Hearing that her daughter went out this time to find Xiu Niang, Mrs. Kou was relieved. Then she heard that the Xiu Niang she hired was Lin Dan from the collapsed Lin's Embroidery Village. I've been looking around, but I found a poor house? If Lin Dan's embroidery skills are better than Meng Si's, will the Lin's embroidery village collapse? Where does her family live, tell me quickly, I'll go and ask for 5 taels of silver Come back, let's go to Mengshi Embroidery Village and find any embroiderer who is better than her!"
"Auntie, don't worry about it." Xu Qian seemed to be gentle, but in fact she had the right idea, she said firmly: "I want Lin Dan to embroider my clothes, don't worry about it. Even if you ask another embroiderer to make clothes for me. , I don't know how to wear it, so don't waste your money."
Although their mother and daughter live in the Admiral's Mansion, they have no savings because they are not favored. A suit of 10 taels or 20 taels of silver was ordinary to the other ladies and young ladies of the Admiral's Mansion, but a luxury to them.
Xu Qian knew that in order to marry her biological daughter into the royal family, her wife would definitely do her best to suppress the rest of the concubine. When everyone's clothes are made, the seventh one will definitely be the most beautiful, and the rest will only become foils. Xu Qian didn't want to be a foil, and naturally she wouldn't ask for the clothes her wife made for her.
Kou didn't understand her concerns, she said anxiously: "Who is Lin Dan? I've never heard of this person, can the clothes she made be worn? Although we can't ask Meng Si, we can ask her to use her banner. The embroidered maid, you must know that the senior embroidered maids of Mengshi Embroidery Village are all from the palace, and their craftsmanship is absolutely not bad! You quickly tell me the address of the Lin family, and I will go and get the deposit back!"
Xu Qian picked up a book and flipped through it slowly, ignoring her desperate mother.
Kou glared at her fiercely, gasped for a while, and then lifted the curtain and went out.
Without raising her head, Xu Qian said, "If you secretly asked for the address of Lin's family and returned my order without permission, I would say that I would not be attending the Mid-Autumn Festival dinner. The embroidered women you are looking for are definitely not as good as Lin Dan, I believe her. "It's not so much that she believes in Lin Dan, but rather that she believes in her own eyesight.
Kou's footsteps paused for a moment, then slammed the door shut, and walked away angrily.
The dispute between mother and daughter soon spread to Mrs. Xu's ears. She said with a half-smiling smile, "Linger, look, even your honest sixth sister is also careful!"
"She's playing tricks on her, what am I afraid of? Who is the embroidered lady she's looking for? Compared with Meng Si, which onion and garlic are you going to be?" Xu Ling, the eldest daughter of the Xu family, pouted in disdain. .
A maid replied quickly: "Mrs. Qi, that Lin Dan is Lin Dafu's daughter. She has never learned embroidery before, so she is a novice. She embroidered a ginkgo leaf blouse for Du Ruyan that day, but she came out with one. Take the limelight. But Miss Meng has already said that those ginkgo leaves are embroidered with the simplest stitches, and the apprentices of her embroidery village can make them casually, which is not unusual."
Mrs. Xu closed her eyelids slightly and said lazily, "Du Ruyan has grown up like that, she looks good in whatever she wears, and what is the credit of the embroidered mother. Since she is a novice, let her do it for Liu girl, we don't care. "
Xu Ling smiled and said: "I want to see what kind of clothes she will make for Sixth Sister. Last time, it was embroidered with leaves. Could it be embroidered with small flowers this time? That would be fun!"
All the servants laughed, their eyes full of ridicule. Floral fabrics have long been outdated, and only the servants of the house can wear them. Could it be that Miss Six still wants to compete with all the maids? If she is obedient, Madam can still make her clothes that are not too bad, but she has to go her own way and violate yin and yang, then it is no wonder that Madam makes her embarrassed.
…
In order to make Xu Qian's clothes and Du Rusong's leather armor, Lin Dan really worked hard. Even her two concubines and Cui Lan were arrested by her, and locked in the room all day long to cut fabrics for her. The day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, she failed to deliver on time, and Xu Qian sent someone to urge her once. She apologized repeatedly and stayed up all night before finally getting the clothes ready. Seeing Cuilan's back hurriedly leaving, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
The Admiral's Mansion is located in the center of the city, some distance from the suburbs. Cui Lan paid for an ox cart to deliver the clothes before sunset. At the same time, Xu Qian was welcoming a group of sisters who came to watch a good show.
"Sixth sister, your clothes are not ready yet?"
"Sixth sister, why are you so incapable of thinking that you handed over your clothes to a little-known little embroidered lady?"
"Sixth sister, if you really don't have any clothes to wear, I still have a new one that I can lend you, or should I ask the maid to bring it over immediately?"
Xu Qian has long been accustomed to the open and secret fights between sisters, and she has dealt with them one by one with great patience. Seeing that she was not in a hurry at all, everyone felt bored and left quickly.
Kou hurried in carrying a package, "Quick, quick, this is the clothes I asked the embroidery lady from Meng's Embroidery Village to make for you. I had long expected that Lin Dan would be unreliable, and I would pay you extra money. I've made one, put it on quickly, the distinguished guest is coming!" As he spoke, he unfolded the package and took out his clothes, shoes and socks.
