si-mexico Chapter 302 The Richest Woman
Chapter 302 The Richest Woman
Early in the morning.
Jiang Miaomiao woke up.
I slept until the sun was high in the sky.
I guess I got too tired from playing the treasure hunt game yesterday.
I feel completely listless.
After getting home, I washed up, changed my clothes, ate dinner, and then went to sleep.
He didn't even have time to think about whether his mother would be angry or beat him.
But now that she's awake, her mother is sitting in front of her bed, carefully examining her.
They were all completely absorbed in watching.
It wasn't until Jiang Miaomiao took her hand and called out, "Mother."
Lu Qingyao finally came to her senses. "Miaomiao is awake? If you're awake, get up. Your mother will take you to see your maternal grandmother and aunts."
Grandmother...
Jiang Miaomiao sat up abruptly, still somewhat dazed.
That's when I remembered that someone had come to visit.
After Xi'er wiped her face, she became much more awake and obediently let her mother dress and groom her.
When it was the first time Xi'er met her maternal grandmother, she originally wanted to dress her up in her finest clothes, but her mother stopped her.
“We’re family, no need for all this formalities. Let Miaomiao wear whatever she likes, as long as it’s clean and tidy.” Lu Qingyao frowned slightly as she thought of her daughter’s dirty clothes from last night.
Did this kid go to the princess's mansion to roll in the mud?
When asked, Xi'er refused to say anything about the Princess's residence, only saying that the young lady forbade her to talk about it, otherwise she would be abandoned.
Good job!
My daughter has mastered the art of managing people without any instruction.
Originally, Xi'er was brought in to keep an eye on her, but now Xi'er listens to no one but her.
Instead, they became her little shadow.
Lu Qingyao was both amused and exasperated.
Jiang Miaomiao felt a little guilty looking at her mother's ever-changing expression.
Thinking that her mother must be busy settling her maternal grandmother and aunts, she probably wouldn't have time to look after her for a while.
As her mother combed her hair, she began to subtly question her, "Miaomiao, didn't I tell you not to go to the princess's residence? Why did you still sneak off to go?"
“I didn’t sneak around; I went there openly and honestly,” Jiang Miaomiao said matter-of-factly.
Lu Qingyao: ...This kid is a bit annoying.
"Then what were you doing going to the princess's residence for all of a sudden?"
"It wasn't me, it was Brother Cheng'an. She crawled through the dog hole to dig for treasure at the Princess's residence. I took Uncle Jing's jade pendant to the Princess's residence because I was looking for him."
Jiang Miaomiao started lying through her teeth.
She couldn't tell her mother that she was going to investigate the princess's true strength and find a powerful backer for her mother.
If she told her, her mother would probably treat her as an oddball.
I'm sorry, Brother Cheng'an, this blame has to be placed on you. I will plead for you and make sure your aunt doesn't beat you.
She muttered to herself.
Lu Qingyao: ...
As expected, it was that mischievous monkey from the Yan family.
But listening to my daughter's words, something just didn't feel right.
"You sneaked over there with your brother An, shouldn't you have come to find your mother first? Why did you go by yourself?"
"I'm afraid if you find out, you'll tell Auntie, and Auntie will beat Brother Cheng'an again." Jiang Miaomiao felt she couldn't keep up the lie, so she quickly changed the subject.
“Mother, the princess hugged me and cried as soon as she saw me. The princess is so pitiful. She lost her child and lives alone in such a big house. She is so lonely. The princess said that seeing me reminded her of Princess Jiayue, so she told me to go and play with her and talk to her whenever I have time.”
Jiang Miaomiao blinked her big, watery eyes at her mother.
Seeing her daughter like this, Lu Qingyao couldn't bear to scold her.
My daughter is so young, so innocent and kind; she's probably been deceived by Princess Yuqing.
Well, it's true that a mother who loses her child is very pitiful, but Princess Yuqing is no ordinary woman, and it's not even certain whether Princess Jiayue is her child.
Jiang Yue had mentioned that the deaths of Cao Fuma's family were suspicious, which suggests that the princess must have hated them to the core.
The young princess has passed away again, just like that.
It makes people think more.
It's hard to say whether the rumors about Princess Yuqing are true or false.
Whether her feelings for Princess Jiayue were genuine remains unknown.
But when the two children sneaked into the princess's residence, Princess Yuqing actually helped to cover it up and even had the guards take the children over the wall.
Now he's given her so much jewelry.
The princess always seemed strange and unpredictable.
It's unclear whether she genuinely misses Princess Jiayue through Miaomiao, or if, as Xiuxiu said, she has ulterior motives towards Miaomiao.
She looked at the box of jewels and the box of gold and silver on the table and continued to ask, "Why did you accept the gold and silver that the princess gave you? Didn't Mother say that one should not accept gifts without merit, and that one should not take other people's things casually?"
