Chapter 266 Met a Men She Knew and Competed for a Hairpin with a Woman!
“But… It is not a simple thing to grow flowers from the seeds, isn’t it?” Qin Wanru said, glancing at the small bag of flower seeds in her hands. She still felt that people who sent them the seeds must have some ulterior motives.
“Miss, many people in the capital city have invited some experienced gardeners because they expect those gardeners to help them cultivate the Tang Qianyan. Do you also need to find a gardener? I’m afraid that others will have already taken all the good ones away if you’re late!” Nanny Yu reminded her. On her way back, she heard that several gardeners who were good at raising flowers and plants had accepted the invitations.
“No, thanks!” Qin Wanru thought for a while and shook her head.
“Why not? Miss, although there are servants who do the gardening in our manor, they are not professional. In particular, Tang Qianyan is a very delicate flower, so I suppose that we should find a specially-assigned person to plant it!”
Nanny Yu was so anxious that she couldn’t help frowning.
After returning to the manor, Nanny Yu made a special trip to investigate. But she found that those gardeners in their mansion had no experience in cultivating Tang Qianyan at all. They just knew how to take care of those ordinary flowers.
“If we start from the seeds, it will take us a long time to make it blossom. So, I guess that there will be a lot of people who cannot make it!” Qin Wanru said. She didn’t have any clue at all, nor did she want to show off in the competition initiated by someone in the palace. “Which noble gave the order that could greatly mobilize those aristocratic families? Either Empress Dowager or the Queen could do this, I guess.”
“No one else has so much power.”
“So what is the purpose of planting Tang Qianyan? If the noble in the palace only wanted some flowers, did she need to make such a big scene?” In the back of her mind, Qin Wanru thought that it was not a simple thing. Thus, she decided to stay far away from the competition and did not want to draw a sing bit of attention.
Most of them couldn’t succeed in growing beautiful blossoms, or worse, making the seeds into plants. “I will be safe if I am one of them!” Qin Wanru thought.
Before she knew exactly what was going on, Qin Wanru wouldn’t make any pretty move. At this time, being one of the ordinary people was her best choice!
“Even if most of them cannot well raise the flower, a few of them will do an excellent job!” Nanny Yu did not understand the hidden meanings in Qin Wanru’s words such that she tried to cheer her on after hearing Qin Wanru’s discouraging words.
“So what the few outstanding people can get?” Her watery eyes were still smiling when Qin Wanru asked Nanny Yu.
Upon hearing her question, Nanny Yu was stunned a little. After a long while, she finally managed to ask, “I don’t know. But I suppose nobles in the palace will certainly reward them!”
“But nobles from the palace will never reward anyone without a specific reason. Besides, the whole competition will cost a large amount of labor and financial forces. If these nobles hold the competition for nothing, they won’t bother to mobilize so many unmarried young ladies from aristocratic families. You should know that they are all unmarried!” Qin Wanru emphasized meaningfully.
Qin Wanru reminded Nanny Yu, who then got a chill. Her face changed dramatically, and she involuntarily asked in a low voice with a little hesitation, “Are they going to select consorts for the several princes?”
“Prince Yue and a few other princes have no wives, plus this time the nobles in the Imperial Palace ordered those single ladies from aristocratic families to participate. Thus, I guess the competition is held for the princes!” After thinking for a while, Qin Wanru sighed and gently breathed a sigh of relief.
“Chu Liuyue and others are still young. Besides, those nobles from the imperial capital need to observe those candidates for some time before they make their final decisions. Very likely, the competition for planting Tang Qianyan’s seeds is also part of the consort selection.”
“I believe that not merely I but also many aristocratic families have already known this. It is also an important reason for the fact that lots of gardeners were invited.”
Qin Wanru’s words made Nanny Yu cry out in a low voice. Meanwhile, she felt a little panic.
“All right, Nanny Yu. We can plant the seeds by ourselves. It couldn’t be better if we can successfully make it blossom. But if we fail, there is nothing else that we can do. Once you have planted the seeds, put them on my window. Then I can take care of it by myself!” Qin Wanru said with a smile. A sophisticated and profound expression flashed across Qin Wanru’s eyes.
“Miss, do you plan to plant Tang Qianyan on your own?” After casting a glance at the pot of Tang Qianyan on the windowsill, Nanny Yu asked with doubt because she was so unsure of Qin Wanru.
“No problem. I will do my best and leave the rest to God!” Qin Wanru said with no pressure.
“Then, Miss, what about this invitation?” Since Qin Wanru had made her own decision, Nanny Yu could only defer to what she had decided, and so, she turned around to talk about the invitation.
The invitation from the imperial palace was sent to their courtyard along with Tang Qianyan. The Empress came forward to invite those aristocratic families’ ladies who received the seeds to participate in a party of viewing the blossoms. At the party, they would appreciate the Tang Qianyan.
Most of the Tang Qianyan blossomed in the fall. Not many of them would come into flowers in the winter, and usually, these were more precious kinds.
“Since it is an invitation from the Imperial Palace, I will surely go there. Does Qin Yuru also get the invitation?” Qin Wanru asked, picking up the exquisitely painted invitation letter.
“First Miss wasn’t invited because she has already engaged. But even if she hasn’t engaged, she won’t get an invitation either. I heard that the invitations went only to ladies from aristocratic families who had fine characters!”
Nanny Yu said.
Now the seeds of Tang Qianyan and the invitations from the Imperial Palace became the hottest topics in the capital.
The thing that Nanny Yu said came as no surprise to Qin Wanru because Qin Yuru now had a quite terrible reputation. Thus, Qin Wanru was more certain that the seeds and invitations must have something to do with the selection of princes’ consorts.
