Chapter 705: Gold Melon Seeds and Pearl Hairpins
Qi Huang hurried into the house.
"Miss!"
Yu Mingzhu looked at Qi Huang, who looked a little agitated, with some surprise. Suddenly, she thought of something and her expression changed slightly: "But what happened?"
Qi Huang took a deep breath and said, "I just learned that Zou Wan and her daughter entered the palace and were called in by the old lady to talk."
Yu Mingzhu just felt dizzy.
She held onto the edge of the table to prevent herself from falling, and tried to suppress the dizziness. Her voice was trembling as she asked, "How could this happen?"
Qi Huang lowered his voice, "Don't worry, Miss. I heard that it was Zou Pingping, the daughter of Zou Wan, who somehow got acquainted with the young master and came to deliver clothes to the young master. The gatekeeper stopped her and didn't let her in. Zou Wan then shouted that she wanted to see the young lady... and then she was bumped into by the people in the old lady's courtyard. The old lady had nothing to do, so she let them in. As for what the old lady talked about with the mother and daughter, the old lady's courtyard was so controlled by Madam Qingluan that not even a fly could fly in, so I really couldn't find out."
Yu Mingzhu's eyes were filled with emotions, which finally turned into a murderous intent: "...The Zou family, we can't let them stay!"
Qihuang bowed his head and responded.
After a while, Qi Huang asked again: "Miss, by now... the old lady shouldn't know about this, right?"
Yu Mingzhu's face turned pale, and she shook her head with a hint of sarcasm: "With my grandmother's temper, if she knew that Zou Wanshi was the culprit who replaced her granddaughter, she would probably want to kill her on the spot, and why would she call her over to talk?... But even so, we'd better not do anything for now. The more we do, the more mistakes we make. We can just wait for Zou Wanshi and the others to come over."
At the end, Yu Mingzhu thought of the trouble that Zou Wan had caused her, and her tone became even colder.
She was murderous again!
Yu Mingzhu gritted her teeth and sat in the house waiting for Zou Wan and her daughter to come.
Not long after, Bailing, a maid from the old lady's courtyard of Duke Xin, personally brought Zou Wanshi and Zou Pingping, mother and daughter, over.
Yu Mingzhu was a little surprised.
Bailing was a very prestigious maid in her grandmother's courtyard. Now that Zou Wan and her daughter were able to be sent off by her, did that mean that her grandmother actually liked this pair of mother and daughter quite a bit?
Yu Mingzhu felt a little bit of fear in her heart.
However, this also shows that the old lady of Duke Xin is indeed unaware of Zou Wan's identity... Yu Mingzhu breathed a sigh of relief, pretending to be puzzled, and asked Bailing in surprise: "What is this?..."
Bailing bowed to Yu Mingzhu and, with a smile on her face, briefly recounted what had happened. The information she had obtained was consistent with what Qihuang had found out.
Yu Mingzhu felt even more relieved.
Bai Ling smiled and said, "The guests have been sent away, Miss, I will go back to the old lady first."
Yu Mingzhu called out, "Qi Huang."
Qi Huang understood and grabbed a handful of golden melon seeds from a red lacquered plate decorated with flowers on the table and stuffed them into Bai Ling's mouth: "Please have some tea, Sister Bai Ling."
Zou Wan's eyes widened as she stared at the handful of golden melon seeds!
All she had to give as a reward to the matchmaker was a small amount of change, but as a good daughter, she could reward a maid with a handful of gold melon seeds!
Bai Ling smiled and declined: "Miss, you are too polite. I just showed the way to the guests. Since you have guests, I will not bother you any more. I will go back to the old lady first."
Qihuang sent Bailing away.
Yu Mingzhu's expression turned cold.
She looked at Zou Wan coldly without saying a word. She just sat at the table, fiddling with a teacup in her hand with a cold expression.
Zou Wanshi was originally smiling, but when she saw Yu Mingzhu like this, her expression gradually turned ugly.
Zou Pingping was originally immersed in the "very loving regard" that the old lady of Duke Xin had for her, but now she slowly sensed something was wrong.
She looked at Yu Mingzhu and then at Zou Wanshi.
I just feel that the atmosphere is very weird.
"Mom..." Zou Pingping spoke hesitantly.
Yu Mingzhu suddenly looked at Zou Pingping with a very critical look. She sized Zou Pingping up and down. Finally, her eyes paused at the clothes that Zou Pingping had been holding in her arms, and some ripples appeared in her eyes.
For some reason, Zou Pingping was frightened by Yu Mingzhu's critical look and took a step back.
Zou Pingping was embarrassed.
I just felt so embarrassed in front of this extremely beautiful and noble young lady.
Seeing this, Zou Wanshi hurriedly said, "Miss, this is my third daughter, Zou Pingping. She has a connection with the eldest young master. She accidentally soiled his clothes before, so I specially washed them and brought them back today."
