Chapter 458 This Year's Tribute
"Is it okay now?" Everyone gathered around the quilt and looked.
I reached out and touched it. It was very thick, with dense warp and weft networks wrapping the cotton wool tightly.
"Not yet! There's a quilt covering the outside! Otherwise, the net will break after a few kicks!" Su Ying said with a smile.
"How long will we have to wait?" Song Xuanyu, Hu Changshi, and Lin Xiancheng wanted to finish reading it in one go.
"Tomorrow! It's getting dark now!"
Many candles were lit in the yard. It was the hour of Xu, and Wang Sanlang and Pei Sanlang were already starving!
A banquet was set up in Su's house, with dishes such as braised pork with chestnuts, boiled pork slices, roast duck with konjac, minced meat and egg custard, stewed pork elbow, and sauerkraut vermicelli soup.
It looks like it’s full of grease and meat, but for men, women and children who have worked hard all day, it doesn’t feel greasy at all.
Drinking the fermented glutinous rice soup and taking a bite of the greasy braised pork, the taste is, in one word, wonderful!
"Eat, eat!" The twins have grown a few small teeth, and it is time for them to crave meat.
After taking a bite of the soft, tender, and glutinous braised pork, I was so anxious that I shouted "eat" and wanted to eat more.
"Oh! Little greedy cat! Instead of calling out "Aye" or "Mother", you shout "food" first! Will you eat dog in the future?" Old Mrs. Su was amused.
"Eat, eat!" The brother and sister fluttered towards the braised pork in their cricket pupae state.
Yang Chunhua picked up a piece of braised pork with alternating fat and lean parts and cut it into small pieces with chopsticks.
"Eat, eat!" The two children were so impatient that their saliva dripped from the corners of their mouths.
"Slow down, slow down, I have it all, I have it all!" Yang Chunhua fed Dabao, and Xiaobao reached out and grabbed his mother's hand and put it into his mouth.
"It's so fast! In three months, the baby will be one year old!" Madam Zheng lamented that the past two years had passed so quickly.
We used to be so poor that we had no food to eat, and every day was so hard to endure. But now that good days have come, the days fly by.
"Of course! The scene of carrying mountain products up the mountain two years ago is still vivid in my mind. How did I become Su Erlangjun's wife?
My child is almost one year old, and it feels like a dream, so unreal!" Yang Chunhua has a deep understanding of this.
At that time, I was carrying a backpack that was much bigger than myself and struggling to go down the mountain. The suffering was endless, and I felt numb and miserable.
The three brothers of the Su family took their own backpacks, and the tall Erlangjun rushed to carry the backpack and help take it home.
She was carrying a backpack that felt like a mountain, but it didn't seem that big on Erlangjun's back. He was walking with big strides, and I had to jog to catch up with him.
Who would have thought then that I would become the wife of Erlangjun? Fate is truly amazing!
"Now that the quilt is ready, it's time for you to set off, right?" Madam Zheng was both envious and reluctant.
"Yes!" Yang Chunhua sighed, "Pan'er, aren't you leaving? Qingyun and Jin'an are both back in Chang'an."
"Me? My parents-in-law are still alive, but my husband passed away early. I have to show my filial piety to him! I have to see the old man to the end of his life!" Madam Zheng smiled bitterly.
I really want to go back to Chang'an with everyone, but my parents-in-law are over sixty years old, with white hair. How many days do they have left?
These days, her parents-in-law have been treating her better and more attentively. Madam Zheng understands that the old people are afraid that she will also pass away.
But if Madam Zheng really wanted to leave, they were powerless to stop her and could only do their best to be good to her.
The old man is afraid that no one will serve tea or water by his bedside, and that there will be no one to take care of him when he passes away.
Besides, her parents are here too, so Madam Zheng can’t leave even if she wants to!
"Pan'er, thank you!" Yang Chunhua held Madam Zheng's hand.
Some things can only be realized afterward. One day, at some time, Yang Chunhua suddenly realized the other deeper meaning behind Zheng Niangzi's matchmaking.
If Pan'er had been more resolute and gotten there first, Mrs. Su Yuanwailang's surname would be Zheng now!
