CHAPTER 495: CHAPTER 495 REST ASSURED

Pulling the reins tightly, Chu Shun and his companions stopped in front of the Beauty Pavilion.

Even in the scorching heat, the Beauty Pavilion was bustling with business.

The Beauty Pavilion offered an unlimited supply of ice, making it feel refreshingly cool inside, devoid of any oppressive heat.

Moreover, patrons could stay from morning till night without being chased away.

After dismounting, the four of them stepped inside.

As they reached the entrance, a refreshing chill greeted them, relaxing every pore on their bodies.

The Shopkeeper of the Beauty Pavilion saw them coming and quickly greeted them, "What brings a few lords here?"

Prince NanAn looked at him, "Have you found out anything about the information I asked you to investigate?"

The Shopkeeper shook his head, "I couldn’t find out anything."

Prince NanAn looked disappointed.

Though he was engaged, he still did not know to whom he was engaged.

Prince NanAn kept it tightly under wraps, and Princess NanAn was particularly tight-lipped. No matter how he tried to pry or probe indirectly, Princess NanAn wouldn’t say a word.

Prince NanAn was beginning to doubt whether he was really engaged.

Perhaps it was just a ruse to deceive the palace.

But his father and mother were not the kind to dare deceive the emperor.

This feeling of being kept in the dark was quite unsettling, and instinctively told Prince NanAn that something was amiss.

He gave up on trying to find out from the Prince NanAn Mansion, so he pinned his hopes on his fiancée.

The Beauty Pavilion was frequented mostly by noble madams and well-born young ladies. Prince NanAn instructed the Shopkeeper of the Beauty Pavilion to have the maids keep their ears open when entertaining guests, to see if anyone knew who his fiancée was when marriage discussions came up.

Despite giving these instructions for many days, they yielded nothing.

Chu Shun patted Prince NanAn on the shoulder and said, "Weren’t you determined to break off the engagement? Why are you suddenly interested in your fiancée?"

Prince NanAn looked dejected.

"You think I am willingly curious about her."

"The engagement jade pendant was stolen by that thief, and my father and mother insist that without the jade pendant, the engagement cannot be annulled. What else can I do?"

"If I can’t find the jade pendant, I have no choice but to marry her."

"Just thinking about that female thief who stole my jade pendant makes me want to cut her into a thousand pieces and then some."

The Heir of Marquis Beining patted Prince NanAn on the shoulder, "Cheer up, your father and mother wouldn’t set you up."

Prince NanAn looked at him, "You can’t be too sure about that. Who knows if my father and mother would set me up?"

The Heir of Marquis Beining, "..."

The few of them chatted as if nothing was amiss; they didn’t think it was a matter that couldn’t be spoken of.

Prince NanAn losing his jade pendant was a fact.

He was also dispatching people to search for it, but there had been no progress.

None of them noticed a maid buying soap behind the counter who was all ears to their conversation.

"You little maid, what soap do you want to buy, how many pieces," the Beauty Pavilion’s young attendant asked.

He asked twice, unsure of which household this little maid belonged to, buying things while being so absent-minded.

Was she not afraid of buying the wrong item and angering her master, resulting in a beating?

"One of each," the maid said nervously.

The attendant handed the soap to the maid.

The maid packed them into a basket, paid, and hurried off.

The little maid boarded a carriage and stopped in front of the side gate of a large house, carrying the basket as she ran back to the courtyard.

Inside the house.

A girl dressed in a light pink dress was doing needlework by the window.

A nanny stood beside her, instructing, "The stitches are too wide, and the embroidery is uneven, take it apart and redo it."

The girl, facing away from the nanny, was brimming with fury, nearly exploding from her head.

The little maid rushed in, only to be scolded by the nanny, "Your steps are too heavy, the sound too loud; the next time, you’ll get five strikes on the palm."

The little maid hastily admitted her mistake.

She placed the basket down and stood to one side fanning her mistress.

The girl continued to embroider and continued to be reprimanded until she was nearly about to lose her temper when the nanny finally said, "Take a break, continue embroidering later."

The girl swallowed her anger.

It was infuriating.

Her grandfather wanted her to learn needlework, among other things, to prepare for marriage, driving her nearly mad.

The nanny stepped away.

As soon as she left, the maid said, "Miss, while buying soap, I ran into Prince NanAn."

"What’s so curious about that, isn’t he always wandering the streets?" the girl replied dismissively, tugging at the embroidery thread, only making it more tangled.

"Prince NanAn is looking for the jade pendant. He said he can’t break off the engagement without it and doesn’t want to marry you, even saying he’d cut the thief into a thousand pieces," the maid said.

The girl’s face darkened, a thunderous expression beset her small face instantly.

"That mule! I don’t want to marry him either, yet he doesn’t want to marry me?" the girl fumed.

Not wanting to marry him, she had gone all out to steal back the jade pendant.

Yet without the jade pendant, he couldn’t break off the engagement.

Wasn’t all her effort for nothing?

The maid continued, "Prince NanAn seems to not know he is marrying you and has asked the Beauty Pavilion’s steward to investigate."

"Is the Prince NanAn Mansion so afraid he’ll find out he’s marrying you that they dare not tell him?"

The girl looked at the maid, "Who knows what grandfather is thinking. If Prince NanAn knew he was to marry me, he might jump for joy, yet insists on pairing us together."

"You secretly have someone deliver the jade pendant to the Prince NanAn Mansion for Prince NanAn."

"Once the engagement is annulled, I won’t have to do needlework anymore."

She loathed needlework.

The maid thought needlework couldn’t be avoided.

The Old Marquis believed that all the noble daughters in the Capital City were skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and song. Seeing his granddaughter had learned none of these, he hired the strictest nanny to make up for it, sparing no expense.

Since the instructor had already been hired, it wasn’t up to the girl to decide whether to learn or not.

The girl was eager, ordering the maid to swiftly find someone to return the jade pendant.

The maid dared not delay and acted quickly.

To ensure the identity remained concealed, the maid specifically instructed the servant to be careful.

Fearing mistakes, the servant placed the jade pendant in an envelope and asked a small beggar to deliver the letter to the Prince NanAn Mansion.

The letter was addressed specifically to Prince NanAn.

The small beggar delivered the letter and left immediately.

But the envelope contained the jade pendant, its shape apparent to touch.

Prince NanAn was still at the Beauty Pavilion, waiting for the Imperial Chef to make popsicles, with nothing to do and no rush to return to the mansion.

The letter was left with the gatekeeper, unnoticed by anyone passing by.

The servant accidentally spilled tea on the envelope while pouring tea.

The servant was so anxious then.

He was afraid of soaking the letter and making the writing illegible, which could delay Prince NanAn’s business, risking a beating later.

He hurried to deliver the letter to the steward, too scared to dare open a letter to the Prince.

But as he was delivering the letter, Prince NanAn returned, and the servant sought his pardon.

Prince NanAn took the letter, tore it open, and poured out the jade pendant from the envelope.

There was only the jade pendant inside, no letter.

Prince NanAn looked at the familiar jade pendant, his brows knitted tightly.

Wasn’t it said that this jade pendant had been stolen by a female thief on the street?

The stolen item was actually returned?

"Do you know who delivered the letter?" Prince NanAn asked.

"It was a small beggar," said the steward.

Prince NanAn stared at the jade pendant for a while and then said, "No one is to let the Commandery Prince know that the jade pendant has been found, understood."

"Understood," the servants echoed in unison.

Prince NanAn pocketed the jade pendant, smiling as he went to find Princess NanAn.

Now they could proceed confidently with preparing the betrothal gifts.