The curtain brushed against Qun Qing’s face. When she opened her eyes, the hall was already empty.
Prince Yan must be preparing to depart for Yunzhou—Prince Yan’s mansion had plenty of affairs to handle.
Lu Huating’s bed was very soft, and the pillows and bedding were also the finest silk and satin—she could tell by touch when arranging the bedding. Qun Qing had been sleeping extremely well these past few days. Rather, her adaptability was extremely strong—she could sleep anywhere.
She dressed and emerged, only to freeze in place.
She saw that a vanity table had been added to what had been an empty side hall, with red silk tied around the drawer.
She touched the vanity table’s surface. Instinctively, she felt it was for her, but there was also another possibility—it was simply wedding gifts with nowhere else to place them.
Thinking this, she withdrew her hand, removed the Bureau of Protocol fish tally from her waist, and replaced it with the Bureau of Clothing fish tally.
—
“Qun Qing?” Director of Clothing Zhu examined Princess Consort Yan’s imperial edict, her ice-cold gaze falling on Qun Qing’s face. “You haven’t served even a single day in the Bureau of Clothing, yet the Princess Consort of Prince Yan has transferred you here.”
Director of Clothing Zhu’s given name was Zhu Fuzhen. Qun Qing remembered that in the previous life, this person had been extremely serious and meticulous in her duties, intimately familiar with the hundreds of types of fabric in the storehouse. It was just a pity she didn’t know how to curry favor and had offended Director Gu, becoming depressed and unfulfilled until Director Gu finally expelled her from the palace.
Qun Qing had a good impression of her, so she didn’t argue, only presenting the embroidery samples she’d prepared and asking, “Director Zhu, has the palace recently encountered any difficulties?”
Upon entering, Qun Qing had already noticed the oppressive atmosphere in the Bureau of Clothing. Every female official’s expression suggested impending disaster, and Zhu Fuzhen before her was even more haggard and troubled.
Director Zhu frowned. She was already busy, and seeing Qun Qing asking about this and that made her even more displeased. She strode swiftly, leading Qun Qing past rows of wooden looms and embroidery frames in the hall, past piles of brocade garments, all the way to the courtyard of the rear hall.
Six palace maids had rolled up their sleeves and were washing fabric in vats.
Director Zhu grabbed a pile of cloud brocade from nearby and tossed it into Qun Qing’s arms, pointing at an empty vat. “Go dye fabric with them.”
The palace maids raised their eyes. Their gazes lingered on Qun Qing for an instant before they all lowered their heads again.
Obviously, this kind of rough work wasn’t labor that female officials needed to do. Dye solution harmed the hands, and the Bureau of Clothing’s female officials mostly had embroidery skills and never touched it. A sixth-rank Clothing Supervisor should be Director Zhu’s deputy, yet she was being driven to dye clothes alongside palace maids.
Qun Qing didn’t react, because she saw the concubine-colored cloud brocade in her hands—it had conspicuous streaks of faded, ghastly white. She looked through the cloud brocade taken from storage nearby—bolt after bolt was equally pitiful, like beautiful women whose makeup had been ruined by tears.
“All the cloud brocade is like this?” Qun Qing walked to the dye vat and placed the cloud brocade in it.
“Not just cloud brocade—several other types of fabric too. I heard they were soaked in floodwater. Alas, except for the few bolts on top which are good, everything underneath is completely ruined.” The dye stung the small wounds on their fingers, and the palace maids had to take their hands out to air them frequently, all complaining aloud.
“It just so happens that cloud brocade and flower brocade are on the list of trade samples the Gaochang envoys requested, making it hard on our Bureau of Clothing. Exactly—dyeing day and night, working overtime without sleep for several days now.”
Qun Qing looked at the dyed cloud brocade, wrung it out, and walked before Director Zhu, asking, “If the tribute quality doesn’t meet standards, why not memorialize about it?”
“Do you think I haven’t memorialized?” Director Zhu raised her eyes coldly. “Cloud brocade and flower brocade are only supplied as tribute by Xuzhou and Yunzhou. Xuzhou’s silk is short, Yunzhou suffered flood disaster, and the Prefect has memorialized repeatedly about hardships. That they can supply tribute at all is already good—to be picky about tribute quality at this time, do you want His Majesty to bear the crime of mistreating the common people?”
