NOVEL WEB Chapter 77: Tears made forty taels of silver!
Li Lizhi was not surprised at all by Nobel Consort Wei’s reaction. She smiled and said, “The price may not be low. I don’t know the exact amount. We have to wait.”
Nobel Consort Wei was delighted upon hearing Li Lizhi’s words. It could be purchased. To be able to apply makeup every day in the future, Nobel Consort Wei didn’t mind a slightly higher price.
Nobel Consort Wei likes her current youthful appearance.
“Alright, that’s good. Remember to reserve a set for me when the time comes,” Nobel Consort Wei pointed to everything on the table, “I want all of these!”
Li Lizhi nodded, “No problem, Your Highness. Rest assured, you’ll be the first to know sometimes.”
The first set had been reserved.
Nobel Consort Wei was pleased and said, “That’s fine. Sister, I’ll leave now.”
Empress Zhangsun raised, “Okay! Safe travels, sister!”
As they reached the door of Lizheng Hall, Nobel Consort Wei turned to Li Lizhi, “Lizhi, sell me that mirror!”
Nobel Consort Wei felt that the bronze mirror didn’t do justice to her extraordinary beauty with makeup.
“The mirror has lost its charm for me!” She exclaimed.
Li Lizhi was shocke, “Ah?”
“Forty silver taels!” Nobel Consort Wei declared.
Li Lizhi was surprised, “Your Highness, it’s not expensive. It’s too much!”
“It’s not much,” Nobel Consort Wei glanced at Wei Yao, who handed the silver to Li Lizhi.
Satisfied, Nobel Consort Wei left with the small mirror. She couldn’t resist taking out the mirror to admire her face as she walked.
The more she looked, the more delighted she became. Empress Zhangsun and Li Lizhi returned to Lizheng Hall after seeing Nobel Consort Wei off.
Empress Zhangsun looked at the pile of cosmetics and remarked, “So many!”
“Mother, did you remember?” Li Lizhi asked, pulling Empress Zhangsun’s arm.
“I remember roughly. How much is the cost price of these things?” Empress Zhangsun was curious.
Empress Zhangsun understood that these items must be highly sought after in the palace. Li Lizhi took out the price list prepared by Xiao Ran earlier. Seeing the printed A4 paper, Empress Zhangsun was astonished.
“This paper… it’s extraordinary, too! I’m sure the prices are not low,” she says after looking at it.
Li Lizhi didn’t notice this issue before.
“It should be similar,” Li Lizhi said nonchalantly.
Empress Zhangsun was shocked again by seeing the printed form, “Why are the characters so small? And so neatly aligned?”
Li Lizhi had mentioned earlier that she would be asked about this issue. Xiao Ran did it intentionally, preparing Empress Zhangsun for her true identity and ensuring that both Empress Zhangsun and Li Shimin would eventually learn about it. After all, Xiao Ran has been targeting Li Lizhi.
Xiao Ran didn’t want to play the role of a perpetual “expert” from behind. Anticipating Empress Zhangsun’s reaction, Xiao Ran and Li Lizhi also had their excuses ready.
Li Lizhi explained, “Mother Empress, this was given by an expert. I, your son, did not know of it!” If the explanation doesn’t work, blame it on the expert – a foolproof strategy!
Empress Zhangsun, hearing this excuse, felt helpless and knew that Li Lizhi was merely brushing her off, but she could do nothing.
Looking closely at the price list, everyone was dumbfounded!
Xiao Ran considered the exchange rates between the two currencies. One tael of gold is 16,800 yuan, and one tael of silver is 1,680 yuan. One tael of silver is consistent, always 1,000 Wen. In other words, one Wen is approximately 1.68 yuan.
Li Lizhi noticed Empress Zhangsun’s unusual reaction and asked, “What’s wrong, Mother?”
“Did you look at this, girl?” Empress Zhangsun asked, pointing to a place in the middle where “Mirror” was written.
“I took a quick look. Is there a problem?” Li Lizhi asked.
Empress Zhangsun pointed to the cost price, written as 1.2 coins. Xiao Ran converted all the prices into Tang Dynasty’s currency.
Two coins are equivalent to 1.2 coins.
Upon closer inspection, Li Lizhi smiled awkwardly, “So, it was 12 coins. You could buy ten small mirrors for that. I just took forty taels of silver from Nobel Consort Wei.”
Li Lizhi felt guilty. He had taken too much. Forty taels of silver and four taels of gold, equivalent to forty thousand Wen, were sold for just about one Wen.
“Mother, how much should we charge in the future?” Li Lizhi asked.
“It’s still forty taels of silver! It’s normal for it to be more expensive in the Tang Dynasty now,” Empress Zhangsun replied.