The Concubine's Daughter Travels Through Time and Space and Takes the Road of Confrontation

After Zhang returned home, she gave an additional annual gift to her third uncle's family in the name of the second branch. From then on, the younger generations of the two families gradually started to interact with each other.

Lu Yun was still thinking about Zhou Boli's New Year gift. Taking advantage of the fact that she was the only one in the room, Lu Yun took out the box and ate the remaining snacks one by one. She peeled off the oil paper underneath, and a black gold knife about four inches long and one inch wide was revealed. The blade was shining coldly, obviously it had been sharpened.

Lu Yun gasped. What kind of good person would give a knife as a gift during the Chinese New Year? Aren't knives from the cold weapon era the equivalent of modern "biubiu"? Lu Yun sensed something strange in her confusion. So, little uncle, you knew a man outside your family was giving your niece a weapon, yet you didn't stop it and even helped cover it up.

Putting aside other things, this knife is indeed good, with smooth blade lines and an exceptionally sharp edge. Hearing footsteps outside, Lu Yun quickly put the black knife into her arms and stuffed the wooden box with a missing corner back into the box.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in the Nanyue Palace, the second son, Zhou Zhongyi, dressed in plain clothes, looked with hatred at the young man in front of him, dressed in a purple brocade robe. The young man was thin, pale, and his pupils were an unusual gray-blue.

"It's you, it must be you!" Zhou Zhongyi's eyes were red and he looked at him with gritted teeth.

The purple-robed youth turned around upon hearing this, his expression very calm as he slowly spoke, "I wonder what you are talking about, brother?"

Zhou Zhongyi wanted to step forward and grab his collar to question him, but he was held down by the guards as soon as he raised his foot. "It was you who killed my mother!" After all, his mother died when he was only nine years old. His voice was already choked with sobs.

Zhou Boli remained calm. "Father said that Concubine Liu encountered bandits on her way to burn incense. Brother, please be careful with your words."

Where did these bandits from outside Dali City come from?! "You're talking nonsense!" Zhou Zhongyi's eyes were red with anger, but unfortunately, his body was held down tightly by someone, so he could only watch the man gradually walk away.

"Here she comes." Princess Gao of Nanyue poked her head out of the window. Gao was an exotic beauty with a high nose, deep eyes and three-dimensional features. Zhou Boli inherited her gray-blue pupils.

The maids led Zhou Boli into the house and sat him down. Princess Gao smiled and said, "He looks much better than before. The medical skills of the Central Plains are indeed superb." Zhou Boli nodded without saying anything. Suddenly remembering something, Princess Gao's face showed sarcasm. "Zhou Chong said he lost a knife a few days ago and sent people to look for it. I thought it was a rare and fine knife, so I asked a few more questions. It turned out to be just a small knife for cutting meat. I didn't see him so anxious even when someone died in the mansion."

Zhou Boli took a sip of tea and said, "Mom, I've seen this knife before."

"I've seen it before, so I have. It's not a rare thing." Princess Gao said indifferently.

Zhou Boli lowered his eyes. In fact, the knife was really good. It was the posthumous work of Feng Yang, the sword-making master of the previous dynasty. It was worth a fortune. Although he didn't like it, Zhou Zhongyi had always wanted it.

The ice and snow are melting, the weather is gradually getting warmer, and there are only twenty days left until the March 3rd outing at the Shimoma Lake in Kyoto.

At this time of year, merchants from all over the country gather in Kyoto with the best fabrics and jewelry for the ladies of various prefectures to choose from.

The eldest wife, Qin, started preparing after the Chinese New Year, buying clothes, materials, and jewelry. Since she didn't have enough needlework, she went out and spent money to hire a skilled embroiderer.

Good embroiderers, such as Ms. Gao, had been rumored to have been hired by the Dingyuan Earl's Mansion years ago. The ladies of various mansions can still remember the moon-white dress embroidered with colorful phoenixes and peonies, which Zhao Qingbo, the eldest daughter of the Dingyuan Earl's Mansion, wore at the outing last year. It was a dazzling and gorgeous gown with a stand-up collar, a double-breasted front, and wide sleeves.