Zhu Fuzhen was a good official, just too upright. With Yunzhou suffering disaster, Emperor Chenming wouldn’t pursue the matter. Zhu Fuzhen was unwilling to argue forcefully, so the Bureau of Clothing had to bear the pressure itself.
Qun Qing raised her eyes. “Director Zhu’s solution is to have the Bureau of Clothing re-dye it ourselves?”
Zhu Fuzhen’s expression was very ugly. “According to precedent, shouldn’t water-soaked textiles be dried and re-dyed?”
“This isn’t ordinary water—floodwater is polluted water.” Qun Qing shook out the soaked cloud brocade before her. “Look, even if supplementary coloring barely covers the surface, where light passes through there are blotches and spots. It can’t withstand close inspection. After drying it becomes thin, brittle, and stiff. Worn on the body, there’s also risk of epidemic infection. You know full well this batch of cloud brocade is for use as trade samples—aren’t you afraid of delaying state affairs? If the envoys truly investigate, will you have all the female officials of the Bureau of Clothing punished together?”
Her words added anxiety to Zhu Fuzhen’s already irritated heart. “Then what do you say—how should the Bureau of Clothing resolve this?”
“Replace it with new. This batch of cloud brocade simply cannot be used as samples.”
Replace it with new? The quantity requirements for cloud brocade were all on the list—where could the Bureau of Clothing conjure up new ones?
Zhu Fuzhen forcefully slammed the memorial in her hand onto the table. “The entire Bureau of Clothing has been united, not closing our eyes for days and nights. If you came to cause trouble, leave now! The Bureau of Clothing isn’t a place for the Princess Consort of Prince Yan to insert idle people.”
Such a rebuke was tantamount to a public slap in the face.
The female officials embroidering outside listened silently, muttering among themselves. “Originally Baoshu was doing fine as Clothing Supervisor, but she was transferred out of the Bureau of Clothing because of this Lady Qing. Since Director Zhu is Baoshu’s teacher, how could she possibly give her a friendly face?”
“Exactly.” The female officials chimed in agreement.
“I heard Baoshu say this Lady Qing is quite formidable—moving between the Eastern Palace and Prince Yan’s mansion. She doesn’t have an extraordinarily beautiful appearance, so perhaps she’s very good at reading people’s hearts. To directly become a Clothing Supervisor—why don’t I have such good fortune?”
Before the words finished falling, an extremely clear voice came through. “Everyone stop for a moment and come with me.”
The Ceremonial Supervisors who were embroidering froze. However much Qun Qing might be, she was still a sixth-rank official, so they had no choice but to reluctantly gather over.
Zhu Fuzhen saw that not only was Qun Qing’s expression unchanged, she actually had the face to call everyone over. Her face flushed red. “I told you to leave, go back to the rear quarters to receive favor, and be your beautiful lady! Don’t delay everyone’s duties here.”
“Director Zhu. Zhu Fuzhen.” These words stung Qun Qing’s heart slightly. She turned, and a point of light fell on the side of her face. Those blue-black eyes fixed on Zhu Fuzhen as she emphasized her tone. “Does Director still remember—when Director Gu was in office, what position did you hold?”
Zhu Fuzhen’s fingers clenched slightly tight—she only felt it was too painful to recall.
Qun Qing said, “When Director Gu was here, although you were Clothing Supervisor, because she practiced nepotism, you were punished and sent to manage the North Storehouse. Only after Director Gu was expelled from the palace did you become Director, isn’t that right?”
“Director Gu was dismissed from office because when I was Palace Superintendent, I impeached her before His Highness the Crown Prince and recommended you to succeed her.” Qun Qing’s expression didn’t change as she pointed at herself. “Therefore, that you can hold this Director position today is all thanks to my blessing.”
Instantly, countless pairs of eyes watched Zhu Fuzhen in hushed silence. Zhu Fuzhen’s face flushed even redder. She was already mentally and physically exhausted, and for a moment, rage attacked her heart, causing her ears to ring. Seeing she was about to collapse, the female official beside her quickly supported her.
Qun Qing’s words still echoed in her ears. “If Director doesn’t thank me, that’s fine—just don’t learn from Director Gu by using people according to personal preference and suppressing your deputies.”
Zhu Fuzhen opened her eyes, pushed away the supporting female official beside her, and chased after to the rear hall.
