"Seeking death," Yun Shu slapped Yun Ya across the face, sending her head tilting to one side. Yun Ya fiercely spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered, "If you have the guts, then kill me, or else you’ll never know the whereabouts of the other jade pendants."
Yun Shu’s eyes sharpened, she grabbed Yun Ya by the collar, staring intensely at her, "You know where the other jade pendants are?"
Yun Ya burst into laughter, "So what if I do, what does it matter if I don’t? In any case, once I’m dead, it’ll all go up in smoke."
"Don’t play coy with me. Was it Ji Lanyi who gave them to you? Where are the rest, tell me quickly."
Yun Ya sneered, "Yes, my mother gave me the rest, but what are they for? I still haven’t figured it out. Although, when combined, they can form a complete jade pendant. Too bad it’s broken and worthless now."
"Ji Lanyi actually didn’t tell you the purpose of this jade pendant, or did she herself not know either?" Yun Shu murmured to herself.
A sharp gleam suddenly flashed in Yun Ya’s eyes, too quick for Yun Shu to notice, "Tell me the use of this jade pendant, and I will give you all the remaining pieces." ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novęlfire.net
Yun Shu stared at her suspiciously.
Yun Ya gave a bitter smile, "I won’t live much longer, what use do I have for these things? Besides, you have to promise me one condition, you must treat Miaomiao well, or even as a ghost I won’t let you go..."
Yun Shu didn’t notice anything unusual on her face. No one had dared to act in front of her before, so she couldn’t help but sneer, "Fine, I promise you."
Yun Shu released her and walked over to sit on the sofa.
Yun Ya lay on the ground, gasping for breath as if she was on the verge of collapse.
"Do you know what Mu Qingci’s background is?" Yun Shu spoke up.
She had guessed correctly, this jade pendant was related to her grandmother, and with just one ruse, she had managed to extract the secret Yun Shu had buried.
Without waiting for Yun Ya to answer, she started to explain.
"Mu Qingci is a royal descendant from the late Qing Dynasty. Her ancestor Harun, although from a branch family, was extremely wealthy. He profited enormously from the nation’s calamity by accumulating a vast amount of wealth from the people, leading to widespread resentment. Later, when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China and destroyed the Imperial Gardens, the Qing royal family was in imminent danger. Thankfully, he had already prepared a contingency plan and transferred all his wealth to a mountain in Yunzhou, where he built an Imperial Tomb. He sealed all his wealth inside it, intending to be buried there after his death. The tomb, constructed under the supervision of the trap master Qin Zhou, was filled with mechanisms to deter tomb robbers. Later, to prevent any betrayal, Qin Zhou devised a master mechanism using a jade pendant as the key. Without triggering the mechanism, it was impossible to leave the tomb, but it could only be opened twice. After the second opening, the tomb would collapse and be buried forever underground."
Yun Ya had never expected her grandmother to be a royal descendant. Wasn’t she an orphan, raised in an orphanage with her grandfather from a young age?
So the jade pendant must be what Yun Shu was holding, one corner of it.
"He managed to avoid an insider’s betrayal, but not an ambush from his enemies. Harun’s four sons had already received news and were waiting for him outside. As soon as Qin Zhou emerged, he was captured. The four sons, using Qin Zhou’s wife as leverage, forced him to divulge everything. Despite his compliance, he was still killed by the four men."
"Then, due to the jade pendant, symbolizing immense wealth, the four brothers turned on each other, fighting to the death. The smartest of them, Lao San, suggested a compromise: divide the jade pendant into four pieces, one for each brother, so no one could monopolize it. As time went on and the country faced turmoil, the four brothers scattered to the four winds, living incognito. The fortune remained buried in the hearts of the brothers, and the secret was passed down through generations. Everyone wanted to gather all pieces of the pendant to claim the wealth, but more than a hundred years later, the brothers turned to dust, and for their descendants, reuniting the pendant was as difficult as reaching the heavens."
Yun Ya listened quietly; the jade pendant had such an origin, almost like something out of a TV drama.
"Mu Qingci grew up as an orphan in the orphanage. I met her when I was in high school, and we became best friends. I genuinely considered her my best friend, but if that man hadn’t appeared, I think we could have been friends for life."
Listening, Yun Ya couldn’t help but want to laugh, thinking how self-justifying it was to steal someone else’s man, truly despicable to the core.
When Yun Shu first saw Ji Huaixi, it was at the school gate, under a sunset that was blood-red, like a fiery blossoming flower. She would never forget that day: the youth pushing his bike, dressed in a simple shirt and pants, exuding a simple elegance, standing under the sunset, smiling warmly and brightly.