Chapter 16 Praying that God would send the little girl to him...
When Prince Duan got serious, Xiaoqian, who didn't recognize him, was terrified and panicked. She hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy.
“Sir, the item truly belongs to my master. I am not lying to you.”
Prince Duan lifted his long robe and sat down casually in a chair. "Clear the area."
Immediately, someone chased the shopkeeper and the waiter out, leaving only Prince Duan and Xiaoqian inside.
He bent down and lifted Xiaoqian's chin. "Tell me the truth, where did this stuff come from? If you dare to say a single wrong word, I'll have you beaten to death right now."
Xiaoqian didn't suspect that her mistress had stolen something; she must have found it when she went to the palace that day and now someone had recognized her.
Miss Ke couldn't explain, and she didn't want to be accused of stealing, so she gritted her teeth and said, "Sir, I can tell the truth, but please, please don't tell anyone else."
Their only goal was to escape the Marquis's mansion. They didn't know the man in front of them. As long as he didn't say anything out of line and the Marquis's mansion remained unaware, she and her young lady would still have a chance.
Prince Duan, eager to find out the origin of the jade pendant, nodded.
Xiaoqian then spoke up: "This doesn't belong to my master, it belongs to my young lady."
"Your young lady?" Prince Duan asked, frowning.
Xiaoqian dared not hide the truth. "She is a cousin of the Marquis of Wu'an." She crawled in front of Prince Duan, grabbed his clothes and continued to cry and beg, "Please, sir, don't tell anyone. My young lady is in trouble and urgently needs money, so she asked me to sell her gold, silver and valuables."
"This jade pendant was a gift from someone else; I definitely didn't steal it. You can believe me."
Prince Duan fiddled with the jade pendant, "Your young lady's surname is Tang?"
Xiaoqian nodded.
Prince Duan still didn't believe it: "You're still lying to me. As far as I know, the Marquis's mansion is not short of money, so why would they sell off their belongings?"
Xiaoqian couldn't possibly reveal that her mistress was planning to escape from the Marquis's mansion.
"Master, this is a long story, but it has nothing to do with the jade pendant. Please spare me. I swear to heaven that I have not told a single lie."
Xiaoqian knelt on the ground, feeling uneasy.
I didn't check the almanac before going out, and I was mistaken for a thief and arrested.
Judging from his clothes and appearance, he must be someone of high status and wealth, someone I can't afford to offend.
Once Prince Duan understood the truth, he naturally wouldn't make things difficult for Xiaoqian.
"Stand up and speak."
Xiaoqian finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, sir."
Prince Duan tapped his long fingers on the table. "How has your young lady been lately?"
“Of course not…” Xiaoqian blurted out, then realized that she didn’t know the people in front of her, so how could she say such things to them? “It’s alright, that’s what it’s like to live under someone else’s roof.”
Prince Duan gripped the jade pendant, somewhat anxiously, "Since it's not good, why not ask the owner of this jade pendant for help?"
Xiaoqian didn't understand. "Huh?"
Prince Duan explained, "Didn't your young lady mention that when the owner of this jade pendant gave it to her, she told her that she could do something for her?"
Xiaoqian shook her head: "I never said that."
Prince Duan thought of Tang Xinuan's situation; she probably didn't know how to ask for help.
He handed the jade pendant to Xiaoqian: "Keep it safe. You can pawn anything, but not this jade pendant. It could save your life in a critical moment."
Xiaoqian thanked her repeatedly.
Prince Duan glanced at the jewelry and jade she wanted to pawn, "Are these all yours?"
Xiaoqian nodded quickly.
Prince Duan: "How much is it worth?"
Xiaoqian didn't know either.
Prince Duan turned around and snapped his fingers, and immediately someone brought in the shopkeeper.
Prince Duan glanced at the shopkeeper and said, "Calculate how much these jewels are worth in silver. I'll take them all."
The shopkeeper hurriedly took the abacus, estimated each item one by one, and added them together.
"A total of seven thousand taels of silver."
Prince Duan ordered someone to take out a silver note and hand it to Xiaoqian, saying, "Money for goods, now go back and report."
Xiaoqian accepted the silver notes and jade pendant, and hurriedly ran out of the pawnshop.
In any case, the item was pawned.
They also pawned a lot of money.
She and her mistress no longer need to worry about making a living after escaping the Marquis's mansion.
After Xiaoqian left, Prince Duan tossed a gold ingot to the shopkeeper, saying, "If anyone dares to spread even a single word about what happened today, don't blame me for being ruthless."
