Chapter 406

“Can’t you cut them from other rubies? I only want one for each earring. It’s not much,” Wei Yuewu requested with a completely confused look.

“Uh… I’m sorry, I can’t do it. Every set of headgear is designed according to the size of a ruby. Moreover, this set of headgear in your hand should be made of the best ruby here. Rubies of this quality are hard to come by. Sometimes, we will only get one or two per month. The headgear made of this ruby is the best of the best. We try not to waste every bit of ruby, so there is nothing left, no matter how small a part you request!”

The shopkeeper looked at the red ruby in Wei Yuewu’s fair palm and shook his head helplessly. The ruby was even more radiant as it was placed on Wei Yuewu’s hand.

“Does your boss not have any?” Wei Yuewu looked at the earring in her hand reluctantly.

“No, he doesn’t have any.” The shopkeeper decisively shook his head.

“Can you ask him, please? Maybe he has an extra?” Wei Yuewu asked hesitantly. She obviously liked this set of ruby headgear.

“No, I don’t think I can do so. Our boss doesn’t have any ruby left. He would have taken it out if he had had an extra. He wouldn’t have kept the stone around.” The shopkeeper sounded even more decisive and resolute.

“Why won’t your boss keep the stone around? Maybe his daughter or granddaughter like this kind of ruby, so he can keep the stone for them,” Wei Yuewu sighed with a bit of regret as she shook the earring in her hand.

“Uh… Our boss doesn’t have a daughter or granddaughter right now, so he doesn’t need the stone for the time being,” the shopkeeper uttered helplessly with a forceful smile in response to Wei Yuewu’s persistence.

“Can I meet your boss, please? I can ask him in person.” Wei Yuewu obviously refused to give in.

“No, our boss doesn’t receive visitors, nor is he convenient to receive visitors,” the shopkeeper refused.

“Uh… What should I do?” Wei Yuewu frowned slightly. There seemed to be a hint of worry between her brows as she muttered to herself, “It would be great if I could meet your boss. I really don’t have any other intentions. I just want to ask him if he has such a matching ruby in his hand so that he can produce something similar to this.”

“Miss, even if he has top-grade rubies, the actual color of each piece is slightly different. The headgear that you have is made of the same piece of ruby. If you add another one from a different ruby, the color may not be exactly the same as the one in your hand,” the shopkeeper explained with a smile.

“It’s not the same, is it?” Wei Yuewu was stunned and seemed to have just thought of this question.

“No, it’s not!” The answer the shopkeeper gave was always so convincing and sure.

“Oh… alright then!” Wei Yuewu sighed helplessly. She put the earring into an exquisite jewelry box. “How much is this?”

“That young master has already paid for it!” The shopkeeper had already known about the situation before he came up, so he smiled and replied. He immediately looked at Wei Yuewu a few more times.

“He paid for this?” Wei Yuewu was stunned, as if it hadn’t crossed her mind at all.

“Yes, he has already paid!” The shopkeeper was sure again.

“Okay. I’m so sorry to trouble you, and thank you,” Wei Yuewu lamented with a gentle smile.

“You’re welcome. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave!” The shopkeeper’s gaze fell on Wei Yuewu’s face, and he said attentively.

This time, Wei Yuewu did not speak. She waved her hand with a smile, and the shopkeeper left. When he reached the door, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he stared at the door skeptically, and a trace of doubt flashed in his eyes.

What was the relationship between the young lady and that man? He had never seen that man pay for the jewelry for any young lady of an aristocratic family before. In fact, the expensive headgear the young lady had was not inferior to the two sets he took away with himself.

Did he take a fancy to this young lady? Thinking of this, the shopkeeper felt that he had to understand the identity of this young aristocratic lady.

She had such an exquisite and beautiful appearance and extraordinary bearing. Was she the Eldest Young Lady of the mansion of Duke of Jing? Rumors had it that she was the most beautiful woman in the country.

As he thought of her appearance, he deduced that the young lady had what it took to be called the most beautiful woman in the country. Although she was a little young and childish now, her look was outstanding and peerless…

“Miss, why did the shopkeeper say that the owner did not have a daughter or granddaughter?” After the shopkeeper left, Huamo closed the door of the private room and asked in surprise.

“It means that Madam Dowager is not the owner of this shop.” Wei Yuewu picked up the tea beside her and took a sip. Her eyes were thoughtful. She thought that her mother’s dowry should all be in Madam Dowager’s hands, but to her surprise, this was not the case!

This was really puzzling. After her mother married Marquis Hua Yang, her dowry would definitely belong to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. When her mother passed away, she was too young, so her mother’s belongings were kept in the warehouse while the shops became the public belongings of the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang. But now, someone actually told her that the shop didn’t belong to the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang.

This had never crossed Wei Yuewu’s mind!

