"Madame, what are these pieces made of? They're so strange." Qu Moying came over and gently touched the pieces of fabric that Madame mentioned. In a place without sunlight, they didn't look very strange. The dark silver color had some light gray tones, but in the sunlight, they flashed some bright colors.
The silver-grey has dark streaks and is not one colour like the ones we have seen before.
This color feels like the material is harder, but it actually feels very soft.
This is tribute cloth, not material from the capital. It is said that the amount of tribute each time is not large. When Ji Hanyue was alive, she would receive rewards from the palace every year, which were similar to what she is getting now.
But at that time, Ji Hanyue was the future Crown Princess, and was unique. The Concubine Qu in front of them was clearly only a title and not a person with real power, but she could produce so many brocades like this.
"This old servant doesn't know either. I heard that it was a tribute. I have never seen such material before." Wu Ma Ma smiled. The Qu family did not have many favors, and the Madam had never seen it, let alone Wu Ma Ma. These pieces of material were specially pointed out for the fourth young lady.
Although it is not known why Concubine Qu, who had never contacted the Qu Mansion, suddenly gave the reward.
"Thank you, Madam. Please ask that Madam... to come in!" Qu Moying said softly and sat back in the chair.
Wu Ma nodded and went out. After a while, she came in with a woman who was about fifty years old. After entering, she bowed to Qu Moying, her eyes fell on Qu Moying, and she looked him up and down carefully, without much respect in her eyes.
"Excuse me, is this nanny sent by Concubine Qu?" Qu Moying asked with a smile.
"I am a servant of Concubine Qu. My surname is Yan. Concubine Qu sent me here to educate Fourth Miss Qu." Nanny Yan raised her head and her eyes fell on Qu Moying's face, as if she was still evaluating him.
A long veil covered Qu Moying's face, but from the exposed face shape, she should be a master with outstanding appearance, and not as ugly as rumored outside. Unless this fourth young lady really had a pair of unsightly eyes, it would really ruin a face that looked extremely outstanding.
This possibility cannot be ruled out. After all, this person has eye disease, and we don’t know what the eyes look like under the veil. If they really don’t look good, then there will be no use.
"Madam Yan, did Concubine Qu send you to educate me?" Qu Moying frowned. This was all a bit confusing and she still hadn't figured out the whole story.
"Yes, Concubine Qu likes the fourth young lady very much. She will invite her to the palace from time to time in the future. If you don't learn some palace rules and etiquette, it will be troublesome if you offend the nobles in the palace." Nanny Yan said with a cold face, her eyes fell on Qu Moying's face, still examining her.
"Fourth Miss, the Madam has just agreed. Please ask Nanny Yan to educate you well." Nanny Wu nodded repeatedly. This matter would only benefit the Fourth Miss. The Madam thought that Concubine Qu had a good idea.
The fourth young lady has been living in the farm since she was a child. Although she has been educated in the past, it was not such a formal education after all. Originally, the lady wanted to invite a nanny from the palace to educate her for the sake of the fourth young lady's marriage. Now that Concubine Qu has sent someone, it is just right. This is a good thing. The lady just expressed her gratitude profusely.
Qu Moying was not the Madam, so she was not familiar with this unidentified person who appeared in the mansion.
Qu Moying didn't have a good impression of Nanny Yan, especially the way Nanny Yan's eyes were scrutinizing him. The way she looked at him made Qu Moying quite unhappy.
But he also knew that since the Madam had agreed, he had no reason to refuse, so he smiled at Nanny Yan and said, "Thank you, Nanny Yan. Yudong, take Nanny Yan to rest first. I will talk to Nanny Wu."
Yudong understood and took two steps forward, making a "please" gesture to Nanny Yan. Nanny Yan nodded to Nanny Wu, then turned and left.
"My nanny, grandma knows that Nanny Yan is Concubine Qu's person. Did grandma know this in the past?" Qu Moying asked calmly after the person walked away.
"That's what Nanny Yan said when she came. She just came down with the reward from the palace. The other eunuchs and palace maids who came with her have all gone back. Miss Four, don't worry." Nanny Wu thought that Qu Moying thought this was fake, and explained with a smile.
"My Ma, Ma Yan's behavior is very arrogant. She doesn't seem like someone who is close to Concubine Qu, right? Concubine Qu has not appeared in public for so many years. The people around her must be low-key, right?" Qu Moying reminded implicitly.
Concubine Qu was a low-key person. In her previous life, she never knew there was such an old concubine in the palace. The people around her should of course be even more low-key, but this person obviously did not seem like a low-key person. The way she looked at herself was definitely full of pride.
"This... couldn't be sent by another queen, right?" Aunt Wu hesitated, a little flustered.
"Madame Wu, please go back and report to grandmother that I have allowed this Madame Yan to stay. However, I am afraid that this Madame Yan is not Concubine Qu's person." Qu Moying said.
