"That's a great idea, young lady. We should give it a try!"
Sixth Sister smiled confidently, her beautiful face revealing a ruthless edge that seemed out of place.
"I'll go check on Seventh Sister; it wouldn't be good if she got sick from all the anger."
When Sixth Sister leisurely walked to Seventh Sister's door, she could vaguely hear Seventh Sister still throwing a tantrum inside.
"Sixth Miss is here!" The maidservant at the door smiled awkwardly. All the girls were quiet and gentle, but their own young lady was a troublemaker, and they felt it was not good for them to lose face.
Sixth Sister smiled kindly and said gently, "I've come to see Seventh Sister."
The maids hurriedly lifted the curtain to invite Sixth Sister in, while someone had already gone to inform Seventh Sister.
Seventh Sister walked out with an unfriendly expression.
"What brings Sixth Sister here?" Seventh Sister also disliked Sixth Sister and said bluntly, "If you've come to teach me about sisterly love, Sixth Sister can go back now!"
Sixth Sister's smile grew even gentler.
"Seventh Sister, what are you saying? I haven't seen you being unfriendly at all. You just came here to say a few words to your younger sister." Sixth Sister lowered her tone and said softly, "It takes two to tango. Even if you said a few more words in your haste, Ninth Sister is also partly responsible."
Seventh Sister's expression softened slightly.
She turned to welcome Sixth Sister in, had a maid serve tea, and the two sisters sat down on the large kang (heated brick bed) by the window in the side room.
"Don't be angry, little sister. Ninth Sister just came back and is younger than you, so naturally she gets more favor from Grandmother and Mother." Sixth Sister's eyes flickered slightly as she earnestly advised, "Even if she has done something wrong, once she starts making a fuss, the elders will naturally think that you, as the older sister, are in the wrong."
Sixth Sister's two short sentences completely reversed right and wrong. Even though Seventh Sister was the one who spoke hurtfully first, it all became An Ran's fault. Clearly, this explanation pleased Seventh Sister greatly.
"She's gone too far, why should I give in to her?" Seventh Sister said anxiously, but she didn't intend to take her anger out on Sixth Sister. "She just arrived and already wants to put all the other sisters above her? Who gave her that respect!"
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
The previously at odds Sixth Sister and Seventh Sister suddenly felt a sense of kinship.
“That may be true, but Jiu Niang’s background is pitiful, and it’s only natural that Grandmother and Mother would dote on her more.” Liu Niang continued to gently persuade her, “Sister, just bear with it! We are all sisters. What can you do if you’re unhappy? Even if you’re right, if you complain to Grandmother and Mother, you’ll be the one who’s wrong.”
Seventh Sister's eyes widened.
"Don't be so arrogant, I'm not afraid of any of that!" Sixth Sister had successfully provoked Seventh Sister's anger. She said angrily, "Isn't she always pretending to be well-behaved and showing off in front of Grandmother and Mother? I'll make her show her true colors!"
Sixth Sister whispered a few more words of advice, and seeing that Seventh Sister was getting more and more angry the more she tried to persuade her, a hint of satisfaction flashed in her eyes.
"Don't be angry. In a few days, we'll need to work together to make an embroidered image of Guanyin. Mother needs to make offerings to it, so we can't be careless," Sixth Sister coaxed gently. "If you delay the progress, wouldn't it be your fault if Mother blames you? Right now, Mother is already more fond of Ninth Sister than Ninth Sister..."
“Illustrated portrait…” Qi Niang murmured to herself, then suddenly her eyes lit up.
"Are you worried about not being able to deal with An Jiu's arrogance?" Seventh Sister laughed triumphantly, "This time I'll make her submit!"
"Sixth Sister, we need your help with this..."
Chapter 19 Schemes
The next day, when Anran and her sister went to pay their respects to the Grand Madam and Madam Zhao, Anran sensed that something was amiss.
Seventh Sister's attitude was really strange.
Early in the morning, Sixth Sister and Seventh Sister were waiting for her and Tenth Sister on the road. Not to mention, Seventh Sister even took the initiative to befriend her and said several sweet words.
Anything that is abnormal is considered a sign of trouble.
One doesn't hit a smiling face, so An Ran suppressed her doubts. Seventh Sister acted all amiable, which made her smile even gentler and friendlier. It was as if the two of them hadn't almost argued yesterday.
When they paid their respects to the Dowager, everything was as usual. However, when they arrived at the Zhao family's courtyard, Zhao did not ask them to leave as usual, but instead asked the four sisters to sit down.
"Your needlework master came over the other day and said that your embroidery skills have improved a lot." While serving tea, Zhao said to the four of them, "At the beginning of next month, Miaoyin Temple will be holding a Buddhist ceremony. I want to send an embroidered image of Guanyin as an offering. If the four of you work together, will a little over a month be enough?"
Sixth Sister, Seventh Sister, and Tenth Sister asked Zhao about the size and design of the embroidered portrait with normal expressions, but An Ran was secretly wondering about it.
Even though she had practiced diligently with Cuiping for some time, Anran knew that her embroidery skills were far inferior to those of Liu Niang and the others. It was better to honestly admit her shortcomings now than to embarrass herself later or make a mistake.
"Mother..." An Ran was about to speak when Qi Niang quickly interrupted her.
Holding the Guanyin embroidery pattern handed to her by Mama Shi, Qi Niang said confidently to Madam Zhao, "Mother, don't worry, we won't delay your important business."
An Ran was slightly taken aback.
Shi Niang carefully examined the design and said with a hint of uncertainty, "If we put in our best effort, the four of us working together should be able to finish it. But after all, this is something you, Mother, are going to send out as an offering. I'm afraid if we don't embroider it well, we'll embroider it poorly and make you lose face."
Before Zhao could speak, Seventh Sister chimed in, "Of course we can do it. With the four of us sisters working together, this embroidery is a piece of cake."
An Ran's doubts grew stronger.
Seventh Sister's words today were truly unlike her usual style. This task assigned by Zhao Shi was not easy to accept; if the embroidery wasn't done well or wasn't finished on time, it would probably be better not to take it on at all. If she did accept it, she should have clearly explained the difficulties one by one; if problems arose, it would be better than her taking on everything so readily today.
He readily agreed, but failing to deliver will only leave people with the impression of being a big talker.
They hadn't even discussed it privately yet, so how did Seventh Sister know she could definitely accomplish it?
“Mother, my embroidery skills are really far inferior to my sisters’.” An Ran wasn’t afraid of making a fool of herself; she had to admit that apart from her face, her talent, knowledge, needlework, and other skills were all inferior to her three sisters. “I’m just afraid that I’m not good enough and will only delay the progress.”
"Ninth Sister is too modest!" Seventh Sister was unusually enthusiastic today, trying to please everyone, which was quite unlike her. "Ninth Sister has returned from Jiangnan. Many of the embroiderers in the palace were selected from Jiangnan. Jiangnan is such a beautiful and fertile place; I imagine you've been influenced by its culture and beauty. This little bit of embroidery is nothing to you!"
An Ran's eyes widened.
Seventh Sister probably only agreed to Zhao's request because she knew her embroidery skills were poor!
If the embroidery cannot be finished on time, Seventh Sister can simply blame it on her, saying that she delayed the progress!