Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 176 - 11: The Male Lead Comes Out for a Walk (Second Update)_2

Thinking of this, Susu decided not to overthink. When the boat reaches the pier, it will naturally straighten itself. No matter how hard she thinks, she can’t control unexpected events. Indeed, she’s not the protagonist; heaven doesn’t favor her much. Speaking of the protagonist, Susu thought of Ruan Shiniang, who was about to give birth, and the mishaps targeting her weren’t far off. Susu needed to find a way to enter the Prince Ke Mansion to warn Ruan Shiniang.

However, getting into the Prince Ke Mansion was a bit difficult. After all, although she was Prince Ke’s confidante and future wife, she didn’t have enough status to pay a visit to Princess Ke. If this didn’t work, she could only rely on Ruan Qiniang. Susu thought carefully and was glad there was still some time before Ruan Shiniang’s incident.

Susu rehearsed some matters in her mind, developed a plan, and then opened the gift list. Even though she had seen Hong Sheng’s generosity during their engagement, she was still startled by the items on the list. It wasn’t that Susu hadn’t seen good items or that what’s on the list was excessively rare, but Hong Sheng’s rank and the extravagance were quite significant.

The engagement gifts brought by Nanny Wei included: a red gold inlaid with pearls headpiece set, a red gold inlaid with rubies headpiece set, a pair of mutton fat jade bracelets, a pair of purple jade bracelets, twelve bolts of brocade and silk, eight sets of clothes, and assorted tea cakes and pastries. Roughly estimated, it was worth thousands of silver taels, especially the two pairs of bracelets, each pair likely worth eight hundred silver taels.

Nanny Wei mentioned that while she helped arrange most items, the two pairs of bracelets were sent by Hong Sheng. There were even better items naturally sent as a tribute to Prince Ke, then these two pairs for Susu; regardless of the jade quality or carving, they were top-notch.

Looking at the engagement gifts alone wasn’t much, but Susu also had a box of gemstones given by Old Madam, once sent by Hong Sheng as a betrothal gift. From Nanny Wei’s tone, it seemed she didn’t know about this box. Old Madam was discreet, and it was Hong Sheng who entrusted a reliable person to send a message during the engagement, stating the box of gemstones was for Susu’s private property, and he had prepared other silver gifts for the betrothal.

And now, for just a Mid-Autumn Festival gift, Hong Sheng sent four large boxes. Susu was already surprised by the gift list, but seeing the actual items was a real shock.

One box contained two two-meter-square Xinjiang carpets, comparable to those imported from Persia;

Another box contained two rolls of camel wool and two rolls of cashmere. The camel wool comes from the fleece under the camel’s belly, known for its lightness, softness, and warmth. A single camel only produces 0.3 kilograms of pure wool, making it very precious. Even though Susu was greatly favored by Old Madam, she only received two pieces of camel wool material, used as lining for clothing, which provides warmth without the bulkiness compared to fur.

The two rolls sent by Hong Sheng each had over twenty meters in length, with the natural apricot color of camel wool, untouched by artificial dye, perfect for making warm undergarments, which Susu loved. Not to mention, in the capital, top-notch camel wool is said to be worth its weight in gold. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Compared to camel wool, cashmere seemed less precious. However, for Susu, who in her past life had to grit her teeth to buy a nice cashmere sweater, this fulfilled her dream of being able to afford extravagance.

The remaining two boxes were slightly smaller than the first two. One box contained special products from Xinjiang. Fresh fruits weren’t suitable for storage, so they were all turned into dried fruits such as raisins, dried apricots, walnuts, almond kernels, pine nuts, etc. Surprisingly, the box also contained four dried Tianshan Snow Lotus flowers, unlisted on the gift list, packed in a small box tucked in a corner, making Susu feel both amused and exasperated.

Fortunately, she planned to select some premium items to give to Old Madam and a few others like Yang Liu. Otherwise, these treasures, worth a fortune, would be indeed wasted. If someone without knowledge treated them as mere dried leaves and tossed them away, it would truly be a waste of heavenly gifts.

However, Susu knew these things’ value. Although not fresh, only the palace and noble families had such stockpiles. Hong Sheng likely feared that listing them would draw too much attention, so he discreetly hid them. Even those escorts were probably unaware.

Susu took out the box containing the Tianshan Snow Lotus, secretly wiped her sweat, grateful that she had seen some of the world while being with Old Madam. Had it been her past life, she would have mistaken them for dried flower leaves, considering, in her past life, such an item was simply "legendary".