"Fan pendant?" Ning Heng lowered his head, his eyes fell on the fan pendant in his hand, and asked in confusion:
"I think I bought this at a roadside stand. Any questions?"
This pendant was replaced a few days ago.
His original fan pendant was broken, so his attendant went to the street and bought a new one to replace it.
Ning Wanyin stared at the jade cong on the pendant and carefully identified it, her eyes solemn:
"Lianrui, go take a look at the patterns on the fan pendant and remember them."
The fan pendant is tied with a green Ruyi knot, decorated with tassels, and strung with a jade cong that looks like ordinary jade.
Seeing that Ning Wanyin cared so much, Ning Heng stared at the fan pendant again, but didn't see anything special.
The craftsmanship of this fan pendant is ordinary, what's so special about it?
He handed the folding fan in his hand to Lian Rui.
Lian Rui took the folding fan, looked at the Ruyi knot on the fan pendant carefully, nodded and said, "I'll make a note of it."
"Take it apart and remove the jade Cong." Ning Wanyin ordered.
Lianrui was very deft and she immediately took apart the fan pendant, removed the jade cong and presented it to Ning Wanyin.
Ning Wanyin observed carefully and found that the jade cong was a jade artifact that was round inside and square outside and shaped like a tube. It was a ritual vessel used to worship gods.
It is also a very common style of jewelry, which is used to seek blessings from gods.
Ning Wanyin picked up the thumb-sized jade cong and took a look. As expected, there was a line of tiny words engraved on the inner wall of the round hole.
I pray for the good health and happiness of my beloved daughter Fu Jiaoyi, as well as her birth date and horoscope.
"Master, this... this is a blessing jade cong!" Lian Rui also saw the small words on the inner wall and said in surprise: "Isn't this only available to the royal family?"
After the birth of the royal heir, the palace would order priests to pray for the child and carve the child's name, birth date and words of blessing on the jade cong.
Only the craftsmen in the palace's Imperial Household Department could perform this magical skill of micro-carving.
The material of the jade cong is a kind of precious jade that is like jade but not jade, like stone but not stone - Tianyu. This is specially used by the royal family to pray for blessings and worship gods, and is not used for other purposes.
Tianyu is snow-white all over and looks very similar to ordinary white jade.
Apart from the royal heir, only some royal relatives and concubines who were rewarded by the emperor would have this kind of jade cong for blessing.
For example, the Mansion of Duke Xue and the Mansion of Marquis An Si.
The Ning family doesn’t have it, and Ning Heng has been outside Beijing for a long time.
Therefore, he had no chance to see the royal blessing jade cong. He could not recognize it and thought it was carved from ordinary jade.
Ning Wanyin could recognize it at a glance because she and her son both had it.
"Fu Jiaoyi? Isn't this the name of Concubine Fu?" Cheng was incredulous and looked at Ning Heng:
"How come Fu Zhaoyi's things are here with you?"
First, this is a gift from the emperor.
Second, this is a woman’s private thing.
If people knew that Ning Heng had Fu Jiaoyi's personal belongings in his hands, he would definitely be charged with having secret dealings with the imperial concubine and would be doomed to death!
"I don't know. I haven't seen her, nor have I seen the Fu family." Ning Heng's heart sank as he said affirmatively.
He had just returned from Jiangnan and had never met Fu Jiaoyi.
I have heard about Fu Jiaoyi's brother.
But the Fu family didn't set up a stall to sell anything, and he didn't buy anything...
"Lianrui, make another one like this, and find an ordinary white jade cong to replace it." Ning Wanyin ordered.
Ning Heng's fan pendant must have been seen by many people along the way.
If the fan pendant is taken off directly, someone will definitely say that Ning Heng destroyed the evidence.
Better to replace.
Unless you look closely, it is difficult to tell the difference at a distance.
Lianrui obeyed the order and took out a rope that she usually used to make silk threads from the sewing box she carried with her, and tied a wish-fulfilling knot into it.
As for the jade cong, she already had a white jade cong of her own, so she used it as a direct replacement.
The jade cong is a very common type of jade pendant, and almost all of Ning Wanyin's maids have one. In addition, they also have ruyi, ingot, and jade rings of various styles.
The palace maids around the imperial concubine have no shortage of these small items.
Cheng was startled and asked hurriedly, "Your brother has never met Concubine Fu, so this frame-up is probably impossible, right?"
Ning Wanyin thought, these two people seem to have nothing to do with each other, but...
Who can prove whether the two had met before Fu Jiaoyi entered the palace?
Ning Heng has not returned for many years, but if we have to say that he has come back in a low-key manner, who can prove that he has never returned to Beijing?
Besides, the Fu family’s ancestral home is in Jiangnan.
Although Fu Jiaoyi grew up in the capital, she had also been to Jiangnan to visit her grandparents. It is also possible to say that the two had met outside the capital.
Fu Jiaoyi had just sent her maids out of the palace some time ago.
Originally, he was going back to the Fu family to deliver some silver.
But if you insist on making up a rumor that she heard her lover was going to return to Beijing, and sent a maid home to deliver silver, but actually went to Shou'anbo's mansion to inquire about the news. The two of them are now in the Summer Resort, even if they secretly agreed on it, what can be done about it.
With this fan pendant as evidence, we can frame someone based on nothing we have heard of.
"Without evidence, it's just empty talk." Ning Wanyin said calmly, and after a moment's silence, she continued:
"Brother, you haven't seen grandmother since you returned to the capital, right? I will talk to His Majesty later and ask brother to go see grandmother. Send someone back to the capital to make preparations."
The pagoda is a royal temple and outsiders are prohibited from entering.
As a grandson, Ning Heng should pay his respects to the old lady after returning to Beijing out of filial piety.
Therefore, it was reasonable to send his entourage back to the capital to buy gifts for the old lady under the pretext of meeting her.
The follower who bought the fan pendant on the street was very suspicious.
I don’t know how many servants around Ning Heng were bribed.
Just in case, send all the followers away first.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
