Chapter 436 - Qi-style Attire (1/2)
Lady Fang tried to frighten him, “Your older sister’s body is healthy and won’t get sick. Have you forgotten that you had to take the bitter medicine for a while because your tummy hurt after having one more mouthful of shaved ice during the summer?”
Little Linlin rolled up his sleeves to reveal his chubby arms as he argued, unconvinced, “Linlin’s body is also healthy! You see, Linlin has more meat than Older Sister! If Older Sister can eat, Linlin too can eat it, too!”
The little fellow was so adorable that Xiaocao couldn’t help but burst into laughter. She took a small piece of watermelon and placed it in his hand, saying, “Mhm! Little Linlin has been obedient lately. You have been eating well and persisting in your daily run around the garden, so this is your reward. You can only have one piece a day. If you eat more, you’ll fall sick!”
The little fellow, Fang Haolin, stuffed the watermelon into his mouth with a grin, “I’m not afraid! With Older Sister here, I don’t need to drink the bitter medicine!” After having a piece of watermelon, the little fellow knew to stop pestering them even though he still wanted more, and followed his nanny to the garden to play.
“Madam, Young Miss, Jiang Siniang of Exquisite Garments is here.” Linlang was smiling and her voice was clear as she drew the door curtain and entered the room. A while ago, Modiste Jiang Siniang had sent them a calling card and came to visit Young Miss, but the young miss was not here at that time. Who knew that Jiang Siniang would come and visit again when the young miss had just returned? Did this mean that her young miss was special in the eyes of Modiste Jiang?
Lady Fang also felt proud. The master of embroidery that others were rarely able to invite to their residence had come as a guest to her residence on multiple occasions! It was such a great honor. Her close friends would be so envious if they knew about this!
“Hurry, invite her inside!” Lady Fang held her daughter’s hand as she stood up, “Come, let’s go to the main hall to greet the esteemed guest.”
Yu Xiaocao looked at her own casual attire and thought, ‘Would it be impolite if I wore this out to greet guests?’ She lifted her head and smiled, “Godmother, I need to go back to change my clothes. I’ll immediately go to the main hall afterward.”
“I’ve been careless in my considerations.” Lady Fang took a look at her daughter’s clothes, then lowered her gaze to her own clothing, which had wrinkled after she lay on the seat. She laughed, “See, even I, as your mother, am not as collected as you are!”
“Godmother, this Modiste Jiang is only a master of embroidery, but you’re a third-rank noble madam. Why do you regard her so highly?” The Jiang Siniang that others deemed highly of was only the owner of Exquisite Garments to Xiaocao. These madams and misses must not have enough entertainment, to have ‘worshipped’ Jiang Siniang like a fan towards their idol.
Lady Fang laughed, “My daughter sees the situation clearer than all of the capital’s women. For the past few years, the madams and misses in the capital have indeed gone a little overboard with their adulation towards Modiste Jiang. However, this Jiang Siniang does indeed have the skills. The phoenix that she embroiders seems almost able to take off into the air, and the flora she embroiders, able to attract bees and butterflies. The clothes that she designs are able to cover up a person’s shortcomings and bring out the good points of a person’s figure. No matter how young or old a woman is, who doesn’t like to be beautiful? That’s why many began to adulate Jiang Siniang’s skills.”
“I don’t have any association with her, so why has she come to visit several times?” Yu Xiaocao mumbled. She was not so interested in apparels, and the clothes her godmother had prepared for her was, in her opinion, already good enough. Besides, the skills of the servants in the sewing department of their residence were quite good—she was satisfied with their needlework.
Lady Fang changed into another set of clothes and smiled at her confused daughter, “Stop worrying and go change your clothes. Wouldn’t you understand once you meet the guest?”
Yu Xiaocao returned to her courtyard and told Pipa to take out her newly-made modified Qi-style attire [1]. This set of clothes was actually the result of a whim when she went to the sewing department to commission for a set of practical garments suitable for traveling on horseback.
The outer garment was lilac and reached down to her thighs. It split into two sides at the waist and, in effect, accentuated the curve of her waist. A little folded collar sat prettily on her neck, while slightly darker confederate roses were embroidered on the oblique collar and the hem of her bell sleeves. The lower part of her garment was a light yellow, pleated skirt, and the front part of the upper garment and hemline of the skirt was embroidered with the same pattern.
She let Wutong style her hair into two cute hair buns and used strings of rice-sized pearls as a hair tie to hold them in place. The hair at the sides of her neck were bound into two small yet long braids that hung until her chest, making her seem playful and bright.
Jiang Siniang was softly conversing with Lady Fang when Yu Xiaocao arrived at the main hall. Jiang Siniang’s eyes lit up as she noticed her. Actually, Jiang Siniang was a fanatic for clothes and was completely obsessed over fashion design. This was also one of the reasons why she was always able to innovate on her old designs and receive the praises of the upper class.
Since she was ten years old, Jiang Siniang had displayed a surprising talent for fashion design, but it had been so many years, and her inspiration was bound to dampen at some point. Although they were not as cooped up in their homes as the women of the previous dynasty, the women of this era still rarely traveled very far. In recent years, Jiang Siniang had reached her bottleneck in fashion design, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not reach a breakthrough. She was distressed over the fact that she could not seem to come up with anything new.