The Rebirth of an Ill-Fated Consort

iling, she said, “Miss Liu of Ruyi Lou says, she rushed these four items first.
Over the next few days, she will hasten to make the spring clothes, and will ask the young ladies to select material when it’s time.”

Among the four girls of the Jiang household, Jiang Ruan had the fewest clothes, and they were all the clothes she had brought back from the rural residence.
Naturally, the Old Jiang Madame was not going to allow her to go out wearing such clothes.
The first thing to do would be to buy some clothes from a ready-made clothes store.
When the weather was better, clothes suitable for all four seasons could then be made for her.

Jiang Li’s gaze rested on Jiang Ruan for a moment, stabbing her with fierce eyes.
The dissatisfaction on her face was obvious, but, since the Old Jiang Madame was present, she said nothing in the end.

Cai Que opened the little trunk.
“Young misses, please come and pick your dresses.”

The clothes were all neatly stacked in the exquisite wooden trunk specially made for Ruyi Lou.
Jiang Su Su shot a glance at Jiang Ruan.
“Da Jiejie, please go first.”

Jiang Ruan shook her head.
“I am the eldest.
Dan niang should choose first.”

Cai Que said, with a smile, “They are all clothes, it doesn’t matter who chooses first.”

At this, Jiang Su Su said, with some embarrassment, “Since you put it that way, I’ll go first.”

Sure enough, what Jiang Su Su first took out of the trunk was a snow white brocade jacket with a pipa jin[2], trimmed with fox fur.
Underneath was a pure white skirt made of embroidered brocade, and a silver padded waistcoat as an outer garment.
The style was exquisite and unique.
Although there were many intricate details, the garment was not encumbered by them, and instead looked extremely grand.
Even though Jiang Su Su had affected to be unconcerned about clothes, she could not help smiling faintly on seeing this set of garments made for her.

[2] Pipa jin ( 琵琶襟) refers to an ancient Chinese clothing style for ladies (used for example in waistcoats and dresses) where the left ‘flap’ of cloth overlaps the right to a large degree (but without reaching to under the armpit), and does not go all the way to the hemline of garment.
There is a portion at the bottom of the garment where the two ‘halves’ meet at the centre.
The buttons follow the line of the overlapping flap to the centre.
Here, some pictures will help:

Sources: 1  &  2

After viewing Jiang Su Su’s choice, Jiang Li’s eyes flashed unexpectedly.
In the Jiang fu, more thought had always been given to the clothes of the di daughter over the shu daughter.
Yet, Jiang Su Su, despite not being the di daughter, was still the most favoured daughter.
Thus, even though Jiang Li could not entirely resign herself to accept this state of affairs, she did not dare to say anything.
Jiang Li’s clothes wore a light purple, tight-fitting brocade jacket with flat gold discs for buttons, matched with a lotus-green crepe skirt.
This set of clothes also looked very attractive.

Jiang Dan’s clothes included a camellia-yellow, figure-hugging cotton jacket, and a yellow-green damask[3] skirt lined with cotton.
The clothes excellently set off Jiang Dan’s shy nature and her desire for approval and love.
In reality, Jiang Li and Jiang Dan’s clothes were really beautiful.
However, they immediately became inferior upon comparison with Jiang Su Su’s clothes.
If the three of them stood together, the eyes of any outsider would only be drawn to Jiang Su Su’s graceful bearing and refined figure.
Jiang Li was well aware of this, and thus could not be happy upon seeing the clothing.
Surprisingly, Jiang Dan was overjoyed, and this happiness shone from her eyes.

[3] Damask – a figured woven fabric with a pattern visible on both sides/Damask is commonly used to describe an elaborate floral pattern woven into a damask fabric.
Details here

Jiang Ruan’s clothes were right at the bottom of the trunk.
Cai Que helped her to retrieve them and shake them out.
There was a tight-fitting jacket of crimson satin, patterned with flowers and embellished with gold and white butterflies, a satin skirt sprinkled with jade-green flowers, and a pair of petite red sheepskin boots shot through with gold thread and featuring a cloud pattern**.
When everyone had taken a good look at the garments, Jiang Su Su exclaimed, “So bright!”

** T/N Interestingly, Lin Daiyu, one of the principal characters of the Chinese classic novel, Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦), is described in one scene as wearing a pair of shoes with exactly the same description.

Although young ladies liked brightly coloured clothes, they were usually willing to wear soft pink or peach-coloured clothes, or anything in a similar shade.
Very few would ever try on clothes like this bright red colour.
For one, such a colour was most appropriately worn by girls who by nature were passionate and fiery.
If a gentle girl were to don such clothes, there would definitely be something lacking.
Moreover, in the Jiang fu, Jiang Su Su loved white clothes, so standing next to her in such bright red clothes would present a sharp contrast.
Jiang Li and Jiang Dan were not as pretty as Jiang Su Su; to choose to wear such a colour and stand next to her would be a huge mistake.

And, Jiang Ruan had deliberately chosen this starkly fiery red.