Today, Faxing Temple is crowded with believers and is very lively. The Buddhist hall outside is filled with ordinary people who come to burn incense. The main hall and the back garden inside are places for nobles to rest. Many young talents and ladies from famous families are gathered under the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree to discuss poetry and painting.
In order to stand out, the talented men all spoke eloquently and showed their talents to the fullest; the ladies all dressed up and behaved elegantly. Although they were sitting at the east and west ends, their eyes would meet from time to time, and they would either lower their heads shyly or smile brightly, and every move they made was filled with affection.
Among all the talented men and ladies, Li Ran's legitimate son and daughter are naturally the most outstanding and the focus of everyone's attention. As the governor of a place and the elder brother of Concubine Min, Li Ran's official career was by no means limited to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Maybe in a few years, when the Ninth Prince grows up, he will be transferred to the capital by the Emperor to serve as an official, and his rapid rise to prominence is just around the corner.
With such a strong background, Li Jiarong and Li Xiudian are naturally the objects of flattery and attachment by everyone.
At the moment, Li Jiarong was sitting under a ginkgo tree, sipping tea intermittently, her beautiful eyes occasionally sweeping over the young talents who were in the middle of a lively conversation. She was beautiful and graceful, so she was naturally very popular. Nine out of ten talented men couldn't help but glance at her, and then pretended to look away.
Li Jiarong caught another man peeking at her. She covered her lips with her hands and smiled to herself.
"Sister Li, the dress you are wearing is so beautiful, I am mesmerized by it! These hibiscus flowers are elegant yet charming, each one has its own unique charm, and the shades are just right, it's simply a work of art that surpasses nature! If a woman with ordinary looks wore this dress, she would definitely be overshadowed by these gorgeous hibiscus flowers, but you are different. Your appearance is so beautiful that even the most beautiful flowers will only serve as your foil." A noble woman exclaimed sincerely.
Several people nearby immediately echoed the sentiment and praised Li Jiarong to the highest level.
Li Jiarong smiled and held Meng Si's hand, saying, "Don't praise me. This dress was embroidered for me by Sisi herself. If I am 70% colorful, then 50% must come from Sisi's skillful hands."
Meng Si, who was sitting next to her, smiled shyly and gently, without saying much.
In order to please Li Jiarong, the noble ladies praised Meng Si and said that they would never go to other embroidery shops to buy fabrics in the future, only to Meng's.
Someone interrupted and said, "Hey, do you think Du Ruyan will come today?"
Li Jiarong's smile faded slightly, and she looked coldly at the person who spoke. Another person quickly said, "How could she come? Would she dare to come? I heard that she has been looking for expensive fabrics and embroiderers in the city these days. However, with her background, who would be willing to make clothes for her? Even at this point, she still refuses to face reality. It's sad and lamentable."
"That's right. No matter how much money she has, she can't buy the silk and satin we wear. She'll just make a fool of herself if she comes. I guess she's hiding at home wiping her tears now!" As soon as this person finished speaking, everyone covered their mouths and chuckled, with a gloating look in their eyes.
Li Jiarong's expression relaxed a little, and she pretended to be magnanimous and said, "She has fallen to such a state, please be more polite and stop laughing at her."
Back then, Du Ruyan was the most famous socialite in Beijing, and she completely suppressed Li Jiarong. Li Jiarong was narrow-minded and jealous. While cursing Du Ruyan, she secretly swore in her heart: When the day comes when she gains power, she will trample the other party under her feet and crush her into ashes! Now that her wish has come true, she is naturally happy, but she still has to show her magnanimity in front of so many talented men.
Hearing her say this, all the noble ladies nodded in agreement and pretended to sympathize with Du Ruyan.
The noble ladies were chatting animatedly, but the young talents turned their heads one by one and looked towards the entrance of the garden, with first amazement in their eyes, and then deep fascination. I saw a woman walking in slowly, wearing a long dress with a chest-hugging skirt. The fabric of the whole skirt was pressed into vertical creases by a hot copper kettle, and then gathered together with a light yellow ribbon to form a bow-shaped collar, tied around the girl's slender neck. With every step she took, the hem of her skirt rippled like petals blooming at her feet.
She did not wear a belt, and the snow-white tulle fabric naturally fell along her graceful body curves, making her look more graceful than with a belt. This gauze skirt that undulates like waves of wheat is unique and moving enough, but what is even more beautiful is the blouse she wears outside.
The cardigan is made of transparent organza, which is not as smooth and drapey as silk, but more flowing and firm. I don't know which embroiderer used gold and silver threads to embroider ginkgo leaves on the organza in a staggered manner, one by one, dotted like stars, from the round shoulders to the fluttering hem, and the ginkgo leaves became denser and denser until they formed a dazzling golden color. The girl stepped on the golden fallen leaves, and the end of her blouse gently covered the leaves, the two blending together as if they were made naturally.
The girl standing there looked like an elf born from the fallen leaves, flawlessly beautiful and movingly beautiful.
The girl walked slowly over, and a gust of autumn wind lifted her skirt and uncovered her blouse, making everyone stare in amazement again. It turned out that the pleated skirt was not made up of one layer, but five or six layers of pure white tulle overlapping each other. There was nothing special about it when she walked, but when the wind blew over and gently blew the five or six layers of tulle into a blooming white lotus, the beautiful and elegant scene could only be described as captivating. The blouse was blown by the wind and fluttered gently, and the ginkgo leaves embroidered on it also swayed and danced in various postures, as if countless leaves were lingering around the girl, being swept by the wind, being pulled by the wind, and just unwilling to leave her side.
