Chapter 114 – A Jade Thumb Ring On The Windowsill
“Send my thanks to grandmother for me. Nanny Hong, I don’t know much about jewelry. How about you help me pick out a few?” Wei Yuewu said calmly as her long eyelashes fluttered. She was still sitting in front of the dressing table. Shufei had dried her black hair and was gently combing her hair at this time.
Her long black hair set off her exquisite face. Under the lamp light, there was a faint blush that was not normally seen in the day. It made people feel that this young girl in front of them would definitely be a matchless beauty in the future, even if she still looked somewhat childish now. Nanny Hong had to admire the Madam Dowager’s keen eyes.
Right now, the most worthy young lady in this mansion was Sixth Young Lady. Moreover, Sixth Young Lady’s engagement had been broken off. Although the status of the mansion of Marquis Jing Yuan was not low, it was not good enough. If there really came a day in the future when Sixth Young Lady made her mark, she would be worth much more than she was at present.
“I don’t know which ones are better either, but the Madam Dowager said that if you can’t make a choice for the time being, she would leave all of these to you. Anyway, Sixth Young Lady, you will attend many banquets in the future and you will have to change the style from time to time. Sixth Young Lady, you represent the face of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.”
Nanny Hong sounded quite generous.
Of course, she wouldn’t pick jewelry on behalf of Wei Yuewu. Although she was the Madam Dowager’s most trusted servant and everyone in the mansion respected her, including Marquis Hua Yang, who would address her politely as Nanny Hong when he saw her, Nanny Hong was conscious of her identity: she was merely a servant.
Moreover, this Sixth Young Lady in front of her was not as stupid as the rumors claimed. She really could not say for sure what would happen in the future.
It would be better to generously give both boxes of jewelry to her. Since the Madam Dowager had sent them over for Sixth Young Lady to pick, it meant that the Madam Dowager intended to give all of the jewelry to the Sixth Young Lady.
“This… this is too much for me, I’m afraid? It will cost grandmother too much.” Wei Yuewu declined.
“No problem, Madam Dowager had wanted to bring you back for many years. You are an honorable young lady of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. It’s not right for you to be raised by your maternal grandparents. But the Madam Dowager’s health is really bad, so Lord Marquis did not let her raise you in person. That’s why you had stayed out of the mansion for so many years. The Madam Dowager has always felt sorry to you.”
Nanny Hong sighed and wiped her eyes with her handkerchief, as if she was lamenting. She looked as if she felt pity for the Madam Dowager. Meanwhile, she also implied that the Madam Dowager had not personally brought Wei Yuewu up because she had no other choice.
“Yes, I know.” Wei Yuewu’s eyes brimmed with tears. She looked very touched, which made Nanny Hong very satisfied. Nanny Hong said a few more polite words and left with the two maids. The two boxes of jewelry were left on the table in the room.
After Nanny Hong left with the maids, Wei Yuewu glanced at the boxes and said to Huamo, “Put them away.”
A cold look appeared in her eyes. The Madam Dowager wanted to buy her over with her mother’s jewelry. She had taken it for granted!
“Put them away? Miss, don’t you want to pick a few for tomorrow?” Huamo asked curiously.
“No, I’ll wear what I wore last time!” Wei Yuewu shook her head.
“But the jewelry you wore last time is not as nice as these.” Shufei said.
“I’m fine with what I wore last time.” Wei Yuewu said. The Third Princess’ invitation came all of a sudden. Wei Yuewu did not believe that the princess’ schedule had been arranged in such a hurry.
It would take many days to make a schedule for a princess’ trip. Moreover, other aristocratic young ladies were also invited, so it was impossible for the event to be arranged in such a hurry. However, her invitation was delivered with such urgency that it was more like the result of a hasty decision. In other words, she was not included in the Third Princess’ list of guests in the first place.
The reason why the princess suddenly invited her was that someone had said something to the Third Princess.
Wei Yuewu didn’t have a good impression of the Third Princess, who showed one face in front of people and another behind people’s back. Nor did she want to have anything to do with the princess. She didn’t know what the matter was with the so-called gathering tomorrow.
Seeing that Wei Yuewu was determined, the maids could not say anything but tidy up the jewelry for her.
Her hair was almost dry. Wei Yuewu stood up and was about to go back to bed when her eyes suddenly turned and she suddenly stopped. She said to Jin Ling, “Is Nurse Mei asleep?”
“Not yet. Nurse Mei usually doesn’t sleep before you do, Miss. She was outside just now instructing the maids to do their work.” Jin Ling said.
“Go ask Nurse Mei to come in.” Wei Yuewu said.
Jin Ling didn’t know what her mistress was thinking. She immediately went out to ask Nurse Mei to come.
“Nurse Mei, did the Third Princess invite the young ladies in the mansion in the past when she held banquets??” Wei Yuewu asked as she sat on the bed.
“Third Princess and Fourth Princess of the palace sometimes invited the young ladies in the mansion to their banquets. In the past when Eldest Young Lady was here, they would definitely invite her and Second Young Lady. After Eldest Young Lady married into the mansion of the Prince of Nan’an, they would usually invite Second Young Lady and Fourth Young Lady. However, the two princesses seemed to like Fourth Young Lady more. Sometimes, they would only invite Fourth Young Lady.”
