The others present shared the same feeling as Yunling. Some were easily moved and couldn't hide their feelings, while others, thinking of their own experiences, would burst into tears.
Li Yuedi continued:
"At that time, a young man who was infatuated with the courtesan heard the news of her death and clamored to report it to the authorities. However, the madam said that the man was from a high-ranking family and that we could not afford to offend him. But the young man did not listen and insisted on exposing the matter."
"Unexpectedly, the young man died the next day, and all those who knew about the matter were silenced. I was lucky to survive. I pretended to be crazy and was eventually sold to a matchmaker by the madam. After several transfers, I ended up in the matchmaker's shop in Pingcheng."
Yun Ruoxia's heart jumped instantly.
"According to you, that person has connections everywhere, and everyone who knows about this matter has been silenced. Now you're telling us this, aren't you putting us in a bad position? If that person finds out, won't they wipe us all out?"
"Gu!"
Li Yuedi hadn't thought that far ahead, and was so frightened by Yun Ruoxia's question that she trembled.
"Three to five years have passed since then, and we don't know what the situation is like outside, so... so..."
Li Yuedi looked at Yun Ling, her eyes filled with shyness.
It was Yunling who first brought this up, so naturally she couldn't escape the connection. Yunling sighed:
"You can relax a bit, Aunt. First, you don't know where this happened, and second, you don't know the person's name. Just treat it as gossip you overheard in the marketplace."
"Furthermore, people are always looking for something new. Now that so many years have passed, even if it is brought up again, people will only feel sorry for that woman and naturally won't want to offend that person. Since no one wants to offend him, that person has no reason to kill innocent people. Maybe that person is already gone."
Yun Ruoxia felt a little relieved. She was thinking that if that person really came looking for her, she would deny it to the death. If she couldn't win, she would run away, pocket a few coins, and escape to another place. She didn't believe that person's reach could be so far.
Yunling had no such intention. She had originally thought of asking which power that person belonged to, but with so many people around, and her aunt being so frightened, she didn't want to put Li Yuedi on the stove again, so she gave up the idea.
"Alright, let's just pretend we heard about it and move on. Yuedi, hurry up and help everyone get ready to go on stage for the fashion show. If we can get a big order this time, we can split the money next year."
Yunling's words were undoubtedly inspiring, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
Is there anything more attractive in this world than earning a penny? As for matters of the heart, who can say for sure? Besides, so much time has passed, whether those high-ranking officials and nobles even remember is another matter entirely, so why should they worry about or concern themselves with such things?
The atmosphere on the field became lively due to the change in everyone's thoughts, even more so than when they were combing their hair.
Li Yuedi naturally relaxed and quickly picked up the face powder, then went to Tang Ling to try out the makeup.
A small round powder puff first dabbed around in the water-based powder, then applied it to Tang Ling's face. Tang Ling's face immediately became delicate and fair. Since her skin was already quite good, one application was enough to achieve the best effect.
Li Yuedi quickly patted the powder puff, then dipped it into the powder again, and applied white powder to Tang Ling's forehead, nose, and chin, making the entire makeup more three-dimensional.
After applying the watercolor powder, Li Yuedi picked up the eyebrow-drawing pills, intending to begin, but then quickly stopped. She carefully examined Tang Ling's face, first shaving off a portion of her eyebrows with a small razor, then reshaping the brow peak and drawing a wispy, misty eyebrow.
The inner corner of this eyebrow is higher than the outer corner, giving it a melancholy look. The thin line adds to the sense of fragmentation, making it easy to feel pity for the person in question.
After drawing her eyebrows, it was time to apply her makeup. Li Yuedi took out the rouge, first lightly dabbing some onto the back of her hand with her index finger and spreading it in a circular motion. Then, she lightly dabbed it around her eyebrows with her index finger, blending it into a light red color, and then lightly applied it to both cheeks.
In Li Yuedi's words, this was called "sandalwood blush" makeup, which was very popular and trendy in their area.
Next, Li Yuedi applied lip rouge. She first compared it to Tang Ling's mouth shape, and then drew it inwards according to the lip shape, so that the mouth would appear smaller and could be made into the shape of a cherry mouth, which was very delicate and unique.
The final step was to apply floral decorations. There were many types of floral decorations, and Li Yuedi used pearls for Tang Ling. A single pearl was placed between her eyebrows, making the entire makeup look lifelike.
Even Yunling, who had seen many makeup tutorial videos in later generations, couldn't help but admire the effect that Li Yuedi achieved. Indeed, the wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated.
After Tang Ling, Li Yuedi quickly applied makeup to the other young ladies. The steps were largely the same, differing only in the amount of face powder applied and the shape of their eyebrows: some had distant mountain eyebrows, some had willow leaf eyebrows, and some had crescent moon eyebrows.
As for the embellishments, some, like Tang Ling, wore pearls, some wore plum blossoms, and some wore peach blossoms. Each was different, but according to their respective face shapes, they did not seem out of place, but rather just right. This is Li Yuedi's skill.
Yunling was so engrossed in watching that she didn't even notice when Taoyao came in. When Taoyao patted her shoulder, she was startled, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was about to burst. This made Taoyao laugh so hard she bent over.
"I'll talk, I'll talk. You haven't been having an affair, nor have you committed any theft or crime. How come you're so scared just because I patted you on the shoulder? Are you thinking about some young man?"
Yunling was overjoyed to see Taoyao. Although she had been at the shop these past few days, Taoyao and the several months' worth of maids from the music hall had been busy, leaving home before dawn and returning after dark. So, the two of them had not been able to find a good opportunity to meet.
"I was watching Yue Di draw her eyebrows intently, afraid that the razor might accidentally tilt, when my sister, without me noticing, patted my shoulder. I took it as if the razor had tilted, and it scared the crap out of me."
"It's just shaving your eyebrows, why are you so nervous? In my opinion, you should shave your eyebrows too. Thick eyebrows make you look more attractive than big eyes."
Yunling quickly shook her head. She needed to run a business, so she would inevitably have to dress as a man. If she shaved her eyebrows into a thin line, it would arouse suspicion.
"No way, I think I'm fine as I am."
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