The Female Supporting Role Shows Out - Chapter 88

Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse

Hearing that her daughter went out to look for an embroiderer, Madam Kou was really relieved. And when she heard that the embroiderer she invited was from the collapsed Lin Family Embroidery Shop, she was so angry that they almost jumped. “Why do you look for her? Did you find a goner? If Lin Dan’s embroidering skills were better than Meng Si’s, would the Lin Embroidery Shop collapse? Where does she live? Tell me now. I’ll get 5 taels of silver back. Let’s go to Meng Clan Embroidery Shop and find a better embroiderer than her!”

“Auntie, it’s none of your business.” Xu Qian seemed to be gentle, but in fact, she had a good idea. She said firmly, “I just want Lin Dan to embroider clothes for me. Don’t worry. Even if you have hired another embroiderer to make clothes for me, I won’t wear them. Don’t waste money.”

Although the two of them lived in the Admiral’s Manor, they didn’t have much savings because they were not favored. A set of clothes worth ten or twenty taels of silver was ordinary for others of the family but extravagant for them.

Xu Qian knew that in order to marry her own daughter into the royal family, Madam would definitely try her best to suppress the other daughters of concubines. When all the clothes were made, the seventh daughter’s must be the most beautiful, and the rest would only be a foil.

Xu Qian didn’t want to be a foil, so she wouldn’t want the clothes made by Mother.

However, Madam Kou didn’t understand her concern. She said anxiously, “Who is Lin Dan? I’ve never heard of her before. Can you wear the clothes she made? Although we can’t invite Meng Si, we can invite her embroiderer. You should know that all the high-level embroiderers from the Meng Clan Embroidery Shop are from the palace, and their workmanship is absolutely not bad! Tell me the address of the Lin family as soon as possible. I’ll get the deposit back!”

Xu Qian picked up a book and read it slowly, ignoring her angry mother.

Madam Kou glared at her and gasped for a while before she lifted the curtain and went out.

Without raising her head, Xu Qian said, “If you go to inquire about the address of the Lin family secretly and return my order without permission, I won’t attend the Mid Autumn Dinner Party. The embroiderer you are looking for is definitely not as good as Lin Dan. I believe in her.” She believed in her own insight more than she believed in Lin Dan.

After pausing for a moment, Madam Kou slammed the door and left angrily.

Soon Madam Xu heard the quarrel between the mother and daughter.  She said with a faint smile, “Ling’er, look, even your well-behaved Sixth Sister has some ideas!”

“She is playing tricks on me. What am I afraid of? Who was the embroiderer she was looking for? Compared with Meng Si, who do you think you are?” Xu Ling, the di daughter (Note: daughter of the proper wife) of the Xu family, curled her lips in disdain.

A maid replied in a hurry, “My lady, that embroiderer is Lin Dafu’s daughter. She has never learned embroidery before. She is a green hand. That day, she embroidered a blouse with ginkgo leaves for Du Ruyan, which made her quite popular. But Miss Meng has said that those ginkgo leaves are all embroidered with the simplest needle method. It’s not surprising that the disciples of her Embroidery Shop can make them easily.”

Madam Xu’s eyelids closed slightly and said lazily, “Du Ruyan is so beautiful that she looks good no matter what she wears. It’s not the embroiderer’s contribution. Since she is not good at embroidering, let her be an embroiderer for Sixth Girl. It’s none of our business.”

Xu Ling grinned and said, “I’d like to see what kind of clothes she will make for Sixth Sister. Last time, she embroidered leaves, but this time, she embroiders flowers? That’s interesting!”

All the maids laughed with mockery in their eyes. The floral cloth was already out of date, and only the servants in the Manor would wear it. Did Xu Qian still want to compete with the maids? If she was obedient, Madam could still make her a good dress. But she had to act on her own. No wonder Madam made a fool of her.

—

In order to make Xu Qian’s clothes and Du Rusong’s leather armor, Lin Dan was so busy. Even the two aunts and Cuilan were caught by her. She locked them in the room every day and asked them to cut the cloth for her. On the day before the Mid Autumn Festival, she failed to deliver the clothes on time, and Xu Qian sent someone to urge her again and again. She apologized again and again and stayed up all night before she finally got the clothes ready. Watching Cuilan leaving in a hurry, she finally exhaled a mouthful of stale air.

The Xu Manor was located in the center of the city, a distance from the suburbs. It was not until Cuilan paid a cow cart that she arrived at the destination before sunset. At the same time, Xu Qian was greeting a group of sisters who had come to watch her gaffe one after another.

“Sixth Sister, your clothes are not ready yet?”

“Sixth Sister, why do you take things so unreasonable? Why did you leave the clothes to an unknown embroiderer?”

“Sixth Sister, if you really don’t have clothes to wear, I still have a new one for you. How about I ask a maid to send it to you right away?”

Xu Qian had already been used to the open strife and secret struggles between her sisters, so she patiently dealt with them one by one. Seeing that she was not in a hurry, the crowd felt bored and left soon.

With a package in her hand, Madam Kou ran in in a hurry. “Hurry up. This is the dress I asked the embroiderer from Meng Clan Embroidery Shop to make for you. I’ve already expected that the person named Lin Dan is unreliable. In addition, I spent some money to make a dress for you. Change it quickly. The distinguished guest will arrive soon!” As she spoke, she opened the package and took out her clothes, shoes, and socks.

