Luo Sheng returned to the attic, where Xie Wan was surrounded by Luo Ju and others listening to his account.

  Luoyi didn't know when he had taken the initiative to buy some sweet pears from the fruit stand opposite, Shen Tian peeled the pear skin, and Luo Wei cut the pear meat into small squares with a small knife, then inserted them onto a plate one by one with toothpicks.

  Yu Fang's eyebrows danced with excitement as she wiped the pear juice from her hand, talking about Ning Da's embarrassing situation just now. Even "Zhao County Magistrate's" Li Ershun also fanned the flames in the censer on the side, a bunch of guys boot-licking to an unbearable extent.

  Luo Sheng smiled and said: "The young lady took care of Ning Erlao's affairs, and as a result, the shop got several more deals."

  Xie Wan had just been unable to contain her excitement, and hadn't thought that this would also bring some other benefits. She twirled the toothpick in her hand, listening to the voices of the people below in the cabinet hall, and couldn't help but laugh as well. "That jade pendant is worth at least 40 or 50 taels of silver, and we snatched it away for such a cheap price. I'm afraid Ning Daoyi won't be able to swallow this easily."

  "What's there to be afraid of?! The Ning family still doesn't have the ability to rival the Xie family, and even if they did, we few would definitely not let him harm a single hair on our young lady!"

  Xie Wan turned her head and echoed Li Ershun's words: "You go back, if there's anything in the future, just leave a message with Luo Zhanggui, no need to wait for me."

  Li Ershun, who had been pinched by her, saw that she not only had a ruthless method but was also very good at being a rascal. She even dared to provoke the Ning family, who were used to being arrogant, with an unchanged expression. He was already trembling with fear in his heart, wondering how deep and shallow she was. At this moment, he didn't dare disobey her, so he hastily nodded and followed her downstairs.

  Xie Wan enjoyed the hospitality of everyone and also let Luo Ju return home with a bundle of cloth.

  She had Yu Xue send the package of fine silk to Xie Qi, and then had Yu Fang send the two pieces of smoked gauze to Xie Wei.

  The reply from the capital has not arrived yet, and Xie Wan is getting anxious. Yu Xue comforts her: "This back-and-forth will take three or four days, and since we haven't been in contact with the Jing family for many years, Lord Jing will be surprised to receive the letter and will need two days to think it over before putting pen to paper, let's wait a bit longer."

  Xie Wan then waited again as instructed.

  As the days went by, Xie Liang's trial period on February 14th was approaching. In recent days, Xie Liang had been staying in his study and school, even eating at home, without seeing anyone. He didn't even attend Xie Qi's birthday party on the seventh day of the new year.

  Wang gave five taels of silver to Ruan to ask Xie Qi to treat birthday lunch, and invited brothers and sisters to play in the garden.

  Xie Wan had heard earlier that there were other young guests from another mansion, and she suspected it was Ren Yun. So on this day, she dragged her feet until the sun was high in the sky before heading to Qi Feng Yuan. When passing by the second gate, she didn't see any carriages from the Ren family inside the courtyard. She went to the second house and saw Xie Qi standing at the entrance, looking out for someone. It turned out that Ren Yun hadn't arrived after all!

  Xie Wan felt a great sense of relief and happily accompanied Xie Qi for his birthday dinner.

  Xie Qi's face had been shrouded in gloom all along, Xie Wan knew it well. After dinner, everyone played for a while before returning to the Yifeng Courtyard.

  The next morning, while doing needlework in her room, Yuxue came in and said: "Madam Ren and Third Master have arrived at the manor."

  Xie Wan heard this and stopped in her tracks, "Actually, I didn't come on Xie Qi's birthday, but instead came the next day?"

  Mrs. Ren, in her forties, dressed like a typical middle-aged rich woman, sat in the main hall's flower room, smiling and responding to Wang's inquiries.

  "I've been wanting to come over and chat with you, madam, but I haven't had a chance until now. This morning, the housekeeper told me that yesterday was the birthday of the second young lady of the household, and you even sent someone to pick up Rui Ge and Xin Jie to bring them over. Coincidentally, I took them with us to our old master's estate these past few days, and we only returned last night. So today, I came not only to pay my respects to the second young lady but also to make a round of visits."

  "Madam, you're too kind. It's just the young ones seeking some excitement and thinking that Jun'er hasn't been to our estate in a while, so they went to fetch him for a two-day visit. As for compensation, it's not necessary, but as for visiting, we welcome it!"

  Madam Ren smiled and took a small box from the maid's hand, saying: "The young masters and ladies in our mansion are all good-looking, I happen to have a pair of pearl flowers brought back by my elder sister from Beijing, it looks exquisite, bring it over for the second lady to wear and play with!"

  Ruan Shi brought Xie Qi to sit beside her, saw the two lily flowers strung with pearl-like grains in the box, and immediately couldn't close her mouth. She stood up and said: "Madam really looks down on us Qízi, how can this be? Qi Jie still doesn't hurry up to kowtow to Madam?"

  Not a servant or maid, having received two branches of pearl flowers, she had to kowtow to people, losing her identity in vain. Madame Ren looked at Xie Qi with joy hidden in the corner of her eyes as she got up and kowtowed, but didn't say anything. Wang Shi, however, couldn't help but move her eyebrows slightly and clear her throat.

  Ruan Shi didn't know what she did wrong, and was afraid that the atmosphere would become awkward because of it. Seeing Ren Yun sitting silently beside her, not as lively and energetic as before, she smiled again: "Third Master, this time you've come to the manor, why don't you stay for a few more days?"

