I really don't want to take shortcuts anymore

Chapter 515: Can Only Be Considered a Craftsman's Work
Guan Yuan'er was humble and elegant when facing Princess Changzhou and Yu He, but after turning to Luo Qianhuai, she changed her attitude: her back was straight, her eyes shot straight at him, and she said she was asking for advice, but in fact it was a provocation.

To be honest, Luo Qianhuai was extremely impressed by her ability to embroider the complex round flower pattern in such a short time.

If she was as polite and kind as those young ladies just now, then she would naturally reciprocate.

But since the other party has drawn his sword first, Luo Qianhuai must take it.

Because she is different today than she was before, there is nothing she cannot do for papermaking.

Although Dayu would naturally be able to make paper in a few decades or hundreds of years, it would still take a long time for it to appear, become skilled, and then be promoted throughout the country.

The system must provide mature and popularizable technologies, so there is no need to seek far-flung ones instead of near ones.

When Luo Qianhuai thought that with paper, the medical books he recorded could be spread throughout the world, his heart was filled with fighting spirit.

Her eyes swept lightly over the embroidery presented to her by the maid, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

The embroidery of Dayu was similar to that of the Han Dynasty in the past. The most common patterns were Chengyun embroidery, Xinqi embroidery, Changshou embroidery and Cornus embroidery. The needlework used was also relatively monotonous, the main one being lock embroidery, which is made by locking the embroidery thread in circles. The embroidery effect resembles a chain, hence the name.

The coloring is also extremely simple, and often an embroidery piece has no more than ten colors. Compared with later Suzhou embroidery, which has at least a hundred and up to thousands of colors, it is much more simple and rustic.

This also gave Luo Qianhuai the opportunity and space to make use of the topic.

"As the princess just said, Madam Guan was able to complete such a work in such a short time, which shows that she really worked hard on it. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and Madam Guan deserves it."

Between the lines, she only praised Guan Yuaner's efforts, but did not mention a word about the quality of the embroidery itself.

Guan Yuan'er didn't want to let her get away with it like this.

"Madam, since you are a master of music, you must be good at needlework. I feel that my embroidery skills have reached a bottleneck, and I am eager to find an expert to teach me how to improve. Unfortunately, I have searched all the famous artists in Xijing, but I have not found anyone with knowledge. Fortunately, I met you today. I am really seeking your advice, and I hope you can give me guidance like you just gave to the other ladies. If I can make progress in the future, I will never forget your kindness."

According to Guan Yuan'er's original intention, she wanted to use these words to praise Luo Qianhuai highly. If she couldn't explain herself clearly later, or her words were irrelevant, then she could naturally expose her false appearance and step on her and the six ladies who had returned empty-handed before to achieve her own reputation.

Her idea was very good, but Luo Qianhuai felt even better.

It's rare to meet such knowledgeable and interesting people who build a high and stable step for you so that you can easily walk up it without any effort.

Luo Qianhuai showed a kind expression on his face, and his tone was as gentle as possible:
"There are some things I wanted to say to Madam Guan behind other people's backs, but since you are eager to learn and have such an open mind, I have no choice but to tell you the truth while admiring you."

She signaled the maid to unfold the embroidery and show it to the young ladies present one by one, and then she said leisurely:
"For a good embroidery, needlework, color, pattern and overall effect are all very important. The pattern of the Baoxiang flower embroidered by Madam Guan is nothing novel. The needlework from beginning to end is only lockstitch. The colors are also very monotonous, with only five colors. The silk thread used is too thick and has not been separated at all. Therefore, the finished embroidery is dull and not lively. In my eyes, it is just a work of craftsmanship, not a masterpiece at all." She paused to give the others time to digest the work.

Guan Yuan'er really didn't expect that Luo Qianhuai actually knew something about embroidery. Everything he said was true, but in fact, everything was wrong!

Bao Xianghua's embroidery pattern was indeed passed down from generation to generation, and was widely circulated not only in the palace but also among the people. She had indeed never thought of making any changes, but what was wrong with that? Speaking of embroidery, everyone used the lock stitch method. At least, neither her master nor other embroiderers mentioned that there were other stitches. How dare Madam Jing speak nonsense here?
Speaking of coloring, it's just a Baoxiang flower, but using five colors is already a lot. Too many colors will easily make it mixed and lose its elegance. This kind of color matching is indeed not something that people born in the countryside can understand. Just based on this point, it is confirmed that she is pretending to know something. Later, she mentioned something about silk separation and the agility of the finished product. The purpose is to confuse the audience and cover up her nature of pretending to know something!

Thinking of this, Guan Yuan'er suddenly became enlightened. She recalled Luo Qianhuai's comments on the melody just now. He talked about the artistic conception and never mentioned the lack of fingering skills. He didn't mention Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu. This shows that she is just making up a lot of excuses to cover up the fact that she can't play the piano at all!

The more Guan Yuan'er thought about it, the clearer her eyes became, and her previously gloomy face gradually softened.

This scene, in the eyes of other people around, had a different understanding.

After all, just now, whether it was Tong Lianniang or Yan Ruier, the changes in their expressions before and after listening to Madam Xianghou's teachings were similar.

At the moment, the other young ladies present began to whisper:

"It turns out that the Marquis is not only good at music, but also proficient in needlework!"

"No wonder His Majesty chose her to be the wife of Marquis Xiang!"

"It's ridiculous that we were all frogs in the well before, and we actually followed those ignorant people to spread rumors. Now I think it was really wrong!"

"Am I the only one who is so ignorant that I have never heard of other embroidery techniques?"

"I am only average at sewing, but seeing that even a conceited person like Madam Guan has no objection, I think Madam Hou's words must be good."

Not only them, but also Princess Changzhou who was sitting at the top was full of doubts.

She looked at Luo Qianhuai, who looked calm, and said with a smile:

"What Madam just said is the first time I have heard of it. It is very eclectic and really enlightening. I wonder which master did Madam learn embroidery from? Is there any good work handed down from generation to generation? Can we appreciate a few?"

She was not cunning and said whatever came to her mind. She had no intention of targeting Luo Qianhuai, but when Guan Yuaner heard this, she thought that she had seen through the other person's true face just like herself, so she helped her to press on step by step.

Guan Yuan'er's eyes lit up and she bowed slightly to Princess Changzhou, but received only a puzzled glance from her.