Chapter 12: What I Want is Not to Win!

Shen Lang couldn't help but look at Tian Shisan again, because he represented the will of Tian Heng from the Black Clothes Gang.

Just now, when Shen Lang was making dyes, Lin Mo from the Jinxiu Pavilion betrayed him and sent someone to inform the Xu family. It was obvious that Tian Shisan had seen it, but he had no intention of stopping it, nor did he warn Shen Lang.

So, at this moment, Shen Lang faced three formidable forces. Xu Family, Lin Family, and the Black Clothes Gang led by Tian Heng.

Therefore, the smartest thing for him to do now was to admit that he stole the formula and then immediately carry out his plan to rise in power and seek revenge after gaining influence and authority.

Because Xu Qianqian had promised in front of the officials of Xuanwu City that if Shen Lang confessed, everything would be forgiven.

She was someone who cherished her reputation. If Shen Lang confessed, she would definitely not confront him in public today. She would only pay money to have Tian Heng deal with him in secret, at least ensuring Shen Lang's safety for today.

But!

To have this dirty water poured over Shen Lang's head, and to let him suffer in silence?

Absolutely not possible. Shen Lang would never be so weak.

Shen Lang looked at Xu Qianqian and asked, "You say that I stole the new golden dye formula. What evidence do you have?"

The head of the Xu Family sneered, "You, Shen Lang, are just a useless waste, while my Xu Family has been in the silk business for decades and is most skilled in dyes. The golden dye formula was personally developed by me and Qianqian with great effort and dedication. It has consumed a great deal of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, taking us several years to perfect. We kept this secret concealed because we wanted to surprise the Imperial Weaving Bureau. However, we never expected that you, a nosy and ungrateful existence, would not only steal from my family, but also harass my maids and steal the crucial dye formula that is tied to my family's lifeline."

Then the head of the Xu Family spoke coldly, "Qianqian, why did you keep this new formula in the drawer?"

Xu Qianqian said, "I'm sorry, father. I trusted Shen Lang completely before, and I had no idea he would do such a thing."

Then she looked at Shen Lang and said, "When you were at the Xu Family, if any servant bullied you, I would whip them, and I ordered that anyone who dared to speak ill of you should be driven out. You were ignored in the Xu Family, and I didn't mind your lack of intelligence, your dullness. I spoke to you every day, and I treated you well. Why did you do this? Even if you wanted to retaliate against me for abandoning you, you could have taken personal revenge. Why did you have to sever the lifeline of my family? Moreover, if you hadn't done those despicable things, how could my family have driven you out?"

These words caused a strange look on the faces of the officials present.

However, half of them believed the words of the head of the Xu Family and Xu Qianqian.

The Xu Family did have expertise in silk dyes; otherwise, their silk would not be exclusively provided to the Imperial Weaving Bureau. They had also heard of Shen Lang's reputation as an unlearned and incompetent person, so they firmly believed that the new formula was developed by the Xu Family and stolen by Shen Lang.

Shen Lang spoke slowly, "You have no evidence, and I don't either, but everyone would believe that this new formula was developed by your Xu Family, and I am unable to defend myself."

The head of the Xu Family secretly chuckled in his heart. "It's good that you know this."

This whole situation was so delightful. Not only did they gain a brilliant golden dye formula for free, but they also had a legitimate reason to throw Shen Lang into prison.

Immediately, the head of the Xu Family spoke harshly, "The truth of the matter has been revealed; arrest him! I don't believe this waste won't confess under torture."

"Why the rush, head of the Xu Family?" Shen Lang smiled. "Although I cannot defend myself, it is effortless to prove this point. It's quite a coincidence. In order to prevent a situation like this from happening, I deliberately kept some reserve of the golden dye formula. In fact, I have an even better, higher-level formula."

Shen Lang continued, "Head of the Xu Family, it's easy to prove if I stole the dye formula from the Xu Family. If I can produce a better golden dye than before, wouldn't that reveal the truth?"

Xu Qianqian smiled, "Even though you stole the formula from our family, you're not professional enough. So, as long as you try a little harder, you can completely create a better one."

Shen Lang said, "I'm not professional, but is your family professional enough? You claim that the formula was stolen from your family. you have devoted all your family's efforts to the creation of the golden dye. Then let us compare and see whose golden dye is more splendid and whose dyed silk is more dignified, and we can conclude who is superior."