"Don't worry, Fourth Miss. I will report this to the Madam." Wu Ma nodded repeatedly, sensing that this matter was not simple. She was about to leave, but when she reached the door, she deliberately said, "Fourth Miss, the people in the sewing room will come over to make a few sets of clothes for you. The Madam has ordered it."
"I know, thank grandma for me." Qu Moying said.
Aunt Wu turned and left.
"Miss, let me put these away!" Yuchun stepped forward and tried to pick up all the materials in front of her.
"No rush, just leave it there." Qu Moying shook his head to stop him.
"Miss, this is a bit messy. It would be bad if Nanny Yan saw it," said Yu Chun, looking at the pile of dazzling brocade.
This Nanny Yan looks very strict, and she even looked at the young lady in an arrogant and rude manner just now.
"It's okay, just see it." Qu Moying curled his lips and said indifferently, "I was originally raised in the manor, I have seen a lot of the market, and seeing such a large number of rewards, I must like it, so I have to play with it more."
"Okay then!" Yuchun said, not quite understanding.
The people from the sewing room arrived fairly quickly. There were three of them, a manager and two of his maids.
The person in charge is a woman who is about 30 years old. She looks smart. Something happened in the sewing room before, so the original manager was replaced and this new one was replaced.
After greeting Qu Moying with a few words, the steward personally stepped forward to measure Qu Moying. While he was measuring, the other two assistants recorded it.
After the measurement was finished, the manager greeted Qu Moying with a few words of flattery with a smile before leaving with his people.
When they were halfway along the road, a woman left for something.
He dismissed the steward and found another path to leave. After walking around a few times on the path, he entered Qu Qiuyan's Furong Pavilion.
In the main room, Qu Qiuyan picked up the brocade in front of her and played with it with a smile on her face. It was a very nice brocade. The most important thing was that it was awarded by the palace. It was much more prestigious than the ones she bought outside.
I didn't expect that there was a concubine dowager in my own palace, and I never heard my grandmother and father mention it after that.
The messenger in the palace said that Concubine Qu would invite them to the palace in a few days. This had never happened before. The palace was not a place Qu Qiuyan could go whenever she wanted. Now that she had the chance, her heart was beating with excitement and she was in a very good mood.
After the maid Qingju came in and whispered a few words to her, Qu Qiuyan put down the brocade in her hand, nodded to Qingju, then turned around and sat down on the chair.
The maid from the sewing room was brought in. She bowed to Qu Qiuyan first. Qu Qiuyan nodded in a good mood and asked in a gentle voice, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
The maid in the sewing room looked up at the table in the middle. There were four pieces of cloth on the table. The first pieces were all top-quality, but they were not comparable to the silver-gray cloth with dark patterns that the fourth young lady had just had, and the quantity was also not comparable. The fourth young lady had a lot of these cloths, while the third young lady only had four pieces.
If I hadn't made a comparison, I wouldn't have known that the lady was so biased.
"Miss San, I just came from Miss Si. Madam Tai asked me to measure Miss Si and make her a few clothes. The fabrics used were all awarded by the palace..." The old woman paused here and looked at the four pieces of fabric on the table. She was about to say something but stopped. Then she saw that Qu Qiuyan's face had turned cold, and hurriedly said, "Miss Si's fabrics filled up the entire table."
The old woman didn't count the exact amount, but she only knew that it looked much more than what the third young lady had.
"What do you mean?" Qu Qiuyan originally wanted to drink tea, but now she put the teacup heavily on the table, and some of the tea inside spilled out.
"I feel that the Madam is too partial to the Fourth Miss." The old woman flattered, looking angry for Qu Qiuyan. "Although I am just a small person, I know that the Madam should not do this. The Third Miss is obviously the Madam's granddaughter. How can she be so partial to her?"
"Did Qu Moying receive many rewards?" Qu Qiuyan's joy just now disappeared without a trace.
"Yes, the Madam gave the Fourth Miss a lot of fabrics and some jewelry, and asked the sewing room to make six sets of clothes for the Fourth Miss at once. They were all made of brocades awarded by the palace. Some of them were obviously tributes. I don't know if the Fourth Miss is lucky enough to enjoy them."
The old woman complained vaguely.
The Third Miss had previously instructed that if the Fourth Miss had any unusual movements, she should be informed, so she secretly ran over to report first.
"Tribute from the palace?" Qu Qiuyan's face was gloomy, but she was not angry. She just asked in a cold voice.
"Yes, they are all tributes from the palace, and so many clothes have to be made at once, but the third young lady doesn't have a single piece." The old woman nodded.
Qu Qiuyan fell silent. She was not an ignorant woman. She knew that it was impossible for the old lady to give all the tributes bestowed by the palace to Qu Moying. Even if Qu Moying was the old lady's favored granddaughter, she would never do such a thing.
There was a sudden buzz in my mind. Someone in the palace wanted to appreciate Qu Moying, but who could it be