Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 34 The Poetry Gathering Incident 3

Meng Shu initially thought that the eldest young lady's purpose in attending the poetry gathering was to curry favor with the third young lady Qin, but the eldest young lady never took the initiative to communicate with the third young lady Qin, which made people even more suspicious.

Ruizhu was grinding ink for the second young lady when Meng Shu pretended to go to fetch tea and walked to the vicinity of the eldest young lady's seat.

Upon closer inspection, the jade pendant was carved from a piece of Hetian jade with a pattern of lotus flowers, egrets, and reeds. Its surface was smooth and lustrous, and Meng Shu vaguely felt that it seemed more like a man's personal item.

Because this pattern symbolizes "continuous success in the imperial examinations," it was often worn by men to pray for high scores in the examinations. However, such patterns are not common in recent years, as lotus flowers and egrets have other meanings. Nowadays, people prefer auspicious patterns such as "the God of Literature points to the Big Dipper, and one can pluck the laurel in the moon palace."

Green Willow noticed Meng Shu's strange look, looked in the direction she was looking, then her expression changed drastically, and she shook her head slightly at Meng Shu.

Now Meng Shu understood that this jade pendant was the one that Bi Tao had lost outside Langya Courtyard and that Lü Liu had found.

No wonder she gave Green Willow hush money; this was clearly a man's old item. Could it be that the young lady and the young master of the Qin family have secretly become engaged? Is that why the young master Qin gave her his jade pendant?

Meng Shu was hesitating whether to secretly tell the second young lady. If this matter were to spread, the reputation of the Tang family's daughters would be completely ruined. The crime of having an affair was not something that young ladies could bear.

But the change came suddenly. Because she had been paying attention to the jade pendant, Meng Shu saw that when the eldest young lady was chatting with the young lady of the Song family, her right hand was preparing to untie the jade pendant's cord, hidden in her sleeve.

Before anyone could think, Meng Shu hurriedly walked up to the young lady with her teacup in hand. The young lady immediately withdrew her hand when she saw her approaching.

After Meng Shu finished serving the tea and left, the young lady secretly reached for her waist again, but after searching for a long time, she only managed to pull out half a hanging rope.

The jade pendant is missing!

Meng Shu acted decisively, taking advantage of the tea service to secretly steal the jade pendant in broad daylight using her dagger.

Upon noticing this, the young lady glared fiercely at Meng Shu with eyes blazing with fury, but she couldn't afford to lash out on the spot.

Green Willow was dumbfounded, her heart pounding wildly. She didn't know why the young lady had suddenly worn this jade pendant while using the restroom. She only knew that the jade pendant was an old item and belonged to a man. Although she felt it was inappropriate, she dared not do anything about it.

After this incident, the poetry gathering proceeded without any disturbance. The young ladies offered their critiques of each other, had tea and refreshments, and then dispersed. The second young lady also took the other girls to Yongbao Silver Shop as promised.

It wasn't until they returned to the manor that the young lady finally had a chance to confront Meng Shu, demanding, "Hand it over."

"I don't know what you mean, young lady. Do I have any of your things on me?"

The young lady gritted her teeth and said, "Give me back the jade pendant, or I'll have my mother sell you off."

Meng Shu pretended to be stupid and innocently allowed the young lady to search her body, naturally finding nothing.

The young lady was at her wits' end, her eyes reddening with anxiety. "You're nothing but a lowly servant girl, how dare you be so disrespectful! Do you think I can't control you just because you're with my second sister?"

Meng Shu thought to herself, "I have no parents and I work at Yunyi Courtyard. It seems that you, a young lady who is about to be married, really can't do anything to me."

Unexpectedly, the young lady slapped Green Willow in front of Meng Shu, saying, "If you tell anyone in the manor about the jade pendant, I will torture your good sister every day. Her indenture has already been taken by the concubine. Tell me, will you feel guilty about selling her to a brothel for people to enjoy?"

For maids selected as part of a dowry in the mansion, their contracts of indenture are usually handed over to the young lady who is getting married so that they can be better controlled.

