Zheng Sanji must have gotten up very early and had already removed the embroidery on the back of the corpse. Because the embroidery was sewn on after the death, and there was another layer of thick embroidery, it did not look bloody at all from the front.
Pei Yu wrapped the embroidery in a thick cloth and went into the embroidery shop with the two of them.
This embroidery shop should be the largest and best in Wanping City. As soon as they entered, they found that there were quite a lot of guests inside. Xiao Er Niang was busy greeting the guests.
However, as soon as the three people appeared and the scarlet flying fish uniforms appeared, the store immediately became quiet for a moment. Many customers unconsciously took a step back and looked towards the door cautiously.
A middle-aged man in his forties was fiddling with an abacus behind the counter. She saw them as soon as the three of them came in.
The steward was slightly startled, then immediately came over in a panic and whispered, "Are there any issues, sirs?"
Duan Nanqi's expression was cold and he did not answer. Pei Yu then said, "The Jinyi Guard is investigating a case and needs your assistance."
The steward was sweating profusely. Although Wanping was close to Yanjing, it was not a big city. Officials were not uncommon there, but Jinyiwei were rare. When they occasionally saw them near the yamen, they were all familiar faces, so they were not afraid.
But Duan Nanqi and Pei Yu were so cold and aloof that even the steward, who had met many high-ranking officials, felt a little timid and was very polite in his words.
When he heard that they were going to investigate a case, the steward's legs went limp, and then he stammered, "Gentlemen, please take a seat."
After entering the private room, Pei Yu was about to speak when Duan Nanqi glanced at him.
Pei Yu: “…”
Duan Nanqi turned his head and glanced at Jiang Lingyao, who immediately understood. She said to the steward, "Hey steward, we are investigating an important case. This piece of embroidery is a clue to the case. I wonder if you can recognize who made this embroidery and what it is used for?"
When the steward saw the embroidery on the table, he shuddered and said, "This is a face garment. Yes, this is the face garment that is unique to Wanping."
It seems that this piece of peony embroidery can be identified as a top layer.
The steward bent down and wanted to take a closer look, but as soon as he got closer, he smelled a strong smell of blood and decay.
The steward's face turned pale all of a sudden. He raised his head suddenly, his face full of fear: "If the mask falls on the face, it cannot be taken off. If it is taken off, it may cause trouble."
As he spoke, he took two steps back, refusing to touch the embroidery.
Duan Nanqi still had a stern expression on his face. He didn't even look at the manager and just asked, "Do you know this embroiderer?"
The manager did not dare to provoke the Jinyiwei. He lowered his head and thought deeply for a moment, then said, "Sir, I have only been in the embroidery workshop for five years. This embroidery must be at least ten years old. The diamond-patterned brocade used as the base fabric has been out of production for five or six years, and it is nowhere to be found on the market now."
Duan Nanqi tapped the table with his slender fingers: "Call someone who knows them."
His voice was neither loud nor soft, but the manager was still trembling with fear. He said, "Yes, I will ask the old embroiderer from our embroidery workshop to come over. Your Excellency, please wait for a moment."
Having said that, he left quickly without looking back.
Jiang Lingyao bent down and looked at the embroidery carefully. According to what the steward said, this embroidery is already quite old. If you only look at the bright red peony embroidery, you won't be able to notice it. But if you look closely at the fabric underneath, you will see that the edges are indeed slightly yellowed.
Jiang Lingyao frowned and said, "This embroidery is very well preserved. There is no trace of being touched on the embroidery. It is clean and new. If you don't look at the base fabric, an outsider will definitely not be able to recognize it."
Duan Nanqi lowered his eyes to look at her, and seeing that her face was almost touching the embroidery, he could not help but stretch out his hand to block her.
Jiang Lingyao paused and looked up at Duan Nanqiao.
Duan Nanqi said in a deep voice: "It's dirty."
Jiang Lingyao raised her eyebrows, sat up straight, but did not speak again.
Pei Yu, who was standing aside, looked at his nose and his heart, pretending that he was detached from the world and knew nothing.
For a moment, the room was extremely quiet.
After waiting for about a cup of tea, two footsteps were heard again. In addition to the steward from before, there was also a woman in her forties who knocked on the door and came in.
The woman had her hair in a neat bun and was wearing a narrow-sleeved dress, looking extremely neat and capable.
Before the steward could say much, she bowed and said, "Gentlemen, I am the steward in charge of embroidery in the embroidery workshop. I also do some work occasionally. Can I take a look at this embroidery?"
She was quite calm and managed to do it more forcefully. Jiang Lingyao then politely said, "Grandma, please."
The old embroiderer came to the table, took out a round mirror from her waist pouch, hung it in front of her right eye and carefully examined the embroidery piece.
She was very close to it and showed no reaction to the bloody smell on the embroidery. She even looked at it very carefully, as if she wanted to see every detail clearly.
After watching the whole film, she stood up and said calmly, "My lords, I have seen this embroidery before."
Jiang Lingyao was a little surprised and asked, "Grandma, are you serious? This is evidence in a serious case. You must think carefully before you speak."
The old embroiderer remained calm as always. She said, "My Lord, I can sign and seal my name to say that I have indeed seen this item and have also seen the embroiderer before."
Jiang Lingyao sat up straight, looked at Pei Yu, and said, "Master Pei, please write down your confession."
In fact, the few people were just making routine inquiries and did not hold out much hope. However, they did not expect that they would get a clue immediately after asking the first embroidery workshop.
After Pei Yu prepared the paper and pen, Jiang Lingyao said politely, "Grandma, please sit down and tell me in detail."
