Page 530

"Hmph, quite the clever tongue for a young girl—just like your elder sister! Fine, it’s true this Gold Shop isn’t owned by our Jin family.

You’re free to browse and buy, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, little girl.

The jewelry here isn’t cheap. You’d better check if the silver in your purse is sufficient before you make any purchases! "

Jin Lingling gave her a scornful glance and motioned for Meng Chunyan to sit off to the side and pick out jewelry.

Xiao Linshuang also shot back a disdainful look. She had plenty of silver on her. Before leaving the house, her elder sister had given her a silver note worth ten taels of silver, Lao Fan had given her another ten, and even Princess Anle had secretly handed her a silver note to buy candy with.

In the time it took Xiao Linshuang to exchange these few words with Jin Lingling, Xia He and Qiu Ju had noticed nothing amiss. Xiao Linshuang naturally wouldn’t gossip about it with them; as long as Jin Lingling didn’t do anything too outrageous, she didn’t take it to heart.

This jewelry shop was quite large, and its wares—novel in design and exquisitely crafted—attracted many ladies and young ladies to select from them. So, there were indeed a good number of customers seated at the counter, looking at jewelry.

Xiao Linshuang joined Xia He and Qiu Ju, watching them choose hairpins.

They looked at one, then another, and quickly picked out three particularly pretty ones.

At a glance, these three hairpins looked very similar, with only the flowers embedded at the top being different: one with pink lotuses, another with golden chrysanthemums, and a third with white plums tinged with red—each matching their respective names perfectly.

However, three hairpins were not enough—they were still missing one for Chun Yu. Selecting a hairpin for her was not easy. They planned to pick something similar to the previous ones but without the raindrop design.

Xiao Linshuang quietly listened to their discussion, her eyes sliding over the row of similar-styled hairpins until suddenly, her gaze brightened as she spotted a glistening hairpin.

Although the stones set on top were not in the shape of raindrops but were various sizes of round gems, they did resemble numerous raindrops.

"Shop assistant, let me take a look at this one."

"Shop assistant, I’ll take this one."

Xiao Linshuang’s and Jin Lingling’s voices rose simultaneously, causing the young shop assistant greeting customers at the counter to look left and right, unsure of whom to serve first.

Turning her head, Xiao Linshuang met Jin Lingling’s provocative gaze—she could tell at a glance that this was a deliberate attempt to compete with her for the hairpin.

Fuming, her little mouth puffed up. Jin Lingling had just run over to block her way, and now that she had finally picked out a beautiful hairpin, she came over to snatch it away.

Did she not feel satisfied without competing for things with others?

Meng Chunyan, who was standing nearby, also deliberately raised her voice to the befuddled assistant, "What are you dazed for? Don’t you want to do business?"

The shop assistant suddenly came to his senses, nodding and bowing apologetically. He recognized both misses as they often frequented their shop, and he did not dare to offend them.

This time, being closer to the commotion, Xia He and Qiu Ju overheard Jin Lingling’s bossy behavior and turned their heads to look at her.

Xia He was a bit more impatient and was about to speak up for Xiao Linshuang when suddenly Jin Lingling’s eyes lit up, and she looked at them pleasingly: "Eh, you two sisters look unfamiliar; I don’t think I’ve seen you before. May I ask from which family’s mansion you come from, ladies?"

Xia He and Qiu Ju exchanged glances, wondering if the girl’s gaze was impaired?

On hearing this, Meng Chunyan also turned her attention to the two women.

Their attire, though simple, was made of extremely fine material, even better than what she was wearing.

To be honest, she couldn’t stand others having better things than her, but at this moment, she dared not show any different expression.

After all, the poise and the quality of their dresses suggested that they were richer than her.

Jin Lingling had also noticed this and thus concluded that the identities of Xia He and Qiu Ju were definitely not simple.

Indeed, the dressing of Xia He and Qiu Ju might not have been ostentatious, but as servant girls from the General Mansion and personal maids to Princess Anle, they were naturally well treated.

Their living expenses in Zhuma Town, even by Capital city standards, were far superior to those of many concubine’s daughters of ordinary families.

It was not unreasonable for Jin Lingling and Meng Chunyan to mistakenly believe that they were the daughters of some wealthy family.

Seeing Jin Lingling fawning over the two, Meng Chunyan wouldn’t fall behind and smiled as she introduced herself to the pair, "Nice to meet you, sisters. I am Meng Chunyan from the Meng Family Wine House. May I know which family’s mansion you belong to?

My heart urges me to be close to you upon meeting you.

If you have free time later on, may I send you an invitation so we can tour together? "

Xia He and Qiu Ju now understood the motives of these two, exchanged a look, their eyes full of mirth.

Seeing them smiling, Meng Chunyan thought they were enticed by her family’s name and felt somewhat proud of herself.

Jin Lingling, however, became anxious. It was she who had initiated the conversation with the two women, so how did this silly Meng snatch the opportunity first?

Without bothering to ponder the peculiar look in Xia He’s and Qiu Ju’s eyes, Jin Lingling continued, "Sisters, I am the second miss of Jin Ji Vinegar Workshop, Jin Lingling. If you have some time, feel free to visit me at my place. I’m well acquainted with many young ladies in Zhuma Town; we could go out together sometime. "

Her words inadvertently put Meng Chunyan in her place.

Meng Chunyan was somewhat discontented and rolled her eyes, shooting an imperceptible glare at Jin Lingling.

Watching their open rivalry and underhanded tactics, Xiao Linshuang saw through their trickery—these two had mistaken Xia He and Qiu Ju for wealthy young ladies of some Zhuma Town family.

It was quite foolish; Zhuma Town wasn’t that large—how many people could there be that they did not know about?

Jin Lingling claimed to be familiar with many young ladies of the local mansions, which was likely just exaggeration.

She probably hadn’t managed to ingratiate herself with many wealthy families yet!

Xia He, quick-witted, thought of the disregard they had shown for Xiao Linshuang and their deliberate flattery towards them and was immediately struck with an idea for revenge.

She whispered a few words in Qiu Ju’s ear, who pursed her lips, smiling at Xia He’s idea amusedly, but nodded and agreed to go along with it.