Li Jingyun smiled with her eyes and eyebrows curved. Leaning on her elder sister Gaoyang's shoulder, she happily imagined how valiant and heroic she would look when she finally rode a horse and shot an arrow straight into the bullseye.
If Eldest Brother Ba and Eldest Brother Jiu still couldn't ride horses while she had already learned, Father would surely be very happy!
The carriage soon arrived at the villa. The nearest one was the newly - opened one, which was the yard her uncle Yang Sijing had abandoned. The only advantage of this yard was that it was extremely large and could accommodate thousands of people.
"Princesses, we're here." Manjing pulled open the carriage curtain, and a gust of cold wind blew in their faces.
Princess Xinxing sighed, "In a few days, we'll have to start burning charcoal in the rooms."
"Burning charcoal?"
Li Jingyun silently made a note. In a few days, she would get some charcoal and have it burned in all these villas.
"Liuqing Courtyard? What a lucky name. Did you come up with it, or was it Su Gui?" Princess Gaoyang examined the signboard and asked with a smile.
Princess Xinxing looked inside, "Where's Su Gui? Why isn't he here to greet you?"
"My uncle named it. I thought it sounded nice, so I didn't have it changed. Su Gui should have taken Da Mian and the others out to graze. Or maybe he's inside calculating the wages of the female workers. Anyway, he won't be in the academy listening to Mr. Wang Ji's lectures."
Li Jingyun spread her hands with a smile, her smile free and lively.
Looking at her two elder sisters standing side by side in the sunlight, Li Jingyun suddenly felt very happy. See, she had made it.
Neither of her two elder sisters had to go to the Turkic tribes for a political marriage. They could stay in Chang'an and be with her forever.
There would be many more days like this in the future!
As for Eldest Sister Lizhi, things had to be solved step by step. There were still several months before her due date. It was more than enough time for Li Jingyun to earn back the remaining dozens of points.
She was more curious now. Taoist Priest Sun Simiao had felt Eldest Sister Lizhi's pulse and said her pulse was steady. As long as she had a good rest and took various tonics and anti - miscarriage drugs, it wouldn't be difficult for her to give birth smoothly. So, what on earth had happened?
Why had Eldest Sister Lizhi died with the baby during childbirth?
She had asked the immortal, but the immortal had told her that the secrets of heaven must not be revealed and that she would know when the time came.
Just as Li Jingyun finished speaking, a familiar bleating sound came from behind. The smallest and naughtiest Xiaobao suddenly pounced on Li Jingyun and bleated cutely.
"Ah! You naughty thing!" Li Jingyun turned around and played with the little lambs.
"Greetings to the three princesses." Su Gui bowed.
"Get up."
Princess Xinxing told him to rise. Everyone watched tenderly as the little sister played with the sheep.
Finally, Li Jingyun hugged Xiaobao and spun around.
Su Gui quickly stopped them. He could tell now that Li Jingyun was very happy today, unusually happy, almost acting a bit crazy.
Well, it was better than the day the sweater shop opened when she was in a gloomy mood.
Under the gazes of her elder sisters and friends, Li Jingyun had a great time. Princess Xinxing brushed the dust off her, and Princess Gaoyang picked the weeds out of her hair.
They wouldn't scold Li Jingyun for not following the rules of the imperial city and not acting like a princess. They just thought their younger sister was in a great state, always happy, jumping around and having fun everywhere.
After Li Jingyun bounced into Liuqing Courtyard, the female workers were still busy with their own tasks. There was no grand welcome as Princess Xinxing and Princess Gaoyang had imagined.
Li Jingyun introduced, "Sisters, this is the rule I set for them. Their work is the most important. They don't have to bow when someone comes."
"Good, good. You've really got things in order."
One after another, the spacious rooms were filled with female workers knitting sweaters. Each of them was very quick. Some were so fast that they could only see blurs of their hands. In less than a quarter of an hour, a baby - sized sweater was knitted.
Li Jingyun, who was praised, smiled brightly, holding her head high, as proud as a little peacock.
Princess Gaoyang casually ruffled the baby hairs in front of her sister's forehead.
In the next room, the lights were on even in the daytime. There were only seven female workers, all in their forties or fifties, with honest - looking faces.
"Master Fang! All the masters!" Li Jingyun called sweetly. A female worker in a gray jacket stood up, and the others followed suit. They slowly put down their wool, bowed, and said in unison, "Greetings to the three princesses. Greetings to the supervisor."
The supervisor was Su Gui. He was in charge of both villas and took care of everything personally.
"Get up, get up. You've been working here for about a month, right?"
"Your Highness has a good memory. It'll be exactly thirty days tomorrow." Master Fang said gently.
"Sisters, let me introduce you. This is Master Fang. The sweater I sold to Second Cousin was made by her!"
"This is Master Zhang. She's best at sewing pearls and all kinds of gemstones onto sweaters. This is Master Song..."
Li Jingyun knew these people like the back of her hand. The female workers whose names were called bowed slightly in greeting.
Among them, there were those who had been exploited by their husbands and children for half their lives. They served their husbands, their in - laws, their sons and daughters - in - law, did the laundry and cooking. Now, finally, they could prove their worth, earn money to support themselves and subsidize their families, so they all worked very hard.
These two villas could run smoothly thanks to these hard - working and dedicated female workers.
However, the two princesses were more interested in the sweater for Chang Sun Huan that Li Jingyun had mentioned. The sweater was so luxurious that there had been rumors in the market. It had become a rare treasure. It was said that a rich merchant had offered a large sum of money to buy it.
"I've brought something to reward you." Li Jingyun clapped her hands. Eunuch Feng and Manjing went over and stuffed a silver ingot into each person's hand. "This is five taels of silver. There are still two months until the New Year. You should start making preparations."
After she finished speaking, her gaze swept over her elder sisters and Su Gui, and finally landed on these female workers.
Princess Gaoyang was the first to understand Li Jingyun's intention and praised, "Our Hongxuan has really grown up. She's so kind to her craftsmen."
Princess Xinxing quickly followed, "Yes, yes. She's only five years old now. When she's fifteen, these workshops will surely spread across the Tianshan Mountains."
"Thank you, Your Highness, for the reward."
Li Jingyun was even happier. At this moment, a gust of wind blew. It felt like it could blow Li Jingyun up to the sky.
Only the system felt a bit frustrated. It had indeed reminded Li Jingyun to reward the female workers who did well, and it should be done in a grand way! Let the others know that if they worked more and did a good job, there would surely be rewards. Only then would they be motivated.
Was this reward just going to be given quietly? If no one knew about it, wouldn't this money be wasted?
"Get up. Let's go to the next room."
As Li Jingyun spoke, Eunuch Feng and the other took out a small pouch. Inside were three - tael silver ingots. This time, Li Jingyun had really come prepared.
The seven female workers who did "high - end customization" each got five taels of silver, and there were more than thirty female workers who produced high - quality and fast - paced work. Each of them got three taels of silver.