Nurse Mei thought for a moment before she answered. Actually, it was pretty natural for her to remember it so clearly. Every time Wei Qiufu alone was invited, Wei Yan would make a fuss in the mansion and sometimes made a scene in the Madam Dowager’s place. It would be difficult not to remember her performance.
“The two princesses like Fourth Elder Sister more?” Wei Yuewu asked after pondering for a moment.
“Fourth Young Lady has a very good reputation. She once drew a picture that was highly praised. She is famous for her talent and has a gentler nature than Second Young Lady. She is generous and forbearing and never gets angry with others. I’ve never heard that she had any conflict with other young ladies. Fourth Young Lady has a much better reputation than Second Young Lady. She also has many close friends from the noble families. ”
Nurse Mei explained in detail.
“Nurse Mei, arrange a carriage for me for tomorrow and enquire if there is any news about Fourth Elder Sister today. I heard that she would be returning these days. See if Third Lady said when she would be back to the mansion.”
Wei Yuewu thought for a moment and said those words indifferently.
“Yes, I understand.” Nurse Mei was always a smart person. After thinking for a moment, she understood what Wei Yuewu meant. She left knowingly and returned shortly after. She even brought news from the third branch that Fourth Young Lady had planned to come back these two days.
But today, news came that Fourth Young Lady accepted the Third Princess’ invitation and her return would be delayed by a couple of days. She had asked for the Madam Dowager’s permission and the Madam Dowager also agreed.
Wei Yuewu nodded faintly when she heard the news from Nurse Mei. She knew that Wei Qiufu really had a role to play in this invitation. What was Wei Qiufu trying to do? After the matter with Xie Qingzhao, Wei Yuewu did not believe that this Fourth Miss Wei was really harmless.…
The maids helped Wei Yuewu go to bed and then prepared clothes for tomorrow’s trip for her. The Madam Dowager had made many clothes for Wei Yuewu, so there were quite a few clothes for Wei Yuewu. After picking out two elegant but gorgeous clothes, the maids carefully retreated.
In the darkness, Wei Yuewu was awake. She only quietly closed her eyes. A meaningful smile appeared on her cherry lips. She wasn’t invited in the first place. However, Wei Qiufu was able to persuade the Third Princess to send an extra invitation to her. So Wei Qiufu had quite a strong influence on the princess.
If Wei Qiufu was familiar with Third Princess, she must also be familiar with the Crown Prince. It was known that the Crown Prince Wen Tianyao was closer to the Third Princess, who was born to Imperial Consort Tu, than to his own younger sister, the Fourth Princess. Being able to get along so well with the Third Princess implied that Wei Qiufu’s target was indeed the Crown Prince.
By now, Wei Qiufu must know what had happened in the mansion. Was she going to stage another trick against her? In the darkness, Wei Yuewu slightly opened her eyes. A trace of coldness flashed through her eyes.
Suddenly, a faint clatter came from the window. The sound was very soft. However, because Wei Yuewu was not asleep, she immediately heard it. Her eyes grew colder and colder in the darkness. She placed her hands on her chest and silently stared at the dark window.
Then, she saw the window quietly opened….
It was late at night. Wei Yuewu was usually asleep at this time. But since it was late when today’s trouble started, it wasn’t long since she went to bed. Seeing that the window was silently opened a little, Wei Yuewu quietly stretched her hand under the pillow.
There was a hairpin that she had just removed from her hair. The sharp hairpin was a very useful weapon for self-defense.
However, although the window was open, no one was seen. Even though Wei Yuewu was calm, after lying stiff on the bed for a while, she could no longer keep her posture and supported herself up with her arms to take a look.
With the hairpin in one hand, she got up from the bed and walked gently to the window.
The window was opened a little. If Wei Yuewu hadn’t been paying attention to it, she wouldn’t have noticed it. Although her window was facing the south, it was now in the cold winter, and Shufei would always carefully close the window for her. It was impossible that the window would be accidentally opened. However, the window was now ajar. She pushed it open with only a slight push.
Under the faint moonlight, Wei Yuewu could clearly discern a jade thumb ring on the windowsill. It was a red jade thumb ring with a clear color. One glance could tell that it was not ordinary. Except the jade thumb ring, there were no other objects that could explain the origin of this jade thumb ring.
Of course, it could not have been accidentally dropped here by a servant.
Basically, no other mistress had been to her Lotus Courtyard, except Wei Qiuju, who had been here twice. She picked up the jade thumb ring and carefully inspected it. Compared to the jade jewelry in the box that the Madam Dowager had just sent to her, this ring was much better. How could it possibly belong to Wei Qiuju?
The color of the jade thumb ring was clear and the red color was even and translucent. Wei Yuewu picked it up and carefully touched it. She found a very small carving on the inner side of the jade thumb ring. She looked at it against the light and saw two faint characters, “Yong Chen.” Her clear, beautiful eyes immediately became ice-cold.
Every character carved in a ring must have a special meaning. Was this one a person’s name or something else?
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