Quick Wear Dream Qiqi

The Imperial Garden was ablaze with flowers in May. Meng Qiqi was passing by the Peony Pavilion with a stack of flower pattern drawings in her arms when she suddenly heard a crisp quarrel coming from behind the rockery.

She slowed down her pace and saw Xiaoyanzi clutching a peony flower, glaring angrily at Ziwei beside her. "I don't believe she has any good intentions! She's not a good concubine, but she insists on opening a school. It's obvious she's just trying to show off!"

Ziwei sighed helplessly, "Xiaoyanzi, Princess Xinrong's school allows embroiderers to learn skills, so how can you be considered a show-off? I saw Chuntao wearing new clothes yesterday, and she said it was the monthly allowance from the school."

"Hmph, no matter how nice the clothes are, they're only for servants!" Xiaoyanzi threw the peony flowers onto the stone table, scattering the petals all over the floor. "Yongqi has been running to her place all the time lately, either looking at the spinning wheel or chatting about the account books. He doesn't even eat the snacks I make!"

Meng Qiqi glanced down at the gear pattern on the blueprint, coughed deliberately, and walked forward: "Princess Ziwei, Princess Huanzhu, what are you talking about?"

Xiaoyanzi turned abruptly, the red string in her hair brushing across the stone table. "I'm talking to you! You're not going to be a proper concubine, but you insist on teaching those maids to show off in public. What are you up to?"

Meng Qiqi had anticipated this argument. She squatted down and picked up the peony petals, gently stroking the soft petals with her fingertips. "Princess Huanzhu, do you think this flower looks better blooming on the branch or falling to the ground?"

"Of course it looks better when it's driving!" Xiaoyanzi said unhappily.

"But what if this flower could bear fruit?" Meng Qiqi put the petals into the small cloth bag on her sleeve. "Chun Tao and the others are just like this flower. Now they can only be used as decorations. Once they learn skills, they can bear fruit and exchange it for silver. We can build a house for our family and support my brother's education."

Ziwei's eyes lit up: "Gege, what you mean is that women can also make a living by their own abilities like men?"

"That's exactly what I mean." Meng Qiqi unfolded the blueprint, which showed a simplified version of a spinning wheel. "Like this spinning wheel, it looks like it's made of wood, but it actually allows embroiderers to bend less than half the weight and earn twice as much."

Xiaoyanzi leaned over to take a look and muttered, "It looks so complicated. How can it be as useful as an embroidery frame?"

"It's complicated at first," Meng Qiqi pulled a wooden model from her sleeve and gently turned the gears. "But once you get the hang of it, it's easy. Just like when you learned horseback riding and archery, didn't you find it difficult at first? Now, can't you even ride in the paddock?"

These words made Xiaoyanzi stunned. She remembered that when she first learned to ride a horse, she fell and was injured all over. It was Yongqi who taught her how to hold the reins over and over again.

Seeing this, Ziwei quickly tried to smooth things over: "Gege is right. When I was a kid, I also found it difficult to learn to read. But now I can read the Book of Songs, right?"

Meng Qiqi noticed that Xiaoyanzi's expression had softened a bit, and continued, "The academy isn't about letting women show up in public; it's about giving them the ability to choose. Just like you can choose to ride a horse or shoot arrows, they can also choose to embroider patterns or manage the accounts."

Xiaoyanzi kicked the stones on the ground and suddenly asked in a low voice, "So... did Yongqi really go to your place just to look at the spinning wheel?"

Meng Qiqi couldn't help but laugh. "He's helping me calculate how much money the school will cost and how many students we need to recruit. If you're curious, you can go see it with me some other day. I'll have Chuntao embroider a horse-riding pattern for you."

Ziwei gently tugged at Xiaoyanzi's sleeve and said, "Why don't we go to the school tomorrow? I heard they can make glowing handkerchiefs."

Xiaoyanzi bit her lip, suddenly pulled off the red hairband from her head, and stuffed it into Meng Qiqi's hand: "Then embroider a handkerchief with this pattern! If it doesn't look good... I, I'll go dismantle your spinning wheel!"

Meng Qiqi took the red hairband, which still carried Xiaoyanzi's body temperature. "Okay, but I have one condition—you have to help me try out the new wrist guard I made. Embroiderers always hurt their wrists from holding needles for long periods of time, so I had someone make a wrist guard with cotton. Try wearing it while you ride and see if it works."

Xiaoyanzi's eyes lit up: "Really? Then... I'll go tomorrow!" After saying that, she turned around and ran. The hem of her skirt swept across the peony flowers on the stone table. A few petals stuck to her shoes, as if she was stepping on a cloud.

