Chapter 247: Chapter 247: The One Responsible for Interrogating Her Is Xiao Shiqing
At the Heir Pei’s birthday banquet, besides the people from the Pei Mansion, a few individuals who had good relations with Heir Pei, like Prince An, also came over. Everyone drank and ate meat, quite lively and noisy.
After eating, Qu Fulan went to chat with Ren Hua, primarily to recommend her own underwear.
Honestly speaking, the underwear designed by Qu Fulan based on modern styles was generally well-liked by all women who tried it. Ren Hua also immediately ordered a few sets from her.
Qu Fulan originally wanted to invite Ren Hua to join her in this business so that if she was ever busy, there would be someone to oversee it.
Unfortunately, Qu Fulan couldn’t even bring up the idea of cooperation because, through their conversation, she learned that Ren Hua was currently resting to recuperate. Once she regained her health, she planned to have more children.
Furthermore, the task of educating Tuan also fell on her shoulders. As a lawful wife, she had the duty to nurture the child, assist the second lady in managing the household, and handle her own dowry, already busy to the point of exhaustion. This was while considering her recent miscarriage, as she was still in the recovery phase. Once she was fully recovered, many tasks awaited her within the inner house.
In conclusion, after chatting with Ren Hua, Qu Fulan felt that married women had it tough, having too many concerns and needing to focus on family matters, unlike her, who was single and only needed to think about making money.
But how can a fish know the joy of swimming? Most ancient women aspired to marry a good husband, and getting into a respectable marriage was considered a blessing for their ancestors.
For instance, take Ren Hua; there was no trace of sorrow on her face. Of course, setting aside the issue of the miscarriage, she was quite enjoying her current life, especially with Mr. Pei treating her well, which was recognized throughout the mansion. The discussions among the maids were filled with envy.
Thus, Ren Hua’s pursuit had already been realized, and she felt content with her happiness.
The thoughts of the ancients were feudal; girls were raised to follow their fathers at home, their husbands after marriage, and their sons after the husband’s death, instilled with thoughts of the three obediences and four virtues. They had long been accustomed to this model.
It was simply that Qu Fulan couldn’t empathize. The thought of being trapped in the inner chamber after marriage, managing the household and raising children, made her feel suffocated; it wasn’t her pursuit.
Besides, how old is she now? In modern times, there are plenty of women over thirty who are still unmarried. Getting married at a young age was like walking into a grave for her—it was too tragic.
A maid came to invite Qu Fulan, saying the heir wanted her to come over.
When Qu Fulan arrived, the other friends had dispersed, leaving only Heir Pei by himself.
"Have a seat." He poured tea while speaking to her.
Qu Fulan sat opposite him, "Did the banquet end so early?"
"I still have to enter the palace later, so it ended early," Pei Ji’an said.
Qu Fulan understood right away that the emperor had summoned him. If it were anyone else, they might complain that even on a birthday, they had to work, but Heir Pei spoke lightly, not seeming to mind. It was indeed a testament to someone of his stature.
"Is my sachet ready?" Heir Pei asked proactively.
Qu Fulan was about to give it to him, but he brought it up himself, making her seem less genuine. Though she felt slightly aggrieved, she still took it out obediently and handed it to him, "It’s ready, here you go."
Pei Ji’an accepted it. If not for this little item, he might have left already. Just before leaving, he felt something missing around his waist and remembered.
But once he had it in hand, he seemed a bit stunned.
A person like Heir Pei, used to the finest things since birth, could feel the quality with a touch.
Now this sachet, of course, couldn’t be faulted for its materials, but the needlework...
"Is this... your embroidery?"
"I told you my needlework isn’t great, Heir, and you said you didn’t mind. Now you seem to dislike it. Luckily, I guessed you wouldn’t like it, so here, I prepared another gift for you."
With that said, she took out another item.
Pei Ji’an did not look at that item, asking again, "Is this really your embroidery?"
"If it wasn’t my embroidery, could I have presented such a crude sachet?"
If she had someone else do it, she could have easily found someone good with a needle, why find someone bad?
Heir Pei realized this logic, but still found it difficult to believe. How was the one in Xiao Shiqing’s arms so bright before?
Could a woman’s needlework deteriorate?
Heir Pei quickly associated it with martial arts; if one doesn’t practice for a long time, regression is possible. He quickly accepted Qu Fulan’s explanation.
Previously, she was skilled at needlework, but when trouble befell her family, she became a servant, busy with chores every day, presumably without much time to embroider.
"No need for anything else, just this will do." Pei Ji’an accepted her sachet.
She said she made it, so he trusted she did. Even if her needlework had regressed, he didn’t mind.
Qu Fulan cared. She had carefully embroidered it, more attentively crafted than that sachet, but needlework was a technical skill that didn’t improve overnight; her needlework remained consistently poor.
She didn’t mind wearing it herself, but how could he wear it? Others would mock it if seen.
"Heir..."
He had already stood up with the sachet, "I have to leave now. We’ll talk later if there’s anything."
With that said, he left, leaving Qu Fulan speechless.
Qu Fulan only found out the next day what had happened that required Heir Pei to leave overnight.
It turned out that a case with wide-reaching implications had taken place in the Capital City, involving families of officials, although the specifics were not yet known. But generally, any case involving official families wasn’t trivial.
Let those in power handle the daunting matters; Qu Fulan resumed her business as usual. As long as the case didn’t affect her business, she had no time to concern herself with other matters.
She rented another room to let the embroideresses do needlework. Just the orders from the Grand Princess, Madam Pei, and Ren Hua required a lot of effort to prepare. Moreover, with introductions from Madam Pei and the Princess, Lady and Princess Rui also placed orders with her.
Now, the embroidery workshop needed to operate steadily to ensure the orders were completed within the stipulated time.
In ancient times, there was no shortage of embroidery workers; many made a living off needlework. Qu Fulan offered reasonable prices, so there was no reluctance to work. Furthermore, doing needlework at home and selling it individually wouldn’t bring much profit for these women.
As of now, there are eight embroideresses at Qu Fulan’s embroidery workshop, basically split into day and night shifts, with four people per shift, ensuring constant operation without overnight work, just slightly later for night shifts, stopping roughly early dawn.
There’s a subsidy for night shifts, so the embroideresses are happy to rotate.
It was only three days later that vague news started leaking about the case Heir Pei was investigating overnight.
It turned out someone had been playing with witchcraft in Capital City, a highly damaging behavior, manipulating others’ birth dates for rituals. If someone were to use such actions against the emperor, it would be catastrophic. Therefore, the government had long established a rule that witchcraft was prohibited, and anyone violating the law would face severe punishment.
Now, quite a few Daoists or Daoist Women practicing witchcraft had been apprehended.
Unfortunately, among them was Lv Daopo.
The person responsible for interrogating her was Xiao Shiqing.