Greetings, Ninth Uncle

Ch. 38 - Opinion

A bright light suddenly burst from Cheng Yujin's eyes. The corner of her eyes subconsciously bend. It was as if a starry sky fell into her eyes: bright and dazzling. For a moment, Cheng Yuanjing was stunned. He remembered at the gathering after the last banquet, Cheng Yujin paid special attention to Xu Zhixian's food and beverages. The tea and pastries for Huo Changyuan and the others were prepared in batches. Only Xu Zhixian's portion was clearly made separately and also with greater care. Although Cheng Yuanjing's portion wasn't part of the common batch, he didn't get any special treatment either. This time, he finally tasted the things Cheng Yujin personally prepared according to his preference.

Cheng Yuanjing couldn't describe his current emotion well. But his expression softened visibly, and a slight smile appeared in his eyes. Cheng Yujin personally poured a cup of tea for Cheng Yuanjing and put it next to him. She then stood with a smile: "Ninth Uncle, many things have to be tabooed during the mourning period. Last time, I saw the pouch where you put your official seal is golden colored. Now that we have to mourn for grandfather, it has to be changed into a plainer one. I know that Ninth Uncle is in charge of half of grandfather's funeral arrangements. I think you may not have the time to mind this kind of trivial matter, so I took the liberty to prepare a new seal pouch for you."

Cheng Yujin put a pouch on the table and smiled: "My needlework is still clumsy. I hope Ninth Uncle won't dislike."

Cheng Yuanjing saw Cheng Yujin take out an embroidered pouch, and his eyes moved. He reached out to take the pouch and examined it closely. Although made from white cloth, its edges were embroidered with an auspicious cloud motif using silver thread. The embroideries in the middle were of pale blue and purple floral medallion motif. The embroidery wasn't visible from afar, but looking up close, one could see how the light shone on every stitch. Dark and light intertwined, and each petal was embroidered extremely exquisite. Both sides of the ribbon used to tie the pouch were embedded with white jade, beautiful and elegant.

Cheng Yuanjing touched the pouch's inner side with his fingers, and sure enough, it was a double-sided embroidery. The pouch was decorated in and out with lavish gold and silver thread, but the motif was cleverly toned down, and even the inner side that wasn't visible from the outside was embroidered using a double-sided technique. It was a real luxury.

The real wealthy wouldn't feel the need to show off their wealth. From a distance, it was just a very plain white pouch. Only by looking closely one could see its exquisiteness. Although this pouch was small, its degree of quality wasn't lose to the embroidered screen being presented to the Emperor last time. As soon as he saw the pouch, Cheng Yuanjing liked it.

Cheng Yuanjing didn't have any particular fondness of worldly objects, but beautiful things naturally attracted people's attention, and he wasn't an exclusion. Cheng Yuanjing also liked the double-sided embroidery Cheng Yujin made last time, but it was given away as the Emperor's longevity gift. Now Cheng Yujin gave him another one, and even specially tailored it to his preference.

Cheng Yuanjing glanced at Cheng Yujin. This girl was young but already so capable of currying favor with others. However, Cheng Yuanjing was indeed pleased by this gift.

Cheng Yuanjing put down the pouch and asked, "Gifting this to me, what is your purpose?"

Cheng Yujin smiled, "Ninth Uncle worked hard for grandfather's funeral. As Cheng family's eldest daughter, I cannot share your burden, and is very sorry for it. Although I'm unable to help, I know a little about making pastries and embroidery, so I used my clumsy skill to help Ninth Uncle relax."

Cheng Yujin did not say clearly, but both of them understood the implied meaning. Cheng Yuanxian and Cheng Yuanhan were both low-ranked officials and were careless and sloppy, so the majority of the funeral responsibility fell on Cheng Yuanjing. In fact, he wasn't a real member of Cheng family, and it shouldn't be his duty to take care of Old Master Cheng's funeral.