Marrying The Imperial Elder Chapter 12

This was gold!

One tael of gold was worth ten taels of silver!

And judging from the casually tossed piece of gold Yuanhui had thrown over, it was probably worth more than a single tael, at the very least, over ten taels!

Zhen Tingyun had grown up this far without seeing gold more than a handful of times, and as for more than ten taels, she had never had the fortune to lay eyes on that kind of money at all.

One had to know that back when she had wanted to buy the old xiucai’s used qin, she had practically worn out her tongue bargaining before finally driving the price down to eight taels. For those eight taels, she had exhausted no small amount of thought and effort, even emptying out the private savings she had painstakingly accumulated over several years before she could finally buy the old instrument. If she had possessed more than ten taels of silver back then, she could simply have gone outside and bought a brand-new qin outright, why would she have needed to struggle so much?

So when she suddenly saw this piece of gold, though she felt delight, what she felt even more strongly was alarm and fear. Her legs nearly went weak beneath her. If not for the fact that one hand was holding the tray of bowls and chopsticks while the other held the gold, she truly might have rushed forward and grabbed Yuanhui by the collar to demand where the gold had come from.

Even if she could not seize his collar, Zhen Tingyun still lifted her eyes and stared fixedly at Yuanhui.

Yuanhui, however, seemed completely unconcerned, casually saying: “At noon, when you had Liushun bring me food, I told her to go dig it out from the stable.”

Zhen Tingyun still did not understand and only stared at him wide-eyed.

Yuanhui looked somewhat impatient, but still reluctantly explained: “You said earlier that I stole the horse. Based on what I know of myself, even if circumstances forced me to ride away on someone else’s horse, I definitely would have left the owner some kind of compensation. Since you said you found me in the stable, then the compensation I left should also have been there. So I had Liushun search around a bit…”

As he spoke, he added: “Luckily, it had just rained heavily. The stable was a complete mess, and few people went over there, so no one happened to pick up the money pouch I’d tossed on the ground earlier.”

The moment Zhen Tingyun heard this, her eyes instantly lit up so brightly they were almost dazzling. “Malantou was a fine horse specially selected by my father! A true thousand-li steed, it’s definitely worth far more than ten-some taels of silver!”

So… the compensation Yuanhui had left behind must have been more than a single piece of gold?

Sure enough, Yuanhui gave a slight nod and lifted up a dark black money pouch embroidered with gold patterns from beside his pillow. “Yes, an entire pouch.”

Zhen Tingyun: “……”

For one fleeting moment, she once again experienced that pounding-heart sensation she had felt when struck by Yuanhui’s appearance.

How should one put it?

A man with a handsome face was indeed very capable of moving people’s hearts. And if he was rich, and willing to give you money, then even someone with a heart of stone would be stirred.

Zhen Tingyun almost wanted to sell Malantou directly to Yuanhui! An entire pouch of gold…

In the end, however, she mustered every bit of self-control she possessed. After forcing out a few perfunctory replies, she left the room in a daze, clutching the piece of gold.

***

In truth, Yuanhui’s money pouch contained more than just gold.

After Zhen Tingyun left, Yuanhui reclined against the bed and reopened the black pouch embroidered with gold patterns. From inside, he took out a small jade pendant.

The pendant’s carving was exquisitely intricate, clearly crafted and polished with utmost care by a master artisan. Moreover, it had been carved from the finest quality purple jade, its color so deep it was almost black at a glance.

People often said: “Gold, silver, and purple jade, if kings do not hoard gold and jade, then gold silver purple jade will only gleam hidden deep within the mountains.” From this one could see how rare and precious purple jade was, and likewise how auspicious it was considered to be. It was called “the foremost among the nine colors, the most honored among all jade.” This single piece of jade alone was likely worth more than ten thousand taels of gold.

What was more, at the center of the jade pendant was engraved a single character written in bold, soaring strokes:

Xi.

This “Xi” stood in direct contrast to Yuanhui’s “Hui,” one meaning brightness, the other darkness, opposites to one another.

Everyone in the realm knew that the emperor’s imperial uncle, Su Wang, the regent personally appointed by the late emperor, was surnamed Fu, given name Changxi.

But very few people knew that his courtesy name was Yuanhui.

Yuanhui still leaned lazily against the bed, his fingertips absentmindedly rubbing the jade pendant in his hand as though contemplating some difficult problem. His brows were faintly furrowed, his thin lips pressed together.

The room was left with nothing but silent stillness.

***

As expected of Old Lady Zhen’s true granddaughter, after leaving Yuanhui’s room, Zhen Tingyun could not resist secretly biting the gold piece once.

It seemed to be real.

Ah, carrying around a piece of gold like this was truly a sweet kind of trouble.

Her little heart thumped wildly for quite a while before she finally calmed herself enough to think about what to do next.

First, she went to find Liushun and carefully questioned her about the matter Yuanhui had mentioned.

