High-class Spring Joy

The young ladies who had just questioned Qinghe's embroidery suddenly lost their temper. Apart from the banana that was specifically targeting Qinghe, most of the other young ladies were marveling at the magic of the embroidery.

Even Song Yun'er's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected Qinghe's embroidery to be so stunning. He thought it would be of the highest quality and that spending a hundred taels of silver to buy it would be a good deal, but he never imagined it would be this amazing.

Song Yun'er felt somewhat fortunate. If it weren't for Banana's commotion today, it would have been absolutely impossible for her to buy this embroidery for a hundred taels.

Princess Jing'an looked at the embroidery in front of her with amazement in her eyes, but she quickly recovered and became very proud.

Princess Jing'an had no doubt about Qinghe's embroidery skills, but she was still amazed and impressed when she saw the picture.

Princess Mu saw that the group of people who had been objecting earlier were now behaving themselves, and she didn't even need to say anything more. She then revealed a mocking smile: "I knew it! When have I ever made a mistake in choosing someone? How could I possibly be wrong about someone my mother likes? If you still want to question whether my mother and I have made a mistake in our judgment, you might as well question your own nine generations of relatives and whether they are truly so willing to die for their country."

The young ladies who had questioned Qinghe earlier were now pale as death, looking as if they had swallowed something disgusting like flies, yet they couldn't utter a word and could only keep it to themselves.

Seeing that none of them dared to speak, Princess Jing'an gradually lost interest and casually waved her hand: "The embroidery has been appreciated, the photos have been taken, and the mystery has been solved, so everyone can leave now. A bunch of people gathered here chattering away, it's giving me a headache."

Upon hearing Princess Jing'an say these words, the young ladies present felt a sense of relief and immediately took their leave, as if they were fleeing.

Banana was the fastest runner; otherwise, if he had stayed even a second longer, he wouldn't have been able to maintain his expression, let alone his smile.

After the group of young ladies from noble families dispersed, only Song Yun'er remained standing. She bowed to Princess Jing'an and Qinghe, saying, "I am very grateful to Miss Qinghe and Your Highness today. If it weren't for Your Highness's timely arrival, I might not have been able to obtain such exquisite embroidery. As for Miss Qinghe, I am naturally even more grateful. If it weren't for Miss Qinghe, how could I have had the honor of seeing such embroidery? I probably would never have seen it in my entire life, and I would likely have been blinded by a single leaf like them. Therefore, I thank Your Highness and Miss Qinghe."

Song Yoon-ah's smile was just right, showing warmth and friendliness without being overly obsequious. It was a pleasant sight, making one not suspect that she had any ulterior motives or hidden agendas.

At this moment, Hu Shisi Niang was standing to the side, instructing the servant to properly frame the embroidery, so Song Yun'er couldn't leave for the time being.

Qinghe smiled and said, "I was just doing my duty. Since the items are meant to be sold, the embroidery needs to be well-made to fetch a good price. It's just my job, but I really do want to thank the princess. If it weren't for the princess today..."

Before she could finish speaking, Princess Jing'an raised her hand to signal Qinghe that she didn't need to continue.

Princess Jing'an's gaze did not fall on Qinghe, nor did she respond to Qinghe's words. Instead, she looked directly at Song Yun'er, who was smiling in front of her.

"you……"

The moment Princess Jing'an's gaze fell upon her, Song Yun'er felt a completely different kind of pressure, one that was far beyond what Banana and the other young ladies had ever exerted on her. Similarly, Banana and the other young ladies had never made Song Yun'er feel tense or anything like that; on the contrary, when Song Yun'er set up a trap for Banana, she was so nonchalant, simply waving her hand, and her maid already understood her mistress's meaning.

But when Princess Jing'an's gaze fell upon her, Song Yun'er truly felt an indescribable pressure.

But Song Yun'er grew up in the Song family mansion, and the pressure she faced increased day by day. She never had a good night's sleep. So the more pressure she was under, the more energetic she became.

Song Yun'er smiled: "I never expected my little tricks to fool Your Highness. Some things are indeed as Your Highness thinks. Today's events were not of my own volition, but I certainly didn't intend to scheme against Your Highness or Qinghe. I'm just a drifting duckweed, looking for a reliable rock to cling to. If Your Highness is angry and wants to punish me, I have nothing to say and I'm willing to accept it. This is my own decision, and I naturally expected such consequences, but I absolutely had no intention of harming Your Highness or Qinghe. Today was a gamble for me, and the outcome of this gamble is entirely up to Your Highness."

