Chapter 572: Golden Cocoon
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Old Madam Wang suddenly understood many things. If Qin Huai was the child of that person in the palace, it would make sense that he could fork out so much money. The current Empress Mother of Minghua is from a prestigious family in Jiangnan, belonging to a renowned lineage that has existed for several centuries. Their family wealth and heritage are exceptionally profound.
Their wealth was probably more than double the entire treasury.
Most of the money in Emperor Minghua’s private stash probably came from the Qin Family in Jiangnan.
At first, when Emperor Minghua was the Crown Prince and was imprisoned in the East Palace, the Qin family in Jiangnan said, “You can choose not to sit on the throne, but you can’t kill the child.”
The late Emperor was afraid of the Qin Family in Jiangnan, so he did not dare to order the death of the imprisoned Crown Prince.
Throughout history, the fate of deposed crown princes has often been unfavorable. However, Emperor Minghua is an exception and a fortunate one at that. This is largely due to the support and protection he receives from his maternal family, who are willing to stand by him and ensure his safety.
Fortunately, the Qin Family in Jiangnan had no intention of fighting for power. In fact, when Emperor Minghua revived the court, they even led the famous merchants in Jiangnan to submit to the Imperial Court, allowing the Great Chang Imperial Court to continue to play its role.
Old Madam Wang did not deliberately ask about what happened after that. She was already tired of this. However, her experiences from her youth made her weigh and consider things whenever she heard similar news. As a result, she could roughly discern some of the underlying circumstances.
More than 30 years had passed. In the past, those Jiangnan merchants were not completely suppressed by the Qin Family. Now, there are many who, emboldened by their past accomplishments, have become even more arrogant and domineering in their actions.
Especially two years before Ah Yu arrived at Hu Family Village, Old Madam Wang has heard multiple times about those who returned from Jiangnan discussing the prosperity of the region. However, she noticed that they did not show any willingness to help other areas or contribute to disaster relief efforts. They seemed to be focused only on their own interests and did not extend a helping hand to those in need.
On the other hand, every time a disaster happened, they would ask the Imperial Court to exempt them from taxes. They had long become a plague of the region.
However, the Qin Family’s loyalty to the Great Chang Royal Family in Jiangnan seemed to be stable until now. As for whether it was really stable, only the royal family knew.
At the very least, Qin Huai had been spending money like water all these years, but he had never been overstretched. It could be seen that financial support still existed.
“Could that child be—” Old Madam Wang pointed above her head.
Master Duan Fang smiled and did not answer yes or no. However, there was naturally no need for the two smart people to make their words so clear.
“In that case, the circulation area of the Shared Fate Gu can be narrowed down a little.” Old Madam Wang did not have the time to think about whether Qin Huai was the rumored prince who had died young or some other imperial agent. She only wanted to resolve this matter quickly. “He’s either a noble or an enemy of a noble. From the looks of it, the possibility of being an enemy is low.”
Master Duan Fang took out a sheepskin scroll from his pocket and opened it. There was a token wrapped in the sheepskin scroll, and the sheepskin scroll itself was a map.
“For many years, I have been entrusted with this item, and 1 have not dared to pass away,” Master Duan Fang sighed. “Princess, it is time to return home and see for yourself. Perhaps the answers you seek are waiting for you there.”
Old Madam Wang took it. “We’ll see.”
She came here only to save her grandson-in-law. It was his good fortune if he could be treated, but it did not matter if he could not.
Coincidentally, she did not want Ah Yu to marry the Prince. If Qin Huai died, it would save her trouble.
As for the notion of looking down upon those from humble backgrounds, Zhang Yaoguang firmly refuted it. Anyone who dares to claim otherwise, she would tear their mouths apart!
Master Duan Fang said, “Actually, the Imperial City also sent someone to ask this poor monk about the Shared Fate Gu the day before yesterday.”
Old Madam Wang: “Thank you for telling me.”
With this clue, they could basically confirm that Madam Qin was a certain Imperial Concubine or even the Empress.
