Chapter 27 Chapter 27 Two chapters merged into one
After leaving Zhou's house, she did not go to Daxiangguo Temple first, but asked Kuang Sanlang to take her to the Jiaozi shop. The face value of Jiaozi nowadays is generally five strings and ten strings. A handling fee of thirty cents is charged for one string. It is changed every two years. Just in time for her to return to Jiangling, she can exchange it for new Jiaozi.
This is also a helpless move. If it is at home, who would be willing to exchange Jiaozi? Not to mention the high handling fee, if there is a war in the court, the Jiaozi will be unstable.
After coming out of the Jiaozi Exchange, the box in her hand was empty, and the twenty strings of money were exchanged for two pieces of paper.
But this also prevents others from stealing money. Thinking of this, she felt much better. Si'er looked at Jinniang with envy. It was great to be literate. Sister Jinniang could embroider Buddhist scriptures to earn extra money and save money at the same time, but she couldn't even do these.
After exchanging the money for the coins, she quickly went to Daxiangguo Temple to buy rubbings, and then said she wanted to go to Jinxiu Pavilion to observe.
The Jinxiu Pavilion was obviously completely different from the magnificent and gorgeous one she had imagined. It was not even as big as the Shuxiu Pavilion where she had been before. But after entering, she found that it was completely different. Everything here was divided into blocks. The ones in the front were marked "Handmade by Madam Rong", which probably meant that all of them were made by Madam Rong.
Madam Rong was also an embroiderer of flowers and birds, but the fresh and elegant colors of her clothes and the exquisite embroidery skills made Jinniang feel inferior. She even had a double-sided embroidered picture of a beauty placed next to her.
As she walked and looked, she also discovered many clues. The best people in Jinxiu Pavilion were masters who could embroider screens. She had just asked about it and found that such an embroidered screen could cost as much as thousands of strings of cash. However, these people started out as small pieces and were favored by customers, so they were able to make embroidered screens. In addition to strength, they also needed luck.
"This embroidery of hibiscus flowers is so beautiful." Jinniang couldn't help but admire it.
Si Er also nodded: "Yes, and the picture just now is also embroidered very well."
Jinniang smiled and said, "It's called the Mountain Partridge and Thorn Bird Picture. It's embroidered on brown silk and has a very ancient feel."
The two of them took a quick look around, and Jinniang also found out about the model of Jinxiu Pavilion. Jinxiu Pavilion also signed the embroiderer herself, but it was only a cooperative model. The embroiderer took the items to Jinxiu Pavilion to sell, and Jinxiu Pavilion split the profits 50-50. But at the same time, Jinxiu Pavilion has many customers and a large source of clients, so as long as you put your products in her store, you have a greater chance of gaining the favor of customers than in other stores.
This is different from Shu Embroidery Pavilion. No matter how much you make, you will only be paid one string. Even Ms. Chen only earned three or five strings of coins when she worked at Shu Embroidery Pavilion before, and that was after many years of hard work.
No wonder he would rather leave his hometown and come here knowing that the Zhou family offered him ten strings of coins as a monthly stipend.
Thinking so, and hearing Kuang Sanlang urging her outside, Jinniang took Si'er away.
After returning to Zhou's house, Jinniang first went to the storehouse to ask for brown silk cloth, and made grids on the embroidery cloth. She then asked Chen Niang for black and gold threads, and used black to embroider the characters, using gold thread for the character "Buddha".
In fact, it is not easy to embroider such things, but she can only embroider Buddhist scriptures now. Look at the Buddha statues embroidered by people hanging in Jinxiu Pavilion today. The whole piece of embroidery uses various techniques such as flat embroidery, seed embroidery, gold printing, and gold foil nailing. That is a grand masterpiece that is beyond the reach of her.
While she was embroidering Buddhist scriptures, two scholars living in Zhou's house took part in the provincial examination and failed. Scholar Dou was studying at the Imperial Academy in Nanjing, and after failing this time, he continued to study at the Nanjing Academy. As for Master He, he was recommended by Master Zhou to enter the Imperial Academy in Bianliang.
When some people are successful, others are unsuccessful, and the most successful one is Sheng Yuan. It is said that he is handsome and has the talent of Zi Jian, and most importantly, he is still unmarried.
Of course, in addition to this provincial champion, there were several other young Jinshi. In the Song Dynasty, it was popular to choose a son-in-law from the list, and it was said that many families had already begun to gear up.
