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Finally calming the little creature down, and having obtained two tiny bits of agarwood leaves, Chen Feng, dabbing it onto a handkerchief, left the space.
Back in the small room, she quietly told Mrs. Wang about selling the Cloud brocade sparrow for six hundred taels of silver and mentioned her intention to use the money to buy land.
Mrs. Wang was almost dumbfounded, “Goodness, is a wealthy person’s money not money? So much silver for a bird?”
Chen Feng chuckled, “I heard that there are few such birds in our Dachun Dynasty’s territory. There are two Cloud brocade sparrows in the palace, which were tributes from the barbarians. This one is the third, so it’s naturally valuable. Besides, wealthy people like these kinds of flowers and birds. Top-quality flowers can sell for over a thousand taels of silver, that’s called elegance.”
Mrs. Wang nodded, “Well, true. However, this Mr. Chu is indeed a good official, and he didn’t deceive us.”
That’s true. If they hadn’t been told, they wouldn’t have known that the Cloud brocade sparrow was so valuable. From the looks of it, that stern-looking hero is actually not bad.
It suddenly occurred to Chen Feng that Steward Luo had mentioned something about an old marquis, which indicated that Chu Lingxuan came from a marquis’s mansion? Such a noble lineage. However, how could a mother from such a wealthy family enter monastic life?
Lost in thought, she and Mrs. Wang began working on making a swallow doll for Chu Hanyan using satin.
They had only cut out two dolls when they heard Chen Aman’s knocking. Chen Feng had to put away the satin for the swallow doll.
Because the Chu family didn’t want others to know that their child liked a smiling swallow, Chen Feng refrained from making the swallow doll and instead focused on making clothes for Chu Hanyan. With plenty of fabric provided by the manager Luo and having received so much silver from the Chu family, it was only fitting to make a beautiful outfit for the little Miss Chu.
Chen Feng had learned to cut fabric and did it herself, asking Mrs. Wang for guidance when needed.
Chen Aman wanted Mrs. Wang to teach her how to make even more beautiful clothes. She could describe the style, but she wasn’t good at making it herself. Mrs. Wang, being skilled in embroidery, listened to the style and helped cut the fabric accordingly.
Chen Feng generously handed over a piece of bright red satin to Chen Aman for use as an embellishment on the clothes. She also suggested that for this type of dress, it wouldn’t be suitable to sew on the traditional Chinese frog buttons, as it would seem cumbersome.
After seeing the little girl’s regretful expression, Chen Feng also handed her two feet of sky-blue satin to make a half-sleeved jacket. This type of garment was suitable for buttoning and complemented the color of the buttons. The little girl was overjoyed, calling Chen Feng “good sister” repeatedly.
Entering the room, Mrs. Zhang quickly stopped her, “Stop this. If the nobles find out that you’ve used their satin, what then if they get upset?”
Chen Feng smiled, “It’s fine. Steward Luo specifically said that if the satin isn’t all used up, I could keep it to make clothes.”
After thanking Chen Feng, Mrs. Zhang asked Mrs. Wang to slightly enlarge the jacket. She mentioned that they already had a good outfit for this and the next year, so there was no need for another set of clothes. This way, they would have good clothes to wear each year for the next few years.
The next day, to the Chen family’s surprise, Qinbo came with a purchasing manager from the Chu mansion. They mentioned that Steward Luo had given their braised skewers to the master as a gift, and the lords in the capital liked it. They requested various dishes, with no skewers, to be provided for the Chu mansion for six days. They also needed even more on the fifteenth day, with each dish requiring twenty catties of braised foods.
Chen Shi was thrilled and quickly agreed to their request. Afterwards, he generously gave each, Qinbo and the purchasing manager a tael of silver.
As long as the mansion’s people kept coming to buy from Chen San’s braised skewer shop every day, he would try to build a relationship with these managers, and they wouldn’t dare to cause trouble. Over the past few days, Chen Shi had already noticed some ruffians loitering near the shop.
After seeing off the people from the Chu mansion, Chen Shi smiled and said to Chen Feng, “A’Feng, you have a good name, and you’ve brought blessings not only to your own family but also to your Third Uncle’s family. Oh, Third Uncle is so reluctant to let you leave. He wants to treat you like a precious gem in his family.”
A few words from Chen Shi made Mrs. Wang smile.
The Chen family members were busier than usual. Mrs Wang and Chen Feng were busy making dolls and clothes in the room. As time was running short, Chen Feng and her mother worked tirelessly day and night. They managed to finish making two large swallow dolls and a set of small clothes on the afternoon of the fourteenth. This would be their birthday gift for Chu Hanyan.
Tomorrow was the little girl’s birthday, and Chen Feng wanted to have everything ready before her birthday, so she could hold the well-prepared large doll and sleep comfortably. Being at ease would help stabilize her emotions.
Chen Feng speculated that the old woman had thrown away the large swallow doll just before the little girl’s birthday, risking the danger of worsening the little girl’s condition. Perhaps she wanted to see some ill-intentioned people laugh at her, or she aimed to tarnish the little girl’s reputation in the capital.
A bit of agarwood leaf was placed inside both large swallow dolls. Although the dresses of the swallows had changed, their expressions hadn’t. They still smiled brightly. Four small and four medium-sized dolls were left unfinished and would be completed when they had more time.
The small outfit was a goose-yellow cross-collar jacket with large bell-shaped sleeves. Unlike the narrow or wide sleeves popular in this era, these were bell sleeves. They were narrow from the shoulders to the elbows, then gradually flared out, resembling two blooming trumpet flowers. The cuff was adorned with a crimson lace, and the neckline was edged with moon-white satin, embroidered with peonies by Mrs. Wang.
The outfit was exceptionally beautiful and unique. Not only did Mrs. Zhang and others praise it, but even Chen Feng was extremely pleased, envisioning how stunning the little girl would look in this attire.
Dabao was especially delighted upon seeing it.
The previous day, Chen Feng had asked Mrs. Zhang to bring back five catties of red dates, two catties of glutinous rice flour, and a few taels of sesame from the market. They also had rock sugar and osmanthus sugar at Chen San’s miscellaneous shop.
In the morning, she began soaking the red dates before attending to her own tasks.
After lunch, Chen Feng started making osmanthus-scented glutinous rice balls in the kitchen. Earlier, she had brought out a bit of agarwood residue from the space and added it to the cooking red dates. Before the dates were done, she sprinkled in crushed osmanthus sugar and sesame.
After finishing the glutinous rice balls, they filled a large wooden basin. Chen Feng took two large bowls and brought the rest along.
Now that Mr. Chu was the head of his family and the little Miss Chu was both a student and growing, it was necessary to take care of their appetites.
Once the dates were done, Mrs. Wang finished her last task.
Chen Feng wrapped the dolls and clothes in cloth and asked Chen Yu to carry the large basin of glutinous rice balls, then they left the Chen family. A mule cart was already waiting outside Chen San’s miscellaneous shop, and they boarded it, heading straight to the Chu mansion.
Although Dabao wanted to tag along, Chen Feng didn’t take him. With so many guests at the Chu mansion, they certainly wouldn’t allow them to see Chu Hanyan.