It was not that Zhen Tingyun distrusted Yuanhui, but after all, this was an entire pouch of gold. No matter what, she had to ask clearly and at least understand the situation. Otherwise, if problems arose later, things would not end well.

Liushun had always been an honest and straightforward person. Hearing Zhen Tingyun ask about it, she answered truthfully: “Young Master Yuan said he had left something in the stable and asked me to go look for it, especially around the patch of ground near Malantou’s feet. I thought it wasn’t anything important, so I went. Then I found the money pouch near Malantou’s hooves. It had just rained, and the ground was muddy, so the pouch was covered in mud. That’s probably why no one noticed it. I was even the one who washed the pouch for Young Master Yuan…”

Zhen Tingyun nodded, feeling somewhat reassured. She then specifically instructed Liushun: “If anything like this happens again in the future, remember to tell me first.”

Liushun hurriedly nodded in agreement. After thinking a moment, she added: “Young Master Yuan also told me to prepare some hot water tonight for washing up.”

Zhen Tingyun: “…There’s no need to report such trivial matters.”

Liushun thought to herself: How exactly was one supposed to distinguish between major matters and minor matters? Earlier, when Young Master Yuan had told her to search the stable for something, didn’t that also count as a small matter?

After dismissing Liushun, Zhen Tingyun finally began considering what to do with the piece of gold in her possession.

At present she still had a bit of silver left, so she did not urgently need to use the gold for the time being. For now, she could only keep it on her person.

But she shared a room with Old Lady Zhen. If she carried gold around with her, there was no way she could hide it from the old woman.

And if Old Lady Zhen discovered it, the gold would most likely be impossible to keep. Old Lady Zhen would probably confiscate it under the excuse of “keeping it safe” for her.

After all, in Old Lady Zhen’s eyes: Zhen Tingyun was her granddaughter, and therefore Zhen Tingyun’s money naturally belonged to Old Lady Zhen as well.

As for Old Lady Zhen’s own money…

Zhen Tingyun had better not entertain any ideas about that!

So the gold was not suitable to keep on her person. Yet they were staying at an inn, and if she did not keep it with her, she would not feel at ease either.

Zhen Tingyun thought it over again and again. In the end, gritting her teeth, she turned around and returned to Yuanhui’s room.

Yuanhui had not yet gone to sleep. Seeing her return after having just left, he found it rather strange.

“What is it now?”

Zhen Tingyun held out the gold to him, wearing an expression of painful reluctance. “How about… you keep it for me first?”

Yuanhui: “……”

Sometimes, he truly could not understand how certain people’s brains were wired.

Zhen Tingyun did not forget to remind him: “I’m asking you to hold onto it for me, not giving it back to you! If I need to use it later, I’ll still ask you for it.”

Yuanhui replied expressionlessly: “Heh heh.”

……

Actually, Zhen Tingyun had originally wanted to ask Yuanhui a few more questions, such as: “Since you had enough money to directly buy a fine horse like Malantou, why did you still steal someone else’s horse?” But after thinking about it, she swallowed the questions.

After all, since he had already forgotten everything, pressing him further was meaningless.

Moreover, connecting the matter of Yuanhui stealing the horse with the fact that he had been covered in injuries and returned unconscious on Malantou’s back, Zhen Tingyun was not stupid. Without even asking, she could infer a rather dangerous conclusion in her heart:

Yuanhui had likely been hunted down at the time, and in his haste, he had stolen her horse.

As for the people pursuing him… although Yuanhui had returned unconscious, had he not encountered a horse like Malantou, one Zhen Tingyun had personally raised and trained to know the way home, things likely would have ended badly for him. Yet now Yuanhui was alive, peacefully recuperating from his injuries. From this alone, one could see that those pursuers had most likely met grim ends at Yuanhui’s hands.

What Zhen Tingyun could infer, Yuanhui himself naturally understood even more clearly.

Yet his attitude was astonishingly open and calm, without concealment. Toward Zhen Tingyun, he even behaved like a proper teacher, completely harmless.

And so, Zhen Tingyun did not continue questioning him.

Though she often weighed pros and cons in daily life and liked playing small clever tricks, she also had her own thoughts and principles: if a beast trusted you enough to expose its belly before you, then so long as she herself faced no harm or danger, she ought to return that trust in kind.

Of course, many years later, when Zhen Tingyun looked back on these thoughts of hers, she could only gnash her teeth in frustration.

Sure enough, she had been far too young and naïve back then, unable to see through the old rogue’s true nature!

In truth, when a beast exposes its belly to you, it may not necessarily trust you very much. Perhaps it is simply confident enough to believe that you are incapable of harming it.

Author’s Note:

Yuan “Beast” Hui: Wife, wanna see my belly?

Zhen Tingyun: You’ve been lying in bed recovering every day and already gained three jin. Thanks!