Chapter C42 – Palming off a Subst.i.tute
Proofread by Yin Jing
“This jade doesn’t look so valuable. Is it worth your life?” Princess Zhaoyan frowns, and asks puzzled.
Princess Zhaoyan has just seen the jade pendant. Its quality is definitely one in a million, but it’s not unique. Not to mention that there are much more jades which have better quality than this one. How could this piece be so precious?
Fu Ci feels insulted. His face turns red and he couldn’t speak for a long while. Hearing this, Yan Ling just shakes her head. Only Liang He shows a thoughtful appearance.
“This jade pendant is the sacred thing handed down from generation to generation by our Nanga tribe, which has nothing to do with its value. Even if it is just a common stone, it must not fall into the hands of others.” After a long time, Fu Ci refutes.
“If it’s a common stone, I’m afraid no one cares about it. How could there be so many things…” Princess Zhaoyan stands aside and whispers. No one knows whether Princess Zhaoyan really doesn’t understand it, or she deliberately tries to enrage Fu Ci.
“You…” Fu Ci angrily clenches his fists and wants to say something, but Yuling stops him.
Fu Ci turns to look at Yuling, who stands beside him, and sees her shaking her head slightly towards him, clearly feeling embarra.s.sed.
This is really a dilemma for Yuling. One is the person who grows up with her and has been gracious to Yuling for many years, and the other is the person Yuling loves. If these two people really confront with each other, Yuling doesn’t know what to do.
Fu Ci has heard Yuling talked about this princess Zhaoyan who is very kind to her. At this time, he also understands what Yuling is thinking about. Although he is a little angry, Fu Ci doesn’t say more, but turns over angrily in order to let Yuling out of the dilemma.
Yuling is relieved a little, but she also knows that it would not end like that. On one hand, it is the imperial edict, and on the other hand, it is a totally stranger. How would the Crown Prince choose? It’s easy to imagine.
At the thought of this, Yuling’s heart is lifted up, and she could not help clenching her fists and peeping at them carefully.
Seeing that they all quietdown, Liang He turns to Fu Ci and says, “you have just heard from Princess Zhaoyan that this jade is not so precious, and there are many of the same quality…”
“I’m afraid you didn’t understand what I just said, Your Highness.” Hearing Liang He mention this again, Fu Ci suddenly become angrier.
Unexpectedly, Liang He doesn’t get angry, just smiles and looks at him, “Mr. Fu, you can make the decision after I finish my speaking.”
Fu Ci gives Liang He a suspicious look, silently putting the box in his hand a little more back and looking at Liang He defensively.
This is not without reason. Because Fu Ci knows that Liang He is Liang Yi’s brother.
The younger brother cheated them and took the sacred thing of their tribe with a smile on his face. How could he know what the elder brother is thinking about when he laughs so insidiously. Fu Ci is now surrounded here, just like the fish on the chopping board. How can he not be careful?
Yan Ling sees Liang He’s smile and couldn’t help smiling. It seems that she knows what he is thinking about.
“Don’t you want to take this jade pendant back, Mr. Fu? It’s not impossible. As long as you leave a jade pendant, so that I can finish my task.” Liang He touches his chin and says.
“…” Fu Ci doesn’t understand for a moment. However, he doesn’t speak, looking at Liang He as if he were a madman.
Liang He couldn’t help but laugh secretly when he sees this. Yan Ling immediately covers her mouth with a handkerchief. She turns around and laughs happily.
“His Highness means that you can take this back, Mr. Fu. But you have to find a suitable fake jade pendant for us, so that we can report on our mission.” Seeing that they all look at them, Yan Ling quickly adds.
“Isn’t it a crime of deceiving the king? If you are found, you two…” Princess Zhaoyan suddenly gets excited.
“As you said, as long as you find a piece of jade with the same texture as this one, and then give it the same carving, it should be OK.” Yan Ling says helplessly.
“That’s right, but he also said that it’s the sacred thing pa.s.sed down from generation to generation in their tribe. The carving method and the pattern type on this jade is antique. I’m afraid that no one can do it now. Can you find the craftsman?” Princess Zhaoyan says what she is thinking about.
It does make sense. Although it may not be observed so carefully, the Third Prince is the one who brought this jade pendant back, so he must know it well.
Liang Yi and Liang Yi don’t get along well with each other. If he could see that there was something wrong with the jade pendant, it would be troublesome, a crime of deceiving the king would be inevitable.
Thinking about this, Yan Ling can’t help being serious. Just now she thought that Liang He proposed a good idea. But now it seems that the loopholes appear one after another.
When Princess Zhaoyan says this, Liang He also turns to look at the jade pendant on the table. He haven’t paid attention to it before. Now, he finds it’s just like what Princess Zhaoyan said.
It can be imagined that Liang Yi did everything he could to get the jade pendant with despicable means, not only because of its good quality, but also because of its rare carving techniques.
If it’s really like this, then Liang Yi must be able to notice the difference in carving skills of imitations. Moreover, even if Liang He is the Crown Prince, he doesn’t have the confidence to find such a craftsman.
They fall into a dilemma after seeing a slight hope. Liang He naturally won’t take this risk and gets caught by Liang Yi.
As for Yan Ling, she is really kind, but she will not let herself and Liang He fall into danger because of a stranger.
If they can’t find a proper way, they can only deal with this matter fairly. However, this is also a situation Yan Ling does not want to see.
“Mr. Fu? What are you thinking about?” Yan Ling suddenly finds that Fu Ci seems to be distracted and asks curiously.
“Ah?” Fu Ci obviously hasn’t responded.
After a while, Fu Ci regains his composure. He looks at Yan Ling and Liang He excitedly, and his voice shows his thrill: “Do you mean I can take the sacred thing back if there is a suitable jade and can be carved into the same shape, right?”
Yan Ling frowns, and clearly doesn’t understand what he is thinking about, but she nods.
“If so, it would be much simpler.” Fu Ci suddenly says proudly.
The rest of them look at each other strangely. They don’t know whether Fu Ci heard what they just talked about.