Chapter 659: Betrothal Gifts (1/2)
Compared to the white jade, light green jade, and even the mutton-fat jade that they had seen a lot of, the young maidens much preferred this type of jade that had gorgeous and dazzling colors. A couple of them were about to get married and were especially enthused about this new type of jade. If they could wear a set of bright red jade hair decorations on their wedding day, then they would definitely be the talk of the capital!
With Princess Consort Jing and Yu Xiaocao both making an all-out effort to personally advertise this new type of jade, it very quickly became popular within the noble and high borns in the capital. Within moments, Wisdom Jade Pavillion’s jadeite goods were all sold out. Shop Manager Zhang was not only keeping an eye out on the artisans who were working overtime to carve and make the jewelry but he was also paying attention to the workers in charge of transporting more material. He was so busy that he was on his feet constantly yet he still had a body full of energy!
Since the jadeite was selling so well, Manager Zhang made the executive decision to open all of the raw ores so that they could use and sell all of the jadeite within. As for his future mistress’s idea of using these ores as a gambling product, he had also smelled the whiff of a golden opportunity. There were quite a few wealthy rascals in the capital who were itching to ‘gamble’. The blazing popularity of the horse racing track and amusement arena in the capital was just a peek of what was possible.
However, ‘gambling on stones’ was definitely an unfamiliar concept to the people of the capital. The fact that one could possibly pick a raw ore, open it to reveal beautiful jade and jadeite, and become rich overnight was an incredibly enticing lure to many of the gamblers in the city.
Manager Zhang clearly was a capable person. Although he didn’t plan on using the first batch of raw ores in this gambling business, he still invited a group of customers who were fascinated by the new stone to participate in a public ore opening. As the unassuming rocks were opened one after another in front of the audience, revealing gorgeous and dazzling veins of jadeite, the people found themselves astounded. This was the first time they had ever seen something as mystical as this!
Manager Zhang also picked a few lucky people from the audience and gave them the opportunity to pick out a jadeite raw ore to be opened in front of everyone. Naturally, all of these rocks had all been previously inspected by the jadeite grand expert and the shop’s future mistress. Although there were a few stones within the batch that didn’t have anything interesting inside, more than half of the specimens contained jadeite. However, the quality of the jadeite within could not be guaranteed and was dependent on luck.
When the stones were opened in front of everyone, revealing the sparkling and pure jadeite within, the lucky customers who had been selected to choose a raw ore couldn’t help but reveal proud expressions. As for those who selected duds, they couldn’t accept their loss and begged to choose another one...everyone was leaping to participate, which pushed the popularity and legend of these jadeite stones into a whole other level.
Naturally, these opened ores of jadeite were still the property of Wisdom Jade Pavilion. There were some people who were reluctant to lose the jadeite that had been opened in front of their eyes and immediately paid a high price to buy it right then and there. Then, they asked the artisans at Wisdom Jade Pavilion to help them process the raw jadeite. There were even some who directly took the raw jadeite back home to keep as a souvenir of this amazing day. Everyone who had been invited to participate in this jadeite ore extravaganza were naturally old customers of Wisdom Jade Pavilion. Thus, who among them would care about the money required to buy some pieces of jadeite?
Under the hard work of Shopkeeper Zhang, jadeite jewelry became extremely popular within the capital’s high society. The noble matrons would often deliberately wear a new dazzling set of jadeite jewelry at the various parties they gathered at to show themselves off. As for the other ladies and maidens, even if they were a bit hard pressed for money, they would end up gritting their teeth to buy a set of jadeite hair ornaments or a jadeite bracelet. Otherwise, how could they show their faces at the next banquet?
It wasn’t just the noble matrons and maidens who were competing amongst themselves. Even the imperial court’s old officials began showing off. Whoever had a jadeite belt decoration hanging off his waist would also be subject to the envious stares of his colleagues. Other people couldn’t compare to Imperial Prince Jing. He would have a new jadeite belt accessory switched out every few days and each one, whether it was in terms of its color or crystal clarity, was a piece that was incredibly valuable and precious to the discerning person’s eyes.
Some of these accessories had been picked out for him with the help of Princess Consort Jing, while others had been given to him by his son. However, the vast majority had been given to him by his future daughter-in-law to show her filial respects to him. He was the only one with a future daughter-in-law with an extremely discerning eye. Every single jadeite ore she picked produced a top-notch quality stone. Furthermore, the ones she opened were always used to make ornaments to be sent to him and his wife.
After receiving countless ambiguous looks from his colleagues, Imperial Prince Jing felt incredibly refreshed from head to toe! He truly felt like he had a rich and imposing aura now as he could use a set of jadeite accessories and then toss it aside to use another. It was the feeling of a rich tyrant ah! Oh what was that? People were envious of him? Well, they just weren’t lucky enough to father a good son who had found a good daughter-in-law for him.
Once jadeite jewelry and accessories came into vogue, Wisdom Jade Pavilion was flooded with money every day. Its business wasn’t in any sense inferior to the Yu’s Medicinal Cuisine House or Blossoming Beauty. Using the analogy of the goose that laid the golden eggs to describe Wisdom Jade Pavilion wasn’t an exaggeration at all.
However, ‘Wisdom Jade Pavilion’, the goose that laid the golden eggs, had actually been offered up as a betrothal gift. Manager Zhang had ended up hearing the news through some unofficial channels and pursed his lips at the thought. It looked like he was about to change masters very soon. Although the Yu Family would definitely not try to take advantage of Imperial Prince Xu and would send Wisdom Jade Pavilion back as dowry, it still meant the owner would ultimately change!
However, in Manager Zhang’s eyes, his future mistress was famous within the capital for having good business sense, so she would obviously be much more reliable than Imperial Prince Xu, who was a boss who left everything to his stewards to handle! After all, wasn’t the reason why jadeite was selling so well related to the fact that his future mistress had casually given him an idea on how to advertise properly? He had a feeling that as long as he followed his future mistress’s orders, he wouldn’t regret it!