Quick Wear Dream Qiqi

In the imperial garden in early summer, Xiaoyanzi, wearing her new riding and archery skirt, swung high on a swing, the leather knee pads peeking out from under her skirt gleaming faintly. "Xinrong, look! This skirt can be used for both riding and hiding candy. It's ten times more convenient than my old Manchu dress!"

Meng Qiqi smiled as she adjusted the safety pouch on her waist. The hidden buckle popped open, revealing the wound medicine and silver needles inside. "Put the candies in the outer pocket, and remember to replace the first aid medicine regularly. Oh, and try the hidden pocket on the hem of your skirt—"

Xiaoyanzi fished out the rolled-up "Illustrated Guide to Grassland Horsemanship" from her bag, her eyes lighting up. "This design is practically tailor-made for me! But...how did you know I always hide books in my boots?"

"Because true clothing improvement requires someone who understands how to wear clothes." Meng Qiqi adjusted the fluorescent embroidery on her cuffs. It was a Mongolian embroidery pattern called "Lightning Speed." "How about you be the model for tomorrow's palace clothing exhibition?"

At three quarters past midnight, the lights in the clothing department were brightly on.

Chun Tao held up her newly embroidered riding and archery skirt and suddenly pointed at the gear pattern on the hem: "Fujin, why do these gears look like the blueprints for a steam engine?"

"Because good design is inherently interconnected." Meng Qiqi sewed a miniature compass into the top of the purse. "When a woman rides a horse, the compass needle will reveal itself as she moves. It's both practical and beautiful."

The system interface popped up at the appropriate time: "It is detected that clothing reform triggers productivity associations. Qianlong's acceptance of 'women's participation in technological improvement' has increased by 15%."

The next day at the fashion exhibition, Emperor Qianlong watched Xiaoyanzi demonstrate her archery skirt on horseback. When he saw her take out a telescope from the hidden pocket on her skirt, he finally said, "Xinrong, can you make a batch of these skirts for the female soldiers of the Imperial Guard?"

When Meng Qiqi was bowing, she noticed that although the concubines of the Queen's faction looked disdainful, they were all stroking their purses - that was the "beauty tool kits" they had secretly ordered from the school, which contained lipstick, powder and eyebrow plucking tweezers.

On a thunderstorm night in May, Ziwei walked through the long street holding an oil-paper umbrella, and her embroidered shoes stirred up ripples when she stepped on the puddles.

The translation of "Elements of Geometry" in her arms was wrapped in waterproof oilcloth. It was sent by the Mongolian noblewoman Wuyun Qiqige.

"Princess Ziwei!" Chuntao waved at the entrance of the alley. The three words "Night Study Class" on the lantern were washed shiny by the rain.

In the simple embroidery school, more than 20 women sat around a kerosene lamp, some holding children, and some with embroidery thread on their hands.

"Today we're learning literacy and arithmetic," Ziwei said, unfolding a Mongolian-Chinese calligraphy copybook. "First, learn these three characters: '女', '子', and '力'."

She suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves outside the window and saw Meng Qiqi's carriage parked at the entrance of the alley. The curtain was opened and Yongqi's profile was revealed.

"Why is the Fifth Prince here?" Wuyun Qiqige asked in a low voice.

"They're probably here to pick up Fu Jin." Zi Wei smiled and turned to the arithmetic page. "But let's continue with the class. They have to wait outside."

At the same time, Yongqi followed Meng Qiqi into the warehouse next to the embroidery school and saw boxes of the mobile embroidery school neatly stacked on the shelves - each box contained literacy cards, a simple abacus and a portable embroidery frame.

"These boxes and cages will be shipped to Mongolia with the caravan next week," Meng Qiqi lit the kerosene lamp, illuminating the 'Northern Women's Education Distribution Map' on the wall. "Wuyun Qiqige said that the girls on the grasslands want to learn midwifery and veterinary knowledge."

Yongqi touched the butterfly emblem on the box and suddenly remembered what Emperor Qianlong had said about women translating Western knowledge in the court that day: "As long as they don't get involved in government affairs, translating some medical and agricultural books is fine."

He turned to look at Meng Qiqi who was sorting books. The kerosene lamp cast a trembling shadow on her eyelashes. He felt that the scene before him was more lively than any palace painting.

The system prompt sounded in Meng Qiqi's ears: "The education network has been detected to cover the Mongolian tribe, triggering the 'Knowledge Nomad' achievement, and the historical process change value is +3%."

