After seeing Madam Zhao Shen and her lavishly dressed attendants, the mother and daughter of the Ji family exchanged glances. Though they felt some relief, there was still an uncomfortable weight in their hearts.
This was Ji Yingying’s first encounter with Madam Zhao Shen. In the past, when her children were young, Madam Ji treated Madam Zhao Shen as a respected customer. The Zhao family needed silk from the Huanhua Dyeing Workshop, and while Madam Zhao Shen wasn’t particularly warm, she had been reasonably polite. Madam Ji hadn’t expected that a potential marriage alliance would reveal such a different side of Madam Zhao Shen.
Madam Ji heaved a deep sigh, her eyes filled with worry. “Sometimes it’s better to endure momentary displeasure. We’ve vented our feelings, but now Madam Zhao harbors resentment. Yingying, are you truly certain about your relationship with Young Master Zhao?”
With such an overbearing mother-in-law, married life wouldn’t be easy.
“He is himself, and Madam Zhao is Madam Zhao,” Ji Yingying replied irritably. “We’re not even officially engaged, yet she’s already acting like a mother-in-law. Is this meant to be forming family ties or creating enemies? Who said I had to accept their proposal just because they’re coming to ask for my hand after the brocade competition? Surely Madam Zhao doesn’t think we won’t refuse her just because the Zhao family is wealthy and we should feel honored by their proposal?”
‘Seeking marriage’ had the word ‘seeking’ in it for a reason, Madam Ji thought to herself. She sighed inwardly – why did Young Master Zhao have to be born into the Zhao family? The second son of the Zhu Dyeing Workshop had also come seeking marriage, and Madam Zhu had been all smiles and warmth. She’d even offered terms allowing Yingying to live separately after marriage and promised to help set up a new dyeing workshop for her second son.
Madam Ji spoke quietly, “Very well, if the Zhao family comes with a proposal, I’ll decline it. You know, the second son of the Zhu Dyeing Workshop isn’t bad. Madam Zhu said you’d have your household after marriage, and you wouldn’t have to follow strict rules before your mother-in-law. No one would force you to live by the ‘Women’s Principles’ or ‘Female Analects.'”
Ji Yingying fell silent.
Her cheeks were flushed like peach blossoms, her brows slightly furrowed, her small mouth pouting – caught between difficulty and unwillingness. The sight made Madam Ji’s heartache. Her daughter, whom she had raised for sixteen years, had already given her heart to the Zhao family’s second son.
“Yingying, do you truly understand Zhao Xiuyuan? What makes him so special? Mother fears you might not see him.”
Madam Zhao Shen was just the mother-in-law, but Zhao Xiuyuan would be her daughter’s life partner. What if Zhao Xiuyuan turned out to be like his mother… Madam Ji couldn’t bear to think of such an outcome.
In the hall where mother and daughter spoke, Nurse Li tactfully dismissed the serving maids and stood guard at the door. The westering sun shone through the main entrance, filling the room with golden light.
Ji Yingying bit her lip, gathering her courage: “He trusts me.”
Of all the reasons Madam Ji had imagined – Zhao Xiuyuan’s handsome appearance, his cultured manners, his outstanding talents, his future position as heir to a brocade-making family – she never expected her daughter’s reason would be this.
“Mother. My Brother is two years older than me by traditional counting. I remember he entered the dyeing workshop when he was seven. I was already five then. When you wouldn’t take me along, I’d crouch at the workshop entrance and cry. Later, my brother felt sorry for me and got me some dye. I dyed a handkerchief and hoped you’d praise me. Instead, you scolded brother and punished Nurse Li for not watching me properly.”
“I know that the Ji family’s secret techniques are passed down to sons, not daughters. I never coveted our family’s secrets. I just love dyeing things. I love mixing different dyes and creating colorful shades. You forbade it, so I didn’t dare mention it. You’d punish me if you found out. Last time you were so angry you almost sold Xiang’er.”
