Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1649 Victoria's Bedroom

The light bulb above flickered, a sign that everything was ready.

The set is based on the Purple Bedroom in Bruchweg Palace, which was also Victoria's own room. This may be the first time Victoria's private room has been shown to the public, but it only simulates a small part of her room.

"This bed is a bit firm, but it doesn't matter. Hmm, this is pretty much my room. How does it feel?"

"Wow, so purple!"

The curtains, drapes, cushions, and everything else in the room were almost all purple, and in similar shades. Moreover, this wasn't just any purple; it was an extremely pure Tyrian purple, the color of pigment derived from conch shells themselves—only a tiny spoonful of powder could be extracted from ten thousand conch shells.

Of course, if this were the original Tyrian purple, the room would have been filled with the stench of conch shells. This is a drawback of Tyrian purple; because it's an extract from conch shells, it always seems to carry a stench like dead fish. The *Han Feizi* records that Duke Huan of Qi said, "I hate the stench of purple." Here, "hate purple" can also refer to the repulsive smell, because the purple dye Duke Huan encountered was made from shellfish like whelks, not from plant pigments like gromwell.

Of course, the room is indeed odorless right now, which allows Shang Luo to get used to the environment beforehand. He will signal to others that he is ready via the desk lamp in a little while.

When he was in charge of control, he would shout "Action!" or something similar over the loudspeaker. But things are different now.

Yanqiu changed her approach—she wouldn't do anything to disrupt the atmosphere. Instead of shouting through a megaphone on set, she would use psychological cues to convey information. For example, two flashes of a light bulb meant preparation was complete, and two flashes of a desk lamp signaled the start of filming. If Shangluo was ready, he could simply flick the desk lamp twice.

This can be considered Yanqiu's own invention for the time being—because apart from the project she led, there is actually no professional film shooting process that can access this panoramic studio, so there is no opportunity to invent it.

This shooting mode has two significant advantages: First, it optimizes the shooting process mechanism, something we encountered in Shangluo before. Because there's no need for personnel scheduling each time filming starts, the actors simply need to rewind their previous movements, just like in rehearsals. Furthermore, there's no need to consider camera positions during filming; you can shoot however you want, which brings the second advantage.

Secondly, once the director's megaphone disappears and instructions are given through cues, the space becomes safe and free. Actors can now immerse themselves in the theatrical space.

This can be considered an innovation she made from an actor's perspective, and it seems to be working very well.

At least for Victoria, nothing could be more effective. Because if she were actually being filmed in front of a camera, she might get very nervous. But if she can't see anything, she can go about the whole process naturally and even warm up the atmosphere with conversation.

[Something's not right here...it looks like one of those movies made by two people. Wait, isn't this a movie made by two people?]

"Huh?" Victoria was taken aback. "Is something wrong?"

"Well... just pretend she didn't say anything. Anyway," he changed the subject:
"Speaking of which, while this place certainly won't simulate that purple color—your room won't smell bad either, will it?"

Victoria remained silent.

This surprised Shang Luo for a moment: "Really? Your room really smells bad?"

This question seems to be asked in the wrong way. "Do I really have to answer this question?"

“It’s not that I have to answer,” Shangluo looked around. “After all, this isn’t a line from a script.”

"Well, since you asked, I'll tell you—yes, Tyrannosaurus will inevitably pick up this smell. However, as long as you leave the whole house until it's half-worn and don't move it around too much, the smell will naturally go away."

"But I've heard that the purple color of the whelk brings a stench that lasts as long as its color itself?"

“That’s because it hasn’t been stored long enough,” Victoria explained. “If he only had one or two pieces of purple, of course he would be impatient to take them out and wear them. But I have a whole warehouse of purple, which I can store in a well-ventilated place for several years and then use them one by one. Those who are new to Tyre purple don’t know the correct way to use this dye.”

"I see." This is indeed a privilege enjoyed only by emperors, or at least nobles.

This was not something that ordinary nobles could achieve, because Roman nobles usually wore toga, which was a large piece of uncut fabric draped over their bodies, similar to a monk's robe.

In theory, Romans were required to maintain a frugal and austere lifestyle—this was the foundation of Rome's state. For Rome, this was a matter of political correctness.

Therefore, the older a robe is, the more it signifies seniority. Just as newly cast bronze is shiny, but bronze turns bluish-green over time.

Of course, while maintaining their age, the robes also needed to be kept clean; this was essential. Therefore, Romans typically had slaves specifically assigned to maintain their toga, ensuring that these robes could be passed down through generations.

These robes are usually white. White fabric doesn't pose much of a dye problem, but purple is a different story.

Although Tyrian purple is quite water-resistant and its purple color is quite stable, the color will eventually fade if it is washed repeatedly for more than ten years.

The purpose of wearing Tyrian purple was to display wealth. If the Tyrian purple robes became worn out, they lost their meaning. Therefore, when wearing Tyrian purple, one often had to prepare a large number of toga robes to change into. The toga was an extremely wasteful way of wearing fabric; when fully unfolded, it was six meters long, half the length of a bolt of cloth.

They bought a bolt of silk from the far East at an exorbitant price, but it was only enough to make two garments. One wash and one change would be about all they could manage. And when washing, they had to be careful not to ruin the purple dye. This was simply not something an ordinary person could afford.

Then think about Victoria's house.
“Would you like to try it?” Victoria leaned back on her bed. “Ah, purple, so reassuring. And this fabric, it’s genuine silk. I ordered it from the Jiangnan Textile Bureau.”

"Huh? Was the purple color dyed there too?"

“Yes,” Victoria nodded. “We used to make the purple ourselves. But then we found out that ordering directly from the Jiangnan Textile Bureau seemed to be of better quality and cheaper. Actually, these days, it’s not that purple can’t be mixed; the exact same color can be mixed in other ways. But you can’t just mix any color.”

(End of this chapter)