Chapter 5 Chapter 5 The Zhou Family Girls
When Yanhong and Luying entered the main room from outside, they saw Jiang lying on the Luohan bed under the picture of Begonia Sleeping in Spring, resting. They both stood with their hands behind their backs, not daring to act rashly.
However, Jiang was just pretending to sleep. As soon as they heard footsteps, she knew it. Although her eyes were still closed, she could tell whose footsteps they were. "Have those embroiderers from Jiangling been settled?" Yanhong bowed and said respectfully, "To answer the madam's question, they have been settled. They are packing their bedding now and said that it is good here."
Jiang's lips curled up. "It's better to find people from small places. They are down-to-earth and hardworking. If we hire those embroiderers from Bianliang, they will not only cut corners but also drag their feet. The price they ask for is getting higher and higher, and the products they give are also poor."
After saying that, she shook her head and looked at Yanhong and said, "These embroiderers are from outside. They will leave in three years. There is no need to be too harsh on them."
Yanhong smiled and replied.
Jiang's eyebrows were raised again. "Let's not talk about the embroiderers. The maids who just came into the mansion must be disciplined. Those who follow the young ladies and masters must not be careless."
Originally, Jiang had a mother to help with housework, but she got old and became dizzy in the past few years, so Jiang asked her to go back and let Yanhong and Luying be her helpers. Among the two, Yanhong was the one she trusted the most.
Yanhong got the message and went out again. She only heard Luying say, "The Second Madam has been lazy these days and hasn't moved much. Today, I saw the doctor go there, and Yunlan and the others looked very happy."
"Could it be that she is pregnant?" Jiang asked.
The first wife of the second master of the second house, Li, gave birth to the eldest grandson of the Zhou family when she entered the house, which clearly put her ahead of Jiang. Not to mention, Li was a virtuous and gentle person, who was very much favored by her mother-in-law, which also embarrassed Jiang, the eldest wife who did not like concubines. Wu, the second wife, was straightforward in character and did not like to fight for power. She even felt sorry for herself because of Miao Xiaoniang's affairs, so she was quite respectful to her eldest sister-in-law.
But Mrs. Wu had a miserable life. After being married for more than ten years, she finally gave birth to a son three years ago, but the child died this spring. It would be great if she could really get pregnant now.
The Zhou family has three branches in total. Because there is an old lady around, the property was divided but the family was not. They know everything about each other and nothing can be hidden from others.
Luying smiled and said, "It seems to me."
"Then go and prepare the supplements and satin. If she makes it public, you can deliver them to her for me." Jiang said.
Luying was about to agree when someone told her that the girls from the east wing were coming over. She looked at the sky and saw that it was almost time for dinner, so the two girls would come over to open the curtains and serve, so she went to help Jiang get up.
As for Jinniang, she fetched some water from the tea room, washed herself, and packed her bedding. When she heard that it was time for lunch, she and Fang Qiaolian carried the lunch boxes and followed Lan Xueruicao from the tea room.
The two of them were family-born children. It was said that they had been working in the Zhou family since their ancestors. Jinniang followed them out of Jiang's main room and she discovered that the east courtyard where Jiang lived was big enough. There were three main rooms and two small side rooms on the left and right. These were for Yanhong Luying and these proud maids to live in. The side rooms on the east and west were five rooms wide each. Lanxue said that the two concubines lived in the east side rooms, and the girls lived in the west side rooms.
Go down the east corridor and through the small door to the moon gate. The kitchen is bustling with people coming and going. Ruocao said, "The laundry room is also here. If you go to the front of the kitchen, you will find the old lady's yard. The old lady likes quietness, so don't look for her."
Jinniang smiled and said, "We two were too lazy to come here to carry the food, so how could we have the leisure to go shopping?"
After that, the group of four went to the kitchen to get food. When they got the food the first day, no one knew they were from the sewing room, but they still gave them the food. The Zhou family’s food was much better than the He family’s inferior meals. Each person had two dishes, one was chopped lettuce, and the other was pig’s blood soup, served with a bowl of mixed noodles.
While I was eating, I saw a small plate of plump and juicy red cherries on the stove not far away, and another plate of green plums. Next to the green plums, the cherries looked even more beautiful and juicy.
Fang Qiaolian was surprised and said, "This is cherry fried food. Aren't cherries only available in spring? How come they are available now?"