Old Madam Wang had never officially met Madam Qin at that time. If she had, she could tell from her bearing that the other party must be the Empress.
No matter how much she disguised herself, she could easily be exposed.
On this side, after Ah Yu arrived at the Silkworm Residence, she realized that there were more silkworms here than she had imagined. Moreover, the cocooning tools woven by the monks were neat and beautiful. The cocoons hung on them, looking more like delicate decorations.
The little monk accompanying her explained to her, “The silkworms can spin the cocoons better on the shelves woven like this, and it’ll be more convenient to deal with. Little Benefactor, look, this one here is spinning a cocoon.”
As Ah Yu looked, she said to Meat ball, “Elf, 1 want to draw this and send it to the village so that Big Brother Sanpang and the others can try it.”
[Go ahead and draw. I’ll help you see if there’s anything wrong.]
Ah Yu asked the little monk again, “Little Master, can 1 draw this thing? Our village also raises silkworms. 1 want them to use it too.”
The little monk smiled at her very gently. He took out a clean cocoon shelf from the wooden box beside him and handed it to Ah Yu. “Take this.”
“How much is this?”
“I made it myself. It’s not worth much. Take it. Do you need me to teach you how to make it?” the little monk asked.
Ah Yu picked it up and looked it up and down. Her eyes curved. “There’s no need. 1 know what to do!”
The weaving of the shelves was not difficult, but it was a skill.
Ah Yu had learned how to weave from Old man Wang. She won’t be able to weave more complicated things, but this level was fine.
After obtaining the shelf, she was still prepared to draw it because the cocooned shelf looked very beautiful. It might be very suitable for painting.
There were some brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones in the temple. The little monk found them for Ah Yu, and she bent over the table to draw.
She was very focused on drawing. Meatbail was still playing the sound from the starry sky in the spatial pocket for her, making it easier for her to enter the state of mind.
When she was done, she felt a little sore in her neck. A pair of warm hands happened to land on her neck and rubbed them gently.
It was Old Madam Wang.
“Grandma! Are you done chatting?” When Ah Yu saw that it was Old Madam Wang, she put down her pen and stood up to greet her.
Old Madam Wang stroked her hair and replied with a smile, “Yes, we’re done talking. You want to paint this and send it to the village? It seems that your painting skills haven’t fallen behind in the past few years, and you’ve become even better.”
“Yes, yes.” Ah Yu was so happy that she wanted to wag her non-existent tail.
Seeing that she was no longer drawing, Old Madam Wang simply started looking around the silkworm house.
This time, Ah Yu acted as the tour guide and explained everything to Old Madam Wang. As she spoke, Ah Yu exclaimed.
“Grandma, look, that cocoon is golden,” Ah Yu said as she pointed at a shelf inside.
Old Madam Wang’s expression changed. “Where!”
“It’s there. It’s a beautiful gold color. I’ve never seen this color before. It’s so beautiful.” All Yu had seen red, yellow, green, and purple cocoons before. This was the first time she had seen gold.
When the little monk heard this, he hurriedly looked over. As expected, he saw that one of the cocoons had turned golden, and the cocoon looked relatively small.
“Oh no, it’s Uncle-Master Abbot’s Golden Rain Bug cocooning!” The little monk was anxious. “We’ve been looking for it for many days, but we never thought that it’d sneaked in here.”
Ah Yu understood. “Is it the Golden Rain Worm that can predict weather and fortune? I heard that this kind of worm is very delicate and very difficult to raise.”
Not only that, once the cocoon was formed, if they did not discover it, the golden cocoon would slowly melt in less than half a day and the Golden Rain Worm cocoon inside would be suffocated to death.
“The Golden Rain Worm cocoon is also the antidote for the Shared Fate Gu,” Old Madam Wang suddenly said.
It seemed that Master Duan Fang did not let Ah Yu come to the Silkworm House to coax the child.
Ah Yu almost jumped up. “Grandma, is that true?!”
[I’m sorry, kid. I didn’t find any relevant information here..]
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