Mr. Zhou also planned to take his daughters out for a trip. If he could find a son-in-law who was a Jinshi, that would be better than anything else. After all, he already had four daughters. Of course, this didn't matter to Jiang, because her eldest daughter had secretly exchanged horoscopes with the prime minister's family, which was something those poor scholars could not compare with. Her second daughter was also waiting for a letter from her elder sister, and the marriage would be finalized when the time came. It was just that she didn't tell her daughters. Parents' orders and matchmaker's words were all natural things.
But as for the third girl, she called Lu Xiaoniang over and gave her instructions: "Although the third girl is not my daughter, I hope she can accomplish this. I have a few pieces of fashionable fabrics here. You can ask the embroiderer at home, or find someone outside, to dress the third girl up better."
The eldest and second daughters were born to her and already had promising futures. The third girl was from her faction after all, and if she could be betrothed to a Jinshi, it would be great for the Zhou family and Lu Xiaoniang.
Back then, she was jealous and afraid of being laughed at, so she forced Lu Xiaoniang to marry her. She thought that if her daughter could marry a Jinshi, it would be a relief to her.
Sure enough, when Lu Xiaoniang learned about this, she was very happy: "Thank you, Madam, for reminding me."
My daughter will be twelve soon. If she can get her married, she won't have to worry about the future. The eldest lady has always been picky and may not look down on those Jinshi who have no background, but if her daughter can marry a Jinshi, it will be a hundred times better than marrying a bastard.
Her world is small, just her and her daughter.
The adults seemed to have already decided their future, but the girls were still not very clear. Although the eldest girl had always been dignified, her father wanted to take her to meet the new scholar, and she didn't know if he was choosing a husband for her. But regardless of whether she had chosen a son-in-law or not, she had to have her clothes remade so that they could go out and play together.
But this was a private job, so she told Chunlan, "I have a piece of emerald cloth, take it and ask Jinniang to make clothes for me. Oh, and give her two hundred dollars."
Before she could finish her words, she saw the second young lady come in and said, "Sister is too generous. She always gives such generous rewards. She is originally a servant of our family. With such a large reward, she will become even more indulgent."
In the eyes of the second girl, they, as the masters, asked her to do the work, which showed that they respected her, so why should they reward her? It's not like they don't get paid monthly, so wouldn't this be condoning corruption?
The elder girl knew that her younger sister had always been spoiled by their mother. If she said anything more, she would be blamed. So she just said, "I am not as arrogant as you, sister. Although what you said makes sense, I am not the only one in the family who is like this."
The second girl didn't take it seriously and sat down to talk about other things: "Big sister, my sister-in-law will be married next month, and my father-in-law has been promoted to the Minister of Justice. Although my sister-in-law has a high status and is very good, I heard from my grandparents that my sister-in-law was raised as a man since she was a child, and her temper is a bit..."
Even the second young lady thought that others had too strong a temper. The eldest young lady had of course heard about it and was worried. Her brother was a man of extremely strong temper. He ranked first in the examination in Kaifeng Prefecture last year. It was because of this that the Zhang family had a daughter marrying off. This year they even handed over a dowry list, offering a dowry of 30,000 strings of cash.
Moreover, Zhang came into the family to be the wife of the clan leader. The Zhou family had divided the property among the various branches but had not yet divided the family. The eldest daughter had seen her mother busy all the time since she was a child, and she didn't know if this sister-in-law could be competent for the job.
But to her second sister, she said, "Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. Sister-in-law is also from a wealthy family, so it may not be as the rumors say."
"Yes, big sister, I'll go first. I haven't finished copying the scriptures that grandma asked me to copy." The second girl seemed to suddenly remember this.
The eldest girl remembered that the old lady asked her younger sister to copy the scriptures yesterday, and immediately said, "Then you should go quickly."
As soon as the second young lady came out from the eldest young lady's place, she told the maid, "Go ask Jinniang from the sewing room to help me make a set of clothes. By the way, when I went to my grandmother's house before, a cousin gave me a gift that I thought was ugly. You can give it to her as a reward."
The maid thought for a moment and said, "Second Miss, is it the pair of jade pendants?"
The second girl covered her mouth and laughed: "Yes, and she claimed to be from Yuxuan Pavilion. She is kidding. How can she pretend to be a top-grade headgear?"
The maid held back her laughter and went over to get it.
The third girl had always had a good relationship with Jinniang. She was the only one who had sent gifts on Jinniang's birthday. Now that Lu Xiaoniang had told her about this, both mother and daughter decided to look for Jinniang.
