The year when the Duke of Lin'an and his family came to Yanzidi for a spring outing happened to be the year when Nan Xiu entered the Duke's mansion. She still remembered that she had just turned thirteen at that time.
Jiuyi City is the capital of Bolu, and is known to the world as the capital of thousands of flowers. Needless to say, during the peony season, there are more people watching the flowers than the peonies. Just the red plum blossoms that bloom at the end of the year attract more people than the peonies. All over, the snow and mud in Jiuyi City turned into mud, and there was no trace of snowflakes at all.
Who is the greatest in Jiuyi City? It’s not the emperor who is thousands of miles away. The one who makes the decision in everything is Lin’an County Duke Baili He. He only had the crowning ceremony the year before last and less than half a year after the crowning ceremony. Jiuyi came from the fiefdom of Lin'an, accepted the imperial edict, received his father's title of county and duke, and became the lord of a city.
If you have to talk about how well-born he is, it would be an insult to his charming Qiu Shui Yingbo eyes before he even opened his mouth. His lip color is more beautiful than ordinary people's lips without a touch of red vermillion. A man, let alone the lord of a city. , with such a beauty that is far beyond ordinary people, no matter how you look at it, it will not be a good thing.
But if those who take a fancy to his appearance are just obsessed with his good face, they may not be able to keep their appraising eyes. This prince has a violent temper and has fifty staff members. Everyone knows that he is moody and unpredictable. He likes to abuse lynching, so when making suggestions on weekdays, no one speaks without holding his head high.
The only person in the mansion who dared to speak frankly in front of him was the Duke's wife, who was two years older than him. She was promised to Baili He by the old Duke when she was sixteen, and she was also his sister and wife. He held hands and looked at each other for these years.
Even having such a virtuous wife could not stop Baili He from searching for Meiji. In just two years, there were already seven or eight foster wives in the house.
These foster ladies are all as clean as water lotuses. Everyone in the world knows that Bolu Flower Capital is also a land of beauties. The girls here have skin as bright and white as the belly of a small silver fish. They are not like beauties. Those women in Zhu and Yujian who are so pale when they don't leave the boudoir have such white skin that it makes people scared to look at it. The women in Bolu are not like that. They are born with such skin and long hair, as black as ebony. In the hand, a puddle of water cannot be as soft as this.
One day, the Duke took his wife and two adopted wives from the mansion to Yanzidi for a spring outing. The Duke was tired of spring, so he stayed at the Xingfu to rest at noon. Only a few ladies had some leisure and went out to play in the spring.
In the evening of that day, the sedan had already passed Wusang Bridge, but the Duke's wife knocked on the sedan three times. The servants carrying the sedan got off the sedan one after another. The maid hurriedly stretched out her hand to help the lady down, but the lady did not say anything about landing. .
The maid then knew that Madam had other plans, so she leaned forward and nodded a few words.
He turned around and went under the Wusang Bridge that he had just passed, pointing to a small stall, "Let me ask you, how do you sell these things?"
A hunched-back stall owner drank some cold air, covered his mouth and coughed, for fear of shocking the distinguished guest, "The embroidery samples over there are ten cents each, and the purses are all twelve cents each."
The maid checked it over and picked out a purse embroidered with stone orchids, "Here you go."
"Thank you, distinguished guest. Thank you very much." The little old man coughed in the wind. The handkerchief in his hand had already turned brown. He washed it again and again. It was stained with blood. After more than ten years of use, it could not be washed clean.
The maid walked briskly back to the sedan, "Madam, the maid has brought it for you."
The Duke's wife stretched out a soft and pure hand and slightly opened it from the sedan curtain, "Let me have a look."
After reading it again, he praised, "It's really a skillful hand. The dozen or so embroiderers in the house are not as good as this one."
"Go and ask, who owns this purse?" After thinking for a moment, he put the purse into his sleeve and added, "Call him."
The little maid couldn't wait to run to the stall again, and happened to catch up with the stall owner collecting things, "Hey, don't leave yet, my master has something to ask you."
The little old man kept coughing, "I don't dare to step forward for fear of disturbing the noble man."
He had already seen the luxurious sedan chair not far away, and as the fragrant breeze blew by, he guessed that there must be an unattainable person sitting in it.
"My wife asked you to go, you have to go." The maid said coldly.
The little old man had no choice but to take a trip, fearing that he would cause trouble, as the little granddaughter at home had no one to trust.
Arriving in front of the sedan, the maid said, "This is the Duke's wife, why don't you be polite?!"
The little old man's knees weakened when he heard the sound, and he knelt down on the stone bricks during the fight, "Greetings, madam."
The person in the sedan said warmly, "The flowers on this purse are exquisitely embroidered. Can you tell me where you got such embroidery?"
The little old man replied in a trembling voice, "Yes...it was embroidered by my little granddaughter."
The lady asked again, "How much is your age this year?"
"To tell you my wife, I have just turned thirteen."
"So, you can get married in two years."
The little old man said he didn't dare, "I have a low status. My son and daughter-in-law have left long ago, leaving only this girl to accompany me. However, my family is poor and I can't get enough money to send her to get married, and I'm afraid of her husband's family." I have underestimated her, and since no one has come to propose marriage, I am also very worried."
The Duke's wife raised her hand and sent the purse out of the sedan chair. The maid recognized her look and hurriedly took the purse. Unexpectedly, the butterfly flew by and was attracted by the stone orchids on the purse. Only then did the maid know why her wife insisted on asking. This embroiderer.
"Let me ask you, what will you do if she reaches the age of marriage in two years?"
The old man sighed, "I can only send her to that rich family as a slave. I can even feed her with half a meal, but now I have a cold disease in my lungs. No matter how much medicine I take, I'm afraid I won't be able to survive." It’s been two years.”
The lady took off a golden hairpin from her bun and threw it in front of the old man outside the sedan chair, "Take it."
"What do you mean, ma'am?" The little old man actually already understood the nobleman's intention.
"If you send this little girl to my residence, the Duke's Palace, I'm afraid there won't be a family more noble than the Duke's Palace in the whole country of Bolu."
"This... this..." Although he was reluctant to let go of the little girl, he had known that his body would not be able to hold on. In the future, he would have to live on his fingers as the days passed by. If he did not seize this opportunity, he was afraid that he would not be able to find a girl for her again. A good family.
"you are not willing?"
"It's not that I'm unwilling, it's just that the girl in my family lost her parents when she was five or six years old. I took her walking around the streets until she was twelve years old. She grew up in the wilderness. She only started to sit down at home this year. Others The girls in my family are all demure and gentle, and can read a few words. If this girl in my family wasn't a popular girl, no one would be able to tell that she is a woman."
Hearing what he said, the Duke's wife became more and more curious about the little girl's appearance, and said with a smile, "It's okay. You can go back and make an agreement with her. After the matter is completed, your money will be indispensable in the Duke's mansion."
After returning to the house in the evening, the boy next to the madam went to reply to the adults, saying that the madam had bought an embroiderer today.
Qin Ji, who was beside the Duke, thought he wanted to hear something important, so she slowly stopped pointing, and the sound of the piano stopped for a moment.
"Why don't you play anymore?" He was a little impatient.
"Yes." The woman realized that she had misunderstood his thoughts and continued to play hurriedly.
"What kind of embroiderer?" he asked the boy.
"She is only thirteen years old, and her embroidery skills are very good. I saw with my own eyes that the flowers she embroidered can even attract butterflies."
(End of chapter)