Chapter 444: Afraid of ruining my mother-in-law's life's work
"It was obviously she who forced her mother-in-law away." Yun Ran muttered unhappily.
Yunyue was also unhappy: "That's right, too shameless."
"Open the scroll."
At this time, Chu He, who was sitting in the upper seat, spoke loudly.
The maids standing on both sides of the scroll immediately took action, stepped forward to untie the layers of silk cloth wrapped around the scroll, and finally carefully spread out the scroll.
For a moment, the concubines sitting on the seats on the left and right sides and several people on Yun Ran's side opened their eyes wide and stared at the long scroll spread on the red carpet.
This is an authentic work, treasured by Queen Chu for many years.
"A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains of Dakang" is ten meters in total. Grandma Yu had already embroidered most of it, and now only the last three meters are left, and they are incomplete.
But the part that had been completed before had already stunned Yun Ran and the others.
The fine stitches and flexible and varied needlework make the mountains, rivers, towns, villages, and even the towering imperial palace appear vividly.
From the jagged rocks and magnificent palaces to the texture of a tree, the facial expressions of passersby on a busy street, and even the strands of hair on a kitten squatting on the eaves...
If you don't look closely, it looks like an ink painting with meticulous brushwork, and you can't tell it's embroidered.
"This... no wonder so many people were chosen to take over before, but no one was selected. This is simply... a masterpiece of art!" Yun Yue opened her mouth in shock.
Although she had seen the small patterns embroidered by Grandma Yu before, which were indeed delicate and lifelike, such a grand and magnificent scroll was much more impactful than the usual embroidery patterns.
"Grandma Yu's craftsmanship is worthy of the title of Dakang's number one embroiderer." Yun Ran pursed her lips and spoke slowly and solemnly.
"This 'A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains in Dakang' is naturally excellent."
Queen Chu Hechu, who was sitting on the upper throne, wrapped the heavy cloak around her shoulders and spoke lazily, "So we are extremely strict with the selection of the person who will take over. Although Madam Yun has taken over the Fangxian Embroidery Tower, it does not mean that she will definitely pass the assessment. How will it perform in the end? We will have to wait and see after the competition."
"Third sister was taught by Grandma Yu herself, so there will definitely be no problem." Yun Ran said.
"That's not necessarily true," Chu He glanced at Yun Ran condescendingly, "Yu Yiliu's craftsmanship is excellent, but the skills of these embroiderers in the palace are not bad either."
"I know you are all children of the Yun family, so naturally I have the highest hopes for your sister. But you should also understand that there are always people who are better than you."
Chu He's words made Yun Ran and the others very unhappy. Even Miao Yi frowned: "Is the Queen deliberately targeting you? We haven't even competed yet, and she's already saying these sarcastic things. What's the meaning?"
Yun Ran patted her hand gently, then glanced at Yun Hua, who was sitting there with her shoulders straight, her expression calm, but not saying a word.
She whispered, "She just wanted to deliberately discourage Third Sister so that she would feel she couldn't compete before the competition even started."
"Why is this happening?" Miao Yi frowned. "Her behavior is too despicable!"
Yunyue was also furious: "She's totally unfair! She's relying on her status and position to deliberately suppress Third Sister!"
Her voice became louder due to her excitement, and Yun Ran quickly covered her mouth with his hand.
"Shh, keep your voice down. Don't let her catch us. Besides, look at Third Sister. She didn't take her words to heart at all."
Yunyue turned her head and saw that Yunhua had a gentle expression and was sitting upright. When she saw Yunhua looking at her, she even smiled, and she really wasn't affected at all.
Yunyue breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fourth sister, we have to trust Third Sister. She will definitely be able to do it. Even if those embroiderers are very skilled, what good can they do? They are not familiar with the needlework and embroidery habits that my mother-in-law uses. Besides, if these embroiderers were really skilled, 'A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains' wouldn't have been shelved until now."
Yun Ran's voice was neither too high nor too low, and was very well-controlled. Yun Hua was just able to hear it, but it wouldn't be heard any further.
Hearing her say this, Yun Ran clenched his hands, which were hidden in his sleeves, even tighter.
In her palm, the jade token that Qian Qiong had handed to her personally had become slightly warm from her rubbing.
The two raised characters "Visiting the Immortal" on it have become round and smooth without any edges because of her rubbing over the years.
It would be a lie to say that she wasn't nervous or worried, but she wasn't afraid of any competitions or assessments, and she wasn't afraid of these embroiderers in the palace.
However, the long scroll spread out on the red carpet shocked her so much that she was afraid that she would not be able to embroider it well and ruin her mother-in-law's life's work.
"Your Majesty, everything is ready." The nanny who had previously led a group of palace maids to get the scroll walked to Chu He and whispered.
Chu He nodded and cleared his throat: "Everything is ready, let's get started."
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw that the long scroll that had just been spread out on the red carpet had been put away. At this time, five stools were placed on the red carpet, and five maids were standing next to the five stools with a small basket in their hands.
In the basket were needles and thread, a bandage, and a plain white handkerchief that would be needed for the five-person competition.
Yunhua sat down first, and soon the other four embroiderers also sat down.
Seeing the five people gathered, Chu He opened his mouth and wanted to announce the start.
Yunhua, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke up: "Your Majesty, I brought my own maid with me. Could I replace her and let her serve me?"
These maids carrying baskets were just helping out, threading needles and passing thread. Chu He didn't care and waved her hand, "Okay."
Mu Jin stepped forward, took the basket from the maid next to Yun Hua, and stood next to Yun Hua.
"The theme of this competition is: The flowers on the river are redder than fire at sunrise, and the river water is green as blue in spring. The competition time is one hour."
As the nanny finished speaking, the game began.
The five of them quickly took the needle and thread handed to them by the maid, fastened the frame, and began to embroider.
After the nanny finished explaining the topic, she stood aside and stared at the five people intently.
Yun Ran only saw the five people's hands holding the needles moving up and down quickly, and their movements were so fast that it was almost impossible to see the subtle movements of their hands.
Yunyue and Miao Yi on the side were also stunned. They originally thought that embroidery was a slow job, but they didn't expect these five people to create such a tense atmosphere.
The competition among the five people below was in full swing. Chu He took a sip of tea and smiled meaningfully.
This question is not easy. Red is better than fire and green is like blue. The matching and control of colors are extremely demanding.
If the wrong color is used, the embroidery will be ruined and become tacky.
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