These days, other than returning to the palace at night, Ren Baqian spent the rest of his time in that courtyard … in a daze …
He was in a daze because all he did from beginning to end was instructing others on how to make the distilling boiler, which wasn't considered complicated. Other than that, he spent most of his time in a daze.
After being busy for a few months in Tianjing Basin, he enjoyed being able to be in a daze with nothing to do.
Due to his special status, Ren Baqian rarely interacted with other officials. As a result, he didn't know that there was more than one discussion about him outside the courtyard these days.
The main reason was about the Rearguard Commandery in Tianjing Basin and the current Zhang family.
Although the Rearguard Commandery was still outside the establishment, with the approval of the empress, it would soon become an official department of Dayao.
This time, regardless of whether the Zhang family won or lost, they would probably serve Dayao in the future. If the Zhang family won against Ren Baqian, they would probably take this opportunity to get an official position.
Ren Baqian was used to multi-ethnic countries on Earth and was used to letting the capable ones handle everything. This seemed normal to Ren Baqian, but it wasn't a small matter in the hearts of many people.
This was because in the past few decades, there had never been a precedent of someone from another race entering the imperial court as an official.
It could be said that he had a special status.
After experiencing the initial onlookers, everyone began to accept Ren Baqian as the empress's future husband with each and every one of his actions.
However, now that there was the addition of the Rearguard Commandery made up entirely of remnant citizens of the Hao Nation and the Zhang family, many people in the imperial court had objections.
However, the empress had already approved of these two matters. With her temperament, no one could stop these two matters.
The discussions couldn't be suppressed, but they didn't reach Ren Baqian's ears.
Even the Water Empress had heard about it. However, she merely chuckled and put the matter aside, ignoring it. There were many things that she had seen more than others. Judging from the final outcome of Tianjing Basin, she had a little more confidence in Ren Baqian's approach. All that was left was to wait for time to test and see if everything would develop as Ren Baqian had expected.
Five days passed just like that.
Five days later, when the east gate opened, a neatly dressed Zhang Jun stood in front of it. He looked up and saw that the west gate was already open. Ren Baqian was sitting in a rocking chair in front of it, dozing off.
"Thank you for waiting, Sir Ren." Zhang Junzheng laughed. He was also wondering if Ren Baqian had done everything or if he had given up after failing.
Based on his experience, the latter was more likely. However, he was still worried and even more nervous than before. After all, this matter concerned the future of half of the Zhang Clan. It could be said to be of great importance, and even he couldn't avoid it.
Although he was dressed neatly and appeared to be in high spirits, his bloodshot eyes still spoke volumes.
"You guys are done too?" Ren Baqian raised his head and looked at Zhang Junzheng and his nephews, as well as the tightly wrapped carriages behind the gate.
"I'll get someone to inform Her Majesty to be a witness," Ren Baqian said with a smile. He turned around and shouted. Very soon, a guard left.
"Thank you, Sir Ren." Zhang Junzheng cupped his hands, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.
After two hours, everyone heard the sound of horses coming from outside the courtyard. Many people had arrived.
Ren Baqian finally perked up and went out to welcome the empress.
After exiting the door, Ren Baqian saw a majestic procession. Other than the guards and the empress's imperial chariot, there were also many ministers behind them. For example, Shi Qing, Tong Zhenye, Tu Wan, and the others were among them. All of them wore sunglasses and looked like blind bears walking upright.
The aboriginal men were majestic, and the women were enchanting. Tu Wan and a few other female officials with graceful figures were also very eye-catching.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." Ren Baqian greeted the empress first. Then, he smiled and swept his gaze across the officials. He discovered that Li Qianqiu, Xi Yueya, and Hong Wu were among them. It seemed like they had returned to attend the empress's birthday celebration.
Li Qianqiu and Xi Wanya gently nodded at Ren Baqian as a greeting.
On the other hand, Hong Wu was furious. When Ren Baqian and the empress left, he purposely kissed him at the city gate. He had been suppressing his resentment for half a year, and now, he could finally see Ren Baqian.
If looks could kill, Ren Baqian would have been hacked into pieces by him.
"It just so happens that the court session is taking place, so I asked everyone to follow me to take a look," the empress said.