The maid in the kitchen glanced at her and said, "The eldest lady ordered this cherry pancake for the fourth young lady. She got sick right after she had her feet bound."
Jinniang secretly thought that it was a good thing that foot binding was only popular among the upper class in the Northern Song Dynasty, so girls from the lower class like them didn't have to bind their feet, which was really a harm to everyone. But she could only sympathize with the fourth girl and could not do anything else.
Back in the room, even Qin Shuang'er was very satisfied with the meal. She also said, "I heard from Sister Yanhong that she will send two little girls over in the future. Then we can let them serve us meals, so we don't have to run every meal."
"We'll talk about it when the time comes." Jinniang smiled and said nothing more.
When I went to bed at night, I went directly to the tea room to get hot water and soaked my feet comfortably before going to bed.
The next morning, she had breakfast of two steamed buns and a bowl of soy milk. The steamed buns in the Northern Song Dynasty were called baozi. Jinniang loved eating baozi, and she thought, no wonder Qingwen and the others in Dream of Red Mansions didn't want to go out. The Zhou family is not as big as the Rongguo Mansion, but the forty or fifty servants in the mansion live much better than the common people outside.
After breakfast, Madam Chen assigned the tasks first. She did the work herself for Madam Zhou, the eldest master, the eldest mistress and the young master, and the four of them made clothes for the young ladies.
"Each of you will make four sets of clothes for the young ladies. Remember, make a brocade gown, a long cotton jacket with a lapel, a long jacket with a front opening, and a pair of raccoon sleeves. There are four girls in their family, so each of you will be responsible for one. As for who is responsible for which, we will take turns."
Jinniang smiled and said, "Madam Chen, why don't we draw lots? Whoever draws the lot gets to be the winner. This is fair. In the future, we will take turns according to the order of today."
Everyone knows that the eldest and second daughters are legitimate, and they all want to pick a higher branch. If the competition is too obvious, it will be bad.
Seeing that Jinniang was not the type who liked to stand out, Mrs. Chen saw that she immediately saw the opportunity and came up with a good idea, so she agreed with a smile.
"Third Miss, then I will go to the Third Miss." Jinniang drew the Third Miss.
Except for Jinniang, Qin Shuang'er drew the eldest girl, Fang Qiaolian drew the second girl, and Jiang Shanjie drew the fourth girl. Qin Shuang'er and Fang Qiaolian were so happy that they could not express it in words. Jiang Shanjie whispered to Jinniang, "You really lost out. If you hadn't drawn lots, you would have been making clothes for the eldest lady."
"Well, that may not be the case." Jinniang smiled.
The way she makes clothes is different from others. She must first look at the colors of the material and agree on the patterns to be painted. Then she draws the shape of the clothes on paper according to the person's body shape. If the customer is satisfied, she will start making the clothes.
The reason why she learned needlework was because she loved playing dress-up games in her previous life. She was a real pay-to-win gamer. Interest is the best teacher.
Thinking of this, she picked up her ruler, paper and pen and went first.
After asking around, she found out that the third young lady lived in the third room of the west wing. She lifted the curtain and came in. She saw a girl about nine years old standing at the door of the inner room. She hurriedly explained her purpose: "I am Jinniang from the sewing room. The eldest lady said she wanted to make clothes for the young lady, so she sent me here specially."
When the girl heard that it was someone from the sewing room, she said happily, "So it's the sister from the sewing room. I'll go in and report it right away."
Jinniang was standing outside when she heard a clear voice from inside: "Let her in."
The little maid came out again and invited Jinniang in. Jinniang walked in without looking around. The third lady's room was naturally not as big as Jiang's. There was a chicken-wing wood bedstead in the middle, and a low table next to the bed with books on it. In front of the bed was a long table with a diamond-shaped bronze mirror on the left side.
Sitting on the other side of the long table, a young girl in a silver-red jacket was practicing calligraphy. She seemed to be concentrating with all her might. Jinniang did not dare to disturb her and could only stand and wait.
The girl suddenly turned around, and Jinniang was stunned for a moment. The girl had black hair, a smooth white forehead, and a very beautiful face. She also looked peaceful. When she saw her, she smiled and said, "Are you Jinniang from the sewing room?"
"Yes, I was thinking of coming over to measure your size first. After measuring, I'll see what kind of pattern you like, and then I'll start making it." Jinniang said.