Ziwei looked at her back and suddenly sighed: "Xiaoyanzi is just outspoken, but she doesn't have any bad intentions."

"I know." Meng Qiqi touched her red hairband, remembering the system's prompt for "Emotional Line·Potential Friendship". "She's like a fire, hot at first, but warm only when you get close. By the way, if Princess Ziwei has time, could you go to the academy and teach the girls to read? They all envy you for being able to read."

Ziwei's face flushed slightly: "I...how can I be that good? But if I can help them, I'm willing to do so."

The wind blew gently through the Imperial Garden, swaying the peony branches and bringing bursts of fragrance.

Meng Qiqi looked at the red hairband and blueprint in her hand, and suddenly felt that the deep palace was like a big garden. Some people liked the luxury of peonies, some preferred the passion of peonies, and all she had to do was water those inconspicuous grasses so that they could also bloom their own flowers.

The system interface flashed across his retina: "Xiaoyanzi's hostility value -15%, Ziwei's favorability +10%, triggering the 'cross-class dialogue' event. Do you want to start the 'female mutual assistance' side quest?"

----

At three quarters past the hour of Mao, the window paper of the embroidery room had just been dyed with the morning light, and Meng Qiqi was holding the red hairband of Little Swallow and fell into deep thought.

The silk thread entangled between her fingers, and she suddenly remembered the "Baroque Embroidery Atlas" provided by the system. Her fingertips subconsciously outlined the pattern of a swallow holding a red hairband breaking through the clouds on the paper - the wings used gradient gold thread to express light and shadow, the red hairband turned into a flowing ribbon, and tiny gear patterns were hidden in the clouds.

"Fujin, why are the eyes of this swallow hollow?" When Chuntao came over to take a look, the hibiscus flower in her hair fell onto the drawing.

Meng Qiqi picked up a strand of fluorescent silk thread with the tip of a silver hairpin and said, "I want to inlay diamonds here. When the sun shines on it while I'm riding, it will look like stars in a swallow's eyes."

She suddenly remembered the flying hair of Little Swallow when she was riding a horse. "And sew a thin wire into the ribbon, so that the embroidery can stand up and look like it is really flying."

Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard outside the embroidery room, and Xier rushed in with a ball of brocade in her arms: "Fujin! Princess Ziwei was just taken away by the Imperial Household Department!"

A corner of the golden swallow on the drawing was blown away by the wind. Meng Qiqi stood up suddenly and asked, "When did this happen?"

"Just now," Xi'er panted, "I heard them talking about 'having an affair with a foreign minister', and Princess Ziwei was holding a copy of 'The Rules for Women' in her hand..."

Meng Qiqi's fingertips brushed against the jade pendant at her waist, and the system interface instantly expanded: "Detected that the key figure Ziwei has triggered a 'moral crisis'. Current situation: detained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for 'night exploration of the forbidden area'. The Queen's influence is 40%."

She suddenly remembered that when she passed by the prince's residence last night, she saw the light in Ziwei's room was on until midnight.

"Prepare the carriage and go to the Imperial Household Department." She grabbed the sample fabric embroidered with golden swallows and tucked it into her sleeve. "Give this to Concubine Yi and tell her that the 'Free Flying' series has been approved by the Empress Dowager, and that a palace embroidery appreciation event will be held tonight."

At the first quarter of the Xu hour, the glass lamps in Chuxiu Palace lit up one after another.

Meng Qiqi stood in front of the embroidery frame, watching the palace maids arrange the three-dimensional embroidery into a shape that looked like it was about to spread its wings and fly, secretly calculating the time in her heart - by now, Concubine Yi should have taken the sample cloth to convince the Empress Dowager, and the people in the Imperial Household Department were busy with the security of the night embroidery party.

"Princess Xinrong's embroidery is truly unique," the old lady's voice came from behind her. She stared at the golden swallow inlaid with diamonds, her eyes flashing with approval. "How come the swallow's wings move?"

"Replying to the old Buddha, it uses the Jiangnan 'mechanical embroidery' technique," Meng Qiqi gently turned the gears on the base of the embroidery frame, and the golden swallow's wings slowly flapped. "There are thin springs hidden in the wings, so when it moves, it looks like it's really flying."

The Empress Dowager chuckled softly. "I heard someone called this series 'Little Swallow Makes Trouble in Heaven'? That's quite apt." She suddenly lowered her voice. "I've asked Qing'er to handle Ziwei's matter. You, next time, let that girl go through the proper palace gate instead of climbing over the walls."

