Chapter 31: Rumors

That evening after dinner and washing up, Xie Yi preciously held the piece of red fabric, pondering how to cut it and what patterns to embroider.

In the female-dominated society, men’s clothing was diverse with many colors. Just the waistband patterns alone had several hundred different styles. Like the clothes she prepared for Yan Jiyue in her previous life, even a simple piece of satin cost dozens of taels of silver. Yan Jiyue’s nobility came not only from his own temperament but also from the embellishment of his clothes.

Once, she brought back a piece of fabric that was very popular recently, intending to make clothes for Yan Jiyue. But when Yan Jiyue heard it was the most popular, he thought many people would wear the same style and didn’t want to match others. So that piece of fabric wasn’t used.

At that time, the fabric cost nearly a hundred taels of silver. Yan Jiyue didn’t want it, but it couldn’t be returned, and Su Mu didn’t need it herself. She was troubled with this piece of fabric, so Xie Yi asked if she could give it to him to make an outfit.

By then, Xie Yi had been serving by her side for five or six years, not a relative but as close as one. Su Mu naturally agreed.

Somehow, an informant told Yan Jiyue, who came furiously and cut up Xie Yi’s almost-finished clothes.

Yan Jiyue said, “Even if I don’t want my things and throw them away, they can’t be given to him.”

Fortunately, Xie Yi was sensible and voluntarily apologized to Yan Jiyue, finally settling the drama.

“Mu Jiejie, there’s still some leftover material from that white fabric you brought back. I want to make a handkerchief and embroider some flowers on it. What kind of flowers do you like, Mu Jiejie?” Xie Yi sat beside her, holding a square piece of silk fabric the size of a handkerchief, stretched tight on an embroidery hoop. Various colored silk threads were placed beside him as he asked enthusiastically.

Su Mu turned a page in her book without looking up: “If you’re embroidering flowers for yourself, naturally you should embroider whatever flowers you like.”

Hearing this, Xie Yi’s eyes showed a hint of disappointment, but he quickly became lively and cheerful again.

He leaned gently against Su Mu’s hand: “I like Rosa laevigata flowers.”

Su Mu, engrossed in her book, nodded: “Then embroider Rosa laevigata flowers.”

“What flowers does Mu Jiejie like?”

Su Mu looked up at him: “Me?”

“Mm.” Xie Yi saw that Su Mu’s gaze finally left the book to look at him, and he felt a little proud that he could occupy Su Mu’s attention for a moment amidst the sage’s poetry.

“Mu Jiejie brought these fabrics specially for me from far away in Yuncheng. I have no way to repay you, I can only embroider a handkerchief for Mu Jiejie… but my embroidery skills aren’t as good as those skilled people outside. I hope Mu Jiejie won’t mind.”

Su Mu shook her head: “How could I mind?”

Su Mu had never embroidered herself. In the female-dominated country, embroidery was always men’s work. Handkerchiefs used by women were usually embroidered by family members. For someone like her without relatives, she could just buy them on the street, very cheaply, a few coins for a nice pattern.

But it was best if someone was willing to embroider a handkerchief for her. Thinking of her previous life, Xie Yi had always found various excuses to give her handkerchiefs and embroidered pouches, but she had refused them all.

Recalling Xie Yi’s rejected look back then, she felt a faint sense of guilt.

“So what flowers does Mu Jiejie like? I’ll embroider them for you.” Xie Yi asked, his body unconsciously moving closer to her, his chest now resting against her elbow.

“Hmm…” Su Mu didn’t actually have any particular favorite flowers, as she loved them all too much and thought each flower had its own charm: “Then embroider Rosa laevigata flowers too.”

“Mu Jiejie also likes Rosa laevigata flowers?” Xie Yi’s eyes suddenly became round, and it was evident that he was extremely happy at this moment.

Su Mu smiled: “Rosa laevigata flowers are elegant and pleasant, I quite like them.”

“Alright, I’ll embroider them now.”

Xie Yi sat beside her, threaded the needle, and began embroidering. Rosa laevigata flowers are pure white with cream-yellow stamens. Xie Yi used cream-white silk thread for the petals and a light orange-yellow color for the stamens.

Watching him skillfully embroider stitch by stitch on the hoop, soon a petal had taken initial shape, and it was embroidered vividly, even capturing the wrinkles at the edges of the petals.

Is this what he called simple mending skills?

Perhaps because he was embroidering under the lamplight, the oil lamp flickered, and its brightness was no match for modern lighting. He was far from the light source, with limited illumination.

Xie Yi’s eyes felt sore and uncomfortable. When he closed them, he did so forcefully, and the duration was a few seconds longer than a normal blink.

“Are you tired?” Su Mu moved the oil lamp closer to him and said, “If you’re tired, go back and rest. Embroidering at night strains the eyes. It’s just a handkerchief, there’s no rush.”

Xie Yi shook his head, feeling a sweetness in his heart. Mu Jiejie was concerned about him.

“It’s alright, Mu Jiejie. I can’t sleep anyway, so instead of being idle, I might as well embroider a bit to pass the time… and keep you company.”

The last part was uttered so softly, it was barely audible, as if the words were stuck in his throat.

Suddenly, Xie Yi jerked his head up, saying somewhat anxiously, “Mu Jiejie, am I disturbing your reading?”

He remembered that Su Mu usually read until very late every night, but today he had been clinging to Su Mu’s side because he was too happy. She had just been reading, but he, in his excitement, had interrupted her.

