The Hanmo Pavilion was brightly lit, and Meng Wanying was holding the jade stone lightly, her palms seemed to be filled with silver snow.
Thousands of years of hard work, gentle and smooth.
The scholar-bureaucrats were immediately confused, as if they saw an ancient beast lying on the jade, like a holy light.
Liu Ruyan stared and saw the ancient beast, dragon head and dragon body on the jade seal.
She stared at it for a long time, and suddenly remembered that this was the legendary beast - the Prisoner Ox.
The prison cow has a docile and joyful temperament, has a wonderful ear, and can distinguish the sounds of all things. It is often carved on the head of musical instruments.
"It's really a peerless treasure." At this time, someone exclaimed.
"Such a beautiful jade, I wonder if Mr. Qi can let me have a full view of it?"
During the banquet, someone wanted to see the beautiful jade, but Grand Master Qi was reluctant to reject it, so he asked his maid Biluo to present the treasure to everyone.
Biluo was the first to approach Shen Yanchu, holding the tray. He watched for a moment and then motioned for her to step back.
The jade seal was then presented to Dong Qingxian. He hesitated for a moment and finally held up the jade seal.
This jade is only half the size of a palm, flawless and transparent, with a layer of gleaming water.
"Thank you." He said softly.
"Good jade, good jade." Mr. Chen, the general of the court, laughed loudly and pointed at the jade seal in the distance. "Look at this jade color, which is as white as snow. Is it Hetian jade?"
"It is indeed a beautiful Hotan jade." Mr. Jiang praised it and raised his hand to touch the jade seal. "Look at the exquisite carving work. I'm afraid there are not many craftsmen with this kind of craftsmanship in the whole capital."
"What Mr. Jiang said is true." Everyone present agreed.
The Qiu family loves antiques and often plays with pearls until the sun sets.
He was about to take the jade seal from the tray, and when he took a look at the carvings underneath, he suddenly retracted his hand and said, "This jade is really cool."
Master Chu, the chief minister, glanced at him and said with a smile: "Although the weather has begun to spring, the night is still cold."
The head of the Qiu family was not as sharp-tongued as his wife, so he was speechless for a moment.
Mr. Liu, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, was a rough man and didn't care much about elegant matters. He waved his sleeves and said impatiently: "Don't look at it."
Biluo nodded and stepped back.
Now everyone here is feasting their eyes on it. Biluo handed the tray back to Lingxiang, and Lingxiang returned the jade seal to the young lady, and finally locked it back in the box.
As the night gets darker, the birthday party comes to an end.
Outside the Hanmo Pavilion, the moonlight disappeared, and with a few spring thunders, it rained heavily.
The heavy rain continued, and the officials present could not sit still.
They had a rest today and had to go to court tomorrow. They sent their servants out to check the road conditions, hoping to return home as soon as possible.
Some people turned back in twos and threes, their bodies were wet from the rain, but their faces were green and white: "Sir, it's raining too hard outside, and the landslides have blocked the road."
Master Jiang, as Jing Zhaoyin, has a third-grade official rank and has official duties during the day. At this moment, he said anxiously: "I wonder if the Grand Master has a plan to return to the city?"
Qi Lin thought for a moment: "There is a canal behind this house. Follow the canal and dam all the way out and you can reach the official road."
He called the housekeeper: "Go to the canal to explore the way."
"Here."
While waiting, the young lady Meng Wanying was about to leave first, and she asked Lingxiang to take the machine box with her.
Lingxiang held up the box, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, and she secretly glanced at the young lady.
"What?" Wanying looked at the maid, "What's wrong?"
"Perhaps this slave is overly worried. I just feel that the box is a bit light now."
"Light?" Meng Wanying frowned. Lingxiang was her married maid. She had a delicate mind and understood her heart well. She would not lift the box to make it lighter for no reason.
Without thinking, she turned the lock again and restarted the machine box, only to find that there was nothing inside, and the Qi family's treasures had disappeared.
Meng Wanying asked in a deep voice: "What's going on!"
Lingxiang looked panicked and explained: "After Sister Biluo returned the jade seal to the slave, the slave handed it to the young lady. The jade seal was clearly still there at that time, and the slave watched the lady lock it into the box with her own eyes."
There is no half-truth in this statement.
"The guests are still there, how unbecoming it is for you to let your maid make such a loud noise." Qi Wenxuan came over with a cold face.
Meng Wanying did not dare to look at her husband and timidly said: "The jade seal is gone."
She described the whole incident in detail. After hearing this, Qi Wenxuan's face became even more ugly.
He only knew that this time he would get into big trouble, and said angrily: "Go find what you have lost yourself, no one will bear it for you."
"But..." She felt aggrieved.
Qi Heng, the head of the Qi family, noticed something was wrong in the atmosphere and came over: "What happened?"
Qi Wenxuan smiled meaninglessly: "It's just that Ying'er feels a little tired and wants to go back and rest."
Qi Heng understood, "Lingxiang, help the young lady back to the room."
Meng Wanying hugged the box, looked across the hall and everyone, and finally told the whole story.
"You mean, the jade seal placed in the box has disappeared?" Qi Heng's eyes darkened.
"I don't know what went wrong, but the jade seal is clearly still there." Meng Wanying was so emotional that even her voice sounded a little crying.
After Qi Heng left, Qi Wenxuan pointed angrily at his wife's face: "Look at the good deeds you have done. Of all the people present, who can you afford to offend?"
At this time, Qi Heng came to the center of the hall, crossed his hands and saluted the scholar-bureaucrats present: "Please forgive Qi for being abrupt. The jade seal that was presented earlier was accidentally lost. If anyone finds it, I hope it will be returned to its original owner."
.Qi is eager to find things, and his words may be offensive. Please forgive me.”
"How come the treasures of the Qi family are missing?" Everyone was talking about it.
Qi Heng swept through the hall and took in the expressions of Ming Juezi, Dong Qingxian, and Liu Ruyan: "If the jade seal cannot be found, Qi will have no choice but to send someone out to search."
"Check, how to check?" The head of the Qiu family was the first to speak, "If someone wants to steal the treasure, they will definitely not take this thing with them. Mr. Qi might as well check the people who are sitting at the table."
Everyone looked at each other.
Qi Heng was in trouble. If someone was waiting for an opportunity to take the jade seal out of Hanmoxuan, where would he go to find it?
"Sir -" the housekeeper left and returned, and reported back to the old master: "The rain is pouring fiercely, and the water channel has not crossed the bridge. I'm afraid I won't be able to return to the city tonight."
Liu Ruyan's heart sank, so everyone present was trapped in Qijia Villa.
Questions came one after another, and everyone present was panicked.
Master Liu, the Minister of War, said in a bad tone: "You want me to tell you that your Qi Mansion lost a treasure, so you found an excuse to keep everyone behind so that they can be searched more easily?"
Qi Heng was displeased: "Our Qi family has always been aboveboard and disdainful of such despicable methods. Mr. Liu, please don't forget that I also have official duties."
"Okay, okay, we all serve as officials in the same court, so we should be united." Mr. Yinjiang of Jingzhao came forward to smooth things over, "Since the gravel blocks the road, just open up the mountain road. There are no bridges in the canals, so dredge the ditches.
That’s all.”
As Mr. Jiang said, he crossed his hands and saluted Grand Master Qi: "As for the missing jade seal, I think it must be among the thirty-nine people attending the banquet tonight."
Therefore, thirty-nine people including Liu Ruyan, Dong Qingxian, various major families, and even the servants of Qi Mansion are suspected.