Counterattack of the Concubine’s Invincible Daughter

37. Enemies Everywhere

Translator: Snowball

When Mu Yingxue first entered the pawnshop, she was a little emotional. However, when she noticed how the pawnbroker assumed airs, she understood that he only did this to lower the price. Thus, she felt that it was necessary to learn his skills so that she would get a better price later.

To her surprise, the old man didn’t take the hint.

“That won’t do. The items are expensive and cannot be easily seen.” She decided to tantalize him for a second.

The pawnbroker’s expression changed slightly. His eyes finally landed on the two rosewood boxes in Liu’er’s arms. Immediately, his eyes were widened—Pterocarpus santalinus? They made it into a box and used it to store stuff?

“Miss, I’m sure what you brought here are valuables.” His tone was slightly softened as he said tactfully, “But we have rules here. Anything brought into the inner hall should be inspected by me first, and then the manager.”

Since he no longer played cool, Mu Yingxue stopped arguing with him and said, “So you insist that I open it now before we start a conversation?”

The pawnbroker squinted and smiled like a sophisticate who had been in business for a long time. “Please forgive me, Miss.”

“Liu’er.”

Mu Yingxue didn’t want to entangle with him any longer. Her time was precious, and she didn’t want to stay in this place for too long.

Liu’er followed her order and put the two boxes on the counter immediately.

The pawnbroker quickly turned around and walked to the back of that counter, carefully taking over the box.

Seeing that his eyes lit up after he opened the box containing the jade Ruyi, Mu Yingxue thought inwardly that this old man was really capable of being the pawnbroker of the most renowned pawnshop in the capital.

However, to her surprise, he did not take out the jade Ruyi for further examination. Instead, he closed the box and opened another containing the purple jade golden lock. This time, he put on his gloves before taking it out.

He held the purple jade golden lock and turned it around in his hand. When he saw the signature of the gold inlaid at the bottom, his eyes were obviously widened. He took a look at it again, as if he wanted to confirm something, and even took out a magnifying glass to look at the signature carefully.

After a glance at it, he quickly put the purple jade golden lock back into the box. When he handed the two boxes to Liu’er, his expression was obviously very solemn.

“Miss, please wait here for a moment. I’ll report this to the manager first, and then I’ll come back.”

Now that he had begun to treat her respectfully, Mu Yingxue knew that he might have already realized the origin of these two things. However, she was not worried. Pawnshops must be desperate for the stuffs from the palace, so he was playing cautious right now only because of the price he had to offer.

She did not urge him, but nonchalantly replied, “Okay, I’ll wait for your answer.”

The pawnbroker slowly nodded at her, then turned around and entered the inner hall.

Sitting in a chair beside the table, Mu Yingxue took a teacup from the table, poured herself a cup of tea and gracefully sipped it.

Seeing her master being calm, Liu’er was a bit relieved.

“Miss, did the pawnbroker figure out where these came from?”

Mu Yingxue glanced at her and said indifferently, “There is no royal seal on it, so what’s the point of knowing their origin? I’d rather he learnt this. If so, we can have a tacit understanding and finally make a good price.”

Liu’er was about to say that “Miss, you are awesome.” Suddenly, her eyesight turned dark. Turning around, she saw someone standing at the door and blocking the sun.

Mu Yingxue looked over boringly and found it was a woman, but her face couldn’t be seen clearly due to the dim light. She only felt that this person was truly annoying. Her arrogant manner that everyone should get out of her way was quite familiar.

When the woman entered the room, Mu Yingxue finally saw her face clearly, which was somewhat out of her expectation. Mei Qianqian? What was she doing here?

Judging from from her good clothes, her life must have been quite cozy. Mu Yingxue was a little bored and thought, “The riche has suffered such a heavy loss in the Moonlight Pavilion last time. Did she vent her anger viciously when she went back? Has she recovered after these days?”

Feeling bored, Mei Qianqian turned around. When she saw Mu Yingxue, her body suddenly stiffened, and then she twisted from side to side unnaturally and walked over.

“Mu Yingxue, why are you here?” She asked in an unkind tone.

Mu Yingxue looked up and glanced at her, then lowered her head and took a sip of tea, saying, “Why can’t I be here? Does your family own this place?”

Ever since Mei Qianqian suffered great loss for provoking her the last time, she was always on guard against anyone she met, warning herself that she should stay calm no matter when. But for some reason, when she met Mu Yingxue, her scheme and patience collapsed.

She blushed and put her hand on the table, against the box with the purple jade golden lock. She said angrily, “Although it’s not run by my family, there is no difference either it belongs to my family or Predestined Match through Gold and Jade!”

Mu Yingxue was a little taken aback by Mei Qianqian’s reaction. It seemed that the relationship between Mei Qianqian and the pawnshop was really good to some extent.

However, did this have anything to do with her?

“It doesn’t really matter to me if it belongs to your family or this shop. Miss Mei, please suit yourself and leave me some space to enjoy the tea. Thank you.”

