Barton was well aware of the adage that cutting off someone's livelihood was akin to murdering their parents.
If these secret formulas were to spread, the small workshops would undoubtedly perish, leaving a multitude of citizens without income. The market price for wool fabrics would plummet as well, a scenario he was loath to witness.
Without hesitation, Barton vowed to use these secret formulas with the utmost discretion and never allow them to leak.
......
Upon signing the contract, Luo Wei received her first earnings in this new world.
One hundred gold coins, roughly equivalent to one million RMB in her former reality.
While it seemed substantial, for the nobility, it wouldn't even cover their daily expenses.
In this era, even a baron possessed nearly 30,000 acres of arable land and commanded about twenty knights as vassals. A single knight's domain spanned approximately 1,500 acres, roughly the size of a village.
Vina's father, Earl Wesley, holding a higher title, owned even more extensive lands.
An earl's territory approached 100,000 acres, with over sixty knights under his command. He also had to support a sizeable retinue and an army of one to two thousand men.
If Luo Wei wished to masquerade as a noble, her living standards would need to at least match those of a baron's daughter. This meant not only securing carriages, knights, and servants but also designing a family crest, commissioning cutlery, clothing, and more.
However, having boasted to Vina at noon, insinuating her status was far superior, she would need to elevate her living standards even further.
At the very least, she would have to portray herself as the daughter of a powerful marquis, one with legitimate inheritance rights, no less.
She had truly dug herself into a deep hole.
It was only now that Luo Wei began to feel the full weight of her predicament.
One lie necessitated an even grander lie to conceal it. She was treading ever closer to the gallows.
Well, there was no use lamenting what was already done. From now on, she'd better focus on amassing more wealth. This way, her chances of a successful escape would improve.
If she could amass wealth rivaling that of a nation, perhaps she could even buy her life with money.
That night, Luo Wei slept soundly with her hundred gold coins as a pillow.
In her dreams, these hundred gold coins multiplied, then multiplied again, swiftly accumulating into a mountain of gold that nearly engulfed her.
She couldn't suppress her grin.
Alas, all dreams must come to an end.
When the first ray of sunlight pierced through the window crack at dawn, that mountain of gold dissolved into mere bubbles, vanishing completely from her sight.
"Knock knock knock—"
Hearing the knocking, Luo Wei struggled to rise from her bed, rubbed her sleep-swollen face, and shuffled to open the door.
It was an elderly mute woman who knocked, specifically tasked with delivering hot water to the noble young ladies on this floor.
The previous night, Luo Wei had paid for half a year's worth of water delivery fees, ensuring that someone would bring hot water to her room every morning henceforth.
After her ablutions, it was nearly half-past seven.
Luo Wei left her room and headed towards the astrology classroom in the junior department.
Upon learning that magic truly existed in this world, the mystique of astrology in her mind had skyrocketed, and she had already expelled it from the realm of physics.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Western astrology originated from the ancient Mesopotamian plains, primarily using celestial phenomena to interpret and predict human destiny, somewhat akin to the divination and fortune-telling practices of ancient China.
She wondered if the astrology in this world paralleled that of her own.
In the classroom, some students were discussing the professor of this course — Baroness Tobias.
Baroness Tobias, whose full name was Jacqueline Tobias, had led a life nothing short of legendary.
Born into nobility, even if she had done nothing, she could have lived a life of luxury that others would envy for a lifetime.
But she possessed not only an extraordinarily high aptitude for magic but also a remarkably intelligent mind. In her youth, the high priest of the temple prophesied that she would become a great magician.
At that time, many heirs to kingdoms sought her hand in marriage, but she rejected them all.
Everyone assumed she would devote herself to the study of magic, but unexpectedly, she harbored a rebellious spirit and retreated to a remote location, living in seclusion for over a decade. When she re-emerged, she had transformed into an astrologer.
The women who had once envied Jacqueline all scoffed at her, believing she had lost her mind. But as they laughed, they discovered that Jacqueline had been invited by the temple to become a high priest!
A woman, a high priest?
Before anyone could even begin to question this, Jacqueline demonstrated her unparalleled prowess in astrology — her success rate in observing stars and choosing auspicious times was nearly 100%.
With her guidance, a country's crop yield could increase by half!
From then on, Jacqueline successively received letters of ennoblement from several kingdoms, becoming a baroness through her own merits.
Listening to her classmates recount her story, Luo Wei felt as if she was reading a powerful female protagonist novel.
The protagonist was clear-headed, focused on her career, continuously proving her detractors wrong, and finally reaching the pinnacle of success.
Time always flies when engrossed in gossip, and in the blink of an eye, the clock struck eight.
The protagonist of the story, Jacqueline Tobias, finally graced the classroom with her presence.
She wore a black long dress, adorned with a wide black veil hat. Her deep brown hair, interspersed with a few strands of silver, was styled into a high bun, with most of her face shrouded in shadows.
If one only glanced at her hair, they might mistake her for an elderly person.
But if one's gaze traveled downward, they would find that her skin was full and radiant, her lips a deep crimson. Her skin was so fair it seemed to emit a soft glow. Her true age was utterly indiscernible.
In fact, her age remained a mystery.
Baroness Tobias was an enigmatic figure, and her lecture style matched her persona.
Throughout the class, she never removed her wide-brimmed hat. Her penetrating gaze pierced through the black veil, her crimson lips curved slightly upward, as if she could peer into the very souls of those before her.
Especially when her hand caressed the crystal-clear orb, the mysterious aura she inadvertently exuded became even more palpable and awe-inspiring.
Luo Wei couldn't make out her face clearly and didn't dare to stare.
If the Baroness were to see through her background with a single glance, it would spell disaster.
Fortune tellers often possessed strange abilities; what if this Western mystic could open her celestial eye?
Fortunately, Professor Tobias rarely looked directly at her students. She stood with her back to the class, drawing star charts, explaining the positions of planets, their orbits, and their symbolic representations.
It took two full hours to cover this material.
After a fifteen-minute break, the class resumed.
Tobias shifted from celestial phenomena to something more tangible. She produced a reddish-brown sandalwood box, placed it on the lectern, and instructed the students to line up to receive their teaching aids.
Such a small box, Luo Wei wondered, what teaching aids could it possibly contain?
As she pondered this, a series of exclamations erupted from the front of the line.
"It's a crystal ball!"
"Wow, there's another one!"
"Huh? Why did I get tarot cards?"
"I see now, it's a spatial magic pattern. How incredible!"
"No, no, it's more than that. This box must be a masterpiece crafted by an artifact refiner. Nothing else could bear such powerful magic patterns."
"There's even more to it. Look, there seem to be traces of summoning magic patterns engraved on it. Dual magic patterns? How is this even possible?"
The queue inched forward, and it wasn't until Luo Wei approached the lectern that she fully grasped what was happening.
The sandalwood box was, in fact, a magical artifact. Each time it was opened, a new item would materialize inside — either a crystal ball or a set of tarot cards.
Based on her observations, many students received tarot cards, but only seven or eight were gifted with crystal balls.
Was this distribution of items based on luck or innate talent?
When it was finally Luo Wei's turn, she — who had been plagued by misfortune for years — offered a silent prayer for several seconds before daring to reach out and open the sandalwood box. She peered inside expectantly... Huh?
???
Why was it green?
TBC