The lid of the box is a mirror, which can be propped up to facilitate dressing up. The box is divided into two layers, the first is divided into twelve grids, each grid contains one or two pieces of jewelry. There are rings and necklaces, as well as beads and bracelets. These are made of gold and silver and are very beautifully made.
Bai Zhixuan introduced Zhang Yongsheng by category and told the general situation of each piece of jewelry. Only a small part of these jewelry are leftover from the original, most of which were added by my grandfather later. The shortest time is less than twenty years, and the longest time is forty or fifty years.
The second level is similar to the first level, but the specifications of the jewelry are much higher. Among them is a necklace made of an inch of gold, with a longevity lock on it, which Bai Zhiyong wore when he was a child. What surprised Zhang Yongsheng the most was a pair of jade bracelets, which were very beautiful and charming.
This bracelet is a very rich green with blue tones, and the color is very pure. The bracelet has very good light transmittance and there are no impurities inside. You can tell at a glance that it is made of a very high-quality jadeite. Based on Zhang Yongsheng's little knowledge of antiques, he guessed that this was the legendary imperial green.
Seeing the surprised expression on Zhang Yongsheng's face, Bai Zhixuan said sadly: "My grandma brought this pair of bracelets from her parents' home, and they were reluctant to sell them when they were in the most difficult time. It is one of the most valuable treasures in my family, grandma I personally handed it to my mother and told her to wear it for the rest of her life."
Zhang Yongsheng nodded and sighed: "If I guess correctly, this bracelet should be the legendary imperial green. It is priceless. I am afraid it is the most valuable thing in your family."
Bai Zhixuan continued: "When my mother left, she left all the jewelry here, saying it was for my future schooling. How could I spend so much money on schooling? She didn't want to owe my father any more."
Zhang Yongsheng's heart moved and he asked tentatively: "Do you want to give this dressing box and jewelry back to your dad as a gift for his wedding tomorrow?"
Bai Zhixuan shook her head and said: "He thinks beautifully, how much is it worth? Do you think I am a fool?"
Zhang Yongsheng smiled bitterly and said: "Then what do you mean? Are you taking out the box so solemnly just to clean it up? Or are you going to choose a set to wear tomorrow and give your dad eye drops?"
Bai Zhixuan lightly hit Zhang Yongsheng and said coquettishly: "What nonsense are you talking about? Am I such a narrow-minded person? I just chose a gift for him, lest people say I don't know how to be a daughter."
"Then what are you going to choose? This jade bracelet? It's too expensive!" Zhang Yongsheng asked.
Bai Zhixuan nodded and said: "I couldn't fall asleep because I was thinking about it last night, but I just couldn't make up my mind. After watching the skit on stage today, I finally decided. I'd better give this to him. After all, it's for the Bai family. My daughter-in-law’s things are not suitable for me to hold in my hands.”
There was a skit at the New Year's Day performance today, performed by first-year high school students. It was about children from single-parent families who encountered their parents remarrying. This skit is very heartwarming. In the end, the children understand their parents and have a happy ending. Zhang Yongsheng recalled the sketch and immediately understood Bai Zhixuan's mood.
Zhang Yongsheng sighed: "Whether you give it away, it means that you approve of their marriage, so that the relationship between you two can be eased. If the money is gone, you can make it again, but no amount of money can buy family affection."
"What you said is right, so I decided to spend a lot of money and give this pair of bracelets to his new wife." Bai Zhixuan gritted her teeth and said: "Another thing you said is wrong. The most valuable thing here is not this pair of bracelets. But this." As she spoke, she took out a red box and placed it on the coffee table.
This is a red lacquer box, in the shape of a red flower, only as big as a palm. Inside the lacquer box were seven white jade thumb rings. Bai Zhixuan placed them one by one on the coffee table to form the shape of the Big Dipper. These seven wrench fingers are very exquisite, made of high-quality mutton-fat jade material and carefully polished.
The material of mutton-fat jade is delicate and warm, with clear pulp, smooth inner wall, regular cylindrical shape, and special poems and patterns carved on the outer wall with neat and elegant fonts. No matter in terms of material, craftsmanship, decoration, or form design, it is the pinnacle of quality.
The matching red lacquer box is also exquisite. The paint color on it is calm and rich. The whole body is carved with plum blossoms on the brocade ground pattern. The branches are strong and the petals are stretched out, giving the feeling of swaying in the wind. It has exquisite craftsmanship, intricate and gorgeous decorations, thoughtful and ingenious shapes, unique ingenuity, and impressive nobility.
Zhang Yongsheng was shocked again. He had never seen such a beautiful finger ring. This kind of thing should only be found in museums, how could it end up in private homes. He was almost certain that a thumb ring of this shape, even if it was not used by the emperor, was owned by a favored noble prince.
He asked with some uneasiness: "Your grandma's family used to be a royal family? Or was it a noble family?"
Bai Zhixuan shook her head and smiled: "No, my grandma's family is just a big landowner. They have a little more land, a scholarly family, and have been some high officials, but they have nothing to do with the royal family."
"What about this?" Zhang Yongsheng was a little confused.
Bai Zhixuan explained proudly: "This is not from my grandma's house, this is from my grandpa's house."
Zhang Yongsheng was immediately confused. Is the old man’s family the royal family? So Bai Zhixuan is a descendant of the royal family. If she was from the previous dynasty, maybe she was a princess or something? His face became very wonderful, with surprise, speculation, suspicion, etc. all coming together, and his emotions were very complicated.
Bai Zhixuan chuckled and said, "I didn't expect that Zhang Daxia, who has always been extremely calm, would also have such a shocked expression. It seems that today is worth it, to see such a rare scene."
Zhang Yongsheng scratched his head and said with an awkward smile: "I am just a bumpkin from a civilian background. I have never seen such a precious thing, which makes you laugh. Where did this thing come from? Could you please tell me?"
Listening to Bai Zhixuan's eloquent explanation of the origin of this set of jade finger rings, Zhang Yongsheng's eyes widened in shock. He never thought that Bai Zhixuan's ancestors would have such a legendary experience. He carefully picked it up and looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but admire it.
Bai Zhixuan's ancestor was an ordinary farmer. After the disaster, his parents died, so he fled to the city to work. The wealthy family he worked for was an old eunuch who came from the palace. When the previous dynasty was overthrown, he stole many of the palace's treasures and hid them at home.
During the war, the country was in chaos, and families of soldiers and bandits were everywhere. The old eunuch's house was attacked and destroyed by bandits, and all the people who worked in the house were scattered. Bai Zhixuan's ancestors were kind-hearted. Seeing that the old eunuch was so lonely and pitiful, he ran away with him on his back and later provided for him to live in his old age.
The set of jade finger rings that the old eunuch brought out before his death was given to the ancestors of the Bai family, and later passed to Bai Zhixuan's grandfather. It is said that this set of jade finger rings was a favorite of the former emperor. The poems and prose engraved on it were his favorite and he often took them out to play with during his lifetime.
