What could she say? That she saw a white snake carrying this tacky sack on its back in her dream, which she then found beside her when she opened her eyes?
Wasn’t that just a fantastical story? Who would believe such an explanation? Even she herself didn’t believe it!
“Shaoyao, these things wouldn’t be from the king’s private warehouse, right.” Qiao Mu suppressed her voice as she asked.
Shaoyao twitched her mouth. “Master, Shaoyao hasn’t been to the king’s private warehouse before either. Regardless, each piece of jewelry here is rare and precious. They must be quite valuable.”
“Then what should we do now?” Qiao Mu turned to look at her.
“Of course we should… put it away!” Shaoyao glanced around like a thief before quickly stuffing the sack into Qiao Mu’s arms. “It’ll be fine, Little Master. If you put it inside your inner world, neither gods nor ghosts will know. Even if the king’s private warehouse was indeed looted, no one will be able to search your inner world.”
“Furthermore, how would we know why this sack appeared here? It might even be a part of that malicious woman’s, Consort Zheng’s, crafty plot again! If we take it out right now and just so happen to be caught red-handed, then we wouldn’t be able to explain ourselves!” After finishing her spiel, Shaoyao dragged her little master along as she trotted to the area behind the heavy curtains. “Quickly put it away, Little Master.”
Consort Zheng is shouldering the blame again! After musing it over, she had to concur that leaving such a large bag outside indeed attracted too much attention.
But if she put it away… her small body quivered from the depths of her heart when she thought of that white snake sporting a small, round, and bald head.
Recalling that icy and squishy sensation, she felt unwell all over.
With a motion of her mystic conscious, the Cosmos Treasure Sack entered her inner world, opening up and turning upside down. Behind the original jeweled mountain, numerous items spilled out sonorously, like gold pearls falling onto a jade basin, and they quickly piled up into another high mound.
Mobilizing her mystic conscious, Qiao Mu shifted out a stalk of red coral the height of a person into the room, and the master and servant gasped in amazement while circling around it. Only after admiring it for half the day did they exchange a glance.
“Little Master, excuse my frankness, but I feel that even the king’s private warehouse wouldn’t be able to take out an even more perfect red coral than this.”
“Look at how lustrous and translucent this is!” Shaoyao clicked her tongue in wonder. “This is a supreme-grade red coral.”
Qiao Mu sighed with emotion as she glanced at it some more before putting it away. “Shaoyao, after the small banquet concluded that day, the queen gave me a lot of jewelry as compensation. Among them, there’s a box of beaded flower head-ornaments whose styles are all quite suitable for you young people. Go retrieve it and distribute it among the junior royal maids.”
After saying this, she pulled Shaoyao to the mirror on the dressing table and took out an embroidered box, handing it to Shaoyao.
Shaoyao was speechless. The crown prince consort was clearly younger than them all, yet she acted as an elder when she spoke at times, causing people to be deeply amused.
In addition, only you, Crown Prince Consort, dared to call these items compensation!
“Thank you, Miss, for your bestowal.” However, Shaoyao didn’t point that out and only received the box with a giggle.
After she finished attending to Qiao Mu’s morning routine and meal, Shaoyao then pulled the junior royal maids to the courtyard to choose and distribute the beaded flower head-ornaments.
The entire afternoon, the sound of happiness and laughter filled the Eastern Palace, just as if they were celebrating the new year in advance.
Qiao Mu once again browsed through the medical books for a while. When the crown prince came back, she told him to quickly return the books to their owners.
That evening, it finally stopped snowing.
The two people chatted until very late, and they confirmed that they would return home together tomorrow after the crown prince finished handling state affairs in the morning.
Qiao Mu went to sleep after throwing that empty hideous cotton print sack to the side. However, during the night, she heard some rustling noises while still half-asleep.
She abruptly opened a pair of eerily chilly eyes.