Mu Yingxue said this in a toneless voice, but Mei Qianqian was provoked to anger.

“Mu Yingxue, mind your manner!”

Mei Qianqian screamed. Before she met Mu Yingxue, her life had been perfect. But after she lost in the competition with her in the Moonlight Pavilion, she had experienced nothing smooth.

“What’s there to be proud of?” She lowered her head and found the box beneath her palm. Suddenly, she realized what was going on here and said with a look of disdain and satisfaction, “Oh, so you’re here to pawn stuff… let me see what kind of good stuff you have, you poor concubine’s daughter! What can it possibly be?”

As she said that, she was about to open the box to take a look.

“Stop!”

Mu Yingxue’s eyes were narrowed. She put down the teacup and reached out to press the lid.

However, Mei Qianqian’s hands were faster than she had imagined. Before she could press the lid, the girl had already seen the purple jade golden lock in the box.

“I have already seen it.” She had been immersed and exposed in the commerce environment since she was young, so her vision was naturally more sensitive than that of ordinary officials’ daughters. “An extremely rare gold-rimmed purple jade. I’m impressed, Mu Yingxue.”

Mu Yingxue put the box under her sleeve and stopped her from taking a closer look at it. She said, “I’m the Fourth Daughter of Marquis Mu after all. Of course I have good stuff. And mind your own business. If you’re done, hurry up and leave!” She was annoyed to see her.

Upon hearing this, Mei Qianqian flew into a rage. She only came here for the pawnbroker. However, she not only failed to see him, but also had to listen to Mu Yingxue’s arrogant words.

“Mu Yingxue, don’t you think that I can see through it? The things in your hands, whether in quality or workmanship, are very particular. Ordinary craftsmen can’t do this.”

What Mei Qianqian wanted to say was obvious, but she was still in doubt, because she was not sure about the signature at the first glance.

“Mei Qianqian, spend more time on taking care of yourself, and stay out of my business.” Mu Yingxue knew in her heart that she must have figured something out.

What she said just convinced Mei Qianqian that the signature she just saw was true. She said proudly, “Mu Yingxue, I bet you don’t know what a signature like this means in the capital city. Humph, it means that it belongs to the royal family!”

“So, you want to pawn His Majesty’s reward. How dare you!”

Mei Qianqian was very excited to have such a conclusion. “Mu Yingxue, you really are digging your own grave, aren’t you?”

Mu Yingxue merely smiled and admitted, “So what?”

Mei Qianqian did not expect her to admit it so easily. As a royal merchant, her family often needed to purchase items for the Emperor, Princes, and concubines. Even if they did not look at the items inside, they could tell something from their packages. The two small purple rosewood boxes in Mu Yingxue’s hands were very similar to the bunch of boxes that her family had sent to the palace a few months ago. Therefore, she was more convinced that something behind fishy involving the purple jade golden lock was going on.

She gloated, “So what? So this will lead to a death sentence.”

Mu Yingxue glanced at her faintly and said, “Miss Mei, it seems that it is still in my hands. Is it too early for you to come to such a conclusion?”

Mei Qianqian was stunned to hear that, so she had to swing her sleeve and say, “What you said doesn’t even make sense. Let’s wait and see!” She was sure that Mu Yingxue was here to pawn something, so at this moment, she had a feeling that she vented her anger by catching a thief on the spot.

Just then, the curtains that led to the inner hall were lifted in front of the counter.

The pawnbroker walked in front, and there was a person following him. His tall figure and white skin matched with his elegant actions. Only half a silver mask was on, covering his face.

Mu Yingxue was slightly stunned. Nongyue?

Nongyue seemed to have noticed that she was looking at him, and then he looked at her with an obscure smile on his face.

The pawnbroker brought Nongyue in front of Mu Yingxue and said, “This is our manager. After hearing about your stuff, he insisted on coming out in person to take a look.” He didn’t know what was wrong with his master. It was obviously more convenient for them to talk about the details inside, but he dared not judge.

“It’s been a long time, Miss Yingxue.”

Nongyue smiled and greeted her. Under the mask, his eyes were dark and deep, like two clear streams of water, which attracted people unconsciously.

Mu Yingxue was a little surprised. The corner of the man’s mouth twitched. That was a smile, she supposed. “Indeed.”

Mei Qianqian, who was standing aside, could not bear to see this any longer. She rushed over to Mu Yingxue and smiled seductively, “Childe Nongyue, it’s rare for you to be here today. I’m here to pick out a suitable item for my brother.”

The reason why Predestined Match through Gold and Jade became the best store in the capital city was that it had rich funds and major connections. Therefore, high-quality goods were pawned in the shop in most cases. Since almost all the items were pawned permanently, the royal merchants like Mei Qianqian’s family, would not miss out on such a good source.

“Miss Mei, the pawnbroker can take you to the warehouse to have a look.”