"It wasn't a gift; my brother An and I found it while digging for treasure in the garden." Jiang Miaomiao blushed slightly as she said this.
She's definitely number one at playing dumb and innocent.
Regardless of the rumors, she just felt that Princess Yuqing was quite nice.
Even if seeing her reminds him of Jia Yue, it's understandable.
Moreover, Princess Yuqing showed great care and love for both her and Yan Cheng'an, who were unrelated children.
He doesn't look like a bad person.
She was quite certain that she saw nothing but love in the princess's eyes.
The princess must have liked her from the bottom of her heart.
One good thing about being a child is that it's easy to tell whether an adult is being insincere or not.
Because when people are facing a child, even the most skilled at pretending will inadvertently reveal their true colors.
When you're with a child, you don't need to hide anything; she won't expose you.
Even if children don't say it, they can clearly perceive good and evil.
Besides, she's not a real child.
She could clearly distinguish whether Princess Yuqing's feelings were genuine or feigned.
Seeing how much her daughter liked Princess Yuqing, Lu Qingyao didn't want to spoil her mood and couldn't bring herself to say anything to refuse.
However, these gold and silver items of dubious origin should not be accepted.
Treasure hunting and such sounds like something out of a scam for children.
"Miaomiao, let your mother return these gold and silver for you. If they were dug up from that garden, they are very likely the embezzled money of the rebel king. We absolutely cannot accept them."
If not, then it was given by Princess Yuqing.
Even though she treats money like dirt, she only uses it casually to amuse her children.
We can't just accept it like that.
"Okay." Jiang Miaomiao nodded reluctantly.
She was reluctant to part with the money she had just received, and held the small bracelet with great affection.
She stared longingly at her mother.
You should at least keep two.
Then her mother left her a pair of small gold bracelets.
Jiang Miaomiao noticed that her mother was unusually easy to talk to today, and in a good mood, with a smile on her face the whole time.
Their sneaking into the princess's residence was thus forgotten.
While her daughter was changing clothes, Lu Qingyao pulled Xiuxiu aside and whispered, "Send these gold and silver back to the princess's residence, and also send some delicacies and mutton to Princess Yuqing as a way of thanking her for taking care of the two children."
"Okay, sister, should I continue to follow Miaomiao when she sneaks off to the next room?"
Xiuxiu was puzzled.
Everyone else was trying to avoid Princess Yuqing, but Miaomiao insisted on going up to her. She was truly a fearless newborn calf.
Or perhaps they were bewitched by the princess's beauty.
Don't let Miaomiao's small size fool you; she loves looking at handsome young men and beautiful women.
If you encountered someone like Princess Yuqing, you probably wouldn't be able to take your eyes off her.
Lu Qingyao gathered the box and handed it to her, smiling as she said, "No need. Qianxue will be staying at the neighboring villa for a day or two. I think Miaomiao should also start her studies properly for a few days. After she starts school, she will have to get up early and go home late, so she won't have time to go to the princess's residence."
Well, the devil is always one step ahead of the saint.
My older sister always has a way of dealing with this kid.
"This is a good idea," Xiuxiu said with a smile as she took the box.
……
The princess's residence next door.
Princess Yuqing is embroidering. She starts with embroidering a sachet, then prepares to embroider a small hat, and finally embroiders a small dress.
Whatever she wanted, she could command countless skilled embroiderers at her beck and call.
They have all kinds of embroidery products you could want.
But she still wanted to do something for her daughter herself.
I've heard that winters in Beijing are colder than in Jiangzhou. I wonder if Miaomiao will be able to adapt.
I was thinking of preparing more warm clothes for her.
She had observed Miao Miao's clothes, especially her inner garments, and found that the stitches on the fabric were coarser than her own embroidery.
I reckon it was embroidered by the Lu family.
It's a bit ugly, but it's fine this way.
With Lu's embroidery as a comparison, Miaomiao probably wouldn't think her embroidery was bad.
Granny Feng couldn't bear to watch any longer. "Your Highness, why don't you let this old servant do the embroidery? Your fingers are bleeding from the pricking."
Princess Yuqing has not done needlework for a long time.
I once sewed a couple of dresses for Princess Jiayue, but she refused to wear them because she thought they were ugly.
It made the princess very angry.
Since then, the princess has never touched a needle and thread again.
Now that she's getting acupuncture again, the first thing she does is prick her fair, white fingers.
I only hope that Princess Miaomiao will not disappoint the princess's feelings.
Princess Yuqing shook her head, still engrossed in the embroidery before her. "This is the first time I've sewn clothes for Miaomiao, and I don't want to rely on others."
Knowing she couldn't persuade her otherwise, Granny Feng had no choice but to have someone bring in the gold and silver that Lu Qingyao had sent back.
