Chapter 6: Tools Of A Jade Maniac

With that thought in mind, Wei Lan turned and headed toward the East Market.

Right now, she didn’t have a single carving tool on hand, so she planned to buy everything she needed first, and if she came across any decent rough stones, she would buy those too.

Carving jade in ancient times was certainly more difficult, but Wei Lan had no intention of giving it up.

Without jade, she felt every day pass by dull and meaningless.

Even if it was tiring, as long as she could carve finished pieces, she would be happy.

The markets of Panyang City were exceptionally lively.

When Wei Lan arrived, the streets on the East Market side were packed with small vendors, dazzling and crowded, selling just about everything imaginable.

Wei Lan stopped in front of a young man selling candied hawthorns and asked, “Young man, may I ask where in the East Market jade-carving tools are sold?”

The vendor glanced at her clothes and felt she must be asking the wrong place.

Dressed so elegantly, she clearly looked wealthy.

“Miss, are you asking about jade shops?

The large jade shops in Panyang City aren’t here.

The jade sold here isn’t worth much—this isn’t really a place for someone like you.”

Wei Lan smiled and said, “I’m just here to buy tools.”

“Well, alright.”

“They’re at the very back.

Near the stalls selling jade pieces.

Just go ask around there.”

The vendor pointed inward for her.

Wei Lan thanked him and walked further in.

When she reached a jade stall, the vendor, seeing her fine attire, immediately asked, “Miss, are you here to buy jade?

Please take a look—everything here is good quality.”

Wei Lan glanced over the carved pieces on the stall.

To her, they didn’t even qualify as flawed goods.

The craftsmanship was crude, the polishing rough, and the jade itself of poor quality.

“I’m here to buy tools for carving jade,” Wei Lan said with a smile.

The vendor’s smile froze at once.

“Miss, don’t joke with us.

Making jade is complicated work.

Do you even understand it?

It’s not just a knife or two.”

Wei Lan nodded.

“Of course I understand.

I need a full set of jade-making tools, including tools for sketching, sawing the material, shaping the blank, carving details, polishing, and inscribing signatures.

I want all of them.”

The vendor clearly hadn’t expected her to list everything so fluently, but still looked doubtful as he asked, “You really know all this?”

Wei Lan nodded again.

“Do you have tuo wheels and large bow saws?

And what about jade-abrasive sand—do you have prepared sand?

If so, I’ll take some ready-made.

I also need bow drills.

I want a complete set.”

Hearing her name so many tools that only insiders knew, the vendor finally believed she truly was there to buy carving equipment.

He scratched his head and said, “Miss, wait a moment.

I’ll call my master over.

We sell jade more than tools here, and we rarely sell carving equipment all year round.

I’m not too sure about the prices.”

Wei Lan smiled politely.

“Much obliged.”

Before long, the vendor brought his master over.

She was a female Qianyuan in her thirties.

Seeing Wei Lan, she paused in surprise for a moment.

“Miss, you’re the one who wants a full set of jade-making tools?”

Wei Lan nodded.

“Thank you for the trouble, Boss.”

“A full set of jade-making tools isn’t cheap.”

“Miss, even though you’re buying things, I still have to advise you—jade carving isn’t something you can learn on a whim.”

“Without five or six years of experience, you won’t be able to carve anything decent, and that’s with a master guiding you.”

“Are you sure you still want to buy them?” the boss asked again.

Wei Lan lifted her eyes and smiled.

“Thank you for the reminder.

I’m sure.”

“There are many kinds of tuo wheels and bow drills.”

“What about abrasive sand—do you want that too?” the boss continued.

“I want everything.”

“All kinds of tuo wheels and bow drills of different sizes.”

“I want the complete set,” Wei Lan replied.

In truth, these tools weren’t expensive to make.

But in Great Zhou, jade was highly prized, and there wasn’t a single noble who didn’t love jade carvings.

As a result, skilled jade carvers enjoyed extremely high status, with some even serving as honored guests of the imperial family.

Naturally, the prices of jade-making tools were driven up as well.

After all, mastering this craft could lead to fame and fortune.

Yet most people gave up halfway.

Jade carving required calm focus, immense patience, and relentless practice.

Most couldn’t endure that hardship.

Some learned only half-heartedly and could carve nothing but crude pieces, while others changed professions altogether.

Yingniang had seen this countless times.

Her gaze fell on Wei Lan’s clean, delicate fingers, and she felt that this was likely just a momentary whim of a pampered young lady.

After all, how could someone who truly carved jade have hands without calluses?

Since Wei Lan insisted, Yingniang didn’t press further.

She was here to do business, after all.

“Alright then.

A full set of carving and polishing tools, plus abrasive sand.”

“I’ll have someone deliver everything to your residence.”

“All together, five taels of silver.

How about that?”

Five taels of silver was roughly equivalent to five thousand yuan in modern terms.

For a full set of tools, it wasn’t expensive.

Wei Lan found the price reasonable and thought for a moment before asking, “Boss, do you have rough jade stones here?

They don’t need to be good quality.

I want some to practice with.”

