Jiang Xuening remembered that she had vaguely told Shen Yi last night that she wanted him to come back early tonight.
However, he probably would not listen to her. After all, he did not like her.
Sure enough, she had waited from dusk, when the lanterns were first lit, until the moon had risen high in the sky, yet he still had not returned.
Jiang Xuening was extremely sleepy, but she did not dare to go to the bedroom to sleep. She was afraid that, like the previous night, she would sleep too deeply and miss something important. So she simply draped a cloak over herself and sat in the courtyard to wait.
The cool breeze kept blowing, but it could not drive away her growing drowsiness. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep with her head resting on the stone table.
Fortunately, her sleep was light. The moment she heard his voice, she woke up.
“Husband, you’re back.”
“Mm.” He stood with his back to the courtyard lanterns, blocking most of the light, making it difficult for Jiang Xuening to see his expression. “Didn’t I tell you last night that I don’t have a fixed time for returning? You don’t need to wait for me.”
Jiang Xuening stood up.
“Husband, there’s something I wanted to ask you to help me with.”
The moment she finished speaking, her nose suddenly felt itchy. She quickly turned aside, covered her mouth and nose with her handkerchief, and sneezed.
Shen Yi glanced at the thin cloak she was wearing and walked toward the study.
“Let’s talk in the study.”
The study lights were lit.
Jiang Xuening removed her hood, revealing a small face that had been slightly reddened by the wind. The hair at her temples had been mussed by the hood, hanging somewhat untidily beside her face and giving anyone looking at it an irresistible urge to tuck it behind her ear.
Shen Yi restrained this inexplicable impulse and sat down behind the writing desk.
“Go ahead. What do you need my help with?”
Jiang Xuening sat down opposite him. Since she was asking him for a favor tonight, her posture was exceptionally obedient.
She placed the invitation she had received that day in front of him.
“My cousin is holding a full-month celebration for her child three days from now. I need to prepare a congratulatory gift for her. I originally planned to choose something from my dowry, but when I looked through it today, there really wasn’t a single thing suitable for giving as a gift, so…”
Before she could finish, Shen Yi understood what she meant.
He lowered his head, opened a drawer, and took out his personal seal, handing it to her.
“The gold and silver shop on Liangmen Street belongs to the Marquis’s Residence. Take this there and choose whatever you like. Put it on my account.”
Jiang Xuening accepted the heavy personal seal. When she saw his name and the clear mark of Baohua Pavilion engraved on the bottom of the seal, she suddenly felt that it was almost too hot to hold.
“Really? I can choose anything? What if I accidentally pick something expensive…”
“It’s fine.”
It was his own family’s shop, so naturally he was not afraid of her choosing something expensive.
Thinking of how he rarely saw her wearing gold or silver jewelry, Shen Yi added another instruction.
“There are plenty of pieces of jewelry in the shop. Choose some for yourself as well. Since you’ll be attending a banquet, you naturally need to dress properly. Don’t embarrass the Marquis’s Residence.”
That was wonderful!
“Thank you, Husband.”
Jiang Xuening happily stood up, holding the seal in both hands.
“It’s getting late. Husband, you should rest early.”
Her pale-blue figure disappeared beyond the study door, leaving only a few wisps of her faint fragrance lingering in the room.
She was… leaving just like that?
Had she forgotten something?
Why hadn’t she thrown herself into his arms tonight?
And why hadn’t she even given him that unsuccessful flirtatious glance from last night?
Shen Yi was stunned for a moment.
When he realized what he had been thinking, he immediately laughed at himself.
Wasn’t it a good thing that she was no longer pestering him?
He definitely had not felt disappointed.
Not even a little!
The next morning, Jiang Xuening took Shen Yi’s personal seal to the gold and silver shop called Baohua Pavilion on Liangmen Street.
After revealing her identity and showing the seal to the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper immediately welcomed her warmly.
Although Shen Yi had told her to choose whatever she wanted, she still cautiously asked about the prices.
She then took out the jadeite headdress set her cousin had given her and showed it to the shopkeeper.
After estimating that the set was worth approximately seventy or eighty taels of silver, Jiang Xuening had a general idea of the price range.
She selected a pair of silver bracelets, a longevity lock, and a jade pendant to make up a set of children’s jewelry. The total came to roughly one hundred taels.
After she finished selecting the congratulatory gift, the shopkeeper, being quite perceptive, had several sets of headdresses brought over for Jiang Xuening to choose from.
“These are all among the finest pieces in our shop. Madam, have a look. Is there anything you like?”