Yu Mingzhu just thought it was ridiculous.
She has seen too many people like Zou Pingping who came from humble backgrounds but dreamed of marrying into a rich family!
She is like this, and she still wants to get involved with her elder brother? ?
It's really a daydream and wishful thinking!
Yu Mingzhu's eyes showed no dislike and contempt at all. Zou Pingping felt stabbed and couldn't help but step back.
"My elder brother has a lot of clothes," Yu Mingzhu said calmly, "If they are dirty, just throw them away. Why bother sending them here again?"
Zou Pingping hugged the clothes in her arms tightly, and became a little anxious: "...The eldest master also asked me to return it to him!"
Yu Mingzhu's eyes became even colder.
Zou Wan also smiled and spoke for Zou Pingping: "Miss, you don't know, but the eldest master specifically instructed our Pingping to send her back... If that's the case, I think the two of them are destined to be together..."
Yu Mingzhu almost laughed out loud.
Is it fate?
How could the phoenix in the sky have anything to do with the pheasant on the ground!
How shameless!
Yu Mingzhu found it both ridiculous and disgusting.
How come such a person has the same blood as me? !
Yu Mingzhu was too lazy to say any more words to this delusional mother and daughter about this matter.
She just asked coldly: "Is there anything else?"
Zou Wan rubbed her hands and smiled ingratiatingly: "...Yes, yes, yes."
After a pause, Zou Wan looked at Zou Pingping again and sent her away, "Pingping, go to the yard. I have something to talk to the eldest lady about."
Zou Pingping pursed her lips and went out with her clothes in her arms.
Yu Mingzhu moved her gaze away from Zou Pingping and looked at Zou Wanshi with a somewhat cold look.
The door was closed, and only Zou Wanshi and Yu Mingzhu were left in the room.
"Miss..." Zou Wanshi smiled and took a step forward.
Yu Mingzhu took a step back and said coldly, "You keep saying that you won't disturb my life, but what are you doing now? Do you think I'm having too much going for me?"
Zou Wanshi quickly apologized: "No, no, don't be angry, Miss. It was an accident that we went to your grandmother's house today. It was really an accident. We didn't expect to run into the old lady's people..."
Yu Mingzhu said unhappily: "You shouldn't have come!"
Zou Wanshi smiled and said: "Miss, think about it, if Pingping can really be your brother's concubine or something, won't she also be a favor to you in the future?"
Yu Mingzhu almost sneered out loud with disdain!
How dare they say that!
To put it another way, even if her eldest brother was really blind and took Ping Ping as his concubine, then if she, the future fourth prince, really needed a concubine to help her, she might as well hang herself with a rope earlier!
These words made her feel disgusted!
Yu Mingzhu's murderous intent became stronger.
I only heard Zou Wanshi rubbing her hands and smiling: "...I came here this time to discuss something with the eldest lady."
Yu Mingzhu glanced at Zou Wanshi coldly and said, "You say."
Zou Wanshi recalled Yu Mingzhu's generosity in rewarding the maid with golden melon seeds, and glanced at the red lacquer box with flowers on the table.
"It's just... the family expenses have been high recently, and I'm a little short of money..." Zou Wanshi hesitated.
Yu Mingzhu's eyes darkened.
It feels quite predictable.
As expected! This thief began to take advantage of her secrets and demanded more!
Her previous prediction turned out to be correct. This villain first tested the waters by saying that her son was kidnapped by a kidnapper to test her attitude; now he is even more direct and unscrupulous and comes to ask her for money!
It doesn't matter whether it's money or not, but once this opportunity is opened for her, you can imagine how greedy she will become in the future!
But it doesn’t matter. We are all dying anyway!
Yu Mingzhu was filled with murderous intent, but she didn't seem to take it seriously. She just smiled and said, "So that's what happened. I thought it was nothing. The truth is, I saw your words and actions, and the way you dressed didn't seem like you were poor..." Yu Mingzhu paused, then smiled more warmly, "I misunderstood."
Yu Mingzhu had a smile on her face, but deep disdain was well concealed in her eyes.
She casually walked towards the table with the red lacquer box decorated with flowers, grabbed a handful of gold melon seeds from the box as a reward for the servants, and stuffed them into Zou Wan's hand: "I don't have much cash, but I have plenty of gold melon seeds like this to reward the servants."
Zou Wan's face froze, and she wondered if she was mistaken.
She is such a good daughter, she won't say that she is a servant, right?
But looking at the heavy handful of golden melon seeds in her hand, Zou Wanshi smiled again and felt that she must have thought too much.
This is gold!
Zou Wan resisted the urge to take a bite to see the quality, and quickly put the handful of golden melon seeds in her hand into the sachet. She then looked at Yu Mingzhu with flattering eyes: "Miss... there are many people in your family..."
