The Seamstress

"Miss, the Prince has sent an invitation to the Lin Residence, inviting everyone to visit the Prince Huan's Residence."

Xiruo went out to fetch water in the morning and overheard the servants in the mansion talking about this.

She immediately carried the bucket back to the Bixi Hall.

Lin Yunwan looked up, smiled, put down her book, and asked, "When?"

Xiruo smiled too, "It seems like it'll be in five days."

Lin Yunwan thought for a moment and said, "Your Prince has just arrived in Jiangqian, and the new residence must be quite chaotic. It's not easy for you to host banquets for the prominent families and local officials of Jiangqian in just five days."

She spent her entire life in the Inner Residence, so she knows these things best.

Xiruo didn't quite understand, but Lin Yunwan explained it, she was able to grasp it.

He casually remarked, "It's because the Prince doesn't marry. If he had a Princess Consort to manage the Inner Residence, things wouldn't be so chaotic!"

Indeed, how can the Inner Residence be without a mistress?

Especially those from noble families like the royal family.

Lin Yunwan had never paid much attention to matters concerning men outside the Inner Residence, but the Prince had been kind to her.

She asked Xiruo, "Did you always follow the Prince around? Do you know why the Prince has never married Princess Consort?"

Xiruo shook her head and said, "This servant doesn't know."

"Although I serve the Prince and occasionally attend to him in the Prince's residence, I do not serve Prince personally."

Now that she's with the young lady, she's her maid. Xiruo revealed some of Qi Lingheng's private matters. "... Miss, the Prince has never had any maids serving him personally. It's always been the Eunuch who serve him."

"I truly don't know why Your Prince won't marry, but I do know that Your Prince has argued with the Emperor and Empress many times about this matter, and the Emperor has once lost his temper greatly..."

Lin Yunwan's brow twitched as she listened.

I never expected Prince Huan to be so bold!

It is said that the royal family is ruthless, with the Prince dared to disobey the emperor. It seems that the Empress truly dotes on the empress as rumored, and extends that love to the Prince, even indulging him in his own whims regarding marriage!

Xiruo Lin Yunwan feared she might misunderstand and whispered, "Miss, please don't misunderstand. The Prince doesn't have any illness. Prince just doesn't want to get married; it seems he looks down on the noble ladies in the Capital... The Prince is just used to being willful. No one can control what he doesn't want to do."

Lin Yunwan's ears turned slightly red.

She didn't say the Prince had an illness...

How do you know that the Prince...?

Although she shouldn't pry into the Prince's privacy, she couldn't help but feel curious since the matter had been brought up.

Xiruo was quite frank. "Everyone in the Prince's mansion knows that one year the Emperor also suspected the Prince... and sent several imperial physicians to check the Prince's pulse."

"If it were just one imperial physician, it wouldn't be a problem, but several imperial physicians came and asked the same questions, so the Prince became suspicious."

"When the imperial physicians came again, the Prince became angry and drove them away..."

Any disturbance within the imperial family of the Capital would become the talk of the town the very next day.

"It's not just me who knows; many people know."

Lin Yunwan seemed lost in thought.

She was already married to the Marquis of Wuding at that time, so she certainly wouldn't care about matters concerning men outside the marriage. She had never heard of such a private matter concerning the Prince.

Xiruo said cautiously, "You must have heard about the Crown Prince's health."

Everyone knows that the Crown Prince is physically weak. Not only is he physically weak, but he also has no children to date and is very likely infertile.

If the Empress Prince were to Crown Prince away one day, the one who would succeed him would be the Empress's legitimate son, Prince Huan.

His health was a matter of great concern to the Imperial Court; although it was a private matter, it couldn't be hidden from them...

Xiruo continued, "So the matter of the Prince isn't exactly a secret. But it's been so many years, nobody mentions it anymore."

She would have almost forgotten if Lin Yunwan asked.

Lin Yunwan didn't ask any more questions. It was none of her business, and it involved a man. No matter how much the Prince had been kind to her, she still had to avoid suspicion.

