flstandardbreds Chapter 155: Pearl Replacement
Chapter 155: Pearl Replacement
[It turns out that the little scholar begged the princess while they were in bed. It seems that the little scholar knows how to play.]
[What? The young scholar had actually taken advantage of the princess's inattention and secretly stolen the two pearls from her headpiece. He had seen the princess always keep it locked in a cabinet and assumed she didn't wear it often. Seeing the pearls were very valuable, he secretly took the two while the princess was asleep. Fearing the princess would find out, he quietly had an experienced artist make two clay pearls that resembled pearls and glued them on.]
[Putting two fake pearls on there would only confuse the audience. The young scholar knows how to save costs.]
Zhu Xia naturally took the headgear from the maid and handed it to Gu Jianchu.
"The fact that two pearls are missing somewhat affects the appearance. How could such precious South Sea pearls be left lying around? Since they were given to me, I must find them all."
Gu Jianchu put down the chopsticks in his hand and opened the rosewood box.
The headpiece is mainly decorated with kingfisher feathers and inlaid with whole pearls, which is precious and elegant.
[The princess has truly invested a fortune in bringing out such a valuable item.]
"Thank you, elder sister, for always thinking of me. This headpiece is obviously extremely valuable. I believe elder sister must have put a lot of thought into making it." Gu Jianchu gently stroked the pearls on it with his fingers.
Under the guidance of the system, find the two fake pearls replaced by the scholar.
Finally, I found the two fake pearls on the hidden back.
[It's true that the old craftsman's technique is really good. If you don't compare carefully, you can't tell whether it's real or fake.]
Xie Qingzhi felt a pang of pain when she saw the headpiece being sent away, but she was also proud of what she had made. "Of course, every pearl on the headpiece was carefully selected by me."
As soon as Xie Qingzhi finished speaking, Gu Jianchu applied a little force with her fingers, and a pearl was broken into two halves and fell on the table. Gu Jianchu immediately showed a panic expression, "Eldest sister, I'm afraid someone has cheated you. How come this pearl broke when you squeezed it?"
A flash of shock crossed Xie Qingzhi's face. "Impossible, absolutely impossible. Every pearl here was carefully selected by me and sent to the shop. There is absolutely no way I would be ripped off."
Gu Jianchu repeated the same operation again, crushing a fake pearl and deliberately guiding Xie Qingzhi, "Could it be that the craftsman who made the head ornaments saw that pearls were extremely precious and secretly swapped the two?"
As he spoke, Gu Jianchu took off another pearl from his head, squeezed it, but didn't break it.
The maidservant serving Xie Qingzhi immediately rejected Gu Jianchu's guess and shook her head, "Impossible! When the headpiece was returned, this servant and the princess checked it one by one. They are all South Sea pearls. There is absolutely no adulteration."
Gu Jianchu casually mentioned, "Could it be that someone with unscrupulous conduct in the Princess's Mansion secretly took away the two pearls?"
As soon as Gu Jianchu finished speaking, Xie Qingzhi and the eldest girl fell silent.
Recently, there have indeed been people with dishonest hands in the Princess's Mansion.
The eldest princess's jewelry was often lost, but they searched the entire mansion but could not find any stolen goods. They even carefully checked every person who could serve the eldest princess, but found no problems.
We can't drive everyone out of the mansion just because two pieces of jewelry were lost. That would be a laughing stock.
[Of course, nothing can be found by just checking the servants in the mansion.]
"I've heard that South Sea pearls are incredibly valuable. Losing one would cost hundreds of taels of silver, let alone two. My elder sister will definitely have to investigate. Today, we only lost two pearls; tomorrow, we might lose something even more valuable. It's a shame for this headpiece. Without two pearls, it lacks beauty. Even if I replace it with other pearls, it won't be as dazzling as before."
Gu Jianchu couldn't help but sigh.
He casually took the wet handkerchief handed to him by Zhuxi and wiped the powder off his hands.
Although it was used to please the queen, the pearl headdress was made by her craftsmen with great care, and it took a long time to collect these pearls.
Xie Qingzhi's face was filled with anger, and she hammered her fingers on the table. "How dare you steal something from me? Xia Zhi, bring people to investigate for me. Even if we have to dig up the Princess's mansion three feet deep, we will find the thief and the things for me."
Even if you dig ten feet deep into the Princess's mansion, you won't find her. She's not in the mansion.
"Wait." Gu Jianchu stopped Xia Zhi who was about to return home to search for the thief.
"What does the Queen mean? It's not your turn to interfere in my Princess's Mansion." Xie Qingzhi has looked down on Xie Ci'an since she was a child, and naturally she also looked down on Gu Jianchu, the Queen. If it weren't for Meng Lang's place in Song Academy, she would never have taken the initiative to please these two and given them such valuable things.
Gu Jianchu chuckled and wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief. "I'm afraid elder sister has misunderstood. I have no intention of interfering in this matter. I want to remind you."
"The thief who stole something so valuable from my elder sister must have thought that she would find it one day. He certainly wouldn't have kept it on his person or hidden it in the mansion. He might have already sold it for money."
The scholar sold the pearls and jewelry he stole from the princess to Xiushuifang, but he didn't know how to distribute the stolen goods to several different locations. Fortunately, the princess was still being held captive by the young prostitute, otherwise it would have been easy to catch her red-handed.
"The things that Eldest Sister bought will surely be recognized by many large jewelry stores. Even if the thieves are reselling them, they will definitely choose some remote, smaller stores. I suggest that Eldest Sister go to those stores or pawnshops to check. You may find something."
Xie Qingzhi is an arrogant and rebellious person, and Gu Jianchu is really worried that she will not listen to his advice.
Xia Zhi hesitated and looked at Xie Qingzhi, then whispered, "Princess, we've searched the mansion before, but we really haven't found any useful clues. Would you like to follow the Empress's advice and search the pawnshops and small shops selling jewelry in the capital?"
Xie Qingzhi stared at Gu Jianchu hesitantly.
After thinking about it carefully, she realized that what Gu Jianchu said was not unreasonable. She waved her hand and said, "Let's investigate according to what the Queen said."
[What should I do if I want to eat some live melon? Judging by the people in the Princess's Mansion, I don't know when they'll find Xiushuifang. I'm afraid I won't be able to eat this melon.]
Gu Jianchu could hardly hide his regretful expression.
It was not easy for the Queen to eat the melon on the scene. "Give the order and have the people from the Five Cities Military Department follow to search."
After Xie Ci'an finished speaking, he whispered something in Cheng Song's ear, and Cheng Song immediately caught up with Chongfeng who had already left.
Xie Qingzhi didn't expect that the emperor would actually interfere in the affairs of her mansion. With the help of the Five Cities Military Department, the truth could be revealed as soon as possible.
Even if the Five Cities Army helped, it would still take some time to find clues. Zhu Xia helped Xie Qingzhi move an embroidered round stool.
"I wonder if my elder sister has had breakfast. Would you like to eat together?" Gu Jianchu asked someone to bring a set of bowls and chopsticks to Xie Qingzhi for the sake of her honor.