Lu Qin had tried on eight outfits before Qin finally settled on a short, double-breasted, wide-sleeved blouse embroidered with seasonal floral patterns on silver-red satin, paired with a saffron-colored pleated skirt. Knowing that Qin Jie'er was only ordinary-looking among the noble ladies, she chose clothing and jewelry of the highest quality. Picking up a velvet rose headdress at hand, Qin examined it for a moment with a frown, then signaled to Nanny Qin to give it, along with the dress, to Aunt Sun.

In the evening, Aunt Sun appeared in the side courtyard with clothes and jewelry.

Lu Ling's eyes passed over the red and pink butterfly-inspired long-sleeved jacket on the table, then to the rouge-pink rose velvet flower beside it. This reminded her of the jade hibiscus hairpin she had bought last time. Lu Ling bit her lower lip and looked at her aunt. "I haven't worn the new jewelry that my grandmother gave me last year yet, so I'll save this set of roses for later."

Aunt Sun knew her daughter was referring to the new tourmaline headpiece the old lady had given her. It was expensive enough, but March 3rd was a time for young men and women to have fun and have fun, so something too expensive would be inappropriate, and the style was outdated.

Aunt Sun saw her daughter's lack of interest and thought she was just being stubborn again, not realizing that there was something about Yu Furong. So she patiently persuaded her, "Outing, outing, girls should dress up fresh and lively. The noble ladies will all dress like delicate flowers. If you have a mess of pearls and hairpins, it will seem like you're just showing off rather than having fun."

Lu Ling looked away. "Rather than that, Auntie, why don't you go and find out what color clothes the young lady from the Zhao family is wearing this year? If I wear the same color as them, I'm afraid I'll be left in the dust."

Aunt Sun was slightly startled when she heard this. After a moment, she stood up and said, "I should have thought of it earlier, my dear daughter. Aunt will come to see you again in a few days." After that, she hurried away.

Lu Ling sighed softly. She didn't want to use anything, no matter whether it was given by the old lady or sent by her stepmother.

Compared to her sister-in-law's meticulous selection, Zhang only made two aqua blue dresses for Rong Jie'er, and a new blue and pink velvet butterfly flower headdress from Xiefang Pavilion. Rong Jie'er was only nine years old after the Lunar New Year, so marriage was not a consideration for her. She was more concerned with the shop's accounts than the March 3rd outing.

The recent craze for velvet flowers in Kyoto has passed, and with the increasing number of velvet flower shops, each one is earning less and less. Xiefang Pavilion's owner, the second wife of the Marquis of Ping'an, has handed the pavilion's accounts to Yuan Caohua.

Following the principle of not keeping idle servants in the second house, Zhang had devoted an hour every day to teaching Yuan Caohua numerology since her forehead wound healed. Half a month passed, and although she wasn't proficient in using the abacus, she could already understand the shop's account books.

Yuan Caohua moved the abacus beads with her right hand and flipped through the account books with her left. After checking the books, she was sure that Xiefang Pavilion's accounts were correct. She wanted to understand the reason for Madam's dissatisfaction, so she looked through the accounts from previous months and finally understood the crux of the matter. She said softly, "Xiefang Pavilion's profit this month is over two hundred. Although it's not as good as in previous months, it's still very profitable compared to other shops. My father only sold me for five taels of silver."

This was probably Yuan's unique way of comforting people. Zhang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry after hearing this. She asked Nanny Chang to take out two pieces of plain gauze from the box and gave them to her. "This is the silk gauze material sent by the master. It is light and transparent. You can use it to embroider a few fans for me." After that, she drove her away.

After returning to Hongfeng Garden, Yuan began to look for patterns. She usually drew some herself and then embroidered them. Finally, she decided on a fan with the common pattern of magpies climbing on plum trees, and the other two fans were paintings she made of white rabbits looking at the moon and fish biting lotus flowers.

The master and servant carefully cut a few pieces of gauze, each one foot square, and stretched them onto the flower frame. Then they sat down in the corridor and began to split the thread, divide the thread, and thread the needle.