The young master chuckled and said, "I would like to hear the details."
Jiang Shuyue followed the young master to the dye vat at the dye shop and looked at the dye brought over by the servant.
Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple; the yellow is a pale yellow, not the bright yellow reserved for royalty.
Jiang Shuyue picked up a spoon and randomly selected three colors, imagining the basic warm color scheme in her mind.
When the young master saw Jiang Shuyue put out the dye, he asked the craftsman to add the diluted color-fixing water and stir it gently. The color of the water became blurry, and it was impossible to distinguish whether it was red or green with the naked eye.
Everyone thought the color matching was over, but Jiang Shuyue had someone bring over a wooden basin and a brush.
Jiang Shuyue didn't do anything this time. Instead, she pointed to the various dyes and said, "After the fabric is taken out of the vat, you can mix any color and sprinkle it on the fabric. Use this brush to sprinkle it to create a starry sky effect, regardless of the density."
Everyone was confused, but the craftsmen couldn't wait to start putting the cloth into the dye vat.
The young master couldn't wait to see the finished product.
In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the first piece of cloth was hung on the bamboo pole in the yard.
Everyone's eyes lit up.
"Wow! The color is like the clouds in the sky, it's so beautiful."
"That's right, it's like the morning glow being scattered by the wind, fresh and refined, breathtakingly beautiful."
The young master was overjoyed, never expecting to encounter a master colorist.
He selected a pale yellow dye, mixed it well, and then had someone bring an apron for Jiang Shuyue to personally demonstrate.
Jiang Shuyue rolled up her sleeves, and Qiuju took the apron and helped her tie it.
After a while, Jiang Shuyue saw that the fabric's moisture level did not affect the dyeing process.
She picked up a brush, dipped it in some dye, and vigorously swung her wrist across the cloth.
In an instant, tiny specks spread across the colorful fabric, like sparse, uneven stars embedded in a beautiful rainbow.
The craftsmen standing by were stunned. The technique seemed casual, but the dyed fabric was exquisite and ingenious.
Everyone was thinking how stunning the girls would look if they wore dresses made from such beautiful fabric.
The young master couldn't help but ask, "Miss Jiang, who did you learn your dyeing skills from? It's amazing."
The young master was amazed. He knew that this dyeing method, though seemingly arbitrary, actually required a pair of eyes that could discover beauty.
Jiang Shuyue thought for a moment and said, "I had some free time and saw a color mixing method in an ancient book. I think it should be able to be used to dye cloth as well."
The young master sighed again, "So that's how it is. Some people say that scholars are useless, but it seems that it's still good to read more books."
Qiuju chimed in, "That's for sure. Reading opens the mind, makes one more reasonable, and allows one to know about the world, especially those strange and unusual stories, which are quite interesting."
Listening to Qiuju's insights on reading, Jiang Shuyue almost couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Teaching Qiuju to read wasn't for the purpose of passing the imperial examinations; these words were just meant to trick the girl into learning to read.
Just as treating an illness requires prescribing the right medicine for the right ailment, so too does deceiving people. Are you suggesting that reading can govern a country and bring peace to the world?
The young master pressed her again, asking which ancient book she had read it in. Jiang Shuyue lied and said that it had been too long and she couldn't remember.
After giving instructions on the delivery, Jiang Shuyue hurriedly left the dye house.
As I left the dye house, a familiar figure approached from afar.
The distance was too close; Jiang Shuyue didn't have time to dodge.
The person who came was Su Peng. When he saw Jiang Shuyue, he was so shocked that he stood there frozen as if he had been struck by lightning.
It took him a moment to come to his senses.
"Cousin, cousin!"
Qiu Ju strode forward and blocked Jiang Shuyue's path, her almond-shaped eyes wide with anger. "Young master, don't try to claim kinship with me. My young lady doesn't know you, and she's not your cousin."
Jiang Shuyue looked up and saw that the person in front of her was no longer radiant; his eyes were dim, as if he had suffered a great blow.
He was dressed in a light blue long robe, which was fairly clean, but he hadn't shaved his beard and looked more disheveled than before.
“Cousin, I know you’re still alive. Jiang Jiaojiao told me the truth before she left. She said you hate her and the entire Jiang clan.”
“The maid Caiyan beside her also talked about how Jiang Jiaojiao and her daughter plotted against you. At the time, I just thought it was a concubine maid vying for favor and deliberately smearing her.”
"It wasn't until they left the Su family one after another that I understood why you didn't acknowledge us."
“If I had known earlier that she had upset you, my mother and I would never have let her into the Su family.”
Su Peng ignored Qiu Ju and Jiang Shuyue's expressions and talked on and on.
Jiang Shuyue is not the original owner of this body, nor will she be bound by kinship or suppressed by blood ties.
She said expressionlessly, "To tell you the truth, your cousin is really dead. I just have the same name and look a lot like her. Before she died, she asked me to go to Jiang Zhengming to retrieve her mother's memorial tablet. That's why I appeared at the Jiang family and made them mistake me for her."
Upon hearing this, Su Peng's eyes met Jiang Shuyue's clear gaze.
The indifference in his eyes, the unfamiliar gaze, devoid of any warmth.
My cousin in my memory was gentle, quiet, kind, and lovely; the way she looked at him was definitely not like that.
He staggered back a step and slowly shook his head. "You really aren't her. I was so desperate for money that I mistook you for someone else."
Seeing Su Peng back away, Qiu Ju pulled Jiang Shuyue and said, "Miss, get in the carriage quickly. Your aunt is waiting for you to go back."
"Yes, let's go to the cloth shop. My aunt should be there right now."
Jiang Shuyue turned around, took two steps, then suddenly stopped and looked back at Su Peng.
"There are no free lunches in the world. If you want to make money, you have to take the right path. No one can rely on others for their whole life. If a person can't make something of himself, then he deserves to live a life of poverty until his descendants are reduced to servants and slaves, and are beaten and trampled on by others."
Every word was like a knife, striking directly into the depths of Su Peng's heart.
His body trembled, and his eyes widened.
As the radiant woman turned and boarded the carriage, Jiang Shuyue's words echoed in Su Peng's mind.
They deserve to be poor their whole lives, reduced to slaves and servants, subjected to beatings and trampling.
Yes! My father is addicted to gambling, and life at home is getting harder and harder.
If I had continued to live a muddled and aimless life, I would still be living in this dilapidated mansion.
If a son is born, life will be even harder; if daughters are born one after another, the family will soon be facing starvation.
Thinking of the tragic fate of servants, who would be abused and even killed by bad masters.
Su Peng snapped to attention, his mind instantly clearing.
He didn't want to live a life of selling his children.
Jiang Shuyue and Qiuju boarded the carriage. When Qiuju lowered the curtain, she saw Su Peng standing there, stunned.
She muttered, "Miss, that person isn't ambitious. It's a waste of time to say those things to him."
"Do your best and leave the rest to fate. Consider this your way of helping him. Don't give him gold or silver, just a few heartfelt words. Whether he listens or not is up to him."
"Miss, you have the heart of a Bodhisattva. You will surely be a celestial maiden in your next life." Qiuju looked at her young mistress with eyes full of stars.
Jiang Shuyue secretly thought to herself, "I don't want to be that ethereal fairy from the heavens. I want to go back to my own world and see my family."
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