“Even my brother wouldn’t openly encourage me to learn dyeing techniques. Only Young Master Zhao. He always praises my eye for color and my ability to match shades. He always says I have talent. He’s passionate about brocade-making, and I love dyeing. We never run out of things to discuss. Every time his family evaluates him and he needs to weave brocade, he shows me his designs and discusses what colors of silk to use. He always trusts my judgment, and when his grandfather praises him, he’s delighted. I’m happy too. Those are the silks I helped color-match. I don’t need Zhao Old Master’s praise; I just love that feeling of being acknowledged.”
“Mother, he trusts me. I don’t have to hide anything when I’m with him. I don’t have to be secretive about my love for dyeing techniques. He even helps me think of new dyeing formulas. I know I can be hasty, but he’s always patient with me. When I’m with him, I feel so happy.”
Her daughter saw Zhao Xiuyuan as a kindred spirit. Madam Ji was shocked. Had she inadvertently pushed her daughter towards Zhao Xiuyuan?
“Yingying, do you love him? I mean the kind of love between a man and a woman. If someone else appreciated you as Young Master Zhao does, and also encouraged and supported your interest in dyeing techniques, would you enjoy being with that person too?” Madam Ji struggled to express her thoughts.
She was truly worried. Worried that Ji Yingying didn’t understand the difference between loving a man and loving a kindred spirit.
Ji Yingying’s face reddened further, and after a long moment, she mumbled, “I just don’t want to discuss such things with Young Master Zhu…”
Madam Ji felt relieved. Her daughter truly loved Zhao Xiuyuan. She couldn’t help but warn Ji Yingying: “What if Young Master Zhao changes one day and stops being so accommodating?”
Ji Yingying pursed her lips and humphed, “He wouldn’t dare! I’d beat him senseless!”
Madam Ji swatted her back, scolding, “Young Master Zhao indulges you, and you’re taking advantage of it. He might be the future head of the Zhao family. He won’t always be so yielding.”
“He indulges me in small matters, but I’ve never interfered with important things,” Ji Yingying muttered. She couldn’t give up Zhao Xiuyuan because of Madam Zhao Shen. She spoke frankly, “Mother, what if I ask him? If Madam Zhao gives me trouble, would he protect me? If he won’t… I’ll find a way to handle Madam Zhao myself.”
Having understood her daughter’s feelings, Madam Ji sighed inwardly and changed the subject, asking about her whereabouts that day: “You’ve been out all day, where did you go?”
“Oh, I bought some grass jelly. Let’s add it to dinner tonight.” Ji Yingying asked Ying’er to take the grass jelly to the kitchen, then thought for a moment and leaned close to whisper in her mother’s ear, “Mother, I’ve come up with a new way to color-match silk threads. The brocade it would make would be more beautiful than the sample brocade the Zhao family sent. But we just drove Madam Zhao away in anger. I don’t know if I should still tell the Zhao family.”
To chase away Madam Zhao Shen and then rush to tell the Zhao family about her new color-matching idea – it seemed to lack dignity no matter how you looked at it.
“How beautiful would it be?” Madam Ji was curious.
Ji Yingying’s face lit up: “If the judging is fair, the Zhao family will reclaim the title of Brocade King.”
Madam Ji drew in a sharp breath: “But you don’t understand brocade-making.”
Ji Yingying shook her head: “I may not understand weaving, but brocade is woven from silk. Different colors and patterns can create different brocades. If I can dye new types of silk threads, we can weave unique brocades.”
“New types of silk threads?”
Could her daughter’s talent for dyeing be so extraordinary? To figure out new dyeing techniques without anyone teaching her… Madam Ji was stunned.
“Let me think about this some more. Don’t tell anyone about this, not even your brother,” Madam Ji truly needed time to consider.
If they could help the Zhao family reclaim the title of Brocade King, Yingying would have some leverage when she married into the Zhao family. But others wouldn’t believe Ji Yingying had figured out these dyeing techniques on her own. They would think that for the sake of wealth and status, she had passed down the Ji family secrets to her daughter. The Ji family’s reputation would be ruined. How would her eldest son establish himself? He was about to take a wife – what would the Zhang family think?