Re-embroidering life

Chapter 155 Year

The winter in Jiangnan was cold and damp, and the chill seemed to penetrate one's bones. Shen Xin's health deteriorated, and she caught a cold. Her cough echoed in the silent courtyard, like the most desolate movement of winter.

Her room was decorated warmly and elegantly, burning with the best silver charcoal, but the warmth in the room could not dispel the gloom on the sickbed. Her face was pale and swollen, and her fingers gently stroked her abdomen, which was swelling as her illness worsened.

On this day, Madam Shen finally came to visit her daughter, and brought two nieces with her. Madam Shen sat in front of Shen Xin's bed, tears rolling down her cheeks like beads from a broken string.

Shen Xin looked at Madam Shen, and finally a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes. She didn't have much time left, and being able to see her mother once would put her mind at ease.

Mrs. Shen cried and left, but her two nieces stayed. One had a round face, and the other had a pointed chin. They were both carefully selected by the family to participate in the embroidery competition. They stayed to take care of their seriously ill aunt and to learn embroidery from Shui Qinghua.

Shui Qinghua taught with all her heart. Shen Xin looked at Shui Qinghua with gratitude and apology in her eyes. She knew that Shui Qinghua had taken on the responsibility of supporting the Shen family on her behalf.

As the days passed, Shen Xin's condition worsened. Minister Ying was extremely worried. He heard that there was a famous doctor who was good at treating liver diseases 200 miles away, so he immediately sent someone to invite him. The day the famous doctor arrived was a winter night with wind and snow. Minister Ying got up in the middle of the night despite the severe cold and went to the dock to pick up the boat in person.

He had great hope in his heart, but after the famous doctor treated Shen Xin, he still shook his head and sighed. He told Minister Ying that the patient's condition was too serious and all he could do was to try to prolong her life.

From that day on, Minister Ying suddenly moved back to the Ying residence, which was separated from Shen Xin by a wall. He strictly followed etiquette and never set foot in Shen Xin's courtyard, but he never missed a day outside the door to ask about her well-being. Worried that the young girls could not take good care of Shen Xin, he even boiled medicine for her himself.

Every morning, before the first ray of sunlight penetrated the clouds, the aroma of medicine filled the cold air. Minister Ying carefully poured the decoction into a clay pot, carried it outside the courtyard, and handed it to Shen Xin's personal maid. Only after doing this could he go to work with peace of mind.

"Mr. Shen, do you have any wishes?" Minister Ying asked Shen Xin through the little girl.

Shen Xin leaned against the bed. She was unrecognizable, but her eyes were still bright. She answered softly, "I haven't finished recording my embroidery manual yet, and I haven't seen the embroidery school built yet. If I can complete these two tasks, I will die without regrets."

When Minister Ying heard the reply, he immediately found Shui Qinghua and asked to join the preparation for the establishment of the embroidery school. The people Shui Qinghua had transferred from the capital had already arrived in Jiangnan, and the site had been selected, and they were just waiting to enroll students. After all, Minister Ying was a court official, and his connections and reputation were incomparable to ordinary people. With his participation, the embroidery school could open within a month.

In addition, Minister Ying did something unexpected. He actually walked into the courtyard and even into Shen Xin's room!

The personal maid and two nieces were standing by Shen Xin's side, and a screen was drawn in the room.

The room of a patient with a long illness doesn't smell so good, but Minister Ying seemed to be unaware of it. His mind was completely immersed in Shen Xin's narration. He prepared a table and a stool outside the screen, spread out rice paper in front of him, and recorded Shen Xin's unfinished embroidery stroke by stroke. Shen Xin's voice was weak, and every word seemed to exhaust her whole body's strength. She was often interrupted by coughing and panting, but neither of them stopped or gave up. They knew that the most important thing now was time.

One day, Shui Qinghua came to visit Shen Xin. Shen Xin's embroidery pattern was about to be completed, and she was in a better mood and spirit. "Sister Shui, I know you are good at hair embroidery. Can you help me with these hairs? I need them."

As she spoke, she opened a wooden box, which contained a thick clump of hair that had fallen out since she became ill. She had collected all of it and put it in the box. Shui Qinghua looked at her increasingly thinning hair, and recalled her beautiful and plump black hair in the past. She couldn't help but feel sad and almost cried.

The severe winter finally passed, the snow melted, and new buds sprouted. In early spring, the embroidery school was built, and the four large gold-plated characters "Shen's Embroidery School" sparkled in the sun. The opening ceremony was very lively, and everyone hoped that this happy event would reverse Shen Xin's condition.

She could no longer get out of bed, her belly was as big as a basket, and she often felt excruciating pain in her abdomen. The only thing that could be vaguely seen in her was the calm smile on her lips when she was not in pain.

When the illness reached such a serious level, the two nieces dared not get close to him. The maidservant was too young to handle the situation alone. Minister Ying, who had always avoided suspicion, suddenly ignored everything and threw all ethics and etiquette aside. He did not ask anyone else to do anything. He often served her medicine at the bedside and personally prepared the daily menu. The fairy who amazed him when he first met her was gone, but the way he looked at her was the same as before.

It was Minister Ying's birthday in February. He was so busy taking care of Shen Xin and supervising the construction of coastal defense that he had forgotten about it. I don't know how Shen Xin knew about his birthday and gave him a gift.

This is an ordinary purse, with ordinary embroidery and ordinary patterns. The only unusual thing is that she used not silk thread, but black silk. Under the pattern, there is a line of small words embroidered: "May you live a hundred years, be humble for a hundred years, and embroidery for a hundred years."

The beautiful hairpin-shaped small calligraphy was written by Minister Ying. I don't know how many times Shen Xin flipped through the book "Shen's Poetry Reading Book" to put together these thirteen words; I don't know how she embroidered such a purse behind Minister Ying's back in her sick and frail condition.

Qianting was the pavilion he built specifically for her. That was the only connection between them.

She used her own hair to embroider his words, and this was all the response she could give him in this life.

***

Shen Xin passed away one day in March.

It was the time when grass and trees were flourishing on earth, but she had already passed away at the age of 31.

Minister Ying, contrary to his usual gentle demeanor, took over the right to handle Shen Xin's funeral in an extremely forceful manner, and even did not allow Ji Zimo and Shui Qinghua to interfere.

Shen Xin left a will, saying that she had cut off all ties with Yu Hui, and that her body would never be buried in the Yu family's ancestral tomb, and that the Shen family would never accept a married woman.

Minister Ying found a Feng Shui treasure land for her in Linhai County, which was close to the mountains and rivers and opposite Qianting. On the tombstone, Minister Ying wrote the nine characters "Tomb of Embroidery Craftsman Shen Xin" by hand, and the signature was only two characters, Yingzhou. It was Minister Ying's name.

Two unrelated names are engraved on the same tombstone. Passersby shook their heads in confusion after seeing them.

Minister Ying burned the printed "Shen Xin Embroidery Book" in front of her grave.

When they sailed to the south of the Yangtze River together, it was also March, with grass growing and birds flying. He fell in love with her the first time he saw her. Over the years, he witnessed her pursuit of embroidery, her amazing talent, her broad-mindedness in compiling embroidery manuals and passing them on to the world, and her open-mindedness and courage in facing life and death. The more he understood her, the deeper he fell in love with her.

I return your pearl with tears in my eyes, regretting that we did not meet before she got married. If there is an afterlife, he must act faster and meet her before she got married.