"Xiruo, go and get me some spices."

Now that the Prince has been Jiangqian and has a new residence, she should congratulate him on his enfeoffment and the joy of Housewarming.

Unfortunately, she has nothing of value now, and can only do what she can to express her feelings.

Xiruo hesitated, "... Miss, the incense you described is too complicated. I can't remember it. Could you write it down?"

"Sure."

The writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were also available in the Bixi Hall. These items were not under Zheng Shi's control; they were all obtained from Lin Huabin.

So the quality is pretty good.

Xiruo ground the ink, Lin Yunwan picked up the brush to write. She dared not write the same handwriting as before, so she used her left hand to write the names of several incense sticks.

"I don't know if the person in charge can recognize it written like this. I'll read it to you, and if they can't, you can read it to them."

Xiruo nodded.

She recognized the spices since their names were written on the paper.

Lin Yunwan read them aloud one by one, Xiruo went to ask Nanny Zhao for spices.

After examining the handwriting, Nanny Zhao frowned for a long time before asking, "Is this the Eldest Miss's handwriting?"

Xiruo said, "Yes."

Nanny Zhao shook her head. "She's absolutely hideous!"

She told Xiruo, "We can't buy all the spices in a short time, so please go back first. I'll send someone out to buy them today, and I'll send someone to deliver them to the Eldest Miss as soon as we have them."

Xiruo thought about it and realized that since Nanny Zhao had said she would send someone to buy it today, it made sense.

"You don't need to go through the trouble, Nanny Zhao. I'll come pick it up tomorrow morning."

Nanny Zhao said, "Okay."

As soon as Xiruo left, she laughed until her stomach hurt, and said to the maids around her, "Come and see, this is the Eldest Miss's handwriting!"

The Lin Residence was also a scholarly family, and many of the maids there were literate.

The girls burst into laughter.

"This isn't written at all; it's drawn like scribbles!"

"And it's been drawn like this; it seems the tracing skills are lacking. If the tracing is bad, then the female worker's skills must also be poor."

Nanny Zhao said disappointedly, "She's from the countryside after all; she definitely doesn't know anything."

What an incompetent good-for-nothing.

What are you laughing at?

When Zheng Shi arrived at the Discussion Hall, the maids dared not act rashly and stepped back.

Nanny Zhao showed the calligraphy written by Lin Yunwan to Zheng Shi, saying, "This was written by the Eldest Miss."

Zheng Shi glanced over—she had already overheard Nanny Zhao and the maids' laughter, but she didn't know they were talking about her stepdaughter.

She couldn't help but laugh, raising an eyebrow as she asked, "Did she write it herself?"

Nanny Zhao said, "Miss Xiruo agrees."

Zheng Shi said dismissively, "Take it away, don't get in the way. Even a five-year-old Jiao'er couldn't draw something like this."

Nanny Zhao laughed and said, "How can the Eldest Miss compare to the Second Miss!"

As soon as Zheng Shi sat down in the Discussion Hall, the tailor she had hired came in, carrying fabrics that were currently fashionable in Jiangqian's area. Smiling, she introduced them, "This kind of jacquard fabric is loved by the noble ladies and Madam of the Capital..."

Lin family was a Madam who was willing to spend money, and this was quite a large deal, so the seamstress couldn't be happier.

Zheng Shi glanced at the fabric and thought it was good, so she instructed Nanny Fan, "Take it to the two young ladies to take their measurements."

After seeing the servants off, Nanny Fan asked Zheng Shi in a low voice, "You really listened to Master and made the same clothes for the Eldest Miss? That cost quite a bit! And..."

With such outstanding looks, if the Eldest Miss dresses even more beautifully, she'll steal the spotlight from the Second Miss in the Prince Huan's Residence!

Zheng Shi frowned and said, "Nonsense! Why should she be the same as Jiao'er?"

Nanny Fan was puzzled. If she wasn't going to make clothes for the Eldest Miss, why was she having the seamstress take her measurements?

That would be a waste of effort.