The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Chapter 289 Grass-shaped Jade Pendant

Sun Guixiang was still angry about what happened in the afternoon when she saw Xiaoqing, who was laughing happily, rushing in anxiously.

Enraged, she threw the teacup beside her.

Xiaoqing pretended to accidentally avoid the teacup, but still walked up to Sun Guixiang with a smile.

"Miss, look what this is!" She handed the item in her hand to Sun Guixiang.

It was an exquisite wooden box, and on top of the box was a peony, Sun Guixiang's favorite flower.

She asked in confusion, "What is this?"

"This servant doesn't know either, please open it and take a look."

Sun Guixiang opened it and found a letter and a fine glass hairpin that was completely transparent and had a faint pink hue.

The one I bought this afternoon was a fake glass hairpin; it wasn't worth much.

However, this glass hairpin, which is clearly made of genuine glass, would cost at least a hundred taels of silver.

Who gave her such a precious hairpin?

His face, which had just been gloomy, was now beaming like a flower.

"Could it be that it was sent by one of Miss's admirers?" Xiaoqing suggested from the side.

Upon hearing this, Sun Guixiang quickly opened the letter.

"Zhan Xinyue, my name is Chen Ming. I am honored to be invited by the chieftain to stay in the village for a while. Today is my first time meeting you, and I am attracted by your straightforward nature."

……

"I noticed that you like butterfly hairpins, so I specially prepared this as a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it with a smile."

"I hope to have the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart talk with the girl in person."

Sun Guixiang never expected that what happened that afternoon would be seen by someone.

What I saw was still the same Chen Ming.

She and her father had been asking around for days but hadn't been able to find out anything.

Unexpectedly, the person actually came to my door.

The afternoon's unpleasantness vanished instantly.

Sun Guixiang feigned shyness and asked, "Who sent this?"

Xiaoqing could tell from her expression that her master's method had worked.

She hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Miss, this..."

"This person told me not to tell you."

Seeing this, Sun Guixiang grabbed Xiaoqing's hand and pretended to be affectionate, "Good Xiaoqing, just tell me quickly."

Xiaoqing pretended to be hesitant, then seemed to have made up her mind and said, "Actually, that servant also came some time ago."

"However, he always ran away after putting the things down, and I have never been able to catch him."

"As soon as I returned today, I secretly hid in the shadows, and I caught that servant as soon as he showed his face."

"After questioning him for a long time, I learned that his young master had heard the chief mention you some time ago and had been curious about you, so he decided to get to know you."

"I happened to catch a glimpse of you on the road this time, and I was filled with admiration for you. As soon as I got back, I immediately sent a servant to deliver some things to you."

"Originally, I wanted to throw all these things away as usual, but the servant was a stranger, and I was afraid something would happen to you."

"But the servant pleaded earnestly and revealed the identity of his young master."

"Who would have thought that his young master would be the same Mr. Chen you've always wanted to get to know?"

"That's why I agreed to give this to you."

Sun Guixiang was surprised that this person had been interested in her for so long, and a blush rose on her face.

She asked, somewhat shyly and anxiously, "Have you ever seen that young master Chen? What does he look like?"

Xiaoqing snorted inwardly, but didn't show it on her face. She pretended to be excited and said, "This servant has never seen Young Master Chen, but judging from the servant's description, his appearance must be quite good."

“And…” she paused for a moment, “and I have heard others say that a handsome young man has come to the village, and his appearance is exceptionally good.”

"It is said that when that young master appeared, many young girls in the village blushed, and some even asked their families to secretly inquire about him."

"Pah!" Sun Guixiang's face turned cold. "They don't deserve it."

"That's right. Young Master Chen is clearly not interested in those people. With Miss Zhuoyu as a role model, those people are simply a joke."

Sun Guixiang was successfully flattered by Xiaoqing's words. She was smug and raised her head, "Of course, what kind of person is Young Master Chen? How could those ordinary women catch his eye?"

Xiaoqing scoffed inwardly, thinking, "Ordinary and vulgar, I am the most ordinary and vulgar one."

