Chapter 18 Decision (Part 1)

Things are far more complicated than Eleventh Lady thought.

She decided to remain still.

Then he issued a curfew to everyone in his room - no matter what, everyone should stay in the room, and even if a lover came to make a date, they were not allowed to go out.

She sent Dong Qing to the Fifth Aunt's place, saying that she had to embroider a folding screen and told the Fifth Aunt not to come to Luyun Tower unless she had something else to do.

Fortunately, the people in Eleventh Lady's room had long been accustomed to her low-key nature, and Fifth Lady had also long been accustomed to her daughter's alienation. Even Amber showed sufficient obedience to Eleventh Lady's orders, and every day she only stayed in the banquet hall to accompany Qiuju, Zhuxiang and others to do needlework and chat.

There was silence on their side, but outside there was a lot of talking and laughter.

Then Wu Niang drew a picture of Guanyin for the first wife. The face of the Bodhisattva in the picture was exactly the same as that of the first wife. The first wife liked it very much and had it hung in her own banquet hall. When the third wife of the West Mansion came, she took her to see the picture, and the third wife praised her highly. Then Shi Niang accompanied the first wife in chanting sutras. The abbess of Ci'an Temple, Master Huizhen, came to see the first wife. Shi Niang could actually communicate with Master Huizhen. During the sermon, Master Huizhen praised Shi Niang as the reincarnation of the Jade Maiden in front of Guanyin. The eldest wife was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. She gave her favorite string of agarwood beads to Shi Niang on the spot. Then it was Twelve Niang's turn. She made various silk flowers with silk gauze and gave them to the eldest wife. The eldest wife took them in her hands and couldn't tell whether they were real or fake. She even touched them with her hand... Only Eleven Niang stayed in the room quietly embroidering a screen.

It was easy to talk to others, but when Xin Mama and Tang Mama returned to their own residence, they often heard the mothers in Shi Niang and Shier Niang's rooms talking excitedly about how their daughters showed up in front of the eldest wife and how they pleased the eldest wife. Especially the two mothers in Shi Niang's room, although Shi Niang was not as popular as Fifth Miss in the past, she was still a far cry from Tenth Miss. They often lamented that Shi Niang was too stubborn and that they followed the wrong master. Who knew that Tenth Miss seemed to have opened her mind overnight, not only suppressing Eleventh Miss, but also Fifth Miss, who was no longer as arrogant in front of Tenth Miss as before. The two suddenly saw hope, and naturally they talked about these things behind the scenes. The two mothers in Miss Twelve's room laughed and said, "Speaking of which, among the young ladies in our family who have not yet married, Miss Twelve is too young to be counted among them. Miss Fifth, Miss Tenth, and Miss Eleventh, the most beautiful one is Miss Tenth, judging by her figure and features. But she used to be weak and seldom walked around in front of the First Madam. Now she is all right and has the talent that is not inferior to Qingnv and Su'e, so the First Madam naturally likes her very much."

The two maids in Shi Niang's room were delighted to hear this. They took out five hundred coins and asked the kitchen to add more dishes and invited them to have a drink. They also said, "Finally, there is a day to be proud of ourselves." Mothers Xin and Tang were not happy to hear this.

The two knew that Dong Qing was accompanying Shiyi Niang to embroider the screen, so they didn't dare to look for her. Instead, they pulled two maids to talk to her, "They said they would go to pay their respects on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, but think about it, when we received the screen, the first day had already passed, and we only went to pay our respects to the eldest lady on the fifteenth day. When the next first day came, it was New Year's Day again, and everyone had to go to pay their respects to the eldest lady, so we suffered a loss. When it came to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day, it was a time for the whole family to gather together, so we suffered another loss... This would happen once or twice, and by the time we could pay our respects every morning and evening, I'm afraid the screen would have been embroidered long ago."

Qiu Ju was also anxious, with a bitter face: "What can we do? Are we going to let the young lady lose the screen and not care about it? Don't you see, every night the young lady embroiders until the beginning of the Hai period and gets up at the end of the Yin period. How can she have the time?"

Zhu Xiang's biological mother died early, and her father remarried. Although her stepmother never beat or scolded her, she never gave her a good look. If her biological mother had not served in the eldest lady's room with the fifth concubine, and the fifth concubine had not remembered the old relationship, even if she had the opportunity to serve in the mansion, she would not have been assigned to the young lady's room and received the monthly salary of a third-class maid.

Seeing that everyone was worried, the taciturn girl couldn't help but comfort everyone: "Don't worry, sisters and mothers. The eldest lady only made clothes for the fifth lady and our eleventh lady. It seems that our young lady is more respectable in front of the eldest lady."

Just then, Amber came to find Qiuju and asked her to carry the lunch box. After hearing what Zhuxiang said, she nodded secretly and simply kept silent to see what they said.

"Didn't the eldest wife say that the New Year is coming soon and there are many things to do at home. Will she make clothes for Miss Ten and Miss Twelve after the New Year is over?" Mother Xin muttered, "How is this respectable?"

"Mom, you are confused!" Qiu Ju came to her senses and explained with a smile on her face, "Our young lady was able to make clothes before the tenth young lady. Maybe this is the eldest lady's way of compensating our young lady for her hard work these days! Moms, don't listen to those old women's gossip in the future."

Mother Xin and Mother Tang both thought what Qiuju and the others said made sense, and they kept nodding their heads: "No wonder the young lady asked us to talk less and socialize less with others. I guess she had already expected something like this to happen."