Yu Mingzhu sneered in her heart, but still had a warm smile on her face: "You are right." As she said that, she smiled slightly, took out all the golden melon seeds from the red lacquer box and put them in Zou Wan's palm.
This is not the end.
Yu Mingzhu took off another hairpin from her hair and said with a smile, "I see that Miss Zou San's outfit is rather plain and elegant today. This hairpin may enhance her look. I will give it to Miss Zou San. Please ask Madam to pass it on."
Zou Wan's eyes were shining.
The jewelry on Yu Mingzhu is obviously priceless. If this pearl hairpin is sold at a pawnshop, it will probably fetch at least a hundred taels of silver!
This is just a casual move!
Later on, when they have a better relationship with the eldest daughter, how much benefit can they get from that?
Zou Wanshi had a bag full of gold melon seeds in her arms and Yu Mingzhu's pearl hairpin in her hand. She was smiling from ear to ear.
Just at this moment, a servant came outside to tell us that the eldest master had returned.
Through the door, I could hear Zou Pingping outside the yard asking in surprise: "The young master is back? Where is he now? I want to go find the young master——"
Zou Wanshi was also a little excited. Yu Mingzhu smiled and said, "Since Miss Zou San is looking for my eldest brother, I will have someone take you there."
Yu Mingzhu asked Qihuang to take Zou Wanshi and Zou Pingping to Yu Chongjie.
Qi Huang lowered his head and replied "yes".
Zou Wanshi, who was holding a bag of gold melon seeds at the moment, paused for a moment, then generously put the pearl hairpin given to her by Yu Mingzhu into Zou Pingping's hair.
Zou Pingping was surprised and delighted: "Mom?"
Zou Wan lowered her voice and said, "The eldest lady gave it to me. I'll lend it to you temporarily. Please give it back to me when you get back home."
Although Zou Pingping was a little disappointed, she changed her mind and thought that it was enough for her to wear it for a while and let the young master see her beauty!
When she marries the eldest young master, what kind of jewelry will she need?
The more Zou Pingping thought about it, the more excited she became, and her little face turned red.
Qi Huang lowered his head and took Zou Wanshi and Zou Pingping to Yu Chongjie's courtyard.
Yu Chongjie had just finished his shift and was about to change his clothes to go out for a drink when he saw the familiar-looking maid from his sister's courtyard coming over with two people.
He had some impression of one of the women; it seemed that she was the one he had led to look for his sister before.
Another one...
Yu Chongjie frowned.
It seemed a little familiar, but why couldn't he remember it?
He vaguely remembered that he was drunk before and threw his clothes to a little girl who reminded him of Mao Fuqiu when she was young...
Could it be the one in front of me?
Yu Chongjie couldn't help but remain silent.
It’s true... Now that he is sober, looking at the person in front of him, he doesn’t look like his young Fuqiu at all.
Yu Chongjie pressed his forehead, feeling that he must have been very drunk at the time.
Zou Pingping misunderstood Yu Chongjie's silence and shyly took a step forward: "Master... I am here to return your clothes."
Yu Chongjie coughed and said, "It's just a piece of clothing, it's nothing."
Zou Pingping said quickly: "No matter what, I was the one who soiled the clothes, so I have to compensate for it...that is..."
Zou Pingping lowered her head in shame and raised the dress in Yu Chongjie's direction: "I accidentally washed it and it got a little thready... Take a look, if you think it's unwearable, I will definitely buy you another one as compensation!"
Yu Chongjie's brows furrowed even deeper.
No, the clothes are all torn, so they can’t be worn, right?
What do you mean, he feels like he can’t wear it anymore?
Yu Chongjie felt that the girl in front of him might not be very smart.
He frowned and was about to say something, but his eyes fell on the pearl hairpin in the hair of the stupid girl in front of him.
Yu Chongjie's expression froze.
That was the birthday present he gave to Yu Mingzhu on her birthday.
Yu Mingzhu likes it very much and wears it often.
How come it has come to this girl in front of me now?
Yu Chongjie was overwhelmed with thoughts for a moment, and suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen Yu Mingzhu for some time.
Yu Chongjie sighed and decided to go to Yu Mingzhu's yard for a while.
However, Zou Pingping misunderstood Yu Chongjie's silence. She thought Yu Chongjie was staring at her in a daze.
She was extremely embarrassed and reminded him, "...Young Master?"
Yu Chongjie retracted his gaze and signaled his attendant to take the clothes from Zou Pingping's hand.
Seeing that Yu Chongjie said nothing and did not blame her, Zou Pingping asked someone to take the clothes away. She was even more certain that Yu Chongjie must have feelings for her, and she was extremely excited.
Zou Wanshi watched from the side and found it a little strange.
No, this eldest son of the Duke of Xin's mansion, although he always stares at her daughter Pingping in a daze, his eyes don't look like the eyes of a man looking at a girl he likes, right?
Is there something wrong?