Shen Lang did have some reservations; the golden dye formula he previously handed over was from the 17th century China. However, in his brilliant mind, he had a revised formula from the 21st century, using the same main ingredients but with slightly different proportions and added some other additives.

The improved golden dye formula could only improve by 10-20 percent.

So, he still needed to open another front.

Shen Lang continued, "Of course, if I only win over you on the golden dye, it won't prove my talent. You're skilled in dyes, so let me ask you, which color is the most difficult to achieve?"

Xu Qianqian said, "The most difficult color is undoubtedly purple, that is the pinnacle of dyeing craftsmanship."

That's right, in ancient China, the most difficult color to achieve was purple, not yellow.

It's not that purple couldn't be dyed. In ancient China, purple dye was first made from the roots of purple grass, but the color was not vibrant. Later, using the shells of a shellfish called purple murex, a more attractive purple dye was produced.

Duke Huan of Qi loved to wear purple clothes. At that time, one bolt of purple fabric was worth five bolts of white fabric, indicating its extravagance and rarity.

In the West, purple dye was made from dyed sea snails. Even the last queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty was extremely fond of this purple color. Not only clothes, but even the sails of the ships were dyed purple.

However, whether it was the dyeing of sea snails or sea snails to extract purple dye, the cost was extremely astonishing. It took three hundred dyed sea snails to produce just one gram of dye.

During the era of the Great Yan Dynasty, the method of extracting purple dye from dyed sea snails and sea snails had not been found yet. So, where did the purple dye in this world come from? It was simply mixed from blue and red dyes.

But the dyeing effect was really not commendable. First, the dyeing was uneven, the color was dull and inferior, and most importantly, the wet fastness of the two dyes was not the same, so purple silk fabric was often prone to fading.

Shen Lang asked, "Purple dye is more difficult to obtain than yellow dye, isn't it?"

Xu Qianqian replied, "Of course it is!"

Purple dye was acclaimed as an insurmountable challenge in the world of fabrics and silk.

"To completely prove my talent in dyeing, I will not only compete with yellow, but also with purple," Shen Lang said. "Your Xu family used the full force of your family to produce these two colors, while I am alone and without money. I will produce dye at the lowest cost and then, in front of several elders present, we will see whose dye is the most excellent and whose silk is the most beautiful."

"Shen Lang, you are really naive and ridiculous," the head of the Xu family sneered. "Why should we compete with you? It's a waste of our time. Let's just arrest him and see if he confesses during the torture in prison."

Shen Lang turned to the officials present and asked, "Gentlemen, what do you think of my plan?"

The officials present were usually well-fed and had been specially briefed by the Lord of the city. Therefore, when Shen Lang asked them, they seemed to ignore him completely.

Shen Lang kept looking at the youngest official all the while.

This young registrar had the most say in whether to arrest Shen Lang within Xuanwu City, as he was in charge of the prisons.

At the same time, Shen Lang recalled the past experiences with this young registrar, especially the words he had spoken.

If memory served him right, this official would stand against the Xu family.

Seeing Shen Lang's gaze, the young official hesitated for about half a minute.

Then, he stood up and said, "Mr. Xu, let him try. If he doesn't win against the Xu family, it proves that his formula was stolen and he should be arrested."

As soon as the young official spoke, the head of the Xu family's expression turned cold.

These officials usually turned a blind eye to the Xu family's affairs. This official registrar responsible for the prisons had only recently taken up his post. Although he had not yet taken any money from the Xu family, the City Lord had already instructed him.

Why was he singing a different tune now? Didn't he know that the Xu family was about to form an alliance with the Prefect?

The head of the Xu family said coldly, "Mr. Wang, are you sure?"

The young registrar replied, "I am sure!"

The head of the Xu family frowned. He was about to use the authority of the City Lord to pressure this young registrar, but Xu Qianqian tugged at her father's sleeve.

No one knew Shen Lang better than Xu Qianqian. How could he possibly know anything about dyeing?

Where did Shen Lang get the formula for the golden dye? But the Xu family had already tried Shen Lang's formula, and they were far more professional than him. So, the yellow dye they produced was even better than Shen Lang's.

