Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

"Any news from your brother?"

"To answer Miss, there is only one family living in Xinglin Hutong now, and that is the family of Mr. Han Zhengfei, the director of the Imperial Hospital. There are no other residents." Birui replied.

Shen Chuning's fingers tapped lightly on the table. Xinglin Hutong only had one household, but Shen Jingwan had indeed been taken back from Xinglin Hutong in her previous life. Now that she wasn't there, where did she live? And wasn't the director of the Imperial Hospital surnamed Qi? What had happened to this director surnamed Han, who couldn't even keep his family compound?

Just as Shen Chuning was thinking, Xu Fu knocked on the door and walked in, followed by several little maids, holding trays in their hands. The trays were covered with moon-white satin, and on the satin were exquisite jewelry.

"Miss Ninth, this red coral headpiece is a set of twelve, but it's delicate and compact, not overly ostentatious, and perfect for everyday wear. Wanbaoxuan has made three sets of similar designs, and this one is the most exquisite. The Second Madam came to the shop a while ago and specifically asked us to keep this set for Miss Ninth, saying that if she doesn't like it, she'll sell it to someone else."

Shen Chuning looked at the head ornaments on the tray. They were made of gold filigree in the shape of butterflies and inlaid with red corals. They were bright and lustrous, and warm and pleasant. She was delighted at the sight of them and asked the shopkeeper to pack them up. She also picked out a gold filigree hairpin with double phoenixes and kingfisher feathers inlaid with rubies, a hairpin with twin crabapples and butterflies inlaid with gems, and a pair of purple jade hibiscus earrings.

Shen Chuning's hand gently stroked the moon-white satin on the tray.

"Have you ever thought about changing the lining on this tray, Manager Xu?"

"To answer Miss Nine, we've experimented with many colors for the lining on this tray. We've tried vermilion, emerald green, goose yellow, and sky blue. Coral jewelry doesn't stand out on vermilion, but jade can't be placed on emerald green, gold can't be placed on goose yellow, and kingfisher jewelry can't be placed on sky blue. After all the choices, we decided that this moon-white satin is the most suitable."

"Have you tried the black one?"

Shopkeeper Xu thought for a moment and replied, "I haven't tried black, but no jewelry store in the capital uses black cloth as a tray lining. Besides, wouldn't using black be unlucky?"

"Instead of black satin, Shopkeeper Xu, why not try black velvet? It won't overshadow the jewelry, but will draw attention to it and make it even more eye-catching."

This idea of using black velvet fabric to place jewelry was proposed by Shen Jingwan in the previous life, and it worked quite well. Since the person hasn't been found yet, she will use Shen Jingwan's method first.

Shopkeeper Xu couldn't imagine putting jewelry on black cloth, but because Shen Chuning was the boss's daughter, he still expressed his willingness to try.

"Are there any Dongzhu of better quality?" Shen Chuning asked.

"To answer Miss Nine's question, there are no more in the store. The Empress Dowager loves Dongzhu the most. Every time the merchant ship comes back, the best Dongzhu are sent to the palace." Xu Fu answered while bowing with both hands.

Shen Chuning understood what Xu Fu meant. The quality of the Dongzhu on the market could not be better than that in the palace.

"I just want to embroider a headband for the Empress Dowager, and I'm looking for one to fit in the middle. It doesn't matter if there's none."

"Then I'll go look for it in the library and send it to your house when I find it."

"Thank you, Manager Xu."

As soon as the two finished talking, they heard a noise coming from downstairs.

"I'll go down and take a look." Xu Fu asked Shen Chuning for permission and walked out.

Shen Chuning winked at Birui, and Birui went out for a while and came back with two pieces of paper.

"Miss, a lady brought a girl around ten years old to sell jewelry blueprints. The servant downstairs looked down on the designs, saying that we at Wanbaoxuan have our own designers and don't accept designs from outsiders. But the mother and daughter said that if we saw them, we would definitely learn from them. They insisted that Wanbaoxuan pay for the two blueprints and refused to leave unless they did."

"Isn't this a scoundrel? Just anyone brings in two pieces of paper and asks us to pay for them. Is this business still going to continue? I want to see what kind of drawings you're afraid of people stealing."

As Shen Chuning spoke, she reached out and took the two drawings from Birui.

"No wonder the waiter looked down on this blueprint. It's clearly just a child's scribbling."

I could vaguely make out the shape of a hairpin on the paper, but the lines were uneven and crooked, as if they were drawn by a child who had just learned to use a pen.

But as Shen Chuning watched, she slowly sat up straight.

She had seen this hairpin in her previous life. It was a golden bird holding a string of small bells in its beak. The small bells were made in the shape of lily of the valley. It was first worn by the Sixth Princess when she attended the eldest princess's coming-of-age ceremony. Later, similar styles became very popular among the noble ladies in the capital.

She picked up the second drawing and could tell it was a pair of earrings, but the details were not very clear.

Could it be that someone, like her, was reborn from the future?

"Birui, let's go down and take a look."

After Birui agreed, she helped Shen Chuning out of the room.

Shen Chuning walked slowly down the stairs, but stopped on the platform between the first and second floors.

She stared at the mother and daughter who were making trouble at the door.

The woman was wearing clothes that were slightly whitened from washing, and it was obvious that they were the style of a few years ago. The girl was dressed very smartly, but if it weren't for the gold hairpin on the woman's head, they would probably be mistaken for a master and servant.

Birui felt her arm, which was supporting Shen Chuning's hand, being grabbed fiercely by fingers, causing a slight sting.

"Miss?"

Birui called out twice before Shen Chuning came back to her senses.

"I'm fine. I just noticed that the hairpin on that lady's head was a little peculiar."

Birui's attention had been on Shen Chuning just now, and now she raised her eyes and looked towards the door.

"It is a little special. Most flower hairpins are made in peony style, but those made in peony style are rare. Peony is the companion flower of peony, also known as Jiangli grass. It doesn't have a good meaning. Most jewelry shops don't make this kind of flower shape." Birui said this, and suddenly stopped talking as if she thought of something.

"Yes, hairpins with flower patterns like this are usually custom-made."

Birui looked up at Shen Chuning and found that her face was terribly gloomy.

Her mother and Concubine Qin got married in the same year. Concubine Qin's jewelry was all in the shape of peonies, while her mother's jewelry was mostly in the shape of peonies, implying that she would be under Concubine Qin's command all her life and be at her service.

Her mother and Concubine Qin were born of a legitimate wife and a concubine respectively, so they were originally very different in background. Later, one entered the palace and became a concubine, while the other married the unmotivated third young master of the emperor's uncle's house, making their status even more difficult to overcome.

What made Shen Chuning sad was that his mother had clearly left the Duke of Qing's Mansion, so why did she still listen to the Duke's wife in everything, even ignoring her own daughter.

"Birui, that hairpin looks familiar to me."