Chapter 60: Wan Bao Inn

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  This book is classified as prose poetry lyrics " " "

  Content summary: People in unawareness

  Will be protected by many people

  Such an important matter

  It's always when we lose

  Just realized

  Serene and clear future

  Concealed in an invisible thread of fate

  Between people who were destined to be together

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  Mu Qing then told Li Shi about the purple silk matter: “...Madam doesn't mention that we have nothing to do with the Liangs. But since you want to form a relationship with the Liang family, I think it's better to investigate some things clearly. This matter is really too suspicious. Our family has also been an old customer of Wanbao Zhai for a long time, if we ask them to help make silver headwear, they will definitely take on this task due to their feelings. Even so, it's possible that they will use inferior silver to make the headdress...Isn't this self-destructive?"

  Li smiled slightly: "What if the Liang family had intended to form an alliance with us all along?"

  Shen Mu's face was calm and serene, but his mind was racing: "If that's the case, then Mrs. Liang's visit, Liang Youhui's hospitality, even Liang Jimin's interruption of her studies to be called back from the temple...even Zixia's actions can all be explained."

  Li's eyes flashed with a relieved expression: "Then tell me, how can Zixia's actions be justified?"

  Shen Mu Qing said calmly, "Marriage is a major event that has always been decided by parents since ancient times. If the Liang family wants to form an alliance with our family, then Madame Liang, Mrs. Liang, and even Master Liang should have discussed it beforehand. The people of the Liang family must also be aware of this, at least within a certain scope. And yet, Zi Sha took advantage of her visit to our house as a guest of Liang You Hui to deliberately bring up this matter with me, which can only mean two possibilities."

  Li nodded slightly and looked at her encouragingly.

  Shen Mu Qing's face was slightly solemn: "When the purple gauze made a mistake, I was flustered and didn't think much of it, thinking that after all, I wasn't the real master of their household. One possibility is that Purple Gauze was instructed by someone else and deliberately revealed some things to me in a very subtle way. And this matter will have a certain impact on the marriage between our two families..."

  Li's face gradually showed a pleased smile: "That makes sense. Now that you have such an idea in mind, what do you plan to do?"

  This is also Li's test for himself!

  After a moment of thought, Shen Muqing said calmly and seriously: "I want to go to Wan Bao Lou."

  Li's eyebrow angle: raised.

  "If it's the first case, then that's fine." Shen Muqing said to himself. "If it's the second case... I think that since someone from the Liang family is deliberately doing this in front of me, if we don't respond at all, wouldn't that be wasting their kindness?" The words were spoken with a hint of coldness.

  Li held her daughter's hand in hers and said, "While I can still take care of you, do whatever you want to do!"

  The next day, Shen Muqing made an excuse to order a few pieces of jewelry and went to Wan Baozhai in Baolin Hutong, East City.

  Here is the translation:

  This street is lined with shops selling jewelry, jade, antiques, and calligraphy. As a result, it doesn't have the high-rise buildings and fluttering flags like other places. The wide, stone-paved streets are flanked by ancient trees as thick as a man's waist, their trunks wrapped in high walls. Every three to five steps, you'll see a black-lacquered gate with a bright doorplate, or one carved from bluestone in the shape of a lotus flower. A small inscription reads "Quē Fāng Zhāi" (a name). Or, a block of Taihu stone stands at the entrance, bearing the three large characters "Jù Bǎo Xuān". Alternatively, a piece of sky-blue lingbi stone is affixed to the side of the door with an embossed seal reading "Qīng Wán" (a name), serving as a signboard. The street is almost devoid of pedestrians. In front of each house, a few sedan chairs or horse-drawn carriages are parked sparsely. Even the humblest of these sedan chairs have tin roofs and green silk canopies, while the lowest-grade horse-drawn carriages have black lacquer and embroidered curtains. People who happen to pass by this street can't help but steal glances.

  Shen Mu Qing walked into the backyard of Wan Bao Zhai wearing a cloak.

  The second master of Wan Bao Zhai personally welcomed her and invited her to sit down in a elegant room.

  After the pretty maidservant in bright clothes served them tea and refreshments, Shen Muqing asked Yingfan to bring out the set of headdresses that the Liang family had given to Zhu Di as a dowry gift and show it to the second shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, help me take a look at whether this is not something from Guibao Number."

  The second shopkeeper stretched his neck and took a closer look at what Ying Fen was holding in her hand, and smiled: "It should be our family's thing."

  Shen Mu Qing handed the things to Er Zhuanggui: "Er Zhuanggui, help me ask whose family ordered this? How many sets did they order? And how much silver was used for each?"

  The two shopkeepers' faces immediately showed a look of difficulty.

  The people who come and go from the Wanbaozhai are either rich or noble, and keeping customer information confidential is one of the most basic professional operations of the Wanbaozhai, which is also one of the fundamental reasons why the Wanbaozhai can stand in the upper circle of Kyoto.

  Stillness is clarity.

  She smiled and said: "Don't be surprised, Second Master. It's just that something unexpected happened. Take a closer look, there is one silver hairpin with a suspicious color."

  The shopkeeper was greatly shocked and hastily took the red lacquer gold-painted box from Ying Yun's hand, examining it carefully.

  "I won't hide it from you, this was originally something sent by the Marquis of Dingyuan's family," Shen Mu said calmly. "Because they said it was ordered at Guibao Hall, so when I received it, I didn't examine it carefully either. It wasn't until today when I took it out to use that I discovered some issues. So I specifically brought it for the shopkeeper to take a look."

