Chapter 553. Pearl Hunting Competition (1/2)
At this time, red corals were already regarded as an auspicious and fortunate item that represented nobility and power, so it was also called ‘Lucky Gem’. It was the symbol of happiness and eternity. Xiaocao heard from her godmother that when the princess of the previous dynasty got married, the imperial family included a red coral that was even taller than a person in her dowry. It was extremely valuable, and thus attracted the envy of countless noble maidens. Corals with such a bright and dazzling red color like this should be considered top grade, right?
With the little divine stone’s help, Yu Xiaocao picked the beautiful red coral and slowly pulled back to the shore. Fortunately, there was buoyancy in the sea and she also had the help of the little dolphin. Otherwise, she wasn’t sure if she could bring this coral that was nearly the same size as her back.
The coral was dragged ashore with the help of her friends. The group of young maidens were amazed because they had never seen such a coral that was so big and red.
He Wanning was pleasantly surprised as she walked around the coral twice and said, “Younger Sister Xiaocao, you’re really lucky to actually find such a top-notch quality red coral. How did you drag it up with that small and thin body of yours?”
Li Mengqi also knew about the value of red coral. The matriarch of her family had a red coral in her dowry. It was only a little more than half a meter tall, but she treated it like a treasure and hid it for fear that it would be damaged by others.
Yu Wanqing showed the string of red coral beads on her wrist to the others and said with a smile, “My mother gave a red coral beads bracelet on my birthday. The color isn’t as beautiful as this one, yet I heard it cost several thousand taels! Older Sister Yu, you can grind out so many beads from this coral ah!!”
He Wanqing smacked the back of her head. She disregarded her wronged expression and rebuked, “Do you know how rare a colony of coral is? If it’s divided into pieces like you suggested, then that’s recklessly wasting god’s gift! Xiaocao, you can’t be muddle-headed and suffer big losses for the sake of small gains ah!”
Yuan Xueyan, on the other hand, thought more profoundly and asked, “Younger Sister Xiaocao, this coral is very valuable. Have you figured out what to do with it?” People often say that ‘one’s only crime was to carry a jade’. Such a precious item would likely attract thieves.
Yu Xiaocao understood what she meant, so she answered without any hesitation, “At the end of next month, isn’t it the emperor’s imperial mother, Princess Consort Duan’s, birthday? The emperor and empress treat me so well, and I have nothing to repay them with. So I’ll give this coral as a birthday present to Princess Consort Duan.”
He Wanning felt very regretful about it. In her opinion, Xiaocao had been granted the title of a feudal princess, but to be a match with Royal Prince Yang, who was a real member of the imperial family, there was still a gap between their statuses. If she had such a valuable item in her dowry when she got married, those nosy people probably wouldn’t be able to say anything, right? However, Xiaocao wanted to give it to someone else. Her heart ached for her, alright?
Royal Princess Minglan sourly said, “No wonder the emperor and empress like you so much. You, this lass, really know how to flatter others. You’re giving away such a precious thing just like that! But you need to be prepared. You’re giving such a valuable birthday present that will make others pale in comparison, so it will inevitably cause certain people to feel displeased. You’re inadvertently offending people by doing this!”
Yu Xiaocao thought about it and felt that she was right. She quickly ran over to hug Royal Princess Minglan and said, “Older Sister Minglan, thank you for reminding me. Otherwise, I would have really done something stupid and caused trouble for myself!!”
“Go, go away! Stay away from me. Ah——my clothes are wet because of you. It was so hard to get Modiste Jiang to personally make this set of clothes ah!! Look, it’s all dirty because of you!” Royal Princess Minglan was exasperated after Xiaocao rubbed seawater all over her body. What did she do?! If she knew this would happen, she wouldn’t have reminded that lass!!
Yu Xiaocao chuckled and avoided her little hand that was about to smack her. She said with a cheeky grin, “Older Sister Minglan, I’ll go back and wash it for you. If it’s ruined, then I’ll get you a new set as compensation! I just had a set of clothes made this year that I haven’t worn…”
“With that tiny body of yours? Am I going to wear it so that others can laugh at me?” While Xiaocao wasn’t paying attention, Royal Princess Minglan pushed her off the reef. Looking at the splashing water, her sulky mood was somewhat relieved.
Yu Xiaocao moved her limbs and leisurely swam backstroke in the sea water, but she also didn’t forget to provoke Royal Princess Minglan. Royal Princess Minglan appeared to have a bad temper, but in fact, after she got a better understanding of her, she realized that Royal Princess Minglan was just a paper tiger that could be easily broken with a single poke!
When the night sky filled the entire beach, the group of young maidens happily returned to the village with a rich harvest. The red coral, which was the height of a person, was carried back to the mountain manor by Chunhua and Qiushi.
On the way back, they encountered the Ning brothers, who were worried since they hadn’t returned for so long, and three half-grown youths. Seeing the red coral under the moonlight, Ning Donghuan’s eyes nearly popped out. Such a big coral? That lass Xiaocao was going to make a fortune!!
Before he had figured out how to buy the coral from Xiaocao, Xiaocao had already sent someone to call Lu Hao over. The task of transporting the red coral back to the capital was handed to this team of imperial guards of the Yulin Division. She decided to quietly give the coral to the emperor. Whatever he decided to do with it had nothing to do with her.