With Madam Dowager’s temperament, how could she not grasp this shop tightly in her hands? Looking at the scale of the shop and the number of customers, she could tell that this shop’s business was absolutely good. Even Fourth Princess in the palace purchased jewelry from this shop. Of course, the business was booming!

Why didn’t Madam Dowager take control of such a profitable business? But from the looks of it, she was certain that the mansion of Marquis Hua Yang’s Madam Dowager was not the owner of this shop.

But who would it be? How did that person take this shop from Madam Dowager’s hands?

“Come, let’s go take a look at the other shops!” Wei Yuewu stood up. On the other side, Huamo had already placed the jewelry box in a box that the shopkeeper had sent over and picked it up.

They had been on the third floor before. When they came over, Wen Tianyao’s bodyguard had brought them directly to the third floor. Now that they were leisurely strolling down, they discovered that gold ornaments were not the only items that were displayed on the second floor. There were also some musical instruments, chess sets, calligraphy, paintings, and even some exquisite embroidery works. It was quite rare to see these items in the gold jewelry shop.

No wonder there were so many people on all the floors. Wei Yuewu saw several waiters and people entering and leaving the private rooms upstairs. It was obvious that there were many people inside.

Their business was definitely good. Such a shop would definitely make a lot of money in a year.

Wei Yuewu looked around casually and came to the conclusion that all the things here were much more expensive than similar ones sold in other shops. They were stylish, quality-wise, and their prices were definitely higher. Even the carefully crafted cover alone cost more than what an ordinary scholar could afford. Therefore, the main customers in this shop were the members of aristocratic families.

For example, golden jewelry and headgear were more expensive than the same kind of jewelry sold elsewhere, but it was obvious that the carving was more meticulous. Wei Yuewu had received some jewelry from Madam Dowager before. Those ornaments were basically not as good as the ones that Wen Tianyao gave her today.

“Miss, look at that screen!” Huamo suddenly pointed at a screen and shouted.

Wei Yuewu followed her gaze and couldn’t help but be stunned. At first glance, it looked like her mother’s screen that had been damaged by Wei Yuejiao, but when she looked closely, it wasn’t.

The design and style were similar, but when she looked closer, she noticed they were not the same type of flower.

Despite the difference, she felt that this screen bore a stark resemblance to her mother’s screen.

Wei Yuewu couldn’t help but walk over. The screen was very beautiful, and it could be seen that the craftsmanship was exquisite. However, it was slightly different from her mother’s, so it wasn’t embroidered by her mother.

However, this kind of screen gave her a strange sense of familiarity. She felt that this screen was related to her mother’s screen, because… they were too similar.

“Miss, look… the layout is almost exactly the same!” Huamo was particularly fond of embroidery. She also came over to check carefully, and she could not help but exclaim.

“It is very similar to my mother’s screen!” Wei Yuewu’s hand slowly touched the corner of the screen. It was made of very good material. It could be seen that such a screen was definitely worth a lot of money. The rarest thing was that the needlework was done by the same person. In other words, this screen was completed by one person.

Mother spent several years embroidering such a big screen alone. What about this screen in front of her? In what kind of mood did the woman embroider this screen? Was she embroidering her own dowry too, just like her mother? If so, it would be too much of a coincidence!

“Yes, just like Marquise’s! They even used the same layout. This is so strange,” Huamo said as she looked at the screen. Recently, she had been helping to repair Marquise’s screen, so she was particularly clear about the screen left by Marquise Hua Yang.

Because of this, she couldn’t help but exclaim in a low voice at first glance.

“What kind of situation would there be two almost similar screens?” Wei Yuewu frowned, and her watery eyes showed a trace of confusion.

In fact, she wasn’t asking Huamo, but Huamo thought that it was a question directed to her, so she squinted in befuddlement. “Well, I can’t say for sure… Maybe, it was made by two people together!”

Two people together? Huamo’s vague words made Wei Yuewu’s heart suddenly skip a beat. To produce two big screens with such a similarity, it was either made by two people at the same time, or two people had set up the pattern together.

In other words, the owner of this screen should know Mother, or the screen should be embroidered by a good friend of Mother. Her hand slowly touched the beautiful embroidery on the screen. Her beautiful eyes were suffused with a faint trace of pain, and she inexplicably thought of the screen that Wei Yuejiao had destroyed.

“Huamo, go and ask how much money this screen costs,” Wei Yuewu ordered softly. No matter who this screen belonged to, it must somehow be related to her mother, so she wanted to buy it and place it together with her mother’s screen.

“Oh? Sixth Miss Wei, you took a fancy to this screen too? Unfortunately, you are a bit late. I already reserve this screen!” Before Huamo could answer, they heard another familiar voice.

Wei Yuewu looked back in shock…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep