Chapter 143 - Gems
Chapter 143 Gems
Fulu didn’t recognize Qiao Lu, who was dressed as a woman, but Qiao Lu knew this princess, who had always been known as a dandy.
Her mother snatched her father away and forced him to marry her!
“I’m Young Master Qiao Lu’s maid.” Qiao Lu said, imitating a woman’s voice
Fulu said, “Gee, what a pity. You’re so good-looking. You shouldn’t be a maid. If you have nowhere to go, come to my home! Look at the clothes you wear, they’re about to be out of fashion.
“There is a new tailor shop next door to Myriad Taste. The clothes the shop sells are novel in style. Let me take you to pick some new clothes.”
Qiao Lu saluted and said, “Thank you, Princess, I’m here to deliver a message of our young master to Duchess Anyuan.”
“Duke Anyuan and his wife have already divorced. There is no Duchess Anyuan now. Come, let’s go pick some clothes. It won’t delay your errand.”
There were very few beautiful girls among Fulu’s friends, and they were not as good at dressing up as Qin Miaomiao’s friends.
Every time they went to a jewelry store, a rouge shop, or a tailor shop, Fulu and her friends were always eclipsed by Qin Miaomiao and her party. So after finally encountering a “fragile girl” who was delicate, sweet and beautiful, she must take her with her to give a blow to Qin Miaomiao and her friends’ self-confidence.
“Princess, but…”
Fulu took Qiao Lu’s hand and took a closer look. “You are so pretty, but why are your hands so calloused? Qiao Lu should have treated you better!”
Even Qiao Lu’s ears turned red. He looked at Fulu shyly, trying to withdraw his hand.
“Princess.”
Fulu smiled and said, “What are you shy about? I have some Jade Muscle Cream that I got from the imperial palace. It is guaranteed to restore your hands to their former smoothness.”
Qiao Jinniang was sitting in the Jewelry Pavilion and checking the jade and gemstones delivered by merchants from the Northwest.
She wore a thick veil, revealing only a pair of eyes.
This northwestern merchant’s name was Yelu Tu, the son of the patriarch of a famous tribe of the Yi ethnic group in the Northern desert, and his mother was a native of Datang.
Although it was the time of peace now, border disputes had never ceased. Therefore, although the two countries had intermarriage, Datang women were not welcome in those tribes. After Yelu Tu’s mother fled back to Datang, she set up her own trade caravan, and Yelu Tu took over his mother’s business when he grew up.
He dug jade and gemstones from the Northern desert, Xiliang and other places and shipped them to Chang’an for sale.
Most of the jewelry in Chang’an were made of gold, silver, pearl and jade, and there weren’t many jewelry made of various colored gemstones.
But how could women resist these transparent and exquisite gems?
Yelu Tu put the gemstones in front of Qiao Jinniang and said, “These gemstones are extremely rare, especially this red gemstone, which is free of impurities. If it is embedded on a golden crown, it will be very beautiful.”
Qiao Jinniang looked at the gemstones and said, “Your jade and gemstones are of good quality, but the price is too high.” Yelu Tu smiled. “A gem is like a woman’s beautiful face, unique and priceless, and a dazzling gem can last for a long time. The gems in my mines are unique in the world. “In ancient times, He Shi Jade was priceless because it was rare. As the saying goes, gold and silver have a price but jade is priceless. There are quite a few women who love gems nowadays.”
Qiao Jinniang said, “My Jewelry Pavilion is only a small business, and it really doesn’t make much profit.”
The corners of Yelu Tu’s mouth twitched, although he couldn’t see the woman’s face, but from her voice, she must be young. He couldn’t believe how she could utter this nonsense!
If the Jewelry Pavilion was a small business, there would be no “big” business in the world.
Qiao Jinniang continued, “I’d like to have a long-term cooperation with you, but the price you offer is a bit inflated. If you want me to give you this price, you’ll have to sign a contract with me.
“For the next three years, the gems from your mine can only be sold to me, no matter how good or bad the quality is. If I am satisfied with the price you want, I will buy them, and only when we cannot reach an agreement on the price can you sell them to others.
“And you can’t sell them to someone else at a lower price than you sell them to me, okay?”
It was not easy for Yelu Tu to travel to and from Chang’an, so he certainly wanted to find a long-term customer. With this agreement, every time he had gems for sale, Qiao Jinniang would only have the preemptive right to pick and buy the gems, which he could totally accept.
After all, gems were not very popular in Chang’an now. If he sold them to other jewelry shops, he might not be able to get a good price and the price of these gems was usually cut extremely low.
“Okay, then let’s sign a contract.”
Qiao Jinniang took out nearly 30,000 taels of silver and bought a pile of stones. Her heart was bleeding, but after Yelu Tu left, she looked at these stones of excellent quality and her eyes were shining.
Not many women in this world could resist the temptation of these gorgeous jewels.
After that, Qiao Jinniang called the manager of the Jewelry Pavilion, Manager Lin, over.
“Manager Lin, lock these gems in a wooden box. Only show them to customers from distinguished families or the royal family.
“If they pick any of these gems, ask them what kind of jewelry they want to make with the gem, for example, a necklace or a hairpin.
“By the way, have you talked to the mammies who retired from the Shanggong Bureau? Have they agreed to work for me?”
Manager Lin said, “Yes, there are three mammies who are willing to work for us.” Qiao Jinniang nodded and said, “Then if the customers choose the gem they like and decide whether to make a hairpin or a necklace, let those mammies design the style, and then make it once the customers are satisfied with the style.” “I will hire some guards for the Jewelry Pavilion. These gems are precious, so I will send someone to specifically guard them. You should be careful when you show them to customers.”
Manager Lin nodded. “I’ll ask the shop assistants to be careful.”
Qiao Jinniang took off her veil and said, “I heard that the business of the tailor’s shop is not bad. Let me go and take a look.”
The fabrics in Qiao Jinniang’s newly opened tailor shop were all shipped from the South, and the patterns of the fabrics were also the most fashionable.
Because she had a fabric shop in the South, her fabrics were sent over faster than other tailor shops in Chang’an.
The Spring Festival was only about a month away, and then there would be many banquets. Even ordinary people would prepare two or three sets of new clothes, not to mention aristocratic girls.
All the tailor shops in Chang’an were doing well, but the business of this newly opened tailor shop was even better.
When the noble girls who went out shopping in twos and threes were tired of walking around, they could eat something in the Myriad Taste next door.
“Princess, Miss Qin, we only have this piece of cloth left, well…”
Fulu said, “I saw the cloth first. This red cloth is the most suitable for… um, you haven’t told me what your name is?”. Fulu looked at the woman who was slightly taller than her.
Qiao Lu: “…”
Qin Miaomiao looked up and down at the girl Fulu found from nowhere, and somehow felt a little familiar with the girl in front of her. “Where did you find this girl? Little girl, don’t let her lead you astray.” Qiao Lu broke free from Fulu’s hand, walked up to Qin Miaomiao and said, “Sister Qin, I am Young Master Qiao’s maid…” When Qin Miaomiao heard this, she finally recognized Qiao Lu. Isn’t this the eldest son of the Qiao family? Why was he brought here by Fulu in women’s clothes?
Fulu was immediately annoyed. “Humph, I brought you here, but you defected to Qin Miaomiao!”