Meng Qiqi felt warm in her heart, and when she looked up, she saw the Queen and Rong Mama walking in.

Rong Mama's gaze lingered on the golden swallow's wings for a moment, and she suddenly shrieked, "Look, Master Buddha, don't the patterns on these wings resemble the stained glass windows of Western churches? I'm afraid they have some bad connotations, don't they?"

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense.

Meng Qiqi picked up another piece of embroidery—a heart-shaped knot woven with a red hair string pattern, with a freshwater pearl embedded in the center. "This is from the 'Red Hair String Ties Heart' series, and it uses auspicious folk patterns. If the Empress finds it inappropriate, please have it removed immediately."

The queen stared at the pearl and suddenly remembered that she also liked to tie her braids with red hairbands before she got married.

Just as Rong Mama was about to speak, the Empress Dowager spoke first, "I think it's very good. It's a good thing that folk patterns have entered the palace. It shows that our royal family is down-to-earth. Where's the Emperor? Why hasn't he come yet?"

Before he finished speaking, the sound of Qianlong's footsteps came from outside the palace, holding a copy of "Reform Plan of Jiangnan Weaving" in his hand: "Mother asked her son to appreciate embroidery, why does it sound like a court meeting?"

His gaze fell on the golden swallow, and he suddenly pointed at the gear pattern on its wings. "Isn't this the 'steam power' diagram that Xinrong mentioned last time?"

As Meng Qiqi bowed, she deliberately let a corner of the golden swallow-patterned fabric on her sleeves peek out. "Your Majesty, this is a three-dimensional embroidery improved using the principle of gears. It not only makes the embroidery more dynamic, but also saves 30% of the silk thread."

Qianlong nodded thoughtfully, but the queen's face looked a little ugly.

At this time, Qing'er supported Ziwei and walked into the hall. Ziwei still wore the copper lock of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on her wrist. But when she saw the three-dimensional embroidery all over the hall, her eyes lit up with surprise.

"Princess Ziwei, you've arrived just in time," Meng Qiqi went to greet him and took a cloak from the embroidery frame. "This is a 'night reading cloak' designed for you. It has a compartment at the collar for books, and the fluorescent embroidery on the cuffs makes the words glow at night."

Ziwei stroked the glowing chapters of the Book of Songs with her fingertips, and suddenly remembered the eager eyes of Chuntao and the others as they huddled in front of the oil lamp when she was teaching Chinese characters in the school last night.

The Queen watched this scene and suddenly sneered, "What a 'night reading cloak'! I'm afraid it's just to make it easier for some people to run around late at night, right?"

But the old lady waved her hand and said, "Alright, let's just talk about embroidery tonight. Xinrong, bring me the wristband you designed for Xiaoyanzi."

Meng Qiqi took out a wrist guard embroidered with a tiger head, revealing snow-white cotton from the inner layer. "This wrist guard uses a soft armor lining, which protects the wrist without hindering riding. Princess Huanzhu, if you like it after trying it tomorrow, you can make a pair for each of the female officials in the Imperial Stables."

Qianlong suddenly spoke up: "In that case, let Yongqi accompany Xiaoyanzi to test the horses tomorrow, and Xinrong should also go with them. By the way, give these wristbands to the female horse trainers."

He looked at the Queen and said, "If Her Majesty is free, please go and see her. Don't stay in the palace all the time."

The corners of the queen's mouth twitched, but she could only smile and agree.

At 9:00 a.m. the next day, the pasture of the Imperial Stables was warmed by the sun.

Little Swallow rode her Snow Hoof Horse around twice, then suddenly pointed at her wristband and yelled, "This cotton is too thick! I can't hold the reins!"

Yong Qi frowned and said, "Impossible. I've tried this wrist guard and it's very flexible."

"Of course you think you're flexible!" Xiaoyanzi swung her wrist guard angrily. "You don't ride horses or shoot arrows!"

Just as Meng Qiqi was about to explain, she suddenly saw Rong Mama winking at the horse trainer in the shade of a tree in the distance.

She instinctively reached out to pull Xiaoyanzi's reins, but saw the Snow Hoof Horse suddenly stand up. Xiaoyanzi screamed and fell off the horse - the strap of the wrist guard hooked on the saddle, hanging her in mid-air!

"Little Swallow!" Yongqi jumped onto the horse, cut the wristband with his sword, and held her in his arms.