Once Song Yun'er said these words, Princess Jing'an and Qinghe, who were present, naturally understood her meaning. It was tantamount to stating her intentions clearly. Compared to enthusiastic surrender and flattery, this frank and open expression of ulterior motives was more reassuring.

Princess Jing'an's gaze, which had initially been full of scrutiny and judgment as she looked at Song Yun'er, softened somewhat, and she chuckled softly.

"You're much better than your clueless father who favors his concubine over his wife. Since you bought this embroidery, or even snatched it along with the bananas, then it's rightfully yours. There's no need for thanks for something you paid for; just take it home."

Just then, the servants presented the packaged embroidery to the maids behind Song Yun'er.

Sometimes, it's better not to be too explicit in your speech. Just hint at it and leave it at that, especially in public. For intelligent people, it's unnecessary to be thorough or precise in every word.

Song Yun'er's smile remained unchanged. She bowed to Princess Jing'an and then turned back to her residence with her maid.

Princess Jing'an glanced at Song Yun'er's retreating figure, her gaze shifting from calm to deep, unsettling. "Go and investigate what kind of trouble the Song family has been up to lately."

After Princess Jing'an finished speaking, her personal maidservant nodded and left.

After everyone left, Hu Shisi Niang led Qinghe and Princess Jing'an to a side room on the second floor to talk.

Hu Shisi Niang entered carrying a bag of silver. She first brewed tea herself and offered it to Qing He and Princess Jing An:

"My Hongxiuzhao doesn't have any particularly precious teas. The best one is this Da Hong Pao. My tea-brewing skills are only so-so and not particularly outstanding. It can't compare to what the princess drinks in the palace. But it's the best tea that Hongxiuzhao can offer right now. I hope you two won't mind and will forgive me."

Qinghe held the cup of tea in her hand, feeling incredibly flattered. What was her status before? She was a maid in the Marquis's mansion, so her food and daily necessities were probably a little better than those of ordinary people. In any case, she had never tasted such a fine tea as Da Hong Pao before, and she never even dared to dream of it.

When Qinghe was working, she had heard many people talk about what kind of tea the masters liked to drink.

For example, the old lady of the Hou family loved to drink pre-rain Longjing tea the most. Although pre-rain Longjing tea is not as rare as Da Hong Pao tea, the old lady had many rules for drinking tea, and ordinary pre-rain Longjing tea could not meet her standards.

As luck would have it, Qinghe suddenly remembered something else. If he remembered correctly, he seemed to have heard someone say that Princess Jing'an's favorite drink was Da Hong Pao.

The reason Qinghe remembered this was because it was quite rare. Not to mention how precious Da Hong Pao was, which could be worth a thousand or two thousand gold pieces, it was something that ordinary wealthy and noble families could not afford.

Even in the entire city of Bianjing, only a very small number of people can afford Da Hong Pao, let alone the top-quality Da Hong Pao, which is extremely rare, with a very special place of origin and very high requirements.

The reason for Qingheji's incident is that although Da Hong Pao tea is precious, it is generally the princes or emperors in the palace who prefer to drink ordinary female relatives, such as the imperial concubines, empress dowagers, princesses, etc. They do not actually favor Da Hong Pao, but prefer some light and elegant teas.

Princess Jing'an was different; she was one of the few women Qinghe knew who liked the crimson robe.

As Qinghe was pondering this, she saw Princess Jing'an beside her pick up her teacup, gently skim off the foam on the surface of the tea with the lid, take a sip, close her eyes, and savor it for a moment. Her expression softened slightly.

"Not bad, so it can't compare to the top in the palace, but it's still extremely rare among ordinary people. You've put a lot of effort into it."

Hearing Princess Jing'an say this, and seeing that Hu Shisi Niang's gaze was mostly fixed on Princess Jing'an, Qinghe was certain that the crimson robe was specially prepared by Hu Shisi Niang for Princess Jing'an.

But as for what Hu Shisi Niang's plans and motives are, we'll have to wait and see. But Princess Jing'an…

Qinghe didn't believe Princess Jing'an couldn't see it.

Just as she was thinking this, she heard Princess Jing'an beside her speak calmly: "If you want me to do something for you, you can just say so. Considering you are Qinghe's friend, even if I don't agree, I won't punish you too much."

