The "Hundred Sons and Thousand Grandsons" embroidery, as the name suggests, involves embroidering many children, similar to the "Hundred Blessings" embroidery, but it is much more difficult. Each child must have a different expression. Anyone who can embroider this would be the best embroiderer in Jiangnan, or even in the capital city.
Shen Mingzhuang's lips twitched slightly. She didn't remember the book mentioning that Shen Mingzhuang possessed a unique skill, the only one being her unparalleled beauty. So how did Shen Mingshu think she could embroider such a large project?
"Third sister, I am not very knowledgeable and my skills are not good enough. I'm afraid I won't be able to satisfy you. Perhaps you should find someone else..."
"I don't care, you have to embroider it for me!"
Seeing her look of refusal, Shen Mingshu decided to go for it and left without waiting for her reply. "I want to see you next month."
She seemed to think that no matter what, she would just want what she wanted.
That's ridiculous! Even if ten skilled embroiderers worked together, it would take them a year and a half to complete the "Hundred Sons and Thousand Grandsons" painting. She couldn't possibly finish it even if she didn't eat or drink and just sewed randomly!
Shen Mingzhuang was speechless, knowing that she was looking for an opportunity to get revenge on him because he had previously accepted two boxes of treasures from her.
Anyway, she said she didn't know how to do it. Since she insisted on making her embroider it, she wouldn't know what kind of embroidery would turn out.
Back at Cuixuan Residence, Xue Rong brought up a soup bowl again.
When Shen Mingzhuang saw the soup bowl, he felt his head buzzing.
These days, soup has been served every day without interruption. At first, they said that every household had it, but now they simply say that she is not feeling well, and the old lady has ordered that she must drink a bowl of nourishing soup every day.
Shen Mingzhuang could guess with her toes who had given the order. Thinking of that dream, she was even more agitated. She hadn't even met Jiang Wang yet, and he was already making her overthink things.
She couldn't help but curse him in her heart, wishing he would die soon and the dynasty would change, so that she could have some peace!
Jiang Wang was discussing important border matters with several Grand Councilors when he suddenly felt an itch in his nose and couldn't help but sneeze several times.
What does it matter if the emperor sneezes a few times? Several Grand Councilors wiped the water off their faces expressionlessly and asked with concern, "Your Majesty, your health is of utmost importance. Don't neglect your health by working day and night to handle state affairs. Why don't you take a rest?"
Jiang Wang, dressed in a black robe with a golden dragon design, felt his nose stop itching. Didn't he know his own body? Someone must have been cursing him!
"It's alright, continue."
May 13th, the summer solstice.
Shen Anqing was born on the summer solstice. Today, Shen Bochun gave him a day off, and Zhao Shi prepared two tables of food and wine. Shen Anqing then invited several friends to his home.
Shen Anqing was the eldest child in his family, with his younger siblings below him. They came over in a lively celebration to help him celebrate his birthday.
The Hu siblings gave him ordinary jade stones, saying they were for him to carve seals for later.
His second cousin, Shen Anzhang, gave him a set of valuable writing implements; his third cousin, Shen Mingshu, gave him a set of mutton-fat jade hair ornaments and jade belts; his fourth cousin, Shen Anhuai, gave him a brush holder made of rosewood branches; his fifth cousin gave him a set of Hangzhou silk summer clothes that she made herself; his sixth cousin, Shen Anye, gave him a jade pillow with a carving of a gentleman's bamboo; his seventh cousin, Shen Mingxi, was in the palace; and his eighth cousin, Shen Ming'e, gave him a box of sachets for all four seasons.
When she arrived at Shenmingzhuang, she thought for a long time before finding a palm-sized gold ingot in the storeroom and giving it to him.
Everyone stared at the gold ingot, their lips twitching involuntarily. This... was utterly vulgar!
"I heard that my eldest cousin is engaged. We can keep this gold ingot as a dowry!" Shen Mingzhuang felt that this was much better than those empty and impractical gifts. If it were her birthday, she would like to receive something substantial.