Qun Qing had already spread lining fabric on the floor. With a shake of both arms, that bolt of cloud brocade unfurled like spilled ink, surrounded by a crowd of palace attendants.
Zhu Fuzhen saw her crouch on the ground, take a small goat-hair brush, mix salt water with dye, and slowly brush along the grain onto the faded areas, causing the concubine-colored cloud brocade’s hues to blend together, creating a pattern like ink-wash peach blossoms—quite distinctive indeed.
Qun Qing said, “Do you think the envoys can be fooled? Since the first year of the Sheng Lin era, civilian silk merchants have had private trade with the Western Regions. The Western Region royalty have long been using the most fashionable fabrics from Xuzhou and Yunzhou. If they see that what Great Chen’s palace provides is actually crude and shoddy goods soaked in water and re-dyed, what do you guess they’ll think?”
“If Director Zhu insists on using this batch of cloud brocade, it can only be processed this way, claiming it’s hand-painted and dyed, to barely have an explanation.”
The female officials had already been listening attentively, but now exclaimed, “But there are over a hundred bolts—mending like this, when would we finish? We also need to prepare other silks and embroidery. We simply don’t have the time.”
“If only they’d wanted them last year, there would still be surplus cloud brocade in storage. But this year the storehouse doesn’t have a single bolt left. Who knows why these Gaochang envoys specifically want so much cloud brocade and flower brocade?”
Zhu Fuzhen said nothing, silently watching Qun Qing use the goat-hair brush to supplement color. Her expression eased slightly. Qun Qing’s fingers were slender, her movements skilled and proper, and she clearly had painting skills—at a glance, one could see she was extremely familiar with fabric matters.
Previously, she’d heard about this Lady Qing from Baoshu’s mouth—could it be she had truly misunderstood?
Just as she thought this, Qun Qing stood up and said to her, “Director, I need to request half a month’s leave.”
“You… what did you say?” Zhu Fuzhen stared at her.
This was precisely when the Bureau of Clothing was busiest—how could someone just arrive and immediately request half a month’s leave?
“I need to request half a month’s leave.” Qun Qing addressed the surrounding female officials. “From when the envoys enter the palace to when they leave with the trade samples, there’s still a period of time in between. You can process a few bolts this way for now to fulfill the list requirement, and wait for me to return.”
“As for the missing cloud brocade and flower brocade, make me a list. If I can bring back new cloud brocade, we won’t need to take risks using these ruined ones.”
“Cloud brocade only exists in Yunzhou. It’s not one bolt—it’s eighty bolts. Where will Clothing Supervisor Qun bring them back from?” Zhu Fuzhen stared at her fixedly. The other female officials’ faces showed astonishment—they felt she was talking fantasies, yet seeing Qun Qing’s calm expression that didn’t seem like a joke, they couldn’t help but feel some awe.
“In front of everyone, let me make a wager with Director Zhu.” Qun Qing also looked at her. “If I can resolve this matter, from now on you must consult with me about all major and minor affairs of the Bureau of Clothing.”
Having said this, she turned and walked out of the Bureau of Clothing, her deep green official robes fluttering.
—
At Prince Yan’s mansion, luggage had been packed. Juan Su and Kuang Su were loading the baggage onto the carriage.
Juan Su said, “Chief Clerk, should we leave a message for Madam?”
Lu Huating sat inside the carriage, wrapping hidden arrows into his wrist guards. Hearing the words “Madam,” he paused for a moment. “Leave what? Didn’t I leave the vanity table?”
This woman was accustomed to being a spy—her movements when walking, sitting, or lying down were all soundless. Keeping her in the inner chamber gave him the same feeling as keeping a caged snake in the inner chamber.
He’d never seen what she looked like with her hair down and combing it. He was curious, so he’d added the vanity table.
It was a pity he had to leave without seeing her use the vanity table.
Lu Huating’s hand movements suddenly stopped, then the curtain was lifted, revealing a fair and pretty face.
Lu Huating shed all killing intent, lowered his eyes to look at her, and curved his lips in a smile. “What is it, my wife? Do you have instructions?”
Qun Qing might say anything—she just certainly wouldn’t have come specially to see him off.
Then the carriage sank downward. Qun Qing directly crawled in and squeezed in beside him, causing his movements to freeze. “I’m going with you.”