Twenty-four hours pants

  "Ah Yan," Liu Ying asked Zhang Yan after entering Chang'an City from Xuanping Gate, "Do you want me to send you to your father's place or follow me back to Changle Palace?"

  Zhang Yan thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Father's mansion is not yet fully repaired, and it would be quite troublesome for him to arrange accommodations for me. I'd better go back to Grandma's place instead, I miss Mother."

  "Is it?" Liu Ying smiled leisurely and said, "Aren't you afraid that your father will scold you for running away secretly?"

  "Uncle," Zhang Yan said irritably, "where is he?"

  The horse-drawn carriage passed through Zhangtai Street and arrived at the entrance of the palace, where Qing Song and Lv's family guards bid farewell and returned to the Lv Mansion to report. Liu Ying then entered the outer mansion to bathe and change clothes, and changed into a palace carriage before entering the North Gate of Chang Le Palace.

  Lu Yuan received the news and had been waiting at the entrance of the Pepper Chamber, watching as her daughter hastily jumped out of the palace carriage. "You still know how to come back?" she scolded with a stern face.

  This time she must teach Ah Yan a lesson, she gritted her teeth and thought to herself, if she always acts so recklessly, one of these days she'll scare herself into getting sick.

  "Mom," the little girl seemed to be completely unaware of her own facial expression, laughing wholeheartedly as if the sun in the sky would lose its luster under her smile. She ran towards me with a big smile, her soft body lightly stretching out her arms to hug me, and then rubbed against me, feeling at ease before calling out again, "Mom."

  Lu Yuan was taken aback for a moment, and his face involuntarily softened.

  Although she wasn't very clear about what had happened to her daughter, the intuition and maternal care from a woman made her feel keenly that this little girl was somehow different. Her smile was genuinely bright and clear, while her calls were full of affection and attachment.

  Lu Yuan likes this change.

  She hugged Zhang Yan tightly and pretended to scold her, "This time I'll let it go, but if there's a next time, see how mother will deal with you."

  "Little brother," she said with a smile to Liu Ying, "Ah Yan is being unreasonable and has caused you trouble."

  "No," Liu Ying smiled and pursed her lips, "She's very clever, and it turns out she also helped me."

  On the second day, Zhang Yan accompanied her mother to the main hall to have dinner with Lü Yu. After entering the hall, she saw Lü Yu sitting at the top, with Lü Yi sitting beside her on the left. Not having seen him for some days, Lü Yi seemed to have lost a bit more weight, wearing a lake-green silk robe with cloud patterns, smiling brightly.

  On the right hand side sat a middle-aged woman, slightly younger than Lü Zhi, with sharp and capable eyebrows and eyes, somewhat similar to Lü Zhi.

  "Hey," Lv Cuifeng raised an eyebrow and frowned, "haven't seen you for days, still know how to come back."

  Zhang Yan was speechless, really worthy of being a mother and daughter, even the opening remarks were the same. "Auntie," she giggled and ran to Lü Yu's front, leaning on her, "I missed you when I was outside."

  "Is that so?" Lü Cuī replied faintly, but her eyebrows and eyes gradually softened. She smiled at the woman beside her, "This child is a spirit."

  The woman smiled and said, "The elf is quite good, also a good one from Manhua School."

  "Auntie." Lu Yuan slightly bowed his head and said from below.

  This middle-aged woman was Lü Zhi's own sister, and the wife of Fan Kuai, Marquis of Wuyang, Lü Yu.

  "I don't think so," Fan Jiong said, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he followed Liu Ying into the palace. His skin was slightly darker than usual, but a bright smile revealed a set of white teeth. "This girl seems more lively than my cousin, who is indeed very good, but a bit too reserved."

  Lü Cuī and Lü Jiāo both laughed, Lü Jiāo pointed at the black-clad young man and said to Zhang Yuān, "ā Yuān, this is my son, born to be a lazy monkey. If you're used to seeing him, just call him Taboo Uncle; if not, then just call him Fán Hóu Zi."

