Pei Ye walked at a leisurely pace when suddenly his gaze fixed upon a large courtyard across the alley—it was the embroidery workshop he had just mentioned.
True to what the palace official had mentioned, there were indeed ten ox carts lined up in front of the gate, each laden with a small mountain of fabric.
Palace maids in the courtyard were unloading the fabric with frowns on their faces; a slender embroidery worker with her sleeves rolled up was lifting two bolts of fabric from the cart, turned her head and gasped, "Qiuyi, come and take these from me quickly!"
From the courtyard, a voice responded: "If it's too heavy, just carry one bolt at a time."
"Oh come on, trust me, two people carrying two bolts will be quicker than one person carrying one bolt!"
...
More than a dozen palace maids were coming and going, as the pile of fabric on the carts slowly diminished, and the oxen watched them with their deep, silent gaze.