“Don’t worry. Just wait.” Xu Qian waved her hand firmly. Somehow, she didn’t think that Lin Dan was the kind of person who was talking nonsense and irresponsible. She was willing to give her more time.

“What are you waiting for? From noon till now, Xu Ling has been dressing up in the room. Your other sisters have also put on the new clothes and are ready. Only you haven’t wiped your face, put on makeup, or even worn a decent dress. Do you really want to marry that old bastard and be beaten to death?” As she spoke, Madam Kou began to wipe her tears. Who was she doing this for? Why didn’t her daughter appreciate it?

Xu Qian was touched. She put down the book and went to see the newly made clothes. She wore a magenta slip skirt and a white blouse with several hibiscus flowers embroidered on the hemline. The style was conventional, not outstanding, but not ugly.

“Change your clothes quickly so that I can comb your hair.” Madam Kou urged again.

Xu Qian stood up and was about to take off her clothes when her maid came in in a hurry and said, “Miss, the embroiderer has brought the clothes here. Have a look.”

“What are you looking at? We don’t want that one. Return it and wear mine! It took me more than half a month to finish the dress, and it almost delayed our important work. I must get back the 5 deposit…” As she spoke, she stopped talking. She stared at the dress in the maid’s hand for a long time and then cried out in astonishment.

Xu Qian held her breath and looked at it obsessively.

“Miss, please change your clothes quickly!” The maid reminded anxiously, and the two came to their senses from the amazement.

Madam Kou threw the clothes on the ground and hurried to pick up the clothes made by Meng Si. She remembered that she didn’t wash her hands and stood still, not daring to come forward. The dress was so delicate and beautiful that she didn’t dare to touch it at all.

Xu Qian immediately took off her clothes and carefully put on her new dress.

Two-quarters of an hour later, the eldest prince and his group arrived at the Xu Manor as scheduled and took their seats in the garden. The stage had already been set up. The male and female guests sat at both ends of the table, watching the play and having dinner. When the moon moved in the center of the sky, they could look up at the moon. Admiral Xu’s mother, who had just recovered, also came and was talking to her granddaughters with a smile. Madam Xu and several sisters-in-law sat beside her and behaved elegantly.

The eldest prince was handsome and cold. He didn’t even look at the female guests. The ladies looked at him from time to time. Somehow, they blushed with shyness.

“Why didn’t Sixth Girl come?” Old Madam Xu looked around and asked in a low voice.

“I will send someone to find her. Maybe she was delayed by something.” Said Madam Xu.

“Her new clothes are not ready. She is in a hurry now.” The eighth daughter said with a smile.

“Why didn’t she get her clothes ready for the party?” Old Madam Xu cast a glance at her daughter-in-law.

Madam Xu explained in a low voice, “I’ve already asked embroiderers from the Meng Clan Embroidery Shop to work overtime to make clothes for the girls in the manor. But she refused and insisted on going out to make clothes for her. Her embroiderer was the daughter of the Lin family. She just started to learn embroidery and was good at it, which delayed the construction period. I’ve already made the clothes without telling her and asked Madam Kou to send them there. Mother, don’t worry. She will be here soon.”

Old Madam Xu’s face softened and sighed, “I didn’t expect that she is also a troublemaker.” Then she looked at Xu Ling and couldn’t help praising, “Seventh Girl is so beautiful today. You almost dazzled me!”

Xu Ling lowered her eyes to cover her mouth as if she was shy. Then she took a quick look at the eldest prince, only to find that he was also looking at her.

The eldest prince didn’t pay much attention to women all the time. The reason why he paid attention to Xu Ling was that her clothes were too dazzling. Today, she wore a dress with a half-sleeve jacket over it. The upper part of the dress was made of white gauze, and the sleeves were wide. It was very elegant and beautiful. A belt inlaid with jade outlined her slender waist. The lower part of the dress was crimson satin, and the surface of the satin was embroidered with large blooming peonies, and the stamens of each peony flower were made of small rice-like pearls. The petals were made of silver red silk wrapped in a ponytail, glittering in the setting sun and the leaves of peony flowers were made of jade of various sizes, glittering and translucent.

(Note: If you want to know more about Chinese clothes, please google Hanfu. You can also google 对襟半臂襦裙 to see the style of this particular dress.)

It was a Cantonese embroiderer’s unique skill to embroider the jewelry on the silk thread. Later, it was brought into the province by Meng Si and spread. She seldom used this kind of embroidery technique. Firstly, it was too expensive for ordinary people to wear; second, it was too gorgeous to be suitable for ordinary people.

But Xu Ling didn’t need to worry about these two things at all. She was very beautiful, and now she wore the dress that was specially made for her by Meng Si. She was really very beautiful. Even the cold eldest prince was attracted.

Madam Xu was very satisfied with this and thought that she had to give the embroiderer a big gift later.

At this moment, Xu Qian slowly walked over. She was as quiet and unhurried as usual, but everyone could not help looking at her. The eldest prince just glanced at her casually, and then fixed his eyes on her. An indescribable heat poured out from his dark eyes. Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com