Minglan is reborn, this time with no regrets!

Wei Xiaoniang said anxiously, "How can I not love you? I can't wait to love you, sister, don't worry, listen to me. It's like this, I didn't pay attention when I lit the candle before, and burned the pomegranate painting. Now I can't show you a ready-made one. How about this, I'll show you my work and we can come up with some ideas together, okay?"

Hua Lan originally wanted to continue to help find something in the name of seeing if Wei Xiaoniang's room was really empty, but she didn't expect Wei Xiaoniang to say so. She had to pretend to be disappointed and said, "What a pity to waste such a good thing! Thank you, Wei Xiaoniang, for taking a look for me." After that, she asked the maid named Xia Cao beside her to take out the embroidery frame.

Wei Xiaoniang took the embroidery frame and said, "Then I will show off my ugliness!"

She looked at it carefully for a while and said, "The young lady is very careful and neat in her embroidery. The pomegranate seeds are plump. But this pomegranate painting is about an artistic conception, using dots or lines to outline the freehand style. It is not necessary to embroider every seed in the whole pomegranate. If you do that, you will never be able to finish it."

As she spoke, she first used white and red threads to wrap together to make the seeds. Then she used goose yellow to wrap the white thread to embroider several curves of varying thicknesses. At first glance, didn't it look like a vivid bunch of pomegranate seeds?

Hua Lan's eyes widened as she watched, exclaiming, "It really looks like an ink painting! Wei Xiaoniang has amazing hands! Where did you learn this skill?"

Wei Xiaoniang: "Miss, you are so kind. I learned this at home before I got married. It was very popular in Bianjing for a while, and we country folks just learned it to show off our taste."

Hualan held the embroidery frame and began to learn, but the more she embroidered, the colder she felt. She raised her head and asked, "Mother Liu, why haven't Chuncao and the others come back yet?"

Mother Liu: "I'll go take a look."

After a while, Mother Liu came in with Chuncao and Xiaodie, pointed at Chuncao, and said, "You say."

Chuncao: "Xiaodie and I went to get some charcoal, but Xiaodie was hesitant, so I looked for it myself. As a result, I couldn't find any charcoal that could be brought into the house. There was only a pile of stove charcoal. I thought about boiling some water, but the hot water bottle was on Wei Xiaoniang's bed, and there was no other one. I wanted to come in and tell the eldest lady, but Xiaodie held me back."

Mother Liu continued, "I saw them pushing and shoving each other, and thought they were arguing. After asking them about the situation, I went to search Xiaodie's room again, fearing that she had embezzled the money. In the end, I didn't find anything. It was completely empty, as if no one lived there."

Xiaodie wiped her tears in grievance.

Hua Lan comforted her, "Xiao Die, since Mama Liu has searched your house, it proves your innocence. This is a good thing, don't be sad."

Xiaodie raised her head and looked at Hualan. After thinking for a while, her eyes lit up.

Hua Lan looked at Wei Shuyi and said, "Mrs. Wei, you won't blame Mama Liu, right?"

Wei Shuyi was afraid that the matter would get out of hand, so he said hurriedly, "No, why would she blame me? The eldest lady is prudent and never wrongly accuses anyone. This charcoal is... Minglan is afraid of the cold, so she usually burns it in her room, so it's all used up."

Minglan looked at Hualan with tears in her eyes. Hualan shook her head slightly, signaling her not to be anxious. In the morning, when the two sisters were hugging each other, Hualan felt that Minglan was cold all over. She covered her hands for a long time but it was not warm. How could this be caused by burning charcoal all night? It was obviously caused by a cold all night.

Hua Lan waved her hands and said, "I don't care whether there is charcoal fire or not. I'm hungry now. Wei Xiaoniang, please treat me to a meal! Quickly take out the delicious food in your room. Don't let me suffer from cold and hunger, or I will cry."

Wei Xiaoniang pushed both baskets of cakes to Hualan and said, "Here are shortbread and osmanthus cakes. They are very fragrant. Try them, young lady."

Hua Lan shook her head: "I have eaten all these at my grandmother's and mother's houses, and it's already noon, I have to eat lunch!"

