Since Empress Du ascended the throne again, Lin Dan's business has grown bigger and bigger. He has recruited many embroiderers and weavers, and they are all the top talents in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. He has also built a large-scale weaving workshop. In addition to the technology of embroidery not leaking out, gradually understand the weaving technology of Shu brocade, silk satin, silk and other fabrics.
Meng Zhong's life was extremely embarrassing under her chasing and fierce attack. The embroidery girls and Zhinv under her banner were frequently poached, and the business in the shop became more and more bleak.
At the same time, the emperor's body was getting weaker and weaker, and he was often unable to get out of bed for two or three months. This caused him to become more and more suspicious, and he rarely got along with concubines, princes, and princesses in the harem. Only Queen Du could stay by his bedside to accompany him, and all the accumulated government affairs were handed over to her to handle. At first, the courtiers felt that this was inappropriate, and they persuaded and even impeached Queen Du several times.
When the emperor was seriously ill, Empress Du accompanies him and manages the affairs on his behalf; when the emperor recovers, she immediately locks herself in a Taoist temple and does not ask about world affairs. After a long time, the emperor has obeyed and trusted her, and the courtiers are also accustomed to her sitting behind the bead curtain to observe the government affairs. After she was enthroned, she never pulled the Du family, nor did she take revenge on those who trampled on her, but quietly and bit by bit, she infiltrated her own power into the imperial power.
Unlike Empress Du, who was sitting firmly on Diaoyutai, the concubines and concubines who gave birth to children felt that the emperor's deadline was approaching, and they fought openly and secretly. The princes each had their own fans, and they competed for the top in the court, watching them fight like black-eyed chickens, and the emperor's love for their father was also dying.
One day, the eldest prince was assassinated on the march and blinded one eye, but the captured assassin confessed that the mastermind behind the scenes was the third prince. The third prince refused to accept it, and went to the imperial study to express his grievances. He took advantage of the situation to expose the scandal of the second prince, the fourth prince and other brothers selling their officials and rank, forming a party for personal gain. Several princes immediately stood up to fight back, and all kinds of intrigues and conspiracies hidden under the undercurrent broke out in an instant.
The Chaotang became a pot of porridge, which made the emperor exhausted and fell ill again. This illness lasted for four or five months, and Empress Du had to leave the Taoist temple and go to the imperial study to help handle the affairs of the state. At first, she still hung a bead curtain to isolate herself from the courtiers. When she got to the back, the bead curtain became more and more in the way, so she simply dismantled it and met the courtiers generously. The Manzhu Shahua in the middle of her eyebrows was so beautiful and magical that the courtiers felt oppressed when they saw it, and didn't even dare to pant loudly.
Her image of majesty and indifference, wise and martial, and one-of-a-kind is gradually established in the hearts of civil and military officials.
A few months later, a large-scale typhoid fever broke out in Kyoto. Except for the eldest prince who stayed behind closed doors, four of the adult princes contracted the disease. The queen isolated the patient by means of thunder, and dispatched the imperial physician to study the remedy for typhoid fever overnight, so as to keep this devastating disaster to a minimum.
She did not intervene in the treatment of the four princes, but sent their mother and concubine out of the palace to take care of them herself. In order to protect the emperor, she also banned the Hall of Mental Cultivation. After all, the emperor's body is getting weaker and weaker, and a little cold can kill him, let alone typhoid fever
Unfortunately, the four princes failed to survive, and the concubines felt hurt and ran to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to ask to see the emperor. The emperor not only did not feel that the queen's move was inappropriate, but also felt very relieved. Without the Queen's protection, he would have contracted a serious illness long ago, and these women not only did not understand him, cared about him, but also came to disturb him in his recuperation.
Thinking of this, the emperor immediately dispatched guards to drive these idlers away, only allowing the queen to enter and leave the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and also handed over the command of the Royal Forest Army to the queen.
A few months later, the epidemic was gradually brought under control, and the emperor's health gradually improved. The queen immediately handed over the government affairs to him, and she went back to the Taoist temple to practice. A few days later, the emperor had relaxed his vigilance and summoned the seventh prince who was kneeling outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation to speak. Shortly after the father and son said goodbye, the emperor fell ill again.
Half a month later, the emperor, who contracted typhoid fever, was so thin that he lost his shape, and no matter what medicine he took, there was no effect. He took the Queen's hand and wept silently, feeling both remorse and shame in his heart, and hated the Seventh Prince even to the core. Since then, the eldest prince has been blinded in one eye, the third prince and the eighth prince have been demoted to commoners, the second prince, fourth prince, fifth prince, and sixth prince have all died of illness, and the seventh prince has been detested and abandoned. The ninth prince under five years old can inherit the throne.
Looking at the terrible situation in front of him, it was too late for the emperor to regret it, so he could only arrange his own affairs in a hurry. He called the four cabinet ministers to the bedside, set up an imperial edict, ordered Empress Du to be the regent, and promoted Concubine Li as the imperial concubine.
