Li Ying lowered her voice and confided her plan to the little princess from Nanyang in detail. The princess pondered for a long while, then clenched her fist and finally agreed.
"Sister Li," she said politely, "you can rest assured. I'll send a message to my father right away. The blue peacocks you need will be sent to the capital in a few days. If things turn out as you've predicted, please, Sister Li, give me a hand and help me return home sooner."
The little princess from Nanyang bowed deeply to Li Ying and escorted her out of the posthouse.
Li Ying returned the courtesy. "Thank you, Your Highness, for your help. I'm looking forward to good news."
After waiting anxiously for several days, A Man finally returned in a hurry, looking exhausted.
She had lost a lot of weight, presumably due to the long and tiring journey.
As soon as she entered the room, she was like a chatty sparrow, clinging to Li Ying and pouring out all the details of her trip.
"Sister," she said, "Father and I led the tribe to search again and again, but we found nothing. I thought I'd have to return empty-handed!"
"Fortunately, Mao Mao was with us. Sister, look what this is!"
Like a child showing off a treasure, she struggled to drag a large cage covered with a black cloth in front of Li Ying. She lifted the cloth, and there lay a green peacock.
In Li Ying's previous era, green peacocks had become an extremely endangered species. She had only caught a fleeting glimpse of them in the zoo.
Today, she finally had the chance to examine this noble king of birds up close.
The feathers on the green peacock's neck were arranged like layers of green dragon scales, glistening with a jade-like sheen. No wonder it had been called the "dragon bird" since ancient times!
The crest feathers on its head were densely clustered, standing upright like faint spiritual fires. Its two slender legs were straight and strong, perfectly combining grace and strength.
The more Li Ying examined this peacock, the more she couldn't help but marvel at the Creator's ingenuity.
It was at this moment that Li Ying truly understood for the first time why the peacock, the dragon bird, was regarded as a mysterious and lively spirit in the mountains.
"A Man," Li Ying said, "I only asked you to collect the feathers. Why did you go through so much trouble to bring this green peacock all the way to the capital?"
Li Ying knew well the pain of the green peacock's shrinking habitat and population decline in later generations. Even though the green peacock was not yet on the verge of extinction, she couldn't bear to see the bird leave the mountains and become a caged prisoner.
A Man sensed the slight reproach in Li Ying's tone and quickly raised her hands, looking innocent. "Sister, good sister, you've misunderstood me!"
"The dragon bird is a messenger sent by the gods to deliver messages to the world in our tribe. How could I ever dare to capture it? This dragon bird followed us back on its own!"
Li Ying raised her eyebrows and instinctively looked at Mao Mao. Had this little fellow really grown so capable?
Mao Mao just lazily licked its paw and squinted its bright little cat eyes, looking completely unconcerned.
Li Ying questioned A Man in detail and finally understood what had happened. She couldn't help but laugh.
Mao Mao had indeed done its job and led A Man and the others straight to the green peacock's habitat.
But green peacocks are naturally timid and shy. As soon as they saw so many people, men, women, and children, climbing the mountain, they were scared and flew away, hiding themselves.
Mao Mao stood under the tree, meowing loudly in frustration.
For some reason, the young and energetic male peacock in the cage was annoyed by Mao Mao's meows. He boldly jumped down and chased after the kitten, pecking at its soft fur with his sharp beak.
Mao Mao had never suffered such a loss before! The cat and the bird got into a fight. By the time A Man set off to return, the little peacock simply flew onto the carriage roof and followed them back without any fear!
"Although the other dragon birds flew away, they left behind a lot of peacock feathers. Sister, look, I've brought them all back!"
A Man proudly presented a large handful of peacock feathers of various lengths.
The little cat, which had been lazily basking in the sun, perhaps smelled the peacock feathers. It let out a meow and was about to pounce on them, pretending to grab.
Li Ying quickly stopped Mao Mao and ordered someone to send these precious green peacock feathers to the Lu Silk Shop immediately. She invited experienced weavers to come and spin the peacock gold thread.
She had intended to thank A Man for her long and arduous journey. But she saw the little girl grab a few pineapple pastries. There were still crumbs on her lips, and her bright eyes were tightly closed. She was clearly exhausted and sound asleep.
Li Ying gently covered her with a thin quilt and quietly closed the door. Then she rushed to the silk shop in a hurry.
The weavers were all very skillful. They had already received the news and had been researching for several days. Now that they had the peacock feathers, it was easy for them to spin the peacock gold thread by twisting the silk and gold threads together.
However, the spinning work was really tedious.
The peacock feathers had to be carefully selected one by one to find the brightest and most colorful ones. The "tendons" that were not easy to handle had to be tamed with the warmth of human hands. The silk used was even thinner than a hair.
The weavers in the Lu Mansion concentrated all their efforts. After spinning for an hour, they only got a small roll of thread.
The leading weaver stretched her sore back and carefully asked in a soft voice, "Master, Madam, I have something to say. I don't know if I should..."
"Previously, we couldn't mend the 'Peacock Gold Robe' because we lacked suitable peacock feathers. Now that we have them, it's not difficult for us to restore it to its original appearance."
"The peacock gold thread is indeed magnificent, but why do we have to take a roundabout way?"
What she said made a lot of sense. Several weavers nodded frequently, all looking at Lu Xunguang as if waiting for his answer.
Lu Xunguang listened to everyone's words carefully, but a cold sneer flashed through his eyes.
"Since Commissioner Cao burned the Empress Dowager's birthday gift, he clearly intended to kill me. If I just repair the 'Peacock Gold Robe' and act as if nothing had happened, wouldn't I be too weak?"
His gaze swept across each weaver's face. "Everyone, please work a little harder these days and follow the original plan. Everyone will get ten times their monthly salary, plus a bonus!"
Several weavers quickly said, "Master, it's not that we're being lazy. It's just..."
"If we use the peacock gold thread and the tapestry method taught by Madam to mend the robe, the brocade will surely be more luxurious..."
"But... it will also be easier to tell that it's not the original, intact 'Peacock Gold Robe'. Won't we end up ruining things instead?"
Lu Xunguang didn't say a word. He just quietly raised his eyebrows.
Since Commissioner Cao had attacked him and A Ying several times, it was time to settle the score!