Chapter 1097: Chapter 1097: Calling a Stag a Horse
The Empress, who had been smiling and prepared to deliver a basketful of praises, was stunned by the messy thread. Her expression faltered, and the words of praise were stuck in her throat.
Ruru waited a moment, then presented the handkerchief to the Imperial Concubine.
Consort Rong widened her eyes, unable to believe what she was seeing.
Then Ruru presented the handkerchief to Lady.
Lady glanced at the handkerchief, then at Ruru, quickly lowering her gaze.
The palace maid with the pen waited for the Empress, Imperial Concubine, and Lady to speak.
But at this moment, they were collectively silent.
The Empress, in a daze, knew this wasn’t Ruru’s true embroidery skill. Ruru had previously exchanged embroidered handkerchiefs with the Third Princess, and she remembered the handkerchief embroidered with lotus flowers, standing gracefully, with natural color transitions that were quite good in terms of both color matching and technique.
Since she brought this thing forward, it seems the girl was determined to be disqualified.
Consort Rong was not foolish either; she saw that Ruru clearly wanted to leave.
Ruru had deliberately dropped the handkerchief earlier, so that all the girls had seen her masterpiece.
To the extent that it was now difficult to help her cover it up.
Consort Rong did not want Ruru to leave, after all, she had two sons. As long as Ruru stayed, the chances of her sons marrying Ruru were still quite good.
Seeing that it was becoming increasingly strange to remain silent, Imperial Concubine lightly cleared her throat, "Stay."
The palace maid raised her pen to write, Ruru hurriedly said: "Wait!"
She smiled brightly at Consort Rong and said: "Perhaps the lady did not clearly see my handkerchief just now, let me show it to the lady again."
She raised the handkerchief again and presented it once more to Consort Rong, smiling: "Since childhood, I had no talent in embroidery, and I know that my embroidery is not good."
"My embroidery skill is probably the worst among all the girls."
"If even this could be selected, it would be unfair to the other girls."
Consort Rong’s face fell.
The Empress frowned as well, this girl was going too far, did she really want to leave? Could it be that she looked down on the princes?
The grand hall fell into an awkward silence again.
Regardless of whether they felt it was fair, or not fair, none of the girls dared to breathe.
Just then, Nanny Xu behind the Empress suddenly said, "Can Miss Jiang’s handkerchief be shown to this old maid?"
Ruru handed the handkerchief to the palace maid, who respectfully passed it to Nanny Xu.
Nanny Xu stared at the messy threads for quite a while, realizing: "Ah, could this be the lost Changzhou random needle embroidery?"
"This rich array of colors, the seemingly chaotic needlework, yet piled up in layers, carries a special charm."
"I’ve heard that this kind of random needle embroidery needs to be viewed from afar to see its significance."
She held the handkerchief and asked Consort Rong’s nanny, "Nanny Qian, does this embroidery look like a bird?"
Nanny Qian carefully stared at the handkerchief for a moment, "It’s indeed a kingfisher."
"Nanny Xu is truly knowledgeable." At this moment, she had to team up with Nanny Xu.
The Empress turned and glanced at Nanny Xu, nodding slightly, "This is also the first time I have seen such embroidery. Keep this handkerchief well, and let the embroideresses in the palace study it carefully in the future."
Nanny Xu swiftly tucked the embroidered handkerchief into her sleeve, smiling at Ruru.
Ruru watched them turn black into white, unable to refute at all.
The Empress had already made a final statement; if she dared to say anything more, it would be disrespectful to the Empress.
If the Empress actually disputed with her, strictly speaking, submitting such a handkerchief would be considered deceiving the monarch.
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