The package was quite heavy.
Zhao Yun carried the package back to the room with difficulty, sent Yu Ming away, and unpacked it. Inside were several dresses and a jewelry box.
The jewelry box is made of huanghuali wood, and the lid is inlaid with mother-of-pearl carved lotus patterns, with the thick pieces reflecting a pink luster.
Zhao Yun picked up a piece of clothing at random and discovered that it was woven with a broken weft and a patterned design, with the luster of each pattern displaying a different color.
She first saw this kind of fabric at a palace banquet, where she saw Consort Li wearing it.
However, at that time she only dared to glance at him from afar, and dared not stare at him for a long time, for fear of being punished for disrespect.
Zhao Zhi took the candlestick and looked at it closely, discovering that the colors of the flowers on the clothes were different depending on the angle from which they were viewed.
She ran her fingernail diagonally across the surface, picked up a thread, and examined it closely. The thread turned out to be a golden thread.
The clothes in his hand instantly fell to the ground.
"It's actually Yun brocade!" She hurriedly rummaged through the other dresses and found that they were all made of the same material.
Brocade is so precious that only people in the palace would wear it.
It's not that ordinary people aren't allowed to use it, but rather that this kind of fabric is just too expensive!
Today, my mother returned from the palace with a sachet made from a scrap of brocade. Seeing that she liked it, she gave it to her without hesitation.
Zhao Yun was even planning to show off to Zhao Zhi. Ha, she's managed to hook up with a powerful figure!
She felt a pang of sadness.
In terms of marriage, Zhao Zhi was betrothed to Prince Rui, while she was betrothed to Li Huai'an's heir; right now, she only received a brocade sachet, while Zhao Zhi possessed several brocade dresses.
Both are daughters of the Grand Secretary, so why does Zhao Zhi have all the good fortune?
Zhao Yun clenched her fists in anger, wishing she could burn all the clothes to the ground.
But she dared not. Since that person had given away such a valuable fabric as Yunjin so casually, he must be of noble or wealthy status, and she could not afford to offend him.
Zhao Yun closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly opened the jewelry box, a wave of sorrow washing over her.
A pair of golden butterfly hairpins, with eyes inlaid with black enamel, making them lifelike.
A white jade lotus hairpin, and a jade ruyi tassel hairpin with auspicious clouds.
There were also many exquisite bracelets and some earrings. At the very bottom were a sandalwood comb and a silver comb.
Zhao Yun stared, her eyes wide with amazement. These pieces of jewelry were clearly very valuable, and their exquisite designs indicated they were definitely not ordinary items.
The fire of jealousy in her heart reignited.
Zhao Yun stared intently at the jewelry box, thinking: No matter what, I must not lose to Zhao Zhi!
She decided to postpone reporting Zhao Zhi and instead use her to get closer to this mysterious benefactor and seize more opportunities, which would be in her best interest.
Since her parents are biased, she has to learn to plan more for herself.
The night is still and deep, the moonlight is bright.
Once Zhao Zhi confirmed that Chao Yan and Nan Ying were asleep, she changed into black clothes and flew onto the roof.
Before long, she arrived outside the Treasure Pavilion.
Chubao Pavilion had long since closed, and the room was pitch black.
Zhao Zhi had visited the Treasure Pavilion with her mother before. Recalling where the shopkeeper had placed the inventory register, she took out the luminous pearl and soon found it.
The inventory book is arranged according to the calendar.
Zhao Zhi pulled out the copy from the 412th year of the Great Xuan Dynasty and carefully examined it. He had almost finished reading it when he finally found a stub that was exactly the same as the one he had.
She noted down the grid markings and then put the inventory book back exactly as it was.
Zhao Zhi's gaze swept over the rows of storage compartments, and she finally found the one she was looking for.
Then he leaped up, pulled the hairpin from his head, pressed it hard, and then twisted it gently, and the lock opened.
Zhao Zhi took the contents out. After confirming that it was the box shown on the receipt, she restored the storage compartment and disappeared silently into the night.
After she left, several men in black followed closely behind her.
Zhao Zhi quickly noticed the anomaly by observing the shadows on the ground.
She said that things went too smoothly today!
It's definitely not possible to go back to Liujiang Street right now.
As Zhao Zhi gazed at the Prince Rui's residence not far away, a plan came to mind.
She thought to herself: Since Shen Hanshan is in the name of her fiancé, it's not too much to ask him to take the blame for her once, right?
Prince Rui was a womanizer, and no family's daughter was willing to marry him.
When she was ten years old, she attended a palace banquet with her mother. Prince Rui actually said to the emperor at the banquet, "I am in love with Zhao Zhi, the eldest daughter of Lord Zhao. I hope Your Majesty can grant me a marriage, so that she will not end up in another family."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Shouzhen quickly stood up to decline, saying that his eldest daughter was not yet engaged, and it would be inappropriate to arrange a marriage for his second daughter before his eldest daughter.
He said this to subtly remind the emperor that he was not happy with the marriage.
Whether the emperor was pretending not to understand or simply didn't comprehend his meaning, he quickly issued an imperial edict granting the marriage.
Zhao Shouzhen's eldest daughter, Zhao Yun, was given to Li Huai'an, the heir of the Duke's mansion, as his principal wife, while his second daughter, Zhao Zhi, was given to Prince Rui as his principal wife.
Zhao Shouzhen was so angry that he drank a lot of wine that day. If his colleagues hadn't stopped him, he would have almost gotten into a fight with Shen Hanshan at the palace gate.
Shortly afterward, the palace issued a decree to select girls, requiring healthy girls between the ages of eleven and seventeen to participate.
The palace is a den of iniquity; no wealthy family's daughter would willingly enter it if she weren't afraid of being punished.
Because the palace maids selected through the imperial concubine selection process were not necessarily meant to serve the emperor or be given to princes, most of them were assigned to various palaces to do hard labor and endured hardship until they were twenty-five years old before they could be released from the palace.
Zhao Zhi was unruly and unrestrained from a young age. If she entered the palace, Zhao Shouzhen would not be able to sleep all night.
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