The green jade pendant was a personal item of Gu Yun. In public, he gave the jade pendant to Yu Jiao, which he was wearing close to his body. The meaning behind it cannot help but make people think a lot.
Several young ladies' eyes dimmed when they thought of how kindly the wife of Marquis Annan treated Yu Jiao in Baoshou Hall. It seemed that the Marquis Annan's family really wanted to marry the youngest daughter that the Liu family had just found.
"I'll take the South Pearls, but you can keep the jade pendant." Yu Jiao knew that Gu Yun's ostentatious behavior was not to show off, but to give her face. She appreciated the kindness. A box of South Pearls was already very valuable, so how could she have the nerve to ask for something else.
Gu Yun took back the jade pendant and said with a smile, "Sister Yu Jiao just returned to Beijing, so she must not know what delicious food and fun things are out there. I will take you out to play in the future."
Liu Ziqi stepped forward and said to Gu Yun, "You should be more restrained. With a brother like me here, there is no need for you to meddle in other people's affairs."
Liu Ziqi said this with a smile, mostly as a joke. Gu Yun put his arm around his shoulders and said, "Your sister is my sister. There's no need for us to be fussy about this."
Liu Ziqi smiled slightly. The Liu family is a big place that attracts the wind. He has never been an official, so it is not easy for him, the young master Liu, to take the lead in many things. But Gu Yun is different. He is the young marquis of Annan Marquisate and has a reputation as a playboy in the capital. He can protect Yu Jiao openly, which is why he indulges Gu Yun to be so ostentatious today.
After meeting everyone, Yu Jiao reaped a lot of rewards. There were so many gifts that Jianjia and Bailu behind her could hardly hold them all.
Old Madam Liu was too tired to work, so she went back to Baoshou Hall to rest. Madam Liu invited the women in the mansion to go to the backyard to listen to opera, while Liu Ci Fu and the male guests went to the front hall to drink tea and play chess.
Yu Jiao was asked by Madam Liu to sit next to her, and her biological daughter Liu Yaoyu sat next to Yu Jiao. By arranging the seats like this, Madam Liu also wanted to honor Yu Jiao in front of outsiders.
The sound of gongs and drums on the stage was very lively. Yu Jiao looked at it with curiosity and focused her attention on the stage.
Then she heard Jianjia, who was standing beside her, say, "Miss, Bailu and I will take the gifts back to the yard first and will be back soon."
Because these gifts were very valuable, and every South China pearl given by the young Marquis Gu was indispensable, Jianjia was worried and asked the little maid to take the things back to the courtyard.
Yu Jiao nodded, reached out to grab a handful of melon seeds from the table beside her, and continued to look at the stage while eating them.
The curtain on the stage was lifted, and the actor who played the role of a martial artist came on stage. He wielded his spear smoothly and did more than a dozen backflips in a row, which was dazzling to watch.
The young ladies in the audience were obviously not interested in listening to the opera; only the older women were watching seriously.
Yu Jiao suddenly heard Liu Yaoyu's voice, "Third sister, do you like watching plays?"
Yu Jiao turned to look at her, smiled slightly and asked, "Second sister, don't you like it?"
Liu Yaoyu curled her lips and said disdainfully, "What's so good about all the noise? Only people my age like to watch it."
Yu Jiao smiled and said, "It's actually quite interesting." When she came to Taiyan, there was usually no entertainment at all. Although the stage was full of clichés, it was still a kind of entertainment program after all.
"Didn't you see that many people can't sit still?" Liu Yaoyu said.
Yu Jiao looked behind her and saw that many chairs were empty, as expected, the younger girls had all left.
Liu Yaoyu tugged at Yu Jiao's sleeve and said, "Third sister, I'll take you to meet my usual playmates, and we'll play together in the future."
She had cried out of grievance before, and the more she thought about it afterwards, the more she felt that she was too stingy. But when she saw Yu Jiao received so many gifts when she opened the ancestral hall in the afternoon, she didn't feel bad anymore. She had received so many gifts during the holidays in the past. This was the first time Yu Jiao had received a gift since she was a child, so although the gift was a bit expensive, it was reasonable.
At this moment, Liu Yaoyu thought that as an elder sister, she should take care of Yu Jiao.
Yu Jiao hesitated and looked at Madam Liu. Madam Liu had heard the two of them whispering to each other a long time ago. "Go and have fun. Young girls don't like to watch this, so I won't restrict you."
Liu Yaoyu smiled, pulled Yu Jiao up, left the stage and went to the back garden.
There were quite a few girls in the back garden, all gathered in groups of three or four talking. When they saw Liu Yaoyu and Yu Jiao coming over, they all looked up at them.
Liu Yaoyu took Yu Jiao's hand and went straight to the pavilion. She smiled and said to the girls in the pavilion, "Okay, you all stay here to have some peace and quiet, but you didn't even call me."
Liu Yaoyu spoke so intimately, it was obvious that the people in the pavilion were her close friends with whom she had a very good relationship. Yu Jiao discovered that Chen Wan was among them.
The woman in a white butterfly-patterned jacket with a double-breasted collar said with a smile, "Who told you to sit under the stage? If I call you out, I'll have to alert the elders. It's very rude of you to sneak out like this."
"This is my third sister Yu Jiao, whom you have all seen just now." Liu Yaoyu said to Yu Jiao with a smile, "This is the second Miss Song, Song Jingrong."
Yu Jiao had met the second Miss Song in the old lady's room. She was two years older than her and was said to be quite talented. Her grandfather was the Minister of Rites, Song Ling.
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