Chapter 295 - 294: Farce
Du Yunluo hadn’t seen the Li Family’s golden bracelet with her own eyes, but according to Jin Ling’s description, it seemed quite similar to the one Mu Yuanjing was wearing.
If it really was such a thin bracelet...
Then she and Jin Ling both overlooked something.
This kind of thin bracelet is originally not worn alone, but in sets of three or five, all worn together on the wrist.
Just like Mu Yuanjing, who was wearing two.
If only Jin Ling could have a look at it.
Du Yunluo pondered silently, her gaze shifted, and Mu Lianhui was also staring at Mu Yuanjing’s wrist.
Du Yunluo smiled and asked her in a low voice, "Does Lady also think Aunt’s bracelet is pretty?"
Mu Lianhui frowned and shook her head, "This bracelet... I remember there were three of them, why is she wearing only two? Our aunt’s behavior is becoming more and more unpredictable."
The Lian Family was sitting on Mu Lianhui’s other side and gently patted Mu Lianhui’s hand upon hearing this, "That’s your aunt, how can you talk like that? And where is your sense of propriety in conducting affairs?"
Mu Lianhui pursed her lips, not arguing with the Lian Family at the table.
Du Yunluo squinted her eyes and stared at Mu Yuanjing’s wrist.
In the past, she was never close to Mu Yuanjing; apart from family banquets during festivities, Du Yunluo would never see any sign of Mu Yuanjing.
Even when they met, Mu Yuanjing showed no kindness toward the main family, and Du Yunluo was not inclined to go near her without a good reason, always avoiding her as much as possible.
Therefore, Du Yunluo didn’t really understand Mu Yuanjing’s character.
If it were Princess Yunhua, she would either gift the entire set of bracelets at once or not at all; splitting three into two, the princess would never do such a thing.
But whether Mu Yuanjing would, Du Yunluo couldn’t say for sure.
If the bracelet from the Li Family was indeed Mu Yuanjing’s, then why would Mu Yuanjing suddenly reward the cleaning maid at the front courtyard with it?
Zizhu from the Li Family had never even seen Mu Yuanjing’s face.
On the other hand, if it was indeed a reward, why would Zizhu lie to her family about it being crafted at a golden building?
If it was stolen, how did Zizhu get into Mu Yuanjing’s room?
There were too many peculiarities in this, truly like seeing flowers in the fog.
Most importantly, whether the Li Family’s bracelet was Mu Yuanjing’s or not could only be determined by seeing it in person.
Mu Yuanjing frowned and spoke for a while, then seeing Madam Wu constantly comforting her, she started to lose interest.
Mrs. Lu helped her with some dishes and coaxed her a bit more.
Mu Yuanjing found a way to brush off the matter, turned her head, and chatted idly with Mrs. Lu.
Mu Yuanmou, Mu Lianxiao, and Mu Lianyu were all good drinkers, but Madam Wu didn’t want them to drink too much and had the maids take away the wine once they reached a reasonable amount.
Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Xu stood up to take their leave.
Madam Wu said to Mu Lianyu, "You should head back to the front soon; the doors will be locked shortly."
Mu Lianyu smiled, "Grandchild will go now."
After attending to Madam Wu’s return to her room, Du Yunluo and Mu Lianxiao accompanied Mrs. Zhou out of Baijie Hall.
In the following days, there were suddenly two thunderstorms, and spring arrived abruptly, in stark contrast to the heavy snow of a few days before.
Nanny Su organized several account books and delivered them to Shaohui Garden, also calling Nanny Gao, who kept the accounts, over to facilitate Du Yunluo’s inquiries.
Mrs. Zhou sincerely wanted to teach Du Yunluo, handing over the affairs of the main family to her daughter-in-law, and thus Nanny Gao and Nanny Su cooperated exceptionally well.
With such cooperation from the two nannies, the housekeeper ladies below became even more respectful and cautious.
Du Yunluo felt that this time taking over, with everyone’s unity and her own foundation, it was far easier than before.
