After copying the decree from Princess Xinyue, she could leave the palace. Since there was a tool to help, she didn't need to write it herself. Princess Xinyue decided to watch Chu Chen create the tool.
Chu Chen first asked the palace maids and eunuchs to wait outside the hall. When they were alone, he began to work.
"Your Highness, please first write over three hundred commonly used characters on paper, according to the font size in the book."
"Oh, oh."
Princess Xinyue nodded and did as she was told.
When she finished writing and turned back, she saw that Chu Chen had already made a wooden frame with a base and was busy making wooden blocks of the same size.
Princess Xinyue picked one up and looked at it. She didn't see anything special and asked, "Little Chenzi, what are you making so many of these for?"
Chu Chen, busy, replied without looking up, "Your Highness will know soon. When you're done writing, come and place them face down on the table."
"Okay."
Princess Xinyue placed the paper with over three hundred characters written on it face down on the table and lightly pressed it down with something.
Before long, Chu Chen had made over three hundred wooden blocks.
Then, holding a carving knife, he looked at the reversed characters and carved the raised shapes of the reversed characters onto the wooden blocks.
With the power of the Body Refining realm, he finished making them all in one go, only feeling a slight soreness in his hands.
Next, Chu Chen took one of the books to be copied, opened it, and arranged the wooden blocks according to the characters written.
Afterward, he secured them neatly, brushed them with ink, placed a piece of paper on top, and covered it with a fitted board.
Finally, he held a wooden strip, pressed it on the paper, and moved it back and forth.
A moment later, he opened the cover, carefully took out the paper, placed it face up on the table, and used something to gently press the corners while waiting for the ink to dry.
At this moment, Princess Xinyue was surprised to find that there were characters on the paper, and they were indeed well-formed sentences.
Princess Xinyue picked up the book to be copied and compared it. She exclaimed in surprise, "Little Chenzi, the content on this paper is exactly the same as the original, except for the font!"
"How did you come up with such a genius method for slacking off? With this method, this princess will never have to fear the punishment of copying again!"
Chu Chen, still busy, replied speechlessly, "What do you mean 'method for slacking off'? I call this technological advancement, and it's not just for Your Highness to slack off."
"Also, don't speak so loudly. If the eunuchs and palace maids outside the door hear that I helped you cheat, it will be terrible."
Princess Xinyue quickly covered her mouth, her eyes filled with excitement.
Since it took time to print each page, the process was a bit tedious, especially since it was her own task.
Princess Xinyue decided to help with the printing, as the process was simple.
Meanwhile, Chu Chen went to make another set. With both of them printing together, the speed would be much faster.
The three books of court rules, which were originally expected to take several days to copy, were completed in just two hours.
This was only because they couldn't get outside help; otherwise, it could have been even faster.
"Little Chenzi, your method must have been inspired by seals, right? The way you carve them is similar to making seals."
After working for two hours, Princess Xinyue carefully folded and sewed the papers together.
Chu Chen nodded and smiled, "That's right. Since the seals of dukes, ministers, and even the Emperor and Princess can print characters on paper, we can also make many smaller ones, carve commonly used characters on them, and print them on paper to make books."
"Such a simple method, yet none of us ever thought of it. It's still Little Chenzi who has the ideas."
Despite being a little tired, Princess Xinyue didn't feel exhausted at all. Instead, she felt a sense of accomplishment.
Princess Xinyue said excitedly, "Since we've finished copying, let's quickly report to Mother Empress. Then this princess can find some time to go out and play."
"That's possible, but this thing is too simple. We need to tidy it up so no one sees it, otherwise, the technology could be easily copied."
Chu Chen nodded and reminded her.
"Don't worry, this princess isn't that stupid."
Princess Xinyue replied a little displeased.
After tidying up, they reopened the door and headed to the Imperial Study with Chu Chen.
Left behind were curious eunuchs and palace maids. Although they didn't see the process, they had heard bits and pieces from outside the door, knowing that Eunuch Chu was helping the princess with a tool for cheating at copying.
What kind of magical thing could accomplish a punishment that might take days for one person to complete?
Imperial Study.
Princess Xinyue excitedly ran over with Chu Chen.
"Xinyue, why are you running around instead of diligently copying? Or is the punishment I gave you too light, and you have no intention of repenting?"
The Empress Dowager frowned, very displeased.
"Mother Empress, I have finished copying the court rules that you punished me with."
Princess Xinyue laughed proudly.
"Impossible. The court rules are at least tens of thousands of characters. How could you finish copying them three times in less than a day?"
"Even if you asked eunuchs and palace maids to help you copy, it's impossible to finish in less than a day."
The Empress Dowager became even angrier, "Or are you so bold now that you dare to deceive me?"
"Not at all, Mother Empress. Please take a look at these first."
Princess Xinyue placed the nine books, simply sewn together, that Chu Chen was holding on the table.
The Empress Dowager frowned and opened one. She recognized the font; it was Princess Xinyue's handwriting.
But the content seemed familiar, and she couldn't recall what it was for a moment.
After looking more closely, she realized that this content seemed to be the court rules?
The Empress Dowager's heart jolted, and she quickly retrieved an original copy for comparison.
What was going on? It really was the court rules, and in Princess Xinyue's handwriting!
The Empress Dowager instinctively didn't want to believe it, but this book of court rules was something from years ago.
Although there were many font versions, the Empress Dowager was certain that there was no version with Princess Xinyue's handwriting.
This meant that these were really copied within a day, no, just in an afternoon?
Then the Empress Dowager suspected that it might have been done using cultivation magic. However, although there were martial cultivators in the Qingzhou Continent, they were all focused on powerful combat, and there was not much magic, let alone magic specifically for copying.
No martial cultivator would be so bored as to develop such a thing.
Was it real? Was it done intentionally?
The Empress Dowager was shocked and quickly thought of something.
She immediately asked, "Xinyue, how did you do it?"
"Hehe, it's all thanks to Little Chenzi. He invented a tool called movable type printing, which can mass-copy the content of books onto blank paper."
"And the copying speed is very fast."