Reborn as a Landlord-Chapter 1403 - 715: Gifts (2)

With the right lining material, the choice of quilt tops became much richer. The Great Ming Dynasty was famous for its silk and satin, and the finest ones were always intricately woven.

The current Emperor’s birthday was in mid-October, but as the journey from Liaodong Prefecture to the Capital City was long, Shen Jin had to set out at the end of September. As Shen Jin’s departure for the capital approached, Lian Manman’s gift was finally ready.

During this period, Lian Shouxin made another trip back to Thirty Mile Camp and transported a large quantity of this year’s finest wine to the Prefecture City. Part of it had been pre-ordered by the Shen Family long ago. This year, in order to attend the celebration in the capital, the amount of wine ordered by the Shen Family increased by 30% over the usual allocation. The rest of the wine was placed in the shop that Lian Manman’s family had just taken over for sale.

Besides the wine, Lian Shouxin also brought a large amount of other local products, including lotus seeds, lotus roots, water caltrop rice, and gorgon fruit from the Lotus Pond. These were also put in the shop for sale.

On this day, the family sent a note early and headed to the Shen Mansion.

Lian Shouxin escorted several carts full of wine into the Shen Mansion, where Steward Zhong received them, and then he was asked to help. Mr. Loo was also invited to discuss matters with Shen Liu’s aide. Wu Lang, Lian Manman, and Xiao Qi were again taken upstairs to the Phoenix Tower.

It was the same room on the second floor. This time, present were Shen Liu, Shen Jin, and Shen Qian.

In this trip to the capital, besides Shen Liu escorting Shen Jin, Shen Qian was also to be taken along. This was only natural, as the three siblings were the closest in the Shen family. Now that Shen Jin was going to the palace, his two brothers naturally had to accompany him.

After entering the room and exchanging greetings, Lian Manman had her gift for Shen Jin brought up. She gave Shen Jin not just a down quilt, but two complete bedding sets.

One set was in red brocade with the design of a dragon and phoenix bringing prosperity, and the other was in pink brocade with Wan character patterns. Both included a quilt, mattress, and pillow.

"...Sister, the filling inside is the duck feathers I mentioned to you. See how it’s both light and soft, yet warmer than thick cotton," Lian Manman said smilingly to Shen Jin. "I heard the capital is somewhat warmer than here, but not by much. Sister, take good care of yourself once you’re there." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Regarding the duck feathers, Lian Manman had mentioned them numerous times in front of Shen Jin in the past few days.

Shen Jin had the items brought closer, examined them carefully, and then reached out to touch them before nodding with a smile.

"Indeed, they are light and soft," Shen Jin remarked with a smile. In this era, garments made from feathers were quite rare, and those that did exist had feathers on the outside, unlike what Lian Manman had given, where the feathers were filled inside.

The item given was secondary; what truly mattered was the intention behind it.

Seeing Shen Jin’s delight, Lian Manman was naturally also pleased. She then had a tray brought up, on which lay eighteen embroidered pouches of various silk patterns.

"...These are the ones I embroidered; please don’t laugh, Sister. This was embroidered by my elder sister... this by my mother... this by my Sister Caiyun..." Besides the two bedding sets, Lian Manman had also organized for family members to embroider these pouches for Shen Jin. Lian Manman pointed at each pouch and told Shen Jin who had embroidered them.

Besides herself, Lady Zhang, Lian Zhizhi, Zhang Caiyun, Lian Yeye, and Wu Jiayu, there were also two pouches embroidered by Lady Li. Except for Lady Li, Shen Jin had met all these people while in Nian Garden. Lian Manman, fearing she might forget, explained as she spoke.

"I remember them all," Shen Jin replied with a smile.

"With their coarse stitching, they are for you to gift later," Lian Manman said. The most exquisite pouches were those embroidered by Lady Li, Lady Zhang, and Lian Zhizhi. Fortunately, she was not the last, only on par with Wu Jiayu, while Zhang Caiyun and Lian Yeye were ranked after her.

For this reason, Lian Manman had been secretly pleased with herself.

Shen Qian, noticing Lian Manman gifting such items to Shen Jin, especially the hand-stitched pouches, dragged Xiao Qi over from their seats to join in.

"...As for the duck feather quilt, Xiao Qi has mentioned it to me too," Shen Qian said, casting a sidelong glance at Lian Manman. That glance was clearly a silent accusation, accusing Lian Manman of favoring one over the other, as she hadn’t given him any of such fresh items. He then turned his attention to the pouches, picking one up for a closer look.

"Manman, did you embroider this? It’s very pretty," Shen Qian said, reluctant to put the pouch down.

Shen Liu remained silent at the head of the table, but his gaze shifted over.

With so many eyes watching, even if Shen Qian wanted to secretly keep one of the pouches, he didn’t have the courage. Since these were part of Shen Jin’s dowry, he didn’t feel right asking for them. Feeling Shen Liu’s watchful eyes, he quickly returned to his seat with Xiao Qi.

"It’s getting colder, but time is tight, and there are not many duck feathers," Lian Manman smiled as she said, "Besides the quilts for Sister, I’ve also prepared two down quilts, one for the Sixth Master and another for Brother Xiao Jiu."

As Lian Manman spoke, she waved for Xiao Xi and Xiao Qing to come in. Each girl held a duck feather quilt in her hands.

The quilt for Shen Liu had a light blue cloud-patterned silk with Treasure-like Flowers, while the one for Shen Qian was in a sapphire blue brocade with flowering osmanthus.

Since only the highest quality white duck feathers were used, the quantity was quite limited. Aside from a quilt Lian Manman made for her family to try, the rest of the finished products were all given to the Shen siblings.

Seeing that Lian Manman hadn’t forgotten about his share, Shen Qian’s eyes twinkled with delight, while Shen Liu’s expression remained unchanged, though his lips slightly curved upwards.

PS Another Chapter coming later. Please support with votes. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation.)