Princess Jing'an spoke so directly, and Hu Shisi Niang was not stunned. Someone like Hu Shisi Niang, who had traveled all over the country and was immersed in the business world for many years, and who could make her business thrive as a woman, was naturally not stupid. She could be said to be very shrewd and insightful. Sometimes it is not necessary to completely hide things from the other party. On the contrary, honesty is more useful than scheming.

Hu Shisi Niang smiled, "Of course, my thoughts can't be hidden from the princess, nor did I intend to. If I were to ask for something, it would be to ask the princess to do something, but I would prefer to say that I'm inviting the princess to join me. Originally, my cooperation plan with Qinghe was that Qinghe would be responsible for the embroidery, while I, Hongxiuzhao, would be responsible for selling it and building a reputation. My original plan was to first establish Qinghe's reputation. The first piece of embroidery might not fetch a high price, but once Qinghe's embroidery has a certain level of fame and a certain number of enthusiasts, the price will naturally rise. As more and more people want to bid and buy, our profits will naturally be maximized."

What happened today was somewhat unexpected for both me and Miss Qinghe. I was well aware that doing something like this would involve many difficulties and obstacles, but to be honest, I was not satisfied that Miss Qinghe's first embroidery piece sold for only 100 taels of silver on my Hongxiuzhao platform. I believe the princess could also see clearly that 100 taels of silver was indeed too low for the quality of Miss Qinghe's embroidery.

But such things will likely happen frequently in the future, and the best solution is simply to let everyone see that the title I've been promoting—the one praised by the Empress Dowager—is real, genuine, and unquestionable, not something I fabricated. To achieve this, I've thought that perhaps the princess could have a more direct solution. I initially wanted to ask the princess to resolve this matter, but considering her status and position, she's not here to handle such trivial matters for us. So, I came up with an excellent idea: why not just bring the princess on board? The original partnership was between me and Qinghe, but now it can become between me, Qinghe, and Princess Jing'an. As for the ratio, I've tentatively set it at two, three, and five. The embroidery was all done by Qinghe, stitch by stitch, so naturally she should take the largest share, five. As for the remaining two or three, whether the princess takes two, I take three, or vice versa, it's all negotiable as long as the princess agrees to this collaboration. Of course, this is just my personal opinion, and it might be considered somewhat presumptuous and offensive to the princess. I wonder what the princess thinks?

"Your words are quite thoughtful, taking into account both Qinghe's and your own interests, while also giving this princess a reason to help. No wonder you've managed to make Hongxiuzhao so successful; I wasn't wrong about you before. I originally only came here today to support Qinghe, but since you've put it this way, I think it's a good thing. However, whether it works out or not is not up to me."

After saying this, Princess Jing'an turned to Qinghe beside her and said, "I think you should ask Qinghe's opinion first. If she agrees, I will naturally be happy to see it happen."

Qinghe naturally agreed with this. He understood why Hu Shisi Niang did this. Firstly, with the princess backing them up, whether they continued to develop the cooperation or the cooperation grew bigger and attracted more attention, it would be easy to attract some jealous people. After all, the saying "the taller the tree, the more the wind blows" is still very applicable. Under such circumstances, if Hongxiuzhao had Princess Jing'an backing them up, they would naturally not be afraid of the jealousy of their peers.

Secondly, it is naive to expect diligence to remain unchanged forever in this world. Such a thought may be somewhat simplistic, and such a thing may happen, or perhaps there really is such a thing as unchanging affection. However, the strongest relationship is when affection and interests are mixed together.

Perhaps if Hu Shisi Niang were to plead with Princess Jing'an today in Qing He's name, Princess Jing'an would agree without hesitation. But if she agrees today, what about tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? And in the future?

If one day something unexpected happens and Princess Jing'an can't take care of them, wouldn't that cause a problem?

Rather than relying entirely on personal relationships, it would be better to turn this matter into a benefit for Princess Jing'an. When something relates to someone's interests, it is often resolved more quickly.

"As long as the princess doesn't mind, I will certainly like it very much."

As soon as Qinghe finished speaking, before Princess Jing'an could speak, Hu Shisi Niang smiled and took out three identical pieces of paper from her sleeve, spreading them out in front of Qinghe, Princess Jing'an, and herself. Upon closer inspection, Qinghe discovered that they were three identical contracts.