When Meng Qiqi rushed over, she saw Xiaoyanzi's face was pale and there was an obvious knife mark on the strap of her wristband.

"This belt...has been cut by someone!" Erkang picked up the broken belt, and under the sunlight he could see that the cut was as neat as new.

Xiaoyanzi stared at the wristband and suddenly remembered that Rong Mama had touched her wristband when she borrowed it to look at the patterns yesterday. "It was Rong Mama! She said she wanted to help me adjust the strap this morning. Turns out..."

"Let's not talk about that for now," Meng Qiqi checked the saddle of the Snow Hoof Horse and suddenly found that the connection of the girth had been worn very thin. "The girth of the saddle should have been replaced long ago. The wrist guard just hooked on the broken part. Xiaoyanzi, I'm so lucky that you're okay."

Xiaoyanzi looked at the broken bellyband and recalled the thrilling scene just now. Her eyes suddenly reddened: "I...I wronged you, Xinrong."

Meng Qiqi patted her shoulder gently and said, "I'm glad you're okay. But we need to find out why a good saddle has aged like this."

She looked at Yongqi, "Fifth Prince, could you please help me check the purchasing records of the Imperial Stables?"

Yongqi nodded, his eyes fixed on the golden swallow hairpin swaying slightly in her hair. "Leave it to me. Erkang, go call the horse trainer. I have something to ask him."

Xiaoyanzi suddenly grabbed Meng Qiqi's hand, and the tiger head embroidery on the wristband rubbed against her palm: "Xinrong, the wristband you designed is actually very good. If it hadn't caught on the saddle, I might have fallen even harder. Can... can you make a pair for my little red horse too?"

Meng Qiqi smiled and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "Of course. But next time we try the wrist guard, let's try it on a pony first, okay?"

In the distance, the Empress Dowager's carriage slowly approached, and Qing'er followed behind holding a brocade box.

When Xiaoyanzi saw the dragon pattern on the brocade box, she suddenly remembered something: "Xinrong, for that 'free flying' embroidery you mentioned, can you sew a small pocket into the swallow's wings? I want to use it to hold candy for eating while riding."

Meng Qiqi couldn't help but laugh: "Okay, not only can you sew pockets, you can also make a mechanism so that candies fall out when you flap your wings."

Xiaoyanzi's eyes lit up as she suddenly noticed the golden swallow pattern on Meng Qiqi's cuffs - the swallow's wings were gently flapping in the sunlight, just like the sky she had just seen from horseback.

It turns out that some flying does not require breaking free from all constraints. As long as you have a pair of strong wings, you can fly high and far even with wrist guards.

A system notification sounded in Meng Qiqi's ears: "Xiaoyanzi's trust level increased by 30%, triggering the 'Female Alliance' achievement. The Queen's conspiracy exposure level increased by 15%, please be careful to prevent subsequent retaliation."

----

At three quarters past three in the afternoon, Yongqi found three moldy account books in the hay pile of the Imperial Stables.

When he opened the first page, his face instantly darkened - the money transactions between the Imperial Stables and the Embroidery Guild were recorded in secret code, and one of the entries read "Three hundred taels of reward for the wristband incident."

"Fifth Prince, this font looks like Eunuch Li's handwriting." Erkang held up the oil lamp and moved closer. The scorch marks on the edge of the account book showed that someone had tried to destroy the evidence.

Yongqi clenched the account book and thought of the golden swallow on Meng Qiqi's cuff - it turned out that she had long suspected that the wristband incident was related to the Embroidery Workshop Guild, but deliberately downplayed the conflict in front of everyone, just to lure the snake out of its hole.

Her gentleness is not weakness, but like three-dimensional embroidery, a hard skeleton is hidden in the layers of silk threads.

"Go tell Xinrong," he stuffed the account book into Ertai's arms, "that there's some progress on the harness issue. Also... tell her to be careful of Eunuch Li's revenge."

After Erkang left, Yongqi sat alone in the stable, smelling the fragrance of hay, and suddenly remembered Meng Qiqi's figure rushing over when Xiaoyanzi fell off the horse - that was an instinctive reaction at that moment, without any calculation, only pure worry.

He took out the gear purse from his arms, which contained the "Illustrated Guide to Western Machinery" given to him by Meng Qiqi, with a piece of golden swallow's wing made of broken diamonds stuck between the pages.

In the distance, the lights in the embroidery room lit up again.

She must be modifying the design of the "Free Flight" series again, perhaps adding more flexible springs to the golden swallow's wings, or sewing hidden buttons in the pockets to prevent candies from falling out.