Gu Liyue recognized the voice. It was Miss Jiang Yingyue who had come the previous day.
She turned around and bowed. "May you be in good health, Miss."
Jiang Yingyue frowned slightly. This girl didn't look like a maid in her attire. But if she were a young lady, Yingyue had grown up in the Jiang Mansion and had never seen this person before.
The maid Lingxing stepped forward, supported Jiang Yingyue, and walked inside while introducing, "She's a newly - arrived embroidery woman. The madam took a fancy to her and kept her by her side to do needlework."
Jiang Yingyue turned back to look at Gu Liyue, but said nothing. She followed Lingxing inside first, and Gu Liyue trailed a few steps behind.
Tangyuan, who accompanied Jiang Yingyue, whispered an explanation, "The madam has exempted several young masters and their wives from the morning and evening greetings. Usually, only you and Miss come here."
Jiang Yingyue glanced back, frowned, snorted coldly, then flicked her sleeves and quickened her steps. Clearly, she didn't want to be with Gu Liyue.
Gu Liyue felt a bit embarrassed. She stopped in her tracks and didn't enter until Jiang Yingyue had gone inside.
When she entered, Jiang Yingyue was already lying in Madam Jiang's lap, acting coquettishly. She said it was hot and she wanted to go to the manor to escape the heat.
Madam Jiang tapped her on the forehead. "I'm afraid it won't be possible this year. Your uncles and elder brothers have a lot of things to attend to this year, and your sister - in - law is pregnant. There are too many things to pack if we go out."
Gu Liyue came in, bowed, and greeted softly, "May you be in good health, Madam."
When Madam Jiang saw Gu Liyue, her eyes lit up. She waved her over to sit on the low stool on the right. "Liyue is here? Come and take a look. These are a pair of jade bracelets sent by the Deng family a few days ago. One for each of you. Take them and play with them."
Jiang Yingyue's face changed several times. She turned away unhappily and said, "I have some. Auntie, give it to her."
Madam Jiang shook her head helplessly and glared at Jiang Yingyue. "You child."
Jiang Yingyue held Madam Jiang's hand and asked, "Auntie, don't you love me anymore? Why do you even give her a name with 'yue' in it? I'm not happy."
Madam Jiang didn't explain. She put the jade bracelet on Jiang Yingyue's hand and looked at it with satisfaction. "Your skin is so fair and tender. You look good in anything."
Then she turned to Gu Liyue and put the other bracelet on her hand. Gu Liyue was so thin that it slid on easily with a gentle push. Madam Jiang was stunned for a moment, then patted Gu Liyue's hand. "Tell the kitchen later. You're so thin. You should take good care of yourself."
After just a few words, several old women came in to report various matters, big and small. Madam Jiang was very busy and didn't have much free time. She told Jiang Yingyue to take Gu Liyue around the mansion when she was free and to take her along if she went out to play, then got up and left.
After Madam Jiang left, Jiang Yingyue sneered at Gu Liyue. "So you've climbed up the ladder? Humph, a mere embroidery woman. I wonder what tricks you've used to catch the eye of the Duchess. You're so lucky... I don't have time to play with you!"
She rolled her eyes and walked out.
Gu Liyue wasn't angry. She went back on her own, carried a basket to the room where Xiuqiu was, and sat beside Xiuqiu to do embroidery.
Yuan'er was still trying hard to amuse Xiuqiu. However, Xiuqiu slept most of the day. Even when it was awake, it was lazy and didn't want to move at all.
Seeing Yuan'er sweating profusely, Gu Liyue couldn't help laughing. "Sister Yuan'er, don't waste your efforts. It's hot. Even we don't want to move for fear of getting sweaty and sticky. Xiuqiu has long fur. It must be even hotter. How could it want to move?"
Yuan'er had no choice but to walk to Gu Liyue's side and ask, "What are you embroidering?"
Gu Liyue shook her head. "I don't know what to embroider either. But embroidery needs to be practiced every day, or I'll get rusty. I think Xiuqiu is so cute. Last time I only embroidered a small one. Today I want to embroider a bigger one."
Since Yuan'er couldn't amuse Xiuqiu, she simply gave up and sat beside Gu Liyue to watch her do embroidery while chatting. "Your embroidery skills are really good. I'm afraid only Madam Zhao in the capital can compare with you."
Gu Liyue asked, "Is Madam Zhao also an embroidery woman?"
Yuan'er nodded. "Yes. Madam Zhao is a well - known embroidery woman in the capital. Her embroidery skills are amazing. She was once praised by the Empress Dowager. She took in apprentices a few years ago. Several of them became quite famous after they graduated. But in my opinion, none of them can embroider as well as you. After all, your embroidery skills caught the madam's eye right away. Have you really never had a master before?"
Gu Liyue frowned. She knew her embroidery was good and could be sold at a good price, which was a source of pride for her. But now she realized that there was always someone better. Her skills were not really worth mentioning. The reason why Madam Jiang took a fancy to her was probably because the two pieces of embroidery contained memories of mother - daughter affection.
It just hit Madam Jiang's soft spot.
Gu Liyue and Yuan'er buried their heads together, discussing the embroidery in their hands. They didn't even notice when Madam Jiang came.
And Xiuqiu somehow jumped off the couch. It stretched out its paw, fished out the embroidery threads from the basket, and whole - heartedly rolled the threads into balls. Then it wrapped itself up in the threads. Finally, it let out an unhappy "meow".
Gu Liyue came to her senses, quickly picked up Xiuqiu, gently pulled the threads off its body, and said with distress, "I heard these embroidery threads are not cheap. Now... I'm afraid we can't sort them out."
Hearing this innocent remark, Madam Jiang couldn't help laughing. She walked over, took Xiuqiu from Gu Liyue, and stroked it. "If Xiuqiu likes them, we'll get more."
Only then did Gu Liyue and Yuan'er notice Madam Jiang. They immediately got up and bowed.
Madam Jiang waved her hand. "No need. Liyue, every time I see you, Xiuqiu seems to be in a better mood. It's naturally close to you."
Gu Liyue already knew the story of Xiuqiu's former owner and didn't mind. She just shook her head honestly. "I was just bored. I didn't expect Xiuqiu to be interested in this."
Madam Jiang looked at Gu Liyue deeply, then put Xiuqiu down and let it play. "You don't have to do this kind of work."
Gu Liyue said, "But I'm used to it. If you don't let me do it, I don't know what to do."
Madam Jiang sat on the chair. The maids immediately served tea. She pointed to the chair beside her and asked Gu Liyue to sit down. Then she asked, "Did you only do embroidery before?"
"In the busy days before, I had to do housework and embroidery. Later, when I was with my aunt, there weren't so many chores. I sometimes read and wrote to kill time."
Madam Jiang curled her fingers. "You can read?"
Gu Liyue nodded. "My father taught me a little when I was very young, but I've mostly forgotten. I only recognize a few characters. Later, I learned a bit when I was free. The Feng family also had someone teach me for half a month. Up to now, I can only read the Three - Character Classic and the Thousand - Character Classic. I don't know anything else."
Madam Jiang recalled the pattern on the embroidered handkerchief. A kind mother was sitting in front of the lamp, sewing clothes, while a young girl was lying beside her, holding a book and reading.
Actually, the pattern wasn't realistic. Usually, girls who could read came from good families, and the mistresses of such families wouldn't do needlework themselves. But it was also extremely real. When Yingyue was a little girl, sitting in front of her reading, she was also holding an undergarment, sewing it stitch by stitch for her daughter.