She paused, then added, "If Father really can’t bring himself to ask for money, forcing people to surrender their cash to the treasury with a knife works too."
Xiao Changyi rarely chuckled, "You think the old man is a bandit or what?"
An Jing also found it funny and laughed outright.
Xiao Changyi stuffed a plum into her mouth before slowly saying, "The old man is the ruler of a country, and a wise one at that. People’s money isn’t ill-gotten, and the old man would never do such a thing. Besides, if he were to fill the nation’s coffers this way, those people may band together against the old man, and Xiyun would be in even greater turmoil."
"I was just saying," An Jing laughed heartily as she snuggled into her husband’s embrace like a cat.
Xiao Changyi wrapped one arm around An Jing’s waist, letting her sit on his lap, while his other hand continued to feed her plums.
With both hands around her husband, and him feeding her, An Jing munched on the plum he gave her, her eyes rolling around as if she was thinking about something. When her gaze landed on the pale-yellow paper on the desk not far away, a spark flickered in her mind.
Suddenly, she exclaimed, "Husband, I’ve got an idea!"
Without waiting for Xiao Changyi to speak, she mischievously asked, "So, how will you reward me?"
Xiao Changyi’s cool lips pressed against her earlobe, capturing its warmth, and his deep, magnetic voice spilled from his throat, "What reward do you want, hmm?"
"That’s always your move!" An Jing’s ear felt hot and itchy from his actions, and she turned to bite his lip in dissatisfaction, "Keep this up, and tonight you’ll be sleeping on the floor!"
Xiao Changyi was not at all afraid of her threats, "You won’t have the heart to do it."
"Pff, we’ll see if I do or not," An Jing lifted her chin in a haughty display of petulance.
Xiao Changyi just smiled without a word.
An Jing gave him a sideways glance, "You scheming wolf, you think you’ve got me all figured out, huh!"
Xiao Changyi calmly said, "You’ve got me all figured out too."
"That’s more like it." An Jing was satisfied and kissed Xiao Changyi on the lips. "If I make you sleep on the floor tonight, don’t worry, I’ll join you."
"Let’s just sleep on the bed."
"Mhm, we can sleep on the floor together."
An Jing immediately burst into laughter, after a while, she said, "Alright, enough fooling around, let’s talk business. I really do have a plan."
Xiao Changyi pecked her lips before saying, "I’m all ears."
Pointing at the sheets of paper on the desk, An Jing said, "See that? That’s the best paper in Xiyun, yet it’s still not white, still tinged with yellow. I’ve told you before, in my previous world, paper was white. If Xiyun could produce white paper, do you think many people would buy it?"
Every papermaker in Xiyun wished to create white paper. Even the Emperor of Xiyun had people trying to figure out how to do it; if they could use white paper for writing and painting, it would certainly be more enjoyable than using pale-yellow paper.
But despite many attempts, no one had succeeded in making white paper yet.
If Xiyun managed to produce white paper, even if it was expensive, many would buy it.
Farmers naturally wouldn’t, as they couldn’t even afford the pale-yellow paper, but the wealthy, even princes and nobles, once white paper became available, would certainly not settle for pale-yellow paper to write and paint on.
Moreover, this white paper could also be sold to other countries at a high price...
If they really could make white paper, it would truly be profitable.
Once An Jing said as much, Xiao Changyi understood her meaning and asked, "Do you know how to make white paper?"