"Is this really from your Brother Zi’an?" Yang Chuxia asked Yang Xiayun.
"Yes, he asked me to bring it." She answered.
After hearing this, Yang Chuxia looked at the box and then at Shen Qiu. Seeing Shen Qiu’s expressionless face, along with her maid’s awkwardness, Chuxia immediately knew why Ye Zi’an had Yunyun bring the stuff at this time.
Tsk, tsk, Brother An is still so scheming. This is a blatant slap in the face.
As expected, before she could say anything, Shen Qiu stood up and said, "Xiaxia, the nanny at home is still waiting for me to learn etiquette, so I’ll go first. I’ll come visit you when I have time."
"Okay, take care!" Yang Chuxia told Xiu’er, "Go, send Miss Shen off."
After Shen Qiu and her maids left the room, Yang Chuxia burst into laughter.
"That was so hilarious, such masterful scheming."
As for Shen Qiu, once she was on the carriage, she slapped her maidservant.
"You fool, you humiliated me! With every mention of the bracelet, they pull out a big box full of jadeite. Are you afraid your mistress won’t be humiliated enough?"
The young maid was so scared she knelt on the carriage floor, "Mistress, please calm down, I didn’t mean it." Actually, she was thinking ’Wasn’t that what you wanted? Why else would you come here if not to show off? Unfortunately, someone slapped you in the face.’
"Hmph, you better not dare." Shen Qiu snorted, "Let the carriage hurry up. I need to go back and learn etiquette immediately. When I become the imperial family’s queen, I’ll have the best things."
The young maid thought, ’By the time the selection takes place next year, you’ll be 18, which is too old. Whether or not you can be chosen is a problem, let alone getting the best things. The Lord County Magistrate asked you to go because there’s no way around it.’
"Where is your Brother Zi’an now?" After Shen Qiu left, they continued to enjoy the feast together.
"When we arrived, he was drinking with father and the others in the front yard."
Yang Chuxia nodded, "You two eat, I’m going to see him." She covered the box on the table and took it to the inside room to put it away with the other things.
As she left her courtyard and headed for the front yard, she happened to meet Ye Zi’an on the way.
"I was just about to look for you."
Ye Zi’an smiled and walked over, "So, do you like it?"
Knowing that he was referring to the set of jadeite jewelry, she said, "I do, I really like it." Thinking of Shen Qiu’s expression, she asked, "Did you know Shen Qiu came?"
"Xiu’er told me when she went to deliver the dishes, and I asked her about it."
Ye Zi’an naturally knew about Shen Qiu and the minor friction between her and Xiaxia in the past few years. So when he heard Xiu’er mention Shen Qiu’s maid constantly talking about the jadeite bracelet, he knew what was going on. He hurriedly called Yang Xiayun to bring the box he had brought for Yang Chuxia.
"Why did you spend so much money on those things?" That one box alone must have cost thousands of taels.
"I didn’t buy these." Ye Zi’an laughed while holding her hand, "I couldn’t afford such good jade. When we were travelling in Jiangsu, we saved a man’s life. He came from the border and told us about a jade mine there. We parted ways, but when we were about to leave Jiangsu, we ran into him again. To thank me for saving his life, he gave me a piece of raw jadeite. I saw that it was quite large and could make a lot of things, so I had someone carve it."