Chapter 151

Chapter 151 Searching for the Blood Jade Bracelets

Granny Wu brought an old maid into the room. From the looks of it, the old maid did not come from an ordinary family. She followed the rules after stepping into the room. She first bowed to Qu Moying, then took out a letter from her pocket with a smile. With her head low, she respectfully handed it over. “Fourth Lady Qu, this is a letter from our Princess Ji.”

“A letter? What’s the matter?” When Yu Chun went to receive it, Qu Moying raised her eyebrows and asked.

“I do not know, Fourth Lady Qu. Please read the letter first.” The old maid said with a smile. Her words and actions were very appropriate.

Not saying anything else, Qu Moying took the letter from Yu Chun and read it quickly. When she finished reading it, she paused for a moment and then turned to Granny Wu. “Granny Wu, do you know that my mother’s pair of bracelets, which was a part of her dowry, was specially sent here by my maternal grandmother?”

“What bracelets?” Granny Wu was stunned for a moment. She accompanied the Crown Prince’s Mansion’s old maid to come over out of politeness. After all, Crown Prince’s Mansion’s servants could not be compared to ordinary servants. Even if they were sent by a side concubine, they could not be underestimated.

Qu Moying looked at the letter again and casually read, “A pair of red jade bracelets. They are made of blood jade. There are also tear-shaped green gems on them. They are extremely precious.”

Granny Wu’s gaze swept over the letter. Needless to say, the letter must have mentioned this pair of blood jade bracelets. Was it Princess Ji? Why did she mention this pair of blood jade bracelets?

After her heart churned a few times, Granny Wu saw that Qu Moying had already finished reading and turned to her. She hurriedly thought about it. The matter happened back in the days, and Yue had passed away a long time ago. In fact, there were many things that Granny Wu could not remember, but this pair of blood jade bracelets really did leave an impression on her.

When Yue first came to visit the Old Lady, she had worn this pair of blood jade bracelets. After that, the Old Lady also said that Yue’s clan in the South was indeed worthy of its name. They had a great background and could possess such blood jade bracelets. It was clear that they were filthy rich. Although they were not officials in court, they were not to be disregarded.

After that, Yue had been wearing the bracelets for a period of time. Other bracelets rarely had gems on them. Only the bracelets Yue wore had a teardrop-shaped gem, and it was green in color. This way, the red blood jade appeared even more crystal clear and enchanting. It also complimented Yue’s beautiful porcelain-like skin.

“It seems that there is such a pair of bracelets.” Granny Wu hesitated for a moment and said frankly.

“Do you know where they are? Princess Ji asked me to wear them tomorrow. When Yue’s family married off Aunt and Mother, they sent each a pair as their dowry. Aunt’s bracelets are in Eastern Palace, and Mother’s ones are in Qu Mansion. Princess Ji asked me to bring them there tomorrow,” Qu Moying explained softly.

“I will ask the Old Lady later.” After a moment of hesitation, Granny Wu agreed. However, her expression was a little strange.

After receiving the reply, Qu Moying gently said to the old maid who was from the Eastern Palace, “Go and report to Princess Ji, tell her that I got her message, and I will follow her orders tomorrow.”

“Fourth Lady Qu, I will take my leave now!” Seeing that the matter was settled, Eastern Palace’s old maid grinned.

“Granny Miao, send the guest off,” Qu Moying instructed.

Granny Miao took two steps forward and bowed to Eastern Palace’s old maid before leading the way out.

“Granny Wu, is there any inconvenience?” Qu Moying asked after the lot left.

“There is nothing inconvenient about it. Fourth Lady, please wait here for now. I will report to the Old Lady. There are… some things that are currently in the hands of the Second Madam. It is not convenient for me to directly ask for the bracelets.” Granny Wu laughed awkwardly.

“Thank you then.” Qu Moying stood up and bowed deeply to Granny Wu.

“Don’t be too polite, Fourth Lady. I will go and report to the Old Lady now.” Granny Wu hurriedly returned the greeting and then hurriedly bid farewell to return to the Old Lady’s Kangming House.

Upon reaching Kangming House, Granny Wu sighed heavily and hesitated for a moment in front of the main room. After the servant girl lifted the curtain, Granny Wu walked into the room.

Old Lady Qu sat on the top. Seeing her return, she asked casually, “What’s the matter with that Princess Ji? Why did she suddenly look for Ying?”

In fact, Princess Ji had nothing to do with her granddaughter. If it had been the original Crown Princess, the Old Lady would not have thought too much of it. It was only because it was Princess Ji that she found it strange.

Most people praised the reason Princess Ji entered Eastern Palace. Only a few people thought otherwise, and that included Old Lady Qu.

However, this matter had nothing to do with Qu Mansion. Moreover, compared to the previous Earl Ling’an’s Mansion, Qu Mansion was much weaker. The Old Lady herself was not a blabbermouth, so she naturally would not say anything outside. However, now that Princess Ji had approached her granddaughter, the meaning behind this had already made Old Lady Qu dislike her.

“Princess Ji gave the Fourth Lady a letter. I am not clear about the specific details, but after the Fourth Lady read it, she asked me about a matter in the past about the Second Madam. She asked whether there was a pair of blood jade bracelets when the Second Madam married into here,” Granny Wu reported in detail.

