Master 46

  Yang Lan was learning from her mother about the taboos and matters to note on the gift list when Zhang Yini came in to report, "Princess, Third Madame has arrived with the wet nurse and is holding an account book."

  "Huh, why did Third Aunt suddenly come? Didn't she refuse to hand over the household authority before? How did she suddenly have a change of heart?" Yang Lan chuckled and said with a hint of mockery.

  He Hui Chang Gong Zhu raised an eyebrow, seemingly smiling yet not quite, and asked in a tone that was full of understanding: "Tell me, Lan Er, why did she come?"

  Yang Lan thought for a moment and asked, "Isn't there something in Mother's hands? Eh, what is Third Aunt afraid of? What she cares about most should be her two children! Eldest Sister just received praise and made friends, I suppose it's to rely on Mother to help Eldest Sister in the future?" That was all she could think of, nothing more.

  He Hui nodded slightly, "Although it's not accurate, but it's almost the same. However, I think it's not because of Third Sister's matter, but rather because Sixth Brother has come."

  "What's wrong with Sixth Brother? Although he's a bit spoiled, it's not a big deal, is it? Why the sudden urgency?" Yang Lan clearly didn't understand the anxious heart of a mother wanting her son to succeed.

  He Hui didn't say anything else, just smiled and instructed Zhang Mama: "Please come in! Lan'er can go back to her own room first!"

  Yang Lan did not refuse, after all, it was an elder, and it would be too embarrassing to beg for mercy in front of a younger generation. She stood up, bowed her head and retreated, and when she reached the door, she saw that San Auntie's eyes were slightly red, and her expression was also somewhat tense. She smiled first and greeted her, "San Auntie is well, my mother is waiting for you!"

  Third Madame merely nodded tensely, "Ah! Lan'er ah! I'll go in first!" She perfunctorily uttered a couple of words that didn't quite express her meaning.

  "Auntie, go ahead! I'll head back to the courtyard first." Yang Lan smiled and backed away.

  She still wanted to know what San Shu came to find her mother for, but she also knew it wasn't good to ask, so she might as well wait until San Shu left and then ask. The afternoon class time had arrived, so she went to find Li Xiangniang to learn embroidery skills instead.

  To say that this embroidery girl is really skilled, she has been here for just over a month and hasn't taught her any new techniques. She only urged her to make the stitches of flat embroidery denser, drew some flower patterns for her to see, and taught herself to tie a few new and interesting knots, and then went back to practice repeatedly.

  She didn't expect that in just one month, she focused on practicing the flat needle and the stitches became denser, and the effect was surprisingly good. The embroidered lotus bag looked much more exquisite and elegant, which made her overjoyed, and she respected Li Xiangniang even more, following her to learn seriously.

  Li Xiu Niang had very high requirements and was dissatisfied with the previous work, so she had to start all over again from scratch, starting with the basics of embroidery, distinguishing between colors, and being meticulous down to the slightest detail. The first time she realized that what seemed like just a red or green color could actually be divided into such fine details, two threads placed together looked identical at first glance but under sunlight had subtle differences. Yang Lan was deeply impressed, acknowledging that it was the tiny differences that determined an embroiderer's level of skill, whether they were a master or just an ordinary embroiderer.

  Li Shifu is a great master, his embroidery skills are exquisite, and his ability to copy is pure and perfect, almost indistinguishable from the real thing. This is the key to being a master embroiderer, and those who cannot paint cannot become a master of embroidery.

  Master Li said that he decided to teach him everything because of his own painting skills.

  Yang Lan came to Master Li's room, smiling sweetly and said: "Master, the disciple has arrived!"

  Master Li's face is gentle, with a slight smile that seems warm and tender. However, his personality is extremely stubborn, with a strong contrast between his outer gentleness and inner firmness. On the surface, he appears to be smiling at everyone, but in reality, he is extremely distant and indifferent to people, and will not easily open up to you.

  "Alright, today we're issuing green lines, all of them." Master Li gave her a brief glance and spoke concisely.

  Yang Lan was silent, not saying a word, and didn't try to make small talk. She simply picked up a bundle of green threads, sat down near the window where sunlight was shining in, placed a piece of white Suzhou silk on her knees, and slowly began to separate the threads.

  There are dozens of types of green silk threads alone, all of which must be sorted out for Master Li to use.

  She is embroidering a picture of autumn lotus, now she has embroidered the part of the lotus leaf, which involves different colors of the residual lotus, and there are some details in it. The transition of the color of the lotus leaf is also very important, if not handled well, it will look very stiff and ugly.

  What is a master, able to embroider a piece of embroidery that looks like a painting, generally unmatched, so that you can't tell by hand whether it's embroidered or not. This is the real master, and Master Li is such a person.

  She was lucky enough to see a embroidery given by Master Li to her mother, a picture of Huangshan pine and cypress. At first, she thought it was painted by some master artist when she saw it, but accidentally touched it with her hand and found that it was actually embroidered, truly ingenious and absolutely an art piece.

  It was this artistic charm that made Yang Lan, a county princess, infatuated with embroidery skills and worshiped under the name of Master Li to learn.

  These days she hasn't taken up her needle, but instead has been carefully splitting threads, the finer the better. In her spare time, she would look at Master Li's works, studying his grasp of color and the naturalness of his transitions, and the more she looked, the more she felt her own shallowness and ignorance.

  Perhaps because she was the county master's daughter, Master Li would not scold her. When she did something wrong, he would just let it go, not saying a word, and let her figure it out for herself until she understood. Yang Lan didn't mind this at all. She knew that learning a craft was a serious matter, and the master's beatings and scoldings were to be expected. It wasn't easy to learn such a skill, and she felt lucky already.

  After finishing the line, Master didn't give any other orders, and Yang Lan had nothing to do. The work in the house didn't need her to do it, and Xiao Yatou took care of it very well. Even in the kitchen, she was specifically instructed that as long as it was Master's or Husband's order, she must do it first and couldn't delay.

  She sat on a small stool, propping up her chin to watch Master Li embroider flowers. One needle and one thread, the stitches were very dense, and the color was particularly exquisite. Unconsciously, she became absorbed in watching him, and her mind carefully pondered: if I embroidered it myself, how would it be? What's the difference?

  Just as Yang Lan was in a daze, Li Shifu spoke up, her voice a bit hoarse. Her throat wasn't very good and her voice was unpleasant to listen to, like the sound of sawing wood, so she rarely spoke.

  "You don't need to rush learning embroidery, it's easy to learn and you can master it in less than a month, including the double-sided embroidery stitch. However, if you don't put in the effort, even if I teach you, you won't be able to do it. Just go back and practice the basic stitches until you're proficient, then you can learn other stitches and they will all come easily to you. You have a great talent for painting, just focus on learning quietly and you'll definitely excel. Ah! What's the point of me telling you this? You're a princess, what do you lack?" She finished speaking with a look of melancholy on her face again.