232 Showing Off!
However, for some reason, in the past few years, she hadn’t grown any taller, and her body had become rounder and fatter. The other young mistresses were all thin when they were eight or nine years old, but no matter how little Yun Xi ate or even if she became a vegetarian, she didn’t seem to have lost any weight.
She had asked Tang Yunmeng and her daughter to instigate her father and force them to bring her out a few times. She had suffered a lot of cold looks and mockery, and her personality had become more and more timid.
As she watched, she felt very anxious.
She had secretly found many alternative methods, but they had not been effective.
Now that Nanny Xu was involved, it would definitely be useful.
Moreover, when her daughter said that the once chubby Eldest Miss Yu was now as thin as a willow branch, hope ignited in her heart.
Tang Yunxi nodded repeatedly. “I want to embroider a screen for Yao Yao.”
First Madam Tang nodded repeatedly. “Of course, of course. Regardless of whether this matter succeeds or not, we should thank Eldest Miss Yu.”
First Madam Tang was also a straightforward person. After saying that, she called for the nanny beside her and arranged to send a gift to Eldest Miss Yu in her own name.
Eldest Miss Yu was warm-hearted. She was only helping her daughter out of kindness.
At night, the Yu Residence specially held a family banquet for Yu Youyao. The family gathered for a meal to congratulate Yu Youyao on her birthday. It was also very lively.
Yang Shuwan forced a smile the entire night. At the thought of Lady Qiu, who was about to be a concubine, she cursed Yu Youyao and Old Madam Yu in her heart.
Yu Jianjia had fallen ill in the afternoon, but she had taken the medicine in time, so it did not affect her too badly.
However, she kept feeling a tightness in her chest and did not look too good. From time to time, she could not help but cough a few times. She was really feeling uncomfortable, but no one cared too much.
After all, she used to be like this too.
She had been sick for too long. No matter how nervous she was, it had become normal.
Yu Youyao was the happiest.
After receiving her cousin’s birthday gift, she was so excited that when it was time for the family banquet, she couldn’t help but take out the longevity peach blossom stone steal and show it off. “It’s personally carved by Cousin. In the future, I’ll also have a seal!”
Old Madam Yu couldn’t help but look surprised. She hurriedly held the seal in her hand and looked at it carefully. “This is good stuff. In my early years, when I went to the Prince of Rong’s residence, I saw a longevity peach blossom stone the size of a thumb. The Princess Consort of Rong felt like she had obtained a treasure and said that she wanted to send it into the palace to show her respect to the Empress Dowager. That longevity peach blossom stone is also beautiful, but it’s not as good as this.”
Old Madam Yu had seen all kinds of good things in her life.
If she said that it was a good thing, then it was really good.
“Cousin has always given me the best.” Yu Youyao turned to look at her cousin. She saw that he was holding a teacup and listening. He was dressed in a green robe with golden patterns, making him look even more elegant.
The little girl’s eyes were burning with joy. Zhou Linghuai looked up and smiled.
Old Madam Yu looked at Zhou Linghuai reproachfully. “You’re willing to give such an expensive thing to a half-grown child like Yao Yao. What a waste of such a good thing.”
She was a little curious about where Zhou Linghuai had gotten such a good stone.
However, thinking about it, the Zhou family’s ancestors were also quite prominent. Which family didn’t have a few things that were passed down in the family? Even the Yu Residence had a piece of blood beeswax.
It was obvious that not only was he close to Yao Yao, but he also doted on her as much as her grandmother did. If there was anything good, he wanted to give it all to her.
That was good!
Yu Youyao puffed up her cheeks and muttered indignantly, “Grandmother, how can you mock me like this? How can giving it to me be a waste of good stuff? Why did Cousin give it to me and not to anyone else? It’s obvious that in Cousin’s heart, I’m the most suitable person to use this engraved longevity peach blossom stone.”
When she said this, even her eyebrows were raised slightly. It was obvious that she was smug.
The most ridiculous thing was that when Zhou Linghuai heard this, he nodded slightly. “Cousin, you’re right.”
Old Madam Yu laughed so hard that her wrinkles appeared. “Alright, it’s your Zhou family’s belongings. It’s up to you who you’re willing to give it to. I’m already in a difficult position as an outsider.”
With that, she handed the longevity peach blossom stone to Yu Zongzheng, who had been eyeing it for a long time. Anyone who saw such a good thing would have to appreciate it.
Yu Zongzheng took the longevity peach blossom stone and looked at it carefully. “The six features are complete. It’s light red, beautiful, and dazzling. I’ve never seen such a top-grade longevity peach blossom stone before.”
His tone was full of amazement and admiration. He gently rubbed the peach blossom frozen stone and called a maidservant over. “Go and get a bowl of water.”
The maidservant did not dare to delay and quickly poured a bowl of water from the side room.
Yu Zongzheng placed the seal into the bowl and exclaimed again, “Peach blossoms appear on the stone. When soaked in the water, the water will be light red, and there will be red and white strokes in the water.”
Not only him, but Yu Shanyan and Yu Shanxin also came over to take a look.
Yu Shanxin clicked his tongue in wonder. Yu Shanyan’s eyes were filled with surprise. “After the peach blossom was placed in water, its color is as vibrant as a dragon. It’s indeed worthy of its reputation.”
Yu Shuangbai rolled her eyes. What somebody didn’t know can’t hurt them.
No matter how powerful Cousin Zhou was, he was still Eldest Miss’s cousin. They were fake cousins. No matter how envious they were, they couldn’t do anything about it. Instead, it was annoying.
She tilted her head and saw her eldest sister, Yu Youyao, looking at the bowl in her eldest uncle’s hand with sparkling eyes. She did not even blink. The smug expression on her face really made one feel stifled.
But she was showing off!
Yu Shuangbai decided to eat the snacks alone.
These snacks were all personally made by Nanny Xu. She usually couldn’t eat them to her heart’s content.
“How rare.” Yu Zongzheng also felt that it was indeed a pity that such a good Longevity peach blossom stone had been engraved by Zhou Linghuai and given to his eldest daughter.
He sighed softly and handed the seal to Yu Zongshen, who was also interested.
Compared to the longevity peach blossom stone itself, Yu Zongshen was more interested in the carving of the seal. “I heard that the Shoushan stone carving method is extremely high level and extremely difficult to master. On a small seal, one has to be masterful. He has to use dozens of techniques, including circle carving, seal carving, thin carving, hollowed-out carving, shallow relief, high relief, inlaid carving, chain carving, seal carving, and micro carving. Moreover, every technique is extremely difficult. This carving varies based on the situation and vividly displays the essence of the stone carving of Shoushan. It’s really ingenious.”
His tone was also filled with surprise, but he was praising Zhou Linghuai.
The more he knew about this child, the more he felt that he was unfathomable. He was really impressive.
Yu Youyao only knew that this seal looked good and that it wasn’t easy to make. However, she didn’t know how to carve and inscribe, so she didn’t know that a small seal was so complicated. She pouted and looked at her cousin.