Amber was listening intently when suddenly someone shouted from behind her, "Miss Amber!"

She turned around and saw a pretty woman in her thirties and a maidservant of about seventeen or eighteen standing at the door with a smile on their faces. In their hands, each of them was holding a bright blue coarse cloth bundle.

Thinking that she had just eavesdropped and been seen by these two people, Amber blushed with shame, and walked quickly forward. After walking a distance, she laughed loudly and said, "Sister-in-law Liu, Sister Hanxiao, why are you here!"

"We are here to deliver the finished spring clothes to Miss Eleven." The woman said with a smile, "I didn't expect to see Miss Amber as soon as I walked in. This is great."

Amber hurriedly helped Liu's wife and Hanxiao to lift the curtains: "Thank you for bothering me to bring it here in person."

"We are also following the orders of the eldest lady." Liu's sister-in-law and Han Xiao entered the house and placed the bundle on the round table in the middle of the room. "She said that I should personally hand it to the girl."

Amber was busy pouring tea for Liu's wife and Hanxiao.

Mrs. Liu stopped her and said, "No need. I have a lot of work to do and I really can't have any time to spare. When you are free in a few days, you can come and see Miss Eleven." After saying that, she actually insisted on leaving.

Binju was sitting on the bed sorting out the patterns she had collected. When she heard the noise, she came out to help Amber keep the guest.

Seeing their sincerity in leaving the gift, Liu's wife thought of the clothes in the bundle, smiled and said, "I'll tell you two girls, I'm making clothes for Brother Zhe - just like you ladies, I can't wait!"

Since you can't afford to delay, why not come and deliver the clothes in person?

Both of them felt a little strange, and seeing that Mrs. Liu couldn't keep them, she had to send them out of Luyun Tower.

When they returned to the house and opened the bundle, Amber and Holly were both stunned.

The intoxicating fairy color as soft as peach blossoms, the clear blue sky and water as clear as the rain, the bright jade white as the bright moon, and the white and red sea and sky color...all of them are rare materials that have only been seen on the eldest wife.

The two looked at each other and shook out the scallion green jacket that was on top.

It has a front-buttoned collar, flat sleeves, knee-length, fitted waist, and a hidden pattern of ice plum blossoms. The hem of the garment is decorated with a rose and butterfly pattern woven with gold embroidery, and there are three white jade buttons on the chest.

They both gasped at the same time.

They had never seen such a new style and such exquisite craftsmanship before.

Amber was like holding a hot potato, and she quickly tied up the loose bundle: "Quick, put it in the young lady's box."

Binju's face also looked a little pale.

The lady once said, "The first bird to stick its head out gets shot." If you don't want to be shot, it's best not to be the first bird to stick its head out.

If you wear this dress outside, you will not be the first bird to stand out, but the peacock with its tail spread out.

She hurriedly picked up another bag and went into the bedroom with Amber.

"What's wrong with you?" Dong Qing sat beside Shiyi Niang and helped her split the silk thread as thin as a hair into two again, while Shiyi Niang sewed quickly without raising her head.

Binju shook the jacket in her hand to show Dongqing: "This was just sent by Liu's sister-in-law. She said it was a new spring jacket."

"How could this happen?" Dongqing's voice was trembling.

Upon hearing this, Eleventh Lady couldn't help but raise her head.

When she saw the jacket, she was also stunned.

Amber took a few steps forward and told Shiyi Niang in her ear everything that Liu's sister-in-law had just said.

Eleventh Lady was silent for a while, then stood up and said, "Let me try it on to see if it fits me."

Amber hurried forward to help Shiyi Niang take off her jacket, and then put the jacket on with her silk clothes.

A white silk dress with narrow sleeves, a goose yellow embroidered skirt, a scallion green jacket, and fluttering gold weave with rose and butterfly patterns make the plain colors even brighter.

Eleventh Lady stood in front of the mirror, touched the white jade button on her chest and sighed: "Tell me, is my complexion much worse than before?"

Dongqing and Binju were stunned and looked at Shiyi Niang's face carefully. Hubo smiled and said, "How about you use some Hu powder. It is said that this is something from the palace, and it costs ten taels of silver a box on the market. Our first wife uses this kind of powder."

Eleventh Lady's dark eyes flashed, and she said, "How about I give you a bangs cut?"

Amber laughed again and said, "The first lady hates people with straight bangs the most. She says that it not only covers up most of the face, but also makes people look timid. I heard that the fifth lady liked to have straight bangs the most in the past, so the first lady asked someone to make a backcomb for the fifth lady."

Eleventh Lady smiled, took off her jacket and asked Amber to put it away: "Since this is a spring dress, of course it should be worn in spring."

Although it is still some time away from spring, the Spring Festival will be here soon.

Sweeping the dust, offering sacrifices to the stove god, offering sacrifices to ancestors, staying up all night, paying New Year's greetings... Eleventh Lady only went to have a reunion dinner on the night of staying up all night, and went to pay New Year's greetings to the eldest wife early in the morning on the first day of the new year. The rest of the time she was in the house embroidering screens, and the hustle and bustle of the Spring Festival naturally had nothing to do with her. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, the Luo family ate glutinous rice balls at dinner as in previous years, and kept the old women and guards who were on night watch everywhere, and let the maids and daughters-in-law in each room go. Qiuju also followed Du Wei and the others to get rid of all diseases. But when she came back, she had an extra purse on her waist.

(It rained heavily today and the whole street was flooded... I wonder how the weather is where you are?)