Shen Anqing was both amused and exasperated, but she was still very grateful for the gift from Shen Mingzhuang. Gold was something that could be used as jewelry when one was rich and as travel expenses when one was poor. Although it was vulgar, it was also practical.
Besides her own siblings, Shen Anqing also invited members of the Pei family, including Pei Jingzhou and Pei Jingtai, as well as Pei Shuwan and Pei Shuyi.
Wen Han, the eldest son of the Wen family, and Wen Xun, the second son, were also present. The men and women sat at separate tables, separated by a semi-transparent embroidered screen. The girls were quiet, with only occasional whispers. The boys, having drunk some wine, gradually became more talkative.
Shen Ming'e was absent-minded and unusually quiet.
Shen Mingzhuang ate attentively, and after finishing, he wiped his mouth, took the tea handed to him by the maid, and rinsed his mouth.
"What’s wrong with you?"
She smiled and asked Shen Ming'e in a low voice. Shen Ming'e seemed to be deep in thought and was startled by Shen Mingzhuang, causing her chopsticks to fall to the ground.
Why are you so panicked? What are you thinking?
Shen Ming'e coughed twice to make it seem like everything was fine, then tugged at Shen Mingzhuang's hand, signaling her not to ask any more questions. She then smiled at Shen Mingrong and the Pei sisters.
The maid went to fetch chopsticks again, and Shen Mingshu put down her chopsticks and stopped eating.
Normally, she would have probably made Shen Ming'e furious with just a few words, but today she asked Shen Ming'e with a smile, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Shen Ming'e opened her mouth, still somewhat unaccustomed to Shen Mingshu's sudden gentleness towards her.
"No, it was just that my hand wasn't steady and I accidentally dropped it."
Shen Mingzhuang noticed that Hu Xianglian, Hu's cousin, was leaning slightly to the side, her gaze intently studying the figure through the gap in the screen. That figure... seemed to be Wen Han?
Outside the screen, Pei Jingzhou's ears twitched slightly as he listened to the sounds inside, carefully trying to discern Shen Mingzhuang's voice.
Wen Han was somewhat distracted, even though he was in Cao Cao's camp, and he wasn't very interested in the delicious food on the table. Pei Jingtai and the others, on the other hand, were in high spirits. After a few drinks, they started to urge each other to compose a poem, and anyone who couldn't come up with a poem would be punished with a drink.
Today was a rare occasion of joy, and Shen Anqing did not want to spoil everyone's mood. However, since they had already had several rounds of drinks, he could not drink any more, so he asked someone to fetch the Fujian Tieguanyin tea he had been keeping in his room.
"Brothers, let's not drink anymore. Let's use tea instead of wine to compose poetry."
He then ordered the wine to be taken away. Several young noblemen were somewhat displeased, muttering that Shen Anqing was so cautious even on his birthday, quite like a Grand Secretary.
Shen Bochun was a Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. He had a very good reputation in the court, which is also a joke.
The girls put down their chopsticks and rinsed their mouths. Zhao came over and saw that the boys were reciting poems with great enthusiasm. The wine pot on the table had been replaced with a tea pot. She then instructed her maid, Sui'er, to keep a close eye on things and to replenish anything that was missing.
With elegant music playing softly, Madam Zhao called the girls to Shou'an Hall to pay their respects to the old lady, and then to take a walk in the back garden to aid digestion.
The house was unusually lively, and the old lady had someone take out a few hairpins and ornaments from her jewelry box and gave them to the two Pei sisters as a reward.
Pei Shuwan and Pei Shuyi both accepted the gifts with smiles and expressed their gratitude. Their gestures and movements made Old Madam Shen nod in approval. This was truly the kind of refined lady raised by a family with a distinguished tradition!
Zhao wanted to invite them to stay for dinner, but they all declined, saying it was too late and they didn't want their parents to worry.
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