Chapter 384 Substituting One Thing for Another
"Young Master Bai's marriage is a joyous occasion."
Lin Yuesha completely ignored Bai Youran's words. Her family had dealings with the Bai family, and although she didn't expect the Bai family to take care of her family's business, she couldn't afford to become enemies.
As Bai Dingfeng was getting married, Lin Yuesha had no choice but to offer her congratulations; frankly, she couldn't avoid giving a gift.
"How about this, we'll add some makeup for Li Ruoshuang."
When it comes to social obligations, there's no other way if you're unwilling. After all, they were classmates at the girls' school, so Bai Youran's visit was probably about this matter.
"Yes, that's what the others discussed as well."
The young ladies of the girls' school received the news and all went to the Li family's villa in the prefectural city that day to add to their dowry and offer their congratulations.
Lin Yuesha nodded. Since they had already discussed it, she could just inform them. Why did they have to resort to tricks and hints? She would wait for Lin Yuesha to tell them about the extra makeup. Dealing with such cunning people was too tiring.
In contrast, getting along with Jiang Baozhu is much simpler. The two sisters speak frankly with each other, without having to guess, which reduces a lot of misunderstandings.
"In that case, let's go to the shop together and take a look."
The largest jewelry shop in the prefectural city, Cuiyulou, is a branch of the capital city and has a great reputation there, but its prices are a bit high.
She still had to give the money as a gift, but Lin Yuesha didn't have much money on hand. She planned to use the money she got from exchanging Li Ruoxue's gold hairpin to give as a gift. Since the money would come from the recipient anyway, she wasn't too bothered by the expense.
The two rode in the Bai family's carriage straight to the Jade Pavilion.
Bai Youran walked in front, followed closely by Lin Yuesha. It was her first time visiting Cuiyu Tower, and she wasn't going to buy any expensive jewelry, but rather to broaden her horizons.
"Miss Bai, you've arrived."
The waitress recognized Bai Youran and greeted her warmly when she came to Cuiyulou. "We've brought in another batch of jewelry from the capital. Do you see anything you like?"
Jewelry from the Northern Pearl Silver Shop is expensive if it is transported from the capital. It requires a caravan to escort it along the way. If it encounters bandits, all the goods will be lost. Therefore, there are not many styles transported from the capital city. Each time, the ladies and young ladies of the powerful and wealthy can choose first.
When Prefect Bai's son got married, all the major shops, being well-informed, rushed to offer them bribes.
"Please come upstairs and have a seat, both of you."
The waitress didn't recognize Lin Yuesha, but someone who could come with Miss Bai must be someone of high status. The waitress was quite polite and didn't snub Lin Yuesha in a powerless way.
Bai Youran nodded and led Lin Yuesha to her usual private room on the second floor of the Jade Pavilion.
"Miss Bai, you'll need to change to a private room today."
The waitress looked troubled. There was someone in that private room, and it was said to be Miss Bai's future sister-in-law. As the younger sister-in-law, there was no way she could compete with her sister-in-law.
Miss Li is about to get married, and the head housekeeper of the Li family brought her to buy jewelry on a large scale, almost emptying the inventory of Cuiyulou. She is a big customer.
You might not encounter a customer like that for eight or ten years.
"It's good to have a first-come, first-served principle in everything."
Bai Youran found it strange. Was there anyone in the prefectural city with a higher status than her? Judging from the waitress's expression, she was afraid that Bai Youran would offend the person inside by taking a spot.
"Please wait a moment, miss, while I serve you some tea and refreshments."
The waitress casually closed the door, leaving Bai Youran and Lin Yuesha staring at each other in bewilderment.
"I think I heard Li Ruoshuang's voice."
Lin Yuesha was unsure. The word "buy it" had sounded rather jarring. She wondered if Li Ruoshuang was feeling smug because she had married the man she desired in place of Li Ruoxue and gotten rid of her sister who was an eyesore and competing with her.
"Moonlight Maiden, are you hallucinating?"
