AWB Chapter 420 Broken Gold
Chapter 420 Broken Gold
Shen Yao pretended to recall: "I've saved too many people to remember clearly. She seemed to have told me that her family ran an embroidery shop."
Grandmother Qin was somewhat disappointed: "Perhaps it's a woman from the Si family."
The Si family are imperial merchants; such fine fabrics are probably only available to the Si family as gifts.
Shen Yao comforted her, "Although I don't know the origin of the clothes, I have made a lot of jewelry. If you don't mind, I will give you some."
Despite her advanced age, Grandma Qin was quick-witted. She smiled and said, "Miss Shen's cooking is excellent. I love it so much. Which inn did you stay at before? I'll tell my servants to go and fetch your luggage."
Shen Yao had previously claimed she was hungry and wanted to leave, but the General's Mansion might have had spies of the Crown Prince. It would be inappropriate for her to leave now to retrieve her belongings.
"Madam, my luggage is hidden in the middle of the cliff. Could you please let me eat before I go to retrieve it?"
She laughed awkwardly and said, "Hehe, I'm hungry, I've been hungry for a long time."
Madam Qin quickly stood up: "I'll make the arrangements right away."
After Madam Qin left, Grandmother Qin asked Shen Yaoyun which places she had visited.
Fortunately, Guan Guan showed her a map of Sheng Kingdom while she was in the carriage. The map showed the geography and customs of the regions.
Given Shen Yao's ability to lie without batting an eye, she easily fooled them.
The meal was prepared quickly, but only Guan Guan and Miss Qin ate with her.
Qin Wu Gongzi naturally could not dine with his mistress.
Madam Qin and the Fifth Young Master Qin escorted their grandmother back to the Elegant Residence.
The old grandmother asked her daughter-in-law and grandson for their opinions. Madam Qin said, "My daughter-in-law has lived in the backyard for a long time and has never come into contact with people from the martial arts world. She cannot distinguish between good and bad. Please enlighten me, Mother."
Grandmother Qin nodded slightly. Her eldest daughter-in-law had raised her children very well; she was intelligent and knew how to hide her talents.
"Xuan'er, what do you think?"
Qin Zixuan, the fifth young master of Qin, is thirteen years old. He is handsome and, although his face is still very young, he is very composed in his speech and behavior.
“Grandmother, in my opinion, Miss Shen is a free-spirited person with no ulterior motives. Her words and actions do not seem to be pretentious.”
Grandma Qin encouraged him to explain in detail.
Qin Zixuan analyzed, "Miss Shen doesn't seem to understand etiquette. She probably hasn't received any discipline. She speaks as she pleases, which may be because she has been free and unrestrained since childhood, which has led to her carefree temperament."
"She has superb craftsmanship and martial arts skills, so she must have no worries about money, which is why she can support herself like this..."
He was too embarrassed to say what came next; as a man, it would be inappropriate to rashly comment on the appearance of a woman he had just met.
Grandmother Qin continued, "Miss Shen's beauty is no less than that of your fourth sister. When I first saw her, I thought she was a noble lady from some aristocratic family brought by Prince Xuan."
"But aristocratic families are strict in raising their daughters, and they cannot raise such a free-spirited girl."
Both the grandfather and grandson can speak.
High emotional intelligence: easygoing, undisciplined.
Low emotional intelligence: lacking manners and having no upbringing.
After careful consideration, Grandmother Qin said, "She might really be a chivalrous person who stands up for justice, otherwise the Crown Prince wouldn't have let her come back with him."
When this was mentioned, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law exchanged glances.
Grandmother Qin dismissed Qin Zixuan, saying, "Xuan'er, your mother and I have something to discuss. You should go back now."
After Qin Zixuan finished his farewell ceremony, he left quickly.
Madam Qin's tone was somewhat urgent: "Mother, if Miss Shen only saved Guan Guan, the Crown Prince could simply give her some money to send her away. But for him to allow such a beautiful woman to live in the mansion with Guan Guan, could he possibly have some ulterior motive?"
"Don't panic." Grandmother Qin picked up her teacup, took a sip, and slowly said, "No matter how outstanding she is, she's just a country girl, not presentable. If the Crown Prince really has that idea, just place her outside. After the wedding, just carry her to the mansion in a small sedan chair and make her a concubine."