Hu Shisi Niang then took out a piece of inkpad from her sleeve, opened the lid, and handed it to Princess Jing'an, pressing her advantage: "Since that's the case, then please put your fingerprint on this contract, Your Highness! This contract is exactly the same as the one I signed with Qinghe, except that it has a few more clauses about Your Highness. All three copies are identical. If Your Highness is not at ease, you can take a closer look. If there is anything you don't understand, I can explain it to you. If Your Highness is sure that this contract is correct, please be kind enough to put your fingerprint on it."

Princess Jing'an glanced at Hu Shisi Niang in front of her, amused by her impatient appearance, and without looking at her for long, she cleanly and neatly pressed her thumb pad onto the bright red ink and stamped it on the contract.

A cooperation was thus reached, and the happiest person was none other than Hu Shisi Niang. With Princess Jing'an's help, the cooperation would naturally proceed much more smoothly.

Hu Shisi Niang placed the bag of silver in her hand in front of Qinghe: "Miss Qinghe, this is calculated according to the proportion we originally agreed on. The silver is all you are entitled to. After deducting my share of thirty-five taels of silver, this is what's left. If you're not sure, count it in public. If there's any shortfall, I'll make up for it."

Qinghe didn't hesitate, and after taking the purse, she shook her head with a smile: "No need to count it. Of course I trust you. With such a large brothel like yours, your daily income must be enormous. Would you really be stingy with a few taels of silver from me?"

When Qinghe came out of Hu Xiuzhao's house, Princess Jing'an had already left. She had other matters to attend to in the palace and was in a hurry to go back, so she didn't stay any longer.

Qinghe stared at the heavy silver in her sleeve, feeling an indescribable sense of relief and emotion.

So this is what it feels like to no longer be controlled by others. So this is what it feels like to earn money and gradually gain confidence because of that money. It feels like she can live well in this world even without relying on others.

This feeling made Qinghe incredibly happy, but this happiness was different from the happiness of eating something delicious. That kind of happiness was frivolous, while this happiness made Qinghe realize that she existed in this world, that she was unique, and that she had her own independent abilities. She was no longer anyone's appendage, nor was she a maid who had to please anyone.

She herself had a very clear feeling at this moment, as if she had stepped from the clouds onto solid ground. The silver in her sleeve may not have been much, but it gave her enough comfort and confidence!

Qinghe wasn't in a hurry to go home. He set off from the red armband and went around to the east of the city to buy a roast chicken. It was a roast chicken that she used to really want to eat and love, but she never dared to eat.

After buying the roast chicken, Qinghe headed towards her house.

Let the baby in her belly also taste what she likes to eat, and see if the baby likes it.

Qinghe was in a great mood on her way home, feeling that her life had a future, that hope was growing, and that the future seemed closer.

Qinghe's good mood only lasted until she reached the front of the house. Just as she was about to open the door, she turned around and saw Chu Jingyu standing under the tree next to her.

Chu Jingyu's face was not clearly visible, as he was quite far away. All that could be seen was a tall, imposing figure dressed in fine clothes, whose bearing suggested he was not from an ordinary family.

Even from this distance, Qinghe could still recognize Chu Jingyu at a glance, after all, they had known each other for ten years.

Qinghe quickened her pace, wanting to unlock the door and slip into the house herself, before slamming the door shut.

No sooner had Qinghe unlocked the door than a man suddenly appeared and grabbed her wrist before she could even go inside.

Before Qinghe could react or speak, a man's angry but restrained voice came from beside her: "Have you had enough fun?"

My voice was filled with anger, revealing just how angry this man was, but despite his anger, I could also tell that Chu Jingyu was suppressing his rage.

When Qinghe felt pain in her wrist, she felt the man beside her grip tightening his grip, and she also felt the oppressive anger emanating from him.

Qinghe's good mood came to an abrupt end.

She didn't understand why he was angry.

Qinghe struggled desperately, trying to pull her wrist out of Chu Jingyu's grasp, but the more she struggled, the tighter Chu Jingyu gripped her wrist, as if he were competing with her, and the more force he used, the more painful it became for Qinghe's wrist.

Qinghe really wanted to shake off this hand and the person next to her. She didn't want to have anything to do with him. Even though she was in pain, she wanted to shake him off. In the end, Qinghe felt as if the bones in her wrist were about to be crushed by the man next to her.

She frowned and snapped, "I said let go of me! You're hurting me!!"

After saying that, Qinghe endured the great pain and finally managed to shake off the hand on her wrist.

Seeing Qinghe glaring at him with impatience, Chu Jingyu, who had been so aggressive just moments before, immediately frowned and stared intently at her.