Chapter 171 Embroidery Workshop
At this time, Lu Chen was sitting on the way back to the Forbidden City, holding the imperial edict with the phoenix seal.
The road between Changchun Garden and the Imperial Palace had been repaired, and carriages ran on the road much faster and smoother than usual.
Lu Chen lifted the curtain of the car and looked out. The scenery on the roadside passed by before his eyes, and there were people in cloth clothes walking in groups of three or four on the side of the road.
Lu Chen subconsciously touched the imperial edict in his arms. After this matter was announced to the world, the people would surely be happy.
The carriage drove all the way to the palace, and from time to time, half-grown children looked around curiously.
After entering the palace, Lu Chen didn't even have time to change her clothes before she took the imperial edict to Concubine Niohuru's Jingyang Palace.
"I am Lu Chen, a maid in Yongshou Palace. Please tell the imperial concubine that I am here on the orders of our queen to discuss important matters."
Lu Chen was stopped at the gate of Jingyang Palace by the young eunuch who was guarding the gate faithfully.
After introducing himself, the eunuch, who had a serious face just now, immediately changed into a smiling face, "So you are Sister Lu Chen from Yongshou Palace. I was blind and did not recognize you. Please forgive me, Sister Lu Chen."
"Hello, Sister Lu Chen. You must have come all the way here. Please come to the side and rest. I will report to our queen right away."
One of the two men apologized, and the other took Lu Chen aside.
Yongshou Palace is now very famous in the palace. When you go out and say that you are a palace maid or eunuch of Yongshou Palace, even the most difficult people will give you some face.
"There is no need to be so polite, eunuchs. Please pass the message quickly." But Lu Chen was not a person who bullied others by taking advantage of her power. When she was in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, she did not look down on others just because she was a senior maid in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. It is the same now.
Lu Chen was able to survive in the palace because, except for her master, she treated everyone equally. After all, in this palace, if you look down on anyone, you will risk your life.
Lu Chen was waiting on the side.
The taller of the two eunuchs told the other one to guard the door, while he went into Jingyang Palace to report to Concubine Niohuru.
Sure enough, after a while, the tall eunuch hurried to the door with Bai Zhi, the personal maid of Concubine Niohuru.
Bai Zhi and Lu Chen were also familiar with each other. After all, the palace was managed by Yuying and Concubine Niohuru, and their maids had a lot of contact with each other.
"Lu Chen? Shouldn't you be in Changchun Garden at this time? Why are you back?" Bai Zhi asked in surprise, and even looked outside, "Are you alone? Didn't Concubine Jin come back with you?"
Lu Chen shook his head and said, "I will go back to the palace alone. Let's go find the Imperial Concubine first. I will talk to you slowly."
"Okay, okay, come with me."
Baizhi walked in with Luchen.
Along the way, Lu Chen briefly told Bai Zhi about what Yuying had entrusted to her.
"I didn't expect that Concubine Jin is so kind-hearted." Bai Zhi was indeed very surprised. "I'm sure our Concubine will support it after hearing this."
The two walked into the main hall of Jingyang Palace.
Concubine Niohuru was already sitting in the hall.
"Your Majesty, the person has been brought here." Bai Zhi reported to Concubine Niohuru, then stood behind her.
"Your servant pays homage to the Imperial Concubine. May Your Majesty be blessed with good health." Lu Chen bowed to Imperial Concubine Niu Hulu.
"Get up. I wonder what Concubine Jin wants to tell you? Or has Xiao Shi gotten into trouble again?"
As soon as Lu Chen's carriage entered the palace, Concubine Niohuru received the news, so when she learned that Lu Chen had not rested in Yongshou Palace, she rushed to her. She was really afraid that Yin had made trouble in Changchun Garden.
"Your Majesty, you will understand once you see it." Lu Chen took out the imperial edict from his arms and presented it with both hands.
Concubine Niohuru motioned Baizhi to take it.
However, she was relieved in her heart. As long as Yin was not naughty, it would be fine.
Concubine Niohuru took it slowly and looked down at it.
Not long after, Concubine Niu Hulu raised her head and said, "I understand what Concubine Jin meant. I will go and inform everyone in the palace now."
"Yes, thank you for your concern, madam."
"Nothing, this is also a good deed, and Concubine Jin is not in the palace, so I will do my best."
Concubine Niohuru had a calm expression.
"Yes, Madam. I'll take my leave now. I still need to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to send someone to arrange for an embroiderer."
"Go ahead. Once I have collected all the old clothes, I will send Bai Zhi to Yongshou Palace to inform you."