The third young lady was very cooperative and stood with her arms outstretched. Jinniang quickly measured the size and wrote it down on paper before saying, "What kind of flowers does the third young lady like?"
"What flowers? Aren't there plum blossoms in winter?" The third girl said, tilting her head.
It is also said that there are three people serving the Third Young Lady. The two older maids, Qingxue and Danruo, never stop working, and there is also a girl named Yinzhu who is guarding the door outside. In the past, Jinniang also wondered why these young ladies needed so many people to serve them. Now it seems that it was also due to the low productivity in ancient times. For example, before the third young lady got up early, the maids had to clean the house inside and out, and go to the kitchen to serve breakfast. When the young lady woke up, they had to help her wash, comb her hair, and dress. After accompanying her to finish her meal, the maids also had to sew intimate items such as underwear, shoes and socks by themselves, not to mention serving tea and water, not to mention passing messages and getting things.
Even on sunny days, taking apart and washing bedding and pillowcases is a big task.
Jinniang smiled and said, "The plum blossom is indeed very beautiful, but there are also camellia, honeysuckle, vines, peonies and peonies, all of which have good meanings."
After she said that, the third girl was a little hesitant again, and Jinniang couldn't help but say, "How about this, I'll go back and draw a sample, color it and show it to you, if you think it's okay, just do it according to this."
In fact, while working in this line of work, Jinniang has discovered that if you allow most people to make changes, your clothes will be torn into pieces. It is better to draw them on paper first and make them directly after the customer agrees.
So after she returned, she took the silk thread that she was allocated and ground it with water.
If there is a brocade with a bright red treasure chest pattern, you can make a brocade robe and match it with a pink folded skirt. Porcelain green satin can be used to make a spiral jacket, which can be matched with a goose yellow skirt. The collar and lapels of the spiral jacket and the goose yellow skirt can be embroidered with broken branches and flowers. As for the lilac satin, which is close to light purple, I continued to use the goose yellow color to trim it and made a long jacket with a front opening, which was matched with a pearl white pleated skirt. The last piece of lilac-colored cloth can be embroidered with butterfly patterns, and then a pink and white silk skirt can be made to match it.
Thinking this way, she painted for a whole day while the other embroiderers had already started.
She could hear whispers in her ears, saying that the eldest girl had given some snacks, and the fourth girl was sick and could only ask her nanny to get the previous size, but Jinniang turned a deaf ear to them.
In the evening, she lit a lamp and painted for a while before crawling into bed, waiting to show the painting to the third girl tomorrow. Thinking of this, she quickly closed her eyes.
But after her eyes closed, Qin Shuang'er's eyes opened. She went to the eldest lady's room today and only then did she know what it meant to be covered in silk and satin. No wonder her mother told her to marry into an official family. Her mother was originally a concubine of a minor official in Pingjiang Prefecture. When the minor official died, she and her mother were driven out by the eldest lady.
A young and pretty widow, with two boxes of dowry, was determined to become the principal wife and not repeat the same mistake. But she regretted it on the first day of her marriage. Her mother said countless times that she would rather be a concubine of a rich man than a wife of a poor man.
Her stepfather is a man who seems honest but is actually quite cunning. He pretends to be stupid and eats all he wants. He dares not confront others when her mother is teased by others, and even after taking benefits from others, he scolds her mother for being indecent. Her mother said that it was fortunate that she and her mother could support the family by doing needlework, otherwise the wife of a poor family would have to pawn her property when her husband had no money.
Instead of doing this, it is better to enjoy wealth and honor. If you can marry into a family of officials, it is better than anything else.
Moreover, today she met the third young lady's biological mother, Lu Xiaoniang, who was just a concubine but was surrounded by pearls and jade and dressed in silk. She originally had a plan, one of which was to become a concubine of Jiang's biological son, but she found that Jiang was too strict and she had too little experience, so the young master lived in the outer courtyard and she could not even see him.
Then there is another way, which is to be a maid accompanying the older girl, which will make it more legitimate for her to take the position in the future.
But if she wanted the eldest lady to promote her, she would have to do needlework for the eldest lady for a long time so that she would value her. And in the entire needlework room, only Wei Jinniang's needlework could be compared with hers.
She knew that Wei Jinniang was indeed smart and hardworking, and it would not be easy to surpass her. It would be fine if she didn't compete with her, but if she did, then don't blame her.
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