As for the purple dye?

The presumptuous Shen Lang didn't even know it. The Xu family had just conquered a new formula for purple dye, using new materials, which was absolutely revolutionary and could outperform all the purple silk on the market.

It was certain that Shen Lang would definitely lose. It was foolish to confront the young registrar face to face over this small matter.

Given the hint from his daughter, the head of the Xu family frowned and said, "Then let's go with Mr. Wang's decision, and see how long this waste can drag this out."

Shen Lang said, "If I win against both the yellow and purple dyes, what does that prove?"

Xu Qianqian unwillingly replied, "That proves that the previous formula for the yellow dye was not stolen by you, and that we wronged you."

Shen Lang said, "Then you will have to admit to slandering and apologize to me."

The head of the Xu family said coldly, "We'll talk about it after you win."

Shen Lang said, "Alright, we'll set a three-hour time limit! After three hours, the truth will be revealed!"

"Agreed!" said one of the officials present.

The head of the Xu family said, "Go back home immediately, gather the best craftsmen, and personally supervise the production of the best purple dye."

"Yes!" Xu Qianqian replied.

This time, the Xu family would mobilize the entire family.

Meanwhile, Shen Lang still acted alone. He then said to Lin Mo, "Mr. Lin, I need to borrow your kitchen again."

"Of course," Lin Mo replied.

...

Once in the kitchen, Shen Lang once again made yellow dye using sophora root and alum. However, this time, he used an improved formula from the 21st century, directly retrieved from the smart brain. This meant it was not as rough and now included additional auxiliary materials, resulting in a change in proportion and boiling time.

Although the main ingredients remained unchanged, dye produced using modern technological modifications would result in a better effect, resembling the color of gold even more.

Of course, the key was still the purple dye.

He quickly prepared an improved golden yellow dye formula and let it simmer there.

Next, Shen Lang focused on making purple dye.

He took out his secret weapon.

The best source for purple dye was the lichen Roccella tinctoria.

This moss was everywhere and practically worthless, but the purple produced from it was the most vivid, lively, and beautiful.

In 18th century England, a botanist named Koster accidentally discovered that a certain type of lichen could produce excellent purple dye.

Since then, the purple dye extracted from Roccella tinctoria dominated the dye industry for over a hundred years, until the rapid advancement of the chemical industry led to the development of cheaper synthetic purple dyes.

So why did Shen Lang prepare Roccella tinctoria in advance?

Because it was his insurance. If the golden yellow formula wasn't enough, he could add the purple dye.

Shen Lang ground the dried Roccella tinctoria, then boiled it with coal ash and urine.

Soon, a pure purple color emerged.

Next, he used alum to brighten it.

Soon, a low-cost but beautiful purple dye was produced.

Compared to the purple dyes of this world, it was truly remarkable.

Then, Shen Lang took a piece of colorless silk and dyed it in the dye, then placed it in the sun to dry.

Soon, the purple silk appeared.

Such a wonderful purple, so bright and vivid, exuding elegance and restraint.

It completely outshone the purple silk of this world.

However, Shen Lang's goal was not just purple.

Winning over the Xu family with just one color was not enough to make a strong impression.

He seized every moment and directly used materials from the Lin family to create seven dyes, aiming to dye the most magnificent, mysterious, and magical rainbow silk!

This meant dyeing red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple on the same piece of silk. By using a method of dividing and segmenting the dyeing process, if the speed was fast enough and the movements precise enough, the resulting rainbow silk would be incredibly stunning and elegant.

Although he was not a professional dyer, he was indeed an enthusiast and had spent over half a month playing at the Silk Museum, completely indulging in it as a very interesting hobby.

When Shen Lang married into the Xu family, he saw workers dyeing fabric every day, leaving behind related memories.

Most importantly, the alien notebook in Shen Lang's mind contained information about every step and every material, all written clearly.

So, although he couldn't achieve the most professional and best results, he was already good enough.

Three hours later, Shen Lang's golden yellow silk, purple silk, and rainbow silk were all dyed.

The purple silk alone was enough to defeat Xu Qianqian.

And the rainbow silk was his trump card.

It was unprecedented in this world, and its stunning effect was enough to crush the Xu family's silk into dust!