Arriving on the second floor, it was discovered that the upper level had a unique ambiance.

The upstairs area was divided into individual VIP rooms, though Lin Miao didn’t have the chance to count them. They were led into one of the rooms.

The room was very spacious.

Then, a maid brought in hot tea, pastries, preserves, and other snacks.

Soon, a woman in her thirties, wearing a light green jacket paired with a dark long skirt, with her hair simply tied into a bun adorned with a plain white jade hairpin, appeared. She looked clean, fresh, and particularly capable.

"This gentleman and lady, you may call me Qinghe. I shall serve you two directly," Qinghe slightly curtsied as she greeted the two.

"Lady Qinghe, thank you for your trouble," Lin Miao slightly bowed in return.

"What kind of clothes would you like to customize?"

"Wedding attire."

"Are you two not yet married?" Qinghe expressed surprise, as it was rare to see a man and woman come together to customize wedding attire — traditionally each family prepares their own.

Of course, this was Li Hen City; traditional clan etiquette did not apply here, so their situation wasn’t too unusual.

"My apologies for speaking out of turn."

"No matter." Lin Miao smiled slightly; he wouldn’t pursue trivial matters, especially since it wasn’t wrong.

"May I ask about your budget?" Qinghe said, "We have a wide range of custom wedding attire, and we recommend based on the client’s financial capacity and preferences."

Of course, wedding attire isn’t an ordinary commodity; one might wear it only once in a lifetime. Due to its intricate craftsmanship, some are even time-consuming and labor-intensive, naturally making them expensive.

To come to the Li Hen City embroidery shop for custom wedding attire means those outside don’t meet expectations anymore.

Here, the value of the wedding attire lies in the materials and workmanship. If it were ordinary attire, those outside would be much cheaper. Why take the risk of coming here?

"We start at ten thousand taels of silver."

Hearing this, Qinghe involuntarily gasped; anyone willing to spend ten thousand taels of silver on custom wedding attire must be very wealthy.

"Then let me get you the design samples."

As per procedure, for such valuable wedding attire, one naturally looks at the design samples first, then checks the actual items; of course, there may not be an actual item.

After all, making one incurs a cost, and even just the production cost isn’t insignificant. Making it just to display in the window isn’t beneficial for the embroidery shop.

Sometimes it could be made and directly purchased if someone likes it; that’s also possible.

The design samples were brought — a thick, large book.

Counting from the first generation, the embroidery shop has nearly a hundred years of history, growing from small to large, weak to strong, accumulating deeply along the way.

"This set is called ’Phoenix Seeking Its Mate,’ a red-green combination using brocade fabric..."

"This is ’Qin Se’, golden flowers and golden embroidery with a train, the train can be long or short; we have the best embroiderers, with a green bustier lining..."

"Flowering Jade, Brilliant Bond, brocade and phoenix chirping..."

More than ten gorgeously embroidered wedding attire styles, each exceptionally beautiful. Even though they are just samples, it’s clear that each takes time and effort; some can’t even be completed by one person and require multiple hands.

Sun Youwei’s cheeks flushed red. With so many styles of wedding attire, she liked every single one but could only choose one set, which made the choice too difficult.

This includes gowns, casual wear, undergarments, phoenix crowns, earrings, and so forth, the cost unknown.

Previously, she never imagined she would wear such valuable wedding attire should she marry.

"Are there actual samples we can see?"

"Yes, but the samples may not be complete; only those reserved by clients and not yet collected can be seen, and they can only be viewed, not touched," Qinghe explained.

"All right."

Qinghe led Lin Miao and Sun Youwei to the second floor’s sample hall. To prevent clients from touching these valuable garments, the embroidery shop had specially set up a one-meter barrier.

When Lin Miao went over to look, there were quite a few others also examining them.

Each style is available, simple and complex, several varieties. Some are visible; others are unoccupied. The real items’ beauty is incomparable to the samples.

There are luxurious, elegant ones; dignified, graceful ones; delicate and exquisite ones; in short, everything is available.

"Lady Qinghe, we’ve discussed and decided to choose the ’Phoenix Seeking Its Mate’ set. We request the best materials, the finest embroidery, the finest golden threads and silver threads — everything in the best quality," after careful consideration by Lin Miao and Sun Youwei.

They decided on the ’Phoenix Seeking Its Mate’ set, as it carried a good meaning.

"If everything in this set is the best, the cost of materials and workmanship might be around eighteen thousand taels," Qinghe stated.

"Do the undergarments and socks all come as a complete set?"

"Of course, when we make it, it’s the complete set, including the phoenix coronet." Qinghe said.

"That indeed saves us the hassle." Lin Miao nodded, being able to get everything in one place also saved him from having to customize elsewhere.

"I also have a pattern here, can you customize it?" Lin Miao took out two patterns from his chest and handed them over.

"This is..."

"This is called the Dragon and Phoenix robe, make us a set in this style." Lin Miao said.

