Chapter 230 Gongbu
After giving the instructions, Yao Qingling returned to her room.
He seemed uninterested in those things.
After a while, Manager Liu arrived and presented the selected tribute items to Qingling.
There are five items in total.
Qingling suddenly frowned, staring at a roll of fabric.
The material looked ordinary, pale yellow, and seemed only slightly better than ordinary material; it was something that even families with some wealth could afford.
"Manager Liu, are you sure you're not mistaken?"
Qingling touched the fabric; it not only looked familiar but also felt very familiar to her.
Her heart sank.
Xia Chan and Lou Yue both felt the fabric was familiar, and looked at Qing Ling: "Miss, isn't this..."
Manager Liu said, "Miss, I'm sure I'm not mistaken. This is the special Golden Feather Silk of the Yu family, the imperial merchants of Jinzhou. Only five bolts of this fabric are produced each year, and all of them go to the palace."
Lou Yue held the fabric and examined it over and over, looking at it in the sunlight and in the shade, then tugged at it: "But this fabric looks ordinary."
Shopkeeper Liu said, "It is said that wearing clothes made of this material will prevent skin diseases." He lowered his voice, "It is rumored that the late emperor suffered from damp-heat disease, and would be unbearably itchy as soon as summer arrived. Later, he wore clothes made of this cloth by chance, and the disease never recurred."
Lou Yue blinked: "Manager Liu, you know so much."
Qingling thought that the emperor's medical records were confidential; how would outsiders know what illness the emperor had? However, it was likely that some medicinal herbs were added to achieve this effect. The Yu family exaggerated their claims in order to obtain the title of imperial merchant.
Manager Liu, flattered by the praise, stroked his beard and continued the previous topic: "It was this cloth that made the Yu family imperial merchants. I don't know the specifics of how it was made or what materials were used."
Qingling only took the roll of cloth with her. As for the other things, she gave a plan and told Manager Liu to do as she said.
Back at the Marquis's residence, Qingling walked quickly.
He closed the door and told Xia Chan to bring Zhao'er's clothes.
After comparing the results with several others, my heart sank.
"Miss, this...this cloth..." Xia Chan was so frightened that her face turned pale. "But, but Hua Manlou would never openly use tribute items!"
Zhao'er's clothes were partly made in the embroidery workshop of the Marquis's mansion, and partly custom-made by Xia Chan at Hua Man Lou.
On the day I went to get my clothes, I ran into Zhou Zhining and got into a fight with her maid.
However, after that, Xia Chan was still very cautious and checked her clothes inside and out, but found nothing unusual.
Yao Qingling's face darkened: "This cloth belongs to the Marquis's embroidery workshop."
Xia Chan gasped, "Then...this...the Marquis, he..."
She dared not think any further.
Marquis Zhongyong worked in the Shanglin Garden, in charge of the tributes from various places. However, he was in charge of living creatures. Whenever a living auspicious creature appeared in a place, it would be sent to the capital to please the emperor.
However, if he wanted to do something, there were ways to do it.
Previously, Yao Qingling had been wondering how Madam Ma and Yao Qingqi spent money so extravagantly, and what Marquis Zhongyong had said to Prefect Gao, so she gave Madam Ma and Yao Qingqi a lenient punishment.
These must be the hidden "rare items".
Yao Qingling felt a chill in her heart, and her fingers clenched into fists.
"Miss, shouldn't we get rid of these clothes quickly?" Lou Yue was afraid that things might get complicated if she waited too long, so she brought over a charcoal brazier and said she wanted to burn them all.
However, everyone loves their child and has already done a lot of things for them even before they are born. If they have to pick out all the items now, it will probably take a while to finish.
Lou Yue was in a great hurry and needed to find a larger stove to burn.
Qingling took a deep breath: "Luckily we found it early. Xia Chan, hurry up and go to the clothing store to buy some more. Lou Yue, get rid of the clothes you've picked out in the next few days. No rush, but be quick."
The two girls split up and went their separate ways.
Qingling sat there, staring at the pile of clothes for a long time, her fingertips rubbing them hard.
Something's not right.
This isn't right.
These fabrics, being royal items, could not possibly appear casually in the embroidery workshop.
Even if Madam Ma were overjoyed, she would never be so careless and casual, much less willing to make clothes for Qingling's child.
The only possibility is that... someone ordered that these precious bolts of fabric be specially used for her.
But who in the Marquis's mansion would do such a thing?
The child has been born for so long without anything happening; if they wanted to deal with her, they should have done so long ago.
Is it the Ma family?
But she shouldn't have done something so foolish. Qingling is, after all, a member of the Marquis's household. If she were discovered using royal items without permission, the entire household would suffer.
Even if Mr. Ma was confused, he couldn't possibly be unaware of this.
Not only Madam Ma, but everyone else in the Marquis's mansion should not have done this. They all knew in their hearts that their position in the Marquis's mansion depended on the plaque of the Marquis's mansion.
No one could bear to smash that plaque.
Qingling couldn't understand it.
Fortunately, it was discovered early, and the child's clothes were all cleaned up.
It was as if nothing had happened.
However, news of counterfeit medicine appearing in the palace has already reached outside the palace.
During this period, the most talked-about topics were Yao Qingling seeking a husband and the palace exposing frauds.
The sight of eight matchmakers entering and leaving Huibafang at the same time was already quite spectacular, and then it was rumored that Yao Qingling was hiding a handsome man in her private residence.
There's even a legend that a man, in order to marry Yao Qingling, brought a cartload of his entire fortune to all directions to express his love.
If it were a man, this would be considered a sign of skillful management, success in his career, and dashing charm, making him a subject of much admiration.
But this is a woman, and a divorced woman at that, so it's not a good reputation.
Yao Qingling's image has plummeted. After her businesswoman persona, she has now been branded as someone who is greedy for money and lustful.
But Yao Qingling didn't care much.
Her shop sells high-quality goods at fair prices, and she has already built a good reputation, so she's not afraid of others using these reasons to steal her business. Furthermore, by employing vagrants through her shop, she alleviates some of the security pressure in the capital, earning praise from both the people and the government.
Her bad reputation stemmed solely from the noble families who wanted to marry her.
Even the Tang emperor, upon hearing of such a promiscuous and willful woman, lost the desire to marry her as a second wife.
—Men in the royal family can act recklessly, but the princess cannot, as it concerns the royal bloodline.
However, when the story reached the ears of the Grand Princess, it was not the same thing.
The Grand Princess flew into a rage and slammed her hand on the table: "How dare Yao Qingling refuse me like that!"
When she heard that the Prince of Tang was going to marry Yao Qingling as his second wife, she was so angry that she almost went straight to the Prince of Tang's mansion. Her maid, Jia, suggested that she could take the opportunity to put Yao Qingling in a bad mood, so she got scared and came back.
If we simply say that the Tang Emperor is not going to marry Yao Qingling, but just send any noblewoman, the foul talk will naturally subside.
Granny Jia said, "The young mistress probably wants to live alone for the rest of her life. What woman would debase her reputation like that?"
Granny Rong said, "News came from the new residence that the woman's child actually calls the Second Master 'Father.' Yao Qingling probably heard about it and would rather suffer herself than come back."
She added, "Princess, Yao Qingling is preoccupied with the child. As a mother, of course she will protect her own child. What Second Master is doing will only push Yao Qingling further away."
"In my opinion, Yao Qingling intends to take in a son-in-law and part ways with the Second Master. Since she is so insistent, there is no point in trying to persuade her to stay. We should just let the child return to the manor and release her."
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