Chapter 103 Chapter 103: Drawing a single thread...
After getting the headdress back, Lin Qiuran asked her maid to ask the jewelry shop about it. It was a golden-green cat's-eye jewel, which was expensive in itself and even harder to find a complete set. When she didn't wear the jewelry, she kept it in her private vault.
Lin Qiuran remembered it now and wanted to take it out and take a closer look at it.
I also like jewelry and buy it myself. But the first set of jewelry I bought after arriving here was probably the gold bracelet and earrings I dug up in the vegetable garden of my hometown in Xiaojia Village. Later, I pawned it to buy a house, and sold the jewelry box and the jewelry box for a total of 37 taels of silver.
Lin Qiuran initially thought Sun had buried it, but it wasn't. Later, she realized that anything she dug from her own land belonged to her, and since it had been there for so long, no one in the village had looked for it, so she pawned it. Sun even told her she could buy it back when she had the money.
During the Lunar New Year that year, Lin Qiuran bought a gold bracelet and other jewelry. She would buy more jewelry during the holidays and even buy anything she liked on a regular basis. She now had quite a bit of jewelry in her makeup box, including gold, silver, and jade. She had sold the set she had originally used for emergencies, but Lin Qiuran had never thought about it again. Even when she had money, she had never considered redeeming it.
Now that I think about it, the gold bracelets sold by Yu An Jewelry Shop are all made up of the price of gold plus labor costs, but the one with the box attached can be sold at such a high price, and the price itself must be several times higher. The pawnshop is not stupid, so how could it do business at a loss?
Why would such valuable things appear in the village?
Lin Qiuran had some thoughts in her mind, but she couldn't grasp them. She wanted to look at the jewelry that Madam Qin had given her, perhaps she could see something.
Lin Xia went to get something, and Lin Qiuran waited in the house drinking tea.
The weather outside was just right. If it weren't for the twelfth lunar month, everyone could go out to collect folk songs and have fun. Of course, there were people who were not afraid of being tired or cold. Tangyuan and Xiao Xun went to the new house today. She used the carriage, and I wonder if the father and son were cold on the way there.
Tangyuan is very attached to Xiao Xun now. Xiao Xun is lively and active, and Xiao Xun is good at martial arts. Especially since he just saw the child, he couldn't help but spoil him, so Tangyuan naturally likes him.
With someone watching the child, Lin Qiuran felt much more relaxed.
Soon, Lin Xia brought the box over. Lin Qiuran took a few glances at it that day. After all, she had jewelry, and even if the items were valuable, they were not something she would admire or worship every day.
Lin Qiuran didn't rush to open it, but instead placed the box on the table to examine its exterior. Looking at it again today, he felt even more that the box possessed a quaint elegance. The hollowed-out carvings on it were made of the finest materials. Against the skylight outside the window, he could see golden patterns entwined and glittering.
Lin Qiuran remembered that there were patterns on the box, but he never thought that the box was valuable and never looked at it carefully.
Lin Qiuran felt that this pattern was somewhat familiar, but she could not remember clearly what the box looked like. She only knew that it was made of gold, so it was expensive.
If it really is a similar box, and the same as she guessed... then Madam Qin would look at him differently for some reason. It would explain why the old marquis was chasing Tangyuan and Madam Qin mentioned Xiao Xun several times and inquired about the Xiao family.
Looking at them one by one, they seem to have nothing to do with each other, but when put together, they can be connected.
Lin Qiuran opened the box again and looked at the jewelry inside one by one. She found nothing strange.
After putting the jewelry away, she closed the box and this time looked carefully outside. It was incredible, but she also felt that she was overthinking things. How could such a thing be possible? If not for this, why would Madam Qin treat her like that? From the time she first arrived in the capital to now, if it weren't for Madam Qin, Lin Qiuran didn't know how many detours she would have taken.
When Lin Qiuran first came to this world, she knew that Sun and Xiao Dashi had separated from the old house. She didn't know anything else, so she lived with Sun and Xiao Dashi while pregnant. Later, Xiao Xun came back, but she only occasionally thought that Xiao Xun was good-looking and didn't look much like Sun and Xiao Dashi.
They don't look alike, but it would not be good to suspect that Xiao Xun is not their biological son because of this.
Lin Qiuran stroked the box. If this wasn't his biological child, then Mrs. Qin's cautious and eager look made it seem like the child was probably a relative of the Marquis of Anyang's family.
In aristocratic families like these, children are protected as if they were the apple of their eye. If they were lost, they would have searched for them in a big way, and would never be as cautious as Madam Qin, who seemed to want to ask but didn't dare.
If it wasn't lost, then it's very likely that something happened and they had to send the person away. Otherwise, why wouldn't they bother looking for him? And who would leave the capital to go to a place like Xiaojia Village?
