Palace Fighting: Naive Concubines' Ascent to Power-Chapter 428: Great Joy, The Needlework is Done

The one who was most relieved was Nanny Qi, who was moved by how the young girl had worked on the needlework, truly exhausting herself more than if she had done it herself.

Fortunately, it was finally finished; if the young girl wanted to do something else next time, she was determined to firmly prevent it. She couldn’t go through this again; her old bones wouldn’t stand it.

However, before she could make up her mind, the young girl had already carefully packed the clothes she had made for the Emperor after inspecting them from left to right. The very next moment, she excitedly said she wanted to make a forehead cover for her.

Oh dear, the young girl’s energy was indeed booming. She had been in the palace for so many years and had never seen a pregnant woman with such abundant energy.

She didn’t want the forehead cover; slowing down seemed better.

Thinking so, she found an excuse to leave right away without even using the late meal as she feared the young girl would agitate to make her a forehead cover. Oh dear, she was really stressed.

Lian Hua found it very strange why Nanny Qi’s face looked so odd when she mentioned the forehead cover, and it seemed her eye twitched a bit.

All she did was mention it, and Nanny Qi immediately rose to leave, saying she wanted to go to her room to sunbathe, and ran off without looking back; she didn’t even want her help with the walking.

At that moment, she hadn’t thought much of it, it was only much later that she remembered and asked Xiao Qing, could the sun even shine into Nanny Qi’s room at that time?

Xiao Qing hesitated for a moment, asking if she should go and check?

Never mind, perhaps Nanny Qi just liked to sunbathe in her room.

With that, only she and the three soldiers remained in the room, like a lone general with three troops.

She thought making a forehead cover seemed simple, she could probably do it herself, right?

As much as she thought so, when it came time to actually start, she discovered there were many issues.

First, she only knew that a forehead cover involved sewing two pieces of fabric together with a button at each end. She had decided on the button – just pluck a pearl from the pile of items sent to the storeroom.

Speaking of which, she wasn’t very clear on what was in her storeroom, only aware of the amount of silver and a wooden case of gem marbles; she had glanced over the rest without much thought. There should be pearls, right? If not, she could just ask His Majesty.

She had figured out what to use for the button; next was which fabric to use? Ah, that was a problem. What kind of fabric did Nanny Qi find comfortable, and what would be appropriate?

Those were issues. The fabric for His Majesty’s inner garments had been chosen by Nanny Qi. At the time, she hadn’t understood well which fabrics could be used for what; whatever Nanny Qi said went. She knew how to choose for inner garments, but for anything else, well, she needed Nanny Qi’s guidance.

Then there was the size of the forehead cover. Did she need to measure Nanny Qi’s forehead? That was also a problem.

Undeterred, she gathered Xiao Jizi and the other two to discuss and find solutions. Everyone offered their ideas, but the more they discussed, the more problems arose, such as which color fabric to choose, what pattern to embroider, whether to make it wider at the front and narrower at the back or vice versa, and so on — it was all very confusing.

None of the three, including herself, knew much about needlework; they were indeed undertrained and short of ambition. The difficulties were too numerous; it was better to wait and ask Nanny Qi later.

She had planned to consult Nanny Qi during the evening meal, but Nanny Qi had stated early that she wouldn’t be joining for dinner today, leaving her plans unfulfilled; she would have to wait for another day then.

Thus, Lian Hua found herself with some free time.

Oh, there was also the odd stone ornament; indeed, she wanted to get a base for it, but that had to be done in the daylight. Aside from herself, no one at Canglan Court would allow her to do it.

Finding herself free with nothing to do made her uneasy, so she took to wandering aimlessly around the courtyard, wandering as far as Nanny Qi’s quarters where Pang Ya, upon seeing her, immediately shut the door, saying Nanny Qi was tired and resting.

Alright, then she had no choice but to find other amusements.

Finally, at sunset, before dinner, she had someone bring out a reclining chair previously used by Nanny Qi, covered it with a thick blanket, and lay outside like an old lady, basking in the setting sun. However, she got very little sun and was instead chilled by the deep autumn breeze. She felt that sunbathing was not suitable for her and wandered back inside the palace.

She sat in the palace for a while, spaced out for a bit, and suddenly remembered about reading. She immediately asked Xiao Jizi to find some leisure books.

So, after her dinner, Xiao Jizi somehow found her several storybooks, which greatly pleased her. After her bath, once she started reading, she couldn’t take her eyes off them.

Xiao Qing came over and looked: "My lady, should I light another lamp for you? It’s too dark to read by this light."

"Mm-hmm," Lian Hua responded absentmindedly, not really understanding what Xiao Qing had said, as her eyes never left the book.

After lighting the lamp, Xiao Jizi came in, carrying a tray.

He placed the tray in the hall, and called in, "My lady, your melon seed pastry has arrived."

There was no response from inside; he peered in and saw Xiao Qing standing by, while his lady was sitting, reading the storybook with rapt attention.

The storybook was something he had found; normally, having such books in the palace was forbidden, and no proper place would have them. He had used some back channels to get them.

Initially, when his lady had asked him to find some leisure books, he had no idea what to get. Remembering she had once mentioned storybooks, he had a sudden inspiration and scavenged around the Palace Maid and eunuch at Star Palace, using Steward Zhang’s authority, asking people to hand them over without punishment.

Sure enough, he found some. He selected and removed any books about talented scholars and beautiful ladies, firstly because his lady didn’t like them, and secondly because he dared not let her read them, fearing His Majesty might flay him if she learned something bad.

He also discarded any that were bloody and terrifying, not wanting to frighten his lady, which wouldn’t be right.

After picking and choosing, he finally kept a book of mysterious and bizarre detective cases, which really won her heart. Before starting, she had specifically asked him to bring melon seed pastries so she could eat while reading.

But once they were brought, she paid no attention to eating them.

Xiao Jizi tiptoed into the room, approached Xiao Qing, and looked at her questioningly, to which Xiao Qing shook her head.

He roughly understood, realizing his lady was completely absorbed in the book. He thought for a moment, then quietly asked Xiao Qing to fetch a blanket to cover his lady, so she wouldn’t get too engrossed and ignore the temperature.

The two waited for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and then they saw Lian Hua slap the table: "Good, that was so satisfying, this is how it should be done."

With that, she closed the book, having finished it.

Xiao Jizi and Xiao Qing exchanged glances, and he asked, "What was my lady reading?"

Lian Hua turned her head to see them both there, her eyes suddenly brightened: "Perfect timing, I’ll tell you about it."

As she spoke, she already got up and walked towards the smaller hall, saying, "Where is Xiao Jizi?"

"Servant is here," he responded.

Lian Hua then asked, "Where are my melon seed pastries and honey water?"