Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 1158: Chapter 1068: Female Chancellor 6

In the villagers’ eyes, this county town is quite imposing, but in Yin Shuangshuang’s eyes, it’s quite ordinary, even somewhat rundown.

Yin Shuangshuang and Yin Zheng entered the largest jewelry shop in the county, Treasure Pavilion. Treasure Pavilion belongs to the top tier of jewelry shops in the county town.

The quality of the headpieces sold by Treasure Pavilion is guaranteed, and the styles are novel enough, always loved by the county’s officials’ families and wealthy merchants’ families.

The shopfront of Treasure Pavilion is very large, with about ten employees inside, all dressed cleanly and elegantly. The fabric of their clothes is something ordinary families might not afford even during the New Year.

Despite the large storefront, they do not snub customers. When Yin Shuangshuang and Yin Zheng entered the room, the employees inside showed no signs of prejudice. Even seeing their patched clothes, they still greeted them with smiles.

”Are the two guests looking to buy some small jewelry? You can look over here. We have many adorable little accessories, perfect for daily wear.”

Apparently, the employees assumed that Yin Shuangshuang and Yin Zheng were there to buy some small accessories that common people typically purchase to wear or store away when they are well-off.

Generally, these small accessories are silver cloves if they are petite, and silver hairpins or silver bracelets if they are larger. The most valuable jewelry bought by common people would be gold cloves.

Although the court forbids non-official families from wearing gold jewelry, the government is quite lenient about items like gold cloves, allowing the common people to buy and wear them.

Yin Zheng took out the jewelry box that Yin Shuangshuang had woven with willow branches from the basket, just prepared to open it and ask the employees if Treasure Pavilion accepts jewelry.

Before Yin Zheng could speak, a chaotic sound of footsteps from the second floor of Treasure Pavilion interrupted them.

Yin Zheng and Yin Shuangshuang looked up and saw a young woman, extravagantly dressed and accompanied by attendants, stepping down from the second floor of Treasure Pavilion.

Beside the young woman was a middle-aged man, and there seemed to be some dissatisfaction in the young woman’s expression.

While walking, she complained, ”I must say, Shopkeeper, your Treasure Pavilion’s jewelry should have more new designs. I’ve been here so many times, and it’s always the same old styles, making it tiresome to look at.”

The Shopkeeper nodded continuously, with a very amiable smile on his face, repeatedly saying, ”Young Madam is right. We must design new styles quickly, and we hope Young Madam will grace us with your presence again then.

Everyone in the county knows that Young Madam has the best taste. If you praise a piece of jewelry, everyone in town will follow suit and buy it, because Young Madam’s taste is widely acclaimed.”

The young woman finally smiled under the Shopkeeper’s flattery, and her tone softened considerably when she spoke again.

”Whether I grace you with my presence depends on whether your creations are up to par. If you do well, I’ll showcase your Treasure Pavilion’s hairpins at a tea party for my friends to see, ensuring your business will flourish. But your work must be impressive enough for me to present it to others.”

Even with the constant flattering, the Shopkeeper’s response clearly indicated that this Young Madam was of considerable status, likely an official’s wife.

To turn one’s decisions into the trendsetter of the entire town requires more than just taste; it requires sufficient status.

Yin Shuangshuang’s mind stirred, and she took out the most exquisite hairpin adorned with phoenix and peony from the lot, unfolding the jewelry box.

This hairpin had taken Yin Shuangshuang a full four days to weave. Once taken out, it glittered gloriously, shimmering with a spectrum of colors under the slanting sunlight, making the entire hairpin radiant and magnificent.

Such a stunning hairpin immediately captivated the gaze of the Young Madam descending from the second floor.

Yin Shuangshuang’s guess was correct; the Young Madam came from no small background and was the County Magistrate’s Wife.

The County Magistrate himself hailed from an aristocratic family and had entered the Hanlin Academy as a top scholar. His current magistrate role was a practice before his eventual office in the capital.

The County Magistrate’s Wife too hailed from a noble family, growing up surrounded by jewels and luxury, which is probably why she disdained the jewelry shops in this small county.

In fact, if Treasure Pavilion’s business weren’t so expansive, with branches in many places, she wouldn’t have come here to buy jewelry.

Despite the primary store having a vast array of jewelry and novel styles, Treasure Pavilion naturally wouldn’t place too many treasures in this small county due to its limited purchasing power.

Since arriving at this humble place over a year ago, the County Magistrate’s Wife had not seen any jewelry to her liking.

Seeing the hairpin in Yin Shuangshuang’s hands, she stepped forward quickly and stood before Yin Shuangshuang, bending to have a closer look.

”Hmm, judging by the lustrous shine, it should be woven from golden thread from the golden thread grass. Such craftsmanship is truly superb. It’s so exquisite, which jewelry master crafted it? How have I never heard of them?”

Yin Shuangshuang placed the hairpin in the beautiful Lady’s hand, ”It truly does not deserve such high praise from you, lovely Lady. I am the one who wove this hairpin myself. I was weak since childhood and unable to partake in vigorous activities, so I spent my days pondering exquisite ways to weave hairpins with the hope of selling them for some money to improve our family’s life a bit.”

The County Magistrate’s Wife was genuinely astonished upon hearing that Yin Shuangshuang made such a beautiful hairpin herself.

Historically, the weaving of hairpins using golden thread from golden thread grass has existed because the golden thread’s sheen surpasses gold.

Not only do the wives and daughters of the wealthy merchants favor it, but even the Empresses and concubines in the harem have many who dislike gold and silver jewelry, preferring these woven accessories with golden thread.

Jewelry woven from golden thread grass has virtually no cost; its price depends entirely on the craftsmanship of the creator.

The price of jewelry crafted by masters can be as high as thousands of silver taels, while those woven by ordinary farm wives might be worthless.

In the County Magistrate’s Wife’s eyes, if Yin Shuangshuang’s phoenix and peony hairpin were crafted by a jewelry master, its worth could easily reach five hundred silver taels. Even as an average farm girl, it wouldn’t be worth less than two hundred taels.

The County Magistrate’s Wife grew fonder the more she observed, having spent over a year in this small place without encountering a hairpin she adored. Fires of desire stirred within the Young Madam’s heart to acquire this beautiful hairpin.

Seeing this young girl bring the hairpin to Treasure Pavilion, it was apparent she intended to sell it there. While she technically shouldn’t intercept Treasure Pavilion’s deal, she was far too enamored with the hairpin.

The County Magistrate’s Wife pondered how she might compensate Treasure Pavilion with additional business in the future and couldn’t help but bend down and say to Yin Shuangshuang, ”Little girl, would you consider selling this hairpin to me? I can offer you two hundred taels of silver, you surely won’t be at a loss.”