When Ruan Zhu woke, one sichen had already passed. Yun Shi Wei was not present. There was only Yun Shi Yi, who still held her in his arms. Seeing her awake, he exposed a knowing smile and instructed the servants to bring water for her to wash her face with while he personally attended to her.
Ruan Zhu sprayed herself with a dipterocarp[a] fragrance, used toothpaste made from frankincense[b] and salt to brush her teeth, and applied a layer of tuckahoe[c] cream to her cheeks.
Like last time, Yun Shi Yi helped comb her hair into a zhuimaji and inserted a unique gold buyao. Coupled with the exquisite face, bright eyes and white teeth, willow-like eyebrows, and a countenance like a Confederate rose, it caused even the winter jasmine in the courtyard to lose their color.
Due to the weather in March being a little hotter, she wore a milky white chest band and matching trousers as inner clothes. Her outer clothing consisted of a pale rose-colored soft smoke gauze long skirt with conjoined sleeves embroidered with a hundred delicate butterflies.
“This piece of soft smoke gauze came from Mother’s trustor, who paid a large price to have it sent from Jiangnan Province’s weaving workshop. Reportedly, soft smoke gauze is a tribute to the imperial family so it is extremely hard to find in the market. For most families, even if they spent a great deal of money, they still might not be able to buy half a bolt of this material. Mother only obtained two bolts and made two skirts from them. This one is for you. Other people are not even qualified to touch it.”
“Mother is indeed benevolent.” Ruan Zhu felt grateful from the bottom of her heart. In her previous world, she had lost her mother early and was estranged from her father. Her relatives treated her coolly for the most part. Since childhood, she had constantly experienced the hypocrisy of the world. Every time she had witnessed other children her own age being led by their parents to go shopping or to go eat, she had felt incessantly envious.
With the help of Yun Shi Yi, she was finally ready. Looking at herself in the mirror, she slowly walked back and forth for a while and felt that she had a refined appearance with an elegant and pure air about her. She was really quite pleased with her current self.
Ruan Zhu had read 《Dream of the Red Chamber》 before so knew about the properties of soft smoke gauze. It has a vivid color and a soft, delicate texture. From afar, it looks just like smoke, which is why it is called ‘soft smoke gauze’. This sort of pale rose color is also known as ‘sunset reflection muslin’. In the fortieth chapter, when Matriarch Jia let Sister Feng take out the soft smoke gauze from the cabinet, even Aunt Xue and Sister Feng were in awe and exclaimed that they had never seen such an exquisite fabric before. However, Matriarch Jia had said it would not be suitable to be made into clothes but instead would be good for a window screen.[d]
That was because the soft smoke gauze was too transparent. A female wearing it would expose the outline of her figure, showing off unspeakable temptation. Using her previous world’s language, it would be called ‘see-through clothing’. If Little Sister Lin and Elder Sister Bao were to wear this, she estimated that they would not be able to marry in their lifetime.[e]
Tian Chu’s customs were more relaxed than China’s historical Tang dynasty. The clothing that a woman wore revealed the trends of the current time and also was a type of cultural reflection.
“My family’s wife is the best.” Yun Shi Yi was stunned by the sight before him and rained down kiss after kiss on her head. Picking up a silk circular fan embroidered with flora, he placed it in her little hand while reciting: “Golden embroidery hides its affections, yet not of the South’s skilled weave. Snow ray wisps wind across the slippery handle, silver bamboo spread to reveal gentle flowers.”
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Husbands Seeking Love
Romance[C O M P L E T E] The day she transmigrated it, she was already the wife of two men. She later became the Queen of the country. Her life has been cherished by seven men.
