The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 707

Chapter 707: 331 See Through (Two Updates)_2

Gu Jiao said, "The petals are from the Imperial Garden, used to make Fresh Flower Cakes. I had some leftovers so I bought them back to make dried flowers."

Xiao Liulang had seen her make dried flowers before and roughly knew the process. He said, "I’ll get a sieve."

"Mm." Gu Jiao nodded.

Xiao Liulang got up to leave. Gu Jiao was used to being alone, yet the rare occurrence when someone was working by her side, it didn’t feel bad.

Xiao Liulang brought over a sieve. He opened the embroidered bag and poured out the petals. Suddenly, he heard a light sound, and a distinct weighted object fell out.

Xiao Liulang looked at the jade pendant that had unexpectedly appeared amidst the petals and asked with a puzzled expression, "What is this?"

He was about to ask whether the jade pendant was a gift from her grandmother, but as the words reached his lips he noticed that the jade pendant was broken. Even if it was a valuable thousand-year-old jade, her grandmother would not give such an item to Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao was not familiar with thousand-year-old jade, but she felt that the jade pendant was very sophisticated, a pity that a corner was missing.

She shook her head, "Grandmother didn’t mention sending me anything. I don’t know where it came from. It might have been carelessly put into this bag."

Was it carelessness?

A piece of thousand-year-old jade was carelessly placed in an embroidered bag?

Although it was not impossible, considering the abundant wealth of Renshou Palace-

Xiao Liulang paused for a moment, "Was it you who put these petals into the bag?"

"No." Gu Jiao shook his head, "It was Feicui."

"Who is Feicui?" Xiao Liulang asked. After all, he didn’t visit Renshou Palace often and he was not familiar with it.

Gu Jiao responded, "She is a small palace maid in Renshou Palace who is adept and quick-witted. She serves grandmother around the clock, mainly managing the empress dowager’s jewelry and clothing. I don’t know if she carelessly put grandmother’s stuff inside the embroidered bag. I will return it next time."

"No need for that, I’ll do it." Xiao Liulang toyed with the thousand-year-old jade pendant and replied without revealing any emotion, "It’s a coincidence. I am supposed to go to the palace tomorrow to give lectures to the crown prince."

Gu Jiao nodded, "That’s good too."

Eunuch Qin accepted the food box with a smile, "Jingkong is very thoughtful."

Xiao Liulang casually asked, "By the way, Eunuch Qin, does Renshou Palace have any thousand-year-old jade? Could you let me have a look at it?"

"There’s no difficulty in that. Xiao Xiuzhuan is not an outsider. Let me get it for you," Eunuch Qin invited Xiao Liulang to sit in a pavilion, while he ordered someone to fetch the jade pendant from the Empress Dowager’s sleeping chamber.

"Please take a look, Xiao Xiuzhuan." Eunuch Qin personally handed the jade pendant to Xiao Liulang.

Xiao Liulang took over the jade pendant, feeling the texture and patterns, "It does live up to its reputation of being a top-notch jade. Despite the heat of summer, it feels cold to touch. May I know where this jade came from? Or who offered it?"

With a smile, Eunuch Qin replied, "It was a gift from the imperial prince consort to Princess Ning An. He gifted an entire piece of jade which was carved into three pieces of jade pendants by Princess Ning An. One was given to her majesty, one to the emperor, and the last one was given to Consort Jing."

Xiao Liulang pondered for a moment before asking, "Isn’t there a fourth piece?"

Eunuch Qin shook his head with a smile, "There is no other piece left. Definitely none in the palace. I dare not speak for the outside, though it should be hard to find any. The thousand-year-old jade is a precious treasure. It was obtained by the imperial prince consort only after enduring great hardships. It wouldn’t be such a precious gift for Princess Ning An otherwise. Why is Xiao Xiuzhuan suddenly so curious about the thousand-year-old jade?"

"Oh, I just happened to read about it in a book, and developed some curiosity." Xiao Liulang returned the jade pendant to Eunuch Qin, "Since it’s a gift from Princess Ning An, please make sure to keep it safe, Eunuch Qin."