Ren Baqian didn't think much of it as he had seen many of these people. Zhang Junzheng, on the other hand, was excited. The bigger the scene, the better.
Furthermore, the fact that the empress had brought so many high-ranking officials made him feel that the empress was taking this matter very seriously.
"Please get ready and begin," the empress said faintly as she walked forward in her red dress.
Everyone stood in the courtyard. Ren Baqian smiled and asked, "What's the first competition?"
"Let's compete in dyeing," Zhang Junzheng said. He knew that they would probably lose the competition in brewing wine. If they lost in the first round, they would be looked down upon. It would be better to compete in dyeing.
"That's settled then." Ren Baqian smiled and ordered someone to bring out the dyed cloth from the courtyard.
The Zhang family's cloth was taken out first. There were a total of seven rolls of pure color silk: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. Because they didn't make it in time, the colors were a little light, and people would feel that the colors weren't right at first glance.
Zhang Junzheng hurriedly explained, "This cloth takes a long time to dye. There are only five days this time, which is definitely not enough time. As a result, the dyeing is somewhat inadequate. As a result, this commoner and Sir Ren are competing in the durability of the colors. "
"Oh, this is the first time I've heard of it. What about you? "the empress said faintly, looked at Ren Baqian, and asked.
"They'll be here soon." Ren Baqian chuckled as he listened to the footsteps in the courtyard.
Then, he saw three guards coming out with rolls of cloth that looked a lot smaller. Each of the guards was carrying a roll of cloth of seven different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. However, the color of the cloth that each guard was carrying was different.
They actually dyed three different colors of each color.
Furthermore, the colors were bright and beautiful. Compared to the cloth sold on the street, the colors were richer. As long as one wasn't blind, one would be able to see the difference at a glance.
The eyes of Tu Wan and the other female officials lit up when they saw these rolls of cloth.
The other officials didn't have much interest in this competition, but after seeing Zhang Junzheng's seven rolls of silk and Ren Baqian's 21 rolls of cotton cloth, they chuckled.
It would have been fine if Zhang Junzheng hadn't said those words. However, after hearing what he said and comparing the dyed cloth of both parties, Zhang Junzheng's words made everyone want to laugh.
Didn't you say that five days wasn't enough? Not only did Principal Ren dye the cloth better than the ones sold on the market, but he also dyed it in three different colors. What else could you say?
As for Zhang Junzheng, he was stunned when he saw the cloth that Ren Baqian asked his men to carry out. How did the other party do it in five days? Furthermore, why were the colors so bright? How many times did they dye it in five days to achieve this?
What kind of dye did they use?
Soon after, he discovered the problem. The cloth that the other party used seemed to have never been seen before.
"Sir Ren, can I touch this cloth?" Zhang Junzheng cupped his hands.
"Of course."
Zhang Junzheng took a few steps forward and rubbed the cloth with his fingers. Indeed, it was a cloth that he had never seen before.
It seemed like the problem was with this cloth. Could it be that this cloth was easy to dye?
"Thank you very much, Sir Ren. If we were to compare the color of the cloth, I would have already lost this round. However, this time we are comparing the durability of the color after washing, "Zhang Junzheng said. Although the Zhang family had lost in terms of color, he somewhat regretted not requesting for both parties to use the same cloth.
However, the most important factor was the degree of fading after washing. This was the content of the competition.
"Of course."
When two pieces of cloth of the same size were placed in hot water, one of the pots immediately turned red.
However, the other pot of water only had a slight change.
Zhang Junzheng's face turned extremely ugly. That pot of water that turned red was the Zhang family's cloth.
Without needing to compare the two pieces of cloth, he knew that the Zhang family had lost the first round of the competition.
The Zhang family, who had always had the best cloth, actually lost to the person in front of him, whether it was in terms of color or durability.
This was a bigger blow to him than losing the first round.
One had to know that the Zhang family had already lost two rounds, including the wine brewing. This meant that the Zhang family was inferior to the other party in these two categories. Furthermore, these two categories were chosen by the Zhang family without the other party's knowledge beforehand.
The chances of the other party cheating could be said to be very small. Even the entire Dayao couldn't beat the Zhang family in these two categories, let alone in such a short period of time.
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