At the beginning of March, several sunny days swept away the winter cold.
The underground fire dragon was stopped, and originally Du Yunluo wanted to remove the fire basin as well, but Mu Lianxiao disagreed, saying it was warm during the day, but easy to catch a cold as it cooled down at night.
At that moment, Du Yunluo was eating a snack, and when she heard this, she nearly choked.
Mu Lianxiao quickly poured her some water.
Du Yunluo took it and drank it in one go, glancing at Mu Lianxiao as she did.
It’s easy to catch a cold at night, and that’s all Mu Lianxiao’s fault!
Yet this culprit was still so matter-of-fact about it.
Lian Qiao came in when Du Yunluo was sitting in the bright room, talking to Nanny Gao.
The curtain lifted, and the sunlight poured in instantly, falling on the bluestone floor tiles, making one feel warm just by looking at it.
Lian Qiao curtsied and greeted, smiling, "This maid just came from Madam’s, and the storeroom in Jingshui Hall was opened today. Madam, should we also air ours out?"
Du Yunluo looked up at her.
Lian Qiao stood with her head bowed, poised, waiting for her master’s instructions.
Du Yunluo understood what Lian Qiao meant.
Lian Qiao was managing the storeroom at Shaohui Garden, and after a winter, it needed some airing and inventorying.
Even if Du Yunluo didn’t ask Lian Qiao for keys and account books, Lian Qiao hoped to have the storeroom thoroughly checked.
Du Yunluo nodded, "Has Mother opened her storeroom? Then let’s open ours too, and bring along a few strong hands."
Lian Qiao responded and left.
She fetched the keys and ledgers from the house, along with Jin Rui, taking the grannies and maids to sun and inventory the items.
There were a lot of things in the storeroom, and after busying themselves, even the two rough maids were so tired they couldn’t straighten their backs, sitting at the entrance of the opposite house, panting heavily.
Seeing Lian Qiao and Jin Rui busy checking, no one paying attention to them, the two grannies began chatting quietly.
Mrs. Shen nodded towards the main house direction and whispered, "Previously, people outside said our madam had a bad temper, but after half a month here, I find her quite easy to get along with."
Madam Ma squinted with a smile, "Isn’t that right? Doesn’t my family also live in Willow Tree Alley? Mrs. Yun Qi is pretty and has a good temperament, no one on the street can say a bad word about her. With such a maid with a good temper, you can imagine what the master’s temperament must be like."
Speaking of Jin Ling, Mrs. Shen got interested, "Last time she came to the mansion to pay respects, I was stunned at first glance, truly a beauty. Change her clothes, change her style, say she’s a lady from some family, and I’d believe it."
Madam Ma nodded repeatedly, "She’s really good to her little aunt, that maid Ying’er is naturally fair-skinned, and with Mrs. Yun Qi dressing her up, she really looks like a flower. Those who don’t know might think she’s a girl from a wealthy family.
The last two times**** when I went home, even my family’s maid said that what Ying’er is wearing now makes others envy, everything is so exquisite.
Oh, that reminds me, there’s a funny thing I heard."
Mrs. Shen’s eyes lit up, "What funny thing? Don’t keep me in suspense, old sister, quickly tell me."
"The sister from the Lu Family had her eyes on the bracelet of the Second Sister Li from the Li Family, Lu Family also wanted to have one made, so they went to the Li Family to inquire. But the Li Family kept insisting that the bracelet was crafted at a small shop, saying the same thing every time, which infuriated the Lu Family, causing a quarrel with the Li Family right there in the street." Madam Ma pursed her lips, "The Lu Family’s temper, their voice like firecrackers, shouted so the entire alley knew, accusing the Li Family of hiding the truth, claiming the bracelet’s origin was suspicious, suspecting it was stolen by the eldest daughter from the Li Family from the mansion."
Mrs. Shen widened her eyes, "The Lu Family, they really dare to say anything. The eldest daughter of the Li Family is that Zizhu, right? Working in the front yard, could she steal a master’s bracelet? Such nonsense!"