Lu Xiaoniang also said, "Although Jinxiu Pavilion and Lirenfang are not bad, if someone comes to our house, it will be easy for everyone to know. It's okay for others, but the fourth girl's daughter is more favored than me. If she shows off in front of the master, it will be over."
Children from poor families worry about food and clothing, while children from rich families worry about their future.
Lu Xiaoniang was worried that the news would be leaked to Miao Xiaoniang, but she didn't know that Miao Xiaoniang had already kept the master in her room after she finished her confinement. Of course, she knew the news.
But when she told her daughter about it, her reaction was too strong.
"Girl, how old am I?" The fourth girl felt aggrieved. At her age, she has not even graduated from a modern primary school.
Miao Xiaoniang said, "Miss, I know you are well-read and knowledgeable, and you are more knowledgeable than me, but I don't know what will happen after three years. Let's arrange the marriage and get married in a few years. You will be the wife of a Jinshi scholar when you marry. What's wrong with that?"
The fourth girl still declined the offer. She thought that even in ancient times, people would talk about marriage at least after they reached the age of 15. How could it be so early?
But Miao Xiaoniang also had her own opinion: "Your second sister-in-law is going to marry into the family soon. She will have children in the future. You are the youngest. What will be left when it is your turn?"
"My dear, maybe when it is my turn in the future, my father's official position will be promoted. Wouldn't my daughter's former dynasty be even better by then?" said the fourth girl.
Miao Xiaoniang shook her head: "It's not that easy to get promoted. You have to remember that what you get is real. The long-term benefits are not something we can think about."
The fourth girl couldn't resist Miao Xiaoniang. She remembered that she had rewarded Jinniang a lot in the past, so it was just right to ask her to make a set of clothes for her this time.
As luck would have it, the maids of the four girls appeared in the sewing room at the same time. Si'er and Xiaohe were standing at the door with water for washing their faces. They quickly put down the basins and called out to their sisters.
"Sisters, is there something that brought you to the sewing room?" Si'er asked.
"I'm here to look for Jinniang..."
"Is Jinniang here?"
"The Second Miss asked me to look for Miss Jinniang!"
"I'm talking about Jinniang..."
Unexpectedly, they all came to look for Jinniang. Si'er was stunned, and the four older girls looked at each other in bewilderment.
Jinniang woke up early and found that her nose was so dry that it was about to bleed, but she just liked to hide her head in the quilt when she slept because the cold air outside was too cold.
Before she even had breakfast, she heard the conversation between the four maids and Si'er at the door. Did Jinniang never expect that she would become such a popular person? Who doesn't want to make money, but one has to have the life to spend it?
Time was so tight, and she also had to embroider Buddhist scriptures, so it would be difficult for her to finish just one set within three days.
If you help this person and not that person, you will offend everyone.
She had to find an excuse to refuse. She was quite glad to have taken the job from the Second Young Master, so when the four maids came in, Jinniang just yawned and put the rubbing on the embroidery frame.
Chunlan was the eldest lady's maid, and she was familiar with Jinniang, so she smiled and said, "I have to trouble you again. The eldest lady asked you to help make a set of clothes in the next few days."
Chunlan took the initiative, so the other maids couldn't say anything.
But Jinniang said, "Sister Chunlan, unfortunately, the Second Young Master asked me to embroider a Buddhist scripture for her. It will take ten days if it's fast."
"Why don't you spare some time? You're always very quick." Chunlan thought to herself that Jinniang was ungrateful and usually took a lot of rewards from the eldest lady.
Jinniang thought that the work that Chen Niang had not asked her to do was a private job. It was up to her personal will whether to accept it or not. She would also shift the blame to someone else. She could not help scratching her head: "But my Buddhist sutra is no different from other things. It is too difficult to embroider. How about asking the eldest lady to tell the second young master not to ask for it so urgently? I will do it later. Otherwise, if one word is wrong, the whole silk cloth will be ruined."
I thought Chunlan would be angry, but unexpectedly, Chunlan smiled and said, "I know you are busy, so I won't bother you for now."
Chunlan left, and the other maids also hurried back to report.
Fang Qiao Lian was very worried about Jin Niang: "What you said just now will easily make them think that you are using the second daughter to pressure them. You will suffer the consequences if that happens."
Qin Shuang'er felt gloating in her heart, but she thought that Jinniang's craftsmanship was usually better than theirs, but now she had offended everyone because of her good craftsmanship, so she deserved it.