Under the scorching June sun, Xiaoyanzi, clutching a butterfly-embroidered sword, paced back and forth at the female guard selection site. "Xinrong, do you think I could be their instructor? I could teach them horseback riding, archery, and wall-climbing!"

"Of course you can," Meng Qiqi wiped the sweat from her forehead, "but first try this—" She handed over a leather wristband with a miniature crossbow hidden inside, "When attacked, press down on the butterfly's wings to shoot out an anesthetic needle."

"Wonderful!" Xiaoyanzi couldn't let go of it. Suddenly, she saw Ziwei walking towards her in the distance. She was holding the revised draft of the "Great Qing Law Code" in her arms. "Ziwei, has the bill passed?"

Ziwei nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. "Caning and torture for women have been abolished, and a 'Women's Safety Department' has been established, directly under the supervision of the Empress Dowager."

She flipped open the revised draft. "Look, this is the 'Female Guard Selection Clause' you proposed, requiring 'no restrictions on background, only talent.'"

At this time, Wuyun Qiqige came riding in, followed by ten Mongolian girls. They were wearing modified riding and archery skirts, with peace purses hanging around their waists. "Mrs. Xinrong, we want to sign up as female guards!"

Meng Qiqi looked at the dust rising on the training ground and thought of the judicial reform cases provided by the system. The real breakthrough lies not in subversion, but in implanting new genes into the old system.

She pulled out the jade pendant from her waist, the small words on the back faintly visible in the sunlight: "Rules are dead, people are alive."

At three quarters past three in the afternoon, Emperor Qianlong wrote in red ink on the memorial and approved the establishment of the first batch of 300 female guards.

Yongqi looked at the name "Xiaoyanzi" on the list and suddenly remembered what she had said yesterday: "Being a female guard will earn you a salary, and you can buy new quilts for the palace maids in Shufangzhai."

"They will become the new blood of the dynasty." Meng Qiqi looked at the women arrayed on the parade grounds and remembered Chuntao's words, "The hand that holds an embroidery needle can also hold a knife." "One day, these butterfly emblems will appear in every corner of the empire."

The sky was high and the clouds were vast over the grassland in July. Ten carriages were parked in front of the tent of the Princess of Khorchin. The golden swallows embroidered on the curtains spread their wings in the wind, ready to fly.

Little Swallow opened the carriage curtain and exclaimed, "Oh my God, they are all butterfly wristbands!"

"This is an order from the Central Asian Khanate," Meng Qiqi pointed at the Persian logo on the car body. "They are exchanging good horses and spices for our safety embroidery."

The princess smiled and handed over a glass of kumis: "Nowadays, girls on the grassland say that wearing a butterfly wristband is more respectable than wearing a gold bracelet."

She suddenly lowered her voice, "A queen of a Khanate sent an envoy here to learn embroidery skills, and she specifically requested to see the 'Shining Lady.'"

At the bonfire party that night, Meng Qiqi looked at the Byzantine embroidery displayed by the Central Asian envoys, and suddenly inspiration struck her. She used fluorescent silk thread to embroider a butterfly that combined Eastern and Western patterns on sheepskin.

The system interface flashed full screen in a rare moment: "Detected cross-civilization technology integration, unlocking the 'Silk Road Women's Economy' achievement."

Xiaoyanzi came over, holding a wine bowl, the silver ornaments in her hair jingling. "Xinrong, do you think our butterfly can fly farther? For example... to the West?"

"Yes," Meng Qiqi looked at the starry sky and thought of the Chinese embroidery in the London Museum. "One day, they will fly all over the world with the wisdom of oriental women."

At the same time, in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the capital, Emperor Qianlong was looking at the trade letter from the Central Asian Khanate, his eyes falling on the trade terms of "safety embroidery".

He turned to Yongqi and asked, "Did Xinrong tell us how much money we can make from this butterfly trade?"

"Replying to the Emperor," Yongqi suppressed a smile, "she said that the money she earned would be used to buy movable type printing presses for the women's craft studios in each banner."

Qianlong nodded, recalling the flocks of butterflies he had seen in Rehe when he was a child. At that time, he thought that butterflies could only fly among flowers, but now he knew that when they formed groups, they could fly across grasslands and deserts, bringing the entire spring.

