should look. All these details made Fang Jie anxious just by reading.

In the end, Fang Jie threw the book to the side, put a sheet of rice paper on the table, and drew something on it with a charcoal pen.

After that, he folded the rice paper and put it into his sleeves. Then, he told Da Quan and others that he was going out, and he walked onto the prosperous street.

Fang Jie instantly got into a great mood after seeing all the pretty girls on the street. Although all the men looked dignified, their minds were thinking about other things when they saw the pretty girls and women walking past them.

Fang Jie walked into a tailor shop and found the most famous senior tailor in the area. He opened his drawing and asked, “Can you make this?”

The senior tailor looked at Fang Jie’s drawing, and he froze for a second before asking, “You drew this?”

Fang Jie nodded.

The senior tailor picked up the drawing and studied it in detail before saying, “Although your drawing is strange, I have to say that such a piece of clothing… no one would dare to wear it even if I make it. Can you tell me what it is called?”

“I call it… Cheongsam,” Fang Jie said with a smile, “Wouldn’t women like wearing it?”

The senior tailor put down the drawing and blushed before saying, “Too much is exposed…”

“Don’t worry about that; isn’t it pretty?”

After a moment of silence, the senior tailor nodded and said, “I haven’t thought about making clothes this way all my life. The laws of Great Sui say that people can’t wear fancy clothes and clothes from other nations. There are no other rules. However, your idea is too bold. I’m afraid that people will curse you once it is made, and even the bravest woman wouldn’t dare to wear it in public.”

“Can’t I ask my woman to wear this and show me in my home?” Fang Jie laughed.

“Of course! There are no rules on that!” The senior tailor put away the drawing and asked Fang Jie carefully, “Do you want to do something that has a bright future?”

“What?” Fang Jie asked.

The senior tailor got close and asked with a serious expression, “I need an apprentice…”

“Don’t think about it!” Fang Jie said with his chest raised, “I’m a participant in the entrance exam of the Martial Arts Academy!”

The senior tailor was surprised, and he quickly cupped his hands and apologized, “Pardon my rudeness. This… I can make this, but there need to be preparations. After all, it would be tough to make exactly the same thing as your drawing. Many modifications would be needed, so a ton of cloth would be used. If I need to make all these drawings on the paper into clothes, it would take 20 taels of silver!”

“500 taels of silver!” Fang Jie said as he extended all five of his fingers.

The senior tailor looked at Fang Jie as if the latter was an idiot, and he also thought that he might have heard it wrong.

“500 taels of silver?” he asked.

“Eh, 500 taels of silver. However, it is you who should give me 500 taels of silver,” Fang Jie said with a smile, “You can give me 500 taels of silver, and I will come and take these few pieces of clothing after you make them. Of course, you can keep the blueprint and make more to sell. However, if you sell more than 200 pieces, I will need to take 30 percent of the profit in every piece sold after that. Of course, since you are the first person who I’m selling a blueprint to, I will give you priority when I’m selling more blueprints in the future. I don’t lack good designs.”

“Are you sick?” the senior tailor asked Fang Jie with a contemptuous look on his face.

“I will take all of them,” a powerful voice sounded behind Fang Jie, “I will buy all of your good designs. I’m trying to enter the apparel business.”

Fang Jie turned around in surprise, and he saw Wu Yidao standing by the door.

“You have potential; it is a waste that a person like you isn’t doing business.” Wu Yidao looked at Fang Jie and said in appreciation.

-Gold-Sharing Duke’s Residence-

In a cool pavilion beside a small lotus pond, Fang Jie got the chance to drink the single-branch red-robe tea which was so rare that 500 grams of it could trade of a big residence. After taking a small sip, Fang Jie asked, “Was that one tael of silver?”

Wu Yidao smiled and replied, “It isn’t about money. If I don’t want to sell it, even 10,000 taels of silver wouldn’t work. Except for those few kilograms that are given to the Royal Palace as tribute every year, the leftover, about one kilogram, is all here in my residence. If I’m in a good mood, I will make tea for anyone if they ask. However, when I’m not in the mood, even the most influential figures couldn’t taste it.”

“Dominating!” Fang Jie couldn’t help but flatter this man.

Wu Yidao laughed and said while pointing at the teacup, “Wuyi Mountain Red-Robe Tea. It means that this tea is grown on the tea trees on the cliff of Wuyi Mountain. Since that location is special, the soil is special, and the climate is special, the tea trees are special, making the taste of this tea unique. This tea has a hint of sweet osmanthus’ fragrance. The top-tier tea leaves could only make seven pots of tea, but Wuyi Mountain Red-Robe Tea will still have flavor after making nine pots of tea.”

“This is also called the single-branch red-robe tea because the harvesting process is unique. Only a young woman who has a great scent would climb up the cliff in thin clothes and carefully pick one tea leaf on each tea tree. Also, the tea leaves would be placed in the pocket closest to this girl’s chest. Since she could only get about 20 tea leaves a day, these tea leaves would be infused with the scent of this beautiful girl.”

“Since the tea has the scent of sweet Osmanthus and a beautiful girl, it is more fragrant compared to other types of tea. Only the best tea leaf on each tea tree is picked, and those tea leaves are heated and dried by the most experienced tea makers with complex processes. Do you understand why this tea is so expensive?”

