Meimei said to the woman, "I want to see your girl for something. Is she here?"
The woman was startled for a moment. She often received guests in the store. Her experience told her that the elegant and beautiful young woman in front of her must be rich or noble. From her attire, the carriage she rode in, and the fact that she was not wearing a veil, and the young man with extraordinary bearing and elegant appearance beside her, it was cleared that she was married. A large number of guards cleared the store and controlled the street. The maids looked calm and well-dressed. This aura was stronger than those of the noble ladies who came in the past. But she was not a regular customer. The girl was now busy embroidering autumn clothes for the wife of the Duke. The woman was not sure how to answer for a moment. After thinking for a while, she bowed her head and said:
"Please forgive me, grandma. Our girl is out for something and is not in the store..."
Meimei smiled and said, "She originally told me to come here to find her if I need her. Since she's not here, I'll go back first. Please tell her that the wife of Marquis Weiyuan has been here!"
After Meimei finished speaking, the woman hesitated for a moment, holding her handkerchief, and finally made up her mind: "Since we have an appointment, please wait for me, Madam. I will go in and see if the girl is back."
Meimei nodded, and the woman bowed and hurried to the back, pushing aside an embroidered curtain. Her shadow disappeared, and another young man of about fifteen or sixteen came up and greeted them warmly, asking if they wanted to see the new embroidery patterns.
In just a moment, the embroidered curtain moved, and Liu Jingyun walked out quickly.
She was wearing a bean green jacket and an apricot red pleated skirt. The embroidery on the jacket and skirt was elegant and delicate. Her jet-black hair was still of an exquisite style that was not cliché. This time she did not wear the string of pearls, but only kept the ordinary jade hairpin. A wisp of hair hung behind each ear, covering a pair of small white jade earrings. Perhaps because she had run in a hurry, she was slightly out of breath. Two red clouds rose on her cheeks and her eyes were as clear as water. When Xu Junxuan looked at her, he felt as if he saw a magnolia that had just bloomed in the morning of summer, elegant and pleasant, beautiful and extraordinary.
Liu Jingyun walked straight to Meimei and bowed deeply: "I didn't know that Madam Weiyuan was here. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Please forgive me, Madam!"
Meimei hurriedly helped her up and said with a smile, "How can I blame you? I didn't make an appointment with you in advance, so I came as soon as I said I would - I didn't disturb you from doing your work, did I?"
Liu Jingyun had a quick look at the situation in the store. As soon as Meimei arrived, all the guests were driven away, and only her people were standing inside and outside the door.
"Madam Weiyuan, you are too polite! My cousin has given me a new life. You are her friend, but if there is any needlework that needs my help, I will do my best!"
Liu Jingyun said seriously, bowed her head and knelt down in front of Xu Junxuan. Meimei supported her with a smile: "Since you said so, I think I get along with you. I will have to trouble you in the future. Just follow your cousin and call me sister! You don’t know this person, he is my uncle—Master Xu Liu. If we meet on the street, please walk with me and we will go home together later!"
Xu Junxuan was very polite. He bowed and said, "I apologize for disturbing you, Miss Liu!"
Liu Jingyun bowed and returned the greeting: "I pay my respects to the Sixth Master!"
She took two steps back and stood slightly to Meimei's side. When she heard her stepmother come to report that the wife of Weiyuan Marquis had arrived, she quickly put down her work and went out to greet her. She also heard that there was a man with the wife of Weiyuan Marquis, probably the Marquis of Weiyuan. She had already reached the back door at that time, and it was too late to go back and put on the veil. She hesitated for a while, but still gritted her teeth and came out. Who knew that according to a glance, she guessed that it should not be the Marquis. She had seen her cousin's husband, the Marquis Changle, and her cousin's wife, the Marquis Changle, often took her to visit the noble ladies in the mansions of the dukes and marquises. Occasionally, she saw the dukes and marquises, all of whom were very imposing, but the young and handsome nobleman next to the wife of Weiyuan Marquis did not have that kind of aura. But the wife of the marquis did not say anything, so she did not dare to ask or guess randomly, so she had to bow and go down, just not to call out casually. When she heard Meimei say that it was just the younger uncle, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and it turned out that she still had some vision.
Meimei asked Cuixi to take out the clothes that needed embroidery and to open them for Liu Jingyun to look at. Liu Jingyun hurriedly said:
"If Madam Weiyuan doesn't mind, you can take it to the backyard and have a look. Although the backyard is a workshop and a bit messy, there is a quiet room for resting. You can choose patterns while drinking tea."
Meimei thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll go take a look, but I won't drink tea. I know it's the season change, you're very busy, and I'm not thirsty, so I won't delay Miss Liu's work. I'll keep the clothes, and you can make them when you have time. As for the patterns... I really want to pick them carefully to see if you have anything special!"
Liu Jingyun smiled and said, "There are many! Madam Weiyuan, please follow me!"
She lifted the curtain with one hand, turned slightly, lowered her eyes humbly and handed one hand to Meimei for support. Meimei looked at Baizhan and said, "You two stay here. I'll just watch for a while and come back... Sixth brother, come with me!"
Bai Zhan wanted to follow, but was forbidden to do so. Instead, the Sixth Master followed the Young Madam. He was very upset. The Young Madam was out of his sight, and he didn't know what the backyard looked like. No way! He had to follow one of them. When he saw Cui Xi put the bundle of Madam's clothes in Cui Si's hand, he hurried over and took it away. Cui Si glared at him:
"what you do?"
