Yao Ling could see her father’s conflicted face, thus, she asked softly. "Father, what’s wrong?"
Rong Qiu sighed. "Actually, I have something that belonged to your grandmother. But..." He hesitated to say more.
The others looked at each other and knew that this thing must be important to him. It must have been a blow to him to know that his mother was gone and yet, he had to give away the remembrance. Thus, they didn’t say anything but waiting for him to tell them himself.
Rong Qiu showed it to Yao Ling. It was a white jade with the Bei Yue symbols --- the same symbols that Yao Ling had activated back then. This one looked simpler and there was a small ’Rong’ word engraved there. Yao Ling knew despite it was from ordinary jade material that could be found anywhere, it must have a special meaning --- otherwise, her father wouldn’t be so sad.
"Father... why is this jade so important?" Yao Ling asked curiously. She wanted to know the story behind this jade.
"When I was Uncle Qiu, I only thought of this as an ordinary jade and kept it away randomly without feeling any guilt. However, I remember about this jade now. It can be said as a love token that is inherited from generation to generation," Rong Qiu sighed. He knew that this jade pendant must have given by his real father --- yes, he knew his real father wasn’t the clan leader.
His mother had told him about it a long time ago... thus, he felt hesitated to give this to them. Not only this was a memento from his mother... but also from his father ah~! He looked at the jade pendant longingly...
That was why he felt slightly regretful. This token should be passed down to Yao Ling... Besides, this was the only thing that their clan had.
Lin Jian asked, "Can we duplicate this?" If it could be duplicated, it would be good.
Rong Qiu sighed. "It can be duplicated but there’s not enough time, right?"
Even though the jade was special, but it was actually only an ordinary jade. This type of jade could be found everywhere and an expert would be able to duplicate easily because of the simple design. However, they had no time to find an expert and making the duplicate also took times ah~!
The others couldn’t answer Rong Qiu’s question. After all, it was really true.
Rong Qiu knew that it was better to sacrifice the memento because Yao Ling was more important to him. He only had this one daughter and he couldn’t lose her. He had too many regrets in his life --- including not filial enough towards his own mother. Even though he forgot everything, he still felt guilty.
However, he only had this one daughter. Although they had just met, their father-daughter bond was still there.
He closed her eyes and said inwardly, ’Mother... I’m sorry! I will sacrifice everything for my daughter. I’m sure you will agree with me, right?’ He could only ask for permission just to calm his heart and he would ask for forgiveness when they met again in the afterlife.
Rong Qiu sighed and finally gave them his permission, "Just use this!"
Yao Ying said, "If everything goes well and we have the chance, we can try to take this jade pendant back." He knew how important the jade pendant for Rong Qiu --- and also Yao Ling, even though the latter wasn’t as attached with it as the former.
Rong Qiu shook his head. "No need... it’s too risky!" It was better if he just let it go.
The others murmured their agreement.
"How should we do it?" Lin Jian asked. The esteemed guest place was heavily guarded and it wasn’t easy for ordinary people to barge in.
Zhuo Li quickly said, "Let this servant do it!" He explained that they could use the maidservants that he knew.
"Won’t it be too dangerous? How can we trust them?" Yao Ling asked worriedly.
"Young Mistress, don’t worry! This servant has my way," Zhuo Li said confidently. "However, to do this, I will also need money to bribe some of them."
"This..." Yao Ling looked at Yao Ying and Rong Qiu. This matter, she didn’t dare to decide anything, feeling afraid that something would go wrong and the esteemed guest would find out their identity.
Yao Ying sighed heavily. "Can you guarantee that they will not open their mouth?"
Zhuo Li answered, "This servant won’t use all of them --- only two people to ensure the secrecy. Those two people, one is working in the outer courtyard and the other one is in the inner courtyard. They can work together. After that, we can let them go far away from here. They must be willing if we give them enough money. For the change of personnel, this servant knows that Da Ren will be able to help." He directed the last part at Rong Qiu.
Rong Qiu nodded. "Won’t it be too obvious?"
Zhuo Li shook his head. "As long as Da Ren makes a scene and accuses them of something. You can make a decision to punish them by banishing them away --- or maybe pretending to kill them and let them go afterward. Da Ren can meet the esteemed guest and ask for forgiveness, then give him a new batch of servants to choose."
If the people were suddenly gone, then it would make people suspicious. Thus, they also needed to act.
As simple as that.
Rong Qiu nodded, feeling that this was a good plan. He looked at the others and they nodded their head in agreement. Thus, he could only relent and they let Zhuo Li did the job.
"How fast can you convince them?" Yao Ying asked.
Zhuo Li said, "This servant has a good relationship with them and knows that they have difficulties. They will agree pretty soon. In less than one shichen I will be able to accomplish it. However, I need to ask them how fast they can plant the evidence and will report to the young master once again. After that, Da Ren can start to act."
They let Zhuo Li did his job and Rong Qiu gave the jade pendant reluctantly to him.
"This matter can be dealt with, but now, we should think about how to let Hong Wen know where the jade pendant is without being too obvious," Rong Qiu said seriously.
If it came from his mouth, he knew that Hong Wen would just brush it off. It couldn’t be said from them. Thus, they needed to find someone. Yao Ying had an idea, "Father-in-law, why don’t you let Ah Zhao do it?"
"Ah Zhao? But... how?" He asked in confusion. This matter couldn’t be tracked down to them, but Ah Zhao was his personal attendant --- people would be able to link them together ah~!
"It can be done easily... just spread it among the guards who searched for clues. No matter what Hong Wen would listen to it and when we are gone, he will start searching inside the esteemed guest’s place," Yao Ying said.
Uncle Qiu pondered a little while before he finally agreed, he believed Ah Zhao was smart enough to do this.
Lin Jian said, "We should leave one people here to get the news about the aftermath."
Xiao Fang said, "Leave it to me!"
Xiao Fang explained that she had many resources at hands and they were all Han people, so it should be easier for her to do that. No need to leave people here. Her courtyard in the Crescent Lake was taken care by her own people and she could let her maidservant send the news through her own channel. They needed to know whether they were successful or not.
Lin Jian nodded his head. "We need to go out of this city first. Uncle Qiu should be able to catch up with us."
"Why?" Xiao Fang asked in surprise.
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