He had heard that scholars dislike people who interrupt them from time to time… Would she find him annoying?

Xie Yi suddenly became nervous and uneasy.

Su Mu smiled gently: “You’re not disturbing me. I just finished my exams, and I want to relax a bit. Watching you embroider is like watching someone paint, it’s pleasing to the eye.”

Xie Yi didn’t know how to respond to Su Mu for a moment. When he heard the words ‘pleasing to the eye’ come from Su Mu’s mouth, his heart skipped a beat, and the needle almost pricked his finger.

“I remember you said earlier that your embroidery skills weren’t very good. You were being modest,” Su Mu said.

Xie Yi smiled, pressing his lips together: “I’ve been learning from the servants in Qiao Zhufu’s household recently.”

Su Mu hadn’t expected this: “You’re learning to cook at Qiao Zhufu’s house, and now you’re learning to embroider too? Aren’t you very tired?”

Not tired, how could he be tired?

“This is all part of my duties.” Just thinking that all he was learning was for Su Mu, Xie Yi didn’t feel tired at all. On the contrary, he even felt that there weren’t enough hours in the day, wishing he had a few more hours than others so that his embroidery skills and culinary arts would be more refined than anyone else’s.

Su Mu saw a hint of eagerness to please in Xie Yi’s expression, which reminded her of her previous life. She thought of how he had hidden his secret feelings in his previous life, pretending to be normal in front of her, how he had endured Yan Jiyue’s difficulties, and finally, with what kind of despair in his heart, he had taken poison while holding her already decaying corpse in her coffin.

She felt she owed Xie Yi a lot.

“There’s no such thing as duty when you’re with me.” Su Mu held his hand.

Whether it was because of her previous life or the excessive fondness she had developed for him in this life, she didn’t want Xie Yi to live like he did in his previous life.

Xie Yi’s heart raced, and his other hand trembled violently. With this tremor, the needle tip thoroughly pricked his finger. To avoid worrying Su Mu, he silently placed the pricked finger under the table, wiping away the bead of blood with his fingertip.

But Xie Yi didn’t feel pain. He only felt that the warmth of Su Mu’s palm was so comfortable, so pleasant. He truly wished he could drown in such warmth forever.

The next day, Shen Yuxue came in a whirlwind.

When she arrived, Su Mu was sitting in the courtyard enjoying the cool air. The weather had gradually become hot, and it wasn’t raining as often as before. Even though Su Mu’s courtyard was shady, it couldn’t resist the heat.

Xie Yi had bought a watermelon and had it chilled in the well overnight. Seeing Su Mu fanning herself in the courtyard, he quickly took it out and cut it. It was icy and refreshing, dispelling the summer heat completely.

“His watermelon isn’t as cooling as what I’ve made. Try my rice ball iced dessert.” She plonked a bowl of iced dessert on her table with a thud.

In ancient times, there were no takeaway boxes, so she brought the bowl and spoon directly. The translucent iced dessert lay in the white porcelain bowl, sprinkled with sesame seeds, small rice balls, and crushed candied fruits, then drizzled with a spoonful of brown sugar. Most surprisingly, Shen Yuxue had even added ice to it.

Ancient people made ice using saltpeter, but it was expensive. In summer, a bowl of cooling iced drink was not cheap.

“Hurry up and eat, the ice will melt if you don’t,” Shen Yuxue urged impatiently.

Su Mu took a bite. The texture of the iced dessert was no different from her previous life, but due to the ingredients, it wasn’t quite as good as modern iced desserts. However, compared to other ancient drinks, it was far superior.

“Not bad, it’s very delicious,” she said.

Shen Yuxue finally relaxed and slouched in front of her: “Hearing you say that, I can finally put my mind at ease. My parents also ate it and thought it tasted good. As it happens, my family has an empty shop in the city, and I’ll open for business in a few days.”

“The weather is already getting hot, and your iced dessert is a new style that people in Juancheng have never seen before. You’ve even added ice cubes. It will surely be a hit when you open,” Su Mu praised.

Shen Yuxue smiled modestly: “Oh, not at all. I’m glad you like it…”

“You should try some too. It’s indeed more cooling than watermelon.” Su Mu got up and brought a small bowl from the kitchen, poured half of the iced dessert Shen Yuxue had brought into the bowl, and pushed it in front of Xie Yi.

Xie Yi was pleasantly surprised and tried hard to contain himself in front of others, but still couldn’t hide the sweet smile at the corners of his mouth.

Shen Yuxue sized up Su Mu, then looked at Xie Yi, who was as obedient as a pet dog behind her, with a somewhat mysterious expression: “…Su Mu, you’ve been staying at home since you came back yesterday, haven’t you?”

“Yes, why?” Su Mu nodded.

“Uh, nothing, nothing.” Shen Yuxue smiled, trying to cover something up.

Recently, rumors had been circulating in the city, saying that Su Mu was ungrateful. It was said that when she was near death, Yan Zhujun had picked her up and brought her home. Seeing her talent, Yan Zhujun had betrothed his own son to her. Who would have thought that soon after marriage, she would hook up with a mixed-race slave named Xie Yi and keep him as a concubine.

Neglecting her legitimate husband at home, she favored only Xie Yi, and even forced a divorce from her proper husband for the sake of this slave-born person.

Although Shen Yuxue knew the ins and outs of the situation and knew that this was deliberately spread negative gossip, other people in the city didn’t know, did they?