Apart from Min Rou, some official wives had also arrived at the Imperial Grant Courtyard early to help.
Holding her daughter, Concubine Liu looked around and felt her hands were heavy.
Smelling the milky fragrance on her daughter, she clearly felt herself becoming smarter, handling things more efficiently.
"Qiu Li, you and Consort Min together, register everyone's expertise."
"Divide into three groups: spinning, weaving, and sewing."
[Wow, my mother is so amazing, she even knows about assembly line production!]
Xiao Chuchu couldn't help but praise.
Looking at the system prompt, she was even happier - her mother's original intelligence was 76, but now, with her blessing, it had doubled to 152.
[So, Mom is actually smarter than Grandpa himself.]
Concubine Liu was also stunned when she heard this. Was she smarter than her father?
But she didn't have time to think about it, or even time to catch up with Min Rou next to her. After delegating tasks, she had the people in the spinning group start operating the silk machines brought out from the palace.
Most of the people who came to this courtyard today were summoned by the emperor through Old Madam Liu two days ago.
The recruiting criteria didn't consider how influential their families were, only whether they had skilled labor.
So most of those who came were wives who had once come from humble backgrounds, skilled with needles and thread.
Not only did they participate themselves, but they also brought along their most diligent maids and servants, just like the Empress Dowager, to help out.
"Wow, this is a good thing!"
"The consort is really amazing, to be able to come up with this."
After doing the work for a while, they could see more clearly than the palace consorts the changes brought by this new machine!
"If this were to be taken to our hometown before, it would have been snatched up."
"Isn't that right? No wonder Old Master Liu catches thieves one after another. Everyone in the Liu family is so clever! They can even invent such good things."
The official wives in the spinning and weaving groups instantly fell in love with this machine.
Word spread quickly, and the entire courtyard's maids and servants came to see, all praising it endlessly.
With this thing, the speed would increase by more than a little bit, and it wouldn't require much effort!
Their gaze towards Concubine Liu changed instantly.
Originally, they had only paid attention to Concubine Liu because of Old Master Liu's recent achievements. But now, they truly admired this young and beautiful palace consort from the bottom of their hearts.
"Concubine Liu is even better than the Empress..."
"Shh! Are you daring to say that?"
"What's there not to dare? Just telling the truth... If the Empress also comes up with something helpful for us women, I'll praise her too."
The maids and servants gathered together, speaking without restraint.
The praise of common people is the most sincere.
Consort Min, upon hearing this, winked at Liu Chaniang, "Actually, I think so too."
Liu Chaniang chuckled and pushed her daughter out, "Go do your work, you're the head of the spinning group."
[Wow, Mom is assigning roles and even appointing group leaders?]
Xiao Chuchu was surprised, not expecting that Concubine Liu, whose intelligence had been enhanced, was already approaching modern factory management thinking.
[So, is there performance evaluation?]
Liu Chaniang, upon hearing her daughter's thoughts, silently perked up her ears.
Performance evaluation?
In the manufacturing industry, a piece-rate reward system is adopted, where the more one produces, the more reward they receive.
Xiao Chuchu drifted deeper into her thoughts, contemplating, "If the quality is not up to standard, it will not be included in the piece-rate calculation, and deductions will be made from the base salary due to material wastage."
A spark ignited in Concubine Liu's eyes.
"What a brilliant idea! To encourage everyone to produce more and better winter clothing, they should be rewarded accordingly."
Lady Guan may donate money, but the maids and servants who come to help below, their lives are not easy, and they deserve extra pay for the additional work.
Concubine Liu hurriedly instructed Qiu Li to bring paper and ink, planning according to her daughter's suggestion.
By the time the spinning, weaving, and sewing groups were all bustling with activity, it was lunchtime, and Concubine Liu finally stopped writing, feeling weary.
Only then did she notice someone standing beside her.
Startled, Concubine Liu looked closely and recognized her former close friend from her maiden days, Min Rou.
Seeing Min Rou's emaciated appearance, Concubine Liu was on the verge of tears.
"Why are you standing there? Come sit beside me."
