Chapter 390
Chapter 390 She Thought She Lost It
“This item fell from the hands of the dead maid who took her place! She clenched her fist so tightly when she died that no one noticed she was holding such a small box in her hand,” Yan Huaijing recounted with a leisurely smile as if he hadn’t noticed the dramatic changes in expressions of Wei Yuewu and Wei Luowen.
Qin Ruo was holding the box? Wei Yuewu slowly came to her senses. She remembered that she was there when they handled Qin Ruo’s body. It was mainly Yan Huaijing’s bodyguards who helped her, but no one told her about it at that time, and Yan Huaijing didn’t say anything either later.
However, she did not expect that Yan Huaijing would take it out at this time!
This was something that her mother had left for her. In fact, she had been wearing it as a necklace all the while. She must have dropped it accidentally when she was running away from Mo Huating, who tried to kill her at that time. Qin Ruo probably had noticed it. Hence, she picked it up and held it tightly in her hand, hoping that she could see it.
But at that time, all she could think of was defending herself from Mo Huating, so she didn’t notice the item in Qin Ruo’s hand. In the end, Yan Huaijing found it and kept it.
However, it seemed that the box had not been opened. The old seal was still there, and above the opening of the box that was glued with ancient and yellowish wax was a red wax seal. She had been wearing it since she was a child. Her maternal grandmother told her that her mother especially left it for her, and that she must wear it all the time.
As a result, she wore the small box like a necklace pendant. Only Qin Ruo and her maternal grandmother knew about this!
Taking the small box from Little Dezi, Wei Yuewu looked at Yan Huaijing in surprise, not knowing why he kept her thing. This was something that her mother had told her to wear all the time, and she did as she was told. However, when she realized that she lost it, she had to leave in a hurry and had no time to search for it. Because of this, Wei Yuewu was sad for a long time.
“Thank you, Your Heir-apparent. Yes, it is my thing.” Wei Yuewu bowed respectfully to Yan Huaijing. Her expression slowly returned to normal. Although she did not know what this sly man tended to do, Wei Yuewu did not think that Yan Huaijing had any ulterior motives against her.
Moreover, he was quite a gentleman by not opening the seal to take a look at the content of the box.
In fact, Wei Yuewu did not know what was inside. It was probably empty too.
“Your Heir-apparent, I also have a gift for you. The gift my father gave you is from him, and I have something I want to give you personally.” Wei Yuewu turned around and waved to Jin Ling.
Jin Ling came over with a scroll in her hand, raised it above her head, and respectfully presented it to him.
“I heard that you like this kind of painting, so I gave this to you as a token of my appreciation,” Wei Yuewu said with a gentle smile.
Yan Huaijing was very happy that Wei Yuewu, his little fox, was very sensible and prepared a personal gift for him. He was satisfied with her action.
Little Dezi had already taken the scroll from Jin Ling’s hands and stood to the side with a smile.
Wei Luowen did not expect that Wei Yuewu had also prepared a gift for Yan Huaijing. He was curious about the painting and wanted to look at it, but Little Dezi had already accepted it, so he decided to remain quiet. At this moment, his mind was full of thoughts, and he did not want to stay and have verbal sparring with Yan Huaijing.
He expressed his leave by saying that there was something he needed to settle in the mansion and left with Wei Yuewu.
Wei Yuewu held Jin Ling’s hand and got into the carriage, but the carriage did not move. Just as they were feeling strange, they saw that Wei Luowen suddenly hopped onto the carriage and gave Jin Ling a sideways glance.
Jin Ling understood and hurriedly came out of the carriage and sat on the shaft of the carriage.
The carriage slowly started.
“Yuewu, can you let me look at the box? I haven’t seen it for many years!” Wei Luowen sighed, but he looked outside the window, with a somewhat absent-minded vibe.
“Sure, Father!” Wei Yuewu handed over the small box in her hand and glanced at Wei Luowen quietly. She noticed that her father seemed to be more worked up than her when he first saw the box.
Did her mother have any other motive for leaving this box to her?
She put the box lightly on Wei Luowen’s palm. The box looked even smaller as it was placed on Wei Luowen’s thick and big palm. Only now did Wei Yuewu realize how small the box was, so much so that it could barely keep anything.
A pair of earrings, perhaps? But would someone put earrings in such a box?
On second thought, what else could it hold besides earrings? She was very curious and clueless.
The box itself was an ordinary box made of nanmu wood. However, did the exquisite carving of the nanmu box indicate the uniqueness of the box?
“Father, what is this?” Wei Yuewu asked hesitantly.
“Did your mother ask you to keep it with you all the time?” The expression on Wei Luowen’s face was very strange. He didn’t look particularly happy or sad, but there was deep sorrow in it.
“Yes. Maternal grandmother told me not to tell anyone about it. She said that she got the instructions from Mother. Mother also instructed me to keep wearing it, so I wore it as a necklace. But it went missing during that incident. I had no idea that Qin Ruo was holding it at that time!” Wei Yuewu’s expression dimmed. She bit her lips, and her eyes became fierce.
Therefore, she would never forget about avenging Qin Ruo!
At that moment, Qin Ruo had died for her. Wei Yuewu, who was living a peaceful and quiet life, also died with Qin Ruo that day!