Although the Old Lady was old, her memory of this matter was still there. She tilted her head and thought for a moment and then asked, “As in the blood jade bracelets with two tear-shaped green gems?”

This pair of bracelets was really unique, so the Old Lady recalled about them.

“Yes, it’s that pair of bracelets. It sounds like Earl Ling’an’s wife also had the same pair, and it seems like they want our Fourth Lady to wear this pair of blood jade bracelets tomorrow.”

Granny Wu explained with her own understanding. Just now, Qu Moying did not elaborate, so it was inconvenient for her to ask. Moreover, she was also extremely upset at that time, so she did not make any indirect inquiries.

“What is Princess Ji thinking of doing?” The Old Lady muttered to herself, her eyebrows tightly wrinkled, showing some displeasure.

“I am not sure either. It seems to have something to do with the Crown Princess, but it also doesn’t.” Granny Wu answered, “Old Lady, are these bracelets in the warehouse or in the Second Madam’s hands?”

Granny Wu clearly knew that back then, Yue’s dowry had been locked away by the Old Lady on the excuse that she would keep it and give it to Qu Moying in the future. At that time, Yu was weak, so she did not dare to say anything. But after so many years, the inner household was still under the control of Yu, so Granny Wu was not sure whether the stuff was still around.

However, one thing was certain, at least she had never seen this pair of bracelets in Yu’s hands.

“Go check it out. If you find them, bring them over. If you don’t find them… come back quickly to report to me.” The Old Lady said in a deep voice.

Granny Wu nodded and went to the inner room to get the key. She carried a bunch of keys out but soon ran back sweating profusely.

As the Old Lady looked at her empty hands, her face immediately turned bad. “So? No?”

“Old Lady, I went to check out the warehouse over there. But there was an old maid stopping me from entering. She said that it was the Second Madam’s order, and then she said that the inner household is now under Third Lady’s control, so she has to listen to the Third Lady. That pissed me off. I pushed the old maid and opened the warehouse directly. And I found that almost one half of the things inside were gone.”

Granny Wu reported.

“What? That much?” The Old Lady suddenly stood up.

“Yes, I roughly took a look. I heard from the old maid guarding the door that all the things in here were moved to Qianyue House, where the Fourth Lady currently resides. It is not a small amount. I did not bring the list with me just now, so I couldn’t find out the exact amount,” Granny Wu continued.

As soon as the Old Lady heard this, her expression eased a little, and she sat down again and asked, “Are that pair of bracelets there?”

She would put the investigation matter aside for the time being. As for the things Yu held in her hands, she would definitely make Yu hand them over, but now was not the time to investigate this.

The reason why Princess Ji had sent a letter here was what the Old Lady valued the most.

“I did not find them.” Granny Wu spread out her hands and answered.

“They must be with Yu. Bring a few people to check Yu’s dressing table.” The Old Lady’s eyes flashed as she said angrily.

“Old Lady, I have never seen them in the Second Madam’s hands, nor did I see them in Third Lady’s hands,” Granny Wu said suspiciously.

“If they are not with the Second Madam, they must be with Yan.” The Old Lady snorted coldly.

“Yes, I will check this out now.” Granny Wu responded and left. She called up a few rough old maids and young maids in the yard and took them to Yu’s Qingyu Garden. Along the way, all the servants who saw them bowed their heads and avoided them. They could tell that Granny Wu was not up to something good.

Moreover, it was said that Second Lord had beaten the Second Madam and knocked her out. Was the Old Lady going to punish the Second Madam now?

It seemed that something was going to change in Qu Mansion’s backyard.

“What? Granny Wu went to Mother’s yard to inspect her dowry?” Qu Qiuyan stood up abruptly. Her face turned pale, and she pressed her hands against the dressing table. In the mirror, she looked a little ferocious.

“Yes, apparently so. A little maid in Madam’s courtyard was the one who saw it outside the window. She seemed to have asked Madam a few questions. Aunty Hai Lan wanted to stop her but Granny Wu asked someone to slap her. After that, she did not dare to say anything. Only the sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets inside was heard. It seemed that she was looking for a pair of bracelets.”

Granny Qing, an old maid serving Qu Qiuyan, reported in a low voice.

This old maid was recommended by Yu. In the past, she was not Qu Qiuyan’s confidant and did not follow Qu Qiuyan all the time. She was just an ordinary old maid in Qu Qiuyan’s courtyard, someone inconspicuous. But recently, Qu Qiuyan was very satisfied with the old maid’s work. That was how Granny Qing became Qu Qiuyan’s confidant. Right now, it was her who came in to report to Qu Qiuyan the secrets sent by the little maid who came from Qingyu Garden.

“I know. Let the little maid go back first. Don’t let Granny Wu find out.” Qu Qiuyan took a deep breath and waved her hand to signal the old maid to leave. Then, she suppressed the anger in her heart and calmed herself down. Bracelets? What bracelets? What bracelets would make Grandmother send people to check Mother’s belongings?

It must be some priceless bracelets!

Suddenly, Qu Qiuyan thought of something. She stood up straight and pushed open a drawer in the dresser in front of her. Then, she took out an exquisite box from the innermost drawer. After opening it, she saw a pair of shiny blood jade bracelets lay quietly inside…