Meng Shu's eyes twitched. Green Willow's face was already red and swollen on one side, but her face was expressionless, only numb.

"Don't worry, young lady, I didn't see anything, nor did I take anything."

Having received the promise, the young lady turned and left with Green Willow.

After she walked away, Meng Shu immediately went to Yun Gui Courtyard.

Madam Yun held the jade pendant, her face slightly darkened. Tang Mama, who was beside her, immediately went out to investigate after hearing the whole story.

The next day, the head of the Tang family ordered that Aunt Liu and her daughter be confined to Fuliu Courtyard until the eldest daughter got married. Green Willow was transferred to Yunyi Courtyard to serve as a servant to the second young lady.

That night, Meng Shu was on night duty. The second young lady lay in bed and sighed, "Meng Shu, how could my eldest sister do such a foolish thing?"

Tang's mother found out the news that same day that the jade pendant was indeed a personal item of the Qin family's young master, which had been lost a few days earlier.

Moreover, this jade pendant was specially made by a famous craftsman in Lin'an when Qin Gongzi passed the imperial examination at the age of ten. The pendant has Qin Gongzi's name engraved on the bottom.

The scheme of Aunt Liu and her daughter was undeniably insidious. First, they bribed a servant in the Qin family to steal the jade pendant. Then, the eldest daughter would use the occasion of the Qin family's third daughter's poetry gathering to inadvertently display the jade pendant in front of everyone. Once discovered, she would then make a shy gesture to arouse speculation and confirm her "illicit affair" with Young Master Qin. In this way, the Tang and Qin families would be forced to arrange a marriage as soon as possible for the sake of their reputations...

It would be foolish for Meng Shu to come to this conclusion.

A marriage that's been planned, especially one where Young Master Qin was kept in the dark and tricked, what kind of good life could he possibly have even after the marriage?

"Perhaps the young master of the Qin family is very outstanding." Meng Shu moved the ice basin to the outer room and then brought out warm milk to serve the second young lady.

“Bi Jun’s brother is indeed very knowledgeable in poetry and literature, only slightly less so than her brother. But Aunt and eldest sister have made a mistake in their plan. Even if the jade pendant is recognized at the poetry gathering, Young Master Qin will not compromise.”

"Why is that? Qin Tongzhi is a fifth-rank official, and his family has a long tradition of scholarship and values ​​reputation highly."

The second young lady shook her head, her voice laced with disdain, "The eldest son of the Qin family died young, so it will definitely be Young Master Qin who takes charge of the family in the future. Although the Qin family is not a prominent clan, it will not allow a concubine's daughter to become the matriarch of the Qin family."

Meng Shu was taken aback, then nodded. Indeed, such families placed greater emphasis on the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children.

The second young lady was afraid of the heat and insisted that Meng Shu move the ice basin to the inner room. Then she suddenly sighed and said, "Our family is outwardly respectable. If the Marquis's mansion still had power, my eldest sister would have had a chance. But now, her mother and daughter have wasted their efforts. I heard that Mother and Grandmother want to marry my eldest sister off to Jinan County."

Meng Shu had offended Aunt Liu and her daughter, so she was not without fear. Hearing this news made her feel much more at ease.

Seeing her relieved expression, the second young lady couldn't help but laugh. "Now you know fear? When you secretly slipped the dagger and jade pendant into my hand at the poetry gathering, why weren't you afraid of me? You, Meng Shu, dare to bring a weapon when you go out with your master!"

Meng Shu chuckled, subtly expressing her loyalty, "Second Miss is my own mistress, and she is the most understanding and composed in the face of adversity. If other young ladies saw a dagger, they would probably jump up in fright."

The second young lady thought to herself, and I almost jumped up too. Luckily, my mother and wet nurse always taught girls to be dignified, and they were absolutely right.

Before going to sleep, Meng Shu counted the days on her fingers. It had been almost a month, and she wondered if her second uncle and Uncle Song had found out any news about her uncle.