Li Wanming was supervising the servants as they dug a fermentation pool inside the house to store distiller's yeast.
Distiller's yeast is an essential ingredient for brewing.
Previously, when she was just tinkering around, she only needed jars to store the yeast. But now that she was going to open a winery, the demand for yeast was so high that a fermentation pool was a must.
Seeing that the fermentation pool was taking shape, Li Wanming walked out and immediately spotted the green bricks piled up beside the yard.
"What are these?"
The servants who had delivered the bricks were from a brick - kiln. The square - faced man leading them heard Li Wanming's question and grinned, looking rather simple - minded and honest. "These are green bricks, ma'am. You came to our kiln a few days ago to place an order."
Li Wanming picked up a brick. It was heavy and thick.
But something was wrong.
The green bricks from Dingzhou were known for their lightness. Since they were hollow inside, they could keep warm and insulate against external moisture at the same time.
"These aren't the bricks I ordered."
The smile on the square - faced man's face vanished. "What do you mean, miss?"
Li Wanming replied, "I ordered Dingzhou green bricks, but these are just ordinary ones."
The square - faced man pursed his lips. The simplicity and honesty on his face were gone, replaced by a somewhat sinister look. "Are you saying we made a mistake, miss?"
Li Wanming said, "I don't know if you made a mistake or not, but Dingzhou green bricks have delicate textures, are light to hold, and their color is a bluish - black shade, also known as 'dai bricks'. These bricks in the cart are rough, heavy, and have a lighter color. They're definitely not dai bricks."
The man didn't expect her to be so knowledgeable. He flew into a rage and shouted, "What color or no color? We just do our jobs. We don't understand all that! I think you're just looking for trouble so you don't have to pay!"
The other servants who had delivered the bricks quickly surrounded them, looking menacing.
Uncle Zhong's throat went dry. He kind of regretted his act of being pretentious.
Lu Ping and Wu Yao were both out today. If a fight broke out, he was no match for so many people! What if something happened to the princess? How could he explain it to the prince and princess when he got back?
He looked around nervously and saw Xiao Jingnan standing behind a pomegranate tree, quietly waving at him.
Uncle Zhong felt a bit more at ease.
Although Xiao Jingnan was in poor health, he had trained in the army. He had held a spear and ridden a horse, so he should be able to deal with these sly and cunning street thugs.
"Your Highness, the princess..."
"Don't be in a hurry. Just watch."
Xiao Jingnan gently patted his shoulder, signaling him not to panic.
A slight smile played on his lips, and his eyes sparkled. He stared at the scene in front of him with great interest, as if waiting for a good show to start.
Li Wanming wasn't in a hurry either. She calmly took out a document.
"This is the contract I signed with your brick - kiln. It clearly states that I ordered dai bricks."
The square - faced man grinned, not taking this piece of paper seriously at all.
"What we delivered today is dai bricks! If you don't believe me, miss, you can go and ask other brick - kilns. See if anyone says these aren't dai bricks?"
"No need." Li Wanming waved the document in her hand. "I forgot to tell you that to make this contract more valid, I had it stamped by the Ministry of Works."
The square - faced man was stunned.
He didn't expect that Li Wanming would go to the Ministry of Works just to buy some bricks!
The Ministry of Works was one of the six ministries.
It was mainly responsible for the construction of royal palaces, government offices, city walls, etc. But if ordinary people wanted to build a house and were afraid of being cheated when buying materials, they could also go to the Ministry of Works to have their contract stamped, which was called "getting an official seal".
However, this was usually done for the mansions of officials or the wealthy. Ordinary people were afraid of dealing with officials and would avoid them whenever possible. Who would go to the Ministry of Works on their own initiative?
"The contract clearly states that I ordered 300 dai bricks."
"Oh, the clerk of the Ministry of Works was very kind and added a supplementary note at the back of this contract, stating that dai bricks are seven and a half inches long, two inches and three cents wide, one inch and nine cents thick, and have a bluish - black color."
"Take a look at the bricks in your cart. Which one meets these requirements?"
Li Wanming pinched the document between her two fingers and waved the size chart of the dai bricks in front of their faces.
"Or do you think your standards are better than those of the Ministry of Works? Do you think the Ministry of Works is wrong and you're right?"
The square - faced man saw the bright red official seal of the Ministry of Works on the contract and immediately changed his expression. He forced a smile on his face.
"What are you saying, miss? How could the officials of the Ministry of Works make a mistake? Oh, it's all our carelessness. We must have not checked carefully when the bricks came out of the kiln and accidentally brought the ordinary green bricks from another batch to you!"
He called to the servants behind him. "Hurry up and take these green bricks away!" He smiled apologetically. "We'll go back right away and sort it out. We'll deliver the dai bricks you ordered as soon as possible..."
"Wait a minute."
Li Wanming stopped him. "It'll take at least half a day for you to go back and forth. Who's going to compensate for the delay in my project?"
The man was stunned. "You mean..."
Li Wanming said, "The dai bricks are supposed to be delivered today so that we can start building the stove. After the stove is built, we still need to fire the kiln before it can operate normally... All my procedures are well - arranged. Your delay will affect all my subsequent arrangements. I can't be the one to bear this loss, can I?"
She held the thin contract in her hand, with the bright red official seal of the Ministry of Works on it.
"If you don't want to compensate, we can go to both the Ministry of Works and the Jingzhao Prefecture. The capital is so big. I'm sure there's a place where I can get justice!"
With that, Li Wanming was about to walk out.
"Wait!"
The man's face turned bright red. Finally, he gritted his teeth and stamped his foot. "I... I'll give you an extra 50 dai bricks!"
Li Wanming said, "80. Not a single one less."
The square - faced man led his servants away dejectedly.
Xiao Jingnan stood under the pomegranate tree, smiling tenderly.
His eyes followed Li Wanming's figure. His pupils were extremely bright, as if there were stars twinkling in them.
After seeing Li Wanming go into the house, he stretched and said slowly, "Uncle Zhong, how about that? Your plan didn't work out, did it?"
Uncle Zhong was the chief steward of the prince's mansion, in charge of all the construction affairs in the mansion.
How could he not tell the difference between dai bricks and ordinary green bricks?
Xiao Jingnan had seen him wandering around the pile of bricks earlier and had guessed his intention.
He wanted to take advantage of this to put pressure on Li Wanming.
Uncle Zhong gave him a disgruntled look. "My plan? No matter how well - thought - out my plan was, it's useless! But Your Highness..."
His tone was heavy and meaningful. "I don't know what you and the princess talked about, but she doesn't seem to mind at all that you take concubines."
"This is really strange. Which wife doesn't want to have all of her husband's love? Why is she so indifferent to her husband having concubines?"
Xiao Jingnan was speechless.
After he had shown his anger that day, Li Wanming didn't seem to react at all...
She still happily went shopping for tools, adjusted the recipes, and was extremely busy every day. She just didn't have the time to ask: Husband, why are you angry? Husband, don't you want to take concubines? Husband, do you want to be with just one woman for your whole life?
A few days later, he had to quietly calm down his anger.
No matter how sarcastic he was, Li Wanming didn't seem to notice at all.
His cold words and strange behavior were all in vain.
Uncle Zhong saw his frustrated expression, put his hands behind his back, and walked away proudly.
Humph, so what if I'm outmaneuvered by the princess?
Aren't you also completely under her thumb?