Xie Xuanchen said to invite the people from the clothing store to the palace. As soon as it was noon, the maid came to report that they were already waiting outside.
Mu Mingtang went to take a small nap, and she nodded without thinking much. As she was at her own home, Mu Mingtang didn’t bother to change into the clothes she used to meet guests and walked directly to Qing Xin Hall.
Xie Xuanchen’s manor occupied a large area of the palace, divided into three parts: left, middle and right. Although it wasn’t neatly divided like a grid, the hierarchy was very strict, the regulations at the palace were also very strict. The middle road follows a straight line and is the core in terms of power in the manor. The middle road is bounded by the auditorium, which is divided into the front and back sleeping quarters, the front gate, the ritual gate, the bell tower, and the auditorium, all of which are the places of great ceremonies. Qing Xin Hall, Yu Lin Hall and Jing De Hall, which were behind the auditorium, were the places where the masters lived.
Undoubtedly, the buildings in the middle could only be lived in by the wife. Yu Lin Hall was the main hall where Xie Xuanchen and Mu Mingtang lived. It has seven rooms and three floors, which is very spacious. Aside from the middle part, the buildings in other places were not strictly distributed in a straight line. To the west of the middle axis, there were many courtyards, halls, martial arts grounds, weapons fields, and horse stables. The east road is a place purely for fun. Gardens, pools, lakes to swim in, everything was there, and all kinds of exquisite lofts were built according to the situation back then, just like the gardens in the south of the Yang Tze River.
Since Xie Xuanchen fell ill, the martial arts field and studies on the West Road have been abandoned for a long time, and even the gardens on the east side have been deserted due to lack of maintenance. However, the only owners of the manor were Mu Mingtang and Xie Xuanchen. They didn’t need such a large space, so for a while, Mu Mingtang really couldn’t spare time to maintain these two spaces
Today the daughter-in-laws from the clothing store came to show her the fabrics. As they weren’t guests, Mu Mingtang didn’t use the hall they normally used to welcome guests, and she also didn’t want them to disturb Xie Xuanchen, so she asked them to wait in Qing Xin Hall’s side hall.
Mu Mingtang originally expected it to be like the time at Mrs. Jiang’s when she asked someone to come make her some clothes. Mu Mingtang had seen this happen many times in the Xiangyang’s and Jiang’s. The hostess didn’t want to head out, so she called her familiar tailor to come. The shopkeeper’s wife came in and tailor-made an outfit for the rich lady. Mu Mingtang thought it was the same this time. After she sat down, she said to the maid: “Okay, please enter.”
The maid responded, then clapped her hands and said: “The princess is here, let the first group enter.”
Mu Mingtang was a little startled, the first group? At this time, the maid had led a few people in through the side door. Everyone was holding a booklet in their hands. They saw Mu Mingtang, and smiled as they said, “Greetings to Princess An.”
They were only ordinary business owners, so they were not as good as the maids in the palace in terms of their manners, and their greetings were untidy. Mu Mingtang was a little stunned. She glanced roughly and felt that there were about seven or eight women in this row, and each of them had a small sign with 1 engraved on it.
Mu Mingtang, a countryside girl, was shocked. She thought that inviting someone to make her clothes was just to ask for one or two tailors to come in. Did Xie Xuanchen invite the whole street?
No wonder when he said that in the morning, he only mentioned Caomen Street, but did not say which shop on the street. Mu Mingtang was still puzzled when she heard it. Xie Xuanchen’s words were so unclear. How did the maid know which one to invite?
It turns out that there is no need to know.
Mu Mingtang turned to ask the maid: “How many groups are there?”
“Aunt Xiang had organized eight groups for auspicious reasons.” The maid observed her words and expressions, and said, “If you find it too troublesome, just send them back. It’s up to you.”
Mu Mingtang clearly felt that the group of women below were nervous. They seemed to feel pity, and also fortunate that they were the first group. Mu Mingtang shook her head, filled with a sense of trance from a country girl, first time experiencing such a thing: “There’s no need for that. Let them take the things out.”
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