Tang Yuanxiao adjusted the knob of the device sitting in front of him on the bed to increase the volume. As annoying as the koi fish was, he had to admit that its magical artifacts were quite advanced.
His man had set up the other half of the artifact near the Tang Fanghua's room, and now he could hear even if a fly entered his room without having to even move.
'An assassin attempt? This concubine Li sure had hands longer than he had expected initially.'
He continued to listen without paying attention to Xiao Kui who kept on sending pop up rating boxes on the UI consistently.
"The assassin will also aim an arrow at you. Your injury will be near-fatal. So even if they are caught and blurts anything out, we can pacify his majesty by saying it was a trap set up for you."
"Mother is wise. Tang Fanghua appreciates mother's efforts. But can we really trust his skills? If he misses even by an inch…
Concubine Li frowned as she noticed the fear on her son's face. How could she have raised such a cowardly son?
"Is living like a coward under your first or second brother better than losing your life fighting for the throne?" Is it worth it to forget the struggles of countless soldiers of Nanzhao who had lost their lives so unfairly?
Concubine Li's blood boiled as she vividly recalled the day she had received the marriage decree from her father. Yet she couldn't voice out her innermost thoughts.
"Tang Fanghua was presumptuous mother. Even if life is on line, I won't let mother down." Tang Fanghua plopped down on his knees lowering his eyes.
Concubine Li paused, smoothing the faint trace of fury from her face before turning to face him calmly, "Rise. No need to make such a fuss, he is a skilled one and you are not losing your life."
Tang Yuanxiao finally took the conch shaped artifact off of his ears, hinting at Xiao Kui to put those back inside the inventory.
"This is not fair, master! Xiao Cui worked so hard to collect these A grade equipment and you didn't even rate these. No I amn't gonna take them back unless you rate me."
Tang Yunxiao felt a headache coming. His temple was aching indeed. He was no longer very sure of not cooking this fish in a pot of boiling water.
"Master! See the bar till here means excellent, the bar till here means very good, the bar till here…
"Shut up."
Tang Yuanxioa finally raised his hand in the air to raise the bar as high as possible. He would have much preferred to keep it at the lowest possible level. But he would truly go against his conscience if he didn't admit this artifact was truly out of the world.
Not to mention, this time the fish didn't make him accept any missions to purchase the artifact and instead offered it for free.
Xiao Kui finally shut its mouth off, happy to have received its commission.
—----------------------
After convincing He Qilin for a while, Jiao Qingxiao realized one major problem. And that was money. Of course, won't most of her problems be solved if she just had a dispensable income?
"Liang Mama, could you bring the account record from mother's study to me?"
The old woman who was gently massaging Jiao Qingxiao's feet, paused. Her hands froze for a second before she continued to massage in circular motion once again.
She had been brought to this house by Lady Hua as her main maid. She had raised her too, and after five years when she finally had the daughter she had prayed to numerous temples for, she couldn't entrust her to anyone except her either.
Young lady had never shown much interest in accounts as such. And both the lady and she herself had not forced her either since there was still enough time till the hairpin ceremony.
"It's good that Miss is finally interested in this. This servant will bring the accounts book to you now." Liang Mama said as she helped Jiao Qingxiao wear the boots back in.
Jiao Qingxiao felt a warmth fill her heart as she looked at the neatly written accounts. Each expense and savings were explained with small scribblings beside. She could easily recognise her mother's handwriting.
She had been truly unfilial in her last life. Her mother had spent such efforts despite being caught up with household chores all day long. And yet she hadn't picked up even the basics of accounts till she was ridiculed by the grand empress dowager.
She flipped each page of the thick book attentively until she reached the most recent one. Finally she had a grasp over the current situation of the household.
Overall it was stable. However, a good amount went to second uncle's household. But with the amount of concubines and the old madam's support, mother didn't have any place to speak either.
But this also meant, the personal allowance for the younger generation was reduced to make up for it. Her eyes narrowed. Once she memorised the important details she handed the book back to Liang Mama.
At night, once all the maids were dismissed, she took out a small chest hidden behind the jewellery box. She moved away the top layer of silver ingots and copper coins to reveal the small stash of hairpins and several pendants.
She picked up the most inconspicuous one. It was sapphire blue. In her last life she had given it away to Tang Fanghua not knowing its value. In this life, unless her or her family's life was line she wasn't going to give it away.
Putting it back inside, she instead picked up a bright pearl. Taking in a deep breath she finally made up her mind, and put the chest back inside the drawer.
"Xiao Mei, help me pawn this off."