Although even Prince Yue (Chu Liuyue), the eldest prince, was still young, marriages of the Imperial Palace should always be taken with caution. Anything worth doing was worth doing slowly, so the early selection was normal.
Qin Wanru was the only one in the Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion who would go to attend the Blossoms-Appreciating Banquet held by the Empress. Thus, in the next few days, Madam Dowager paid special attention to her. She and Shui Ruolan also rushed to make several sets of clothes for Qin Wanru.
On this day, Madam Dowager drove Qin Wanru out of the manor to let her pick some suitable jewelry herself, saying the style of the initially made jewelry was a little out-of-date such that she needed more fashionable ones.
Qin Wanru’s carriage went out from the manor’s gate. Then, it turned to the bustling and hustling streets of the capital.
She lifted the curtains but left the sheer curtains on the window. Sitting by the window, Qin Wanru looked outside. After the carriage made a few turns, she pointed to a large gold-jewelry shop and nodded.
“Stop. We will go to this shop!” Immediately, Yujie ordered, raising her voice to make the coachman heard.
As ordered, the coachman stopped in the alley next to the shop. Yujie put a curtain hat on Qin Wanru’s head and helped her get off the carriage.
Then, Qin Wanru walked toward the shop, followed by Yujie.
The appearance of this shop was already extremely extraordinary. The three-storied shop had three broad facades. Beyond that, only judging by the people who went in and out of the shop, they could tell the guests of the shop were either rich or noble.
The doorway was crowded with people. From time to time, several well-dressed ladies and madams from aristocratic families would walk into the shop. The shop’s business was truly booming.
With Yujie, Qin Wanru entered the door. They first spent some time wandering downstairs. Many women were there, picking jewelry. Several counters were surrounded by a lot of people. Qin Wanru walked around but found nothing that she liked. Therefore, she went to the second floor with Yujie. Compared with those items on the first floor, the jewelry on the second looked much more refined.
There were many comfortable seats separated by screens near the window. Guests could wait for others or enjoy the scenery there.
Some men who accompanied those women could take a seat here and chat with others. In this way, they wouldn’t feel bored because of waiting.
When Qin Wanru went here, she checked the surroundings and came directly to the counters in the center. There were a few Young Madams around with a crowd of servant girls who were attending on them.
When Qin Wanru saw the several sets of exquisite jewelry that they were choosing, she quietly stepped aside because they were luxurious sets. Although her grandmother had given her enough money, she thought that it was unnecessary to spend so much money on these things. She wanted to save some money to invest in her shops, which could give her some economy agility in the future.
Thinking about this, she chose not to go over to the crowd. Instead, she went to the counters alongside. Sets of exquisite head-ornaments and necklaces there also looked very elegant.
Finally, Qin Wanru stopped before a counter. She pointed to a hairpin inside and asked, “Can you show me this hairpin?”
“Okay, Miss, wait a moment!” There came the quick-witted reply of a shop-boy. Then, he took out the hairpin, which took Qin Wanru’s fancy with great care.
The hairpin looked very delicate and beautiful. The style of its decorative flower was based on Tang Qianyan. The blossom of Tang Qianyan on the hairpin was not very big. It showed bits of pistils in the middle with all petals spreading out, which looked very vivid as if a real flower of Tang Qianyan was blooming there.
Besides, a few beads were attached to one end of the hairpin. Dripping down from the pistils, the beads set the pistils off to advantage and made them looked more delicate and sparkling. At first glance, the hairpin was not so eye-catching. But after taking a closer look, Qin Wanru found it was stunning and exquisite. It seemed to be even better than those hairpins at the counters in the center of this floor.
The craftsman must have paid particular attention to the thin pistils, which were different from each other, and each of them had their charms. Beyond that, the craftsman demonstrated the differences between the flower’s pistils and petals in detail by his gold-engraving skills.
Qin Wanru liked it immediately when she laid her eyes on it.
The shop-boy took it out. When Qin Wanru reached out to take the hairpin, another hand stretched from her side and grabbed it. In surprise, she turned around and saw a woman standing next to her. Delightedly, the woman stared at the hairpin, which she snatched from Qin Wanru.
“Third Cousin, you see, does this hairpin look like the vase of Tang Qianyan’s flowers on your window?” Holding the hairpin, the woman showed it to the man beside her.
Qin Wanru turned to look at the man next to her. Then, she could not help sighing in her heart, “Life is truly full of surprises.”
In previous, she tries a lot of means to meet Wen Xichi because she wanted to warn him that his cousin was not a decent person such that he should be careful about her. When they met at Huaguang Temple, she learned from his words that he should have already found out the things about his cousin. However, he began to doubt her at that time.
To avoid misunderstanding, Qin Wanru did not want to see Wen Xichi at this time. She had no affections toward him. What she did was just to repay his kindness to her in her last life!
When she was eager to see him, she couldn’t see him after trying all means. However, when she wanted to avoid him, she could actually meet him here. At this moment, Qin Wanru had nothing to say about her fantastic fate with him.
She took a glance at Gu Xishu, who was standing next to Wen Xichi. She was the cousin of him who was brought up in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Chambers. Qin Wanru remembered that after she entered the Deputy Prime Minister’s Chambers in her last life, this cousin of Wen Xichi had plotted against her for many times.
Qin Wanru had never expected that she would meet her at this moment in her new life.
“Young Madam, my miss chose this hairpin first. How can you take it from her?” Taking a step forward, Yujie pointed at the hairpin in Gu Xishu’s hands and blamed loudly.
Hearing the reproach from a servant girl, Gu Xishu flushed all of a sudden. A red flush suffused her tender face. Then the rims of her eyes also became red. It seemed that she was nearly going to cry. Looking at Wen Xichi, she said weakly, “Third Cousin, I, I just wanted to show it to you. I really didn’t mean to grab her hairpin!”