Nan Wuyu told Nan Wusi, "Little sister, this is the residence of Liu Anji, the Minister of Rites. I guess the lady with the embroiderer is a female relative of Minister Liu."
Although Nan Wuyu put it mildly, everyone knew that she was a concubine, since they had all met the wife of the Minister of Rites.
It was actually the residence of the Minister of Rites. Nan Wusi frowned. What a small world! Speaking of the Minister of Rites, she naturally thought of Liu Shizhong, whose leg had been broken by the original owner of this body. She wondered if that guy's leg had been healed yet.
"But what is Lord Liu's concubine doing bringing an embroiderer to my shop? Is she trying to learn the craft? Surely she doesn't intend to copy the designs and embroider them herself?" Nan Wusi didn't believe that the concubine of a Minister of Rites couldn't afford a single garment.
"Little sister, perhaps your guess is correct." Nan Wuyu had an expression that was hard to explain.
"No way, how could the Minister of Rites, such a high-ranking official, be so poor?" Nan Wusi was speechless; she never expected to encounter such a thing.
"Ahem." Nan Wuyu coughed twice to cover his embarrassment and said, "Lord Liu has quite a few concubines."
Nan Wusi's eyes widened upon hearing this. She hadn't expected that Liu Anji, with such a fierce first wife, would dare to bring so many concubines home. He truly had remarkable courage.
“But we have no evidence to suggest that the concubine from the Liu family brought the embroiderers to my Dream Clothing Workshop to copy my clothes,” Nan Wusi said, somewhat troubled.
“If it’s really a counterfeit, it will eventually be discovered,” Nan Wuyu said matter-of-factly.
“I understand that principle, but how can I let others know that the clothes she is wearing are a copy of mine?” Nan Wusi pondered deeply. “Maybe they will turn around and accuse me of slander.”
"Little sister, where are the clothes you made? Just bring them to the store to display them beforehand," Nan Wuyu reminded her.
“But I’ve already given that dress to another lady.” Nan Wusi hadn’t expected that the decision she made in a moment of impulse would now be so difficult to handle.
"Little sister, you can first find out which concubine is getting close to which other concubines, and then wait for the right opportunity to act."
"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking too." Nan Wusi nodded. "Thank you, Second Brother. I can handle the rest myself."
"We're like siblings, no need for such formalities." Nan Wuyu smiled and ruffled Nan Wusi's hair. His little sister was becoming more and more sensible, and he even missed the days when she would cause trouble everywhere and ask him to save the day.
"Sigh." Nan Wuyu could only sigh inwardly. Now, it was becoming increasingly difficult for his little sister to need him.
The next day, Ouyang Xinxi came to find Nan Wusi again, but when she saw that Nan Wusi had a furrowed brow, she asked him what had happened.
"Sisi, why are you looking so gloomy again? You seem to be sighing all the time lately. Is something wrong this time?"
“Yes, things haven’t been going well lately.” Nan Wusi nodded. There was nothing wrong with that, so she told Ouyang Xinxi what had happened yesterday.
"Sisi, do you know what that concubine's surname is?" Ouyang Xinxi suddenly asked.
“I know, it seems his surname is Wang.” Nan Wusi flipped through his notebook, which recorded the basic information of each guest, including their surname and address.
“If it’s Concubine Wang from the Ministry of Rites’ family, then perhaps I really would know her,” Ouyang Xinxi said, looking at Nan Wusi.
"Hmm? Xinxi, how do you know the Minister of Rites's aunt?" Nan Wusi felt that Ouyang Xinxi and Aunt Wang were from completely different worlds.
"Because that Aunt Wang had a very good relationship with our second aunt," Ouyang Xinxi explained.
"Second Aunt is Ouyang Jiangli's mother?"
“Yes.” Ouyang Xinxi nodded.
"Xinxi, do you think a concubine has enough money to buy custom-made clothes from Mengyifang?" Nan Wusi wasn't very clear about the monthly allowance and economic strength of a concubine, since there was no such person in her family.
Without a second thought, Ouyang Xinxi said, "Generally speaking, concubines don't have enough money to buy such expensive custom-made clothes."
"Do you also think the clothes in our store are too expensive?" Nan Wusi suddenly changed the subject.
"Ah!" Ouyang Xinxi was momentarily stunned, but she immediately said, "It is indeed a bit expensive, but Sisi's cooking is so good that it's worth the price."
Hearing Ouyang Xinxi's sincere words, Nan Wusi suddenly felt ashamed, because only she knew the true origin of these clothes.
However, she remained calm and continued the previous topic, saying, "Since you said that Aunt Wang rarely has the means to buy clothes from Mengyifang, then it means that Aunt Wang brought the embroiderers to our shop, which is likely to be to have the designs copied and then have the embroiderers make them to save money?"
"Mmm." Nan Wusi changed the subject too quickly, and Ouyang Xinxi could only nod awkwardly.
"Xinxi, can you help me take a look at the patterns for these two garments?" Nan Wusi took out the patterns for the two garments again and showed them to Ouyang Xinxi.
"Both outfits are so beautiful!" Ouyang Xinxi exclaimed, looking at the design.
"If that Aunt Wang were wearing similar clothes, would you recognize her?" Nan Wusi asked.
“If she didn’t make any major alterations to the design, I should be able to recognize it,” Ouyang Xinxi replied.
"That's great. Then I'll have to trouble Xinxi to keep a close eye on this Aunt Wang. If you find her wearing these two similar outfits, please let me know immediately." Nan Wusi asked Ouyang Xinxi.
“No problem, I’ll take care of it.” Ouyang Xinxi readily agreed, she was happy to be able to help.
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