Jinniang said, "If I don't say this, I will offend them. I have only two hands, so how can I make four sets of clothes in three days besides embroidering Buddhist scriptures?"
"We are like cattle and horses." Fang Qiao Lian sighed.
Jinniang thought that they were meant to be slaves, and the Zhou family was a very kind employer among many employers. But even so, there would be oppression. Under this system, even kind masters would be oppressed. Unlike in modern times, you can leave if you don't want to work anymore, and you can choose not to do extra work. At least your life will not be in danger. There are no overtime pay, no social security payment, and pregnant women can be dismissed at will. These are all handled by the relevant departments.
But in ancient times, they had no human rights.
The Song Dynasty was probably better than other dynasties. When the term of their employment was over, these maids would become normal citizens, and their children could take the imperial examinations and would not be classified as slaves.
When Chunlan went back to report, the eldest girl frowned and said, "Are you saying that even the second sister's maid went there?"
"Yes, not only that, the third and fourth young ladies have sent people over. From what I see, they all have the same idea." Chunlan said.
The eldest girl smiled and said, "There's no need to make things difficult for Jinniang. You can go over there late at night and have a good talk with her. Just tell her that I admire her craftsmanship."
Chunlan understood the meaning.
Unfortunately, at noon, Jinniang received a dish of roast goose and shrimp from Danruo, the maid of the third lady. She hurriedly said, "Sister Danruo, I have enough food here."
Dan Ruo smiled and said, "It's okay, the third lady is considerate of you."
Jinniang smiled and said, "Miss San, do you want to see me for something? If I can do it, I will definitely do it."
Seeing Jinniang being so thoughtful, Danruo couldn't help but ask, "Our girl wants you to help make a dress?"
In fact, Jinniang certainly knew about it. She pointed at the embroidery frame and said, "I still have seven days to finish the scripture. After seven days, if the Third Miss doesn't mind, I will start working on it."
"How can that be? Our girl is in a hurry to get it." Dan Ruo said immediately.
Jin Niang didn't say yes or no, she just said, "If it's too urgent, I suggest you go to Jinxiu Pavilion to find Madam Rong and Madam Song's ready-made clothes. If the size doesn't fit, I can help you alter it. I'm running out of time now, so I can't delay the Third Miss's important matter."
It's not enough to just refuse, you have to come up with specific solutions.
Dan Ruo heaved a sigh of relief and hurried back to report. After listening to Jin Niang's words, Lu Xiaoniang also thought it was feasible: "Jinxiu Pavilion is okay. We used to wear their clothes often."
"Yes, Jinniang said that Madam Rong's clothes in Jinxiu Pavilion are elegant and charming, while Madam Song's are complicated and graceful. If you don't want embroidery, just buy the clothes made by Mo Tailor. She specializes in brocade and her work with gold prints, nails and gold frames is very good." Danruo said.
Lu Xiaoniang knew that her daughter was very beautiful, so it was better to buy a more elegant girl from a scholarly family.
The Third Girl and Lu Xiaoniang are both reasonable people, so Jinniang felt a little relieved.
The second girl was angry: "These people are like lapdogs, they keep clinging to my brother and regard my brother's affairs as more important than anything else. No matter what method you use, make her do it with me."
The maid's face was full of bitterness and she was speechless.
As for the fourth girl, she could understand Jinniang. After all, this ancient time was a man's society where men were superior to women. The second young master was definitely more important than them, not to mention the four girls. If she did it with one of them and not with the others, she would offend people.
So, she said to Xiangcheng: "Tell Jinniang that I understand her difficulties. Let her do it in the future. Don't make it difficult for her."
Xiang Cheng agreed, and then came to Jin Niang to tell her these words. Jin Niang was very grateful: "Fourth Miss is so considerate of me, I don't know what to say."
"The fourth lady often tells us to put ourselves in other people's shoes. This is probably what she means." Citron also helped her master to gain more benefits.
Jinniang was a little alert. Putting oneself in others' shoes was not a term that appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. Could this girl be a time traveler? But she kept all this in her heart and didn't say it out loud. She only said good things about the Fourth Girl to Xiangcheng.
After Xiangcheng left, Jinniang was stunned for a moment, but she felt much more relieved.
At the same time, she had to remind herself not to reveal the truth.
It is said that when fellow villagers meet, their eyes are filled with tears, but it is also possible that when fellow villagers meet, they will stab each other in the back.
