As the seals were torn open, the items from Madam Dou's dowry were laid out one by one. The dazzling array made the surrounding yamen runners' eyes turn red. After all, any single item could fetch over a hundred taels of silver, enough to cover a family's expenses for ten years.
Zhan Feiyu, knowing the token might be among these chests, examined them carefully. Ancient paintings, calligraphy, and books were ruled out. Then, sets of hair ornaments, and jewelry like gems and pearls were also excluded. The remaining items were somewhat miscellaneous.
There were exquisite lacquerware, several ancient fans, and a few brush pots and paperweights from the scholar's four treasures. Zhan Feiyu's gaze fixed on the decorative pieces in the second chest. Even though the weather was overcast and the light dim, the high-quality jade carvings were clearly treasures.
Qiu Huaixin, who had been bored, suddenly changed his expression upon seeing these ornaments. "White jade lotus?"
Although the items in the chests were all valuable treasures, the Qiu family wasn't lacking in such things. Madam Qiu's dowry was definitely more substantial than these.
As for his sister-in-law, Madam Wu, Qiu Huaixin didn't know the details of her dowry. However, over the years, when he visited Qiu Bingde's courtyard, the ornaments on the display shelves were also treasures. Qiu Huaixin had seen them since childhood and didn't find them particularly rare.
But this white jade lotus, about the size of a small watermelon, truly stunned Qiu Huaixin. If he remembered correctly, it was more than ten years ago. Lord Mei, who had retired and returned to his hometown, was an old acquaintance of his father. So, when he passed through Qianzhong Prefecture, he specially visited their home.
Qiu Huaixin's expression grew more grim as he recalled the past. Seeing Zhan Feiyu's puzzled look, he explained in a low voice. While it was a family disgrace that outsiders shouldn't know, Qiu Huaixin didn't care about that at all.
"This white jade lotus was a gift from Father to Lord Mei. A month later, Father received news that Lord Mei's family had encountered bandits. Not only were all their belongings looted, but all twenty-odd members of the family were also killed by the robbers."
Because Lord Mei's hometown was on the border, it was a place frequently raided by barbarians. After investigation, the officials confirmed it was the work of barbarians, and the case was closed.
Qiu Huaixin hadn't expected to see this white jade lotus again after more than ten years, and moreover, it was among the sealed dowry of the third branch. Did this mean that the bandits from that year had a close connection with the third branch?
"If that were the case, this white jade lotus wouldn't appear here," Zhan Feiyu's gaze shifted from the white jade lotus to a coral tree ornament next to it. The base was carved from green jade, and the top was a coral tree about a foot tall.
Earlier, she hadn't understood why coral was precious. Then she realized that in the Great Qing Dynasty, it was very difficult to excavate such high-quality red coral from the sea. Scarcity made it valuable, so whether it was coral bracelets, hair ornaments, or decorative pieces, they were all worth a fortune.
Zhan Feiyu noticed that Madam Xu and Qiu Jingyuan's expressions were normal when they saw the white jade lotus and the coral tree, only revealing a hint of joy in their eyes. This confirmed her guess. She said to Qiu Huaixin, "The white jade lotus was likely a gift from someone else. Qiu Tai was cautious in his actions; such a mistake wouldn't have happened."
Qiu Huaixin pondered, frowning. His father had obtained the white jade lotus by chance back then. From receiving it to gifting it to Lord Mei as a farewell present, it was less than half a month. Even his mother and elder brother didn't know about it.
Qiu Huaixin, as a child, had secretly entered Duke Qiu's private treasury and saw the white jade lotus. Later, thinking the white jade lotus was exquisitely carved, and most importantly, it was such a large piece of flawless white jade ornament, Qiu Huaixin had planned to sneak it out to admire in his room. That's when he learned it had been given to Lord Mei by Duke Qiu.
If the third branch had truly intercepted Lord Mei's family, they would never have taken such a risk to keep the white jade lotus at home.
Remembering his father's and elder brother's instructions before leaving, Qiu Huaixin also withdrew his scattered thoughts and looked at these exquisite ornaments again. "Did you find anything unusual?"