If Xiao Xun had not joined the army and made meritorious contributions, Lin Qiuran would probably have gone to Xuzhou first instead of coming to the capital.
Lin Qiuran closed the box. These were all her guesses. Perhaps it was just like what Mrs. Qin said, that she and Tangyuan had a good impression of the old lady.
Lin Qiuran glanced down at the box, then looked away. She had Tangyuan, and now Xiao Xun had been conferred a title. Life was stable and fulfilling. Tangyuan would soon be going to school, and the Jinding Tower had opened in the capital... Everything was thriving.
She shouldn't care about these things. Whether it's true or not, she should just pretend not to know.
Lin Qiuran closed the box and said, "Lin Xia, take the things back to the warehouse."
Lin Xia nodded. Just as she picked up the box, Lin Qiuran said, "Forget it. Let's put it on the dressing table first. Maybe it will come in handy later."
Lin Qiuran thought about it, then stood up, put on his cloak, and went to Shou'an Hall.
The sun was shining brightly. Sun was embroidering in front of the window, humming Yu An's unique tune. There was a charcoal brazier not far from her feet, and the stove was burning, so the room was very warm.
Sun was wearing a middle-length gown and a cotton vest, sitting with her legs crossed in a relaxed posture.
Seeing Lin Qiuran coming, Sun smiled and said, "Come and sit down. Take a look at this pattern. Isn't it beautiful? I went out to see others wearing it and tried to embroider it. You will go out more often in the future, so you need to make more clothes."
Lin Qiuran leaned over and took a look. She also saw wrinkles on Sun's face, and a few small spots on her face. Sun's appearance had not changed much in the past few years. She had gained some weight and looked younger, but there were some spots on her face, which would appear with age.
She also has white hair on her head. She dresses simply at home, with a mutton-fat jade hairpin and an agate headband, which is very elegant.
Lin Qiuran sighed inwardly, "It looks really nice, but you have to be careful with your eyes and not embroider it for too long."
Mrs. Sun: "I know. I don't have much to do during the day, so I embroider. I'm slow, so I can't move a stitch for a long time."
Lin Qiuran nodded and sat down. "I don't know if the letter has arrived yet. Dad, please come over quickly. You'll have company too."
She had her things to do, Xiao Xun had his things to do, Tangyuan was about to go to school, and in the huge mansion, she just spent her time doing housework.
Sun: "Your father is a man who never dawdles in his work. I'm afraid he'll come here to bring in grain or something. Did you mention this in your letter? You can buy everything in the capital, but please don't bring in the autumn harvest grain. He might also bring in some vegetables. I'm afraid it would be a big loss if he came alone."
Lin Qiuran said, "I forgot about that. I also forgot something else."
Sun stopped and looked at Lin Qiuran. Lin Qiuran hesitated and said, "I asked my father to go to the village head in my hometown to have some information. He can provide money to renovate the village ancestral hall and repair the road. Respecting the elders and doing things for the village is beneficial. I am worried that people from the old house will get involved again. Although Yu'an is far from the capital, I am still worried about affecting my husband..."
Sun put down the embroidery tent with a "bang". "How dare they have such a nerve? Where does this big face come from?"
Lin Qiuran nodded. "Yes, when the message came back, it said Xiao Xun was not there. No one from the old house showed up when we were doing business. They only came here after knowing we had moved to the county town. But when we arrived, they didn't even give us a housewarming ceremony. They just asked us to prepare the meals and a large group of people. They didn't treat us as relatives at all."
Mentioning this Sun, he felt dissatisfied. "If she really dares to get involved, I'll have a good talk with her! Do I really have to work like a slave for her all my life?"
Xiao Dashi often returned to Xiaojia Village. It was unknown whether he subsidized Sun privately, but if it affected Xiao Xun's career, Sun would never agree to it no matter what.
She had been tortured by the Bai family for many years, and had only a few days of good life during the Spring Festival. Sun said: "If you use the word filial piety to pressure others, I will tell you everything I have done in my hometown over the years. If it doesn't work, I will not acknowledge Xiao Xun as my son. Let's see how she can pretend to be a relative.
At first, she complained that I couldn't have children, so I had to do all the housework. Later, I finally got a share of the family. After picking up Xiao Xun, she refused to acknowledge him, saying that he was an ungrateful person. It's not okay if I don't have one, and it's not okay if I have one. Xiao Xun has never eaten a grain of rice in the old house since he grew up. I don't think she dares to say anything!"
Lin Qiuran's heart was beating like a drum. Sun's words probably couldn't be hidden from her original body. Besides, everyone knew what happened in the village once it was spread.
