Forced Into the Palace: Becoming the Emperor's Favorite
Chapter 43 Visiting

Chapter 43: Chapter 43 Visiting

"This contains all of the materials currently in the satin warehouse, please take a look, my lady."

With meticulous handling and succinct speech, Nanny Fan’s manner easily outshone the loquacious yet unfocused Nanny Chang beside her.

Lin Wanyi carefully flipped through it, then smiled.

"Nanny Fan is thorough with her work, just send over what you’ve annotated."

"Yes."

They exchanged only two or three sentences, and the matter was settled.

Seeing this, Qiu Ming called Xiao Luzi and Xiao Hezi into the room and told them calmly.

"Follow the two nannies back and bring all the items back, be careful not to dirty or lose anything, understood?"

"Yes, as you command!"

The coordinated dialogue left Nanny Chang no chance to add more words.

Moreover, since Nanny Fan had already left, it was improper for her to remain inside and she had to follow out.

She left somewhat displeased, feeling that her abilities hadn’t been fully expressed!

Yet Nanny Fan, indifferent to her intricacies, hurried back to prepare the materials.

Once everyone left, the courtyard quieted down.

Xia An brought over a cup of red date ginger tea to warm Lin Wanyi, then curiously asked.

"My lady, won’t these threads be too few? I recall last time there was hardly anything left from what Nanny Fan sent."

"Rest assured, Nanny Fan understands my intent, since I selected few threads from the embroidery workshop, she will prepare them for me; the threads that pass her eyes are surely no worse than those from the embroidery workshop."

The threads Lin Wanyi chose from the embroidery workshop are hard to find.

For ordinary threads, it’s better to get them from Nanny Fan.

The satin warehouse also holds thread stocks, just not as much as the embroidery workshop, so people gradually forgot about it.

Nanny Fan sent over so many at once last time, surely this time she will send over some more.

Indeed, when Xiao Luzi returned, he brought over more than ten bolts of fabric and a towering stack of thread.

The colors were limited, only about twenty or thirty kinds.

Yet each one was precisely to Lin Wanyi’s liking.

Truly a disciple personally taught by her grandmother, much more discerning and clever than others.

It’s truly a pity that she is only a Chief in the satin warehouse.

"My lady, where should these things be placed?"

"Xia An has prepared a cabinet, put them inside for now; take them out when needed."

Xiao Luzi and Xiao Hezi filled the cabinet to the brim before stopping.

Luckily the cabinet was big enough, otherwise so many items might not fit.

Xia An brought over brush, ink, paper, and inkstone for Lin Wanyi, who thought for a moment then sketched a few patterns on the paper.

Perhaps because she had visited Wen’s former residence once, she was able to incorporate some clever ideas into making clothes for the Emperor this time.

Sketching one style, then annotating the next.

When she was almost done sketching, Qiu Ming came in briskly.

"My lady, there’s word from Qian’an Hall, His Majesty will be arriving shortly."

Lin Wanyi widened her apricot eyes in surprise.

The Emperor hadn’t visited lately, how come he found time today?

"Hmm, got it, Xia An, help me freshen up and dress."

"Yes."

Given her current illness, dressing up was merely tidying her hair and smoothing out her clothes.

With Xia An’s support, she stepped slowly off the bed and moved to the corridor.

Just then, she saw the Emperor Yu Wenhong striding in, looking quite majestic under the sunlight.

"Your concubine from the Lin Family wishes Your Majesty ten thousand blessings."

"You have an injury on your foot, don’t stand on ceremony."

He said, and without waiting, stepped forward to support her, then released her once they were steady.

Lin Wanyi didn’t like showing affection with the Emperor in front of so many palace attendants.

She felt it was all for show, quite exhausting.

Inside the inner room, the ones serving changed to Qiu Ming.

Sitting on the bed, she took the tea Qiu Ming brought and took a sip.

Expecting just to quench her thirst, the tea surprisingly tasted quite pleasant!

"What tea is this?"

"In reply to Your Majesty, it’s fruit tea. Your concubine had them blend it with jasmine tea and add some grapes, so it has the aroma of jasmine and the sweetness of grapes."

"How are there grapes at this time of year?"

The Emperor was curious, as grapes usually couldn’t be preserved until now, nor were fresh grapes available this season.

Lin Wanyi smiled.

"These are from a honey jar I brought from home, containing six kinds of fruit nectar, all prepared in advance. These grapes were wild-picked, not suitable to eat fresh, but made into fruit nectar, they carry a tart-sweet taste, so I often add some when drinking tea."

"I thought you only liked spicy flavors."

"Sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, salty, all five flavors of the world, I do love spicy food, but do not refuse the other four flavors either."

Listening to her, the Emperor began to ponder again.

For some reason, her words always carried a touch of Zen, prompting the Emperor to contemplate their deeper meaning.

Lin Wanyi didn’t interrupt and continued sketching.

This relaxed demeanor led the attending palace personnel to quietly withdraw.

Leaving only the two of them by the window in silence.

"What are you drawing?"

"Patterns for the clothes I’m preparing to sew for Your Majesty, take a look, do they suit your fancy?"

The Emperor took it and Lin Wanyi explained beside him.

"I plan to use purple mixed with gold thread for this one, along with black satin and lake blue. The dragon’s head will appear noble yet dignified, with the technique of seed stitch highlighting the dragon scales; it will certainly look beautiful when embroidered."

"And this one, I’ve based it on the color scheme of Wang Ximeng’s ’Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains’, with vast rivers and rolling mountains finely embroidered near the frog closure, which adds a unique charm."

Though Yu Wenhong didn’t understand embroidery, listening to her meticulous description, he somehow visualized it.

Her skillful hands and clever mind truly differed from those in the embroidery workshop.

"Earlier, you mentioned you’d learned a little, I thought you were just saying it casually to avoid embarrassment; I never expected it to be humility. Such craftsmanship makes it hard to believe you’re the Second Miss from the Prime Minister’s Mansion."

This comment dampened Lin Wanyi’s enthusiasm.

Her expression, once filled with excitement, faded entirely with the Emperor’s words.

Yu Wenhong observed her expression carefully, missing nothing.

"You don’t like me mentioning the Prime Minister’s Mansion?"

Hearing this, Lin Wanyi looked up at the Emperor, her eyes showing both confusion and probing.

She was unsure how much the Emperor knew about the affairs in the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

However, both she and Lin Guifei came into the palace as noble daughters, yet Lin Guifei had the high rank of Imperial Consort, while she was merely a lowly concubine.

If the Emperor claimed ignorance of the intrigue, she wouldn’t believe it.

Thus, Lin Wanyi looked at him steadily, then spoke each word carefully.

"Your Majesty misunderstands; the Prime Minister’s Mansion is my root, how could I dislike Your Majesty mentioning it."