Chapter 371: Slap in the Face 1

After wandering around for a while, they arrived at a jewelry store.

Xia Ruqing felt quite embarrassed.

"My lord..."

"Or... maybe I shouldn’t go in!"

The store was filled with women, and she, with her large pregnant belly and accompanied by two grown men, felt quite self-conscious.

Zhao Junyao had much thicker skin. No, to be accurate, when he was with Qingqing, he didn’t need any sense of propriety at all. So, he didn’t realize that anything was amiss.

He glanced at Xia Tingfeng.

"You wait here; I’ll accompany her inside!"

Xia Tingfeng breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes!"

He wasn’t used to places like this either!

he thought.

...

A man and a woman browsing a jewelry store wasn’t so strange.

As Xia Ruqing entered, her eyes sparkled, dazzled by the shop’s ornate decor.

"Wow! This place is so beautiful!"

She hadn’t even started looking at the jewelry yet and was already captivated by the store’s decorations for a good while.

Zhao Junyao was in no hurry. If she was happy, he was content to accompany her.

Even though... it’s a bit silly, it doesn’t matter!

he thought.

However, while it might not have mattered to him, the looks they were receiving from others were somewhat unsettling.

"TSK, TSK. These two are dressed decently enough, but why do they seem so unsophisticated?"

"Exactly! If you don’t have money, don’t come to a place like this!"

"You can tell they’re of modest means. Parading around with a big belly like that!"

Several young ladies, attended by the shopkeeper, were sitting to one side selecting jewelry. They were dressed in luxurious clothing, with exquisite makeup, and attended by their maids—clearly young ladies from wealthy families. While trying on various pieces of jewelry, they whispered and pointed at Xia Ruqing.

Xia Ruqing was a bit stunned.

She looked down at her own outfit.

It’s not shabby, is it? Even if it’s common folk attire, the fabric I’m wearing is of fine quality. In the palace, one could hardly be associated with the word ’shabby.’ The only possibility is... they can’t recognize quality. Do these people think my plain-colored attire is made of cheap fabric just because it’s simple?

Xia Ruqing thought,

Hmph...

She decided to ignore them.

Xia Ruqing moved along the counter, examining each piece of jewelry one by one.

She took a fancy to a blue cloisonné enamel hairpin with a butterfly design; the butterfly was so lifelike its wings could even flutter.

It isn’t expensive, but it’s exquisitely beautiful,

she thought.

Just as Xia Ruqing reached out to pick it up for a closer look, a shop assistant stepped forward, stopping her with an impatient tone.

"Esteemed customer, these items are the treasures of our humble shop and are quite expensive. If you wish to make a purchase, please look over there!"

He then pointed towards the roadside stalls outside.

As soon as he finished speaking, the wealthy young ladies who had been sitting nearby began to giggle behind their hands.

"Look at her! Dressed like that and she still dares to shop at Zhenbao Pavilion. Doesn’t she know the jewelry here is the finest and most expensive in all of Capital City?"

"Exactly! She should take a good look in the mirror and see what she’s really worth!"

"Hey, don’t say that. Although she dresses plainly, the man she married is quite something—he’s really handsome!"

After this remark, all their gazes fell upon Zhao Junyao.

Zhao Junyao wore a jade-green robe and held a paper fan. His learned bearing naturally gave him an air of cultured elegance. As a result, everyone successfully pegged him as a penniless scholar.

The story they all constructed in their minds went something like this:

A penniless scholar had, with great difficulty, married a Beautiful Delicate Lady. Their child was about to be born, yet he had never bought his young wife any proper jewelry. So, the couple had taken out their entire savings to visit Zhenbao Pavilion, hoping to choose a piece of jewelry to make his wife happy before the child arrived.

The shop assistant looked scornful.

So what if you take out all your savings?

he thought.

Judging by your clothes, it’s obvious you can’t afford anything here. Just leave quickly! Don’t hold up our business!

Meanwhile, the rich young ladies felt a mixture of pity and disdain.

They pitied him:

Such a handsome man, so stylish and graceful—why on earth was he born so poor!

And they disdained him:

How could a poor scholar dare to bring his heavily pregnant wife to a place like this? Isn’t he ashamed of losing face? What use is it for a man to be good-looking? You were born unlucky, your destiny is poor, so you deserve to be looked down upon!

Zhao Junyao’s expression remained as calm as still water as he stood to one side. He looked at the shop assistant with a sympathetic gaze, as if observing someone about to suffer great misfortune.

Xia Ruqing didn’t dwell on it. She quietly put down the butterfly hairpin and moved on to look at other items.

Next, she took a liking to a Jade Pendent made of pearl and jadeite. The jade was extremely fine and smooth; beneath the even, white jade base dangled a teardrop-shaped piece of jadeite, and from the end of the silver chain hung a lustrous, round pearl.

The shop assistant stepped in to stop her again.

"Madam," he said, "if you can’t afford it, please stop looking. We have other customers to attend to!"

Xia Ruqing said nothing and continued to look further down the counter.

Zhao Junyao also remained silent, but his gaze grew even colder.

After a good while, Xia Ruqing finally finished looking at all the jewelry on that counter.

The shop assistant breathed a sigh of relief.

"Madam, you’ve had your look. I really don’t have any more time for you. Please leave now!"

While his words themselves might have been acceptable, his tone and attitude were incredibly arrogant, as if he were shooing away a beggar or a stray animal, constantly implying,

Go on, get out!

Xia Ruqing had been annoyed for some time, and after his latest remark, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

She walked quietly over to Zhao Junyao.

"My Lord! Let’s just go. They clearly don’t welcome us here!"

Zhao Junyao glanced at the shop assistant, then smiled faintly.

"Why should we leave? Which pieces did you fancy? I’ll buy them for you!"

Xia Ruqing pouted. "But they don’t welcome us!"

Zhao Junyao gently stroked her hair. "It doesn’t matter."

With that, he walked over to the shop assistant.

"Wrap up all the jewelry she touched just now. I’m buying all of it!"

The shop assistant stared in disbelief. "Young Master, are you sure you can afford all that?"

"That’s over a dozen pieces! Altogether, it’s several hundred taels of silver!"

Several hundred taels! That’s possibly more than a common scholar could earn in his entire lifetime!

the assistant thought, stunned.

Zhao Junyao smiled coldly. "I told you to wrap it up. Stop your pointless chatter!"

The shop assistant, not one to be easily intimidated, promptly countered, "Since the Young Master intends to purchase, allow me to calculate the total first. You can pay the silver, and then I’ll wrap them up for you immediately!"

With that, he indeed picked up his abacus and started clacking away.

A moment later, he announced with a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes, "The total is five hundred sixty-eight taels of silver. Young Master, please hand over the silver first!"

Zhao Junyao impatiently tossed a silver note from his sleeve.

It was a note for one thousand taels.

The shop assistant was stunned speechless. "This... Young Master, our humble shop... our humble shop..."

Xia Ruqing gave him a cold glance. "Your shop isn’t ’humble’ at all!"

Bullying customers to this extent and still daring to call itself a ’humble shop’—how laughable!

she thought.