Lin Qiuran had never asked about these things since he came here, so naturally he didn't know. With only one child in the family, who would think about whether the child was born by blood or not?
It's no wonder that when the news of Xiao Xun's death came back, Sun and Xiao Dashi were willing to let her abort the child and remarry. If it was her biological child, she would probably fight to the death to preserve the bloodline.
In this era, people value raising children to provide for one's old age. Xiao Xun is gone, and his grandson is not his biological son. He has just gotten married and has no idea what his daughter-in-law's personality is like. The two of them have to find someone to take care of them in their old age. The relatives in their hometown are unreliable, so they are willing to sell out.
If Lin Qiuran was Sun, he would be willing to give her a backup dowry when she got married and recognize her as his daughter. At least there would be someone to take care of him in his old age and see him to the end of his life.
If they were forced to stay, the child would suffer if Lin Qiuran didn't care when the two of them were gone.
Naturally, Lin Qiuran was willing to keep the child because she saw that the two of them had good personalities and she could make the decisions at home. It would be better to raise her own child than to go back to her parents' home and marry someone else to raise other children.
Sun's life was difficult in the past, but now it has finally come to fruition. Lin Qiuran said, "Xiao Xun is very clear-headed. I asked my father to take care of the village head and the elders. They are not blind, so you can rest assured."
"I'm afraid your father is a confused guy who can't tell right from wrong. He'll be fine if I coax him a few times. If he dares, I will divorce him." Sun was annoyed that Xiao Dashi didn't come with her, so she had to worry about him now.
Lin Qiuran said, "Father won't do that. I have to consider my husband. Even if that's the case, we will definitely side with you."
Lin Qiuran had been making arrangements, and even Tang Yuanyue had invited the village head and the elders to come, which was not completely useless. People who eat from others and are grateful for what they receive will always appreciate these good things.
But if they are really shameless, now that they have moved to the capital, people from their hometown don’t have that much money to come to the capital, so they have to beg for money.
Leaving Shou'an Hall, Lin Qiuran couldn't help but think back to the past. Actually, there were some clues. When she was about to give birth, Liu came early and kept giving instructions, saying she was worried that Sun wouldn't take good care of her. She didn't take it to heart at the time, but it turned out to be because of this.
She looked at the sky and sighed. What should she do now?
Xiao Xun was not Yu Anlin Qiuran's biological son, so how did he come here? Yu Anlin Qiuran didn't know, but it was true that the Anyang Marquis' Mansion had some concerns.
On one side, she lived a peaceful life. Tang Yuan was good, the family was good, and Sun Shi was good. On the other side, there was Xiao Xun. If she were Xiao Xun, knowing that she was not her biological child and could not find him, she would not be happy. But if the people around her knew about it and deliberately concealed it, she would not be happy.
Sun and Xiao Dashi are open-minded people who can give Xiao Xun such a name. If they knew that their relatives were here and had their own difficulties at the beginning, but did not recognize them, how would they deal with it?
Lin Qiuran arrived at the main courtyard. Tangyuan and Xiaoxun also returned, and the three of them ate there. They were moving the day after tomorrow. Tangyuan excitedly told Lin Qiuran how the house looked. "Mom, I chose a yard with bamboo. Dad said it's close, and I can practice martial arts every day. The scenery is beautiful."
Lin Qiuran smiled and touched Tangyuan's head.
Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, I have been in Beijing for more than a month.
Lin Qiuran: "Thank you and your father for your hard work today. If you still want to go after you wake up in the afternoon, then go a little later."
At noon, Tangyuan wanted to take a nap. Lin Qiuran, not being sleepy, was reading the account books by the window, while Xiao Xun was reading a military book nearby. The emperor hadn't assigned him a position yet, so he didn't want to just stay at home during his free time.
He is a self-motivated person.
Halfway through, Xiao Xun said, "Did you have a smooth time at the banquet today?"
Lin Qiuran put the book down. "Everything is going well, but I feel something is strange about the Anyang Marquis' Mansion. There's something I haven't told you. Thinking about it today, I feel something is not right. A few days ago, I went to the Anyang Marquis' Mansion to help prepare a banquet, and Madam Qin gave me a set of headgear as a thank you gift."
Xiao Xun frowned, "This is for you. You don't need to tell me about this."
Lin Qiuran said, "Just listen to me. I accepted it without thinking much about it at the time. But today, I went to a banquet and met Madam Qin again. She asked about the glutinous rice balls and kept asking me about the Xiao family and you. She asked where my hometown was and if I had any brothers or sisters. Madam Qin was very excited when she spoke. The whole family treated me very well... I always felt uneasy, wondering if there was something hidden, and then I thought about what happened before."
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Thank you for your support! [Panda Head][Sprinkle Flowers]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