"What are you thanking me for? What's yours won't go away, and what's not yours won't go away by force!
"You are living a good life, which is better than anything else! Now you have a son and a daughter, and a wonderful husband! Your good days are still ahead!"
Zheng Pan'er said with a smile, her eyes a little red, and she naturally understood what Yang Chunhua said.
The next day, Madam Zheng took a group of girls to spin yarn and weave cloth.
The loom clicked and clicked all day long, weaving a piece of pure cotton cloth.
Song Xuanyu touched the cotton cloth which was stronger than fine gauze, and couldn't help but admire that white diezi was indeed the best material for textiles.
It saves the tedious process of producing kudzu and hemp fibers. They are picked from the fields and turned into quilts and cloth in just one or two days.
Su Ying told the three sisters-in-law of the Du family how to cut the cotton cloth slightly larger than the quilt, wrap the quilt, cover it with a satin quilt cover that had been prepared in advance, and sew it together.
The quilt cover is bright red with a golden glow, and it is woven with a floral brocade pattern, which is luxurious and exquisite!
Su Ying originally wanted to weave a dragon and phoenix, but she remembered that the dragon was exclusive to the royal family and she couldn't touch it casually.
To be on the safe side, they wove a cloud brocade with round flowers that symbolize auspiciousness.
The three sisters-in-law worked at the same time, and soon a dazzling and luxurious brocade quilt was completed.
"Okay?" Song Xuanyu looked at the thick quilt and wanted to know how warm it was!
"I guess so! Using the same method, you can make another quilt as a mattress and put it on the bed, then cover it with a sheet. It will keep you warm in the winter!"
It can also be made into cotton clothes to keep out the cold," Su Ying explained.
"Master Su, can you make me another set of cotton clothes?" Song Xuanyu did not bother two masters with one thing.
After Su Ying left, there was no one to ask.
"Uh! Okay!" Su Ying thought about it and it made sense. Seeing is believing. No matter how much you describe it, it is not as good as seeing it with your own eyes.
The next day, another quilt was made into a mattress to complete the set with the sewn quilt.
Two sets of cotton coats were made, one for men and one for women.
"Do you know your height?" Su Ying asked Fuxi.
"He is about the same height as Mr. Su and Mr. Su!" Fuxi replied.
Song Xuanyu and Lin County Magistrate remained silent, and Hu Changshi looked confused.
Su Ying's question was nonsensical, and Fu Xi's answer was even more confusing.
These were the daily uniforms made for His Majesty and the Empress, but since there were so many people around, Su Ying was reluctant to point it out. However, the astute Fu Wang understood as soon as he heard it.
"Mother, please be a little wider by half an inch compared to my second uncle and me." Su Ying said to Mrs. Du.
Chang'an is cold, so you naturally need to wear more inner clothes and cotton clothes on the outside, which should be larger than your usual thin winter clothes.
After the cotton becomes soft, press it into cotton pieces of appropriate thickness, cut them, sew them into the interlayer, and then sew them to prevent the cotton from moving and clumping.
The lining of the men's clothing is pure purple brocade, and the outside is purple with cloud patterns, which looks very noble.
The lining of the women's clothing is pure red brocade, and the outside is decorated with bright red peony flowers, which is bright and gorgeous.
"Well, Wuzhou has this year's tribute!" Song Xuanyu said to Hu Changshi.
"Lord Fu, please go there in person!" Su Ying said to Fu Xi.
"Thank you, Lord Su, for your kindness!" Fuxi bowed.
Last year, it was Fulu who escorted the colorful brocade with Chinese and Vietnamese elements back to Chang'an to show up, and this year it is Fuxi's turn.
So several adults wrote congratulatory memorials and handed them to Fuxi to take away.
The seals on several large boxes were stamped with the Lingnan brocade seals of the county government, the prefecture government, and the Ministry of Finance's Weaving and Dyeing Bureau.
A quilt, a mattress, one to two hundred kilograms of cotton for men's and women's cotton clothes, all the cotton seeds, a set of cotton-picking tools, a hand-cranked spinning wheel, and notes on growing white sedge.
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