"We have never seen a wedding gown in this style before, but if the customer wants to customize it, we can do it. However, the price, we need to calculate." Qinghe said, realizing that this Dragon and Phoenix robe also seemed exquisite and complex, fearing that the price wouldn’t be low. She couldn’t make the decision herself and had to ask someone more professional.

"No problem, go ahead."

Qinghe took the patterns to her supervisor, the top clothing designer in the embroidery house, also one of the thirteen Golden Phoenixes of the embroidery house, Yang Mengyou.

"Miss Yang, this is a wedding dress pattern designed by the customer. They want us to make a set for them, but I don’t know if we can do it. If we can, how much material, thread, and labor would it require?"

Yang Mengyou suspiciously took the patterns, as it was rare for customers to provide their own patterns when customizing clothes. After all, designing clothes had a certain threshold, and customers at most had requirements in size, but the styles were fixed.

Narrow waist, frog buttons, is this wearing underwear as outerwear?

Seeing the female Dragon and Phoenix robe, Yang Mengyou frowned slightly, but this design could indeed highlight the female figure.

But wearing it outside like this, isn’t it too alluring?

"What does the customer require?"

"Everything should use the best materials," Qinghe answered.

"Tell him we can make it, but we can’t guarantee the effect, though we’ll make sure it’s according to their body size. For a set for both a man and a woman, it would cost eight thousand taels," Yang Mengyou thought for a moment and said.

"Yes."

...

"Eight thousand taels is acceptable." Lin Miao didn’t haggle, nodding in agreement. Then he customized a few ordinary outfits and also called Lianxin up to order two sets. Since Liansuo and Lianxin had similar figures, he ordered two sets for Liansuo based on her size as well.

Altogether, when the price was calculated, it was almost fifty thousand taels of silver.

A customer spending fifty thousand taels of silver in one go on customized clothes at the embroidery house was rare, which instantly alarmed Yang Mengyou, who personally came to attend.

Such a generous customer was rare, and if maintained well, future business was assured. Even if he didn’t come, introducing a few customers could earn the embroidery house a lot.

Actually, Lin Miao had a Guest Elder card from the embroidery house, which could get him a twenty percent discount there. Fifty thousand taels could instantly be reduced by ten thousand taels.

But his current status was not suitable for presenting this, yet Yang Mengyou still gave him a five percent discount.

"Yuyao, this is my second uncle. It’s his first time in Li Hen City, and I’m showing him around our embroidery house. I didn’t expect to run into you leading a patrol..."

Lin Miao and Sun Youwei descended from the second floor, just in time to hear a voice enter their ears.

Lin Miao looked in the direction of the voice and saw a familiar figure, she had her back to him, not noticing his presence.

"Junior Brother, is it..." Sun Youwei recognized Baili Yuyao and gave a reminder, but Lin Miao stopped her.

Although he knew there was a chance of running into Baili Yuyao at the embroidery house, if there were no outsiders, just meeting and greeting wouldn’t be an issue.

The problem was she seemed to have a protector, Shen An from the Green Blade Sect, by her side.

Lin Miao and the Green Blade Sect had significant animosity. Although the sect had currently stopped targeting him, many from the Green Blade Sect had died at his hands, including an elder. This resentment wasn’t easily resolved.

Therefore, he and the Green Blade Sect were destined not to be friends, and mutual peace was already the best outcome.

"Mr. Shen, I’m patrolling, so I won’t accompany you and the elder." Although Baili Yuyao didn’t dislike Shen An, she also knew that the Green Blade Sect wasn’t well-intentioned. If they were to marry into the Green Blade Sect, it would be uncertain whether the embroidery house would retain the Baili or change to Shen surname in the future.

"Yuyao, are you free at noon? I’ve booked a table at Songcui Tower for a banquet to welcome my second uncle." Shen An cordially extended an invitation.

"No, I have to go back to have lunch with my mother." Baili Yuyao declined softly.

"Yuyao, there will be plenty of opportunities to dine with your mother in the future. My second uncle rarely visits, please give me this honor, okay?" Shen An pleaded, although his tone was one of begging, it was also laced with a hint of forcefulness and dominance.

"Junior Brother, should we really not go over to greet them?" Sun Youwei asked in a hushed tone.

"No need, they have guests, it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to intrude." Lin Miao replied quietly with his head lowered, and he and Sun Youwei quickly stepped towards the door.

Sometimes deliberately avoiding might not work, Lin Miao’s back had no eyes, and just as he and Sun Youwei were about to step out the door, Baili Yuyao suddenly turned around and saw Lin Miao and Sun Youwei.

She was very familiar with Lin Miao’s back, especially his profile, which she remembered vividly. Her mother had often mentioned that the marriage between her and Lin Miao, all the current actions were merely strategies to rectify the embroidery house’s accumulated issues and find a way forward.

If they really wanted to marry off their daughter, it had to be to someone she approved of and valued.

Regardless of her inner feelings, Lin Miao had left a deep impression in her heart, not only because he saved her mother but also for his miraculous medical skills and abilities.