After a long silence, everyone came back to their senses. They could only think that Princess Fuxi really was just a child—she called everything a dream.
Chenxiang said, “What dream? Yesterday, the princess told us to find the tools for making salt, and she directed us through every step.”
Chu Mingyi added, “That’s right. This servant can testify to it. Such fine salt has never appeared before. It must have been the princess who came up with the method.”
Rongyao opened her eyes wide and shook her head anxiously. “It was Xian Dai, it was Xian Dai’s…”
“My daughter truly is unparalleled in intelligence!” Before Rongyao could finish, Dantai Ji rose to his feet with a smile. He then asked, “Yaoyao, can you write down the method for making refined salt?”
Rongyao froze for a moment, then pulled a sheet of paper from the fragrant pouch at her waist and handed it to her imperial father. “It’s all here. Yaoyao wrote down every step.”
Dantai Ji eagerly opened the paper. It was indeed written in his daughter’s handwriting. She had truly recorded every step in detail—
not only the materials required, but also how long to wait at each stage.
With this recipe, they would definitely be able to produce refined salt!
Dantai Ji swept his daughter Yaoyao up into his arms. “Yaoyao really is Father’s little lucky star—and the lucky star of Great Zhou! You actually came up with such an excellent method for making salt!”
Rongyao hurriedly shook her head. “It was Xian Dai.”
“Father knows. Yaoyao is the most amazing.” After saying this, the emperor turned to everyone and declared, “Grand Princess Fuxi has presented the method for making refined salt and rendered a great service. From now on, one-tenth of the profits from all refined salt sold shall belong to Princess Fuxi!”
The surroundings fell silent for a moment.
Cui Huaiyin walked over in disbelief. “But… there has never been such a precedent in the world. Besides, Rongyao is still so young. What would she need so much money for?”
Dantai Ji gave Cui Huaiyin a reassuring look. “It is what Yaoyao deserves. I truly do not know what else I could reward her with, so this is the only solution.”
“How much money can Yaoyao get from selling the refined salt?” Rongyao suddenly asked, tilting her head up and tugging at her father’s robes.
Dantai Ji replied, “The Ministry of Revenue will have to calculate that.”
“Will there be a thousand taels every year?”
Dantai Ji pinched his daughter’s cheek and chuckled. “Of course there will.”
Rongyao’s eyes widened with excitement. “Then Yaoyao will give those thousand taels to the county schools!”
Dantai Ji hesitated for a moment. “What?”
Rongyao tried her best to explain. “Didn’t Father say before that it would take a thousand taels to let girls across the realm attend school without paying tuition, just like boys? Yaoyao doesn’t want the money. Father can give it to the county schools so that girls like Yaoyao won’t have to pay tuition. Yaoyao will pay their tuition in advance! From now on, when those girls enter the county schools, they won’t have to pay any money anymore!”
Her innocent, childish voice rang in his ears.
Holding his daughter in his arms and gazing at her earnest little face, Dantai Ji felt his heart tremble violently—more intensely than ever before.
…
At court that morning, the emperor presented every civil and military official with a small jar of salt.
That was right—salt.
The emperor had all the officials taste it.
Afterward, the ministers were astonished and began asking where the salt had come from and whether there was a method for producing it.
The emperor calmly told them about Princess Fuxi’s invention.
The great hall first fell into complete silence. Then the chief minister knelt and raised the jar of salt in his hands.
“Princess Fuxi is exceptionally intelligent and a blessing to Great Zhou. However, this old minister believes that granting her a share of the profits from this salt, as Your Majesty has proposed, is inappropriate.”
Dantai Ji seemed to have expected this. He did not even raise his brows. “And how is it inappropriate? The method was devised by the princess. She deserves the reward.”
The Minister of Revenue knelt as well. “The Ministry of Revenue oversees the sale of salt. The profits from this salt will be immense. According to my calculations, if she receives one-tenth, Grand Princess Fuxi will earn forty thousand strings of cash each year.”
When the Minister of Revenue announced that figure, a wave of gasps swept through the hall. Before long, even more officials knelt and urged the emperor to withdraw his decree.