The report states: "Your Highness, the gold and silver that the young princess dug up have been returned by Madam Lu, along with some mountain delicacies such as bamboo shoots and mutton."
"It's been returned?" Princess Yuqing stopped what she was doing and looked up at Granny Feng.
Somewhat surprised.
There's actually a reason why the gift she gave away could be returned.
However, when she heard that Madam Lu had sent her more delicacies and mutton, she lost all her temper.
"Granny, what kinds of properties does Madam Lu own?"
"According to my investigation, all the grain shops are under Madam Lu's name. She also owns the majority of the bamboo shoot and mountain delicacies industries in Jiangzhou. She also co-owns several cloth shops in the capital with Mr. and Mrs. Sun."
"Oh! No wonder she wanted to return the money; it seems she's not short of cash?"
"This old servant doesn't think we're short of money. After all, no one would complain about having too much money. Besides, the Lu family's confiscated property hasn't been recovered yet, and all those children and relatives are still waiting for Madam Lu to support them. It seems like they're having a tough time." Speaking of which, Granny Feng really admired Lu Qingyao.
During those days in Jiangzhou.
She had seen how foolish Qi was, and she had seen how clever Lu was.
They sacrificed the pawn to save the king, donating their dowry to protect everyone in the Lu family.
Returning to Jiangzhou was akin to putting himself in a do-or-die situation, not only turning the Jiang family into his supporters but also putting the livelihoods of most of the people in Qingshi Town in his own hands.
Even after divorcing Jiang Yunze, she still holds considerable power within the Jiang family.
Whether Jiang Yunze's new wife can be included in the Jiang family genealogy depends on Madam Lu's decision.
I wonder if Jiang Yunze will regret it when he finds out.
“What about Yipinju? Didn’t Fifth Brother say that the Lu family is the second owner of Yipinju?” Princess Yuqing looked at the mountain delicacies and dried goods sent by Lu Garden in front of her.
These treasures can probably only be found at Yipinju, besides on the Emperor's dining table in the palace.
Extremely rare and precious.
Even as a princess, she couldn't eat it often.
“This old servant has investigated, and the second owner of Yipinju is actually not Madam Lu, but our Princess.” Speaking of this, Granny Feng admired Lu Qingyao even more.
Instead of leaving his own son the family fortune he had accumulated, he gave it to his adopted daughter.
"You mean most of Yipinju's properties are under Miaomiao's name?" Princess Yuqing looked at Granny Feng in disbelief.
She originally thought that Madam Lu was genuinely kind to Miaomiao and treated her like her own daughter.
I didn't expect it to be this good.
This made her feel somewhat ashamed of herself.
I felt not only ashamed towards Miaomiao, but also worried and afraid.
She feared that if Madam Lu treated Miaomiao too well, Miaomiao would only have Madam Lu as her mother and would not want to acknowledge her.
Granny Feng nodded.
As Princess Yuqing's confidante, she was naturally the best at understanding her mistress's thoughts.
Naturally, they understand best what their master worries about.
“Your Highness, Princess Miaomiao must really like you, otherwise she wouldn’t have sneaked over here behind Lady Lu’s back.”
After hearing what Granny Feng said, Princess Yuqing felt much better.
She should be grateful to the Lu family.
Thank you for allowing Miaomiao to grow up carefree, safe, and smoothly.
I thank her for raising Miaomiao so well.
Princess Yuqing pondered for a moment and instructed, "Granny, from now on, all the clothing and fabrics for the Princess's residence and Prince Jing's residence will be made by Lu's cloth shop."
"Yes, this old servant will give the instructions immediately."
"And all her shops, spread the word so the world knows they have me backing them."
Since the Lu family is unwilling to accept charity, business transactions should still be conducted.
Her and her fifth brother's mansions, each housing countless servants, were enough to support the Lu family's image, just by making clothes for the servants for all four seasons.
She wanted to make Lu Qingyao the richest woman in the capital.
Granny Feng nodded in agreement.
Princess Yuqing then asked, "How are the Jiang and Qi families doing? Have they made any moves lately?"
"The matter of Minister Qi's cheating in the imperial examination is still under investigation, and there are no leads yet. As for the inner quarters of the Jiang family, according to our informant, since Madam Lu's divorce, Jiang Yunze's two concubines have been fighting non-stop, having a small argument every two days and a big argument every five days. The two of them are almost turning the Jiang family upside down." Granny Feng said, gesturing as she spoke.
He had, to some extent, played the role of master and servant with Qi Caiwei.
She knew the temperaments of the mother and daughter very well.
That Qi family girl is a good-for-nothing beauty who is always courting death. If it weren't for the Qi family backing her up, she would have died eight hundred times over.
At first, I thought that Lady Lu had really been tricked by her.
I only understand it now.
Lady Lu went to Jiangzhou by using a scheme against her.
She had no interest in competing with her for a man, or for that damned position of mistress.
……