Chapter 486 - A Box Unnoticed in The Dark Corner of The Quiet Room
Chapter 486 A Box Unnoticed in The Dark Corner of The Quiet Room
“She said that you have lived in the Yuhui Nunnery for a period of time. She did not celebrate your birthday before in the Yuhui Nunnery because she was afraid of disturbing your quiet practice. Now that it will be your last birthday in the Yuhui Nunnery and it is almost time for you to go downhill, this will be seen as bothering you! She also said that in the following days, with your permission, she also wants to observe the mourning period with you and then go downhill together!”
Three years was not a long time for Shao Wanru to observe the mourning rites for her parents, but Shao Yanru did not have to do so. After all, they were not from the same branch. However, it was reasonable for her to observe mourning rites for a few months and then people would praise her as being such a filial girl!
“She is really kind!” Shao Wanru smiled lightly but her eyes told a different story.
“Don’t you like it?” Chu Liuxin sensitively noticed Shao Wanru’s displeasure in her words and said in surprise.
“Why should I like it? Celebrating my birthday in such a buzzing manner in Yuhui Nunnery will disrupt the quiet practice of the nuns. How shameless am I to do that? Aren’t you afraid that others will say that I have learned no rules from the boudoir and that I am impolite?” Shao Wanru raised her head and her shimmery eyes were full of displeasure.
Her words reminded Chu Liuxin and he patted his thigh and said, “Yes, you are right. It is unreasonable to celebrate a birthday happily in the nunnery. It will be a great disrespect to Buddha.”
“It is disrespectful, but my elder sister wants to celebrate my birthday. In the end, everyone will think I am the one who wants to celebrate and it will be my fault!”
Shao Wanru said.
“This… Could it be that she said so because she was not aware and did not put too much thought into it!” Chu Liuxin thought about it and tried to explain on behalf of Shao Yanru.
Shao Wanru was not surprised about Chu Liuxin’s explanation. She had been staying on the mountain for three years, but the news about Shao Yanru had been received from the foot of the mountain from time to time. The reputation of this Miss Shao was increasingly getting better. With such a good reputation, even if there were some minor flaws, others would take the initiative to help her to explain.
She was such a nice girl, so how could she have any bad ideas or practices? At most, she just did not think through them carefully. If something bad really happened, it would just be a coincidence.
Chu Liuxin’s explanation was in line with most people’s thoughts, or if something really happened, others would only discuss about her shortcomings instead of Shao Yanru’s.
“Prince Xin, are you here to be a lobbyist for First Miss and ask our Miss to celebrate her birthday happily in Yuhui Nunnery and then get scolded by everyone?”
Yujie could not help saying this in anger.
“Ah, what are you talking about? Why would I come here as a lobbyist for your First Miss? But your First Miss is really good…”
Chu Liuxin’s eyes were wide open. He was unwilling to hear this!
“Your Highness, do you mean that Big Sister wants to be kind to me in front of Empress Dowager and she also wants to help me celebrate my birthday and later come to the mountain to accompany me for a period of quiet practice?”
Shao Wanru interrupted him and summarized it with a smile.
“Yes, yes, that is what I meant. She is doing this out of kindness!” Chu Liuxin was a little dispirited.
“Then may I trouble you, Your Highness, to bring a letter downhill for my Big Sister? Tell her about my situation on the mountain and say that I do not want to celebrate my birthday on the mountain. Thank her for her good intentions!”
Shao Wanru’s bright eyes flashed slightly as she suddenly had an idea.
“Okay, no problem. That’s right. You two are sisters of the same blood, so you should be kind to each other. If there is any problem, you just need to explain it.”
Chu Liuxin became happy and nodded repeatedly, thinking that they should originally be like this.
Shao Wanru stood up and walked to the table in front of the window. She picked up a brush pen and started writing, after thinking for a while. After that, she let the paper dry a little and then folded and put it into the envelope. She turned back and handed the letter to Chu Liuxin, “Thank you, Prince Xin. We have been soulmates for such a long time, but have not seen each other.”
“You have not seen First Miss Shao?” Chu Liuxin took the letter and said in surprise, “You two should have been together in Yuhui Nunnery. When you just went up the mountain, she has not gone downhill yet, right?”
“She was indeed on the mountain at that time, but she said that she wanted to focus on her painting in this quiet room. She originally wanted to see me after coming out of the quiet room, but unexpectedly Grandmother asked her to go down the mountain!” Shao Wanru smiled slightly and her eyes grew even more calm.
It seemed to be accidental, but Chu Liuxin could somehow sense something else from her words. He was not really stupid, but he had not thought in that way because Shao Yanru had a really good reputation before. Now he could glean something from her words. He clenched the envelope in his hand and asked doubtfully, “You two don’t get along, do you?”
“I don’t know.” Shao Wanru shook her head with bitterness in her eyes. Then, she bowed deeply and said, “I need to trouble you, Prince Xin. Or else if Big Sister really goes ahead with her plans, the rumor about my arrogance will become true. What’s more, I’m still observing mourning. Although the mourning period is almost finished, it is not over yet. I will be seen as the one who shows no love or respect toward my parents and sisters!”
Chu Liuxin’s heart suddenly missed a beat. It occurred to him that when Shao Wanru had just been recognized by the Shao family, there had been a rumor in the capital that everyone in Duke Xing’s Mansion did not like her. Was it because of this that First Miss Shao did not like her either?
Thinking of this, he realized that what First Miss Shao had said in front of Imperial Grandmother before did not seem to be so kind.
