Chapter 222: Chapter 222: Yunniang’s Calculation
222 Yunniang’s Calculation
At this time, Zhao Zhitong was squatting nearby, watching the two. After Yunniang finished her instruction, Zhao Zhitong whispered a reminder to Zhao Ya, "Sister Yaya, quickly thank your Master for her guidance!"
Zhao Ya was taken aback for a moment, then promptly knelt and kowtowed three times towards Yunniang. "Thank you, Master, for your guidance!"
Yunniang froze on the spot, annoyed with herself for not being able to resist instructing Zhao Ya. However, she quickly let it go.
Zhao Ya was indeed a talented young girl. Yunniang had considered taking her as a disciple but had always been hesitant. Now, with this bit of encouragement, she readily agreed.
However, she put on a stern expression and said, "I have one condition for accepting a disciple. Listen carefully. If, after hearing it, you still want your girl to become my disciple, then this old woman will accept her!"
These latter words were directed at Sun Mei. It seemed this was a significant matter, and Sun Mei needed to consider it.
Seeing Sun Mei nod, Yunniang began to speak slowly.
Sun Mei hadn’t guessed wrong. Yunniang’s identity was indeed extraordinary. She was a famous embroidery master named Yang Yunniang, the second daughter of the Yang Clan of Suzhou, a family renowned for embroidery.
Her talent for embroidery was exceptional. She began learning from her sister at age seven, and by the time she was twelve or thirteen, people were already willing to pay high prices for her work. Later, she even created a new embroidery method—the Yang Family Chaotic Needle Skill—which broke from traditional fine embroidery, elevating the Yang Clan’s embroidery workshop to become the largest in Suzhou.
However, when someone stands out too much, they often attract the jealousy of petty people. The Yang Clan was such a case. Just as their prosperity was burgeoning, they were suddenly framed by treacherous individuals. Her unique needle technique was stolen by the Fei Clan, who then turned around and falsely accused the Yang Clan of stealing *their* Fei Clan technique.
The Yang Clan was not only forced to hand over the Yang Clan’s needle technique but was also required to swear never to use that technique again in their lifetime.
Subsequently, the Fei Clan rose to prominence, becoming the largest embroidery workshop in Suzhou. However, the Fei Clan was not satisfied with this; they wanted to monopolize the industry. Thus, under the Fei Clan’s oppression, other embroidery workshops in Suzhou were driven to a point where they could no longer survive, and the Yang Clan was no exception.
Forced by circumstances, the entire Yang Clan relocated north. Who would have known that they would encounter bandits on their journey? In the end, of the entire Yang Clan, only she remained alive.
Later, she came to Anyang County alone and settled down in Wuli Village. She had never forgotten her hatred, but she was powerless to act. That was until Sun Mei’s family appeared. The small flame of revenge in her heart flared up once more.
After hearing Yunniang’s story, Sun Mei was stunned. At this moment, she did not know whether she should agree to let Zhao Ya become her disciple.If she wasn’t mistaken, Yunniang wanted Zhao Ya to...
As expected, Yunniang stated her condition: "If Yaya becomes my disciple, then the burden of our school’s vengeance must inevitably be shouldered by her."
Sun Mei pondered for a moment, somewhat troubled. "Aunt Yun," she said, "you mentioned that the Fei Clan virtually controls the embroidery world now. Even with your extraordinary skills, you couldn’t defeat them. Yaya is still just a child..."
Yunniang suddenly chuckled. "Of course, I know that. The Fei Clan is so powerful it can hide the sky with one hand. No matter how outstanding one’s embroidery skills are, they are useless against the Fei Clan." Then, her tone shifted. "But you are different. Did you think I wouldn’t investigate your Zhao Family?"
"There’s a family in Zhao Village that received an imperial plaque from the Emperor—that’s your family, isn’t it?" She said this with great certainty, clearly already aware of the fact. This was another reason the flame in her heart had rekindled. With embroidery skills, and if they also had influence, then there was hope for revenge.