Yingniang smiled.

“No need to buy them.

You’re buying so much—I’ll give you some material.”

As she spoke, she pointed to the ground beside them.

Scattered there were many rough jade stones, some mere offcuts, and a few pieces as large as a human face.

Wei Lan was quite knowledgeable about jade.

She crouched down and picked up a piece to examine it.

The overall color leaned green, with small black specks—it was jasper.

In modern times, this kind of jade wasn’t expensive at all.

Jasper with black inclusions was especially cheap.

When Wei Lan first entered the field, she had practiced extensively with this type of jade.

She remembered once when her master required them to avoid the impurities in jasper and carve openwork jade ornaments.

That piece had taken immense effort.

Not only did it require artistic conception, but she also had to dodge the black specks scattered throughout.

In the end, all the students were nearly driven mad by it.

Thinking of the past, a smile unconsciously appeared on Wei Lan’s face.

“Alright, thank you, Boss.”

“No need to thank me.”

“Tell me your address.

After noon, when we’re less busy, I’ll have someone deliver everything to you, including this entire pile of rough stones.”

“You can pay half the silver first,” Yingniang said, worried Wei Lan might feel uneasy.

Wei Lan smiled and directly took out five taels of silver.

“No need, Boss.

I trust you.”

“I live in the Lu Residence within the city.

You can enter through the back gate when you deliver.

My quarters are closer to the back gate.”

“The Lu Residence?”

“Which Lu Residence?”

Yingniang asked.

Panyang City was large, and there was more than one family with the surname Lu.

“The richest Lu Residence in Panyang City.”

“The one that took in a Qianyuan through uxorilocal marriage,” Wei Lan said casually, as if she weren’t talking about herself at all.

“You’re from the Lu Residence?”

Yingniang was left speechless for a long moment.

Wei Lan nodded.

“Yes.

Please have someone deliver the items this afternoon.

I’ll inform the guards at the back gate.”

“Alright, alright,” Yingniang replied twice in a row.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

With that, Wei Lan left the market, strolling outward.

As she walked, she occasionally stopped by stalls selling rough stones to look around.

She was observing how others bought rough jade, trying to get a general sense of ancient pricing.

Although she received fifty taels of silver a month after marrying into the Lu Residence, she couldn’t spend recklessly.

No one wanted to be taken for a fool.

After watching for a while, Wei Lan discovered that among these jades, jadeite was the most expensive.

Next came the pure white, fine-textured mutton-fat jade.

There were also some stones that, from afar, resembled modern Hetian jade.

However, Hetian jade came in many varieties.

After modern national standards were revised, any jade with over 90% tremolite content could receive a Hetian jade certificate, and distinguishing types often depended on place of origin.

Now in ancient times, Wei Lan had no precise instruments, nor any testing institutions.

She could only rely on her own eyes to judge the different types of jade.

She spent the entire morning browsing outside, never feeling that her elegant attire made her stand out awkwardly among the stalls.

At noon, Wei Lan returned to the residence.

Because Li Zhufeng had displeased Wei Lan in the morning, she now put on a completely different face and treated her with great attentiveness.

“The Primary Consort is back?”

“The small kitchen has already prepared the meal.

Shall I have it served now?”

Li Zhufeng asked eagerly.

Wei Lan nodded faintly.

“Mm.”

Before long, a maid brought over a wooden tray with a small copper basin for washing hands.

After Wei Lan washed her hands, dishes from the small kitchen were carried in one after another.

Li Zhufeng smiled at Wei Lan.

“Please enjoy your meal, Primary Consort.

We’ll take our leave now.

If you need anything, just call for us.”

Wei Lan nodded.

“You may go.”

Her gaze fell on the dishes laid out on the table.

There were both meat and vegetables, along with a tofu fish soup.

Wei Lan ladled herself a bowl of soup and took a sip.

The taste was quite good—far better than the food the original body had eaten at home.

She picked up her bowl and began eating.

The vegetables were fresh, seasonal produce.

The meat was fresh pork.

Even the rice tasted excellent.

Having spent the entire morning outside, Wei Lan ate quite a bit.

That afternoon, Yingniang indeed sent people to deliver the jade-making tools.

When the delivery reached the Lu Residence’s back gate and knocked, the guards saw several mule carts loaded with goods and twitched at the corners of their mouths.

“What is all this?”

“Someone from your residence bought these from us this morning and asked us to deliver everything here,” the delivery men replied.

The guard recalled what Wei Lan had said when she returned earlier and frowned.

“Alright, but the mule carts can’t enter.”

“Carry the items in yourselves.”

“Alright.”

Yingniang’s people were used to the many rules of noble households and began unloading the goods from the carts.

Wang Yiding watched them unload, feeling particularly irritated.

The four of them were stationed near the back gate and had to report daily to the steward and the head of the guards about everything happening here.

There was usually nothing to report.

But now that new Primary Consort—what exactly had she bought?

Stirring things up the moment she entered the household.

Wang Yiding disliked Wei Lan greatly, so he made no move to have the residence guards help.

The outsiders carried everything in by themselves.