The Forbidden City was filled with the fragrance of osmanthus in August. When Meng Qiqi met Xiaoyanzi in the Imperial Garden, she was staring at the butterflies flying in the sky in a daze.

"Xinrong, do you think there are really butterflies that can carry people away?" Xiaoyanzi suddenly spoke, with a rare sense of melancholy in her voice.

She was startled, remembering that the plot in the original novel where the fragrance turns into a butterfly was about to happen.

The system interface quickly expanded: "Detected the triggering of the key plot 'Fragrant Concubine Transforms into a Butterfly'. Intervene? Current impact value: 5%."

"Why do you ask?" she asked calmly, her fingertips stroking the butterfly pattern on the cuffs.

Xiaoyanzi picked up a piece of osmanthus and gently placed it on the butterfly's wings. "Recently, there's a rumor in the palace that Concubine Xiang was transformed from a butterfly, and the Emperor has locked her up in Baoyue Tower and won't let her fly."

Meng Qiqi's heart was filled with alarm. At this moment, Hanxiang was caught between Qianlong's forced detention and Meng Dan's rescue, and Xiaoyanzi's kindness would make her involved in this storm.

Then she remembered the "butterfly effect" theory provided by the system, and perhaps she could rewrite the ending in another way.

"If there really were butterflies that could carry people," she said, looking towards Baoyue Tower, "then their wings must hold the blessings of millions of people. Little Swallow, do you want to help Concubine Xiang find real wings?"

Xiaoyanzi turned her head suddenly, the light in her eyes rekindled: "How can I help? Do you have any ideas?"

"Remember our butterfly wristbands?" Meng Qiqi lowered her voice. "Their whistle can be heard three miles away, and the fluorescent embroidery can guide the way at night. Perhaps... we can use these to make an 'escape map' for Concubine Xiang."

At the first quarter of the morning on the eleventh hour, Xiaoyanzi crouched on the glazed tiles of Baoyue Tower and lifted up a tile, revealing the fluorescent arrow underneath - that was the escape route embroidered by Meng Qiqi on the roof with fluorescent silk thread.

"Follow the arrows. After the Imperial Garden, you'll reach Shenwu Gate," she whispered to Hanxiang under the eaves. "The whistle in the wristband, three long and one short, is Mengdan's signal. The fluorescent embroidery has water source markers at intervals."

Hanxiang looked at the fluorescent butterflies on the roof, tears streaming down her face. "Why are you helping me? You're the wife of the emperor, you should be on his side."

Meng Qiqi recalled the historical data in the system space and the countless women imprisoned like Hanxiang. She suddenly held her hand and said, "Because real wings should not be trapped in a golden cage."

----

Immediately afterwards, Meng Qiqi accompanied the Empress Dowager in chanting Buddhist scriptures in Chuxiu Palace, her fingertips gently moving the Buddhist beads—each bead contained a miniature recorder, recording the movements near Baoyue Tower. The system interface displayed "Fragrant Concubine's escape success rate +40%." She knew this was the best she could do for the original character.

At three quarters past midnight, countless fluorescent butterflies suddenly flew into the Imperial Garden. They were "signal butterflies" made by the embroiderers in the craft room using fluorescent silk threads.

Little Swallow's whistle sounded on time, and Meng Qiqi heard the Buddhist beads in the old lady's hand suddenly break, and the beads rolled to the ground.

"It's a butterfly!" the palace maids exclaimed, "The Fragrant Concubine has turned into a butterfly and flown away!"

The old Buddha looked at the Buddhist beads scattered on the ground and suddenly chuckled: "When I was young, I also wanted to turn into a butterfly and fly out of this Forbidden City."

She turned to look at Meng Qiqi, her eyes burning, "Xinrong, do you think there are really butterflies in this world that can carry people?"

Meng Qiqi picked up a Buddhist bead. The swastika on it overlapped with a butterfly pattern, resembling some mysterious symbol. "Perhaps the real butterfly isn't in the sky, but in everyone's heart. When we want to fly, wings appear."

In the distance, fireworks suddenly bloomed in the night sky, illuminating the outline of the Forbidden City.

Hanxiang has already escaped from the palace along the fluorescent route, while Xiaoyanzi is taking Yongqi in the opposite direction to divert the pursuers.

The system prompt sounded: "The fate of the Fragrant Concubine has been successfully rewritten. The historical process change value is +5%. The current total change value is: 35%."