Chapter 293: A Swing
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Chu Qingzhi stood up and walked to the window. She looked at Tianhe Peak and took a deep breath. It felt comfortable…
The Chu Residence must be in chaos now. She decided to go and watch in the afternoon.
Host, I’ve already sent one to you. You can do whatever you want. They’re demons, not adoptive parents. Don’t be soft-hearted.
I’ll send you the second one after a while, in case anyone becomes suspicious.
The breeze blew in through the window, and the curtains and tassels hanging by the window swayed gently. The bells and wind chimes gently collided with each other, emitting crisp sounds like a little girl’s laughter.
“Qingzhi, Qingzhi…” Chu Rong’s voice suddenly came from downstairs with a hint of urgency.
Chu Qingzhi replied, “Father, what’s the matter?”
Chu Rong said loudly, “Come down and take a look.”
“Coming.” Chu Qingzhi walked out of the room. Seeing that Chu Rong was in a hurry, she thought that there must be something urgent and flew down.
Her figure was elegant and light, like a dancing butterfly. Flying down, she immediately attracted everyone’s gazes.
“Sister Qingzhi, you’re so awesome.”
“Sister Qingzhi is the most beautiful.”
“Sister Qingzhi, can you teach us how to fly?”
Chu Qingzhi was so handsome that all the children in the village regarded her as their idol. They held their faces with both hands and shouted in admiration.
Chu Qingzhi landed lightly and waved at the children like a big star. Then, she walked towards Chu Rong. “Father, what’s wrong?”
Chu Rong was a little embarrassed. “I made a swing for you. I heard that all the girls in the city like this. See if you like it. If you don’t, I’ll change it for you.”
In the lower right corner of the rectangular courtyard, there was a thatched pavilion.
Under the thatched pavilion was a swing made of triangular wood. It was relatively wide and could seat three people at the same time.
There was a vine coiling up the rope of the swing. The vine had no leaves, but it was obvious that it was a grape vine.
The four pillars of the pavilion were also wrapped in grape vines, looking very symmetrical and beautiful.
The limestone floor was paved with cobblestones at the outermost area. The two colors contrasted with each other, giving off a refreshing sense of beauty.
Chu Rong had brought his two eldest sons to the river to collect these cobblestones. It took them a long time to collect so many.
From the door of the house to the door of the courtyard, there was a limestone road. This limestone road was connected to the thatched pavilion. Two paths were hidden among the flowers, giving it a unique charm.
From above, the entire courtyard was very beautiful.
“Father, your craftsmanship is superb. I like it very much.” Chu Qingzhi really liked it and was very touched.
In the cultivation world, many people worked for her in order to please her, but it was all for benefits. Now, it was purely for her happiness.
Chu Rong was especially happy to see that Qingzhi liked it.
He walked to the side of the thatched pavilion. “Qingzhi, I’ll put a stone table here. We can put some fruits and books on it.”
Chu Qingzhi smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Father.”
Chu Rong said happily, “It’s no trouble. Seeing that you’re happy, my hard work is worth it.”
The atmosphere at home was harmonious, but Chu Qingyue, who was learning embroidery at Cloud EmbroideryWorkshop, suffered some grievances.
Like usual, Chu Qingyue went to look for her master to learn skills, but she saw her master silently crying in the room. This shocked her.
“Master, what’s wrong?”
Ying Zilan wiped her tears. Her eyes were red and slightly swollen. Her eyes were filled with sorrow. “Qingyue…”
Chu Qingyue said with heartache, “Master, what happened? Who made you cry? Tell me and I will help you get back on them.”
Ying Zilan touched Chu Qingyue’s face lovingly. “You can’t afford to offend her. Just learn embroidery well. You don’t have to get involved in this mess.”
Chu Qingyue insisted, “Master, I’m your disciple. I can’t watch you suffer and do nothing. Just tell me, okay?”
Ying Zilan sighed and pulled Chu Qingyue to a stool beside her. She hesitated for a long time before speaking.
The moment she opened her mouth, a long story began.
“I’m the daughter of a concubine of the Ying family in the capital. My mother is a famous embroiderer in the capital. I inherited my mother’s talent and displayed extremely high embroidery talent at a young age.”
“When my father saw that I had such talent, he hired a few famous embroiderers to teach me embroidery with my mother. I lived up to everyone’s expectations and became the number one embroiderer in the capital at the age of 15.”
Chu Qingyue was shocked. Was her master so extraordinary?
“I’m not lying to you. At that time, my embroidery handkerchief could be sold for a thousand taels. The most valuable one was sold for a hundred thousand taels.”
“It was an embroidery drawing. There are only two prawns embroidered on it. Everyone told me that when they saw the embroidery drawing, they felt like they were seeing two prawns lying on a white silk handkerchief. It’s very vivid.”
Chu Qingyue’s eyes were filled with admiration. She did not know if she could learn a tenth of her master’s skills.
“After that, I entered the palace and became an embroiderer for the royal family. I was in charge of embroidering dragon robes. 1 remember very clearly that I embroidered a total of fifty dragon robes.”
At this point, Ying Zilan sighed deeply. “As an embroiderer, that’s as much as you can ever achieve. But when I was at my most glorious, I was framed.”
Chu Qingyue’s heart tightened. She asked anxiously, “Master, did you find out who framed you.”
“This matter concerned the Emperor, so it was investigated thoroughly and they were able to clear my name. However, after that, I realized how dangerous a place the Imperial Palace was and decided to leave.”
“After leaving the palace, I married a guard who had been guarding me in the palace. My life was quite peaceful. During this period, many people came to ask me to teach them embroidery.”
“I thought that it would be a pity if my skills were not passed down, so I started to take in disciples.”
“In about ten years, I took in nine disciples. The first eight disciples are all quite talented. In their own place, they are very famous. Only the ninth disciple.”
“Luo Yinhuan is the daughter of my best friend. Her family was very prosperous when the late emperor was in power, but because they took the wrong side, their entire family was confiscated and imprisoned. All the women in the family were demoted to official slaves, and the men were sent to the army.”
“After my best friend became an official slave, she realized that she was pregnant. When I found her, she happened to be in labor and gave birth to a daughter.”
“She begged me to take her daughter away from that filthy place. I was soft-hearted and agreed. Later on, I found out that she passed away on that very day,”
“In order to avoid trouble, I discussed with my husband not to stay in the capital anymore. My husband agreed and we moved to Shuiyun County. Since then, it’s been more than ten years..”