Bai Youran's smile was forced. She had her suspicions, but didn't want to think about it that way. Li Ruoshuang had married her elder brother as she wished, but before even entering the Bai family, she was already behaving arrogantly towards her.
The brother and sister share the surname Bai. What is Li Ruoshuang anyway? She's an outsider.
The eldest brother's marriage to Li Ruoshuang now is just a delaying tactic; one day in the future, he will divorce her.
"That's also possible."
Bai Youran didn't respond, so Lin Yuesha didn't know how to continue.
After chatting for a while, the waitress served tea and snacks and handed over a jewelry box, which contained jewelry of various kinds, all of which had been transported from the capital.
Each piece of jewelry is exquisite, demonstrating the craftsman's skill; however, judging from the materials used, they are not very valuable, even less so than those from an ordinary jewelry store.
Bai Youran seemed to realize something, and her expression darkened further.
"Miss Bai, this is a new product from our Jade Pavilion. It's small and pretty, and it's exactly the style that's currently popular in the capital."
The waitress was afraid of being scolded, but thinking that Miss Bai was good-tempered, she still introduced Bai Youran to her.
Bai Youran remained lost in thought, seemingly uninterested, while Lin Yuesha, on the other hand, was quite fond of them, looking at each one as she wanted to choose a beautiful hairpin for Jiang Baozhu.
Lin Yuesha couldn't afford anything too expensive, but something too cheap wouldn't show her sincerity. The styles in the capital were just right—exquisite and within her budget.
"Hey buddy, I want this one."
Lin Yuesha quickly made her selections, but as for the makeup for Li Ruoshuang, she didn't even look at it and just picked up a random piece.
She looked up and saw that Bai Youran was still deep in thought. She asked the waiter, "Excuse me, where is a place to wash up and settle in?"
When nature calls, she needed to use the restroom.
"Just walk to the end after you leave the door."
The waitress opened the door and gave Lin Yuesha directions. Taking this opportunity, she explained to Bai Youran that she really didn't have any valuable jewelry and didn't mean to deceive the prefect's daughter.
Lin Yuesha turned left after leaving the building. The Jade Pavilion was really nice. The outhouse was exceptionally clean and incense-filled. They even provided hand sanitizer for the ladies.
"Hmph, Jade Pavilion is nothing special, what a piece of junk it is."
Just as Lin Yuesha was about to go out, she heard a familiar voice. After a moment's thought, she decided to hide back inside the small door she had just been using.
Through the gap, one could see Li Ruoshuang leading her maid to the outhouse, instructing the maid to fetch water to wash her hands.
The pockmarked man said Li Ruoshuang was crazy, but he couldn't tell now. She didn't show any sadness at the death of her older sister; instead, she was very spoiled and picky.
“Miss, this is the Jade Pavilion, but it’s just a branch. What good stuff could it possibly have? It can’t compare to the jewelry that Madam prepared for you.”
The maidservant offered a few flattering words of comfort.
The Li family was extremely wealthy and also ran a canal transport business, so they had no shortage of money.
Yes.
Li Ruoshuang looked in the bronze mirror. She was getting married, but the engagement was too rushed. The dowry from Yingcheng couldn't be transported over, so her family had to give her money to buy things in the prefectural city. On this trip, she almost bought out all the jewelry she had her eye on at Cuiyulou.
"I heard someone even tried to take my private room. How ungrateful!"
After Li Ruoshuang finished speaking, she gestured for her maid to roll up her sleeves so she could wash her hands. In that instant, Lin Yuesha saw clearly through the gap that Li Ruoshuang had an injury on her arm!
No, it's not Li Ruoshuang, it's Li Ruoxue. That wound was also from when she was bitten by a vicious dog at the girls' school. So Li Ruoxue didn't die!
However, one of the Li twin sisters died to cover up the truth. Was it not Li Ruoxue who died, but Li Ruoshuang? The Li family has substituted one sister for another!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
