244 Moonlight
Dong Mei smiled. “Young Miss has too many things, so how can you know everything? Old Madam was the one who kept these two night pearls for you in the past, and she never deliberately mentioned them. This moon-white pearl is called the “moon pearl”. It was given to your mother by the Old Master of the Xie Residence when Eldest Madam Xie was born.”
It turned out that it was her mother’s dowry. After her mother passed away, her mother had left it to her. No wonder she didn’t know about this.
Yu Youyao immediately felt that this pearl had become even more intimate. She smiled until her eyes curved. “What’s the name of this warm yellow pearl, and what’s its background?”
Night pearls were rare. Although they were the size of lychees, they were still very rare. She had two of them!
It was also because of the long history of the Xie Residence in Quanzhou that such a treasure existed.
Dong Mei continued, “This is called the ‘Sun Pearl’. After Young Miss was born, your maternal grandfather, Old Master Xie, personally gave it to you. It means ‘the apple of his eye’. At that time, you were still in your infancy and the pearl was too precious, so Old Madam had always helped to keep it well. It was also after Young Miss took care of her own mother’s dowry that Old Madam gradually sent some things to the Jade Courtyard for me to keep.”
At this point, Dong Mei recalled what Old Madam had said when she had called her over—
“In the past, Yao Yao was still young, and she didn’t dare to hand these things over to her for safekeeping, in case she didn’t know the severity of the situation and was lied to. Now that Yao Yao can manage things herself, she has to take good care of these things.”
“I’m old, so I won’t be able to handle anything. At that time, it’ll probably be very difficult for the things in my room to reach Yao Yao. Even if the Xie family from Quanzhou brings a list over and pushes it onto a dead person like me, won’t the Xie family still be able to cause trouble?”
“Let’s not talk about anything else. Yao Yao cares about her grandmother’s future and reputation. She has to accept it. Sometimes, it’s better to make plans early.”
Every word and sentence was meant for Eldest Miss, but she was really a kind mother. Thinking of Eldest Miss’s filial piety to Old Madam, it was not surprising.
She had mentioned this to Young Miss before, but she had many good things in her hands and did not care much about worldly possessions. In addition, Young Miss had been very busy back then, so she probably did not take it to heart.
“The apple of your eye.” Yu Youyao took the “Sun Pearl” again and held it in her hand. The bright smile on her face complemented the bright light of the sun, looking extremely resplendent. “Grandfather, Grandmother, my uncles and cousins all dote on me very much.”
Dong Mei smiled too. “Isn’t that so!”
Yu Youyao asked curiously, “Sun pearl and moon pearl. The names are really good. Are these two night pearls a pair?”
One was white, and one was yellow. Even their names were exquisite. No matter how she looked at them, they had a story.
Dong Mei nodded. “I heard so, but Old Madam doesn’t know much about it, so she only mentioned it to me a little. If you want to know, you can write a letter and ask the Xie family.” As she spoke, she looked at the embroidery shed in Young Miss’s hands. “Today, I saw Young Miss embroidering at night and was worried that the light would hurt her eyes, so I thought of using these two night pearls to protect her eyes.”
The Night-Luminescent Pearl was dazzling and eye-catching.
Yu Youyao carefully took the “Moon Pearl” and placed it on a candlestick at the side. The bright white light chased away the dimness of the candlelight, making it look gentle and white. “This is really good.”
She turned to look at the “Sun Pearl”, and a smile appeared on her lips.
Yu Youyao embroidered for an hour under the reflection of the moon and the sun pearls, and then embroidered another parasol leaf. She flipped the embroidery surface, and there were also two yellow-green parasol flowers on the other side. The stitches were flat and tight, and they looked very beautiful.
Yu Youyao put away the embroidery shed and asked Dong Mei to put away the Night Pearl. Such an expensive item could not be placed outside. If others saw it, it would cause trouble.
The next day, Yu Youyao learned etiquette, had breakfast, and went to school early.
Due to the birthday banquet, Yu Youyao did not go to school for five to six days.
Ms. Ye tested Yu Youyao on her recent studies. Yu Youyao had the copy of “Spring and Autumn” that her cousin had given her, and her cousin had given her a lot of guidance. She answered the questions fluently without any mistakes.
Ms. Ye nodded in satisfaction. “You didn’t neglect your studies. How’s your zither skills?”
Yu Youyao replied, “I learned a new song.”
When Ms. Ye heard this, she smiled. “I heard that you’ve been learning chess recently?”
Previously, after testing Yu Youyao’s zither skills a few times, she realized that every time she learned a new piece, her old piece would still be played well. She knew that her cousin was a capable person and was very concerned about her learning the zither. There was no need for her to deliberately test her.
At the mention of this, Yu Youyao looked embarrassed and quickly waved her hand. “It’s… it’s probably me. I don’t have much talent in chess, so I only know how to play. I don’t know anything about arranging chess and array formations. Cousin said that it’s good to have some fun.”
Ms. Ye laughed when she heard this. Her calm face was like a green lotus that had water coming out of it. “It’s fine if you want to learn, but you don’t have to be proficient. Your cousin is right.”
Initially, she had thought that Eldest Miss Yu was a woman with natural intelligence. She knew everything and was good at everything. Now that she knew that she also had chess skills that were not good at. She felt that she was very cute.
Yu Youyao nodded and said, “I used the brush that you gave me yesterday for a while. It’s very useful. Thank you for your trouble.”
It was her birthday, but Ms. Ye did not have to specially send her a birthday gift.
Since Ms. Ye had given it to her, it meant that she sincerely treated her as her disciple.
Ms. Ye was a little surprised. “I thought that you would only be able to use this Five Purple Five Sheep after a while. I didn’t expect you to be so talented in calligraphy and improve so quickly. You can already use the Five Purple Five Sheep. Are you going to use the Seven Sheep and Three Purple in the future?”
A girl’s wrist strength was weaker. Not only was it difficult to write with a soft pen, but it was also much slower.
Yu Youyao nodded. “I’ll use the Five Purple Five Sheep for a while, then switch to the Seven Sheep and Three Purple Sheep. I won’t use Full Sheep. Not only is it tiring, but it’s also slow to write. I won’t be able to do it well.”
Ms. Ye also felt that this was not bad. “I’ll make you another Seven Sheep and Three Purple. However, you have to come up with something yourself this time. I don’t have much good stuff in my hands.”
According to Yu Youyao, she had to use the Seven Sheep and Three Purple Pens often in the future. Naturally, the better the material, the better the quality of the brush, and the longer it would take to make.
An inkstone and a brush were better if they were older.
Yu Youyao was overjoyed, but she did not decline. She bowed respectfully to Ms. Ye. “Thank you, sir.”
Everyone treated one another respectfully. Ms. Ye treated her sincerely as her disciple. She also respected Ms. Ye as her master.
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