Xu Jinxin smiled mischievously. "We might need to draw more later, but I promise, we absolutely won't misuse them."
"Ah?" Duoduo opened her palms with some concern and looked at them.
"Duoduo, you just draw the key parts. We'll handle the rest." Xu Jinxin hastily assured her that they would all help.
Duoduo breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then I'll draw a few first to see how they turn out."
"Alright, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just draw as many as you can," Xu Jinxin quickly comforted Duoduo.
One had to know that Duoduo's painting skills were truly master-class.
Having a master-level artist draw promotional posters was a bit of a waste of her talents.
But it couldn't be helped; Xu Jinxin just wanted to use Duoduo's art to become an instant hit.
Duoduo began to draw, while Xu Jinxin and the others helped from the sidelines by cutting paper and mixing pigments.
Lianxin returned from the storehouse.
"Princess Consort, there are eight hundred catties of top-grade charcoal, two thousand catties of medium-grade, and one hundred catties of low-grade charcoal in the storehouse."
"The steward said that these were prepared in advance last year because they thought the masters were returning, which is why there is so much left over."
Xu Jinxin's eyes lit up.
"That's wonderful! Good Lianxin, how much silver do all these charcoals cost?"
"Write down an itemized list. I want them all."
It was currently hot weather, where would anyone be selling charcoal?
Prince Ling's mansion just happened to have some. Xu Jinxin felt her luck was simply too good!
Seeing her master nod at her, Lianxin took out an account book from her robes.
"This servant thought Madam Li would definitely need it, so I brought the account book over."
"I will copy it down separately for you, so you can register it."
Xu Jinxin smiled at Lianxin. "Thank you for your hard work, Lianxin."
Lianxin hurriedly waved her hands. "It is what this servant ought to do."
Xu Jinxin calculated in her mind, was there anything else she hadn't prepared?
On the other side, Duoduo had already finished the first painting.
Xu Jinxin took one look and instantly loved it.
"Duoduo, just draw it like this. It doesn't need to be too complicated; you just need to capture the spirit."
Xu Jinxin also felt bad for Duoduo. Drawing not only drained physical strength but also mental energy.
Duoduo nodded. She lowered her head and continued drawing.
A hundred sheets! There were still ninety-nine left.
On Song Shuyu's side, things were also progressing smoothly.
The maid who came to help was someone who frequently did embroidery.
She quickly traced the golden dragon pattern onto the fragrant cloud gauze.
Song Shuyu specifically checked it, and sure enough, it was drawn exactly as she had instructed—a golden dragon missing one claw.
The maid nimbly split the embroidery threads for Song Shuyu and gave her a rough explanation on how to embroider it.
It went in one ear and out the other for Song Shuyu. She waved her hand impatiently.
"Alright, I know. You can go now."
The maid bowed without hesitation and neatly packed up her things.
"Commandery Princess, please do not tell anyone that this servant was here."
"If the Princess Consort finds out that the Commandery Princess didn't do it all by herself, she and the others will definitely laugh at you."
Song Shuyu's eyes widened.
"Who says I didn't do it? Hurry up and leave! Don't even think about stealing my credit!"
The maid curtsied and slipped out through the window.
Song Shuyu and Chunxiao exchanged a glance, and Chunxiao muttered softly.
"There's a perfectly good door, yet she insisted on climbing out the window. Something's wrong with her."
Song Shuyu, however, was quite smug.
"Isn't this better? This way, no one will know she was ever here."
"By the way, do you know which courtyard she belongs to?"
Chunxiao thought for a moment and shook her head.
"This servant has never seen her. I thought you knew, Commandery Princess!"
Song Shuyu thought about it. "Forget it, never mind her!"
"Now, thread the needle for me. I'm going to start embroidering."
Song Shuyu ordered Chunxiao to thread the needle. Recalling what the maid had just said, she picked up the first strand of base color thread and began to embroider.
Song Shuyu had a little foundation in embroidery, so what she stitched looked somewhat decent.
However, the dragon pattern was inherently complex and difficult to embroider.
Therefore, after embroidering for only a short while, Song Shuyu felt dizzy and her vision blurred.
"I can't take it anymore! I need to lie down for a bit!" Song Shuyu threw the needle and thread aside.
Chunxiao quickly put down her work, went to fetch a cup of tea, and handed it to Song Shuyu.
Song Shuyu took a sip and spat it out.
"What kind of tea is this? It tastes awful! The butter tea from a few days ago was quite good. Go make some for me."
Chunxiao hesitated.
"Commandery Princess, this servant still needs to help you sort the threads."
These threads were taken out of the bag by the maid just now.
There were no extra threads, and golden threads were already quite scarce to begin with.
Chunxiao was worried that if they got tangled, there wouldn't be enough thread later, and there would be nowhere to buy more.
Song Shuyu glared at her.
"What? Do you dare disobey my orders now?"
"Aren't you afraid I'll have you beaten with boards and sold off?"
Hearing this, Chunxiao's face turned pale.
"This servant didn't mean that. I'll go right away!"
Chunxiao hurried out, and Song Shuyu felt satisfied.
She ran over to her bed and lay down flat on her back.
Lying flat and doing nothing was still the most comfortable lifestyle!
Why couldn't she just let it go? Why did she insist on embroidering a pouch?
Embroidering bamboo would have been perfectly fine. Why did she have to compete with Xiao Yunning and embroider a golden dragon?
She was exhausted to death!
Song Shuyu angrily punched the bed hard.
"Ouch!" Song Shuyu cried out in pain.
Song Shuyu remembered that when she went to pay her respects this morning, Xiao Yunning had already started embroidering her pattern.
No way!
She absolutely could not let Xiao Yunning outdo her!
Thinking of this, Song Shuyu gritted her teeth and sat back up.
She picked up the embroidery needle and forced herself to do a few more stitches.
It wasn't until Chunxiao came in carrying the butter tea that Song Shuyu put the needle down again.
"Commandery Princess, have you been embroidering this whole time?" Chunxiao was very surprised.
She looked at the partially embroidered pattern on the side with great astonishment.
"Wow! Commandery Princess, your embroidery is so beautiful!"
Song Shuyu was very proud. "But of course! My grandmother even praised my embroidery skills!"
"Grandmother? Do you mean the Noble Consort?" Chunxiao was a bit puzzled.
Song Shuyu pursed her lips. "Not that old hag!"
Chunxiao's face turned white with fright. She hastily waved her hands at Song Shuyu.
"Commandery Princess, please don't speak nonsense. Walls have ears!"
Song Shuyu had just blurted it out without thinking. Seeing how terrified Chunxiao was, she also felt a lingering fear.
"What are you afraid of? I didn't say anything..." Song Shuyu said stubbornly.
Chunxiao wished she could cover Song Shuyu's mouth.
"Commandery Princess, the Prince is very filial. If he hears you, you will definitely be punished!"
Song Shuyu thought of the temper Prince Ling had lost at her today. She shrank her neck and ultimately did not continue speaking.
Song Shuyu held the butter tea and finished it in small sips.
"I'm tired. I'm going to sleep for a bit before continuing. Don't touch my things."
After giving her bossy orders, Song Shuyu climbed into bed and closed her eyes.
Today, in order to get the embroidery pattern, she had woken up bright and early. She was dead tired.
