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What are the steps for making paper again? Damn. She was starting to forget.
She remembered the basics: tree bark, fishing nets, scraps of hemp cloth , pound it all, steam it, add plant ash to strip the plant fibers of their glue, then scoop the pulp and leave it to dry.
The specifics, though, would have to be figured out through trial and error.
"Master? Master?" Bella called out cautiously. "Are you all right?"
Luo Wei surfaced. "I'm fine. Let's leave it there for now — anything else can be sorted out later."
Besides, it was absolutely rank out here. She couldn't take it anymore.
"Come on. We're heading back."
"Yes!" Bella tucked the wooden tablet safely away and fell in behind her.
They'd barely taken two steps when a manservant came sprinting from the direction of the ceramic workshop, one hand clamped over his backside. A hired laborer charged after him, swinging a manure bucket.
"Bandy, just go in the bucket! Go in the bucket and I'll dump it all at once!" the laborer bellowed.
"No! Your bucket's already full — Jais just sat his whole backside in dung, and I'm heading to the field!"
"Come on, wait till I dump this load first, then use the bucket! Butler Bella told me to collect twenty buckets a day. I'm still one short!"
Luo Wei finally understood what was going on.
She looked at Bella. Her face was expressionless.
"My butler," she said. "You had better explain."
Bella looked ready to cry. "Master, I was wrong. Please don't be angry , I'll have them collect cow dung instead, right away."
"Do it," Luo Wei said, her face going green like she'd swallowed a fly. "I want fertile farmland, not a cesspit."
Who in the world composted by turning the whole field into a public toilet? A pile here, a pile there , how were they supposed to plow this land afterward?
"I understand, Master! I'll fix it immediately!"
Bella spun around and shouted at the manservant already squatting in the field. "You there , get up! No relieving yourself in the field!"
Bandy flinched at the sharp crack of her voice. He looked up and registered, with dawning horror, that the butler and the master were standing not ten paces away.
But he was already halfway through. If he stopped now, he'd soil his trousers.
"Butler Bella," he pleaded, "could you , could you just wait one moment? Until I finish?"
"Absolutely not. You get up right—"
Before Bella could finish, another voice rang out from somewhere ahead.
"Out of the way, out of the way , I can't hold it! Move! I need to get to the field!"
A second manservant hurtled past them.
Luo Wei pressed her palm to her forehead. "Bella. Handle this. I'm leaving."
She had no interest in watching people relieve themselves in the open air.
Hearing that Luo Wei was leaving, Bella actually exhaled in relief. "Of , of course, Master. Don't worry. I'll sort this out. I'll make them correct it!"
With the master standing there watching, the pressure was unbearable. She hadn't even been able to swear at them properly.
Probably the only person in the entire Starfall Residence who didn't know was Luo Wei herself. The butler Bella that her master saw , gentle, soft-spoken, a little timid , bore no resemblance to the Bella who opened her mouth to scold. That Bella was sharp-tongued and merciless. Even the manservants in the backyard had been reduced to tears by her more than once.
She was also legendarily stingy. A single missing egg in the kitchen, and she launched a full investigation. Anyone who ate an extra meat pie at lunch or helped themselves to an extra bowl of noodle broth would find the cost docked from their wages.
The servants seethed in silence. What choice did they have? Even the master's most fearsome swordsman had eaten one too many bread rolls and watched Bella pinch his wages down from a full gold coin to twenty silver. If even he didn't dare complain to the master, none of them stood a chance.
Luo Wei made her way back to the front courtyard, the smell of manure still clinging to her nose.
She raised her sleeve and sniffed. Wonderful. She'd only been standing out there a short while, and the stench had soaked into the fabric.
"Chris!"
"Coming, Master." Chris trotted in from the doorway.
Luo Wei shrugged off her coat and dropped it on the floor. "I want a bath."
The kitchen kept hot water on hand at all times. The moment she said the word, it was being carried upstairs.
After a long soak, the smell finally lifted. Luo Wei got dressed, and Chris brought a length of cotton cloth to dry her hair.
Cotton was cultivated in this era, but only barely. It was scarce, and the cloth it produced was expensive , well beyond what any commoner could afford. The Western Continent's climate simply wasn't suited for growing it, which kept yields low and made cultivation a constant headache.
Cotton was a plant of the tropics and subtropics. It liked warmth, drought, alkaline soil, and plenty of sun , conditions the Western Plains couldn't reliably provide.
The southwestern reaches of the Misty Plain were a different story. The geography there matched perfectly. If anything could be turned into a cash crop out there, cotton was it.
If that colorful phantom bird ever made it back to the Western Continent, maybe she could have it carry a bag of cotton seeds on the return trip.
Hair dried, Luo Wei draped a shawl around her shoulders and went downstairs to sit by the fireplace.
The heat came slowly off the flames, pulling the last of the moisture from her hair. Strand by strand, the jet-black mass went from damp and heavy to soft and loose.
She closed her eyes and sank back in the chair, long hair spilling over the edge of the armrest in a dark cascade, shining bright in the firelight.
"Master, shall I comb your hair?" Chris produced a small comb.
Luo Wei hummed. She didn't move.
Roman burst through the door and froze. He clapped both hands over his mouth, then tiptoed toward her like a small mouse on a very important errand.
"Chris," he breathed, barely a whisper, "is the young lady asleep?"
"Not yet." Luo Wei opened her eyes. "Roman. Back from school?"
"Mm-hmm!" He nodded with his whole body. "Young lady, you've been gone for so many days again!"
"Things have been busy at the academy." She raised a hand to stop Chris, sat up, and looked at him. "So, little knight , mission report. How are we doing?"
Roman puffed out his chest and held up two fingers. "I found twenty-one people. They all said yes to working on the farm."
"Roman, that's excellent." Luo Wei ruffled his hair.
He pressed his lips together, fighting a grin , the picture of a small mouse that had gotten clean away with the lamp oil.
"Bring them by tomorrow afternoon after school," she said. "Even child laborers need training before they can start."
"Okay, okay!" He nodded rapidly. "Young lady, once I bring them all over, will you finally teach me that game you mentioned last time?"
"Of course," she said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't lie to children."
Roman pumped his fist. "Yes! Young lady, can I bring them over today instead?"
"No. Tomorrow means tomorrow." She wagged her finger at him. "But , if you help me with one more thing today, I'll give you an extra day of playing together."
His eyes went wide. "Really? What is it? I'll do it!"
"Help me draw a map." She studied him for a moment. "Roman, are you afraid of heights?"
He blinked his large, mist-gray eyes. "Afraid of heights , does that mean scared of high places? I'm not scared, young lady. I can do it."
He balled his small hands into fists. His round little face was all bravery and resolve.
"Then we'll give it a try," she said. "But don't push yourself if it gets to be too much. Understood?"
"Understood!"
"Good." Luo Wei walked to the door and scanned the trees outside. No sign of anyone. She looked up toward the roofline. "Troy?"
A dark shape dropped from the eaves. "Here."
"Why are you always on the roof?" she muttered. She met Troy's green eyes. "Call the griffin. The sun's still up , let's go for a ride."
➤ Next: This Is Your Magic Wand
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