No one outside knew what this token was, except for the deceased Qiu Wenlan. However, tokens were usually jade pendants or the like. Madam Dou's dowry did contain quite a few jade ornaments. The rosewood box was filled with a drawer of various jade pendants; Qiu Huaixin estimated there were at least twenty. This didn't include the ordinary jade pendants in the first drawer. Judging by the carved patterns, they were suitable for men to wear, likely intended by Madam Dou as gifts of courtesy. The matriarchs of large families, whether attending banquets or hosting guests, would always give gifts to the younger generation. For young ladies, bracelets or hairpins would suffice, while for young men, these jade pendants were most appropriate.
"Those jadeite, as well as green jade and black jade, can be ruled out," Qiu Huaixin said, worried that Zhan Feiyu, being from the countryside, might not understand jade. He further explained, "These jade ornaments are all processed from the same piece of jade."
Zhan Feiyu nodded. Logically, all items on Madam Dou's dowry list could be excluded, as they were brought from her maiden home and wouldn't be Qiu Wenlan's token. However, the old master's influence had been hidden for decades. After Qiu Wenlan returned home with her only son, Qiu Feng, Qiu Tai was not yet married. If Qiu Wenlan acted cautiously, she might have sent the token to Madam Dou through other means without anyone noticing, eventually becoming part of Madam Dou's dowry and returning to the third branch. Furthermore, Qiu Wenlan was also a woman, so the token could also be among these hairpins, jade bracelets, or bangles. With so many items and no clues, it was impossible to determine.
While Zhan Feiyu and Qiu Huaixin were guessing, Lord Tao was also intently staring at the displayed items. He had wanted to inspect the treasury earlier, but the yamen runners guarding it, besides Prefect Jiao's confidants, also included people sent by the Three Judicial Offices. It was absolutely impossible to bribe these people to enter the treasury privately. Moreover, there were three keys to open the treasury: one was in Prefect Jiao's possession, another was with Lord Tao, and the last was kept at the Provincial Administration Commissioner's office. Therefore, whether it was Lord Tao or anyone else wanting to enter the treasury, they could only do so by force, which would be suicidal. They had to wait until today. It was also because Madam Dou had died, and the yamen was to return her dowry; otherwise, these five large chests would have remained sealed in the treasury.
"My lord, no abnormalities were found," a middle-aged man resembling a scholar, who was following Lord Tao, said in a low voice. He had only joined Lord Tao's side three days prior. He was the shopkeeper of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and an expert in identifying antiques and jade. If Shopkeeper Zhao couldn't find anything, then Zhan Feiyu, a young girl, and Qiu Huaixin, a dandy, would surely not be able to. Lord Tao nodded nonchalantly, but his expression became even more grim as he looked at the hundreds of items displayed. Besides the slightly larger items, if these hairpins, ornaments, and miscellaneous objects were added up, the quantity would exceed one hundred. Finding an unknown token among these items was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
More than half an hour was enough for Lord Teng to verify these items. At this moment, Lord Teng put down his brush, blew on the still-wet ink, and then presented the list to Lord Tao. "My lord, there are a total of three hundred and twenty-six items, large and small. According to Madam Dou's dowry list and the treasury's account records, two hundred and six items have been verified. The records for the remaining one hundred and twenty items are not detailed enough."
This meant that the origin of these one hundred and twenty items was unknown. They were not Madam Dou's dowry, nor were they items Madam Dou had acquired over the years, nor were they gifts from others to Madam Dou. This included the white jade lotus that Qiu Huaixin had mentioned earlier. If Lord Tao were not handling this matter today, most people, considering Duke Qiu's influence and the tragic circumstances of Qiu Jingyuan's father being imprisoned and mother dying, might have considered these one hundred and twenty items as Madam Dou's private property and returned them to Qiu Jingyuan, showing compassion for the orphaned young girl.
"In that case, re-register these one hundred and twenty items and place them under the jurisdiction of the yamen," Lord Tao said expressionlessly, his attitude as cold as it was unfeeling.
When Madam Xu and Qiu Jingyuan heard this, their expressions turned grim, mostly out of reluctance. These one hundred and twenty items were definitely the most precious among the five large chests. In terms of silver value, they would far exceed Madam Dou's entire dowry and private assets. Now that they were confiscated, anyone would feel the pain of loss.
Lord Teng had anticipated this outcome, so he turned back to the table and continued his work. As for the final result, it depended on whether Young Master Qiu could retrieve these items from Lord Tao.
"Huaixin, what do you think?" Madam Xu asked with a distressed face, patting Qiu Jingyuan's shoulder and signaling her to plead with her cousin Qiu Huaixin.