He doesn't trust his vassals, nor his women, but he has no doubts about Empress Du, because she has no mother family to rely on, and no children of her own. Apart from helping the ninth prince, she has no other way to survive.
After all this was arranged, the emperor closed his eyes in unwillingness, and the ninth prince, who was only five years old at the time, became the emperor and granted amnesty to the world. Empress Du was honored as the Empress Dowager of the East, and she listened to the government under the curtain. Li Min was honored as the Empress Dowager of the West.
Li Min is an extremely ambitious woman, so she is naturally very dissatisfied with this. She frequently encourages officials to impeach Du Fange, and orders the Li family to recruit courtiers for her own use. But unfortunately, Du Fange's prestige has long been established among civil and military officials, and the emperor has long excluded the Li family from the center of power in order to prevent the tyranny of foreign relatives. Their fuss is just to let others see their ambitions clearly, and they have seen enough of their jokes, but it is of no use at all.
After the late emperor was buried in the imperial mausoleum, preparations for the enthronement ceremony were also underway. In order to embroider the dresses of the little emperor and the two empress dowagers, officials from the Department of Internal Affairs began to select the most skilled embroiderers from all over the country, and purchased damask silk. Gross satin.
Suzhou and Hangzhou have been known as the "Hometown of Silkworms" since ancient times. It is the first stop for selection. What's more, the elder brother of the Queen Mother is the governor of Zhejiang Province. Favor. On the day of the selection, the top embroiderers from all over Suzhou and Hangzhou gathered together and displayed their best works, which were judged by several officials.
Meng Si, who had not appeared in front of people for a long time, also came, and was carefully placing an embroidered screen on the table. Li Xiudian stood by and looked at her, his eyes full of pride.
"The composition is exquisite, the needlework is exquisite, very good." An official looked at Li Xiudian and immediately nodded in admiration.
"The needlework is really superb, but it's not the best. There are already several similar works on this table. If you can't be outstanding, how can you be qualified to embroider dragon robes and phoenix robes?" Another official looked at Du Ruyan's direction, opened his mouth to deny. The two empress dowagers have not yet really fought, and the officials below have already lined up.
Meng Si smiled slightly, then stepped forward generously and turned the circular embroidery screen around.
Everyone in the arena suddenly let out a gasp. On the front of this embroidered painting, I saw a lady holding a mirror and dressing her makeup. Her hair was visible from the roots, her beautiful facial features were lifelike, and there were some flesh-colored under the gauze, which seemed to have body temperature. Where is this a painting, this is clearly a window through which people can spy on the maid's every move.
His expressive painting skills and superb needlework are already amazing. What's even better is that the back of this embroidered screen is actually the same scene and characters, but the perspective is different. The maid facing the crowd turned her back to the crowd, and she could only vaguely see her beautiful face through the mirror in her hand.
An embroidery painting has two sides, and the patterns on the two sides are different. This kind of stitching is almost unheard of in the Great Zhou Kingdom.
When everyone was stunned, an old embroiderer exclaimed: "I remembered, this is a long-lost double-sided embroidery, and it is also the most difficult double-sided embroidery of the same color! I saw it in this ancient book, I thought it was just a legend, but I didn’t expect that someone could actually do it! I have been studying all my life and have not been able to restore this embroidery technique, but Meng Xiuniang did it! How old is she this year? Really? No way! The future is terrifying!"
Old Xiu Niang walked back and forth around the table with a look of excitement.
The officials who supported the Queen Mother immediately said: "Mr. Qian, this is the legendary double-sided embroidery. In terms of embroidery skills, who else can beat Meng Xiuniang? If she can't be selected, I don't know who to choose. already."
Mr. Qian stroked his beard and was speechless for a moment. Seeing that the situation was clear, the rest of the officials agreed: "Yes, Meng Xiuniang's embroidery skills are really good. Who else can I choose if I don't choose her? I think it's settled as such."
The rest of the embroidered maidens look at me and I look at you, but no one stands up against it. The embroidered lady who had already presented the work silently retreated, and the embroidered lady who had not yet presented the work hid the package in her arms behind her back, feeling ashamed of herself.
Seeing this scene, Meng Si bit his lip secretly, feeling agitated. After this incident, she will definitely be able to regain the title of the No. 1 Embroidered Mother in Zhejiang Province. When she embroiders the dragon and phoenix robes in the future, I am afraid that even the title of the No. 1 Embroidered Mother of the Great Zhou Kingdom will be in the bag. After entering the palace, she will take good care of the Queen Mother West, win her favor, and then try to get her to agree to her marriage with Young Master Li. At that time, everything will be fine, and Mengshi Embroidery Village will be able to dominate the weaving market in Zhejiang Province and even the entire Great Zhou Kingdom as before.
Thinking of this, she raised her head to look at Lin Dan, revealing a rare and proud smile.
Lin Dan didn't look at her at all, but ordered someone to carry a half-zhang-high screen behind him and covered it with a black cloth into the hall, and said slowly, "Lin Dan from Danyan Embroidery Village came to join us. Choose, I invite you adults to take a look."