After hearing Wu Yidao’s explanation, Fang Jie held the teacup under his nose and smelled. “There is the scent of a beautiful girl?”

Wu Yidao laughed, “That is some BS. Since scholars need such a good story and feeling, this is the description of this tea. If I tell you that these tea leaves are hand-picked by bearded men who have stinky sweat, who are going to drink it?”

Fang Jie laughed and thought, “This Wu Yidao is an interesting character.”

“I saw your drawings. Those are… indeed new and bold.” Wu Yidao pointed at the blueprint on the table and said, “If such clothes are made, and the madams’ of all the pleasure quarters in Chang’an are invited to check these out, they would be more than willing to pay good money. With these clothes, the girls in their buildings will be a lot more charming.”

“Eh… these clothes… are serious,” Fang Jie said with a serious tone.

“I’m also serious,” Wu Yidao replied with a smile, “These clothes are too bold. Think about it; who would dare to wear such clothes? Those girls working in the pleasure quarters; they want to show their beauty the fullest. Other girls wouldn’t dare to wear such things. If the girls in Beckon of the Red Sleeve didn’t wear thin gauge dresses when they danced and charmed all the men who went to see their shows, how could you see all these gauge dresses on the street in the summer?”

Wu Yidao added, “There needs to be a process. That tailor didn’t see the value of these designs, so he could only operate that little shop. Even if we sell these clothes to the pleasure quarters, we will only make a little bit of money. Soon, all other tailor shops will learn the designs, and these clothes will be all over Chang’an in a few years just like the gauge dresses.

Then, Wu Yidao asked Fang Jie, “Tell me how you would maximize the profit by selling these clothes.”

After a moment of silence, Fang Jie replied, “I would report to the government and claim that I came up with this design. Anyone else who makes such clothes should be considered thieves.”

“Great Sui doesn’t have this rule,” Wu Yidao said after thinking for a moment, “However, you did remind me. I will write a memorial to the throne tomorrow. In the future, such unique stuff should belong to the person who came up with it, and the government should offer protection for such stuff.”

Fang Jie thought to himself, “Oh, my bad. I forgot that there are no laws on intellectual properties in this world. However, Wu Yidao instantly saw the importance of this matter, so it is something worth praising. Wu Yidao is the richest merchant, so he has thousands of people working for him. It wouldn’t be hard for them to come up with good ideas, and protection from the government will only benefit his business.”

“Continue,” Wu Yidao said as he made a hand gesture.

After pondering for a bit, Fang Jie got close and whispered something into Wu Yidao’s ear. Before he could finish, Wu Yidao’s eyes already lit up.

After Fang Jie finished, Gold-Sharing Duke who was extremely wealthy clapped his hands and said, “I already said that it would be a waste of your talent if you don’t do business. How about this? If you don’t make it into the Martial Arts Academy, and you don’t like going into the government, you can come and work for me. I will save the position of a manager for you. Worldwide Trading Company employs close to 10,000 people, and there are only ten managers.”

Fang Jie laughed and said, “We can talk more about this once you tell me the salary.”

Wu Yidao couldn’t help but laugh.

Wu Yinyu who was watching the fish play in the lotus pond was curious, so she walked over and asked curiously, “What is going on? Daddy, why are you so happy? Tell me about it.”

Wu Yidao pointed at the drawings on the table and said, “I was talking to Fang Jie about who should wear this piece of clothing and shock Chang’an.”

Wu Yingyu looked at the drawings and praised, “So beautiful! Daddy! I want to wear it too!”

Wu Yidao’s face turned gloomy, and he smiled awkwardly while saying, “How can that…”

“Why not?” Wu Yingyu asked Fang Jie, “What do you think?”

Fang Jie looked at Wu Yidao and didn’t dare to speak.

“Yu’er, don’t play around.”

“If you don’t let me wear it, I will…” Wu Yingyu hesitated for a moment before threatening, “I will destroy the drawings!”

Wu Yidao pointed at Fang Jie and said, “He can draw more.”

Wu Yingyu stomped her feet out of anger, walked to the pond, and said, “If you don’t allow me to wear it, I will jump into the pond with the drawings! Die together!”

“Die together…” Fang Jie thought to himself, “This girl sure is unique.”

Wu Yidao quickly got up, but Wu Yingyu said, “If you get close, I will jump.”

Fang Jie asked, “She is just bluffing, right?”

Wu Yidao got serious and said, “Don’t get it wrong. She dares to jump. Although the pond isn’t deep, it would be troublesome if she gets dirty, right? The more important thing is that if she gets a cold, it would be terrible. Let’s not go over. She is just like a child; she will calm down after a while.”

“God-Sharing Duke, have you thought of a way to put an end to this?” Fang Jie asked.

Wu Yidao frowned and said, “Unless her personality changes, how could it be? If you can make her stop threatening me by jumping into this pond, I will think of a way and get you into the Martial Arts Academy.”

“Let me do it.” Fang Jie walked to the pond with his back facing Wu Yidao and Wu Yingyu, then he lowered his pants a little.

“Shameless!” Ms. Wu Yingyu cursed and dashed away while blushing, and Wu Yidao’s face twitched; he wasn’t able to say anything for a while.