He Xue finally found a way to embroider cross-stitch onto ordinary cloth.
She actually discovered it by accident; she saw sunlight shining on the window, and the window casting a shadow on the ground.
He Xue thought she could do the same thing. She drew cross-stitch patterns on a piece of paper, then placed the paper behind the embroidery fabric to secure it. She then embroidered according to the patterns on the back.
Xue and I tried it out, and although the results weren't great, we finally found a solution.
He Xue started embroidering using the same method. She didn't embroider anything too complicated, just a simple purse with the words "Peace" on it. To make the purse more three-dimensional, she stuffed it with cotton. It was barely acceptable!
He Xue looked at the embroidered purse. The thread was uneven, and to describe it in one word, it was "ugly." In two words, it was "very ugly!" In three words, it was "extremely ugly!"
"Sigh!" He Xue sighed, "I wonder if my Crown Prince brother will find it objectionable?"
"What's wrong? Your mother heard you sighing all the way here!" Tongjia said as she walked in.
"Mother!" When He Xue saw Tong Jia Shi coming over, she quickly put the purse behind her back.
Lady Tongjia naturally noticed He Xue's little actions, "How come you've learned to do this behind your mother's back!"
"No! I was just afraid my mother would laugh at me!" He Xue said shyly.
"Is it finished embroidering?" Tongjia asked, surprised by how quickly He Xue had embroidered it.
"It's finished!" He Xue nodded.
"Can I show it to Mother?" Lady Tongjia was really curious about what He Xue had embroidered.
He Xue took out the purse and presented it to Madam Tongjia, saying, "Mother, you mustn't laugh at me!"
"Don't laugh!" Madam Tongjia looked at the purse. She really couldn't understand how He Xue had embroidered it, but it was passable.
"Did you embroider this yourself? Why is the stitching style different from what your mother has seen!"
“Mother, this is cross-stitch, it’s quite simple!” He Xue said.
"Cross-stitch?" Tongjia looked at it carefully and realized that the entire embroidery was indeed made up of small crosses.
"You came up with that?" Tongjia asked.
"Hmm!" He Xue figured that no one in the Qing Dynasty knew about cross-stitch, so she decided to claim it as her own.
"Your daughter is so clever!" Tongjia praised without reservation.
"Mother!" He Xue was so embarrassed by Tong Jia's praise that she threw herself into Tong Jia's arms.
"Can you tell Mother that this is intended to be given away?" Tongjia asked, hugging Hexue.
"I wanted to give it to my brother, the Crown Prince!" He Xue said.
"A gift for the Crown Prince?" This was beyond Lady Tongjia's expectations. "Why did you suddenly decide to give it to the Crown Prince?"
"My brother, the Crown Prince, is very good to me! And he has given me a lot of things!" Xue said.
Tongjia looked at her innocent daughter and thought that perhaps she was overthinking things. She knew very well how her sister had fared after entering the palace, and she did not want Xue to follow in her sister's footsteps.
Moreover, she believed that her sister also did not want to enter the palace with Xue. The emperor's love was too ethereal and unpredictable. Falling in love with an emperor was destined to leave one battered and bruised, and her pampered daughter should not have to endure such pain.
"Indeed, we should thank the Crown Prince properly! Do you need your mother to prepare anything else for you?" Madam Tongjia knew that the Crown Prince took good care of Hexue, but giving her only a purse was a bit too insignificant.
"No need, Mother! My brother the Crown Prince said he'll accept anything I give him!" He Xue looked at the purse in her hand with satisfaction.
"Did the Crown Prince ask you for it?" Lady Tongjia's heart skipped a beat again. She had thought that He Xue had offered it to the Crown Prince voluntarily. How could it be that the Crown Prince had asked for it himself!
Could it be that the Crown Prince has ulterior motives? After all, the Crown Prince is much older than Xue and should understand matters between men and women. It's no wonder she's overthinking things! She has to be careful when it comes to Xue.
It seems she needs to discuss with her sister about not letting He Xue visit the palace so frequently. He Xue is getting older, and it's best to be more careful about some things.
"Mother, what are you thinking about?" He Xue called out to Tongjia Shi several times, but Tongjia Shi ignored her.
Tongjia came to her senses and said, "Oh, it's Grandmother's birthday in a few days. You'll have to go with your mother!"
"Mother, I remember everything!"
"Alright, I'm just letting you know in advance. You can play by yourself! I have things to take care of!" After saying that, Tongjia prepared to leave.
She hadn't figured out how to tell Su Hetai yet. If Su Hetai knew that He Xue's embroidery was intended as a gift for the Crown Prince, she wondered if he would be so angry that he would tear the roof off!
If He Xue knew what Tong Jia was thinking, she would definitely say that her mother really loves to watch the drama unfold!
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