Chapter 490 - The Longevity Lock from the Old Madam
Chapter 490 The Longevity Lock from the Old Madam
“The plans for my birthday celebration cannot be carried out. Grandmother wants me to wholeheartedly observe the filial piety rites for my parents. Since we agreed that it will be three years, it should be three years. How can I slack off just because it is my birthday? If I celebrate it on the mountain, Grandmother will definitely punish me. I am afraid that the sisters will also be punished along with me at that time!”
Shao Wanru’s long lashes fluttered twice. Then, she lifted her chin slowly. Her lips, which were as beautiful as cherry blossoms, curved up slightly. There was a hint of coyness that came from her inner self. However, she did not realize it. There was a trace of innocence in her eyes, which was extremely beautiful. The nanny could not help but lower her eyes and did not dare to look directly at her beauty.
“But Old Madam’s intention is to let several Young Madams accompany you. You will be going back to the mansion soon, but you have not been close to the Young Madams. Old Madam is afraid that you will feel awkward at that time!”
Suppressing the shock in her heart, the old maid tried to persuade her again.
Shao Wanru sneered in her heart. The Old Madam seemed to care for her. If she really cared for her, how could she suddenly say something like this when Wanru was about to finish her three years of mourning? She said that they would be accompanying her during the mourning period. Not only did she wish to humiliate Wanru, but she also wanted to spread her name to the Young Madams of Duke Xing’s Mansion.
This idea was very good. They would take her three years to fulfill Shao Yanru’s and the other people’s reputations. How could Shao Wanru be grateful to Duke Xing’s Mansion?
But it was not the time to reveal anything now. They owed it to her and her brother, so she would definitely make them pay!
“I cannot make the decision on this matter. If Old Madam insists on it, she can discuss it with my grandmother. It will not be good if grandmother criticizes the sisters directly at that time!”
Shao Wanru said this lightly as her gaze landed on her hands. She looked at her writing carefully and seemed to be quite casual about it.
Everyone in the capital knew what kind of person Rui’an Great Elder Princess was. She would not show any respect for anyone whom she disdained. It was not a big deal for her to scold that person directly. She might even drive that person away without giving him face. If Great Elder Princess rebuked the Young Madams from her family, that would be an extremely shameful thing.
The old maid could not make a decision!
Seeing that the old maid could not speak for a while, Shao Wanru continued, “You had better go back to the mansion and ask Old Madam what to do! If you can get the permission of Grandmother, I will follow all the elders’ orders!”
Because of the incident in Duke Xing’s Mansion, her maternal grandmother had the right to be involved in her affairs. Even her grandmother asked Empress Dowager Queen for a part of the right in deciding on her marriage, which originally represented the disadvantage of the Old Madam of Duke Xing’s Mansion against her maternal grandmother.
She did not believe that Old Madam would dare to discuss it with her grandmother!
“Yes, I will go back and report to Old Madam. I have another thing, this is what Old Madam gave to you!” The old maid said helplessly. She really could not make the decision. She took out a small brocade box from her sleeve and handed it to Shao Wanru.
Yujie came forward to take it and brought it to Shao Wanru.
Shao Wanru looked at the brocade box in Yujie’s hand. She did not even stretch out her hand. She simply said, “Open it!”
Yujie opened it according to her order. There was a longevity lock inside. She blinked and did not understand what it meant. She just looked at Shao Wanru.
Shao Wanru put down the paper in her hands and reached out to take out the longevity lock from the box. She looked at it and realized that it was a longevity lock worn by a child. It looked old and had been carefully crafted. It was made of pure gold and was inlaid with a ruby and two Cat’s Eye Stones.
After scrutinizing it for a while, she did not find anything. Then she raised her head and asked, “Why… why did Old Madam give it to me?”
“When the little masters were young, Old Madam would give them such a longevity lock. But Fifth Miss has not been around Old Madam since she was a child. So although the longevity lock was made early, it has never been given to you!” The old maid said with a smile.
“A long time ago? Did they already know that there would be someone like me?”
Shao Wanru examined it a few more times. Finally, she saw a tiny character “Ru” in the smallest corner. It really belonged to her!
However, the character ‘Ru’ looked very new. At first glance, one could tell that it had been engraved only recently.
“Princess Qinhua married the heir of Duke. When she was newly married, Old Madam prepared it and was ready to give it to Fifth Miss when she was born. After the heir of Duke and Princess Qinhua left, the longevity lock was kept with Old Madam all the time. After the Princess came back, she was not in good health. Thus Old Madam made another one to pray for Master Hao. Now that Fifth Miss came back, this longevity lock is just right for Fifth Miss!”
The old maid smiled and explained the cause and effect. She was afraid that Shao Wanru would feel bad, so she said, “All the longevity locks made by the mansion look like this and Master Hao’s is of the same style.”
She said that Old Madam was praying for blessings and was doing it again. She just felt that the past one was unlucky and the old maid’s explanation made the truth even more obvious.