  Zhang Yan burst out laughing, thinking of the time she met Wang Yang Hou Fan Kuai. Fan Kuai was from a humble background as a butcher's son, but after going through many battles, he became one of the nobles in the early Han dynasty. However, he still couldn't shake off his rustic demeanor, with a thick beard and a face like a pot bottom. In some ways, Zhang Yan thought Fan Kuai was quite similar to her father. She obediently called out "Uncle".

  Fan Qianman received it nonchalantly and after a while, taking advantage of everyone's inattention, suddenly made a ghostly face at her.

  Zhang Yan's eyes widened in disbelief, and then she started to sulk. She slowly looked around the canopy of the Peony Pavilion, where the sweet scent of incense lingered, and the vermilion pillars supported the high eaves of the roof. The Qin and Han palaces were always solemn and majestic, and after living inside for a long time, people also became elegant and refined.

  From now on, she really has to take this place as her home.

  Yong Xiang ordered Zhang Ze to take the mulberry silk from the silkworm room and send it back to Zhang Yan's bedroom. In just a few days, the plump little maid had become haggard, embracing Zhang Yan and crying and laughing at the same time, saying "Master, you almost scared me to death."

  Zhang Yan glanced at the thin callus on her hand and felt apologetic, raising her hand to guarantee, "I won't dare again in the future."

  She wiped away her tears and looked at him expectantly, "Really?"

  "Really."

  The warm water massaged her skin, washing away the wind and dust of the past few days as well as her fatigue. Zhang Yan let out a comfortable sigh as she stood up from the bathtub, took the towel that was hanging on the side and wiped her body dry.

  "Master," said Tongyu, holding up her clothes as she was about to enter and attend to him.

  "Don't come in," Zhang Yan hastily shouted, unable to get used to having someone attend to her even at such a private moment as bathing, no matter if that person was her personal maid, Tong Mei.

  "Alright, alright, I won't look then." Tong Hua was amused by her and closed her eyes, putting the heart clothes and Zen clothes on the clothes rack, sighing, "The young master has grown up."

  There's something on your mind.

  Zhang Yan pursed her lips, quickly put on her clothes, the preheated clothes wouldn't chill her to the bone. She tied up her belt and walked out from behind the screen, shaking open her damp hair.

  "Old Master," Orchid smiled and said, "I heard that recently in the capital city, there's a popular 'Hundred Flowers Cream' that's very good for moisturizing hair. The other day, Her Majesty the Empress sent some over through someone, would you like to try it?"

  "What's Baifa Gao?" Zhang Yan asked curiously while using another towel to wipe her hair.

  "Hmm." The old woman nodded, "It's said that this ointment is made by mixing various fragrances and simmering them in oil to make hair smooth. Master Zhang's hair..." She glanced at Zhang Yan, speaking carefully, "isn't very good, applying this might actually work?"

  Zhang Yan said, "You bring it up and try."

  Ling nodded, turned around and took out a box of balm, Zhang Yan smelled it, and indeed it was the fragrance of flowers. "Help me apply some."

  Ling Xuan happily nodded, rubbed a handful in the palm of her hand and slowly applied it to Zhang Yan's hair. "This isn't important," Zhang Yan suddenly said, "Ling Xuan, do you know who makes the clothes I wear every day?"

  "Master Weng, why are you suddenly asking this," asked Mu Jin curiously. "In the past, when we were in Zhao's territory, it was all done by the weaving girls in the mansion. There was a person named Hua Jin whose hands were very skilled. When the several concubines of the Marquis sought her to make clothes for them, she dared to refuse, but only the Princess and Master Weng's clothes were always made by her personally. After entering the palace, it was served by the imperial weaving department. I heard that there is a weaving room in Chang Le Palace, probably done by someone from there."

  "Hmm." The fragrance of flowers wafted out from her hair, and Zhang Yan slightly furrowed her brow, not particularly fond of such a strong scent. "Tomorrow, you go find Manager Zhan and have him send over a weaver to see me. It doesn't need to be the best one, just someone with decent skills will do."