“Such an enormous sum for a princess—she would be as wealthy as a small kingdom! How could Great Zhou remain peaceful in the long term?”
“Your Majesty! You must not be rash!”
“The Grand Princess will cause trouble if she holds so much money!”
Dantai Ji raised his eyes, his cold gaze sweeping over the kneeling officials.
“Grand Princess Fuxi cares deeply for the people and is pure and kindhearted. She declared that she would exchange today’s achievement for equal treatment in the county schools, so that girls throughout the realm could attend without paying tuition.”
The great hall became utterly silent. One could hear a pin drop.
The chief minister, kneeling before the throne, asked in a trembling voice, “Did Grand Princess Fuxi truly say that?”
Dantai Ji replied, “Why would I deceive you, my loyal subject?”
The chief minister looked up at the emperor, bewilderment appearing in his eyes.
Dantai Ji said, “Minister of Revenue, tell them. How much would it cost to allow girls throughout the realm to attend the county schools without paying tuition?”
The Minister of Revenue hurriedly lowered his head. “By my rough estimate, it would require one thousand strings of cash each year.”
Dantai Ji asked, “Then what do all of you think? Should we fulfill Grand Princess Fuxi’s request and reform the county schools, or should we give her forty thousand strings of cash every year?”
Reforming the county schools would cost only one thousand strings of cash, while giving Grand Princess Fuxi forty thousand. No one present was foolish enough to misunderstand the calculation.
The chief minister was the first to speak loudly. “Grand Princess Fuxi cares for all the people under Heaven and possesses a heart of perfect benevolence. This old minister believes that the county schools should be reformed!”
The Minister of Personnel said, “I support the motion!”
The Minister of Revenue said, “I support the motion!”
A few officials argued that the matter was inappropriate, but their objections were quickly drowned out by the chorus of agreement.
Dantai Ji nodded indifferently. “Issue my decree. In accordance with Grand Princess Fuxi’s request, the county schools shall be reformed. From now on, girls and boys in Great Zhou shall be treated equally, and girls shall no longer be required to pay tuition to attend the county schools. Grand Princess Fuxi is pure and kindhearted, cares deeply for the people, and has created refined salt to benefit all under Heaven. She is to be rewarded with one thousand strings of cash and granted Embroidered Splendor Manor!”
The emperor’s decree left all the ministers stunned.
They had already agreed to Grand Princess Fuxi’s request and would be reforming the county schools. Why was the emperor still giving her additional rewards?
A thousand strings of cash was one thing, but Embroidered Splendor Manor lay just outside the capital. It covered two entire mountain ranges and nearly a hundred li of land—an exceptionally valuable estate. Yet it had actually been granted to Grand Princess Fuxi!
Still, when they considered the forty thousand strings of cash she could have received, the ministers no longer found the reward excessive.
Grand Princess Fuxi truly did care for all the people under Heaven. She deserved to be rewarded.
After all, the princess had given them the recipe for refined salt. They could not give her nothing in return.
Seeing that none of the ministers objected further—and that the old scoundrel of a chief minister had merely lowered his head without leading the officials in opposition—Dantai Ji’s expression improved considerably.
“Since all of you agree, let us discuss how this refined salt should be sold…”
…
When the empress returned to Fengyi Palace, she immediately smelled a bitter, unpleasant odor.
She walked over and looked at Princess Shengping, who was directing the palace maids around Fengyi Palace. Her expression darkened.
“Mother, you’re here!” Princess Shengping approached her with absolute confidence. “I’m having them run more tests. One day, I’ll succeed. Mother, give me another four months! No—three months!”
The empress glanced at Princess Shengping and said coldly, “Stop everything.”
Princess Shengping froze. “W-why?”
The matron beside the empress spoke unhappily. “The empress has ordered you to stop. Naturally, Her Majesty has her reasons!”
The busy palace maids in Fengyi Palace soon stopped what they were doing.
The matron at Her Majesty the Empress’s side handed a small jar to Princess Shengping. “Is this the kind of salt Princess Shengping is supposed to make?”
Tantai Yu accepted the jar from Matron Fang in bewilderment. When she opened it and saw the snow-white, finely refined salt inside, her heart gave a violent thud.