Sun Mei fell silent. She had wanted to find an excellent embroidery master for Zhao Ya, but if it meant placing the burden of avenging a school’s feud on someone so young...
While Sun Mei contemplated in silence, Yunniang’s gaze fell on Zhao Zhitong. "This young girl of yours is studying with a Teacher, isn’t she? That’s wonderful."
This young girl, at the tender age of five or six, was extremely bright. In rural areas, it was rare for families to send girls to school, yet the Zhao Family actually allowed their daughter to attend school.
Naturally, Yunniang assumed the Zhao Family was preparing to send Zhao Zhitong into the palace to become a female court official. The Zhao Family had received an imperial plaque from the Emperor; they surely had connections with the imperial family. If, in the future, this little girl entered the palace, gained the Emperor’s favor, and became a female court official, her prospects would be even greater. This would also be a crucial asset for her revenge.
Then she looked at Sun Mei and said with a smile, "I know what you’re thinking. Call me scheming or manipulative, if you wish. I’m already at an age where I’m close to the grave. I don’t care about anything else anymore, only this one wish: to avenge my family."
"If you agree, this girl Zhao Ya will be my disciple. If you cannot agree, then you may leave."
In truth, she was being quite forthright. If she had waited until after Zhao Ya had formally become her disciple to mention this, Sun Mei and the others would have had no choice; Zhao Ya would have had to bear the burden of her master’s feud. Now, by stating it before the discipleship ceremony, she was giving Sun Mei and the others the right to choose.
During the silence, Zhao Ya suddenly spoke up, "I am willing."
Sun Mei looked sharply at Zhao Ya. "Yaya, do you understand what this means?"
Zhao Ya nodded. "Auntie, Yaya understands. Yaya is willing. Don’t you also hope Yaya can find a good master?" After spending these past few days together, she had grown to really like Yunniang. More importantly, Yunniang’s embroidery skills were truly exceptional.
Sun Mei hesitated, "But..."
Zhao Ya said firmly, "Auntie, please trust me. I’ve thought it through very clearly."
Yunniang herself was also surprised. She looked at Zhao Ya and, after a moment, asked, "Yaya, are you sure?"
Zhao Ya nodded firmly. "Master, please accept your disciple’s kowtow." With that, she kowtowed three times to Yunniang.
Yunniang took a sudden deep breath, her eyes slightly moist. She reached out to help Zhao Ya up and said with satisfaction, "Good, good. You may rise."
Ultimately, thanks to Zhao Ya’s persistence, she became Yunniang’s disciple.
For a moment, Sun Mei was in a daze. She couldn’t help but wonder if her decision to seek out Yunniang had been right or wrong.However, regardless of her thoughts, what was done could not be undone.
In those times, after becoming a disciple, the disciple was traditionally expected to live with their master. This served two purposes: first, to show filial piety and serve the master, and second, to make instruction more convenient. However, Yunniang’s current living conditions were not only extremely modest, but she also didn’t have a spare room. Therefore, Sun Mei invited Yunniang to their home to teach Zhao Ya.
After this, all four children in the family, except for Zhao Cheng, had something specific they were learning. Sun Mei and Zhao Dong had observed him for a long time but hadn’t discovered anything Zhao Cheng was particularly passionate about. So, Sun Mei decided to ask Zhao Cheng if there was anything he wanted to learn. He simply said he liked farming with Zhao Dong. True to his word, he was very enthusiastic about learning how to plant fruit trees with Zhao Dong.
Ultimately, Zhao Dong decided to pass on all the expertise he had gained from cultivating his orchard in his previous life to Zhao Cheng. The boy was also very eager to learn, which made Zhao Dong happy for a long time. He felt that his orchard knowledge would now have a successor.
However, while Zhao Cheng and Zhao Ya were learning these new skills, they didn’t stop learning to read and write from Zhao Zhitong.