Bai Zhan chuckled and said, "Miss Cui Si is tired, I'll let someone hold it for you!"
When he looked over, a tall and handsome young man came over and took the bag. He smiled flatteringly and followed Cui Si. Cui Xi and Cui Si understood Bai Zhan's intention and said nothing. Cui Xi smiled, but Cui Si rolled her eyes at Bai Zhan. After the last time she was slapped by the old lady and turned into a pig's face, Bai Zhan saw her miserable appearance, Bai Zhan never called her sister Cui Si again. The reason was that he was afraid that one day Cui Si would fall into the hands of the old lady again. The old lady would not be satisfied with beating her and would punish her whole family. If he called her sister, wouldn't he be implicated and turned into a pig's head? That would be too ugly!
Meimei and Xu Junxuan visited Liu Jingyun's embroidery workshop and couldn't help but marvel at it. It was a courtyard of neither too big nor too small, and each room was clean and tidy. More than a dozen embroiderers were doing their own jobs, quietly and busily doing the work at hand. From time to time, young wives came to ask questions, and Liu Jingyun answered them carefully and meticulously, without saying much, and her tone was calm and firm. It was not easy for a gentle and elegant unmarried girl to start with her own skills, and work hard to create and preside over such a large-scale small workshop, with a very good development prospect. It seemed that Liu Jingyun was not raised like an ordinary lady since she was a child.
Maybe she was also a time traveler
Meimei quickly shook her head to deny it. If she had traveled through time, she should have been more forward-thinking, and the small workshop would not be limited to this size...
On the way back to Hou Mansion, Meimei was sitting in the car while Xu Junxuan rode outside the window. He wanted to get closer to the car window and say something to Meimei, but he was too embarrassed to say anything because there were so many people around him. Baizhan was very depressed by her absent-minded and confused look. Meimei also felt awkward looking at Xu Junxuan in the car, so she couldn't help but open the car window and asked, "Sixth brother, what do you think?"
Xu Junxuan quickly glanced at the people around him, blushed slightly and said, "Let's talk about it when we get back home. I, I haven't thought about it yet..."
Bai Zhan thought to himself, Sixth Master, you haven't thought it through yet, and I don't know how or what to think!
Passing by a side alley, Bai Zhan turned his head and suddenly saw a large group of people walking on the street at the end of the alley. Although the group was walking very fast, he could still see their clothes and attire, which were very familiar to him. He was overjoyed, but did not dare to make it too clear. He quickly waved for a guard to come up and take his place. He pulled up the reins, turned around and quickly passed through the alley.
After half a cup of tea, Bai Zhan caught up with Meimei's carriage. There was no special expression on his face, but the corners of his eyes and eyebrows were full of smile wrinkles.
The carriage entered from the second gate and stopped in front of the hanging flower gate. Xu Junxuan waited for Cuixi and Cuisi to help Meimei get off the carriage, and said with a smile: "Heng'er is still in Qiuhua Courtyard, right? Sister-in-law is going to pick him up? Brother and sister-in-law will go together to visit and say hello to mother, and talk about this on the way!"
Meimei nodded: "Then let's go together!"
The uncle and his sister-in-law walked side by side in front, talking, followed by a group of old women and maids. Bai Zhan and the guards would not enter the inner courtyard unless it was necessary, but he needed to go to Qinghua Courtyard. After asking the guards about the duty situation, he went in through the corner door over there.
Meimei and Xu Junxuan came to Qiuhua Courtyard and saw Xu Xiaojuan and Li Zhao sitting in the hall with their two children. The family was drinking tea and eating snacks. The two children were playing and fighting. The couple sat aside with a smile, guarding them to prevent them from falling off the bed. Meimei did not see Heng'er with Li Xu, so she asked and found out that Heng'er was in Madam Zheng's room, and Xia Lian was playing literacy games with him.
After Xu Junxuan and Li Zhao finished their greetings, they wanted to follow Meimei to Madam Zheng's bedroom to pay their respects, but Xu Xiaojuan smiled and stopped them:
"Sixth brother, don't go. Mother is always annoyed when she is with Heng'er. She will be even more disgusted when Jiao'er, Xu'er and I are around. If you go, she will be even more unwelcome!"
Xu Junxuan's eyes darkened, thinking about how the eldest wife had always been cold and harsh to the children of concubines, but the marquis treated all his sons equally, regardless of whether they were legitimate or illegitimate, and gave them the same attention and love, including giving lectures and teachings, which he would do by calling all three sons together. The eldest wife saw this and could not be too harsh on the children, but the marquis was rarely in the mansion after all, and the eldest wife made a rule for herself, allowing only concubines' sons, daughters and concubines to greet them at the steps, even if it was windy, rainy, frosty or snowing. He had seen his mother and concubine Lin waiting in the rain many times, and they dared to leave only after the eldest wife had sent them away. When he was young, he once advised his mother not to come to pay her respects again, but was scolded by his mother. From then on, even though he didn't say much, he was extremely cold to the eldest wife in his heart, and what he did was just empty courtesy, which even he felt was very fake.
Only after the eldest wife fell ill, perhaps because he no longer had to see her face but hear her voice, did his greetings seem more sincere.
I am so ashamed! Xu Junxuan thought, and accepted Li Zhao's invitation to sit down and talk to him about the recent trends of the scholars in the capital, what literary and poetry societies they have formed, and how many masterpieces they have produced... (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)