I fought back after reselling my engagement

Su Zhen sat cross-legged on the couch and practiced with his eyes closed. After practicing for a long time, the sky suddenly brightened.

She changed into the new clothes prepared by Chunxiao and went to the main courtyard to pay New Year's greetings to Su Jingzhai, and then went to the courtyard of Su Shao and his wife.

Cui said, "Susu, your uncle and I are going to burn incense in a while, can you come with us?"

"No, I'll stay at home and take a rest."

Cui smiled and said, "I have invited a storyteller back. Why don't you listen to the storyteller's stories?"

"Okay!"

In the Great Qi Dynasty, there were storytellers, just like the Pingshu in later generations; and there were also singing and dancing in the wealthy families.

During the Chinese New Year, if a wealthy family has many relatives and friends gathered together, they will take turns to host a banquet. They will prepare singing and appreciation, but there will be no drama, which is very boring.

Su Zhen felt that putting the drama on stage would enrich people's lives and add something interesting.

When I was in Lujiazhuang in my previous life, there would be temple fairs during the New Year, where people would mostly watch acrobatics and listen to storytellers tell stories. But you had to pay to watch all these. The storyteller would charge you for each show, and if you wanted to listen to the next show, you had to pay extra; the same went for the acrobatics.

The Cui couple took Su Enci, Aunt Xi, Qilang and Balang to burn incense and visit the temple fair.

Aunt Jin didn't get up. She was "taught" by Su Enci so badly that she understood the story, but was too embarrassed to go out. She didn't know how many people understood it. She was stupid since she was a child, and she was afraid that others would understand it, and she would be too ashamed to see anyone.

Burn incense on the first day, stay at home on the second day, and visit relatives and friends on the third day.

The Su family is from the capital, and they have no relatives in Yueyang Prefecture, at most some officials they are familiar with.

Starting from the third day of the first lunar month, officials and their wives came to visit every day. They would have lunch at the mansion before leaving, and the exquisite and delicious dishes of the Grand Marshal's Mansion also spread.

On the seventh day, an official came from Yongzhou. His ancestral home was in Yueyang Prefecture. He brought with him a beautiful daughter who was as pretty as a flower. It was said that she was a concubine's daughter in the family. He insisted on giving his daughter to Su Jingzhai to be a servant.

Su Jingzhai could not refuse, so he had to keep the person and immediately gave Liu to Su Enci.

Su Enci had a good impression of Liu, who had a scholarly air and was not like Xiao Jin, who was illiterate and loved to compare herself with others.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Su Enci officially took Liu as his concubine, and she was called "Aunt Liu".

Cui said, "In previous years, officials also gave beauties as gifts during festivals. Your grandfather usually didn't keep them and gave them to officials of all ranks in Yueyang Prefecture. This time, he gave it to Master Ci, but it was because Xiao Jin, who was beside him, was really not good enough."

Su Zhen only then realized that without her knowing, three beauties had been sent to her during this year's New Year. However, the first two were given to officials of the Grand Marshal's Office by Su Jingzhai, and the third one seemed to be a steady person, so she was left to Su Enci.

Time flies, and half a month passed in a flash. Su Zhen packed his bags and prepared to return to Baixian Manor.

At nightfall, Su Zhen found Su Jingzhai and gave him 20,000 taels of silver.

Su Jingzhai asked, "Why are you giving me money?"

"Grandfather, keep it for your expenses. I see that my eldest brother has not much money on him since he came from the capital. Grandfather will give him two or three thousand taels of silver in your name to keep for his own protection. When he arrives at the Tanzhou County Government, he will have to buy a mansion and a shop to supplement his living expenses. Although the prices in the county are cheap, it still costs money."

My aunt, Jin, is the most stingy person. She knew in her previous life that she had to use her own mother's dowry to get her to help.

Su Jingzhai took out a small cloth bag from his sleeve, inside of which was a chicken-fat yellow seal. "This is my New Year's gift to you. Two days ago, an official sent me some jade stones that can be used to carve a seal."

Su Zhen took it. It was engraved with "Su Zhen's Seal" in Su style running script, also known as Su Xing, which was elegant and free, yet agile. "Thank you, Grandfather."

"The Three Character Classic has not been edited yet. Your uncle and Wu Lang have participated in it. If it is completed, I would like to add Wu Lang, your uncle and my name to it. In addition, we will sort out the manuscripts these days. If possible, you can publish a collection of poems for your grandfather, and your uncle and Wu Lang, Qi Lang, and Balang's poems can be published together."

"Grandfather, give me the manuscript."

Su Jingzhai was a scholar. For a learned scholar, the biggest dream was to publish a book. However, the cost of publishing a book in the current Da Qi was too high, and he really didn't dare to publish it without several thousand taels of silver.

Su Jingzhai handed over a bound manuscript.

After calling out to the outside, Su Wulang came over holding a box.

Su Jingzhai took out another written manuscript and said, "This is the preface to your Thousand Character Classic. You can take it back. The Thousand Character Classic is very well written."

The preface written by Su Jingzhai will certainly guarantee the sales and smooth circulation of this book, but once this preface is circulated, it means that the author of "Thousand Character Classic" is Su Zhen.

"You don't need to use a nickname, just your name. No one in the Su family knows your name except us. They only know that you are Su Wenjiang, the current Princess Jiarou."

Others don’t know, and no one would have thought that Su Zhen and Princess Jiarou are the same person.

"It's settled. Grandfather knows you have a lot to do, so go back to Baixian Manor."

"Yes, Wen Jiang will leave!"

Su Zhen left the study.

Chunxiao was very excited. Her master was very outstanding even though she was a woman.

*

Baixian Manor.

After Su Zhen returned, he first walked around the fields, went to check out the loom group, and then took a look around the paper mill. The paper produced by the paper mill was much better than the paper on the market. The paper was dark yellow, and they were using bleaching technology to make the paper whiter. After repeated experiments, the paper became more resilient and thinner than before.

The printing house carved a lot of movable type blocks and made various molds according to what she said. The paper was in the center and various patterns were carved around it, including figures and landscapes.

Su Zhen took a lot of paper from the paper mill and prepared to print Su Jingzhai's paper collection. She tied the smock that the maids sewed for her, personally set the layout and mold, cut all the paper into 32-page size, then mixed the ink, put the sheet on, pressed, and then took it out, and a sheet of paper was printed.

"The first print run was 6,000 copies, 3,000 copies were distributed in the capital, 500 copies were distributed in Yueyang Prefecture, 1,000 copies were distributed in Jiangnan, 1,000 copies were distributed in Luoyang, and the remaining 500 copies were kept for my own collection."

Su Zhen is busy in the printing shop, and her work makes her feel fulfilled.

From typesetting to finalizing the edition, and then to selecting the pattern and background, she personally supervised the entire process. Finally, the sixty poems of Su Jingzhai's life were printed, and someone was responsible for checking and binding them. The cover was made of kraft paper with a landscape carving and the four big characters "Jingzhai Poetry Collection" were printed on it. After opening it, there was the preface, which introduced Su Jingzhai's life. After the preface was the table of contents, and then the sixty poems.

It took the entire printing house five days to complete five thousand copies of the poetry collection. There were also engravers who were carving the woodblocks for "Thousand Character Classic". Why were they using woodblocks this time? Su Zhen felt that this book would be published again in the future.