Chapter 29: Exposing the White Lotus
They had originally agreed that Shen Yutang would accompany her to pick up the piano and settle the bill at the same time.
Unexpectedly, he had something urgent to do, so he left in a hurry after meeting her. He only asked her to keep the bill at Qinzhai under his name, and the shopkeeper would go to the Marquis' Mansion to collect the money later.
Murong Yan'er thought that the zither was to be given to Princess Rong'an, so she asked her second brother to accompany her to pick it up. This way, when others saw it, they would probably think that it was bought by her second brother.
She had a clever plan, but she never expected to run into Jiang in Qinzhai!
Fortunately, Chen Yan was granted the title of marquis and came to the capital last winter, and Jiang Shi did not like to go out, so few people in the capital knew her. However, she had visited Qinzhai once before with Shen Yutang's company, and was mistaken for the Crown Prince's Consort... Now that she wanted to blame Shen Yutang, she had to go along with it.
"Yes, it's important to take the piano!"
At Murong Yan'er's reminder, Murong Heng finally remembered the important matter and immediately urged the shopkeeper.
"What are you standing there for?! Hurry up and pack up the Jiuxiao Huanpeiqin and load it onto the carriage!"
“Yes, yes…”
The shopkeeper suddenly came to his senses and hurried to assemble the piano.
"Wait."
Jiang Wanning naturally knew that the brother and sister were guilty and wanted to take the piano and leave as soon as possible, but how could she give away something that her daughter-in-law liked?
What's more, Liu and Murong Yan'er were already penniless, and the money to buy the piano was most likely paid by her prodigal son.
Thinking of this, Jiang Wanning's hands itched even more!
Seeing her suddenly raise her sleeves, the shopkeeper thought she was going to slap him, so he quickly took two steps back, not daring to offend her.
"Oh my dear aunt, please forgive me... It's not that I don't want to sell the zither to you, but it was indeed the Crown Prince's Consort who first liked it, and I even received her deposit."
Jiang Wanning withdrew his hand that was blocking him and asked back.
"You keep calling her 'Crown Prince's Consort', but what proof do you have? No one will care if you mistakenly claim the wrong person as your father and mother, but if you mistakenly recognize the wrong Crown Prince's Consort and tarnish the reputation of the Marquis' Mansion, I will destroy the golden signboard of your 'First Qin Studio'!"
"this……"
The shopkeeper paused when he heard this.
Looking at Jiang Wanning's fierce posture, it doesn't seem like he is pretending.
She really dares to smash it!
On the contrary, he had only seen the "Crown Prince's Consort" twice. Although the first time was indeed when the Prince of Pingyang came with her, but when you think about it carefully... the Prince did not call her "Madam" at that time. It was because he saw the close relationship between the two that he subconsciously thought she was the Crown Prince's Consort.
Thinking of this, the shopkeeper turned around and looked at Murong Yan'er, half flattering and half suspicious.
"Princess, look at how persistent she is—"
Jiang Wanning followed suit and looked over.
I thought Murong Yan'er would find an excuse to leave out of guilt, but even in front of me, she still looked calm and composed, as if she was the real prince's consort.
Just...pretend to die.
"As the Crown Prince's consort, I don't need to prove my identity to outsiders. However... since you, the shopkeeper, found a good zither case for me, I'll let you take a look at this jade token."
As she spoke, Murong Yan'er took out a crystal clear jade token from her sleeve and handed it to the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper took it and took a look at it, then exclaimed in surprise.
"This is... the prince's Qilin jade token?!"
Murong Yan'er said.
"You'd better look carefully, or people will say this jade pendant is fake."
The shopkeeper's face immediately became filled with smiles. He respectfully handed the jade token back and said flatteringly.
"This jade plaque is made of the finest Hetian jade, and ordinary people cannot use it. The Qilin beast on it was personally carved by His Majesty at the Imperial Household Department. It has been said that this jade plaque was given to the Qilin sons of meritorious officials. There are only eight of these in the entire court. They are absolutely genuine!"
Murong Yan'er nodded with satisfaction: "It's good that you know."
As she spoke, she took the jade token to Murong Qing to show off, and started chatting in teasing.
"Madam, would you like to test it yourself?