“Since your mother asked you to keep it, you should keep it,” Wei Luowen sighed. Originally, he thought that it was gone, and it didn’t matter if it was. But since she left it for him on purpose, he should keep it.
He presumed that he didn’t need to use the thing anymore.
However, he would never have thought that Rui’er had it and even kept it. She didn’t tell him about it because she was ignoring him back then. But in the end, she handed it over to Yuewu. Did it mean that she also agreed with what he had done?
Did she not hate him so much, after all?
As he thought about this, an inexplicable sadness came from his heart. He lowered his head slightly, not letting his little daughter see the bitterness in his eyes.
“Father, what is this?” Wei Yuewu took the small box and asked.
“It is actually not something important. It is just a thought!” Wei Luowen smiled bitterly and shook his head. It was just a thought? It sounded so casual, but what happened when it materialized?
How many people had he stepped on to reach this point? Therefore, he had no way out…
His gaze fell on Wei Yuewu’s pale little face. That face was different from Rui’er’s. It was much colder, but at this time, there was a hint of concern. That pair of bright eyes reflected concern, and they made him involuntarily feel sad!
He had already disappointed Rui’er, so he would not allow anyone to hurt Yuewu! Never ever again!
In the study of the Duke of Yan State Mansion, Yan Huaijing unrolled the painting scroll that Wei Yuewu had given him, and his eyes darkened as he looked at the woman in the painting.
“Is this the painting that Sixth Miss Wei gave you?” Lin Fang, who came in quietly, looked at the painting and asked in astonishment. He did not expect Sixth Miss Wei to be so considerate to the heir-apparent.
But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it made sense. He had never seen any young miss who didn’t look shy or expectant in front of the heir-apparent. Yan Huaijing’s handsome look would make the other young ladies fall head over heels in love with him.
“No, this is not her self-portrait.” Yan Huaijing shook his head. He looked at the painting very carefully. On closer inspection, one would notice that Wei Yuewu’s facial features were more exquisite, and they didn’t look alike. Furthermore, the woman in the painting was about twenty years old, but Wei Yuewu was only thirteen.
“Who is that?” Lin Fang was taken aback. He observed more carefully again and realized that it was not Wei Yuewu.
“She is the late Marquise Hua Yang.” Looking at the face that was somewhat similar to Wei Yuewu’s, Yan Huaijing smiled slightly and reached out to take out a letter on the side of the painting scroll.
Wei Yuewu wrote the letter, stating that she needed Yan Huaijing’s help to think of a way to deliver this painting to Crown Prince Wen Tianyao!
If Wei Yuewu presented the painting to Wen Tianyao in person, it would have a bit of ambiguous intention in it, and it would be a great deal when others found out. However, it would be normal if Yan Huaijing was the one who gifted it. In addition, Wei Yuewu was certain that Yan Huaijing would deliver it stealthily.
Yan Huaijing was overjoyed gloatingly that Wei Yuewu passed the painting to him and relied on him to do something for her. Although he was a little annoyed by the fact that the painting was not intended to be given to him but to an outsider and he even thought of pranking her because of this, he decided to let her off the hook this time since she trusted him so much.
“Your Heir-apparent, why did Sixth Miss Wei give her mother’s portrait to you?” Lin Fang was confused. The heir-apparent’s glittering eyes intrigued him to look at the painting closer, but just as he poked his head forward, Yan Huaijing spotted his action and folded the painting, so he couldn’t see anything. Thus, he was very puzzled by Wei Yuewu’s actions.
He had only heard of people giving away dowry, but he had never heard of someone giving away their own mother’s portrait!
“Is Fourth Princess’ gift ready?” Yan Huaijing gently put the letter into his pocket and turned to ask Lin Fang.
At the mention of the serious matter, Lin Fang immediately restrained his mischievous smile and answered, “Yes, it’s the same as Third Princess’ gift.”
The Fourth Princess’ coming of age ceremony was around the corner, so he must deliver the gift to her beforehand. Lin Fang asked skeptically, “Your Heir-apparent, Fourth Princess is the Empress’ biological daughter. Is it appropriate to give her the same gift as you gave the Third Princess?”
“Of course, it is appropriate. The State of Yan treats the two princesses equally, so we can’t look down on the Third Princess just because she is the Zhaoyi Tu’s daughter.” Yan Huaijing rested his slender palm on the table and looked ahead with his profound eyes. At this time, he was not gentle at all. There was a strong dark and ruthless aura around his body.
Lin Fang could not help but sigh. If those obsessed young ladies of aristocratic families saw his cold and cruel expression now, would they still be so shy and want to pounce on him at any minute?
Actually, this was the real Yan Huaijing.
His usual elegant and affectionate appearance was just a disguise. The heir-apparent had always been ruthless and cunning. Of course, this mansion of Marquis Hua Yang’s Sixth Young Lady was really surprising too!
“Do you want to give a present to this Sixth Miss Wei?” Lin Fang suddenly felt that it was necessary to remind the heir-apparent.
“On what grounds?” Yan Huaijing glanced at Lin Fang. Although his eyes were deep, he was apparently very intrigued.
“Uh… There is a good reason!” Lin Fang patted his head and felt that it was rare for him to be smarter than the heir-apparent…
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