Chapter 438: Chapter 437: Can She Endure This Hardship?
The girl glanced at the hourglass not far away, with Yingying standing at a spot, slowly uncovering the red silk cover on the nearest one.
It was the largest piece of embroidery.
As tall as a person.
"This is the Winter Room Zen Painting, Qiao Song Bai Xue, spacious pavilions and courtyards, scholars and servants, with sharp garment patterns. The whole thread and color usage encompasses over a hundred varieties."
The embroidery blends with ancient painting.
"The stitching and colors crisscross, nearby with lake stones and cloud trees, in the distance a bearded servant carries wine. The composition is relaxed and expressive, the use of color is delicate, and the ink is fiercely vibrant."
After completing each part, the embroidery lady must check it against the embroidery frame, then add color and adjust for light.
Upon closer inspection, the embroidered figures, utilizing Bingwen Needle technique, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, forehead, wrinkles, eyebrows, sideburns, and even the veins on the back of the hands are extremely clear.
The scene is so quiet, it’s as if one could hear a pin drop.
The embroidery workshop masters who brought their Su Embroidery works onstage had each created their distinct beauty, but compared side by side, this piece strikes directly at the soul with its artistic effect.
Before Shen Hua could elaborate on the embroidery techniques used in this piece, someone started bidding.
"One thousand taels."
"I bid one thousand five hundred taels."
"Bidding so little, and you have the nerve to speak up? Miss Shen, I bid five thousand taels."
Shen Hua smiled.
"Set the price at four thousand taels."
"The business that just bid five thousand taels, please come back with the silver to collect it."
The girl surveyed the room, there were many representatives from major embroidery workshops, most likely here to broaden their horizons and help with future techniques.
Setting aside the labor cost and materials, there is no loss. The pure profit is estimated to be over six hundred taels.
These words elicited another round of astonishment from the crowd.
Shen Hua smiled slightly: "I am not lacking money."
"All the profits from this piece of embroidery, I will not take a single cent, it will all be given to the embroidery lady as a reward."
Manager Xiao timely spoke: "Yifeng Hall, orders five thousand pieces."
Good embroidery naturally sells well.
But Yifeng Hall does business in Shengjing, always appreciating the value of rarity.
Upon hearing this, the already eager shopkeepers from different places spoke up: "Ling Enxuan, three hundred pieces."
"Cixi Garden, five hundred pieces."
"Tong..."
The hall became raucous.
Shen Hua then said: "Those who want to place bulk orders for the ’Winter Room Zen Painting’ please speak to our Manager, she will register it. The price will be discussed later. A contract will be provided as proof."
It has always been cheaper to order in bulk since ancient times. But having each shopkeeper resell them will only make them even more expensive.
Shen Hua then displayed each embroidery. Without her needing to introduce them, the bids started coming from below, leaving Shen Hua free to enjoy.
Until the last piece, the smallest one.
She pulled apart the red silk.
It was a silk handkerchief.
Those sitting far away couldn’t see clearly. But which of the embroideries presented by Shen Hua in front hadn’t been extraordinary? Merchants immediately started shouting high bids.
"Okay, I can’t outbid them anymore, no matter, I want three hundred pieces!"
"...Laughable, such low ambition, this side orders six hundred pieces."
Those sitting closer who could see clearly collectively gasped.
Manager Zhou’s hands were trembling.
"This..."
Xie Xun finally stood up: "Pavilions and architectural ridges amid green leaves and red flowers, flying eaves and running beasts with lingering human figures, endless plum blossom rain, yet the material is light and thin."
The sky full of plum blossoms, either falling on narrow paths or floating to rest upon shoulders, the petals shifting in color depth. Even the bristles are vividly distinct, highlighting detailed craftsmanship, not to mention the grandeur of the palace itself.
Such a scene, yet reduced and further reduced, captured on a single silk handkerchief.
"The Empress Dowager loves plum blossoms, I’ll take this ’Water Palace Plum Blossom Painting’."
Since the silver is coming from the palace funds, he decided to extract a sum for Yangyang.
The surroundings fell into dead silence.
Who dares to bid against him.
Being able to use the same design of silk handkerchief as the most prestigious nobles in the palace, this...
"Manager Sun, I add one thousand more!"
"Manager Sun, I add two thousand more."
But Shen Hua said, "These embroidery pieces are not for sale in bulk."
The Magistrate Wang, eager to place an order for his wife, was startled, "Why?"
Shen Hua replied irritably, "Embroidering won’t kill me."
Her hands are about to cramp!
Is this suffering she can endure!
It absolutely requires patience, every stitch must be flawless.
The embroidery ladies, already elderly, would find it tough to work on this; Shen Hua even more so didn’t want their eyes to be harmed for this.
Moreover, the earlier pieces of embroidery, sold in odd numbers should suffice to win the top spot.
After calculating, goodness, no need to take any more orders for the next year or two.
The only consolation, other than one large piece of embroidery, the rest are smaller pieces.
Just as Shen Hua was about to leave the stage, a sudden idea made her turn back.
The girl is quite gentle.
"For bulk orders, profits will further give a commission to hardworking embroidery ladies. These are the rules I set."
Shen Hua’s voice was clear, openly headhunting: "There are no shortages of embroidery ladies here wanting to make a fortune. Chun’s Embroidery Workshop’s doors are always open to you."
The owners of all the major embroidery workshops turned utterly grim.
But the embroidery ladies’ eyes shone brightly.
Which master is as generous as Shen Hua! They know their wages are indeed high, but they are fixed.
————
After speaking until her mouth was dry, Shen Hua drank some tea to moisten her throat and did not stay any longer. The girl quickly gathered her things and left with Xie Xun.
The two walked on the street.
"Did you embroider the ’Water Palace Plum Blossom Painting’?"
"Brother, how did you know?"
Xie Xun simply smiled.
"At that time knowing that you were frail, Mama didn’t allow you to overexert yourself, but you still secretly disobeyed her, always getting up at night behind her back to embroider."
"Moreover, fearing that Mama would find out and get angry, Yicui advised you not to, yet the candles in my room always seemed to be half gone— if not by you, then by whom?"
Later on, after an incident, Shen Hua stopped touching needles and thread.
Only now has she picked it up again.
Indeed, time was too short, she simply didn’t have time to prepare anything else.
The girl said irritably, "No wonder! Later on, you hid all the candles in your room; I couldn’t find a single one!"
"If not, would you still want your eyes?"
Xie Xun was about to speak, but his vision locked onto something, his blood running cold and solidifying, unable to move an inch.
He stared unblinkingly, fearing it was merely a reflection or illusion, completely vanishing, completely ungraspable.
Xie Xun’s lips lost their color.
Shen Hua noticed his abnormality.
She looked in the direction he was staring.
Thirty feet away, the girl had her hair up, wearing a blue skirt which made her appear even more gentle, as soft as water, carrying some bags of medicine.
It was... Xiao Sesu.
Meanwhile, mischievous kids were setting off firecrackers nearby, carelessly throwing them around, startling a passing horse, which lost control, neighing loudly and charging forward. The frightened passersby screamed and scattered to avoid it.
Where Xiao Sesu stood was indeed safe, however, she was bumped into by the fleeing crowd, her body staggering, tilting forward involuntarily.
Xie Xun’s pupils dilated, without caring about the surroundings, he rushed forward. Holding her left arm.
"Is everything alright?"
Xiao Sesu was still flustered, quickly covering her slightly bulging belly with her right hand.