Concubine Liu reproached herself for being so busy organizing everyone to work in the courtyard that she neglected Min Rou.
"How did you lose so much weight?"
Concubine Liu refrained from being too intimate with Min Rou in front of so many people.
Otherwise, others might think she was showing favoritism by giving Min Rou the easiest tasks and the best treatment.
Min Rou was the best at embroidery and was appointed as the head of the sewing group by Concubine Liu.
"If you can't handle it, just tell me, I'll let someone else take over for you, and you can go rest."
Concubine Liu led Min Rou to the bed and discovered that her hands were ice-cold.
Her moon-white gown hung loosely on her, revealing her gaunt frame.
Min Rou's originally almond-shaped face was now so thin that it almost lost its shape, and her lively eyes were now dim with exhaustion.
Concubine Liu was both shocked and saddened.
She hadn't noticed Min Rou's weight loss when she heard her daughter's thoughts earlier, but now seeing her like this was too distressing.
Waving her hand, Min Rou said, "I'm fine, just caught a chill a while ago."
As she spoke, she looked at the swaddled baby in the cradle with gentle eyes that threatened to spill tears, yet there was a hint of restrained astonishment.
"Now that the child at home is better, I dared to come over, afraid of infecting the little one and you."
Min Rou's hands didn't stop sewing as she spoke, "Chaniang, your father and the emperor saved me, and I have nothing to repay them with."
"Making clothes for the needy is within my capabilities."
Concubine Liu sighed with concern, "And how about you and your husband?"
Although they had talked about divorcing, after so many years of marriage, they were loving and had children.
Min Rou sighed, "He's been pleading with me not to act rashly, but I've made up my mind, we must divorce."
"But the children fell ill a few days ago, so I couldn't immediately take them back to my mother's house."
She had two daughters, the eldest was six, and the youngest was three.
"I've explained it to Mu Xin, once the children are better, I'll take them away." Min Rou had made up her mind.
Liu Chaniang nodded with red-rimmed eyes, "You're right. Growing up in the Zhou family, with that kind of family influence, who knows what kind of person the child will become."
"You're absolutely right," Min Rou said with painful eyes shut tight, "I don't care about my own reputation, but I can't bear to see my child call that kind of beast his grandfather!"
She gritted her teeth at the thought, tears welling up in her eyes. "Especially when the child is sick, I can't bear it. I don't want my child to grow up without a father's love."
"Ah, even in the palace, I've heard Elder Brother Zhou has always been very good to you. He was smitten with you long before we got married," Liu Chaniang sighed, "but I suppose he's under pressure from the Zhou family's nine-generation single heir tradition. Even if he wants to sever ties with the Zhou family, the family elders and patriarch would never agree."
Liu Chaniang genuinely felt sorry for Min Rou.
"Ultimately, it's all because the Zhou family refuses to behave like decent human beings!"
"Don't worry, Sister Min, things will get better in the future."
Min Rou turned away, wiping her tears. "Hmm, my husband is a good man. He even went to the Ministry of Justice to reprimand his grandfather, but the Zhou family is still standing in our way."
"I can't go back as long as the older generation of the Zhou family is alive."
But before she could finish, she was startled once again by the soft, plaintive voice in her ear.
"Huh? How come I don't remember in the original novel that Aunt Min's two daughters got sick?"
Listening, Xiao Chuchu became puzzled.
She couldn't help but feel confused. "In the original novel, Aunt Min was bullied by an old dog and soon committed suicide by hanging herself."
"She left behind two healthy daughters, and the elder one, even before growing up, clearly inherited Aunt Min's stunning looks and was bestowed upon my brother as his future prince consort by our imperial father."
What?
Min Rou and Concubine Liu were both stunned.
The two of them, in the future, would actually be relatives by marriage!?
However, Xiao Chuchu's next words left them both dumbfounded.
"My mother really knows how to deceive Aunt Min."
"Where's the true love from her husband? After she died in the novel, not long after, probably not even three months, her husband impregnated the daughter of the Minister of Justice..."
