Because Wei Shangui was ill, Wei Changxian"s birthday party ended in a hurry.
Song Zaishui said goodbye and left Duke Jingping"s mansion. She complained about Wei Changying all the time on the carriage and asked her, who knew her wrongness to apologize constantly. Wei Changying was speaking sugared words all the way and Song Zaishui was finally in a better mood.
When Wei Changying returned to the mansion, she went to the main room first to see Old Madam Song. As soon as she stepped in, she saw that Old Madam Song looked very happy as if she had heard something joyous. Old Madam Song even got happier when seeing Wei Changying. Before Wei Changying and Song Zaishui could salute, the old madam quickly waved, "Don"t be restrained, come here quickly!"
They sat next to Old Madam Song. Wei Changying asked curiously, "You look very happy today, Grandma?"
"Look at this." Old Madam Song carefully took out a red sandalwood box from the couch behind her. The box was about one foot long and one foot wide. On the surface of the box were carved twin lotus flowers on one stalk and inseparable king birds, and on the side were peony twined with branches and leaves. The four corners of the box were wrapped with gold foil. Each of the gold foil was inlaid with a Luminous Pearl. The box was very exquisite and was obviously used to hold valuables.
About Old Madam Song"s valuable treasure in her room, Wei Changying knew several pieces that were put outside. But she had never seen the box before, and she was very curious, "What is it?"
Before Old Madam Song answered, she had opened the box first. Just as the box was opened, a dazzling light burst out, making the room suddenly bright!
Inside the box was covered with brocade, above which was obviously a pair of hair clasp with blood red, and very lifelike shape of inseparable king birds and twinned trunks.
This hair clasp was an integral whole. It was actually carved from the whole bloodstone. On the top were the inseparable king birds and on the bottom were the twinned trunks. The feathers and leaves were lifelike. Even if we only looked at carving skills, it was very rare!
Wei Changying and Song Zaishui were both the n.o.blest lineal daughters in the world. They had seen a lot of jewels since childhood, but now they were also amazed by the hair clasp!
Old Madam Song said with some pride, "These hair clasps were made by Ye Zhufu, a famous craftsman of the Ye Family. Look, is there a very small word "Fu" on the tip of the hair clasp? That"s Ye Zhufu"s mark."
These two cousins quickly took a hair clasp and looked at it carefully. The young people had very sharp eyes. They did see the word "Fu" in an ancient seal script the size of sesame at the tip of the hair clasp. Song Zaishui was surprised and said, "I heard from my grandmother that the Ye Family makes the best this kind of pearl hair clasps or earrings, and this family has been the craftsman of the royal family for generations, but Ye Zhufu seems to be an ancient?"
"Zaishui, you have a good memory." Old Madam Song was in a very good mood today. She looked at her niece and granddaughter with a smile and said approvingly, "Ye Zhufu was born in Xuanzong. He has been dead for more than 80 years. Although he made a lot of jewels, hair clasps, earrings, and other accessories in his lifetime, he was most satisfied with this pair of hair clasp!"
When she spoke, Old Madam Song took the one in Wei Changying"s hand and told her, "Be careful. This pair of hair clasps was worth ten thousand gold when they were made. I suppose that they become more expensive now. Although the background of the Su Family in Qingzhou is similar to ours, these two hair clasps were also the best of Su Xiuman"s dowry!"
"Madam Su"s dowry?" Wei Changying was surprised. Fortunately, the hair clasp in her hand had been taken by Old Madam Song, so nothing went bad. Even Song Zaishui, who had always been delicate, was scared and put the hair clasp back into the box. Although ten thousand of gold was a huge amount of money, Song Zaishui, who had always been regarded as the future Empress, was not so careful. But it was the dowry of Wei Changying"s future mother-in-law. Now it was sent to Wei Changying. Even if it was a worthless thing, it would be still too important to be broken, so it was better for them to be careful.
Old Madam Song carefully put away the box, and then she said with a smile, "Isn"t it? It was sent by Su Xiuman"s old servant, who was her Dowry, day and night."
It was no wonder that Old Madam Song was in such a good mood today. Wei Changying was framed at the beginning. Wei Changying was not married and she planned to beat her husband down in the future. Her such idea was revealed to Madam Su. As soon as Mrs. Su was angry, when Wei Changying"s aunt came to the house, she deliberately approached Wei Lingyue, the lineal granddaughter of Marquis Jingcheng, who was famous in the imperial capital for her good virtue. She even took off the eaglewood hand string that she had been always taking with her and gave it to Wei Lingyue in public.
