Chapter 352 - 208: Making up my Mind_2
Qian Yixiu stood up again from the brocade stool and bent her knees to call out, "Sixth Young Master."
Liang Jinzhen "Hmm"ed and added, "Sister Yu told me that your Monkey Brother and Benben are especially clever and fun. I also want to visit your house to play with Monkey Brother and Benben."
Qian Yixiu smiled in welcome and said that in the future she would also bring them to play here.
After a short while, Liang Zechong arrived at Wanhe Hall and took a seat on the first chair to the left. Everyone but Old Queen Grandma rose to give him their respects.
Old Queen Grandma asked, "How did it go?"
Liang Zechong took a sip of tea, smiled, and said, "I sent Prince Shou on his way. However, the embroidered screen could not be kept; it had to be sold to Huang Wanchun."
He turned to Qian Yixiu and said, "Yesterday Huang Wanchun came to the mansion looking for me. He heard that the Former Imperial Consort has a fine taste for collecting exquisite embroideries, and he wanted to buy the screen to present to Prince Shou Mansion. At the time, I rejected him, saying the screen belongs to the Qian family, not the Liang family, and we merely borrowed it to admire for a while, so how could we make such a decision? But today, when Prince Shou wanted to buy it, saying he intended to present it to the Empress Dowager on her seventieth birthday, I could no longer resist, so I had to make the decision for you. But selling it directly to Prince Shou, if he offered five thousand taels of silver, it would be a lot. I thought it better to sell it to Huang Wanchun; he offered three thousand taels of gold, a price that was worthwhile. After telling Prince Shou that Huang Wanchun had bought the screen exactly to gift it to him, the Prince was finally appeased. I’ve already sent for Huang Wanchun; today, he will come to take the screen away."
Old Queen Grandma snorted coldly, "How nice it sounds, presenting it to the Empress Dowager. Could the Former Consort bear to part with it?"
Liang Zechong laughed and said, "Whether the Former Consort can keep it will depend on Prince Shou’s skill."
Although Qian Yixiu was extremely reluctant to part with the embroidery screen that her deceased mother had put so much work into, ultimately it could not be kept; this was already the best possible outcome.
She rose to thank Liang Zechong with a bow, indicating that if the screen could be sold for a thousand taels of gold it would be amazing, and the rest of the money would become an offering to Duke Mansion. She was not really a naive ten-year-old girl and did not dare to swallow all three thousand taels of gold. She thought that if the Duke Mansion would leave her fifteen hundred taels, it would be good enough.
Liang Zechong waved it off generously with a smile and said, "Little girl, you’re not big in age, but you have plenty of wits. How could I covet the hard-earned money of a little girl? What is yours, take it all."