The shop assistant, at the order of the shopkeeper, soon hauled all the new fabrics that arrived the night before to the counter, placed them one by one, a good dozens of them. These fabrics had an array of patterns, extremely vibrant, and even as many as ten were so lustrous that they could virtually blind you. Even a novice could tell at a glance that these were high-quality materials.
Xie Lin was surprised, "Oh?" He exclaimed, "Your Brocade Pavilion can actually rival Qianjin Square in Capital City, where did you find such fine materials?"
Zhou Gu was not very knowledgeable about fabrics, but he knew these couldn’t be cheap. Finding Xie Lin looking astounded, Zhou Gu, not wanting to betray his lack of understanding and be laughed at, kept his cool and remained quiet.
Xie Lin looked closely to examine the fabric, the more he looked, the more he was taken aback. "Even the Emperor’s supply doesn’t have this variety," he said, turning to the shopkeeper, "What’s your Brocade Pavilion’s relation to Lingshan Manufacture? These materials are obviously made by them."
The shopkeeper looked at Xie Lin, surprised to find someone so knowledgeable about fabrics. He then looked towards Su Rong.
Su Rong, smiling, introduced Xie Lin, "This young master is the little prince under the Rui’an king. When he heard that young master Zhou had traveled to Jiangning County, he decided to come along and have some fun."
The shopkeeper realized at that moment and hurriedly bowed, "So you are the young Prince Xie, my apologies."
Xie Lin waved it off, "Answer my question."
The shopkeeper chuckled, "Our Brocade Pavilion, is just an ordinary embroidery store. But thanks to Miss Su Qi’s investment, Master Xie took a special interest in us, and Master Xie happens to be on good terms with the head of Lingshan Manufacture. Occasionally, some fine materials from the emperor’s supply may slip out and end up in our Brocade Pavilion."
Xie Lin was puzzled, "Master Xie?"
"Xie Yuan."
Xie Lin realized, "I see."
He turned to Su Rong and asked, "Are you very close to Master Xie?"
"Close? Uncle Xie has always stayed in Jiangning County, and I’ve grown up under his guidance." Su Rong said.
Xie Lin was surprised and looked closely at Su Rong, nodded and said: "So that’s why."
If even Grand Tutor Qin of the Eastern Palace held such high regard for Xie Yuan, it wouldn’t be a surprise for the Brocade Pavillion to have access to Lingshan Manufacture’s products. Even today, people in the capital city spoke highly of his exceptional talent, lamenting his decision to relinquish his official seal despite being highly qualified to hold a government post.
Zhou Gu firmly stated, "Take these away. Bring some commonplace materials."
The shopkeeper looked at Su Rong upon hearing this.
Su Rong pulled Zhou Gu’s sleeve coquettishly, "Brother Zhou, you just promised me, you can’t go back on your word. No way."
Zhou Gu: "..."
Xie Lin: "..."
From the quality of the materials from the Emperor’s supply, Zhou Gu, though not particularly interested in clothing, was well aware from the environment he grew up in that such excellent material, referred to as top-grade, could not be simply described as ’expensive’. Rarity added to its value, rendering it priceless.
He was unyielding, "I did promise you, but I didn’t expect..." It was so expensive.
Su Rong cut him off, speaking in a semi-serious tone, "This Brocade Pavilion was on the verge of bankruptcy some years ago. I was short of silver at that time, and seeing the owner about to close shop, I decided to help him by selling tens of thousands of old stock that was stored in the warehouse. The shopkeeper promised me a third of the profits and after receiving the profits, I persuaded him to let me invest with that third. So, this is also considered my property."
The implication being, she can afford to give him these things.
Seeing that Zhou Gu remained silent, Su Rong continued, "Over the years, I haven’t spent much, at most only allowing the Brocade Pavilion to send me a few seasonal clothes to wear every year. The Brocade Pavilion has been very profitable these years, so there must be quite a bit of money in my account."
Seeing that Zhou Gu still didn’t say anything, Su Rong added, "These good materials, if you don’t want them, they will be booked by someone else in less than a day."
She continued to tug on his sleeve, "Look at these materials, the colors and patterns are all so nice. If you wore them, you would look stunning. Ever since you came to Jiangning, I’ve noticed that your clothes are either black or green, too monotonous. Even my father, when not in his official uniform, wears more colorful attire. You are so young, why do you dress so simply? I promise, if you were to wear these materials, people wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off you."
Zhou Gu looked away, "Wouldn’t you be able to take your eyes off me?"
"I would." Su Rong thought, ’If you weren’t so handsome, I wouldn’t even consider giving you these gorgeous clothes.’
She asked Zhou Gu, "Don’t you like colorful clothes?"
Zhou Gu finally expressed his opinion, "Not exactly, it’s just that my grandmother and mother both feel that due to my... attractiveneess, wearing darker colors can help me appear less ostentatious."
He never had to worry about his clothing, as it was always chosen for him by his grandmother or mother, and he respected their decisions. He didn’t object to what they decided, nor did he dare to.
Su Rong understood and found it a bit amusing, "So, that’s how it is!"
She thought for a bit, and told him: "That might’ve been the case in the past when it wasn’t public knowledge that you had a fiancée. But now you have me, and people know, so you can dress a bit more colorfully. That should be okay, right?"
Her words implied, ’anyway, you are now engaged, and any young maiden charmed by you, it wouldn’t be your fault.’ The words ’fiancée’ could serve as a shield against such unwanted attention.
After all, even while wearing darker colors, he still managed to attract Duanhua Princess. His handsome looks were his original sin.
The main point was, she wanted to appreciate him dressed in those richly colored clothes. It wasn’t like he was old or anything. Wearing such dark colors diminished his charm.
"Right, isn’t it?" Zhou Gu was at a loss for words.
"Then it’s settled." Su Rong asked with a smile, "Shall I pick for you or do you want to choose them yourself?"
"You choose for me!" Zhou Gu glanced at the multitude of fabrics spread out before him, finding it a dizzying sight, surely he wouldn’t be able to pick them out. If he were to choose, he would most likely select them randomly.
Su Rong nodded and proceeded to carefully select from each fabric, every time she picked up one, she held it against Zhou Gu to compare, to see if the fabrics suited him, moon white for elegance, purple for regality, sky blue for tranquility, lake green for charm, rosy red for flamboyance...
She continued to shake her head or nod while picking out fabrics. Those that received her nod of approval were set aside, while others were casually tossed to the side. After selecting the colors, she then started selecting fabrics, comparing one by one. It took almost half an hour for her to make her final selection. After the exhausting task, she laughed heartily, "The quality of this batch of fabrics is indeed good. Can’t believe I picked out twenty varieties, let’s just go with these, get them made into twenty sets of clothes."
Zhou Gu was startled, "No way, I can’t possibly wear that many clothes."
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