The old embroiderer sat down calmly. She looked at Jiang Lingyao, who had a kind attitude, and said, "Your Excellency, you don't know that we make more money from the dead than from the living. An exquisite funeral garment or a set of exquisite quilts are often several times more expensive than those used by the living. But most embroiderers are reluctant to do these things, because once you do the first one, it will be difficult for you to take other jobs in the future."
Jiang Lingyao then realized that those who could do business with living people these days would naturally be willing to do business with living people. Only those who were really short of money would do business with dead people.
An embroiderer makes a living by her craft. Her craft cannot be seen by others, so even if her work is excellent, it will be in vain. Therefore, most of them only make normal embroidery works, and very few of them take on funeral clothes.
Seeing that Jiang Lingyao understood, the old embroiderer continued, "I have been working in the embroidery workshop since I was seventeen or eighteen years old. I recognize almost every piece of embroidery made in this workshop. As I said just now, embroiderers with good embroidery skills are only willing to make clothes and bedding for ordinary people. Few make burial clothes. So if a rich family wants to buy burial clothes, we can't be without any products, so the embroidery workshop also accepts embroidery works from embroiderers with good craftsmanship."
Jiang Lingyao asked, "Did you buy this embroidery from your store?"
The old embroiderer shook her head and said, "Not this one. I have never seen this one. It must have been made by the embroiderer in private, or she may not have brought it to our embroidery workshop for sale. But I am very familiar with this embroiderer's needlework. She usually uses a pick needle to embroider, so the layers of the stamens are clear, making the flowers look even more lifelike."
Jiang Lingyao took a closer look and found that it was indeed what she said, so she asked, "Is this the only way Grandma can remember people?"
The old embroiderer shook her head again: "No, let me start from the beginning."
The old lady was actually annoyed that Jiang Lingyao kept asking her questions and interrupted her.
The old embroiderer said, "It was about fifteen years ago, also on a spring day. I was still young at that time and was responsible for checking all the embroidery pieces in the embroidery workshop. I was also the one who checked the embroidery pieces that were collected. I had to decide how much to sell them for and what kind of people they could be sold to. I couldn't be careless at all."
"It was then that I saw a pair of embroidered screens, four in total, with plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum on them. I knew at first glance that they were not ordinary."
"As long as an embroiderer practices for many years, her embroidery skills will be good, but whether she can make the patterns vivid and meaningful depends on her talent. This embroiderer is obviously very talented," the old embroiderer said with memories in her eyes. "I remember her name was written on the side, Rong Niang. She was selling a set of four embroidered screens. As long as she takes this back and re-embroiders it and sets up the embroidered screens, she can sell it for a high price."
"I liked her very much at the time and asked the steward to remember her name and ask me to meet her next time she came."
"After that, it was probably a few months later, I can't remember exactly, but Rong Niang came again. This time, what she brought was no longer an ordinary item, but a pair of gowns."
"The steward called me to see her, and I hurried over to see her."
The old lady's voice paused slightly, and everyone present was paying full attention, waiting to hear what she would say next.
The old embroiderer's voice was filled with reminiscence: "She was waiting in the elegant room at that time, with her back to me. She only turned around when I spoke to her. This turn really scared me."
Jiang Lingyao's heart tightened, and she heard her say, "She was born with a yin-yang face. One side of her face is as white as jade, and the other side is as black as ink. Perhaps because she didn't want to scare me, she kept hiding it, and seemed very self-deprecating and timid."
The old embroiderer sighed and said, "Just because of her face, I was deeply impressed by her. I have never forgotten her after all these years."
"In fact, when I saw that she brought a face garment, I was very disappointed. Face garments are a custom in our Wanping. Many high-ranking officials love their children. If a child dies early, they will prepare exquisite face garments for the child. Therefore, this small face garment can be sold for the price of a brocade quilt, or even more. But Rong Niang's craftsmanship is indeed excellent. I really felt sorry for her at the time."
The old embroiderer looked up at the group and said, "I asked her why she wanted to make birthday clothes. If she had only made embroidery, I could have brought her into an embroidery workshop. Who knows, she might become a master in the future and accept apprentices. It would be so glorious then."
But Rong Niang refused.
This time, Jiang Lingyao did not ask her why. The old embroiderer seemed to be lost in her memories and told the old story.
"Rong Niang was a very shy girl. Because of the birthmark on her face, she never looked up at people. She was always timid, afraid that she would scare others. But when I asked her why she wanted to make noodles, she asked me..."
"She asked me why I couldn't do it. She was an embroiderer just to support her family and earn money to eat. She didn't care about anything else."
Old Lady Xiu sighed and said, "I realized then that everyone wants different things. I was just judging others by my own standards and took it for granted."
It seems that the old embroiderer still remembers Rong Niang very clearly.
The old embroiderer's eyes fell back on the embroidery. She did not reach out to touch it, but sighed with regret: "That Rong Niang came to the embroidery workshop three times in total. The first time she came to sell embroidered screens, and the next two times she came to sell fabrics. After that, she never came again."
"Fine fabrics are like antiques. If you don't open the shop for three years, you can make a living for three years after you open it. Therefore, the embroidery workshop did not sell the fabrics for a long time after she sold them. They were only displayed in the shop. Later, when I had nothing to do, I carefully examined the fabrics and found that Rong Niang actually embroidered them with her signature."
The old lady pointed to one of the leaves on the table and said, "Look carefully, the vein pattern on the leaf is a curled Chinese character 荣."
"That's why I'm sure it was made by Rong Niang. Every embroidery signature is unique and no one can imitate it."
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