Wei Xiaoniang was a little anxious. The rice in her jar was only enough to make porridge, so how could it provide Hualan with the lunch she wanted? Just as she was thinking of ordering them to leave, Hualan cried out, "Ah!" and remembered something, saying, "I forgot to serve lunch to grandma!"

She really forgot. When she greeted her grandmother in the morning, she had promised to serve her meal.

She stood up suddenly, wanting to go find the old lady right away, but then she remembered that she had not yet finished what she promised Minglan, so she sat down again, thought for a moment, and said to Wei Shuyi, "The pomegranate painting is not yet finished, and I can't leave you. So, you and Minglan follow me to grandmother's house, and we'll go to get some autumn wind from grandmother."

Madam Liu said, "Then go quickly, young lady. I have to go back to serve the mistress, so I won't follow you. Let Xia Cao go with you."

Hualan stood up and hurriedly carried Wei Xiaoniang and Minglan to her grandmother's yard, shouting as she walked, "You must help me embroider this pomegranate today, otherwise you are not allowed to leave me!" She left behind Liu Mama, Chuncao and Xiaodie.

Chuncao was guarding the door while Mother Liu searched Wei Xiaoniang's room thoroughly, opening every cabinet and searching carefully. She then gave Xiaodie a lot of instructions before leaving.

After they left, Xiaodie stood in the corridor and cursed: "She is just an older mother, how can she show off her power and scold me! I am just a little slow, but she keeps scolding me. I do so much work every day, so what if I am slow? She doesn't manage the family, but she still wants to get ahead! Bah!"

Not far away, a boy who was sweeping the floor quietly walked away to meet Lin Qinshuang's personal mistress Zhou...

……

After listening to Madam Zhou's statement, Lin Qinshuang frowned: "Why does the young lady need to bring Madam Liu with her when she goes to learn embroidery?"

Madam Zhou: "A cleaning lady heard Madam Liu talking about coming to see Madam Wei's baby, so she went along."

Lin Qinshuang sneered: "Humph, it's still uncertain whether the baby can be born, who are you trying to please now?"

Madam Zhou: "I don't think it's a big deal. The eldest lady is just anxious to get the embroidery, so she grabbed me and wouldn't let me go."

Lin Qinshuang: "Humph, she is always impatient and impulsive, just like her mother. Is she worthy of entering the Earl's Mansion? She is a far cry from my Mo'er. However, we must not let our guard down. Find someone to follow closely and report any news immediately."

Madam Zhou: “Yes.”

……

The old lady was waiting for Hualan to have dinner together, but unexpectedly, Wei Shuyi and Minglan also showed up.

The old lady looked at Hualan, and Hualan smiled and said, "I want to learn how to do the popular ink embroidery in Bianjing City from Wei Xiaoniang. I want to do a pomegranate pattern. I am afraid that she is reluctant to teach me, so I want to use my grandmother's feast to bribe them. Grandmother, please help me!"

The old lady smiled and said, "Since you said so, I can only teach you everything I know! Ru'an, add two sets of bowls and chopsticks, and ask the kitchen to add a few more dishes."

Everyone was talking and laughing, except for Wei Xiaoniang, who was so terrified that she said she didn't dare to eat. She said she would go to the kitchen to eat by herself and asked Minglan to stay and serve her.

The old lady asked Fang Mama to hold her down and said, "You are still pregnant with the Sheng family's child. Even if you don't care about yourself, you have to think about it."

Hualan felt that this was a double entendre and sweat broke out on her forehead. She had originally wanted to serve her grandmother and interrogate Wei without delay, and did not want to alarm her grandmother with this matter. After all, the old lady had just recovered from a serious illness and should not let her worry about it.

Hualan felt a little regretful about bringing people to her grandmother's house for lunch.

Minglan, who had not said a word from beginning to end, also became anxious. She also heard the other meaning in her grandmother's words. She really didn't want her grandmother to get involved in this.

The old lady saw the two sisters, one big and one small, making the same expression. She felt amused and said, "Hurry up and sit down to eat. If there is anything, worry about it after you finish eating."