Chapter 13  : Slap the Wife Before She Apologizes!

At this moment, Shen Lang had yet to exit the kitchen.

However, the gold and purple silk that the Xu family had made were already placed on the table.

At this moment, the entire living room was lit with dozens of candles and was as bright as daylight.

The gold silk that Shen Lang made previously was placed at the side too.

By looking at it with the naked eye, it was hard to determine a winner.

However, if one placed it under bright light, one could tell that the gold silk made by the Xu family was more pure and extravagant.

That was normal. The Xu family was more professional and had more resources and experience. Therefore, after getting Shen Lang’s formula, they could make a gold dye of better quality.

However, everyone’s attention was on the purple silk that the Xu family made. One could see that it was exceptionally eye-catching under the light of the candles.

The best dye artist of the Xu family bowed and said, “Master, Miss, this is our new purple dye. It is no longer made by mixing red and blue. It is extracted from a purple plant. We are still trying to improve the formula, so we have yet to push it out to the market yet. However, the effect is much better than that in the past.”

Master Xu, Lin Mo, and the rest of the people around looked at the purple silk.

It was indeed much better than the purple dye in the past.

Not only was the color purer but also much more vibrant. It looked great. It seemed that the Xu family was going to make a fortune again.

This was Xu Qianqian’s confidence; she wanted to win against Shen Lang.

The youngest official took the silk and sifted through it. He could not help but admit that the new purple was impeccable. Although he was not part of the royal family, his background was not shabby, either. He especially liked purple cloths and was able to judge their quality.

Xu Qianqian said, “Artist Xu, please tell the officials more about the new gold dye.”

The dye artist said, “Dear officials, my entire family has been working on dyes in the past. Since young, I have liked to study dyes. Since gold is supplied to the monarch, I have been placing my attention on gold and purple. I have experimented with more than 100 materials. Sophora is one of them. This is the evidence from my records.”

As he said that, he handed over a book.

The official took the book over and flipped it open. It was indeed filled with records about the trials. These included sophora, and based on the words, it seemed to have been there for a while. He was not faking it.

The artist said, “Shen Lang used to be the son-in-law of the Xu family. However, he was despised upon due to his low IQ. For some reason, he came to my dye room and saw it when I was experimenting with sophora.”

He did not wholly lie. He had indeed used sophora to experiment while making the gold dye. However, he did not know that he had to add potassium alum into the mixture to bring out the brightness. It was a critical step that determined the success of the dye. Moreover, because of the procedures, the color he made using sophora was not the best. Therefore, he thought his experiment using the sophora was a failure.

It was true that Shen Lang used to go to the dye room often since he liked to see the colorful dyes.

Because of these reasons, Master Xu and Xu Qianqian had absolute confidence that Shen Lang did not invent the gold dye alone.

The two of them knew Shen Lang’s capability too well. He was a person with a low IQ, a useless person who did not know how to do anything.

Master Xu said, “Sirs, with all the evidence here, you can arrest Shen Lang now.”

Although he addressed all the officers, he was staring straight at the youngest official. If not for his comment, Shen Lang would have already been arrested.

The young official looked at the notebook and looked at the silk that was dyed with a purple tint. He had no choice but to nod.

“It seems like so,” he said softly.

“Send someone to arrest Shen Lang!” shouted Master Xu.

Before the officials did anything, the guard of the Xu family ran into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, the door of the backyard was kicked open, and Shen Lang walked out of the room.

Master Xu said coldly, “Shen Lang, with all the evidence here, you shall be arrested!”

Shen Lang looked at the youngest official.

The official said coldly, “All the evidence shows that you have committed a theft.”

Shen Lang looked at the gold silk that the Xu family produced. It was indeed bright and outstanding.

He was not surprised at all. After getting Shen Lang’s formula, the Xu family would definitely make a better quality dye than him.

Shen Lang said, “Is this the best gold dye the Xu family can make?”

Master Xu said, “Yes, isn’t it much better than yours?”

Shen Lang said, “Yes, it is indeed better than the one I made previously. However, I have mentioned before that I have had some reservations with my formula. Why not compare it to the new silk I have made with the new dye?”

Shen Lang took out the new gold silk dyed with the improved formula of the 21st century.

Everyone looked at it.

Xu Qianqian’s eyes narrowed. She could tell by one glance that the gold silk that Shen Lang made had won. It was about 15 percent better than that of the Xu family’s creation.

How was that possible?!

Shen Lang had really invented a gold dye of better quality?

The improvement was not huge, and the officials could not really tell. However, Xu Qianqian and the dye artist could tell at a glance that Shen Lang’s gold silk was like real gold. It was much more vibrant and high-class.

Master Xu felt astonished and jealous.

He did not expect Shen Lang to have a better formula.

However, he did not believe that the officials could tell the difference.

Therefore, he said coldly, “I think it looks about the same; it definitely cannot win against our gold silk. Therefore, you can’t prove that you did not steal the formula from us.”

Shen Lang had predicted the shamelessness of Master Xu.

Therefore, the determining winning factor is not gold but purple.

Shen Lang looked toward the purple silk on the table. Was that the new purple dye of the Xu family? It was indeed outstanding, much better than all of the purple silks in the current market.

