There are four skirt doors on the front, back, inside and outside of the horse-faced skirt. They overlap each other and are symmetrical from front to back.
After the horse-faced skirt was cut, Mengying planned to give up the double-sided embroidery and instead use the Qingzhou embroidery method, using thick threads to embroider flowers and birds on the outer skirt door.
Since it is the Spring Banquet on March 3rd, the swallows announcing the spring are indispensable. Paired with the small bridge, flowing water, kingfishers, butterflies, rocks, peonies and pomegranates, this dress will be unforgettable.
Xie Chunlian loves magnolia flowers, and in her previous life she spent a lot of money to move a purple magnolia flower. The spring shirt above can be embroidered with some magnolia flowers.
Xie Chunlian likes purple, while Meng Ying loves white magnolia. "White jade adorns the branches, and there is no worry if there is no green."
*
Three days later, Lin Xiao came back from outside dejectedly. She hadn't eaten lunch and had been sitting at the door in a daze.
Mengying knew that he was in trouble.
He put down his embroidery needle, walked up to Lin Xiao, and asked, "What could make you so worried?"
Seeing Mengying coming, Lin Xiao said in frustration: "Girl, I met a few beggars today. You know, whether it is Qingzhou or the capital, although this beggar has a low status, he is indeed very well-informed."
Mengying nodded, "Then what did you find out?"
"They said that the person who paid the deposit was most likely General Xie's Mansion. They are a hereditary noble family and now hold an earldom. Their eldest aunt is still a concubine in the palace and a relative of the royal family. That woman was in the palace last year
Several embroidery houses paid a deposit, but after taking the clothes, it was all gone. Those embroidery houses knew that the Xie family had deep roots and did not dare to say anything, so they even lost their capital.
I came to pay the deposit again this year, and no one else dared to accept it, so we found it, but I..."
"Oh, is this news reliable?" Mengying interrupted Lin Xiao and asked.
"It's absolutely true. In order to verify the authenticity, I went to Jinxiu Fang and sealed three coins of silver to their embroiderer. She said it herself: 'The Xie Mansion's business cannot be done'."
Mengying lowered her head in thought and said nothing. No matter how domineering Xie Chunlian was, she still wouldn't blackmail people for their clothes. It must be that Grandma Zhou was greedy for money.
However, this gave her inspiration, maybe this is where she should start.
"I...I really got into trouble. I'm afraid I'm going to lose all my money!" Lin Xiao regretted it so much now.
Seeing Lin Xiao's guilty look, Mengying smiled and comforted her, saying: "Don't worry, that woman may not be from the Xie family. Even if she is from the Xie family, I can still make her spit out the money." Hearing what Mengying said, Lin Xiaocai beamed with joy. He now regarded Mengying as a god, and he believed everything Mengying said.
Mengying ordered: "Go upstairs and take down the embroidery stand. I will embroider here from now on."
"Yes, I'll go right away." After Lin Xiao agreed, he ran upstairs with a thump.
Lin Xiao was very quick and moved the embroidery frame down in a moment.
"Girl, it's not as quiet as upstairs, could it be..." Hongying knows that Mengying's embroidery is exquisite and her mind must be focused. If there are always guests disturbing her, she may waste her time.
"No problem!"
Mengying had her own plans. She was sure that Xie Chunlian would wear this suit. Since they were used to defaulting on their debts, she would let everyone know about it.
*
On this day, Mengying's horse-faced skirt was almost finished, and a guest came to the embroidery room.
Hongying went to entertain herself, while Mengying lowered her head and embroidered the swallow's eyes in front of her. When she heard the footsteps approaching, Mengying raised her head.
I saw a girl in a pink skirt and blue armor walking closer. She has a tall figure, narrow and slightly upturned eyes, and flowing black eyes that are so beautiful that you can't take your eyes away.
Mengying knew this person well. She was Ming Huan and Xiao Mingzhu. Her grandfather was in charge of the crown prince's young master, and she was from the first rank; her aunt was the queen of the Yongping Marquis Mansion, and she was from the first rank; her father was the priest of the Hanlin Academy.
Wine is the true wealth of a famous family.
It's a pity that in the fifteenth year of Hongyuan, the prince rebelled. Taifu Xiao was cut in half, all the men in the clan were beheaded, and the women were made official slaves. Xiao Mingzhu became an official prostitute because she never married.
At that time, people thought that the Xiao family had disappeared, but unexpectedly, although Xiao Mingzhu was an official prostitute, she once became a nightmare for the ladies of the capital.
Some people once discussed privately that Xiao Mingzhu was born with fox eyes and could enchant people. Ninety percent of the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty had slept with Xiao Mingzhu, and even the cabinet was not exempt from this habit.
Even the Tatar Khan was dazzled by her appearance and threatened that if Xiao Mingzhu was not sent, he would send troops to the Wu Dynasty and crush the capital with his cavalry.
Emperor Wu was old and the new crown prince's foundation was unstable. He did not want to start another war, so he pardoned Xiao Mingzhu's status as an official prostitute, made him the princess of Hehe, and went to Northern Tartar to get married.
Xiao Mingzhu went from being despised by everyone to being praised by thousands of people in a blink of an eye. "With the help of one person, a city of ten thousand people can survive."
Everyone thought that Xiao Mingzhu would refuse to go north because of the murders. Unexpectedly, she readily agreed. However, she had to leave after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Emperor Wu readily agreed.
