When Xia Zhengqi heard this, the gloom of the birthday banquet farce was swept away, and he immediately decided to allocate 20,000 taels of silver to set up a textile bureau, which would be managed by the queen and fully responsible. Baili Ning would be appointed as a female official to be in charge of specific matters.
The Queen also took the initiative to mention the reason why the new jacquard machine had not been reported to the court and widely used.
Xia Zhengqi was furious when he heard this and immediately issued an order to dismiss the county magistrate who had refused to report the incident and never to employ him again. He also summoned Bailining's master to the capital to work in the Textile Bureau.
Soon, the Queen took Baili Ning to manage the affairs of the Textile Bureau.
As for Feng Panpan, who was guilty of fraud, she became a laughing stock in the capital.
The noble ladies of the capital were naturally adept at spreading gossip and enjoyed fabricating stories about others. Furthermore, seeing Baili Ning gain power, their fear of Feng Panpan diminished.
In a short time, the news spread about how Feng Panpan made a fool of herself while embroidering on the day of the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet and how she was slapped in the face for humiliating Baili Ning.
As the saying goes, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles.
A few days later, the story of Feng Panpan's creation of a clever and skillful personality spread throughout the capital, and was even made into a melodramatic story by storytellers, who told it vividly in teahouses and taverns.
"So, all the embroidery pieces she entered in the embroidery competition were made by embroiderers!"
"How shameless! The things you embroider look like shit, and you still have the nerve to say you're obsessed with embroidery."
The guests in the teahouse were gossiping.
Feng Panpan was both embarrassed and annoyed, and hid at home and refused to go out.
Jiang Shuyi cursed angrily, "Why did I give birth to such a fool like you? I asked all the famous teachers to teach you, but you just can't learn to embroider!"
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