  "Agreed."

  Fifteen candles were lit on the bronze lampstand, and Zhang Yan was drying her hair while copying books under the candlelight. The habits she had accumulated from her past life were not all good, such as her calligraphy skills being deeply rooted in hard pen writing, no matter how hard she practiced, she couldn't write beautiful brush script. Although silk was soft, she was used to paper and didn't have the patience for the easily wrinkled silk.

  Zhang Yan sighed, copied half a time of "Chu Ci", put down the pen, and yawned, feeling sleepy.

  On the second day, Tu Jin helped Zhang Yan in front of the mirror to comb her hair and said with a smile, "This Ba Hua Gao is really useful, it's not in vain that it's so expensive. Master Weng's hair is indeed much smoother when combed."

  Zhang Yan smiled slightly, but didn't take it seriously.

  After noon, a palace maid came to report that Weaving Room An Weaving Girl sought an audience. Zhang Yan put down the brush in her hand, walked out from behind the screen, and saw the blue-clad Weaving Girl below the steps.

  An Zhinu curtsied and said, "I've seen Mistress Zhang."

  Zhang Yan nodded and said, "I didn't look for you for anything else, I wanted to ask you to sew a few pants for me."

  These pants had been a thorn in her heart for a long time. Since she had decided to live well in this era, she must get rid of them. Originally, it would have been more stable to wait until returning home to the Hou Mansion and ask the seamstress to do it, but unfortunately, for her, wearing open-crotch pants every day was like having a fishbone stuck in her throat, making her feel uncomfortable and anxious, so she had to take swift action.

  "Skirt?" An Zhinang asked in confusion, "What did you say, daughter?"

  "No, at least not entirely." Zhang Yan drew a diagram, "To be precise, you can call it 'Ji'."

  "What?" An Zhiniang became even more perplexed.

  "Uh-huh," Zhang Yan nodded, turned around and picked up a piece of yellow satin brocade that had been prepared early on, pointing to the opening of the crotch, "You add another piece of fabric here, wrap it around like this, oh, and make a waistband, that's a monk's pants."

  "Miss," Anzhi thought for a moment, shaking her head and said, "We weaving girls make clothes, all are orders from the various palaces' princesses that have been passed down through Zhan Shi Shu Fu, we don't accept private work on the side."

  Zhang Yan smiled and said, "Do you think you're standing here now, who called you?"

  An Zhiniang was momentarily speechless, then gritted her teeth and made up her mind, saying, "It's not that I'm unwilling to serve you, mistress, but I can't."

  "Oh?" Zhang Yan asked with a hint of a smile.

  "Since ancient times," An Weiniang said solemnly, "these clothes have never had this piece of cloth on the bottom. Those with this piece of cloth are all barbarians. Although I am not talented, I would not stoop to wearing the clothing of these barbarians."

  Zhang Yan sneered for a while, then threw down the silk handkerchief in her hand. "This world originally didn't have an emperor with the surname Liu. Are you saying that my imperial grandfather was a treacherous minister and a usurper?"

  An Zhinu was greatly shocked, and the blood color on her face suddenly disappeared. She hurriedly said, "I absolutely did not mean to do this." She repeatedly knocked her head and bowed again.

  "Master Weng," Tong Hua's heart was racing with fear and doubt, "I didn't know you were so formidable before?"

  Zhang Yan looked at An Zhuang's flustered back as she retreated, and smiled, saying, "This is one time, that is another. In this world, there are always some people who look down on others when they are weak, but become arrogant when they gain power." However, this matter can only happen once, and she secretly warned herself in her heart that the previous days had been too revealing, and it would be better to remain low-key from now on.

  In a daze, I couldn't quite make out what was being said. Looking at my wife again, she had already returned to her usual innocent smile, as if she didn't understand anything, like a naive little girl.

  "Come on, have another cup of wine, and after getting drunk, will you have a pink ticket?"