After the favored concubine remarried, the aloof and powerful minister forcibly took her away.

Chapter 29 Repairing the Embroidery Pattern Earns Appreciation

Pei Yanzhi's voice came through, chillingly, filling Mingxiang with remorse.

Why was he so curious? And the person in question overheard him.

"grown ups……"

Mingxiang turned to look at Pei Yanzhi, giving him a somewhat awkward smile.

"Isn't Chief Justice Cao currently investigating a case? Why don't you come along?"

After saying that, Pei Yanzhi walked out. He had an appointment with the officials of the prefectural government to discuss some matters.

Mingxiang looked pained after hearing his words.

The cases that Cao Sizheng investigates are the most difficult cases to solve by the Dali Temple.

Most importantly, everyone in the Dali Temple knows that when Cao Sizheng starts cursing, he never repeats a single word. No matter how hard-hearted someone is, he can make them want to cry.

The adults must be annoyed by his talkativeness and want to send him to Cao Sizheng for some training.

Cheng Hua looked at Ming Xiang with a gloating expression, and patted him on the shoulder: "Lord Ming, you should be glad that I'm in a good mood today."

Otherwise, it wouldn't just be Mingxiang going to Cao Sizheng's place.

Mingxiang nodded helplessly; it was his fault for being so talkative.

After receiving their monthly allowances, Xiang Ning and Bi Tao discussed going out of the mansion.

When their master is not around during the day, they only go out for an hour, which won't cause any problems.

As it happened, Xiang Ning had already planned to go out and take care of some things today.

After greeting the servants at Qingyi Residence, Xiangning and Bitao went out.

The Pei family did not restrict the maids from going out, since their indentures were all in the hands of the Pei family. Even if they ran away, they could be caught and beaten to death.

In this world, those who are slaves have always lived under someone else's feet.

After Xiangning and Bitao left the mansion, they went their separate ways to attend to their own business.

Having asked Granny Xu before, Xiang Ning headed straight for the embroidery shop on Ping Shun Street.

As soon as she arrived there, she looked up and saw the four large characters "Ruyi Embroidery Workshop" written above.

Although there weren't many customers at the entrance, they were all dressed in expensive clothes, suggesting they were quite wealthy.

Xiang Ning had a few handkerchiefs in her small package, intending to show them to the embroidery shop owner first, and if they were acceptable, she would then embroider them.

With that thought in mind, she took a deep breath and headed toward the embroidery workshop.

The embroiderers inside saw Xiang Ning and came over to greet her warmly.

"Does the young lady wish to buy or sell embroidery?"

Seeing that Xiang Ning had a small package in her hand, she asked her what it was. Xiang Ning smiled and replied, "I want to sell some embroidery to supplement my family's income."

Xiang Ning replied, and the embroiderer understood, gesturing for Xiang Ning to hand over the small package in her hand.

After the embroiderer examined Xiang Ning's embroidery, she nodded in praise: "The embroidery technique is excellent, the stitches are dense and thick, very good, our Ruyi Embroidery Workshop will accept it."

Hearing the embroiderer say this, Xiang Ning breathed a sigh of relief. In this way, she could earn extra money with her embroidery in her spare time, bringing her one step closer to saving enough money to redeem herself.

"Lady Li, come quickly."

The embroiderer was about to say something more when she heard someone calling her from not far away.

She left a message saying "Wait a moment" and hurried away.

"The peony and phoenix design is embroidered with mixed colored threads, making the phoenix's tail and peony petals look very mismatched."

These words came from amidst the somewhat noisy voices, followed by a reprimand from the embroiderer who had just been called Lady Li.

Xiang Ning lowered her eyes and thought for a moment before walking towards where Madam Li was.

"If you don't mind, why don't you let me give it a try?"

She spoke up, and the embroiderers gathered around exchanged glances. Then one of them said, "This is the peony and phoenix design that the lady of the government office wanted. If you ruin it, can you afford to pay for it?"

“But now, don’t you have no other choice?” Xiang Ning ignored the man’s sarcasm and spoke up.

Upon hearing this, the man was about to stand up and refute Xiang Ning.

Lady Li looked at Xiang Ning for a long while before speaking: "Then I'll trouble you to take a look, Miss."

With Li Niangzi's words, no one else could say anything more and had no choice but to make way for Xiang Ning.

"Let me remind you, this peony and phoenix painting is worth a hundred gold pieces. If you ruin it, hmph."

The embroiderer who spoke up was You Niangzi, the best embroiderer at Ruyi Embroidery Workshop. She had an idea after seeing the ruined peony and phoenix painting.

However, some time ago, she had a conflict with Madam Li, and was waiting for Madam Li to speak first to invite her, when she was interrupted by this person who appeared out of nowhere.

She wanted to see how she would restore this peony and phoenix painting.

After Xiang Ning finished reading, she picked up an embroidery needle, threaded it with colorful thread, and began to mend it.

A quarter of an hour later, Lady Li's eyes lit up as she looked at the peony and phoenix painting.

"This mixed color has actually been changed into a seven-colored hue. The seven-colored phoenix feathers together with this mixed-colored peony are truly wonderful."

After Li Niangzi finished speaking, everyone praised her.

Everyone who sees this will say that it is ingeniously conceived, unlike the usual peony and phoenix paintings, and is full of clever ideas.

Lady You looked at this scene with a hint of dissatisfaction on her face.

"Madam Li, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."

Xiang Ning put down the embroidery needle and turned to leave.

Lady Li grabbed the pattern and embroidered handkerchief from the side and chased after him.

"Wait a minute, young lady. We don't know your name yet."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Ning stopped and replied to Madam Li, "You can just call me Xiang Ning, Madam."

"Xiang Ning is a good name. By the way, I will accept all the embroidered handkerchiefs you have from now on. Also, this pattern was ordered by a distinguished guest. If you do a good job embroidering it, I will entrust it to you."

"Once the final payment is received, I'll give you 10%."

Madam Li originally wanted to ask Xiang Ning if she would like to work in the embroidery workshop, but upon seeing her attire, she knew that she was a maid from a wealthy family.

However, if they can cooperate long-term, the embroidery shop's business will definitely be even better thanks to her excellent embroidery skills.

She's doing Xiang Ning a good thing; if Xiang Ning redeems herself in the future, she might even consider working at the embroidery shop.

Xiang Ning understood what Madam Li meant and accepted the invitation with a smile: "Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Madam."

After thanking Madam Li, Xiang Ning left.

As soon as they stepped out of the embroidery shop, they encountered an unexpected person.

"Third Young Master."

"You are... the person from the greenhouse, the one from the eldest brother's room last time?"

Pei Mingxiu thought for a long time before he remembered who Xiang Ning was. Hearing Pei Mingxiu's words, Xiang Ning nodded slightly.

"By the way, I haven't found a suitable opportunity in the manor. This hairpin, is it yours?"

Seeing Xiang Ning nod, Pei Mingxiu took out a plain silver hairpin from his pocket and handed it to her.

Upon seeing the hairpin, Xiang Ning's eyes widened slightly: "How did this hairpin end up in your hands?"

“I saw it in the grass when I passed by last time; your name was carved on it.”

"It's just that there are too many people in the mansion, and I'm afraid that returning it to you in public would cause you trouble."

Pei Mingxiu smiled as he said this, after all, his status in the mansion was quite awkward.

The master is not a master, and the servant is not a servant. If we rashly return her hairpin, we will surely bring her trouble.

"Young Master is the master, so this is what I should be saying to you."

(End of this chapter)