On the night of the full moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xiao Mingzhu wore a plain gauze skirt and danced gracefully on the tower. Everyone who saw it said that her dance was as graceful as a flying swallow, and her appearance was as beautiful as Taiyin Lord.
While everyone was intoxicated, Xiao Mingzhu jumped down from the tower like a butterfly. Some said she was dead, and her death was ugly; some said she was rescued and wandered around the world ever since...
The legend of her past life was right in front of her. Mengying's thoughts were racing, and she actually stared at the person in front of her for a long time without moving her eyes.
Even though Xiao Mingzhu is not afraid of people looking at her, she still feels a little embarrassed.
"Girl, girl..." Seeing Mengying staring at her intently, Hongying hurriedly ran over to smooth things over.
"Ah, I'm sorry." Mengying put down her embroidery needle and bowed to Xiao Mingzhu.
"The girl is so beautiful that I was stunned for a moment and asked her to forgive her."
Everyone likes to be praised, even a scholarly lady like Xiao Mingzhu is not immune to this. She smiled sweetly and said: "Girl, you are so complimentary."
The maid next to Xiao Mingzhu pointed at the embroidery stand and said, "Girl, look at this embroidery, it's really beautiful."
Xiao Mingzhu lowered her head and showed admiration. The white cloud brocade was used as the base, and she used red, green, blue, yellow, black and other silk threads to embroider mountain rocks, small bridges and flowing water, pomegranate flowers, butterflies, kingfishers, and swallows, which were lively and beautiful.
.
I saw black swallows flying sideways, blue kingfishers swooping from top to bottom, red pomegranates, gorgeous peonies, and lifelike mountains and stone bridges. I nodded and said: "It's vivid and interesting, it's really impressive."
Then he turned to Mengying and asked, "What is this girl doing?"
Mengying replied, "It's a horse-faced skirt made for a rich man."
Xiao Mingzhu pondered for a while and asked: "Can you tell me which one it is?"
Mengying shook her head and said: "I didn't know that either. I only knew that the girl wanted to wear it for the Spring Banquet on March 3, and she only paid a deposit of fifty taels. The nun who came to make the order said that they had made several orders.
, I don’t know yet whether my piece will be selected.”
Xiao Mingzhu smiled disdainfully and said to herself: "Repeating the same old tricks is really a waste of natural resources."
She stared at Mengying's embroidery and looked around, and said: "Yun brocade is not uncommon, but it is really rare to embroider like you. If she doesn't like this dress, she will send someone to my house, regardless of the price.
How much, I want."
"Thank you, girl. If that girl is not selected, I will give it to the girl. I will only charge the original price and not charge more from you."
Xiao Mingzhu walked around, ordered a few more double-sided embroidered handkerchiefs, and left with the maid.
After they left, Hongying said happily: "Now, even if she doesn't want it, we can still sell this dress!"
Mengying shook her head, "It's too early to say this now, let's wait until the clothes are finished."
After finishing the horse-face skirt, Mengying made another pink plain gauze gown with a double-breasted and vertical collar, and the cuffs were embroidered with cyan silk thread. She also made a grass-green bijia, with magnolia flowers of various shapes embroidered on the neckline.
.
Mengying's embroidery room opened the door, but no embroidery work was accepted. Many people came into the embroidery room and stopped for a while on Mengying's embroidery stand, and then marveled at Mengying's superb skills.
By the time the clothes were ready, it was February 26th. Mengying sent Lin Xiao to ask shopkeeper Zhu from the silk shop. When the shopkeeper saw this brocade dress, he was amazed.
"The craftsmanship of this girl's skirt is so exquisite that only the embroiderers in the palace can match it."
"Shopkeeper Zhu is so impressed. I just hope that noble man will take a fancy to this dress and don't let me buy it at a discount."
Shopkeeper Zhu waved his hand, patted his chest and said, "If she doesn't like it, sell it to me for four hundred taels."
Mengying ducked down and saluted, "Then Mengying would like to thank shopkeeper Zhu first."
*
On February 26th, Mrs. Zhou came with two more maids. When she heard that Mengying's spring shirt was ready, she took a sideways look.
Yi said arrogantly, "Pretend it for me and wait until the girl takes a look. If you are chosen, I will give you the money at your price; if you are not chosen, I will give you the capital before March 3rd." Mengying said in a low voice: "Mommy is in a high school and doesn't understand our sufferings. I come from Qingzhou and have no relatives or friends in the capital. I rely on my embroidery house to make a living.
Now this Yunjin brocade costs two hundred taels as a gift, plus the long gown and embroidery thread, not counting the wages, it’s more than three hundred taels. If you don’t like it, I will return the deposit to you, and you must give up the clothes
Bring it back to me."
Mrs. Zhou snorted and said, "We girls, if we don't have any good clothes, how can we steal your lousy clothes?"
After saying that, he waited for the little maid to wrap up her clothes, turned around and left.
Hongying looked at Mrs. Zhou's arrogant back, said "poof", and said to Mengying: "Girl, this is the end? What should we do if we don't give us the money or return the clothes?"
Mengying calmly said, "Cold salad!"
Mengying deliberately said that she had nothing to rely on in the capital, and that Mrs. Zhou always flattered the superiors and disdained the inferiors, bullying the weak and afraid of the strong. Mengying was eight percent sure that Xie Chunlian would wear the dress she made, and she was nine percent sure that Mrs. Zhou would not give it to her.
Money comes.
If she keeps her word, that's it. If she doesn't, on the day of the Spring Banquet on March 3rd, she will peel off the hypocritical skin of Mr. Xie!