Lu Chen left Jingyang Palace, pondered for a while, turned around, and planned to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs first and then return to Yongshou Palace to sort out Yuying's clothes.
Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"What a rare visitor! Look who's here?" As soon as Lu Chen stepped into the Imperial Household Department, he ran into the consultant walking out of the Imperial Household Department.
"What wind brought our Miss Luchen here?"
The consultant was the chief eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he was no less powerful than Liang Jiugong. He was originally in charge of the Jingshifang, and he could get bribes from the concubines in the harem from time to time. There were also a bunch of young eunuchs who rushed to curry favor with him, and his life was smooth sailing.
But ever since Yuying became favored, the Jingshifang became a decoration and Kangxi never called for a concubine again. Even if he wanted Yuying to sleep with him, he would go to the Yongshou Palace himself or send someone to bring Yuying to the Qianqing Palace.
The Jingshifang has become a mere decoration, so what use is there for the chief eunuch of the Consulting Office? Without the extra income from the concubines in the harem, there are fewer eunuchs who come to curry favor with him.
Although he later left the Jingshifang, when it comes to who in the palace hates the Yongshou Palace the most, he ranks first as a consultant.
After all, as the saying goes, cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. Although his parents had long starved to death, money was his second parent. And Concubine Jin had taken the emperor over by herself, how could he not be angry.
The consultant recalled that not long after Concubine Jin gained favor, he took the green card to the Qianqing Palace to ask the emperor to flip the card. As a result, the emperor not only did not flip the card, but also scolded him. The consultant blamed all these on Yuying of Yongshou Palace.
But Concubine Jin was now in great favor, what could a chief eunuch do? He even had to bend down and fawn on her when he saw her.
The consulting firm felt very aggrieved.
However, although he could not do anything to Concubine Jin now, he could still make a few sarcastic remarks about the palace maids around her.
Seeing that Lu Chen had gone, the consultant came up without even smelling the scent.
Lu Chen frowned slightly. She always disliked people like Consultant Xing who flattered the powerful and looked down on the weak. When she heard his sarcastic tone, she pretended not to hear anything and went straight to the embroidery workshop.
There were two young eunuchs following behind the consultant and watching him. Seeing that Lu Chen ignored him, he was the chief eunuch after all. How could he tolerate being humiliated by Lu Chen in front of the young eunuchs?
"Stop!" The consultant raised his voice, which was so thin and sharp that it made people feel very uncomfortable.
The consultant led the two young eunuchs to block Lu Chen's way.
Lu Chen looked up at him unhappily, "What is Eunuch Gu doing?"
"What are you doing? Miss Luchen is so arrogant. Are all the servants around Concubine Jin so arrogant?"
Lu Chen's eyes turned cold, "Eunuch Gu, be careful with your words. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is not a place for you to cover up everything with one hand. Be careful if this gets into the ears of the emperor. That would be bad for Eunuch Gu, don't you think? Eunuch Gu."
Lu Chen spoke the last three words slowly and heavily, with a strong warning in his tone.
She didn't want to get too entangled with the consulting firm, after all, the Empress's job was more important. But who knew that the consulting firm would keep pestering her, so she brought up the Emperor's name, hoping to scare the consulting firm away.
The two young eunuchs following behind him were ready to retreat. They tugged at his sleeves and said, "Master, how about we go? Don't you have something else to do?"
But obviously, the consultant was not scared. He glared at the two useless eunuchs behind him, feeling that he had lost face because of them. "Why are you so anxious? I don't have a disciple as timid as you."
After being scolded, the two young eunuchs hung their heads and stood behind the consultant in frustration, not daring to speak up to dissuade him anymore.
Yes, the consultant did not give way as Lu Chen thought, but sneered, "Ha, it's been a long time since we last met, Miss Lu Chen's face has become bigger and bigger. I just want to reminisce with Miss Lu Chen, why does Miss Lu Chen ignore me?
"Do you think that just because you marry Concubine Jin, the Emperor will stand up for a little servant like you?"
The consultant actually gnashed his teeth at the end.
But Lu Chen was not intimidated by him. "Since Eunuch Gu knows that I'm hooking up with Concubine Jin, how dare you block my way?"
"I came to the Embroidery Workshop of the Imperial Household Department on the orders of Imperial Concubine Jin to gather embroiderers. What is the purpose of Eunuch Gu blocking the way? Can you afford to delay the Empress's work?"
