Du Yutong knew that Jiang Shuyue was too busy with other things to play pitch-pot.
She said that to shut everyone up.
Give Jiang Shuyue more time to observe the pitching techniques; even if she loses, it won't be too embarrassing.
Du Yutong took the arrow, and Zhu'er, with great insight, stepped aside and stared wide-eyed at the spout of the pot.
Du Yutong picked up the arrow and made a throwing motion in the air.
Just when everyone thought she was about to throw the ball, she slowly lowered her hand.
"What? Miss Du wasn't prepared?" You Xian'er's words were indifferent, with an element of watching a show.
Du Yutong looked at You Xian'er with a playful expression, "No, I was thinking, it would be so boring without a prize."
This immediately piqued everyone's interest, and the girls looked at each other.
"We didn't prepare when we came out, what should we do?"
"Yes, we never thought there would be a prize involved in pitch-pot."
You Xian'er looked at the ruby and white jade hairpin in Jiang Shuyue's hair, and a smile appeared on her lips.
She plucked a butterfly-shaped gold hairpin from her jeweled head and looked at Du Yutong.
"This butterfly hairpin is the latest design from Jewellery House. Although the gemstones inlaid on it are not valuable, they are still more precious than the gold used in the entire hairpin."
"Wow! Miss You is so generous. This hairpin is made of a lot of gold and inlaid with gemstones. It must be very valuable."
"How much was it worth? One hundred taels? Or two hundred taels?"
The girls clicked their tongues and began to speculate.
Since it's a bet, everyone should contribute, and many girls weren't wearing any extra jewelry.
Qiuju observed everyone's expressions from the side.
My young lady only has one hairpin in her hair, what am I going to do?
Her eyes darted around, and she stepped forward, curtsied slightly, and showered You Xian'er with compliments.
“Miss You is beautiful, kind-hearted and generous. I admire her from the bottom of my heart. But the other young ladies don’t wear any extra jewelry. I have an idea, but I don’t know if I should say it.”
The young lady forbade her to argue with people, and Qiuju had been holding it in for a long time.
Du Yutong turned around and said, "Miss Qiuju, please feel free to speak your mind."
Qiuju turned her gaze to the young ladies' maids and smiled faintly.
"It's just a prize, just for fun. If the ladies have silver, they can use loose silver. If not, it's not necessary for each of them to contribute."
"Miss Qiuju is right. We were not prepared, so we are sorry."
Some young ladies' fathers held low-ranking official positions and their families were not wealthy, so they naturally didn't have much pocket money.
Their pitching skills are poor, so no matter how many prizes they offer, they can't win.
Qiuju's words undoubtedly saved them from their predicament, and the girls who were unwilling to spend money all chimed in.
"I brought some golden melon seeds; I'll offer one as a token of my appreciation."
"I'll offer two silver melon seeds in support of Miss You and Miss Du's proposal."
The wealthy ladies were not stingy and readily opened their wallets.
A palace maid nearby, with keen insight, handed over a tray.
A moment later, there was a large handful of golden and silver melon seeds on the tray.
With a light flick of her jade-like fingers, You Xian'er placed the butterfly hairpin on the golden melon seed.
She looked at Jiang Shuyue's pair of white jade earrings and said, "If you can't bear to part with the hairpin, earrings are fine too. It's not about the price of the item, but the sentiment behind it."
The implication was that Jiang Shuyue's earrings were worthless.
Even if it's worthless, we have to get it, otherwise it's too easy for her.
She won a pair of earrings from the famous Yue Niang in the capital. Even though the earrings were only worth one tael of silver, the fame she gained was immeasurable.
Those earrings looked very ordinary, and You Xian'er didn't like them.
Since things had come to this point, Jiang Shuyue couldn't very well ask Qiuju for money.
After relieving the young ladies of their predicament, Qiuju calmly retreated to Jiang Shuyue's side.
Jiang Shuyue looked at You Xian'er, a slight smile playing on her lips.
Want her earrings?
dream!
She slowly and deliberately slipped a jade bracelet with excellent translucency off her wrist; it was the one the Empress Dowager had personally put on her wrist.
She held up the jade bracelet. "Miss You is so sincere, how could I bully the weak? The earrings are worthless, but this jade bracelet should be worth more than your hairpin."
"Miss!" Qiu Ju exclaimed in surprise.
That was a gift personally bestowed by the Empress Dowager. If we lose, even if the Empress Dowager spares us from punishment out of consideration for Sui Sui, it would still be a great disrespect.
Most of the young ladies here come from noble families and have naturally seen countless fine things.
Someone exclaimed in surprise, "Moon Lady's bracelet is worth a fortune!"
You Xian'er's eyes lit up; the quality of that jade bracelet was many times better than the pair on her stepmother's wrist.
"No, no, no, Sister Yue'er, I was just saying. Your prize is too big. Please put it away."
Seeing Jiang Shuyue put the jade bracelet into the tray, Du Yutong quickly stopped her.
"It's nothing, just a jade bracelet. Money is just an external thing; you can't take it with you when you die. As long as everyone is happy."
The more nonchalant Jiang Shuyue spoke, the more anxious Du Yutong became.
She wanted to slap herself. She couldn't stand You Xian'er, but she shouldn't have rashly asked for a prize.
Her original intention was to tease You Xian'er, but she didn't expect that this would cause Yue'er to suffer the most.
What a loss! A huge loss!
Looking at the jade bracelet, her heart bled.
She glanced at You Xian'er with a slight flicker in her eyes, "It doesn't matter if the prize is small, but this prize is valuable. I'd be embarrassed to actually take it even if I won, don't you think?"
You Xian'er knew exactly what Du Yutong was thinking.
She smiled broadly and gestured for them to proceed.
"Miss Du, please don't be shy. Take what you win. A gentleman's word is as good as his bond. We women are the same; what we say is what we mean. There's no reason to take back what we've given away."
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