"No hurry, just wait." Xu Qian waved her hand with a firm expression. For some reason, she felt that Lin Dan didn't seem like the kind of open-mouthed and irresponsible person, and she was willing to give her a little more time.
"You dead girl, what are you waiting for? From noon until now, Xu Ling has been dressing up in the room, and your other sisters have also put on new clothes and are ready, only you, without wiping your face, makeup It didn't melt, not even a decent dress. Do you really want to marry that old man and be beaten to death?" Kou started to wipe her tears as she spoke. Who is she for? Why doesn't my daughter appreciate it
Xu Qian's heart was touched, so she put down the book in her hand and went to see the newly made clothes. The water-red ru skirt and white blouse, with a few hibiscus flowers embroidered on the skirt, are quite satisfactory in style, not outstanding, but not ugly.
"Hurry up and change your clothes, so I can comb your hair." Kou urged again.
Xu Qian stood up and was about to take off her clothes when she saw her personal maid hurried in and said, "Miss, Lin Xiu Niang has brought the clothes, take a look."
"Look what, she doesn't want that one, go back and wear mine! It took more than half a month to finish the dress, and I almost missed our important event. I will definitely get the five taels of deposit back. ..." Kou's voice was silent as she spoke, she stared at the skirt in the maid's hand for a long time, and then let out a low voice in astonishment.
Xu Qian also held her breath, her eyes showing obsession.
"Miss, put on your clothes quickly!" The maid reminded anxiously, and the mother and daughter recovered from their astonishment.
Kou threw the clothes in her hand on the ground, and hurriedly went to pick up the clothes made by Lin Dan, remembering that she didn't seem to wash her hands, so she stood where she was and didn't dare to step forward. This dress is too delicate and beautiful, she dare not touch it at all.
Xu Qian immediately took off her clothes and carefully put on a new skirt.
Two quarters later, the eldest prince and his party arrived at the Admiral's Mansion as scheduled and took their seats in the garden. The stage has already been set up, and the male and female guests sit at the east and west ends, watching the show while eating. The old lady, who had just recovered from her illness, also came, and was talking to her granddaughters with a smile, while Mrs. Xu and a few sisters-in-law sat by the side with an elegant demeanor.
The eldest prince has a handsome appearance and a cold temperament, and he hardly glanced at the female guest. Several young ladies looked at him from time to time, and they didn't know what to think, but their faces were flushed with shame.
"Why didn't Liu girl come?" The old lady looked around and asked in a low voice.
"My daughter-in-law will send someone to take a look. Xu Shi encountered something and was delayed." Mrs. Xu said.
"Sixth sister's new clothes are not ready, and she is in a hurry at the moment." The old man said with a smile.
"How come it was the day of the banquet, but the clothes were not ready?" The old lady gave her daughter-in-law a deep look.
Mrs. Xu explained in a low voice: "I have already told the embroidery maid of Mengshi Embroidery Village to work overtime to make clothes for the girls in the house, but the six girls don't want it, so I have to find the embroidery maid outside to make clothes for her. Embroidery Niang is the poor householder of the Lin family. She just learned embroidery not long ago. She was very skilled and delayed the construction period. I have already made the clothes without the six girls, and I have asked Aunt Kou to send them over. Mom, don't worry, Six girls will be here soon."
The old lady calmed down and sighed: "I didn't expect the sixth to be worry-free." Then she looked at Xu Ling and couldn't help but praise: "The seventh girl is so beautiful today, she is about to dazzle my old eyes. Flowers!"
Xu Ling lowered her eyes and covered her mouth, looking shy, then quickly glanced at the eldest prince, only to find that the other party was also looking at her.
The eldest prince has always paid little attention to women's lust, and the reason why he pays attention to Xu Ling is because the other party's clothes are too dazzling. Today, she wore a half-armed skirt with a half-placket. The top was made of white tulle. The cuffs were wide and very elegant and feminine. A belt full of jewels outlined her slender waist. The skirt is crimson satin, embroidered with large blooming peonies on the satin. The stamens of each peony flower are made of small rice pearls, and the petals are woven with silver-red silk threads wrapped in ponytail hair. Glittering and graceful under the setting sun, the large and small jadeite flakes make up the peony flowers and leaves.
This technique of stringing jewelry on silk threads for embroidery is the original creation of the embroidered woman in Guangdong Province, and was later brought to Zhejiang Province by Meng Si and carried forward. She seldom uses this embroidery method, because it is too expensive for ordinary people to wear;
But Xu Ling doesn't need to worry about these two points at all. She was already very gorgeous, but now she is wearing this dress specially made for her by Meng Si. Even if he was as indifferent as the First Prince, he was also sucked away from his sight.
Mrs. Xu was very satisfied with this, and she thought that she would give Meng Xiuniang a generous gift later.
At this moment, Xu Qian walked over slowly, as silently as usual, not in a hurry, but made everyone look at her involuntarily. The eldest prince just glanced at her casually, and then his eyes were fixed, and an indescribable scorching heat poured out from his dark pupils.