bookcurios Chapter 1363 Embroidered Pictures
Chapter 1363 Embroidered Pictures
She pouted and looked at Zhan Qingning, who was about to give birth: "Sister, it's Susan, the third young lady of the Ministry of Revenue's mansion, having her birthday. What gift do you think I should give her?"
Zhan Qingning asked affectionately, "Are you and her close?"
Zhan Miao shook his head: "It's not that we were close. Back at the Noble Ladies' Academy, we were just nodding acquaintances!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly raised her voice: "No, I remember now, she once mocked me for not knowing how to embroider. I clearly embroidered a big tiger, but she insisted it was a fat cat, which made me really angry!"
Zhan Qingning couldn't help but chuckle; Miao'er was quite vengeful.
She remembers it very clearly, even though it happened a long time ago.
She suggested, "Since we're not that close, just pick any gift and send it to her. No need to go to all that trouble!"
Zhan Miao rolled his eyes and quickly came up with a good idea.
She whispered, "Sister, didn't she look down on my embroidery? I'll embroider a picture of a hundred beasts, enlarge the fat cat's image and embroider it in the very center, and add a few majestic tigers next to it. Let's see if she still dares to laugh at me!"
Zhan Qingning laughed at her words, then coughed lightly, supporting her waist, "You little rascal, you're quite cunning. But Susan is always very concerned about her image, so teasing her like that might upset her."
Zhan Miao nonchalantly raised her chin: "So what if she's not fast? I'm not afraid of her. When she mocked me back then, didn't she ever think I'd be unhappy?"
As she spoke, she excitedly got up to go find the embroiderers in the mansion to get silk thread and embroidery frames.
Zhan Qingning quickly stopped her: "Wait a minute. You have to help your mother and brother with the household affairs now. How can you have so much time to spend on embroidery? In my opinion, it would be better to find a ready-made picture of a tiger roaring in the mountains and have the embroiderer add a few cat patterns. This will save you time and achieve your goal."
Zhan Miao's eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands: "Sister is so smart! Let's do it this way! I'll go and make the arrangements right away. I'll make sure Susan is left speechless at her birthday banquet!"
After saying that, she ran out like a gust of wind, leaving Zhan Qingning shaking her head helplessly and affectionately. The sunlight outside the window shone on her slightly protruding belly, filling the room with a warm and cozy feeling.
Zhan Miao rushed out of the courtyard. First, he sent someone to the storeroom to retrieve the embroidery of "Tiger Roaring in the Mountains" left over from the previous dynasty. Then he found Zhang Xiu Niang, the most skillful embroiderer in the mansion, and instructed her to add a round, fat cat in the center of the scroll, making sure that the cat's adorable appearance contrasted sharply with the majestic tigers around it.
Zhang Xiuniang accepted the order, and in less than half a day, her fingers flew across the paper, creating a unique painting of a hundred beasts.
Zhan Miao held the embroidery in her hands and looked at it again and again. The more she looked at it, the more relieved she felt. She couldn't help but stroke the embroidery thread and laugh and scold, "Susan, Susan, when everyone sees this picture at your birthday banquet, let's see how you save face."
Fearing that things might change if she waited too long, she chose two quick-witted servants the next day, just as dawn was breaking, and sent them to the Su residence with the gift box.
It was early winter, and the leaves on both sides of the official road were falling to the ground, making a rustling sound when stepped on.
Zhan Miao sat in the carriage, tapping the gift box on his knee with his fingertips, filled with the pleasure of seeing Susan's face fall.
Halfway through the journey, the carriage suddenly came to a slow stop.
"What's going on?" Zhan Miao lifted the carriage curtain, his brows furrowing.
A crowd had gathered at the intersection ahead, making a lot of noise, and the faint sound of children crying could be heard.
The coachman bowed and replied, "Miss, it seems there's a family ahead whose child climbed a tree while playing and accidentally fell. He's probably broken his leg, and his parents are extremely worried."
Zhan Miao was not a heartless person to begin with, and upon hearing these words, most of his impatience dissipated.
She quickly jumped out of the car, pushed through the crowd, and saw a five or six-year-old child lying on the ground with his legs twisted at an odd angle, crying his heart out. A couple next to him were holding the child, their faces covered in tears, looking helpless.
"Quickly, I have wound medicine in my carriage, as well as some medicine left by my brother. Apply it to the child first." Zhan Miao instructed the servant to fetch the medicine while squatting down to comfort the couple. "Don't panic, the clinic isn't far from here. I'll have the servant go ahead to borrow a carriage and take you there."
She squatted to the side, watching the servant apply medicine and bandages to the child, and carefully instructing the couple on how to take care of him. He busied himself with the child for a full half hour.
She only breathed a sigh of relief when the borrowed carriage arrived and took the family upstairs, then turned and walked towards her own carriage.
The cold wind swirled up the fallen leaves on the ground, and they landed on her shoulder.
Zhan Miao patted his clothes and was about to bend down and get into the carriage when he caught a glimpse of the gift boxes inside the carriage. He realized that one of them was missing.
Her heart tightened, and she quickly went to check, her face instantly darkening. The sandalwood gift box containing the embroidery was nowhere to be found.
"Where is my gift box?" Zhan Miao turned to look at the two servants, his voice tinged with urgency.
The two servants panicked and hurriedly looked around, muttering, "It was just here a moment ago. When you went to help, Miss, we stayed by the carriage and didn't see anyone approach..."
Zhan Miao bit her lip, her gaze sweeping over the place where the crowd had gathered, then looking at the dense grass by the roadside, her brows furrowing more and more tightly.
In the chaos just now, everyone's attention was on the injured child. It's possible that someone took advantage of the confusion to sneak into the crowd and steal the gift box silently.
She stamped her foot in frustration, about to order the servants to go after them separately, when she suddenly remembered something, quickly walked to another servant, and ripped open the bundle he was tightly protecting in his arms.
That was a spare embroidery pattern that she had her servant hide close to her body, fearing that the gift box would be too conspicuous.
It turned out that she was quick-witted and had anticipated that there might be some twists and turns in this matter yesterday. She specially asked Zhang Xiuniang to make two identical embroidery patterns, one to be placed in the gift box as a cover, and the other to be carried by the servant.
"Luckily, I had a backup plan." Zhan Miao breathed a sigh of relief, stuffed the bundle into her bosom, and was about to take a step when she noticed a torn piece of red silk lying in the roadside bushes. The pattern of that red silk was exactly what she had used to wrap the gift box.
A thought struck her, and she parted the bushes to walk over. Sure enough, she found the missing sandalwood gift box deep inside.
The lid of the gift box was pried open, and the embroidered pattern inside spilled out, spreading out onto the withered yellow grass.
Zhan Miao bent down to pick up the embroidery pattern. As soon as her fingertips touched the embroidery thread, she felt a sticky sensation and smelled a faint sweet fragrance.
The fragrance was extremely faint, yet it carried an indescribable eeriness.
She was startled and quickly unfolded the embroidery. She saw that the originally bright silk threads had been coated with a thin layer of ointment-like substance, the color of which was dark and blended into the embroidery thread. It was not noticeable unless you looked closely.
Cold sweat instantly soaked through Zhan Miao's inner clothes.
It seems that the person who stole the gift box wasn't after money at all, but rather after the embroidery.