A few days after Yang Jingyuan’s departure, his letter confirming his safe arrival came. Ji Yingying breathed a sigh of relief, angrily concluding that she had been fooled by Fifth Miss Niu.
Days passed peacefully. By the end of the eighth month, the Yang family’s competition brocade was ready. Madam Yang instructed Xueqing to invite Ji Yingying to the study in Bailu Hall.
Ji Yingying had never been to this study before. It had previously been used by the elder Master Yang. After his passing, though Yang Jingshan inherited the position of the family head, he hadn’t used this study since Madam Yang still resided in Bailu Hall. Upon entering, Ji Yingying noticed increased security around Bailu Hall, with Madam Chen, Xueqing, and a group of servant women guarding the entrance. The atmosphere was somewhat tense, making Ji Yingying nervous. She quietly instructed Ling’er and Xiang’er to remain outside and pretend they hadn’t heard anything.
Inside sat Madam Yang and the Yang brothers. Seeing Ji Yingying enter, Madam Yang smiled: “Yingying, we’ve been waiting for you.”
Ji Yingying paid her respects and sat in the lower seat.
Yang Jingyan rose, took out a brocade box from beside him, opened it, and spread the completed competition brocade on the table.
It was a brocade primarily in shades of green. Cyan, light green, snow green, and pea green blended, with pink peach blossoms woven across it. Yang Jingyan picked up one edge of the brocade and gently shook it. Instantly, a spring river seemed to ripple, scattered with falling flowers.
Ji Yingying couldn’t help but exclaim: “How beautiful!”
Though Madam Yang had known they were weaving a new type of brocade, this was her first time seeing it. Her eyes showed satisfaction: “Excellent. Reclaiming the Brocade King title this year will surely comfort your father’s spirit in heaven.”
“The greatest feature of the Huanhua brocade isn’t its beauty, but its efficiency. Previously, brocades with complex patterns took over three years to weave. But with our Huanhua brocade, except for these falling flowers, everything else is as simple as weaving cloth. Such beautiful brocade can be completed in at most three months. This greatly reduces the cost of brocade weaving,” Yang Jingshan explained excitedly. “The brocade competition isn’t just about craftsmen comparing skills, it’s about advancing Shu’s brocade industry. The Yang family is destined to make its mark in brocade history!”
“Excellent!” Madam Yang was deeply moved. Unless other brocade houses produced something as eye-catching as last year’s Lingjiang Immortal, the Yang family’s new brocade would surely win the Brocade King title.
Ji Yingying stared at this spring river scene, thinking about Yang Jingshan’s words, and suddenly asked: “Elder Brother, if we work at full capacity, could we weave a complete piece by October?”
“Of course!” Yang Jingshan was confident. “Having completed this brocade pattern, we now have experience. With good weavers working in shifts around the clock, we can weave a complete piece in a month. However, the competition only requires three feet of length—why do you want to weave a complete piece, Sister-in-law?”
Ji Yingying gazed at the brocade on the table, her eyes showing admiration: “I was thinking, brocade ultimately becomes clothing. If at the competition, the Yang family presented not just a brocade pattern, but actual garments worn on the body, I believe every woman would dream of owning such clothing.”
“What a great idea!” Yang Jingshan’s mind quickly turned, extrapolating further ideas. “We could weave brocades for all four seasons, worn by four beautiful women.”
Ji Yingying was inspired, their thoughts in sync, and she smiled: “This one shows spring river peach blossoms. We could also weave summer river lotus, autumn river red leaves, and winter river plum blossoms. The flowers needn’t be fixed—each piece could have different flowers, woven according to the craftsmen’s imagination. This way, each piece would be unique.”
As the two grew more excited, Madam Yang and Yang Jingyan exchanged glances, both breaking into smiles.
“Eldest son, Yingying, hear me out,” Madam Yang interrupted their discussion. After a moment’s thought, she said, “I disagree.”
“Why?!” they asked in surprised unison.
