Chapter 284: Intangible Cultural Heritage

Xia Lü respectfully said, “The embroidery of Chengcheng County is quite renowned. Many women among the common folk excel at it, and this little girl knows a little as well.”

“Oh?” It was the first time Li Daoxuan had heard of such a thing. He casually opened his computer and searched online. Not checking was one thing, but once he did, it was truly fascinating. It turned out that Chengcheng embroidery was one of China’s National-Level Intangible Cultural Heritages—this wasn’t something Xia Lü was just boasting about.

Xia Lü added, “During the three long years of drought, all women were too weary to embroider. But now, the Deity has provided food and wages to everyone. With full bellies and renewed strength, women can once again take up embroidery. Our Chengcheng women’s hand-embroidered works are highly favored by the wealthy nobles in Xi’an.”

Li Daoxuan was delighted. “Excellent! This intelligence you’ve provided is extremely valuable. Going forward, report similar information to me first thing.”

Praised by the Deity, Xia Lü couldn’t help but feel overjoyed, giving a graceful bow in response.

Li Daoxuan secretly admired how different courtesans were from ordinary women. Women in this era had limited spheres of movement, little knowledge, and poor judgment in many matters. Yet courtesans understood things ordinary women did not.

Buying up women cheaply had indeed been the right move—he would do it again if the chance arose.

“Xia Lü,” Li Daoxuan continued, “I entrust both the fabric shop and embroidery matters to you. Establish a fabric shop company and be its main manager—selling cotton, purchasing cotton cloth, buying embroidered works from the women of Chengcheng County, then shipping them uniformly to Xi’an to reap silver from the hands of the wealthy nobles.”

Xia Lü was elated. Having been just a lowly courtesan before, she was now catapulted to the position of a main manager—a drastic reversal of fate.

There was no time to lose. She would start immediately!

With the Deity backing her, Xia Lü felt emboldened. Next to the bookstore was a grain shop that had long been closed. Xia Lü rapped loudly on its door, and when the manager answered, she slammed down the silver given to her by Li Daoxuan and bought the shop outright.

Next, she visited the Official Workshops, hired craftsmen, and transformed the grain shop. In less than two days, she successfully opened the “Deity Fabric Shop.”

Li Daoxuan did not intervene directly, offering only material support.

But courtesans in this era truly had remarkable abilities—fearless of public exposure, personally dealing with every required connection, and quite persuasive. Xia Lü quickly smoothed out all necessary channels.

Cotton bestowed by Li Daoxuan soon filled the fabric shop’s warehouse. While selling this cotton at low prices, Xia Lü hung a sign promising to “purchase cotton cloth at high prices.” Soon, women who owned spinning machines at home came to buy cotton.

For those without such tools, it was no problem. New-style spinning machines crafted by carpenters from Gaojia Village were promptly transported over.

Xia Lü soon bought a wealthy family’s residence, converted it into the “Deity Textile Factory,” filled it with numerous spinning machines, and began hiring women workers.

Women of the era were reluctant to appear in public, making hiring difficult at first.

But some women from impoverished families, seeking extra income to help support their households, risked criticism and entered the textile factory. Thus, the small factory slowly began to operate.

While the fabric shop was running, Xia Lü also raised a sign to “purchase embroidered works,” attracting women skilled in embroidery to craft embroidered pieces at home and sell them to the shop.

…

That evening, Li Daoxuan was noisily slurping down a bowl of Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles.

Suddenly, Xia Lü rushed into Gao Yiye’s room and handed over a piece of embroidered cloth with both hands. “Saint Lady, look! This horse cloth was embroidered by me.”

It was Li Daoxuan’s first time hearing the term “horse cloth,” and he was greatly intrigued. Quickly shifting his “focus” onto it, he discovered that a “horse cloth,” as the name suggested, was a decorative cloth draped over a horse’s back.

Such things were naturally not for the poor; only wealthy nobles, merchants, and the gentry had use for them. Xia Lü made this specifically to profit from Xi’an’s affluent.

The horse cloth featured an embroidered tiger’s head surrounded by a ring of copper coins—bold yet elegant.

It was beautiful!

Li Daoxuan felt a sudden spark of inspiration. This seemed like yet another profit-making opportunity.

Shouldn’t he promptly create a video?

After sifting through footage captured by the camera, he quickly found a segment of Xia Lü embroidering, clipped it out, selected just a few snippets, and produced a 30-second short clip. At the end of the video, he dipped a pair of tweezers into the Tiny Kingdom and swiftly snatched the horse cloth from Xia Lü’s hands…

Startled, Xia Lü jumped up to retrieve it, but immediately realized it was just the Deity playing with her. She giggled behind her hand.

At the end of the video, Li Daoxuan presented the actual tiny horse cloth in the normal world. “Super-Micro Embroidery Craft” exclaimed the overlay—the entire horse cloth was just 3 millimeters long. The miniature tiger’s head and copper coins embroidered on it were exceedingly hard to see—utterly impressive!

This time, he couldn’t even be bothered to set a price, leaving it to fate or deep pockets of potential buyers.

He finished editing the video and clicked “upload.”

Suddenly, Director Gao of the Chengcheng County Bureau of Culture and Tourism came to mind. That cadre had been putting tremendous effort into promoting tourism for Chengcheng County; he should get a copy of this video too.

Thus, the short video was simultaneously posted on Li Daoxuan’s personal TikTok account “Daily Life of the Tiny Kingdom” and the official website of the Chengcheng County Bureau of Culture and Tourism.

Just as he finished this task, he glanced back into the tank to find County Magistrate Liang Shixian, accompanied by the Clerk from Shaoxing, had arrived at the bookstore.

By now, Liang Shixian had clarified that Gao Yiye was not the Li Family master’s wife. The head of the Li Family was, after all, a celestial deity. This so-called “master’s wife” was actually the Deity’s chosen mouthpiece in the mortal world—the revered Saint Lady.

The nature of this Saint Lady was entirely different from a “White Lotus Saintess.”

The White Lotus Saintesses were simply charlatans, but Gao Yiye, the Saint Lady, genuinely spoke for the Deity—an essential distinction to recognize.

Thus, whenever Liang Shixian needed to consult the Deity, he too came to Gao Yiye to relay his inquiries.

The bookstore attendant ushered Liang Shixian into the inner courtyard. Gao Yiye came out to greet him, and the two sat facing each other across a table before Gao Yiye inquired, “County Magistrate Liang, what urgent matter brings you today?”

Liang Shixian replied, “This official just received news that Hu Tingyan, the Provincial Governor of Shaanxi, has been dismissed by the Emperor.”

Li Daoxuan inwardly cheered: Finally! That corrupt official is out!

Liang Shixian continued, “His Majesty has appointed Liu Guangsheng as the new Provincial Governor of Shaanxi. He has also appointed Yang He as Three Boundary Governor, responsible for bandit suppression in both Shaanxi and Yansui. This time, the imperial court is truly serious about dealing with Shaanxi’s banditry.”