Chapter 200: Jing Xi's Awakening

turned to look at the three children and immediately changed the subject, introducing them one by one: "Son-in-law, this is Ayao's second sister Ayu, second brother Chengzhang, and third brother Chen...The Dali Temple.

After the dispersal, several officials came out of Dali Temple, bid farewell to each other, and prepared to return home.

Qi Yunwen suddenly said, "Yao Ling, don't leave just yet, come with me to buy a piece of jewelry."

"Would you like to go jewelry shopping with me" Gu Jingxi turned her head, sizing him up and down with a strange expression. "That's something used by young ladies, what use would a big man have for jewelry"

Qi Yunwen was speechless. She gave him a strange look and said angrily, "You're already married, how can you be so clueless Men buy jewelry for their wives, wouldn't they wear it themselves"

When Gu Jingxi heard this, he immediately reacted, giving a light cough to ease the awkwardness.

Qi Yunwen said again, "I think your eye for detail is good. Could you help me pick

Gu Jingxi nodded in agreement: "Good"

Jade Pavilion.

As the largest jewelry store in the capital city, Jinyu Pavilion's collection of ornaments is dazzling and overwhelming to the eye.

Compared to Gu Jingxi, who had been a lonely bachelor for many years, Qi Yunwen had some understanding of these jewelry. After all, he would occasionally buy one and send it to his wife. He was clear about what styles were popular nowadays.

Qi Yunwen picked up a jade hairpin and asked, "Yao Ling, what do you think of this hairpin"

Gu Jingxi glanced at him and replied, "Not bad."

Qi Yunwen picked up another one: "What about this one"

"It's alright."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yunwen took the two hairpins and compared them, unable to choose between them for a moment. He then asked, "Which of these two is better"

Gu Jingxi took two glances and objectively evaluated: "They are almost the same, both are finely crafted with translucent jade."

Qi Yunwen was speechless and couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.

Was he asking about the quality of the jade

He was asking about the style, but his answer was completely off topic.

Gu Jingxi didn't notice his friend's white eye. As soon as he finished speaking, his gaze was drawn to a row of hairpins.

He moved over and took a look. They were all gold hairpins, each with two tassels, with pearls adorning the ends of the tassels. The craftsmanship was very delicate. There were twelve in total, each with its own unique style. Each hairpin had a different design, such as plum blossoms, apricot blossoms, peach blossoms, peonies, pomegranates, lotuses, crabapples, osmanthus flowers, chrysanthemums, hibiscus flowers, camellia flowers, and daffodils. The twelve styles seemed to correspond to the twelve months of the year.

Looking at the hairpin, he suddenly remembered a little girl at home. These hairpins would be perfect for her. The little girl was beautiful and had striking features, so she suited bright-colored jewelry. Even gold wouldn't look gaudy on her. He had seen the little girl wearing gold before, and it looked very elegant and beautiful.

Gu Jingxi glanced at them, all twelve hairpins were quite good, evenly matched. The young girl didn't have many accessories either. Thinking that she could buy them all and the young girl could wear them interchangeably, he directly said boldly, "Shopkeeper, I want all twelve of these hairpins. How much silver"

Qi Yunwen paid attention to his friend's movements. Seeing this, he smiled knowingly. He felt that his friend wasn't too dull after all; at least he had entered a jewelry store and knew to buy jewelry for his wife. It wasn't in vain that he had put so much thought into it today. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before the iron tree blossomed.

As soon as the shopkeeper heard this, his eyes lit up. He had noticed that both of them were wearing official robes and held high positions, so they must be wealthy.

"Well now, sir, with a single stroke you've brought over a thousand taels of silver! The shop owner's face instantly blossomed into a smile as he said, "Sir, you have truly discerning eyes. This set of hairpins was handcrafted by our Golden Jade Pavilion's master craftsman and just recently put on display for sale. Each one is crafted from pure gold, with exquisite workmanship. Take a look, every flower is so lifelike. And these pearls, each one is the size of your thumb, with a lustrous sheen and perfectly round shape, without a single flaw."

Gu Jingxi impatiently interrupted him: "Get to the point."

The shopkeeper's smile faltered, and he replied: "These twelve hairpins are all priced the same, eighty-eight taels each. In total, that comes to 1,056 taels of silver. Since you're buying so many, I'll round it down for you to 1,050 taels."

Gu Jingxi, upon hearing this, didn't blink an eye and said, "Good, I'll take them all."

Having said that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a 500-liang silver ingot, two 100-liang ones. Finding it still wasn't enough, he took out another 78 liang of silver and five coins from his pouch.

He only had seven hundred and seventy-eight taels of silver on him, five coins were negligible, still short of two hundred and seventy-two taels.

Flushed, Gu Jingxi fell silent for a moment before calmly looking at his friend: "Mo Bai, could you lend me two hundred and seventy-two taels of silver"

Qi Yunwen saw that his friend had a rare moment of clarity. Knowing that buying jewelry for the young girl was a good idea, his mood was like an old father seeing his son top the high school exams. Naturally, he readily agreed: "Well, okay, I'll lend it to you. Don't mention 272 taels, even 2,720 taels."

He rushed to reach for his pocket.

This isn't bad, but after taking it out, he found it a bit embarrassing. He didn't have as much as two hundred and seventy-two taels, only exactly two hundred and fifty taels. Not only was the money borrowed not enough to cover his debts, but he also didn't have any silver left to buy jewelry for his wife.

He fell silent for a long while, then silently took out a silver note worth one hundred taels and handed it to his friend. Under his friend's gaze, he took out another one worth one hundred taels, and finally stuffed a fifty-tael one into his friend's hand as well.

There are still 22 taels of silver missing.

Gu Jingxi looked at him and motioned for him to give some more.

Seeing his friend still looking at him, Qi Yunwen wasn't afraid of losing face. He broke the pot and shattered it, flipping his purse over and saying, "That's all I have."

The shopkeeper looked at the two imperial officials pooling money to buy jewelry, feeling a little surprised. However, being able to carry so much money out of the house meant they were certainly from a very wealthy family. They were short twenty-two taels of silver. He could choose not to collect it, considering it a favor.

However, before the shopkeeper could speak, a girl's voice rang out: "Uncle, are you here too"

Song Xinning originally planned to buy a hairpin and go home, but when she saw her uncle, her eyes lit up as if she had seen a big fool. She scurried over to Qi Yunwen's side, ready to flatter him with sweet words so he would give her some jewelry. Then she would drag him to the rouge shop in front, claiming she was buying rouge for her aunt, and then find ways to benefit herself.

However, she never expected that even in front of her beloved uncle, there would be a day when her plans would fall through.

"Seeing her uncle, a smile instantly appeared on his face. It was the kindest smile imaginable. She thought that today her uncle was in a good mood and would buy her jewelry. Little did she know, her uncle said to her, 'A-Ning, you're here just in time. Did you bring any silver with you Give your uncle twenty-two taels first.'

Song Xining was dumbfounded: ""hands beautiful, which is why she couldn't help but look at them a few more times. She hadn't expected to cause a misunderstanding. It seemed beauty was indeed misleading. She quickly covered it up an...