Lu Chen spoke fiercely and confidently, and he almost pointed at the consulting firm's nose and told it to get out.
This made Consultant Xing a little hesitant for a moment. He dared to make a few sarcastic remarks to Lu Chen, but he really didn't dare to delay Concubine Jin's mission.
Seeing that the consultant was hesitant, Lu Chen mocked, "Why? Eunuch Gu, you don't believe it? Go and ask around. I just came back from Changchun Garden, and many people saw me along the way. Eunuch Gu can go and verify it yourself."
"But, now..." Lu Chen pushed the three of them away, "Don't block the way here."
Perhaps the consulting firm was not sure whether what Lu Chen said was true or false, but he finally decided not to stop Lu Chen. He just watched Lu Chen disappear at the end of the road before turning around and leaving.
Along the way, one could vaguely hear the two young eunuchs being scolded and admitting their mistakes, which caused the surrounding young eunuchs to give way and not dare to go over and offend them.
At this moment, Lu Chen finally arrived at the embroidery workshop after many twists and turns.
"Who are you? What are you doing in our embroidery workshop?" Lu Chen was stopped by a young palace maid who looked like she had just entered the palace this year.
Lu Chen was a little more patient with her. "Are you the embroiderer of the embroidery workshop? I have something to ask the head aunt of the embroidery workshop. Can you call her over for me?"
Sure enough, after hearing Lu Chen's words, the little palace maid's eyes lit up, "Looking for aunt? Then you have to wait, aunt just went out for something and hasn't come back yet."
Lu Chen thought about it and decided to stay in the embroidery workshop and wait for the aunt in charge to come back.
Lu Chen stood aside. The little maid who had just answered her question came up and looked at Lu Chen eagerly. She asked, "Sister, what do you want to do with aunt?"
Lu Chen glanced at her and saw that she looked innocent. He did not mind her straightforward probing. Instead, he answered her question, "I am here to find the head aunt on the orders of our queen. If you know where the head aunt is, are you willing to find her for me?"
"Wow." The little maid's eyes widened. "Then you must be the senior maid beside the queen! Unfortunately, I don't know where my aunt is, so I can't help you. Sorry."
The little palace maid became visibly depressed.
"It's okay, I'll wait here." Lu Chen didn't have much hope in the first place, so naturally he wouldn't blame her now.
Hearing Lu Chen say that it was okay, the little maid's eyes lit up, "It must be fun to be a maid beside the queen!"
She looked at Lu Chen as if seeking confirmation.
Lu Chen looked at her.
"What's wrong...can't I tell you?" The little palace maid shrank her shoulders back.
"What do you do in the embroidery workshop?"
When the little maid mentioned this, she said proudly, "I can help my aunt divide the embroidery thread!"
When Lu Chen heard this, it was no wonder that she knew where the head aunt had gone. Perhaps she was the little disciple that the head aunt intended to keep by her side?
"Yinling! Who are you talking to? I asked you to sort the embroidery threads, but you were lazy again?" A serious voice came from far away.
Until she came up to him, "Hey, why is Miss Luchen here? But does Concubine Jin need clothes made? Please come in and rest for a while. Yinling, go and get a pot of tea!"
"Oh oh oh, I'll go right away."
Yinling came running.
"Aunt, is the embroidery workshop busy now?"
She pondered for a while, then said, "Don't worry, the new clothes for all the masters have been made, and the portions for the palace maids and eunuchs have also been made. Recently, I think Concubine Xi has sent two pieces of cloth, and she will make two more sets of clothes after that. Embroiderers, you all have time!"
"I wonder if Imperial Concubine Jin is going to make new clothes? Don't worry, Miss Lu Chen! I will definitely arrange the best embroiderer to make clothes for the Imperial Concubine!..."
Seeing that she was talking nonstop, Lu Chen quickly stopped her.
"Aunt, you misunderstood. The Queen sent me here to ask you to arrange for more embroiderers. We need more people, and their skills don't need to be too good. Take a look at this pattern, how do you think it is?"
Lu Chen handed over the embroidery pattern of the four-legged beast.
The lady who runs the embroidery workshop and is also the most skilled embroiderer in the workshop frowned as she looked at the pattern on the picture.
She had never seen this pattern before, but it was just as Lu Chen said. It didn't require high skills, even a beginner in the embroidery workshop could embroider it.
She raised her head and asked, "Where will your Majesty embroider this pattern?"
So, Lu Chen explained Yuying's intention to her again.
It turned out to be embroidered on old clothes.
She suddenly realized and almost immediately had the right person in mind.
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