Married to a Villainous Minister - Chapter 204

When Gu Yun heard that the lost item was a keepsake from her late father, he finally realized his earlier words had been too harsh. He said, “Once we get to the yamen, I’ll have a word with Perfect Yang. We’ll surely be able to retrieve it.”

Yu Jiao said nothing in response.

Seeing how downcast she looked, Gu Yun didn’t say anything more to pick on her.

Once the carriage arrived at the yamen, a servant presented the Yang family’s token to the guards and said, “I’m a servant from the Yang residence. I have urgent matters to discuss with our master.”

The guard quickly went inside to report, and before long, Yang Yuancheng emerged and approached the carriage. “What’s happened? Did the blacksmith run into trouble?”

Gu Yun lifted the curtain and, looking toward Yu Jiao, said to Yang Yuancheng, “She lost her pouch. Have someone help look for it.”

“A pouch?” Yang Yuancheng asked, surprised. “Where was it lost?”

“At the entrance of Liuxiang Ju. A woman stole it, likely a repeat offender,” Gu Yun replied before Yu Jiao could speak.

Yang Yuancheng looked somewhat embarrassed. As the Prefect of Qingzhou, a theft in broad daylight was no small oversight on his part. “What does the pouch look like? What was inside? Any identifying marks?”

The pouch had been embroidered by Yu Fuling using leftover fabric from a skirt she made for Yu Jiao. Yu Fuling answered, “It was made from soft, honey-colored satin, with three plum blossoms embroidered on it.”

Yu Jiao added in a hoarse voice, “It had about ten taels of silver, and a keepsake from my father.”

“What kind of keepsake?” Yang Yuancheng pressed.

Yu Jiao hesitated, then said thoughtfully, “Nothing particularly rare, just a small, unremarkable piece of jade.”

“I’ll have the constables investigate immediately,” Yang Yuancheng said. “Once there’s news, I’ll send someone to inform Miss Yu.”

Yu Jiao nodded. “Many thanks for your trouble, Perfect Yang,” she said hoarsely.

Yang Yuancheng turned to the main matter at hand. “How are things progressing with the blacksmith? Can the items be made?”

“The molds are ready. We’ll need a few more days to see whether the final product can be forged,” Gu Yun answered before Yu Jiao could strain her voice again.

Yang Yuancheng nodded, then added, “The lamb intestines Miss Yu requested are prepared. But making the sheep-gut thread will require her personal expertise.”

Yu Jiao gave a small nod.

“We’ll head back for now,” Gu Yun said, lowering the curtain. “As for the pouch, make sure your men take it seriously.”

Yang Yuancheng lowered his voice and warned, “Young Marquis Gu, Young Master Liu, be cautious. The examiners from the capital have already arrived. With so many eyes at the yamen, if anyone recognizes you, there could be trouble.”

“We’re heading straight back,” Liu Ziqi replied from inside the carriage.

Yang Yuancheng watched the carriage roll away, then returned to the yamen and dispatched a group of constables to search for Yu Jiao’s stolen pouch.

Back at the Yang residence, Yu Jiao and the others entered quietly through the rear gate. Two servant girls from the Mu family had been waiting anxiously outside the west garden all morning. After several failed attempts to go in, they were stopped by the Yang family’s servants.

When Yu Jiao returned and heard from Xiao Ning what had happened, she deliberately took a walk near the west garden gate to ease the girls’ worries.

Soon, a servant delivered the lamb intestines. Gu Yun and the other two men crowded around Yu Jiao, curious to see how she would make the sheep-gut thread.

Yu Jiao didn’t mind being watched. After all, if they were disgusted by the process, that was their problem, not hers.

She had the servants bring wood ash from the kitchen. After sieving out the impurities, she soaked it in water in precise proportions and instructed them to boil it.

Next, she began cleaning the intestines, skillfully stripping away the fat and extracting only the innermost membrane.

The inner membrane of lamb intestines is extremely thin, and without experience, it’s nearly impossible to remove it intact. After extracting membranes from ten lamb intestines, the boiled ash water was brought to her.

“What’s this filthy water for?” Gu Yun asked, frowning in curiosity.

“To clean,” Yu Jiao replied hoarsely, her voice had improved noticeably since morning, and she could now speak audibly.

Gu Yun grimaced. “It’s filthy. How can anything washed in that be used?”

Yu Jiao gave him a look, clearly unimpressed by his ignorance, and deliberately cleared her throat instead of answering.

Liu Ziqi caught the cue and said, “Stop bothering her. Miss Yu’s throat still hurts, let her work in peace.”

Gu Yun backed off and sat down nearby. He reached for a cup of tea, but the strong gamey smell of the intestines made him put it back.

Once the ash water had cooled, the yellowish liquid separated cleanly from the settled residue at the bottom. Yu Jiao skimmed off the clean layer, an alkaline solution, albeit a rather crude one.

She then thoroughly rinsed the membranes in the solution several times. She had the servants prepare a large urn and used a simple wooden rack to hang the membranes to dry before placing them into the urn.

Xiao Ning, watching curiously, turned to Yu Fuling and asked, “What’s she doing?”

Yu Fuling shook her head, she had no idea either.

Yu Jiao then had a stone bowl brought over. Into it, she placed shiliuhuang (arsenic trisulfide), lit it with wax, and set it at the bottom of the urn. She covered the mouth of the urn with a round wooden lid, leaving a small gap for air so the flame wouldn’t go out.

She finally explained, “The smoke from shiliuhuang prevents pests and mold.”

“So after this, the thread is ready?” Gu Yun had crept back to peek inside the urn. A pungent odor hit him squarely in the face, making him cough violently and nearly tear up.

Yu Jiao smirked slightly, thinking he deserved it.

“No,” she said, her voice still rough. “It needs to be smoked for six hours, then twisted into thread, and finally boiled with medicinal herbs.”

“So much trouble for a bit of thread,” Xiao Ning said with guilt. “Miss Yu, you’ve gone through so much for my hand.”

“We’ll return again tomorrow,” Yu Jiao said, bowing slightly as she took her leave.

“Safe travels, Miss Yu,” Liu Ziqi said, calling in a servant to escort the sisters home.

Yu Jiao and Yu Fuling left the west garden with the two Mu family maids and rode the Yang family’s carriage back to the Mu residence.

As soon as they entered, a maid informed them that Mu Yan was waiting in the side hall. The two sisters went to see him.

“Nothing strange happened today, I hope?” Mu Yan asked, scanning them both up and down with concern.

Yu Jiao shook her head and smiled faintly. Her voice hoarse, she replied, “Nothing serious. I’ll need to visit the Yang residence again tomorrow to check on Madam Yang.”