Jiang Xuening was immediately dazzled by the various exquisite headdresses in front of her, all decorated with jade, pearls, gilt gold, and kingfisher feathers.
Normally, Jiang Xuening dressed simply and comfortably. She had always thought that she did not have much interest in jewelry.
But after seeing these gorgeous and delicate headdresses with her own eyes, her gaze lingered over them involuntarily.
She found herself liking every single one.
Still, although she was tempted, Jiang Xuening remained calm. She knew that these headdresses were extremely expensive, so she intended to simply feast her eyes on them before asking the shopkeeper to put them away.
She had just picked up a gold cloud-shaped hairpin inlaid with tourmaline to examine it when two people entered the shop.
The shopkeeper took one look at them and hurried over with a smile.
“Fourth Miss, what brings you here?”
Jiang Xuening turned her head as well.
She recognized the other woman as the Fourth Young Lady of the Marquis’s Residence’s second branch, Shen Yi’s cousin, Shen Yuru. A maid dressed in green followed behind her.
“Sister-in-law?”
The other woman looked Jiang Xuening up and down, apparently surprised to see her there.
Jiang Xuening gave a slight nod and politely greeted her.
“Fourth Sister, what a coincidence.”
Shen Yuru walked over.
“Sister-in-law, what are you doing here?”
Jiang Xuening was not close to her, so she casually replied,
“I came to pick out a few things.”
Shen Yuru glanced at the exquisite and expensive headdresses in front of Jiang Xuening, and a trace of mockery appeared on her face.
“Sister-in-law, these headdresses are very expensive.”
“I know.”
“Although this is our family’s own shop, things can’t simply be taken whenever you want. If you exceed the monthly allowance, you’ll have to pay for them yourself.”
She appeared to be kindly reminding Jiang Xuening, but her words were clearly mocking her.
“Did Sister-in-law bring enough silver?”
Jiang Xuening put down the hairpin in her hand and picked up a pair of gold earrings set with pearls and tourmaline beside it, admiring them as she casually replied,
“No.”
The shopkeeper, sensing the subtle tension between the two women, hurriedly explained on Jiang Xuening’s behalf.
“Fourth Miss, Madam came here with the Heir Apparent’s personal seal. She doesn’t need to pay. Everything will be charged to the Heir Apparent’s account.”
“How could that be?”
Shen Yuru looked at Jiang Xuening in disbelief.
“How could Big Brother possibly give his personal seal to you?”
Jiang Xuening merely glanced at her, too lazy to explain.
After examining the set of tourmaline jewelry, she moved on to look at another one.
Seeing that she was actually ignoring her, Shen Yuru became angry and embarrassed.
“That seal must have been stolen by you! Everyone in the residence knows that Big Brother doesn’t like you. How could he possibly hand something so valuable over to you?”
Jiang Xuening did not even raise her eyes.
“Fourth Sister, you should have evidence when you speak. How can you prove that I stole Husband’s personal seal?”
Shen Yuru naturally had no evidence.
So she turned to the shopkeeper.
“Shopkeeper, you’d better be careful. If you let her take the things from here today, be careful that Big Brother refuses to honor the bill.”
“Ah, this…”
The shopkeeper was half-convinced and half-doubtful, caught in a difficult position.
Jiang Xuening had not really wanted these expensive pieces of jewelry in the first place, so there was naturally no need for her to argue with Shen Yuru over them.
Without any evidence, making a scene would only make everyone look bad.
She said to the shopkeeper,
“Don’t worry. I was only looking at these pieces of jewelry. I’ll take the children’s set, though.”
The shopkeeper looked at the gentle and amiable Heir Apparent’s wife in front of him. She really did not look like someone who would steal the Heir Apparent’s personal seal.
But Fourth Miss had spoken so confidently that he did not dare take the risk.
Fortunately, the children’s jewelry set was not particularly expensive. It happened to fall within her monthly allowance.
The shopkeeper finally breathed a sigh of relief and respectfully said,
“Yes, Madam. That set of jewelry has already been wrapped. You may take it with you whenever you wish.”
Who would have thought that Jiang Xuening’s consideration would look like guilt in Shen Yuru’s eyes?
Shen Yuru immediately let out a mocking laugh and joked with her maid.
“I knew it. That personal seal must have been stolen by her. Look, she’s feeling guilty, isn’t she?”
Jiang Xuening, who had been about to leave, suddenly stopped.
She turned around and walked toward Shen Yuru with an expressionless face.
“Fourth Sister, I gave you face…”