"Young Madam, why not let us do it? You’re pricking your hands so much that the two swans almost look like ducks."
Under the lamp, Qu Fulan was struggling to make a gift for the Dragon Boat Festival, but even the two maids couldn’t bear to watch anymore.
In this day and age, even girls in villages who do rough work have to learn needlework. Although the quality varies, it usually isn’t too bad, and occasionally they can sell so embroidery for money.
Girls from well-off families naturally don’t need to rely on needlework to make a living, but they still need to embroider their dowries early. Marriage is a big event, and they need to participate at least a little, so needlework is a presentable skill.
But look at their family’s Young Madam, with the most delicate skin and tender hands, clearly not accustod to living a life needing these skills. How is her needlework not even as good as a village girl’s?
Qu Fulan, feeling a bit embarrassed by the two maids’ comnts, didn’t want this either. Mainly, girls in the 21st century don’t need this skill, but here, sincerity is valued, and it’s not good to have soone else do it—it wouldn’t be sincere.
Even though others might not know she had soone else do it, over ti, people would eventually find out about her needlework skills, so she couldn’t fake it.
"Alright, I’m just trying it out, doesn’t an I have to do this."
Then, Qu Fulan dismissed the maids, as she was going to take a bath. Her routine was not to have anyone serve her, but they could stay behind the screen. However, she asked the maids to help find so things for her.
After soaking in the bath, Qu Fulan let down the towel wrapped around her head and slowly dried her hair. Hearing a noise outside, she thought the two maids had returned, so she continued drying her hair as she walked outside.
Instead, she saw Pei Ji’an standing by the table, examining the item she had embroidered earlier.
Qu Fulan felt ashad that soone was looking at her embarrassing work, and she hurried over to grab it, "Don’t look!"
Pei Ji’an reacted quickly, standing still, and with just a raised hand, it was out of her reach.
This led to a little competition between the short and the tall.
"Give it back to ," Qu Fulan couldn’t reach it, so she anxiously grabbed his belt for support, tiptoeing to snatch it. He worried she might fall, placing his other hand behind her waist, creating a mont both intimate and amusing.
Freshly bathed, she looked like a lotus erging from water, her cheeks pink and rosy, her expression of embarrassnt even more endearing.
"Give you what?" he asked, looking down at her, his voice hoarse and deep.
She didn’t notice the intimacy as she was focused on retrieving her item, "My pouch!"
The humor deepened in his eyes, and he teased, "You embroidered it for ?"
"I already embroidered sothing for you! This is a gift for the Dragon Boat Festival."
Pei Ji’an squinted slightly, a bit amused, "Who would embroider ducks on a pouch and give it to soone?"
Qu Fulan’s face turned even redder, and she argued, "These are swans, not ducks!"
Only after speaking did she realize she should’ve kept quiet. His amusent grew stronger, making her feel mocked. Annoyed and embarrassed, she pushed him away, "Keep it if you like, I don’t want it anymore."
After all, it was a half-finished product, and her needlework wasn’t good enough to give as a gift.
While bathing earlier, she considered what better gift would be suitable and sincere, and ended up thinking of a better idea that would satisfy everyone.
As for sincerity, she would think about it later.
She didn’t notice his hand was around her waist when she pushed him, resulting in her being pulled back, bumping into his chest.
The petite figure was enveloped by his tall form, surrounded by his scent, a faint fragrance of musk.
At that mont, when their eyes t, his gaze was almost overwhelming, provoking her heart to race. She instinctively, sowhat helplessly, raised her hand to push him, but he didn’t budge.
"You..." she stamred, averting her eyes in flustered chaos.
Eventually, he let her go, though still holding onto the half-finished pouch, "I’m going to bathe."
With that statent, he turned and walked into the washroom.
Qu Fulan lay back on the bed, covering her face with a blanket, her heart in disarray.
After a while, he finished his bath and returned to the outer room to sleep.
Qu Fulan lay staring at the mosquito netting above for a long ti before speaking, "Thank you for what you did today."
Although one slept in the inner room and the other in the outer, she knew he could hear.
Sure enough, his sowhat lazy voice replied, "Thank for what?"
"For handling the affairs of the inner residence, which should have been my responsibility."
He chuckled softly, "Just a thank you and that’s it?"
Qu Fulan also felt her gratitude might not be enough, "What do you want?"
"Nothing else, just promise one thing."
"What is it?"
"In the future, don’t embroider pouches for anyone else but ."
"...Got it."
The next day, when Qu Fulan got up, Pei Ji’an was no longer in the room. The maid ca in to help her wash and comb her hair and said, "The princely heir told us not to wake Young Madam when he left."
"The Young Master is so good to the Young Madam. Yesterday, he stood up for her in front of the whole household, and now everyone knows the Madam is the person closest to the Young Master’s heart. Let’s see who dares to offend her lightly in the future?" another maid comnted.
"Isn’t that the truth? The Young Master’s affection for the Young Madam makes even the eldest young master and young lady pale in comparison. Needless to say, the Young Master is devoted to the Young Madam, whereas the eldest young master still has concubines."
Hearing this, Qu Fulan quickly said, "You must not utter such nonsense in the future, or see how I’ll punish you."
Comparisons are feared most among sisters-in-law, as they can stir trouble out of nothing.
The two maids quickly apologized and swore not to say such things again.
Qu Fulan first paid respects to the old lady and Madam Pei before going out. Indeed, this ti, even the coachman was much more efficient.
Currently, Qu Fulan is focused on lingerie. Due to contracts signed with several businessn previously, she needs to expand the garnt factory, which requires finding a location and hiring workers.
These tasks would naturally be handled by others, while Qu Fulan needed to monitor the material supply channels to ensure quality was up to standard. With these two aspects managed, things would generally be stable.
While inspecting goods, Qu Fulan found that the stock was half of what it used to be. When she asked the vendor why, he only said the supply was delayed, without knowing the specific reason.
Not thinking much of it, Qu Fulan went to inspect other shops, only to find the sa situation elsewhere, with all supplies being delayed.
This was peculiar. Most of the goods in Capital City ca from the Anzhou Jiangcheng area, especially fabrics. Anzhou Jiangcheng is known for its abundant goods, so a supply delay shouldn’t occur unless sothing significant had happened?
anwhile, Qu Fulan noticed that there were significantly more patrol guards in Capital City than usual.
She vaguely sensed sothing was amiss, but with too little information, she couldn’t figure it out for the mont.
Upon returning to the residence, she learned that Pei Ji’an had already returned. Wanting to ask if sothing had happened in Capital City, she found him discussing matters with Pei Yuan in the room. At the door, she overheard him say, "This case will definitely be closed by the end of the month."
That single sentence stopped Qu Fulan at the door, and simultaneously, a light bulb went off in her mind.
After Pei Yuan left, she approached Pei Ji’an directly and got straight to the point, "If I’m not mistaken, you have a lot of inventory stored in the Anzhou Jiangcheng area, don’t you?"
Pei Ji’an was puzzled by her sudden question but still nodded, "Yes, why?"
"Please send a ssage via carrier pigeon imdiately, instructing them to sell that batch of goods at the fastest possible pace. Increase the price as much as you can and ensure the clearance of the stock before the end of the month!"
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