Although Madam Su couldn"t change her daughter-in-law without Shen Xuan"s consent, Wei Lingyue, who belonged to the same family as Wei Changying, had got the hand string that Madam Su had carried with her for many years, in the presence of Wei Changying"s aunt Wei Zhengyin. However, Madam Su gave nothing to Wei Changying, her future daughter-in-law. Could Old Madam Song not be angry?
But now Madam Su had sent a new gift to her future daughter-in-law, and she was very generous. Even the blood stone hair clasps with shape of inseparable king birds and twinned trunks, made by the famous craftsman and also very famous among the rich, had been generously used as a gift. In contrast, the hand string for Wei Lingyue was just a toy that was kept around. Regardless of its value itself or its value to Madam Su, how could this hand string compare with this pair of hair clasps?
This was the most valuable thing in Madam Su"s dowry, when she married to the Shen Family!
Even Madam Su herself only wore at a grand ceremony when she was young, and she was reluctant to take it out. Even so, countless n.o.blewomen in the capital, even many n.o.blemen in the palace were very envious.
Wei Changying got such a valuable gift from her future mother-in-law before she got married. Old Madam Song, who had been worried about her marriage, now felt happy for her granddaughter.
Moreover, the hairpins were so famous that everyone in the old generation knew them. They were put away by Madam Su when she was old, and they were not put on again. Moreover, Wei Changying and Song Zaishui were not brought up in the capital, so they did not hear about them. It was reasonable to say that such a valuable thing, even if it was to be given to a daughter-in-law, it should have been given to the wife of the lineal eldest son, and it should not be given until he was married. Shen Cangfeng was not the lineal eldest son, even not the lineal second son! But Madam Su now gave the hair clasps to Wei Changying.
The old lady song was very smart. She immediately thought that the reason why Wei Changying could get the hair clasps as a gift was not only that Wei Zhengyin explained successfully for her niece, but more importantly, Shen Cangfeng was the fundamental reason why Wei Changying got the hair clasps!
According to the status of this pair of blood stone hair clasps with shape of inseparable king birds and twinned trunks in Madam Su"s heart, the only one in her daughters-in-law who could get them would either be the wife of the lineal eldest son or the future mistress of Mingpei Hall of the Shen Family in Western Liang!
Obviously, the Shen family had decided that Shen Cangfeng would take over Mingpei Hall, so as Shen Cangfeng"s fiancée, Wei Changying would have the chance to get the hair clasps.
Granddaughter"s husband"s achievements would determine her future status, so the more achievements he had, the better. Although Old Madam Song thought Mingpei Hall would be Shen Cangfeng"s a long time ago, after all, Shen Cangfeng was still young, and Shen Xuan had a lot of children. The future would be unpredictable. Now the famous pair of hair clasps came to the Wei Family, which meant that Shen Cangfeng"s position had been acquiesced, and couldn"t be shaken without a major accident!
Old Madam Song was so happy for her granddaughter that she explained to them excitedly, "Although this hair clasps were made by Ye Zhufu, it"s not what made it so precious." She explained, "The most precious thing is its material. People say that gold is valuable and jade is priceless, but jade can also be divided into high and low, especially bloodstone!"
Wei Changying said with a smile, "Bloodstone is very rare. There are many jadeite, suet jade, topaz and mauve jade in my jewelry box, but there is no bloodstone."
"I"ve seen one at my grandmother"s place, but it"s the size of my thumb. This jade was carved into the shape of a cicada, and Grandma used to hold it in her hand." Song Zaishui turned her eyes and said with a smile, "But the color of that jade is not as bright as this. It"s darker."
Old Madam Song smiled and said, "I know your grandmother"s bloodstone cicada, which is different from this one. There are two kinds of bloodstone. One is that blood seeps into the jade and forms after many years! Your grandmother"s bloodstone is thousands of years old, and of course it"s worth a lot of money. But the material of this pair of hair clasps is the second kind. The natural blood jade comes from the western plateau, which is the territory of western tribes. But even there, it"s very rare!"
Song Zaishui said with a smile, "Cousin, you are not married yet, but your mother-in-law likes you so much. I suppose that she will treat you as her own daughter in the future, and even your husband will be jealous." She knew that Old Madam Song liked to hear this now. Sure enough, when Old Madam Song heard it, she smiled instantly. Her happy expression couldn"t be hidden.