Taking a deep breath, Jinniang picked up the needle and continued to embroider. It was strange that she was used to completing the task quickly and could not learn to take her time. But now she had to take her time, otherwise, if she got the approval of her aunt but went against the approval of her sister-in-law, she would instantly become the target of public criticism.
In the middle of the night, the sewing room was still busy. Jinniang yawned and said, "I have to rest early. My eyes are red."
Before she could finish her words, Chunlan came over. Of course, she came to find Jinniang. Jinniang was most afraid of the two legitimate daughters. Although the girl looked gentle and kind, based on her interactions with her over the past few days, she discovered that she was quite scheming and had little empathy.
Just as Chunlan said now: "The eldest lady has always been optimistic about you, Jinniang, I secretly think that the eldest lady must want to take you as a companion in the future."
Chunlan said this while holding Jinniang's hand: "Think about it, the eldest daughter is the lady's sweetheart. If she wants you, the lady will definitely give you. There are people in your sewing room who are trying to show their affection, but our daughter doesn't even like them."
If she was a newcomer, Jinniang would definitely be extremely grateful, but she had long seen through it. This older girl was not someone who would be considerate of others. Even if they felt that she was very considerate and valued them, it was more of a burden to them.
Just like now, the eldest lady thinks that if she has a promising future, she will be desperate. Jinniang just smiled and said, "Sister, you think highly of me. I am really grateful that the eldest lady thinks highly of me, but my family is looking forward to my return home after I finish these years. I dare not hope to be a companion, sister Chunlan, in fact, I know why you are here. We are all servants and we must complete the master's errands. If I were to take the eldest lady's work now, I would definitely not give it up if others asked me to give it up, just like the last time I helped the eldest lady make a beaded dress, and others asked me to make clothes, but I couldn't do it."
Although she knew that he was busy, he insisted on making clothes for her day and night. On the surface, he showed respect for her, but in fact, he was oppressing her.
If she really suffered, she might die suddenly in the future, or be targeted by other girls, but the eldest girl would not care.
Jinniang knew very well that the eldest girl would never dare to argue with the second young master openly. The second young master's Buddhist scriptures were given to his master's wife, and this was a major matter concerning the second young master's future.
Of course Chunlan left very dissatisfied. She was thinking in her heart how dare a little embroiderer dare to do such a thing.
…
The next morning, the girls went to pay their respects to Jiang. On the eight-immortal table next to Jiang were several fashionable tapestry. She waved to the girls, "Come here and help me choose tapestry. See which patterns are suitable for a more elegant lady."
The older girl tilted her head and smiled: "Mother, who are you choosing this for?"
"Choose for Madam Zhang, your brother's master's wife." Jiang said.
The eldest girl's eyelids jumped: "Daughter, this piece of blue satin with peony pattern is very good."
Jiang smiled and said, "Master has a good eye. I also think this horse is good. Although your brother was able to pass the exam, it was entirely due to Mr. Zhang's great training. In three years, he will take the imperial examination. The Zhang family is particularly important, so we can't neglect it."
This was not said clearly and the girls were also confused. Yesterday, Jiang heard Jinniang from the needlework room privately say that she was helping the second young master embroider scriptures. The second young master mentioned that these scriptures were very important and he wanted to give them to his master's wife, so she could only concentrate on doing them. However, she was also required to make clothes for several girls, so she came to ask for her instructions.
As for Jiang, although she loved her daughters, her son's future was particularly important. The third and fourth girls did not force it, and the second girl just got angry and did not send anyone else. The eldest girl was Cunzhi's biological sister, but she deliberately asked the seamstress to give up her son's work at night and do it just for her.
So, she looked at the girls and said, "I have asked the people in the sewing room to embroider Buddhist scriptures for your brother. Do you think Mrs. Zhang will like it?"
The eldest girl and the second girl looked at each other.
…
Si'er ran in from outside and saw Jinniang still doing needlework, and immediately whispered in her ear.
When Jinniang heard that the eldest and second daughters were both forced to copy Buddhist scriptures for the old lady, she curled her lips and smiled. They passed the last level. But then she thought again and felt it was sad. She was betting this time just that Jiang valued her son's future, but she didn't expect that she valued it to this extent.
However, Si'er was worried: "But after you finish embroidering the Buddhist scriptures, will they find fault with you?"
Jinniang shook her head: "No, because the Second Madam is coming in."
The Zhou family’s situation is about to change!
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