The prince was supposed to accompany me to pick up the zither today, but he had other official business and had to go out in a hurry. So he gave me this jade token and told me to buy whatever I liked and he would send someone to pay the bill.
The prince knew that I loved zithers, and yesterday he said he would buy this entire zither studio for me. Unfortunately, I only have one pair of hands, and I can’t play so many famous zithers, so I declined his offer.”
Murong Qing looked at the jade token swaying in front of him and recognized it at a glance as the waist token that Shen Yutang usually wore.
Although the waist badge is not a personal item, it is also a symbol of the status of aristocratic children.
Shen Yutang would never hand the jade token to anyone other than someone he was extremely close to and trusted.
Especially since this Qilin jade token was given by His Majesty himself, Shen Yutang treasured it very much and usually did not let her touch it. But now, it was clearly in Murong Yan'er's hand.
How ironic!
"Qingqing, come here...don't let the smell of her tea overpower you."
Just when Murong Qing felt pain in her eyes and aching in her heart, her hand clenched tightly under her sleeve was suddenly held by a warm palm, and she was gently pulled away a step.
Jiang Wanning pulled Murong Qing behind him and then sneered.
He fired at Murong Yan'er right in the face and mocked her.
"Listen, shopkeeper, listen! Whose prince's wife is so poor that she can't even afford a zither and still has to pay the bill... If this gets out, I'm afraid everyone will laugh to death!"
Hearing this, Murong Yan'er's face froze.
The shopkeeper immediately reacted and thought what she said made sense. He then looked Murong Yan'er up and down suspiciously.
"Oh, that's right... I was almost fooled by you! How could the Pingyang Marquisate not even come up with three thousand taels of silver? Are you kidding me?!"
Murong Yan'er's expression became even uglier.
She was about to open her mouth to defend herself.
"If you don't believe me, I can ask the prince to come and get it..."
However, before she could finish her words, Jiang Wanning interrupted her with a sneer.
"There's no point in looking for him! How much money does that bastard have? Don't I know? If he had money, why would he ask you to pay the bill? You want to cheat the Marquis's money? Forget it. I cut off his salary long ago!"
The shopkeeper was at a loss.
What a complicated relationship.
Although... Murong Yan'er doesn't seem real, and this lady seems even more fake.
Is it really okay for the mistress of the Marquis' Mansion to speak so vulgarly?
"A pheasant is a pheasant, and it wants to become a phoenix, bah!"
Seeing Murong Yan'er's ears red with shame and anger, Jiang Wanning felt satisfied with his scolding.
Then he snorted coldly and gave the order.
"You can't prove your identity, but Qingqing can—Xing'er, take out the Crown Prince's Consort's jade seal and show it to this blind shopkeeper!"
"Yes, ma'am."
Xing'er took out the brocade box, carefully took out the jade seal, and then raised her hand to show it to the shopkeeper.
"Here! This is the Crown Prince's Consort's jade seal. Do you see it clearly?!"
Shopkeeper: “…”
It’s over, this is the real thing! I suddenly want to slap myself!
Jiang Wanning plucked his eyebrows and continued.
"Take out the banknotes, too."
Normally, they wouldn't bring too much money or jade seals when they go out, but today they came to buy the teahouse and needed to sign the house and land deeds, so they just happened to bring everything with them.
Nanny Lin took out a thick stack of banknotes from her bosom and handed it to Jiang Wanning.
Jiang Wanning held the banknote but did not give it to the shopkeeper. Instead, he gently patted Murong Yan'er's pale face and said sarcastically.
"See? This is the Crown Prince's wife's true financial resources! You've probably never seen so many banknotes in your life, right?"
Murong Yan'er bit her lip so hard that blood almost oozed out.
Jealousy grew wildly in his eyes.
Just as Jiang Wanning was enjoying the feeling of humiliating others with money, a panicked shout suddenly erupted from outside the door.
"Mother, what are you doing?!"
Witnessing the scene in front of him, Shen Yutang, who arrived late, was anxious and angry. He rushed to Murong Yan'er, looked at Jiang Wanning angrily, and questioned.
"What did Yan'er do wrong that you have to humiliate her like this?! Mother, you're going too far!"
——“Snap!”
A slap, crisp and loud.
Late but arrived.
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