Nanny Xu agreed and walked up to Yu Youyao to look at the samples with her.

The two of them gathered together and discussed a little from time to time. In less than ten minutes, they had picked out the best patterns in Jinxiu Manor.

Yang Shuwan frowned. The master and servant pair had actually picked seven or eight items. Every season, the residence would add some fashionable clothes for the young mistresses, and each of them would have three or four sets of clothes. As the eldest daughter of the first wife, Yu Youyao was doted on by Old Madam, so it was reasonable for her to have one or two more sets of clothes, but this was too much.

Nanny Xu also thought of this, so she said, “Sister has been sick for a while and some time has passed. Her old clothes are no longer suitable for her. These days, the clothes she’s wearing have been altered by the embroiderers in the residence, so it’s not appropriate for her to wear them all the time.”

It was only then that Yang Shuwan was in a daze. In just a month, Yu Youyao had actually lost weight. She didn’t look any worse than Jia Jia, and her heart skipped a beat.

She quickly said, “It’s my fault. It’s the Spring Buddha Festival in April, and Old Madam wants to worship Buddha. I’ve been helping to copy Buddhist scriptures recently, and I’ve also asked Nanny Liu to help manage the matters in the residence. It’s been hard on Yao Yao. She has to pick out a few more sets of clothes.”

No matter what, it was her fault for this sister to wear clothes that had been altered in the past. If word got out that she had treated her first wife’s eldest daughter harshly, it would be much more serious than treating a daughter from a concubine badly.

It was clearly her oversight, but she insisted on using “filial piety” to cover up the truth. Yu Youyao lowered her eyes.

“Mother, don’t say that. I used to have many clothes that I hadn’t worn before. It would be a pity if I didn’t wear them. I didn’t have to let you worry about such a small matter, so I asked the embroiderer to change the sizes. However, I’ve grown a little taller now. The weather is cold, so it’s better if I have more clothes on. Now that I’ve taken off my thick clothes, the length of my clothes doesn’t seem suitable anymore.”

After saying that, she picked two more types of patterns. Including the previous ones, there were a total of ten.

Not only did she save her mother’s face, but she also explained why she was making more clothes. Even Manager Sun couldn’t help but praise the Eldest Miss of the residence for being generous and proper.

No wonder Old Madam Yu favored her.

Yang Shuwan felt uncomfortable and disgusted, as if she had just swallowed a fly. “Yao Yao, pick another style. The tailors and embroiderers in the Jinxiu Manor are very skilled. I guarantee that the clothes they make won’t be identical.”

Yu Youyao nodded.

Manager Sun said solicitously, “This year, the trend in the capital is wearing a loose-fitting dress with a short jacket on the top and a flowery skirt on the bottom. It’s both modest and appropriate. There are many styles of tops that have different criss-cross necklines. There are also dresses that cover the chest or start from the waist. There are also skirts with different types of pleats. Each of them has its own unique characteristics. You can also mix and match them…”

Hearing Manager Sun’s endless introduction, Yu Youyao and Nanny Xu quickly finalized the designs.

Then, Nanny Xu instructed Dong Mei to pick out five high-quality materials from the box. “Thank you, Shopkeeper Sun, for making these materials into clothes.”

When Manager Sun took a closer look, her eyes immediately widened.

Heavenly Water Jade, Soft Smoke Net, Plain Brocade, Cloud Brocade, and Snow Satin were all extremely precious tribute materials. How could they be easily seen outside?

This was really a huge move!

Manager Sun quickly said, “Eldest Miss, don’t worry. I’ll definitely hire the best tailors and embroiderers in the manor. I won’t let this great material down.”

Yu Youyao nodded in satisfaction and thanked her. Nanny Xu took a bulging pouch and stuffed it into Manager Sun’s hands. “Thank you, Manager Sun.”

Since Yu Youyao was making her own clothes, Yang Shuwan didn’t have much to say. However, when she saw the high-quality tribute materials, she was envious.

She had high-quality snow satin in her house and she had originally planned to make two sets of clothes for Jia Jia which were expensive and outstanding.

However, Yu Youyao’s requests completely exceeded Jia Jia’s, and she felt sick of it.

Seeing that Nanny Xu had finished giving her instructions, Yang Shuwan stood up. “Yao Yao, you’re done choosing. I’ll bring Shopkeeper Sun to Fourth Sister’s room.”

Yang Shuwan wanted to show that she was virtuous and magnanimous. Everything that concerned her and Yu Qingning came first, and Yu Jianjia always came last.

But who had the final say in the end?

In the end, when Yu Jianjia had a lot of choices, no one urged her to pick faster. Wasn’t that as good as them?

After Yang Shuwan sent her out, Yu Youyao returned to her house and said to Chun Xiao, “Go to Cousin’s room.”

Mr. Hu Shan was on break today, so Zhou Linghuai did not go to school. He was finally free, so he instructed Chang An, “Find the Longevity peach blossom stone I brought from Youzhou.”

Chang An was confused when he heard that. “Why does Young Master want the peach blossom stone?”

Zhou Linghuai ignored him and took out a big box carved with red flowers and birds from the cabinet. His expression suddenly became complicated.

When his father was young, he liked lacquer carvings, so he had learned this skill. According to his father, he had relied on this skill to please his mother and marry her smoothly.

This box was the birthday gift his father had made for him when he was ten years old.

Just the top had been painted with more than a hundred layers. One layer was applied, and another layer was applied after it was dried. Two layers were applied a day. After that, it took half a year to carve on the paint.

His father was very proud of this skill. Afraid that he wouldn’t be able to get a wife, he had even taught him it. However, he felt that it was troublesome and after learning for a few days, he was unwilling to learn anymore. His father was very disappointed.

Thinking about the past, Zhou Linghuai’s gaze landed on the uneven upper left corner. There was originally a line of words here, and it said, “Grant my son the seal on his birthday. May my son live well.”

Later on, he was also the one who personally held the Kunwu Knife and carved these words on the hundred layers!

Chang An turned around and left the study. Not long after, he returned with a palm-sized ebony box.

At this moment, Zhou Linghuai’s expression returned to normal. He opened the lacquered box in front of him. Inside was a set of carving tools of various sizes, including a secret jar, a Kunwu Knife, a small diamond, a bow, and so on.

He had been a little demon king since he was young, and he was a headache to deal with. Even his father couldn’t control him, so he found a Daoist priest and asked him to learn some Daoist classics so that he could cultivate his mind and body.

In the end, although he knew the Daoist scriptures by heart, his personality remained the same. His father then gave him this set of carving tools on his birthday so that he could learn how to carve, and possibly change his personality.

Chang An couldn’t help but ask, “Young Master, are you going to carve a seal?”

Zhou Linghuai nodded and took out a thumb-length, slightly thicker jade material from the ebony box. It was light red in color and looked delicate and beautiful. It was fine and smooth like fat.

It was the longevity peach blossom stone that he had kept for many years.