In the prosperous state, a man had one wife and many concubines. Concubines were classified as maids, good concubines, and noble concubines. Maids were merely low-class playthings, only having a title that distinguished them from concubines.
No matter how outstanding a woman is, without a powerful background, she is nothing more than a toy in the eyes of noble families, and can only be a plaything.
Madam Qin thought of something: "But she is truly beautiful, like a fairy descended from heaven. I'm afraid the Crown Prince might take pity on her and want me to adopt her as my goddaughter so she can marry Guan Guan and become a concubine..."
Grandmother Qin waved her hand: "It's not that bad. Most of the sons of my Qin family are still on the battlefield. The Crown Prince would not humiliate our Zhenguo General's Mansion like that."
"Xuxu, the more it concerns our children's marriage, the less we should panic."
Madam Qin thought about it and felt that it made sense: "Mother is right. It is because I am worried about Guan Guan that I am distracted."
Grandma Qin prompted, "Think about it, whose carriage did Miss Shen arrive in today?"
Madam Qin suddenly realized: "Prince Xuan gave her the carriage and rode on horseback himself. Mother, do you mean... that Prince Xuan has taken a liking to her?"
If he hadn't taken a liking to her, why would a prince allow a country girl to ride in his carriage, and even have Guan Guan's maid accompany her? He must have been afraid that Shen Yao's reputation would be tarnished if she rode alone in Prince Xuan's carriage.
Grandmother Qin made a decision for the time being: "Treat her as a distinguished guest for now. If the Crown Prince does not bring Prince Xuan to express his regards within a month, give her a generous reward and send her away."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law believed they knew the whole truth.
Little did they know that in the eyes of the Crown Prince and Prince Xuan, Shen Yao was a treasure, a power, a fine weapon, and a deadly tool for seizing power.
But it's also a big problem.
Because if we can't get it, we have to destroy it; we absolutely cannot let our opponents get it.
But with that palm strike she delivered from the cliff, it would be very difficult and troublesome to destroy her.
At this time, both the Crown Prince and Prince Xuan sent geomancers to measure the handprints on the cliff.
The width, height, and depth must all be recorded to estimate her strength and how to deal with her if she becomes an enemy in the future.
At the same time, they all issued a gag order: if the matter at the cliff top were to be revealed, all the guards who accompanied the emperor today would be executed.
After finishing her meal, Shen Yao used the excuse of retrieving her luggage to return to the cliff.
The General's Mansion sent a carriage to escort them.
This was to keep an eye on her and see if she really went to the middle of the cliff to retrieve her belongings.
Shen Yao did not refuse. When they reached the edge of the cliff, she pretended to climb down a vine.
Where the servants couldn't see, she took out a small wooden box from her storage ring and filled it with two sets of clothes, a short knife, some miscellaneous items, and ten sets of jewelry.
After placing the small wooden box inside, she thought for a moment, then replaced it with a large box about half the height of a person, put the small wooden box inside, and filled the large box with gold fragments.
In the world of cultivation, the common currency is the Perfect Stone. Gold is only used as a material for refining weapons or for making ornaments. Although it is not readily available, it is not particularly precious either.
There was a whole gold brick in the storage ring, but Shen Yao deliberately broke the gold brick and only put in gold fragments.
Back at the General's Mansion, she casually carried the wooden box and had a servant take her to the courtyard of Old Madam Qin. In front of the Qin family's servants, she opened the box and let the old lady choose jewelry.
When the box was opened, everyone was struck by its golden sheen.
It's so bright it makes my eyes blurry.
Grandma Qin took a closer look and exclaimed, "This... Miss Shen, is this box of yours filled with gold?"
Shen Yao stood behind the large box, bent down and looked over the lid: "Oh dear, Madam, I'm so sorry, the things inside are all messed up, probably due to the bumpy journey."
She's good at pretending.
She squatted down in front of the box, reached out her hands to scoop out the broken gold pieces, and casually tossed them on the ground...
All the onlookers saw was a box full of gold fragments, which she tossed onto the ground handful by handful, like trash...