"Little Chenzi, have you prepared everything you need?"
Looking at the few weaving looms, hammers, saws, rulers, wood, and a few skilled palace maids from the weaving workshop, she could produce silk smoother than that of Chen Kingdom, thin, breathable, and brightly colored?
"Although this princess really wants to see it quickly, I still have the patience to wait for you to gather the tools. Hurry up and prepare. If you can't make it with just these things, this princess will punish you to wash the chamber pot!"
Princess Xin Yue said with a look of "Do you take me for a fool?", puffing up her cheeks, "Don't blame this princess for not giving you a chance then!"
Chu Chen was ashamed, "Your Highness, it's really enough. Shall I show you now?"
"If you're eager to wash chamber pots, then hurry up and start!"
Good intentions were treated as a donkey's ears. Princess Xin Yue, enraged, laughed, but in her heart, she worried about how she could protect Little Chenzi from being beheaded by the Empress later.
Chu Chen didn't think that much. He grabbed the tools on the ground and started working.
In his previous life, until the advent of electricity, the changes in weaving technology were not very significant, and these changes were very small yet highly efficient.
With the blessing of the divine craftsman skill, Chu Chen quickly made the corresponding modified parts and then tinkered with the existing looms.
Soon, the old-fashioned looms were modified.
"Your Highness Princess, the loom has been modified."
Chu Chen patted the new loom.
Princess Xin Yue circled the new loom with great interest. Apart from noticing an extra large wheel and the original small wheel being replaced by seven vertical ones, there didn't seem to be much change?
"Just by adding these two things, you can weave high-quality silk? That's it?"
It seemed that Little Chenzi didn't understand everything. At least, he pretended to understand the art of weaving for women. This was simply risking his own life for nothing, not worth it.
Princess Xin Yue was a little worried.
"Of course not. This only speeds up the weaving process. Previously, there was one wheel, and now there are eight. This increases the weaving speed by eight times. However, to weave high-quality silk, the foundation must also be solid."
Chu Chen pointed to the remaining wood on the side and said with a smile, "I'll make tools to strengthen the quality of the silk later. If Your Highness is bored, you can try the effectiveness of the new loom and compete with the palace maids to see who is faster."
"Then this princess will try. Are these two little gadgets really that magical?"
Princess Xin Yue was unconvinced and selected two palace maids to compete with her using the old loom and the new one.
Without Princess Xin Yue's disturbance, Chu Chen quickly got to work on creating this screening window that required concentration.
Not long after, he heard Princess Xin Yue's surprised shout.
He stole a glance back and saw that Princess Xin Yue had already woven a meter, while the two palace maids participating in the competition had only woven about twenty meters.
Chu Chen smiled and continued his work, trying his best to ignore the palace maids' flattery behind him and Princess Xin Yue's happy laughter.
"Your Highness Princess is truly amazing!"
"I originally thought of letting Your Highness win, but now even with all my effort, I can't even reach one-tenth of Your Highness's length!"
The palace maids who were not participating also gathered around, looking at the new loom in front of the princess with joy and surprise, and discussing animatedly.
Half an hour passed quickly. Chu Chen was concentrating on finishing the last part.
Suddenly, Princess Xin Yue stood in front of him, holding a bolt of finished silk and excitedly showing off, "Little Chenzi, look! In just half an hour, this princess has finished a bolt of silk. Isn't it amazing!"
He reached out and touched it. The quality seemed a bit poor. It was good enough that the princess could weave.
Chu Chen said calmly, "Your Highness is truly amazing. I never expected the silk you wove to be so smooth and delicate."
"Hehe, even Little Chenzi says so. It seems I am truly amazing and have a talent for weaving."
Princess Xin Yue was very pleased with Chu Chen's flattery, selectively ignoring that the new loom he created was the biggest contributor. She didn't even realize that the quality of her silk was worse than that woven by the old loom.
"I want to show this to Mother, so she stops saying I only know how to play and don't know how to do anything."
Excited, Princess Xin Yue forgot to bring Chu Chen along and ran off to find the Empress.
"Mother, Mother! Look quickly, the silk I wove in half an hour!"
At the doorway, the princess's voice reached inside before she did.
The Empress, who was looking through memorials, looked up and saw Princess Xin Yue running with a bolt of silk.
She said irritably, "You girl, have you been playing too much and forgotten your needlework lessons? How can you weave a bolt of silk in half an hour? You're dreaming."
"It's true, look! This is really what I wove in half an hour."
Xin Yue was anxious, grabbed the Empress's hand, and made her feel the silk, while chattering about what had happened.
Now the Empress understood. This was definitely the credit of that little eunuch's new loom.
She muttered softly, "I didn't expect him, a eunuch, to know how to weave?"
"Let's go, come with me to see."
Curiosity filled the Empress's mind. She no longer wanted to review memorials.
When she arrived at the weaving workshop, the Empress saw Chu Chen directing a few palace maids on a wooden machine she had never seen before but looked somewhat familiar. They seemed to be working on the warp threads?
"Little Chenzi, quickly tell Mother, did this princess personally weave this silk?"
Feeling that her mother still didn't believe her, Princess Xin Yue pulled Chu Chen to testify.
"Your Majesty, it is indeed so."
The Empress trusted Chu Chen very much. With his testimony, she immediately believed him. She looked curiously at the new loom and intended to have someone operate it for her to see.
"Your Majesty, why not let Princess Xin Yue use the new warp threads to weave a bolt for you to see?"
Chu Chen pulled Princess Xin Yue and whispered, "I'm giving you a chance to show off, do you want it?"
"Of course I do!"
Their small actions were almost as good as an open declaration, but the Empress didn't mind. She nodded in agreement.
Soon, Princess Xin Yue started weaving again. This time, her movements were more skilled, and her weaving speed was even faster than before.
In less than half an hour, she had woven a bolt of silk.
The Empress, who had been watching the entire process, was now shocked. The new silk woven by Princess Xin Yue using the new loom was six to seven times faster than the old one. The quality, at first glance, was even more refined than the tribute from Chen Kingdom.
"I didn't expect you, a little eunuch, to actually know how to weave! How did you do it?"
The Empress suppressed her ecstatic joy.