Chapter 921 Embarrassment (1)
The weather in June is like a child's face, changing at any time. Last night, it was still clear and bright, but when I got up early, it started to drizzle. After Caiwei got up, she packed up and took Chaoyun to leave the Qin Palace in a carriage and headed straight for the Treasure Pavilion.
When they got there, they saw Huo Yuan had already arrived. He was pacing outside the counter on the first floor of the Treasure Pavilion, examining the things inside.
The first floor of the Treasure Pavilion mainly targets middle-class women. The counters at the back sell gold and silver jewelry, many of which are inlaid with gems, but they are not very expensive gems. The gems are not big, and the gold jewelry is not big either; the counters on the east sell jade, agate, rhino horn, hats and other ornaments; the counters on the west specialize in selling cheap ornaments, such as headbands, velvet flowers, and hairpins and bracelets carved from wood and bamboo, which seem to be specifically targeted at customers below the middle class.
When Caiwei arrived, Huo Yuan had basically finished looking at the goods on the first floor, and he had estimated the prices to be almost accurate. Seeing Caiwei, Huo Yuan smiled sweetly: "Good morning!"
Caiwei smiled embarrassedly: "Brother Huo is earlier, I should have arrived first."
Butler Dong was already waiting here. When he saw Caiwei, he greeted her attentively and said: "Miss, shall we go upstairs to take a look?"
Caiwei also had this idea. The first floor sold some ordinary things. If a rich lady came, she would definitely not like them. There must be many fine products on the second floor, otherwise this treasure pavilion would not be worthy of the title of the second largest silver building in Beijing!
When they arrived on the second floor, Caiwei was not disappointed. The second floor was indeed a fine area. Whether in terms of decoration or service, it was more than one level higher than the first floor. The counters and chairs on the first floor are all made of elm, while the furniture and counters on the second floor are made of rosewood, and the workmanship is obviously much more refined. As for the jewelry on the counter, it is completely different from those on the first floor.
The exquisite jewelry and dazzling jewels dazzled Caiwei, and even the always picky Huo Yuan couldn't help but nod his head in approval.
Steward Dong said proudly: "The jewelry worn by my wife and daughter are all made by our own craftsmen. Many wives and daughters of officials also customize jewelry in our Zhenbao Pavilion. Although Zhenbao Pavilion is not as famous as Jiangxinlou, the craftsmanship of the masters is definitely not worse than that of Jiangxinlou. It's just that our goods are not as high-end as those of Jiangxinlou."
"However, we also have a few good things to keep in the store."
As he said this, he turned his body to the side and flashed into the counter. From a small secret cabinet under the counter, he took out a double-layer carved and painted rosewood jewelry box and placed it on the counter. He opened it layer by layer, and inside were two sets of jewelry that were the store's treasures. Because they were too valuable, they were never placed on the counter and would not be shown to others easily!
"Miss, take a look at this set of jade head ornaments. Even the empress in the palace can wear them."
Steward Dong pointed to a set of jade with excellent water head on the first layer and introduced it.
Following his finger, she saw a set of excellent jadeite, all emerald green without a trace of impurities, but the style was a bit old-fashioned, and it seemed to be prepared for middle-aged and elderly ladies.
"And this set of violet jade headdress, the newly married wife of Wuchang Hou came to see it yesterday and liked it at first sight, but unfortunately she thought it was too expensive and didn't buy it."
It turned out to be the jewelry that Du Wanqing liked. Caiwei couldn't help but take a few more glances. It was a set of 18 jade jewelry, all made of deep and light purple jade, including royal purple, blue purple, red purple, pink purple, and violet purple. No matter which color, the jade quality is superior, and the carving is even more exquisite.