  Ren You didn't know what he was thinking, seeing the topic suddenly turned to himself, his body shook slightly, and he subconsciously looked up at Mrs. Ren, pursing his lips. Mrs. Ren glanced back at him, her eyes barely concealing a hint of displeasure.

  Wang was very good at observing words and expressions, seeing the situation he knew that Madame Ren's visit was not as simple as a casual visit. He then said to Ruan: "You go down and instruct the kitchen to cut off a leg from the deer that was slaughtered the other day, cook it well. Madame Ren doesn't come easily, today she must be staying here for the night."

  Ruan Shi was worried and didn't know how to extricate herself, but when she heard the summons, she hastily went out.

  Xie Qi was reluctant to leave and sat down on a brocade stool beside Wang Shi, holding onto the dough fan.

  Madam Ren also said to Ren Ruo: "Didn't you say you missed Yun and the others? Go then."

  He stood up and honestly went out of the door.

  As soon as he went out, Xie Qi naturally found an excuse to leave too.

  Wang saw the two people leaving and smiled, saying: "They are really innocent."

  Mrs. Ren's face was turned towards the outside of the door, with a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips, but her eyes were very deep and mysterious.

  "Ma'am, try this tea, it's our new tea from the southern tea garden this year." Wang Shi smiled and handed a cup to Madame Ren.

  Mrs. Ren bowed her head and took a sip, praising: "Indeed good tea. The fragrance is refreshing, and the aftertaste lingers."

  Wang smiled and said, "This first batch of tea is not much in quantity because it was picked early. I only got five or six catties here. Later, I'll have someone pack two catties and you can take them back to let Mr. Ren taste." He called over Su Luo and instructed her accordingly.

  Mrs. Ren put down her tea cup and smiled warmly: "Madam really doesn't treat me as an outsider. But the tea leaves are secondary, I came today to ask for a small favor."

  The king knew this was getting to the point, so he said: "Madam, you may speak freely."

  Mrs. Ren said, "It's a bit hard to bring up, but since our two families are so close, I'll say it. Our family's Yu'ge has always worn a piece of jade on his body, but recently I suddenly realized he hadn't worn it for a long time. When I asked him about it, he first said it was in his room. But after some days passed and I still didn't see him wear it, I asked the people around him, and they said that since returning from the disturbance at the Xie residence, no one had seen this piece of jade again."

  "I felt something was off, so I called him over to ask in detail. He couldn't withstand the questioning and finally said it had fallen at your esteemed residence. Today, I came specifically to ask for your help in asking the people below, but our Yu'erge accidentally dropped it somewhere and someone picked it up? If that's indeed what happened, please return it to us, and we'll naturally reward you with a handsome sum."

  "Is this really true?" Wang exclaimed. "Can you tell me more about it? What does the jade look like?"

  "It's a piece of jade that is entirely green and shaped like a auspicious cloud." Madame Ren said with a hint of displeasure: "Originally, our two families' financial foundation, although not comparable to those powerful and wealthy families, was not inferior in terms of a single piece of jade. This jade has a special origin, it was given by the Empress Dowager to our family's old lady when she first married into the family. Firstly, as a gift from the palace, we dare not lose it; secondly, as a family heirloom, we also dare not easily part with it, so I had to swallow my pride and come to ask for your help, Madame."

  Nangong Nangnang was the concubine of Emperor Taizong, and she was also the aunt of Ren Lao Taiye. Since Nangong did not give birth to any children, the Ren family did not become a noble family through marriage ties with the imperial family. To the imperial court, Nangong was nothing special, but after all, she was an inner palace lady-in-waiting, and the Ren family had always regarded their ancestor having been an imperial concubine as a glorious thing for the family.

  Now that this imperial jade pendant is lost in the Xie Mansion, especially since the two families have such a close relationship, Wang Shi naturally cannot be neglectful.

  "Please don't worry, madam," said the judge. "I'll have someone go and thoroughly interrogate them right away." He called in Zhou Er and his wife and instructed them: "Question each of them individually, and ask carefully! If anyone is found to be hiding something without reporting it, bring them out and beat them!"

  This is considered worthy of the Ren family.

  Madam Ren hastily said: "Interrogation is fine, but absolutely must not harm anyone"

  Wang's family was serving tea on one hand, and thinking about what she had said before. It seemed that their absence from Xie Qi's birthday yesterday was not because they were busy, but because they were afraid of spoiling the fun, so they deliberately avoided coming that day. However, it was suspicious that Ren Junming knew how important this jade was, yet he hid it and didn't tell his parents.

  "So it's been two months since then. If we had known about this earlier, Brother Jun would have told us and that would have been great."

  Madam Ren sighed, "You're right. If I hadn't asked about it, he might have continued to keep it from us. The children don't know any better, but they don't realize that losing a family heirloom will cause so much trouble."

  Generally speaking, family heirlooms are not easily given out except to one's own family members unless it is during the engagement of a son or daughter.

  Mrs. Ren said that, but Mrs. Wang's heart was a little nervous. Ruan had mentioned to her many times that Xie Qi had promised to marry Ren Yun, and she had also seen how much Xie Qi relied on Ren Yun in their daily lives. She just thought they were still young and hadn't thought much about it. Now that Ren Yun lost the jade and didn't say anything, what did this mean? Could it be that he secretly gave the jade to Xie Qi?