During that time on the hill of Yuhui Nunnery, both of them had been there, but they could not even find time to meet each other? But today, she announced on a large scale that she was going to celebrate the birthday of her cousin, whom she had never met before.
The meaning behind the words did not make sense!
“I will help you to send this letter to First Miss Shao and then explain to her.” Chu Liuxin said in a solemn tone.
“Thank you, Prince Xin!” Shao Wanru thanked him again.
Since he had been given an order, Chu Liuxin did not stay any longer. He said goodbye to Shao Wanru and went out. But after a few steps, he suddenly turned back and said, “I will give you a gift on your birthday. We are kind of old friends. It will not have mattered if I did not know when your birthday is. But if I do not give you a gift after I know, I will have no excuse!”
Shao Wanru turned him down with a smile, “Thank you, Prince Xin. However, since I am still practicing quietly on this hill, it is unnecessary for you to do this, so that others will not gossip about it.”
“Well… okay…” Chu Liuxin touched his head and felt that what she said was also reasonable, so he immediately turned around and left.
After he left, Yujie stepped forward and said, “Miss, what does this First Miss Shao want to do?”
“I can’t wait any longer.” Shao Wanru said meaningfully and sat back on the mat. She thought about it and looked at the quiet room with her glowing eyes. Suddenly, she pointed at a box in the corner of the room and said, “Bring that box here and let’s have a look!”
The box was very exquisite, but only a corner of it could be seen. There was a blanket on it, covering most of the box, so in the past, no one had noticed this box which was in a corner.
When one looked around this room, it was possible that this box had been overlooked for a long time.
“Miss, these are all sundries used by First Miss Shao to paint. What good will they be?” Yujie asked in confusion, but she still walked over and lifted the blanket to pull the box over. It was locked.
“Open it!” Shao Wanru said and frowned slightly. The box had already been there, but she had not noticed it. Now, she had to pay attention to it. Shao Yanru might make use of everything possible, so she must stifle everything here from the start.
It looked a little familiar!
“Miss, can we just open it like this? If we were discovered…” Yujie opened her eyes wide in shock and said.
Without the key, she could only break open it. If she broke open the lock, First Miss Shao would definitely ask about it. Although they had never seen First Miss Shao before, Yujie just felt that she would not come with any good intentions. She could cause a lot of trouble, even if nothing happened, let alone if something did indeed happen.
“Is there anything else in this quiet room of hers?” Shao Wanru glanced around with her shimmery eyes and asked.
“No!” Yujie honestly said.
She had lived here for more than two years. Even though some of the things belonged to First Miss Shao’s, they had already been taken away. Only this box was kept here till now, because it was locked and looked quite big and Pushan Nun had asked them to leave it there.
“Open it and have a look!” Shao Wanru said.
“Yes, I will break it in the yard!” Seeing Shao Wanru insisting on it, Yujie nodded. Looking around, she could not find any useful tools. She dragged the box to the door, and when she reached the door, she lifted it over the threshold. She found a sharp stone in the yard and broke the lock on the box in the corridor.
Then the box was dragged in again.
Yujie was stunned when she opened the box and saw what was inside. “Miss, what’s… this?”
It turned out to be a set of gorgeous clothes.
Although gorgeous clothes were precious, they were not rare. However, in these two years, Yujie had only seen plain and gray gowns. She had never thought that she would see a set of gorgeous clothes here.
She took out some clothes, dresses and a jewelry box from it. When she opened it, she found a set of exquisite jewelry.
“Miss, First Miss Shao’s clothes were left here!” Yujie murmured in surprise, “But it was said that First Miss Shao had set her mind on studying painting. Why… why would she leave such a set of clothes here?”
“Are you sure it is hers?” Shao Wanru was silent for a moment, but she was not too surprised.
“If it is not hers, is it yours, Miss?” Yujie said subconsciously. When she finished speaking, she suddenly inhaled deeply, “Miss, did the First Miss Shao really planned to do this? This dress is so new that it doesn’t seem to have been left here for two or three years?”
Miss Shao was not the only one who had stayed in this quiet room, but also her Miss. Yujie knew that her Miss did not have this set of clothes, but others might speculate about it in a different way.
In her three-year mourning period, she had practiced restlessly in the mountain and even brought some beautiful clothes to the mountain. No one would believe that she had been observing mourning in a quiet and respectful way.
If such a thing was verified, her good reputation accumulated over the past three years would be swept away.
Even if it was not verified, such a matter would be enough to make people suspect that Miss’s two-year mourning was just to deceive the public and to put on a show for others. So the so-called “filial duties” were naturally false.
Shao Wanru reached out to pick up the clothes and touched it. Then, she unfolded it. She had grown very quickly in the past few years, so this set of clothes was obviously not big enough.
Yujie breathed a sigh of relief, patted her chest and said, “It’s okay. It’s okay. This kind of clothes does not fit Miss! It’s too small!” She could tell at a glance that it was inappropriate for Miss to wear this kind of clothes.
“If the clothes are small, they are the ones I wore before. If it is just right, it is the ones I am wearing now. If it is too big, I can wear them in the future!” Shao Wanru pointed to an embroidery at the corner of the clothes. The size of the clothes could not prove anything. “These are the embroideries and toggle-and-loop buttons from Butterfly Clothing Shop, but not all. The other pieces are all of premium quality. They have indeed been elaborately prepared.”
A trace of darkness flashed through her shimmery eyes and they suddenly turned cold.
This dress and this box were similar to those she had seen in her previous life!