The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

Zhuang Qingning had heard about people keeping strands of hair in their wallets.

Perhaps there was some kind of explanation – they were kept to ward off evil spirits, or maybe they belonged to someone the maid loved but could not have, so she kept their hair as a means of fulfilling her longing.

However, Zhuang Qingning had no interest in pursuing why the hair was kept. She only wanted to return the wallet to the maid as soon as possible to finish the task Xiaowu had given her.

When Zhuang Qingsui heard Zhuang Qingning seemingly knowing the owner of the wallet, she immediately cheered up, “Then go return it quickly, the owner might be panicked now.”

The wallet was a private personal item, exquisitely made and containing such private things, the owner must be worried indeed.

Zhuang Qingning nodded and asked Zhuang Qingsui to wait, “You stay here with the old lady, I will go give chase and see if I can catch up.”

With that, she picked up the wallet and ran in the direction the carriage had left.

On ordinary days without the market, the town was open and unobstructed. The carriage could run freely and Zhuang Qingning, by just her own strength, would not be able to catch up. Fortunately, the town was bustling today, the carriage was moving very slowly, and Zhuang Qingning quickly caught up with it.

“What can I do for you, miss?” asked the young carter.

“I found a wallet at the pastry shop earlier. It looks like it might belong to one of the young ladies on the carriage, so I came to ask about it,” Zhuang Qingning showed a corner of the wallet.

“Let me ask for you.” The boy lifted the curtain of the carriage and said, “Ladies, there’s a young lady outside who says someone here dropped a wallet. Can you check whose it is?”

“I saw it, the embroidery on the wallet is an orchid pattern, it looks like Chunlan’s.”

“Let me see.” Xia He leaned out a little and looked at the wallet in Zhuang Qingning’s hand: “Yes, it’s Chunlan’s. The material of this wallet was leftover from when we were making summer clothes for our servants. Chunlan got the best material, I envied her at the time!”

While saying this, Chunlan walked down from the carriage.

It was the maid who had bought the fried chop rice cake earlier.

She stared at the wallet for a while, circled Zhuang Qingning once, and then grinned, “It’s indeed my wallet. I thought I left it at home when I left the house and was going to look for it when I got home. I didn’t think it was picked up by this young lady.”

“Thank you so much.” Chunlan reached out to take the wallet.

Zhuang Qingning hid her hand calmly and said, “I suspected that this wallet belongs to you because the pattern seems to match that on your clothes. But I can’t be sure it’s yours. For safety, can you please tell me what’s in it? Then I can have it confirmed.”

A flash of panic crossed Chunlan’s eyes, but it quickly disappeared and was replaced by a smile.

“This wallet is my treasured possession, I always keep it close to me. It’s really a great fortune that it was picked up by you.”

Chunlan took out a silver ingot from her sleeves and stuffed it into Zhuang Qingning’s hand, “Thank you very much. I don’t have anything else to repay you with. Please take this money and buy something you like.”

When she recognized the wallet, she was full of hesitation. She did not mention the contents of the wallet, only wanted to get rid of Zhuang Qingning with money so she could take her wallet and go. It really seemed dishonest.

If it weren’t for the other maid who also said it was hers, Zhuang Qingning would have doubted whether the wallet was really Chunlan’s.

“You are too kind,” Zhuang Qingning pushed back Chunlan’s hand and smiled, “If you can say what is inside this wallet, please say so. If it matches, I’ll return it to you. If you can’t, it means the wallet is not yours, and I should quickly find the real owner.”

This way, she could complete Xiaowu’s task sooner and receive the reward she deserved.

Chunlan bit her lip, her face paling slightly, and muttered, “Just…just a few worthless things…”

“It appears, the wallet is not yours.” Zhuang Qingning clutched the wallet back into her hand, “I will hand these over to the pavilion chief later, and let him find out who lost it.”

With that, she turned to leave.

“Hey…”, Chunlan hurriedly stopped Zhuang Qingning, gritted her teeth and said, “Inside…there are a few strands of hair, tied with a red string…”

“When I was young, I was sickly. My mother asked a knowledgeable person to look at me. He told me to cut some hair when I turn twelve, tie it with a red ribbon, and keep it close to my body to ward off evil spirits. This way I could live peacefully.”

“Our master is very superstitious. We didn’t dare to talk about these things openly for fear of being punished. So…”

I see.

Zhuang Qingning gave a wry smile, “I didn’t mean to offend you, but without confirmation of the wallet’s contents, I cannot confirm that the wallet is yours.”

“Now that it’s clear, I’ll return the wallet to you.”

“Thank you, young lady.” Chunlan took the wallet, held it in her hand, paused for a moment, and handed the silver ingot back to Zhuang Qingning, “This is to thank you.”

“There’s no need to be so polite. This is what I should do.” Zhuang Qingning didn’t take the silver, but turned around and left with a smile.

“[Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the Lost and Found Task, gaining 30 points of diligence and a beginner’s soap making recipe – the first half]”

What?!

Upon hearing about the soap-making recipe, Zhuang Qingning, whose spirits had been lifted just then, almost spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

People in this era wash their clothes and bathe with soapberries and jujubes. If she could really master the soap making process, she could make a lot of money in this era. It would be much more profitable than grinding tofu!

You…you’ve really stumped me with this half-volume recipe.

Xiaowu, be honest, where is the second half and which task do I need to complete to get it?

“[The second half can also be obtained through tasks, but I saw that this task is a bit difficult to accomplish and it is unpredictable when it will be triggered.]”

A somewhat difficult task?

Great, you’ve successfully caught the attention of your host.

Let’s hear it, what kind of task is it?

Zhuang Qingning felt that at least for now, nothing could dampen her enthusiasm for getting the full soap-making recipe.

“[The task to obtain the second half is to save a life…]”

This…

Indeed, this is a difficult task.. What kind of situation would require saving a life and also be able to trigger this task?