She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

Shen Qingtan calmly replied, "I have done nothing wrong, so why should I admit it?"

"You're not at fault?" Madam Shen sneered. "I'm asking you, did you embroider this piece?"

Shen Qingtan replied, "Not entirely."

"You mean someone framed you?" Madam Shen questioned.

"Elder sister, don't make Mother angry. Today is Aunt's birthday. Just kowtow and this matter will be over," Shen Mingzhu said hypocritically. "Many officials' wives have come to the mansion. If this continues, it will damage your reputation."

Shen Qingtan sneered inwardly. If she really knelt down and admitted her mistake today, her reputation would be completely ruined in less than half a day.

She smiled and said, "Second sister, you're right, this embroidery really does have a story behind it."

Shen Mingzhu was stunned, but quickly came to her senses. She wanted to see how Shen Qingtan would spout nonsense.

The second wife and Madam Shen exchanged a knowing smile, waiting to see how Shen Qingtan would try to explain herself.

The crowd disagreed, saying that a pheasant, no matter how you look at it, is still just a pheasant.

Can it turn into a phoenix?

Shen Qingtan glanced around at everyone with a cool gaze: "When I got married, my aunt said that the patterns embroidered with gold and silver threads were beautiful. I kept that in mind and specially used these two colors of silk to embroider a peacock picture to celebrate my aunt's birthday."

Shen Mingzhu was taken aback, never expecting that Shen Qingtan would accept the embroidery.

Shen Qingtan had previously prepared a double-sided embroidered "Hundred Blessings and Hundred Longevity" painting for Lady Yongyi.

Shen Mingzhu changed out of her clothes.

At this moment, seeing Shen Qingtan calmly and unhurriedly trying to argue, she couldn't help but say, "Just now, Mother asked you if you embroidered this piece, and you said you didn't."

“I drew the pattern for this embroidery myself. Because of the tight schedule, I couldn’t finish it by myself, so I asked an embroiderer to help me. So it’s not entirely my work. I don’t want credit for it.”

Shen Qingtan glanced at Shen Mingzhu and asked cryptically, "Second sister, is there any other question?"

Shen Mingzhu glanced at the embroidery: "Big sister, is the pheasant and peacock embroidery unfinished?"

Shen Qingtan said, "It's finished."

Everyone looked at the embroidery lying on the ground; no matter how you looked at it, it was a white-feathered pheasant.

Shen Qingtan actually dared to make up a story about a peacock. Did she think everyone present was a fool?

Perhaps she didn't marry her ideal husband, but instead married a sickly man, which triggered her to give up and completely disregard her reputation.

Yes, everyone attributed Shen Qingtan's abnormal behavior to marrying the wrong person, which led to her going insane.

Even if she is granted the title of Lady of the Heir Apparent, so what?

No one envied her.

One reason is that Zhao Yi did not live long.

Secondly, Shen Qingtan is now living a life of widowhood, and in the future she will have to live her life clinging to the banner of chastity.

That's why she specially sent a pheasant embroidery to Lady Yongyi, deliberately venting her resentment.

Shen Qingtan ignored what everyone was thinking. She picked up the embroidery from the ground and placed it in the sunlight.

The original embroidery had changed, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

They stared intently at the embroidery, and then noticed the white peacock tail feathers emerging from the plum blossom branch, spreading out in a layered display. The beautiful feathers shimmered with a golden-silver interplay of light in the sunlight, sparkling brilliantly.

The crowd was filled with amazement. The peacock seemed to have come to life, and the gemstones inlaid in its eyes even emitted a cold light, as if it were looking down on all living beings with arrogance.

"This...this is..." Everyone stared intently at the embroidery, muttering to themselves, "This is really strange. It clearly didn't have tail feathers just now, so how did they appear in the light?"

Because it wasn't under light, they assumed the tail feathers were based on a random embroidery pattern, completely oblivious to the hidden details.

"Ladies, if gold and silver threads are used for embroidery, the threads must be as fine as hair to achieve the best effect."

However, the craftsmanship of this silk thread is so exquisite that it is extremely rare in mass production. Even with a large sum of money, the amount of silk thread I have collected over this period is insufficient to complete a full piece of embroidery; it is only enough to embroider this small tail. Therefore, I had no choice but to use silkworm silk to embroider the body, which is why you can see the peacock's body.

Because of this flaw, I used a little trick and employed double-sided embroidery, with the pattern on the back being a peacock perched on the moon.

However, this design is entirely created using gold and silver silk threads, and the embroidery is smaller than the one you just saw. When the oil lamps are extinguished at night, the moonlight shining on it creates an even more evocative effect than before.

After introducing the embroidery, Shen Qingtan looked at everyone and said, "I planned to give my aunt a surprise, but I didn't expect my cousin to open the birthday gift first. You all only saw the surface and misunderstood my good intentions."

Shen Mingzhu stared in disbelief at the embroidery, her eyes fixed on it. She had clearly changed it.

How could this be?

Everyone felt ashamed. Shen Qingtan hadn't said anything to criticize them, but they were all incredibly embarrassed.

It's not just that they haven't understood the whole story before making unfounded accusations against her; it's unbecoming of their status and manners.

It's also because they don't know how to appreciate quality!

Thinking of this, they looked at the embroidery again, eager to see how stunning it would look at night.

Unfortunately, they couldn't wait until nightfall to leave.

Therefore, they looked at Lady Yongyi with envious eyes.

Lady Yongyi's expression softened considerably, and she thoroughly enjoyed the envious glances from everyone.

This was a treatment she had never received before; on the contrary, she often envied others.

Today, however, she is experiencing this wonderful feeling because of Shen Qingtan.

"Tan'er, it was your aunt's fault today, I almost ruined your good intentions." The aunt's face lit up, and her attitude towards Shen Qingtan improved a lot: "Your second sister is so quick to judge, so loud and boisterous, she has no manners and made you suffer."

Shen Mingzhu looked at Madam Bo in astonishment, seemingly not expecting her to shift the blame onto her.

The First Madam glanced at them and said, "Do you ladies still remember what my second brother's wife said just now?"

The ladies froze, unable to bring themselves to apologize to Shen Qingtan.

At this moment, a voice came from behind the screen: "Ladies, you are all exemplars of female virtue, yet now you dare to do it but not to act on it?"

Everyone's expression changed abruptly, and they quickly stood up to apologize to Shen Qingtan: "Second Madam Zhao, we were blind just now, please don't take it to heart."

They added another compliment: "We had only heard of your excellent embroidery skills before, but seeing it today, it truly lives up to the reputation."

Shen Qingtan accepted their greetings, then turned to look at the Second Madam, Shen Mingzhu, Liu Ruojiao, Madam Shen, and others who remained silent, her meaning quite clear.

Madam Shen naturally wouldn't apologize, and couldn't help but give a wink to Madam Yongyi.

Lady Yongyi felt a little unhappy about agreeing to the Marquis's request, all because Shen Mingzhu had called her a pheasant.

But she couldn't openly offend the Marquis of Chengen's mansion. Just as she was about to speak, someone spoke first.

This woman was the same noblewoman who had just apologized; she had noticed the subtle tension between Madam Shen and the Lady of Yongyi.

She said slowly, "It's really unfortunate. I have two luminous pearls in my household, which were bestowed upon my master by the imperial family. The pair of luminous pearls that Third Madam Zhao gave me look quite different from the ones in my household."