The girl stood under the tree, her body covered with golden fallen leaves, like a goddess transformed from the thousand-year-old tree, like a dream.
She walked to the corner with the least crowd, gently lifted her blouse, and sat down gracefully. Her every move revealed an indescribable charm. When she turned her head completely and revealed her beautiful face, all the talented people had completely lost the ability to think.
Beautiful scenery, beautiful clothes and beautiful people are already a rare visual enjoyment. What's even more wonderful is that the beauty of these three is so harmoniously combined together that it is difficult to tell whether the beautiful scenery has transformed into the beautiful woman, or the beautiful woman has set off the beautiful scenery.
The originally lively poetry gathering became silent due to the arrival of the girl. Many men even held their breath for fear of disturbing the goddess by making any noise.
"It's Du Ruyan." A noble lady said in a trance.
"Her skirt with all the creases is so beautiful, and that blouse embroidered with ginkgo leaves is absolutely beautiful!" Another noble lady couldn't help but tell the truth.
Li Jiarong no longer cared about her manners. Her beautiful face was slightly distorted, revealing her jealousy. She put down the teacup with a bang and was about to stand up to pick a fight, but Meng Si held her shoulders and stopped her.
"The blouse is ingenious, nothing special about it." Meng Si said slowly, "If you look closely, you will find that the ginkgo leaves are embroidered with the simplest flat stitch. Any apprentice embroiderer at Meng's Embroidery Shop can make the same clothes. You won't wear such a cheap thing even if it's given to you for free, so why bother about it?"
"That's right, it's just a few leaves, who can't embroider them? Du Ruyan can't buy silk and satin, and can't hire a top embroiderer, so she can only make do with this." The noble lady sitting next to her hurriedly persuaded.
Li Jiarong took a few deep breaths secretly so as not to reveal her true face in front of everyone. She is not like Du Ruyan, who is arrogant and domineering and has a very bad reputation. She is a first-class lady in Lin'an Prefecture. Who doesn't know her gentle temperament?
"Miss Meng is indeed an expert. She can tell the good from the bad at a glance. It's just a few leaves. Who cares? Maybe the one I embroider is better than hers." Several noble ladies tried to persuade and coax Li Jiarong, and finally made her happy.
But not all noble ladies wanted to curry favor with the Li family. Some of them ignored Li Jiarong's cold eyes and approached Du Ruyan to get close to her. They chatted for a while before asking her where the pleated skirt and blouse came from.
Du Ruyan came to astound everyone and to make Lin Dan famous. She said without reservation, "This set of clothes and skirts of mine were all made by Lin Dan, the embroiderer. You know the Lin's Embroidery Shop, the largest embroidery shop in Lin'an Prefecture, right? Lin Dan is now the head of the shop, and her embroidery skills are superb!"
"The Lin's Embroidery Shop you are talking about is the one that was squeezed out by the Meng's?" Someone frowned.
"That's right."
"I see." After hearing this, the noble ladies, who were originally very excited, walked away in twos and threes. Although they did not like to curry favor with Li Jiarong, they were influenced by Meng Si's words and thought that the embroidery of this blouse was just so-so. When they heard that the embroiderer came from the long-defunct Lin's Embroidery Shop, they were even less likely to invite her in.
Other noble ladies would hire the best local embroiderers, or even royal embroiderers, but they hired a poor woman. Isn't it shameful? Forget it, forget it. When I take a closer look, the embroidery on this cardigan is just average, but it wins in terms of ingenuity. I’d better not be fooled!
When most of the people had left, a beautiful woman came to sit next to Du Ruyan and asked with a smile, "Your earrings are also embroidered, right?"
Du Ruyan stroked her earlobe and nodded, "Yes, it is embroidered. First, embroider a double-sided ginkgo leaf on the fabric, then nail three pearls on the top of the leaf, then cut it off, put it on the hook, and make it into earrings. This earring and this pair of shoes are a set."
In order to promote Lin Dan, Du Ruyan spared no effort and even lifted her legs to show her small pair of delicate feet to the woman. I saw that the embroidered shoes on her feet were also embroidered with ginkgo leaves with gold and silver threads, and each leaf was nailed with tiny rice-grain pearls, which was very delicate and lovely.
When the woman saw this scene, her eyes lit up. She is not one of those foolish people who just follow the crowd. She believes whatever Meng Si says. Although the pattern on Du Ruyan's blouse may seem simple, the embroidery is by no means simple. The color of each leaf is different, with light and dark golden yellow blended together very naturally, and the veins of the leaves are embroidered with extremely fine gray and dark yellow silk threads. They are truly different in shape and lifelike.
The woman dared to bet that being able to split the silk thread into such thin pieces was something that not only Meng Si could not do it, but even if all the imperial embroiderers in the palace were combined together, they would not be able to do it. The silk thread is thinner and there are more colors, so no matter how simple the embroidered pattern is, how simple can it be? It is said that extreme simplicity is extreme beauty, and ultimate simplicity is ultimate sophistication. True skills can be seen in the ordinary. It is ridiculous that a top embroiderer like Meng Si does not understand this principle at all.
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