  Many secrets are hidden behind the grandeur of a wealthy family. Is Miss Shen here to investigate the origin of this head or to verify the authenticity of this brooch? Neither of the two managers wants to know, nor do they want to ask more questions. He hastily paid his respects to Shen Muqing and said, "Miss, please wait for a moment." He summoned a young maid to attend to her and excused himself with the red lacquer gold-inlaid box.

  Shen Muqing knew he had gone to investigate the matter and sat leisurely in the house drinking tea.

  Ying Feng's brow furrowed in concern as he leaned in close and whispered: "Miss, they might"

  "Is this guy someone we added later?"

  Shen Mu Qing calmly observed the furnishings in the room, speaking softly: "Don't worry, the owners of Wan Bao Zhai are all very discerning. They've encountered countless people from all walks of life. People like us who just want them to appraise something are actually quite ordinary. If they were to encounter some kind of troublemaker, that would be a real headache for them!"

  "Miss, what is a 'White Party'?" asked Ying Fen in a low voice.

  Shen Muqing only then realized his own slip of the tongue, and could only pretend not to have heard it, pointing at a porcelain screen on the opposite side with a depiction of heavenly maidens scattering flowers: "The color is fired so lightly and delicately, it seems like something from the official kilns of Zheng'an year."

  Her gaze was immediately drawn to it, and she stood in front of the porcelain screen, carefully examining it: "If this is really from the Zheng'an period, it's extremely valuable... It shouldn't be placed here!" Before her words had even faded away, the sound of shattering porcelain could be heard.

  The two of them were frightened and their eyes fell on the porcelain screen.

  Looking at the ceramic screen hanging there, both of them let out a sigh of relief at the same time, but also became curious about the source of the sound, and involuntarily leaned in to listen.

  Before long, faint sobbing sounds drifted over.

  The British exclaimed: "Didn't the neighbors hang a similar set of porcelain screens too?"

  "I won't!" Shen Muqing replied uncertainly, but her face turned towards the little maid standing by the door.

  The little maid's face had already shown a panicked expression, and when she saw Shen Muqing's gaze fall on her, she forced out a smile: "Miss has a good eye. This is indeed from the Zheng'an period, and there's another one hanging on the wall next door, but it's a phoenix and peony."

  Shen Mu Qing and Ying Fen stared at each other, their faces tense, while the little maid looked like she was on the verge of tears.

  The servant next door should be her younger sister!

  "Why don't you go take a look!"

  The little maid smiled with tears in her eyes: "No need, the boss has instructed that everyone should take care of their own business and not run around."

  Deep and quiet, serene and subtle, lost in thought.

  Wanbaozhai has been standing upright in Kyoto for a hundred years without falling, and it's not without reason.

  She sympathized with him for a moment and comforted him: "Don't worry, the guests who come to Wanbaozhai are all very rich and can afford to lose."

  That little servant girl said, "You don't know, the woman next door is here at Wanbao shop for the first time. I'm afraid she's going to be asked to compensate, but she thinks we're cheating her!"

  In other words, the person next door is a country bumpkin.

  Just as they were talking, a shrill shout came from next door: "...You cheated me? This porcelain screen is worth three thousand taels... Why don't you go rob... Do you think I'm a vegetarian?"

  Shen Mu Qing listened quietly, how did this voice sound so familiar?

  She couldn't help but push open a crack in the door and look out.

  He saw a handsome young man with a look of impatience standing under the eaves.

  "Hōrō......" Chinmoku Seijū exclaimed in surprise, calling out that young man's name, "What are you doing here?"

  Hōra's eyes sparkled as she smiled brightly.

  He walked over in three strides: "Little sister, what brings you here?"

  "What's going on here? Where is Manager Pang? Where is your young master?"

  Bao Liang's eyes lit up and he asked, "Is the young lady accompanying your family head? You must be very familiar with Wan Baozhan? That Tou Erjie has a bad temper and broke someone else's porcelain screen. Now they have to pay 3,000 taels of silver in compensation. Can you please put in a good word for us with Wan Baozhan's people?"

  "Wait, wait!" Shen Muqing stopped Bao Liang's non-stop talking, "Let's say it one sentence at a time."

  Hōra finally shut up.

  Her eyes, however, were sizing Shen Muqing up and down: "Sister's dress is so beautiful."

  With eyes wide open and full of curiosity.

  Shen Mu Qing chuckled and said, "You first tell me, how did you end up with Tu Er Jie?"

  As soon as he heard this, his face immediately showed a look of indignation: "You don't know, that Tou Xiao Ya is not even a thing. His brother-in-law Xu San lost money and wanted to sell his wife, what does it have to do with us? I don't know how, but he found our young master and asked him to buy his sister. Our young master is also like this, since the day he went to your house to drink and came back, he became a different person, he didn't read books or practice sword anymore... that Xu San came and he actually bought that second sister without saying a word..."

  What's going on here?!

  Shen Muqing was completely bewildered.

  She asked strangely: "Bao Liang, you said that Young Master returned from our house after drinking, and he became a different person. What happened?"

  Ke Na Bao Liang was immersed in his own resentment, Shen Mu Qing asked him, he not only didn't answer, but instead raised his voice, trying to drown out Shen Mu Qing's voice, and continued talking: "......Really shameless. In the middle of winter, wearing a silk vest and red scarf, walking around the house... Our young master doesn't know what's gotten into him, actually...". As he spoke, his face turned bright red.

  (Sisters, don't bother me... continue to vote for pink tickets... thank you...(＿)) Hehe...)

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  Chapter Sixty: Wan Bao Zhai