The shade was extraordinarily pure and bright!

No wonder, Xu Qianqian was confident of winning.

However…

It still paled in comparison with the purple dye that Shen Lang extracted using litmus.

The purple dye made from gromwell was too dull and slightly pale. It was lifeless.

Shen Lang smiled immediately. “Xu Qianqian, the purple dye you used to dye this silk in front of us is the best from your family, right? You guys are no longer hiding anything?”

“No,” said Xu Qianqian, “Shen Lang, unless your purple dye is better than ours, you will still be considered a shameless theft. Not only did you steal our gold dye formula, but also the new purple dye formula. You stole from my family!”

Shen Lang said nothing and took out the purple silk he dyed, placing it in front of everyone!

Instantly, Master Xu and Lin Mo’s eyes widened. Both of them looked in disbelief and in jealousy.

The most terrifying thing was the comparison.

Initially, when one looked at the Xu family’s purple silk, one thought that it was not bad. However, after comparing it with Shen Lang’s silk, the contrast became extremely apparent.

Although the purple dye that the Xu family made was already pure, it still looked too ugly and cheap.

Meanwhile, Shen Lang’s purple dye looked extremely lively and was of a whole new level.

One did not even have to judge to decide on the results. Just a simple look would do.

Shen Lang sneered, “Master Xu, Xu Qianqian, tell me then, did I steal your family’s purple dye again?”

Master Xu and Xu Qianqian exchanged gazes and were extremely shocked.

What was happening?

Shen Lang lived with their family for a few months; she understood him the best. He had a low IQ, uneducated, and skilless. He was a completely useless person who did not know anything.

How did he suddenly invent two of these outstanding dyes?

Gold and purple are two colors that can cause a revolution in the dye market.

This did not make sense. How could Shen Lang, such a stupid person, know this?

Initially, Xu Qianqian had the right idea. However, she ultimately did not know that the stupid Shen Lang from before had already died. The Shen Lang in front of them had transcended time itself.

Shen Lang sneered, “If my purple silk did not make an obvious win, then what about this?”

After that, he whipped out his trump card, the rainbow silk!

Under the bright lighting, the beautiful rainbow silk was magnificent.

Everyone took a deep breath when they saw it!

How was that possible?

It was too beautiful and lively.

Colorful and vibrant but not too exaggerated. The color was so natural.

If the purple silk that Shen Lang had taken out earlier on was an obvious win, then the new rainbow silk had thoroughly thrashed the purple silk that the Xu family made, making it look downright pathetic.

Shen Lang smiled and asked, “Master Xu, Xu Qianqian, don’t say that the new dye formula for this rainbow dye was stolen from your family, too? I have already told you that I can thrash the entire Xu family alone. However, you still insist that I stole your formula? What a ridiculous accusation!”

There seemed to be the sound of face-slapping in the air.

Both Master Xu and Xu Qianqian looked at Shen Lang in astonishment.

What did they miss from their interaction with this son-in-law?

He was so skilled in dyeing, but why didn’t Xu Qianqian know that?

Although this dyeing skill might not be useful for other families, to the Xu family, it was advantageous since it could bring their business up to another level.

In the past, silk was about the same across all families, and the dye was the one that mattered.

Once the color defeated the other opponents, one could definitely clinch a high standing in the silk and cloth industry.

Shen Lang said as he looked at the young official, “Sir, please do me justice.”

The young official looked at Master Xu and said, “Please confirm if the purple and rainbow dye was stolen from the Xu family.”

Instantly, Master Xu’s face began to spasm.

The young official was really a hot-headed person. When he left the residence of the City Lord, didn’t his higher-up give him a glaring reminder?

Xu Qianqian’s fiancé was the son of the governor here. By offending Xu Qianqian, Shen Qian would definitely suffer a terrible consequence. 1

Master Xu silently cursed the young official and was tempted to sack him from his position.

However, that had to be done behind the scenes. That required the Prefectural Governor to take action, and as a businessman, he could not be rude to an official.

“No!” Master Xu said coldly.

The young official said as he turned to Xu Qianqian, “Miss Xu, what about you? Did Shen Lang steal the purple and rainbow dye from the Xu family?”

Xu Qianqian’s gaze changed. She realized that the young officer was not only a hot-headed person, but he also viewed the Xu family as an enemy.

What did they do to him, or rather, what did Zhang Pu do to him?

How dare the young official go against the in-law of the Prefectural Governor?

“No,” said Xu Qianqian.

“Since the answer is no, then Shen Lang is innocent,” said the young official, “Master Xu, Miss Xu, please apologize to Shen Lang!”

Master Xu was boiling with rage. He sneered and left the place.

Xu Qianqian’s expression changed several times before saying softly to Shen Lang, “Sorry, because of some misunderstandings, we wronged you, goodbye!”

Then, she left too.

She had already decided to ask Zhang Pu to take revenge against the young official. There should not be any officials who dared to go against the Xu family in Xuanwu City.

***

When Xu Qianqian left, Shen Lang greeted the young official, “Thank you, official! Long time no see; how are you? How is Miss Jin doing?” 7