However, he still tried his best to give her advice, "Miss, why don't you write back to Young Master Chen? Otherwise, he might misunderstand that you don't like him, and others might take advantage of the situation."

Sun Guixiang nodded, "Go and get the brush and ink quickly."

Dongfang Ming looked at the letter in front of him and sneered inwardly. He could write better with his feet than Sun Guixiang could.

If he hadn't fallen on hard times, he wouldn't have bothered associating with such people.

He suppressed his nausea, picked up a pen and wrote an even more nauseating love poem, then handed it to the servant with a fierce expression.

"Send it over."

Just as Shen Yu'an and Ji Lingfeng arrived at the Hundred Herbs Garden, the servant told them that Old Madam Zhou had invited them over.

Shen Yu'an frowned. Old Madam Zhou invited him? He had only paid her a visit when he arrived in Xin'an County, out of respect for Shen Cao.

Why did she ask me to come over?

In Old Mrs. Zhou's room...

When Grandma Zhou saw Shen Yu'an, she smiled kindly and said with a hint of apology, "Nephew Shen, I called you here abruptly today because there is something I want to ask you."

Shen Yu'an smiled and waved his hand, "Grandma Zhou, you're too kind."

"When will Old Madam Zhou have time to ask?"

Grandma Zhou smiled and said, "Actually, it's nothing big. It's just that a few days ago I was chatting with some old friends and somehow we started talking about jade pendants."

"I remember that your Shen family's heirloom jade pendant was a piece of grass that was entirely green."

"Who knew that my girlfriends would not believe that someone in this world would actually make the finest jade into the shape of grass."

Shen Yu'an nodded, "Indeed, but grass has a special meaning for my Shen family, so my great-grandfather specially found a good piece of jade and specially commissioned a craftsman to make a grass-shaped jade pendant."

Grandma Zhou nodded. "I knew it. I'd heard your grandmother mention it before, but they didn't believe me."

"I wonder if I will have the chance to see this jade pendant today?"

Shen Yu'an shook his head. "I'm so sorry, but my grandmother told me that the Shen family's ancestral jade pendant is passed down to daughters, not sons. This jade pendant is currently in my aunt's hands."

Grandma Zhou nodded. "Oh, is that so? Then this old woman is just unlucky to have such a sight to see."

"However, speaking of grass, I heard something from grass a while ago."

"I originally thought that Cao'er's parents gave her such a name because they didn't like her."

"But after hearing her explanation, I felt that the name 'Cao' (草, meaning grass) was indeed suitable for her."

“I think the same is true for your Shen family’s heirloom jade pendant.”

When Shen Yu'an first met Shen Cao, he wondered if her parents disliked her.

But as I got to know them better, I realized that wasn't the case.

As for why he named her that, that's her private matter, and he couldn't ask.

I heard Grandma Zhou mention it today, and I never expected it to have such a symbolic meaning. The little grass really does fit the characteristics of grass.

Equally tenacious, equally vibrant.

But why did Old Mrs. Zhou suddenly bring this up out of the blue?

He didn't tell Old Mrs. Zhou that the Shen family's jade pendant had been lost more than a decade ago.

He didn't know how it got lost.

"Nephew Shen, do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Although he didn't know why Old Mrs. Zhou asked that question, Shen Yu'an answered truthfully, "I also have a younger brother from the same mother."

Grandma Zhou seemed to be deep in thought.

Did she guess wrong?

“By the way, I heard from Cao’er a while ago that she also seems to have a grass-shaped jade pendant,” Grandma Zhou suddenly said.

With a 'thud,' Shen Yu'an's hand holding the fan paused, and the fan fell onto the table.

Judging from Shen Yu'an's expression, Grandma Zhou knew he must be starting to have doubts.

"Ha..." she yawned. "This person is old and useless. He gets sleepy after sitting for a while."

At this moment, Shen Yu'an's mind was filled with thoughts of the jade pendant, so he hurriedly took his leave when he heard Old Madam Zhou speak.

A jade pendant shaped like grass—Shen Cao also has a jade pendant shaped like grass!