I'm already a concubine, who wants to fight with you?

Chapter 23 Perfect Embroidery

Yuan San was sawing wood to make a table. A few days ago, Xie Fei complained that the dining table had a broken leg and would easily fall over when placed on the uneven ground, so he made a new one.

Hearing what Xie Fei said, he frowned and thought for a long time, wondering and comforting: "Miss, our dynasty is the royal family, and usually we don't bury living people with the dead."

Xie Fei said meaningfully: "You don't understand, Xiao Shirong, there is a problem here."

She nodded her head.

Yuan San said with a smile: "You are a concubine, even if Xiao Shirong is the legal wife, you cannot make decisions on your own."

"What about the old lady?" Xie Fei said seriously, "I strongly suspect that Xiao Shirong's mental illness is hereditary. Maybe she was brought from her mother's womb. Her aunt, the general's wife, may also have it."

Yuan San was shocked by her imagination.

The practice of burying people with the dead had long been abolished, and even royal relatives did not dare to openly bury living people with the dead.

A playboy who had no real power and made no contribution to the country, used the daughter of a fifth-rank official as his burial companion?
If the emperor agreed, all civil and military officials would kowtow in the hall until blood splattered three feet away.

But seeing that Xie Fei was worried and nervous, Yuan San knew that instead of trying to persuade him again and again, it would be better to just agree.

Sure enough, he vowed to save her. Xie Fei felt relieved all of a sudden, and turned his head to put the matter behind him and went back to take care of his own medicine field.

Mother Liu specially marked out a piece of land for Xie Fei, which was considered to be the most fertile among the many paddy fields. It was hidden in a corner and was not easy to find even if the Pei Mansion came to inspect it.

Xie Fei used this field to grow some medicinal herbs, and the villagers would also help out when they irrigated or weeded.

In the afternoon, Xie Fei went to see Madam Zou.

The sky is grey and it's going to rain again.

There has been a lot of rain this year. The capital is still okay, but I heard that there was a flood disaster in the Yellow River area, the dam burst, and many people were displaced.

The weather has been good in recent years, could a disaster be coming?

Xie Fei was a little worried, but no one could tell what was going on in God's affairs, so her worrying was useless.

Because the rice was harvested recently and the busy farming season was over, the women in the village had nothing to do, so they went out to get clothes and brought them back, washed and mended them to supplement the household income.

When Xie Fei found Madam Zou, she was sewing clothes.

"Thank you, young lady, for coming. I was planning to send you the cloth shoes later." Madam Zou smiled cheerfully. She was cheerful and kind, and had no ulterior motives.

Xie Fei said: "You are busy too, let me get it."

Madam Zou went into the house and took out the cloth shoes, then spread them out for Xie Fei to see.

These pairs of cloth shoes are made of satin outer surface and cotton lining. They are delicately crafted and look better than the embroidered shoes sold outside.

"Ms. Zou has great craftsmanship. This work can be sold in the shop."

Madam Zou blushed at Xie Fei's praise and said shyly, "Mrs. Xie, you are joking. I am just using a trick."

Xie Fei said seriously: "Your workmanship is really good, better than the old ladies I saw in my mother's house before. I think, instead of making a few coppers by mending clothes for others, why not make some small things to sell?"

When she lived in the Xie family, she often saw the old women sewing sachets, insoles, bellybands and other things under the dim light of the night and then selling them in the shop.

Madam Zou smiled bitterly and said, "Xie Xiao Niang, you don't know. We have done this kind of work before."

But after all the hard work, when I sell it to the shop, the shopkeeper keeps trying to lower the price, so even if I sell it, I won't make a penny.

I sold it myself, but after hawking it on the street for a long time, no one even looked at it. After a while, everyone gave up this way.

Madam Zou said this sadly, and then added: "However, Madam Shui's ancestor seems to have been an embroiderer in the palace, and her skills are really amazing! The lotus she embroidered looks just like the real thing, and the bird she embroidered looks like it's about to fly!"

Xie Fei said: "I didn't expect that Lady Shui has this skill?"

"Yes, ever since Lady Shui got pregnant, she has seldom embroidered."

Madam Zou continued to ramble on for a long time before letting Xie Fei leave.

After returning home, Xie Fei looked at the cloth shoes and thought that they were truly exquisitely crafted, but they could only be used to wash and mend clothes, which was such a waste.

As for Shui Huaiyu's embroidery skills, Xie Fei had never had the chance to see them, but after hearing Madam Zou bragging about them, he couldn't help but feel curious.

She was just thinking about this when Shui Huaiyu came to her door.

"Thanks to you, my husband has been able to walk around the fields and keep watch these days." Shui Huaiyu opened a cloth package and said, "These are some patterns I embroidered before. You can use them as toys, or make sachets or fans."

Xie Fei glanced at it casually, and his expression suddenly froze.

"Did you really embroider these?"

"Yes."

Xie Fei picked up a piece of embroidery, which showed mandarin ducks playing in the water. Just as Madam Zou had said, not only were the embroidery feet dense and compact, but the transitional colors were also well matched, flowing naturally and silkily.

The whole embroidery is bright and colorful, and the two mandarin ducks seem to come alive. The lake water sways slightly under the sunlight embroidered with golden silk threads, as if mandarin ducks are really playing in the water, with rippling blue waves. What an exquisite and lively scene.

Even Xie Fei was surprised and praised: "Madam Zou said that your craftsmanship is superb. It is indeed perfect and vivid."

Shui Huaiyu said shyly: "To be honest, my ancestors worked in the embroidery department of the previous dynasty's palace. The craft has been passed down from generation to generation. It's nothing to me now."

Most of the embroidery pieces in her hands were made with fine silk cloth and silk threads in the past. She had kept them carefully in the hope that they would become a dowry if she gave birth to a daughter, or a betrothal gift if she gave birth to a son.

Now she gave it to Xie Fei first, she was worried that Xie Fei came from an official family and would not look down on the silk cloth.

But it seemed that Xie Fei liked it very much, and he immediately asked Fu Yu to make a fan frame and frame the embroidery on it to make it into a round fan.

After Shui Huaiyu left, Fu Yu shouted, "Girl, it's already autumn, and you're walking around the streets with a round fan. Are you afraid that the weather isn't cold enough?"

Xie Fei tapped her head and said, "Such a delicate embroidery, if you don't use it, will it just be stored in the bottom of the box and gather dust? Anyway, you have nothing to do recently, so you should learn some needlework, and don't end up having to find someone to do the sewing for you."

Fu Yu pouted and walked away holding the embroidery.

There was a slight noise coming from the wall. Xie Fei looked over and saw Yuan San coming in, carrying a pheasant or rabbit in his hands.

He had been going to the mountains a lot recently, getting some fresh game and keeping them in cages. As time went by, the bamboo cages and enclosures were no longer enough.

"Girl, this chicken can lay eggs." He lifted the pheasant, which was flapping its wings, and said excitedly, "I saw it lay eggs with my own eyes, and they are still warm."

Xie Fei saw that his waist was bulging and there were several egg shapes appearing.

"Put the eggs aside first, don't break them."

Yuan San raised his hands and blinked innocently.

He held a pheasant in his left hand and two hares in his right hand. As soon as he let go, the pheasant would fly away and the rabbits would jump up, and he would not be able to chase them back.

(End of this chapter)