Chapter 178 Embroidered Veil
The enthronement ceremony of the Crown Princess was scheduled for the seventh day of the seventh month. There was an endless stream of people coming to the Duke's Mansion to pay their congratulations. Fortunately, with the Duke and his wife to support her, Song Lingyi did not need to worry about interpersonal relationships. She only needed to stay in the back house and embroider the red veil.
When Song Lingyi first heard about this custom, she was surprised.
The Crown Princess's wedding dresses were all tailored by the female officials of the Shangfu Bureau, and they were not responsible for such tedious matters as embroidering the veil.
"When a woman from Dayuan gets married, she has to personally embroider her red veil, which symbolizes joy and good fortune."
Huo Wenxuan sat at the other end of the couch, peeling lychees sent from the palace. "When I got married, I also had a veil embroidered on me. It was a complex pattern of dragons and phoenixes."
There was a hint of boasting in her tone. She raised her eyelids slightly and found that Song Lingyi and Lu Yu, who were sitting opposite her, were staring at her, their eyes clearly showing disbelief.
After hesitating for two breaths, he said truthfully, "Okay, okay, I'll embroider the phoenix, and I'll ask Madam to embroider the remaining dragon for me."
"That's right." Lu Yu said with a smile.
Based on her understanding of Wenxuan, she was not good at needlework and had little patience. It would be strange if she could embroider such a complicated pattern as the dragon and phoenix.
"I wanted to finish the embroidery, but embroidering a phoenix pricked all ten of my fingers."
After saying that, Huo Wenxuan turned to look at Song Lingyi and the crooked, embroidered red veil in her hand, which had just been opened. She pouted in disdain, "Well... you can ask Hongju to help you. I think the purses she embroiders are quite unique. Anyway, you will wear a 褕翟 when you get married, so you don't need to wear a red veil. It doesn't matter whether it is embroidered or not."
“…”
Song Lingyi also knew that she was not good at needlework, but such obvious disdain stimulated her fragile self-esteem.
"I won't rely on others. There's still time, so I'll just take my time."
Moreover, she didn't embroider complicated patterns like dragons and phoenixes, but only a few orchids. With Hongju's guidance, she would surely be able to master it quickly!
Imagination is rich, but reality is bleak. It wasn’t until the end of June, after several red veils had been embroidered and ruined, that the orchid finally began to take shape.
As the wedding date approached, Song Lingyi had to work late into the night.
On the soft couch and table behind the carved lattice window, the embroidery threads were tangled, and the oil lamp in the upper right corner was almost burned out.
"Hongqi, please help me light an oil lamp!"
Without even raising her head, Song Lingyi frantically compared the design and discovered that the petals were embroidered incorrectly again. She instantly lost her mind and angrily threw the red veil into the pit.
"No more embroidery! No more embroidery! No more embroidery!"
The degree of collapse is comparable to being a slave in the workplace.
In the corridor, Hongju yawned as she delivered the oil lamp. She was no longer surprised by her daughter's occasional breakdowns. After all, she would pick it up and continue embroidering.
As I reached the door, the lights in the main house suddenly went out.
Hongqiu was stunned for a moment, holding the oil lamp and looking towards the couch, but it was empty.
"girl?"
There was no response, but there was a rustling sound coming from the inner room. Hongju didn't think much of it, thinking that her daughter was tired from embroidering and went to bed to rest early. She blew out the oil lamp in her hand and left the main room quietly.
The moon is shining brightly, and everything is quiet.
The bed curtains were drawn, and the light was dim.
“Hmm!”
Song Lingyi twisted and struggled, but the force from behind did not diminish at all, and the long arms were still firmly across her.
"Hiss~"
The hand covering his mouth was caught off guard by her bite. Xiao Mingyi moved his hand away in pain and said slowly, "Why are you biting me?"
That familiar low voice came from above her head. Song Lingyi rolled her eyes and raised her hands to pinch the man's waist and abdomen, venting all her anger about the embroidery of her veil on him.
"A prince like you actually broke into a girl's bedroom at night. How shameless!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the man behind her suddenly pressed down on her shoulders, leaning over her, his head buried in her neck and taking two deep breaths. The darkness inside the curtain made it difficult to see his expression, but she could clearly hear the smile in his voice.
"I haven't seen you for over a month, don't you miss me, Ali?"
According to Dayuan custom, men and women cannot meet before marriage. Xiao Mingyi initially managed to abide by the rules, but facing memorials and court officials all day long, he grew increasingly impatient and bored. Having finished his official duties tonight and with nothing else to do, he suddenly decided to visit the Duke's Mansion.
One look at the person dear to my heart will make all the fatigue of the whole day disappear.
"In no mood!"
“…”
Judging from the tone, who has offended her again?
Xiao Mingyi tutted and straightened up, "What happened?"
Knowing that it was wrong to vent her anger, Song Lingyi pursed her lips and pointed at the half-embroidered red veil next to her.
Xiao Mingyi lifted a corner of the curtain and saw the pattern on the red veil in the moonlight. He bravely praised: "This plum blossom is embroidered very well, very lifelike."
In fact, he didn't know what pattern Ali was embroidering, but since women in Dayuan mostly embroidered plum blossoms and auspicious dragons and phoenixes, he just guessed one.
“…”
Song Lingyi glared at him, suppressing her anger and asking, "...Really?"
"Of course, Ah Li is very clever and skillful. A mere red veil is no problem for you. But the wedding is approaching. How can you start embroidering now? Will you be able to catch up?"
Deeply shocked, Song Lingyi snatched the red veil and kicked the man.
If Xiao Mingyi hadn't been so steady, he would have been kicked off the bed.
"What plum blossom? This is an orchid!"
Knowing he had said the wrong thing, Xiao Mingyi moved closer to her and held her in his arms again. His voice was filled with a smile as he coaxed her slowly and calmly, "It turns out I was mistaken. Ah Li's orchid embroidery is quite good, but I'm tired from embroidering at night and can't finish it in time. I'll ask Madam to help."
That's about right.
Song Lingyi's anger subsided, and she said calmly, "We can't meet before the wedding. If Your Highness really wants to meet, you can make an appointment outside. What if you come to the Duke's Mansion so late at night and disturb your uncle and the others?"
"I'm busy with daytime affairs and have to deal with the rules of the enthronement ceremony, so I can't leave the palace. Besides, rules are dead, but people are alive. It only says that we can't meet before the wedding, but there is no stipulation on how long. At most, we can just not see each other the day before the enthronement ceremony." Xiao Mingyi began to argue.
He rubbed her cheek, his narrow eyes gleaming brightly in the dim light. "Don't worry, I didn't alarm anyone in the Duke's Mansion when I came."
Even if I knew, it wouldn't matter. How dare a minister interfere with the prince?
The two of them cuddled in bed for a while. Xiao Mingyi quietly sat up, watching Song Lingyi fall asleep. Before leaving, he glanced back, his gaze slowly wandering over that beautiful face. His throat started to chuckle as he saw the pale, rosy complexion, a delicate, languid beauty, slumbering in his eyes.
But he couldn't spend the night here, and he didn't have that much time. It would take at least half an hour to get back to the imperial city from the Duke's Mansion. If he left later, the Duke of Jin would be preparing to report for court.
Xiao Mingyi bent down, lightly touched the rosy lips with his thin lips, and then quickly left the main house.
Behind the curtains, Song Lingyi's eyelids moved slightly.
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