CH 29

Ah Ruo said, “He wouldn’t accept the jewelry, the shopkeeper said I looked like a maid from a big clan who had stolen from their master and ran away, he said who knows whether or not the precious jewelry in my hands are stolen goods, so he wouldn’t take them.”

An experienced person like the shopkeeper was quite knowledgeable, he saw a lot of people and experienced a lot of things, so he only needed to take one glance to know what kind of person he was dealing with.

Ah Rou stamped her foot hard as she said, “I almost got into a fight with him, it really pissed me off.”

Ming Zhu told her to stay calm and not to worry, but how could Ah Ruo not be anxious ? She badly wanted to free the young lady from her misery as soon as possible, “Miss, what do we do now?”

Ming Zhu frowned and thought for a moment, “Perhaps I should make a trip there myself.”

Chapter 29

(10.4)

Ah Ruo was a bit uneasy: ” No one will find out, right?”

Ming Zhu sighed in her heart, she didn’t have any other choice. However, if she went out dressed as a man, she shouldn’t be so easily recognized.

And thus the next day, Ming Zhu found in the closet the male clothes she used to often wear before and changed into them before combing her hair into a man’s bun. From a distance, she looked like a pretty, gentle and weak scholar.

Ah Ruo helped Ming Zhu to distract Bi Ying away, and then the two of them took advantage of the time when the servants guarding the back door were gambling and competing for money to slip out.

Ming Zhu took all the jewelry she could exchange for money with her, hugging it tightly in her arms. She walked to the door of the pawn store, looked around everywhere and took advantage of the small number of people to rush into the store.

The shopkeeper looked at her face and aura and immediately knew that she wasn’t an ordinary person, he hurriedly served tea to welcome this new customer “Miss, what would you like to pawn ?”

Ming Zhu: “……”

Her disguise was really a failure.

She drank the tea to moisten her throat, “Let’s go inside to talk.”

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up, “After you, please.”

Ming Zhu placed the bundle in her arms on the table and displayed its content, vermilion hairpins, jade hairpins and jade bracelets, “Take a look, how much money are these worth?”

The shopkeeper’s eyes were stuck on the items. He looked carefully at the pile of items, one by one, and after a long silence, he asked, “Miss, where did you get all these items from ?”

“You don’t have to worry about that, in any case, these aren’t stolen goods.”

The shopkeeper stroked his beard, his expression appeared very troubled. The pile of things in front of him were all treasures, all of which were extremely rare and difficult to find. Several of them were precious items offered as a tribute by small countries. One could only find those things in the palace !

The gaze he used to look at Ming Zhu changed. This miss had exquisite features and an uncommon aura, her skin was fair and looked tender, just one glance and you could tell she was a pampered, delicate young lady.

As she waited, Ming Zhu started to get impatient, “Are you going to offer a price? If not, I’ll leave.”

“Wait wait wait! Miss, don’t be in such a hurry.”

“I’m leaving.”

“For one thousand taels, I’ll take them all.”

Even if she wasn’t very knowledgeable about these items, Ming Zhu knew it wasn’t worth so little, she shook her head, “No.”

The shopkeeper took a step back: “How much do you want?”

Ming Zhu, who intended to ask for an exorbitant price, directly demanded five thousand taels. She was expecting her demand to be turned down, but against all expectations, the shopkeeper agreed at once and immediately prepared the silver, delivering it directly in her hand.

Ming Zhu, in a daze, squeezed the silver banknotes in her hand.

The shopkeeper looked at her with a smile on his face, “Miss, the next time you have good stuff, come again to me.”

Ming Zhu absentmindedly answered with an “Mmh” and hid the silver banknotes in her clothes, close to her body. Before leaving, she said with dissatisfaction, “Call me gongzi!”

(TL’s note : Gongzi means something like “Sir“)

“Yes, yes, yes, please take care, gongzi.”

It wasn’t easy for Ming Zhu to come outside, how many years had it been since she walked so freely on the streets? She couldn’t remember.

She had the impulse to go to the cosmetic store which sold rouges and powders. However, when she reached the main street, from afar, she saw guards standing in front of the store.

Inside was a figure she was familiar with.

Zhao Zhi was dressed in a blue robe, appearing gentle and elegant. His face was like the moon, bright and clean. There was a woman standing beside him, dressed in a bright red dress. Stunning and exquisite, she carried an aura of nobility on her face and looked very proud.

When Zhao Zhi inclined his head to talk to her, the gentle expression she saw was one that Ming Zhu had never seen before.

All of a sudden, Ming Zhu’s world seemed to have fallen silent as their figures were reflected in her eyes.

The woman was smiling brightly and cheerfully. Ming Zhu could guess that she was most probably Xiangyang junzhu.

Ming Zhu only found out now that Zhao Zhi, when he was in the company of his future wife, was so gentle.

(11.1)

Ming Zhu couldn’t imagine how Zhao Zhi got along with other women because she never saw it. Her understanding of him was poor and shallow, she knew very little about him.

That year, when Zhao Zhi and Xiangyang junzhu became betrothed, Ming Zhu was feeling very sad in her heart, the young girl was also jealous of others and she had a few small malicious thought, she believed that most definitely Zhao Zhi didn’t like the junzhu, that he must have been forced to marry the junzhu. But after pondering over it, she started to cry, she knew better than anyone that Zhao Zhi couldn’t be compelled to do anything. Every single matter all went according to his own intentions. No one could force him.

Thus, at that time, Ming Zhu could only keep on lying to herself, believing that Zhao Zhi liked her more than the junzhu.

Out of her little jealous heart, Ming Zhu also secretly inquired, “Is Xiangyang junzhu beautiful?”

“She is beautiful! Not only is she good-looking, but she has also got a very easy-going personality, she gets along well with people and is very-well liked by everyone.”

Depressed, she said “oh” and stared out the window. She wanted to take a look at what the junzhu looked like, but she couldn’t go outside.

So in her past life, until she died, Ming Zhu didn’t even know what Xiangyang junzhu looked like.