After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 609 A suspected old friend is coming

When Haitang got the news about Ms. Mei, she began to ask her grandmother Ma for information about her.

It happened more than 30 years ago, and Madam Mei had passed away many years ago, so Ma's memory of her was a little vague. If Haitang hadn't mentioned it, she would have forgotten many things.

During the recollection, Haitang deliberately added her own personal thoughts and misled her grandmother with words, which affected Ma's memory unconsciously. She thought she was recalling the real experience of the past, but she didn't know that some details had been distorted.

Haitang also followed the clue that "Madam Mei might have worked in a wealthy family in Beijing" and further led Ma to think of the two palace maids who were invited by the Tang family to teach the young ladies, thus beginning to doubt Madam Mei's identity.

How could she look like a servant in a rich family with her manners and bearing? If she was not a servant, but a teacher hired to teach girls, she must have some background, right? She couldn't be a famous embroiderer from a small family. Who would hire an embroiderer to teach their daughters? She must be a famous embroiderer or an old maid from the palace. It was common for officials in the capital to hire retired female officials to serve as nannies for their daughters.

But Madam Mei was less than 40 years old when she died. She was still young and could not have been a retired old maid in the palace. So what could be her origin?

Haitang talked about this topic with her grandmother Ma for several days, and even invited Aunt Cui, Aunt Ma and Second Aunt Hu to join the conversation. Ma was deeply impressed, and her mind was full of the voice and smile of Madam Mei in the past, which increased her curiosity. It was a pity that Madam Mei died young, and she had been away from Zhili for more than 30 years, and had lost contact with her former relatives and friends, otherwise she would have written to inquire about it.

During this process, Haitang also quickened her pace and quickly finished half of Ma Shangyi's bodice, the only thing left was the cotton filling and fur lining. Even the embroidery patterns for the decorative parts had been sketched out in advance.

Ma then wrapped the unfinished bodice in a bundle and took it to Jin's house with the pattern to show it to Ma Shangyi: "Take a look, old sister, do you like this color and pattern? If you don't like it, it's not too late to change it now."

Ma Shangyi carefully checked it and praised, "It's very well done! It's amazing that your granddaughter is so young, but her stitches are so fine. I think the people in the sewing room in the palace are no better than this."

Ma was happy to hear this, but she still had to be modest: "That's too much praise. Although our Tangtang has some talent, she doesn't dare to compare with the masters in the palace. How old is she? She has only learned needlework for a few years, and is far from being as skilled as those veterans with decades of experience. I know that my elder sister is giving me face, so she praises her like this."

Ma Shangyi smiled and stared at a stitch on the bodice carefully: "I'm not lying. I've been used to seeing the work done by the people in the sewing room in the palace. Some young girls are not as meticulous as your sister."

"That's impossible, right?" Ma dared not believe it. "The people who specialize in sewing in the palace must be good at it. How can they be inferior to a little girl? Old sister, don't think that I am a country bumpkin who came back from the border town and have never seen the world. I also know a sewing lady from the capital. She is said to be from a wealthy family and may have worked in the palace. The sewing she does is more delicate than that of Tangtang in my family. Although I am partial to children, I am not to the point of lying with my eyes open."

Ma Shangyi paused and raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Sister Ma, you know someone else from the palace? Who is it?" Ma said: "It was a lady named Mei who was invited by my father to teach me needlework when I was still unmarried. Others said that she was a needlework teacher for the young ladies in the noble families of Beijing, and she accidentally offended someone and ended up in Shanhaiguan. But the way she speaks and behaves is not comparable to that of an ordinary needlework lady, she looks more like someone from the palace!"

Ma Shangyi sat up a little straighter. "You said that your needlework was also taught by someone in the palace? This Miss Mei...how old is she? What does she look like? Where is she now?"

These days, Ma has been pestered by her granddaughter to ask about Madam Mei. She is very familiar with the answers to these questions and can answer them at will.

When Mei taught her, she looked about 30 years old, pretty and elegant, soft-spoken, and dignified. Ma recalled that Mei was more elegant in her manners than the other female teacher who taught her poetry, literature, and etiquette, but it was a pity that she was inferior in status.

Ma was the daughter of a civil and military officer, and her father was not a high-ranking official. She went to the home of a female teacher every three days to study, but she was not taken seriously and her learning was average. Instead, it was Mei, who taught her needlework, who taught her by words and deeds, so that she learned more. She was influenced by her and grew up to be a gentle and elegant lady. If she had not returned to Chang'an after marriage and went to the border town to endure the wind and sand for more than ten years, she would still be the gentle and dignified official wife.

Ma lamented deeply over Lady Mei's excellence and early death, while Ma Shangyi, who was standing beside her, was also overwhelmed with emotion and unable to calm down.

Why does this Miss Mei sound so familiar? She responded to two etiquettes, and it seemed that she had been influenced by the rules of the palace. Moreover, her appearance, her conversation, and her needlework skills unique to the palace, she didn't look like an ordinary needlework lady in the folk. If she had taught in a wealthy family, the wealthy families in Beijing would only invite maids from the palace to teach their daughters, and would never solemnly hire embroiderers from the market. And those who would invite embroiderers to teach their daughters needlework would not have high official positions, and would not treat embroiderers as their daughters' serious teachers.

Although her age is a little off, it may be because she has been injured, sick, and has a turbulent life. She has suffered a lot, so she looks older than her actual age. It is precisely because she has suffered and is weak that she can easily fall ill!

Who could this Miss Mei be?

Is it Meixiang? Yumei? They both followed the Empress Dowager from Chang'an into the palace, but were implicated in the harem struggle and were expelled from the palace to protect the Empress Dowager. Before leaving the palace, one was very ill and the other was beaten with a stick, and it was unknown whether she could survive. Unfortunately, the Empress Dowager was too busy to take care of herself at the time, and when she was able to find them, they had disappeared. Later, the fourth master went to Beijing to become the Marquis of Cheng'en, and the Empress Dowager had someone to take care of her in the capital. The maids who came with the dowry were framed and expelled from the palace, and finally they had a reliable place to go.

It could also be Suyun. She was not married into the palace from Chang'an, but was originally a palace maid working in Kunning Palace. She was best friends with Meiye, and cried especially hard when she saw Meiye's tragic death. She was later driven out of the palace, and before leaving, she said that Meiye died because of her crime. She has no relatives at home, and after leaving the palace, she will go to find Meiye's relatives to take care of her parents on behalf of Meiye. Meiye was from Zhili, so maybe Suyun took Meiye's surname?

It could be someone else. The maids in Kunning Palace were all known to everyone when they were killed and expelled from the palace. If someone managed to escape with their life, changing their name and leaving Beijing to make a living would be the way to save their lives, and it would also save Concubine Chang's family from killing them all.

No matter which one it was, this Lady Mei looked like the missing sister of Ma Shangyi. She had hated these sisters for years because they had no news after leaving the palace, and she didn't know whether they were alive or dead. Now that she finally had a clue, how could she let it go? !
(End of this chapter)