Chapter 62: Chapter 53 Marshal Borrows Money_1
The shop assistant from Lu Yuan’s pawnshop entered the room and quickly brought out two large copper trays lined with rose-red velvet. Various jewels that had been cleaned were presented on the trays.
The elderly shopkeeper smiled and said, "Here are the newly arrived pieces of jewelry, Miss, please feel free to choose whatever you like."
In one of the copper trays were expensive items like jade, jadeite, and agate hairpins and headdresses, while the other held simpler silver bracelets and rings with scrapes, as well as ordinary ornament necklaces and waist accessories.
Lu Tong set down her teacup, looking at both copper trays, her fingers slowly tracing the carved edge of the trays.
After Ke Chengxing’s death, the Ke Family’s business suffered, and Madam Ke had to pay off the debts by selling household belongings.
Even though the family was poor when Lu Rou married into the family, given the nature of her parents, they would not have allowed Lu Rou to have a shoddy dowry. After Lu Rou’s death, it was uncertain how much of her dowry was left or used by the Ke Family, but if there were any remainders, Madam Ke would have surely been the first to liquidate them into silver coins.
And Lady Qin, the new bride of the Ke Family, now eagerly wishing to separate herself from the Ke Family, would most likely not keep the relics of the former matriarch.
Lu Tong played with the items in the tray, picking out an intricate bamboo joint hairpin, a rather lustrous silver bracelet, and lastly, she bypassed the richly decorated velvet tray and picked up a gilded hibiscus hairpin embedded with gems.
The hairpin seemed well-used, its body polished smooth from handling, yet the small gems inlaid in it still sparkled brilliantly.
Lu Tong selected these three items and looked at the shopkeeper, "I want these."
The shopkeeper instructed the assistant to clear away the trays and chuckled, "Miss has a good eye. All three items are newly pawned. The bamboo joint hairpin is five silver coins, the bracelet fifteen, and the gem-set hibiscus hairpin is a bit more expensive, at one hundred coins. However, as you are a new customer and it’s your first visit here, I’ll round down the total. You only need to pay one hundred silver coins."
"That expensive?" Yin Zheng blurted out involuntarily, "These aren’t tourmaline or coral. Master, don’t take us for fools who don’t know the goods!"
The shopkeeper did not get annoyed and patiently replied with a smile, "The lady may not know, this hairpin may not be made of materials as valuable as tourmaline or coral, but its craftsmanship is especially exquisite. One hundred silver coins is absolutely fair. If the lady finds the price unsuitable, perhaps she would like to look at something else?"
Lu Tong remained silent.
She had come for the hibiscus hairpin, but the price was beyond her expectations. Even if she only purchased the hairpin, she was still short by half the required silver.
Now, she truly found herself in a difficult position.
As Lu Tong and Yin Zheng negotiated in the pawnshop, struggling with the issue of silver coins, a person had come downstairs from Yuxian Tower next door.
The young man was dressed in a maroon narrow-waisted official uniform with silver brocade patterns on his wrist guards, reflecting a muted shimmer in the sunlight. He reached the bottom of the stairs, untied the horse-bridle, ready to mount his horse.
The boy following him suddenly spoke up, "Huh? Isn’t that Doctor Lu?"
Pei Yunmeng’s motion to mount the horse paused as he lifted his gaze.
Across the street in the pawnshop stood two familiar figures. Lu Tong’s figure, in her white dress with pinned flowers, was particularly striking. Her delicate and slender appearance, as if a gust of wind could blow her away, made her stand out in the store, making it hard to miss.
Duan Xiaoyan was somewhat excited, "I didn’t expect to meet her again here so soon after we parted at the temple. What a coincidence."
Pei Yunmeng looked thoughtfully at her for a while before saying, "Indeed, it is quite a coincidence."
Inside Lu Yuan’s pawnshop, Yin Zheng was still vigorously disputing with the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, even if the workmanship of this hairpin is fine, the materials are just as I said. If it weren’t for my young lady’s fondness, others would surely not be willing to pay one hundred coins. It would be better for you to sell it to us for less. In the future, we will continue to patronize your shop."
The shopkeeper’s face remained amiable, but his words were firm, "The lady jests. To be honest, our store is located on the expensive Qinghe Street in the southern part of the city. We operate on a small margin. If you want to reduce the price by three to five coins, that’s reasonable, but asking for a fifty-coin reduction... that truly puts me in a difficult position."
"But..." Yin Zheng was about to say more.
A hand reached from the side, placing a silver ingot on the table, and a voice came from behind, "There’s no need to argue further, I’ll pay for her."
Lu Tong raised her head to meet a pair of smiling black eyes.
"Lord Pei?" Lu Tong frowned slightly.
She had not expected to encounter Pei Yunmeng here.
He seemed to have just finished official duties, still dressed in his uniform, his official hat covering his hairstyle. The attire accentuated his handsome eyebrows and eyes, with a touch of charm in his demeanor. The maroon uniform he wore dazzled brilliantly on him.