Madam Yang calmly explained: “Your ideas are both very clever. However, there’s no need to weave complete pieces for garments. The competition has always centered on three-foot brocade paintings. The Yang family shouldn’t break this tradition. Besides, clothing suits different people differently. If we had beauties wearing brocade garments on the competition stage, perhaps people would focus on the women rather than the brocade. Should we turn the prestigious brocade competition into a Jinjiang courtesan selection?”
These words made Ji Yingying and Yang Jingshan deeply ashamed. After discussion, they decided to weave four different Huanhua brocade paintings: spring primarily in green, summer in verdant hues, autumn in varied colors, and winter with a silver-white base. Each base color would be complemented by differently colored flowers.
After settling the matter, the Yang brothers took their leave to get busy. Madam Yang asked Ji Yingying to stay.
Over the past half year, though Madam Yang had taken good care of Ji Yingying, she hadn’t been particularly warm. Apart from paying respects on the first and fifteenth of each month and family dinners at Bailu Hall, she rarely summoned Ji Yingying to Bailu Hall.
Not knowing why she had been asked to stay, Ji Yingying sat quietly, waiting for Madam Yang to speak.
“Yingying, you’ve been a great help to the Yang family with this competition brocade. If word gets out, who knows how much the Zhao family will hate you. Here, take this.” Madam Yang placed a box on the table and pushed it toward her.
Without looking at it, Ji Yingying replied: “Madam, you’re too kind. When the Ji family faced extortion, you were the one who helped greatly. Even if I hadn’t married into the Yang family, I would have done my utmost to help with the competition brocade.”
“One shouldn’t refuse an elder’s gift. Take it. I often give things to your two sisters-in-law as well.” Seeing her still so distant, Madam Yang recalled Yang Jingyuan’s formal address of “Madam,” and her eyes dimmed.
“Thank you, Madam.” Seeing her insistence, Ji Yingying couldn’t refuse further and accepted it.
Madam Yang shook the small bell on the table, and Madam Chen and Xueqing entered to help her up. Ji Yingying followed her out of the study.
Back at Mingyue Residence, she casually opened the box. Inside was a property deed. Looking at it, she saw it described as a four-courtyard compound with shops in front, a flower garden in the back, and proximity to the Jin River. Ji Yingying was stunned.
How did Madam know she had been looking for a suitable house to move the Ji family into the city? This was a suitable gift for the Ji family, presented under the guise of a reward.
“Madam is so thoughtful.” Reflecting on Madam Yang’s words, Ji Yingying understood. Madam Yang was also worried that reclaiming the Brocade King title this year would humiliate the Zhao family. The Ji family’s life in Sandaozeng was difficult.
Yang Jingyuan would certainly not accept such a gift. Ji Yingying couldn’t help but smile, remembering how he had casually ordered just three dishes, claiming to be economical. Concerned about her natal family’s situation, she decided to accept Madam Yang’s kindness. She instructed Xiang’er to deliver an embroidered headband she had made for Madam Yang, specifically telling her to relay to Madam Yang: “…Though my embroidery might be acceptable, my skills in tailoring clothes and making shoes can’t compare to Madam’s. When Third Young Master returns, he wears the shoes Madam made.”
The last time she sent clothes to Yang Jingyuan, Madam Yang had provided two pairs of shoes. Ji Yingying had wrapped up the shoes from Madam Yang and kept her own. When Yang Jingyuan returned, he wore the shoes Madam Yang had made.
That night when he left, Ji Yingying told him the truth, deliberately teasing him: “If you don’t want to wear the shoes Madam made, you can go back barefoot. You can’t buy new shoes at this hour.”
Yang Jingyuan had waited until nearly dark to leave, not wanting to tell Ji Yingying he was going to stay at Sang Shisi’s house to test for possible ambushes the next day. Under her dark-eyed gaze, he still stubbornly insisted: “What you sent must be what you made.”
Unfortunately, when Yang Jingyuan went to see Madam Yang on the fifteenth of the eighth month, it was already dark, and though his formal address of “Madam” pained her heart, she hadn’t noticed he was wearing the shoes she had made.
Ji Yingying reflected pensively that Madam Yang maintained her dignity and wouldn’t get close to Yang Jingyuan, while Yang Jingyuan was as stubborn as an ox, refusing to bend first. Only time could ease their relationship.