“Help me thank Old Madam!” Shao Wanru did not care about this now.
“You are welcome, Fifth Miss. I will go back first. I will report to you after Old Madam consults with Rui’an Great Elder Princess.”
The old maid said with smile. She had failed in her task but she was not annoyed at all. She gave a quick glance at everything in the quiet room.
There were only a few things and they could be seen clearly. Even the suitcase in the corner with a blanket could be seen clearly.
Shao Wanru did not say anything this time and only waved her hand. The old maid left respectfully. She turned around to leave after backing out of the quiet room carefully.
“Miss, what do they mean?” Yujie looked at the back of the old maid who left and then looked at the longevity lock in her Miss’s hand. Did Miss have to wear this longevity lock at this age?
“Yujie, look!” Shao Wanru smiled and handed the longevity lock to Yujie.
Yujie took it, picked it up and looked at it over and over again but could did not find anything. She only saw a small character “Ru” in the corner of longevity lock in front of her, which, of course, represented her Miss.
“Miss, I cannot see anything” Yujie shook her head in confusion. She looked through it several times and subconsciously felt that there was something wrong, but she could not find anything wrong with it.
“Bring it to your nose and smell it!” Shao Wanru told her. She pushed her hand back and her black hair fell on her shoulders. She had only used a hairpin to pin up her hair.
Yujie picked up the longevity lock, put it to her nose and smelled it gently. If Shao Wanru had not brought her attention to it, she might not have been able to smell it at all. When she got closer, there was indeed a very slight smell. It might be a little sweet, but it did not seem like it. She felt a little strange, it was not a familiar herb to Yujie.
“Miss, what is this?” Yujie was surprised. She was still sensitive to the smell of some Chinese medicine. This smell did not seem to be the smell of Chinese medicine.
“I do not know!” Shao Wanru shook her head. She sat by the window and did not find anything unusual. However, while looking closely at it, she suddenly smelled something faint. It was so light that she almost could not smell it. If she had not paid that much attention to Old Madam’s things, she would only think that there was something floating from outside the window or it was the smell of the box itself.
It was not the smell of traditional Chinese medicine that made people wary. It seemed to be the fragrance of flowers when one smelled it carefully.
Some of the flowers in the autumn had already bloomed. Osmanthus flowers were the most fragrant and this smell was much lighter than that of the Osmanthus.
Yujie shook her head and checked the longevity lock in her hand, asking, “Miss, what… what should we do?”
Shao Wanru suddenly sat up straight and reached out to pick up the box that had been placed on the ground. The moment she picked it up, she realized that the smell in the box was much stronger than that on the longevity lock.
It was sweet, but it seemed that there was something strange in it. It did not smell good, but it was not overpowering.
The box was not big, but it was enough to store a longevity lock. Moreover, it did look like a box for a longevity lock. The size and shape were all very suitable and it looked a little old.
Shao Wanru thought for a while and said, “Put it away first! And put the box in another box and then wrap it up with cloth! Send it to grandma!” She did not know the answer, but it did not mean that grandma would not have any ideas.
In her last life, she was locked in the backyard tightly. In this life, she had not been in the capital for long, so it was normal that she did not know much about these unusual things. The only thing she was sure of was that Old Madam did not have any good intentions toward her.
“Yes, I will go to the Great Elder Princess’s Mansion in a minute!” Yujie nodded, put the longevity lock into the box and then carefully closed it.
“Miss, I went down the mountain to ask Madame Dong about it. Madame Dong also checked around and said that there had been orders from Duke Xing’s Mansion, for the toggle-and-loop buttons and embroidery and there were more than one order. Since the return of Miss Shao to Duke Xing’s Mansion, these orders have appeared from time to time. Although I do not know which order it was, such toggle-and-loop buttons and embroidery should be most popular one year ago.”
Yujie put the box aside first, pulled out a box from the item she just brought out and took out the previous set of clothes from it.
Shao Wanru was not surprised at the unclear answer because Shao Yanru was not an easy person to deal with. If she had not been killed by Shao Yanru in her last life, she might not have suspected that Yanru was the real evil backstage manipulator in the end.
It seemed that she was in charge of everything, but others could not find any evidence to prove that she was involved. That was Shao Yanru.
“What about the material?”
“Madame Dong said that this kind of material is rare. They should be tributes which other mansions do not have. However, Duke Xing’s Mansion must have such tributes. However, they could be said to be made by Miss Shao or you. After all, you are the Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion now!”
Yujie repeated Madame Dong’s original words.
That was to say, it could not be seen from the material.
She looked up and her eyes clouded slightly, hiding all her emotions. It was indeed Shao Yanru who had done it. Otherwise, it would not have been so secretive, as if she had locked all the clues up.
Shao Wanru reached out and pulled a piece of cloth at the collar. She had asked Yujie to specifically ask about this small piece of material on the collar. “Is this piece of cloth Colorful Yarn?”…