Wei Changying was also in a very good mood. Although she was planning to deal with Shen Cangfeng mercilessly, after all, she was not rude enough to dare to do something to Madame Su. Now Madame Su had changed her att.i.tude. How could her daughter-in-law not be happy?
These three people were happy for a while. Chen Ruping smiled and reminded them, "Maybe the eldest madam doesn"t know about this. Shall I send someone to tell her?"
"That"s right." Old Madam Song realized and called, "Shuangli, go tell Yuwei about it. And then ask her to choose the proper gift to be sent in return for Changying." She turned to Wei Changying again and said, "In fact, you should choose the gift by yourself. Your mother and I just give you suggestions. However, the Shen Family"s servant said that he should go back to report quickly. We don"t have so much time, so this time we can only let your mother choose for you. After that, you should learn about the gift list, you know?"
For things that didn"t need to be done at once, Wei Changying always agreed. So she nodded her head cleverly and said, "Grandma, don"t worry. I will consult my mother carefully later!"
Madam Song learned that her in-laws not only forgave them, but also sent such precious and significant gifts to Fengzhou from a thousand miles. Naturally, she also felt happy for her daughter! She personally selected the precious gift, thought about it, called her daughter, pointed to an extra gift list and said, "Do you know who this one is for?"
Although Wei Changying didn"t care about these worldly things, she was very smart. She thought for a while and said, "Is it for the second aunt?"
"Yes." Madam Song felt comforted to see her daughter so clever. She said earnestly, "This time your mother-in-law sent this pair of hair clasps. Your aunt has made great contributions! If your aunt didn"t put in a good word for you in the capital and make an excuse, you wouldn"t tell the real idea in your heart at all. Even if you are really virtuous, Madam Su is so far away. How could she know the truth? In fact, Marquis Jingcheng is also the son of our Wei family in Fengzhou. If our family members go out and say that the children in our family are not good, outsiders will believe it more or less. Therefore, you need to give your future mother-in-law a gift in return, but you can"t forget your aunt."
Mrs. Song told her that when she arrived at the capital after getting married, she must visit Wei Zhengyin"s house in person and have a good relationship with her. After all, Wei Zhengyin was Madam Su"s sister-in-law. Although her relationship with Madam Su was not as good as that of real sisters, on the surface, Madam Su should be nice to her lineal brother"s wife no matter how.
The relationship between Wei Changying and her aunt was good, which not only reflected the feelings between relatives, but also could give her the help of Wei Zhengyin. In any case, she would not suffer losses.
In order to have a good start in the relationship between them, Madam Song would not forget the help of Wei Zhengyin now.
After telling her daughter the importance of coaxing her aunt in the future, Madam Song reminded her about the sister-in-law relationship in the future, "This pair of blood stone hair clasps with shape of inseparable king birds and twinned trunks is very famous and meaningful. Your mother-in-law gave them to you. Although she expressed her love for you, it also proved Shen Cangfeng"s position in the Shen Family. However, Shen Cangfeng is not the lineal eldest son. Even if he were, you might not be able to avoid the jealousy of the sisters-in-law! So don"t just think that you got such a precious gift. If I"m right, it will be also a test that your mother-in-law gives you!"
"I haven"t got married yet. Have I been hated by the sisters-in-law first?" said Wei Changying thoughtfully.
"Yes." Madam Song sneered and said, "Your future elder sister-in-law Liu is the lineal daughter of the Liu Family in Eastern Hu. It is said that she is gentle and generous, very virtuous! Now the Shen Family"s mistress is Su Xiuman on the surface, but in fact it became Liu"s long time ago. However, this pair of bloodstone hair clasps in the shape of inseparable king birds and twinned trunks have been yours, so Shen Cangfeng has a bright future. And you will be his wife in the future. I don"t know whether the position of the mistress of the Liu Family will change, after you get married. What should you do to deal with it by then?"
"Your future second sister-in-law Duanmu is just a daughter of a concubine, but she has a good reputation, like Liu, ever since she was a child! Moreover, it is said that Duanmu has a lineal daughter, who is less than four years old. This summer, she wrote a poem describing objects in public. She is a famous and talented girl in the capital. Therefore, she finds favor in Su Xiuman"s eyes, so Duanmu is also considered to be very good at teaching her children! They were married early and had many children. They are deeply rooted in the Shen Family, but your future mother-in-law values you more. You really think about what to do in the future."
Madame Song poked her daughter"s smooth forehead and said solemnly, "So don"t think you can have a good rest with these hair clasps! There are many things to worry about in the future!"