The shopkeeper dared not speak carelessly: "Your Highness, rest assured, I will not utter a single word unless I want to lose my head."
...
Xiaoqian told the guards that she had come out to buy some snacks, so naturally she wanted to bring some back with her.
After leaving the antique shop, she went straight to Yueyang Tower and bought a little of everything the shop had, including plum blossom cakes, peach cakes, and poria cocos cakes.
Afterwards, they rushed back to the Marquis's residence, and everything went smoothly.
However, she was constantly worried, afraid that someone would notice.
Only after returning to the inner room, closing the door, and handing the silver notes to Tang Xinuan.
"Miss, Miss, look how much silver I made!"
Tang Xinuan couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy.
"Seven thousand taels? That much?"
Xiaoqian nodded: "The antique shop owner got a good deal, it can't be wrong."
Tang Xinuan counted repeatedly, "I didn't expect the boss to be such a nice person, he didn't lie to us."
Xiaoqian didn't know what to say for a moment, "Miss, actually it wasn't the antique shop owner who accepted it."
Tang Xinuan asked curiously, "Who is that?"
Xiaoqian said, "I don't know who he is either," as she took out the jade pendant and handed it to Tang Xinuan. "Someone recognized this jade pendant and thought I stole it. He's going to report it to the authorities..."
Tang Xinuan was terrified. "And then what happened?"
Xiaoqian told her not to worry, "Miss, I'm fine. Later, I explained to him that it was your jade pendant, but I didn't mention that we were trying to escape. He then asked the antique shop owner to buy all the jewelry I brought at a reasonable price."
Oh, and he also asked me to give you the jade pendant, saying that its owner promised to help you with something.
Tang Xinuan naturally remembered the jade pendant.
She also remembered the person who gave her the jade pendant.
But she didn't think that person could help her in any way.
She can't even do the simplest arithmetic; she's even dumber than her. How can she help her?
“Miss,” Xiaoqian said in a low voice, “why don’t I try contacting that person with the jade pendant? If he can help you, then things will be much easier for us.”
Most importantly, there are people outside to meet us, so we don't have to worry about encountering danger when we leave the Marquis's residence.
Tang Xinuan had not considered this possibility.
"No way, what if he betrays us?"
Xiaoqian thought her mistress was unusually clever for once. "That's right, no man can be trusted. We won't ask him for help; we'll find a way out ourselves."
Zhou Chuanxing, who had never been an option before, was reviewing memorials when he suddenly sneezed.
Seeing Prince Duan enter the Hall of Diligent Governance with a smug smile, he asked coldly, "Where have you been? Why are you so happy?"
Prince Duan threw the package onto his table, saying, "See for yourself."
Zhou Chuanxing frowned. "Take all this random stuff away."
Prince Duan chuckled and said, "If I take it now, you'll be crying."
Zhou Chuanxing didn't think there was anything that could make him cry.
But since his younger brother had already put it that way, he had no choice but to cooperate.
So he opened the bundle.
It consists of pearls, jade, and various gold jewelry.
"You went to be a thief, what are you going to do with all this jewelry?"
Prince Duan leaned closer to Zhou Chuanxing with a cheeky grin, "Second Brother, do you know whose things this is?"
Zhou Chuanxing frowned.
Prince Duan: "That young lady from the Marquis's mansion."
Zhou Chuanxing: "...Where did you get this?"
Prince Duan, with a look of "Praise me, how can I be so capable?", said, "I intercepted one of her maids who was brought out."
Zhou Chuanxing didn't understand for a moment, "Is she short of money? Or did the maid steal it?"
Prince Duan shook his head: "No, the young lady is preparing money right now, it seems she is planning to leave the Marquis's mansion."
Zhou Chuanxing suddenly felt a tremor in his heart.
"You mean the young lady wants to leave the Marquis's mansion?"
Prince Duan nodded: "That's possible. I've sent people to keep an eye on that maid. Any news will come through."
Zhou Chuanxing was not a Buddhist, but now he desperately wanted to kneel before the Buddha and beg for his blessing so that the little girl could be delivered to his side.
"By the way, how's the marriage proposal from the Marquis's family going?"
Prince Duan had just learned that: "It's not going too smoothly. The Duke of Wei is not very willing, but the young lady of the Wei family is willing, so it should be possible, although it will take some twists and turns."
Zhou Chuanxing hesitated for a moment, then said, "Book me a table at Babaozhai tomorrow and invite the Duke of Wei and the Crown Prince of Chu."
"Alright!" Prince Duan agreed without hesitation.
A note from the author:
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Regent: Watch how I bring those two together.
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