“Sister, there are many rouge and jade item shops on this street. Usually, women love to come here.” Ming CunFu lifted the curtain, letting JiuZhu see the street more clearly.
JiuZhu approached the window. She caught sight of many young women walking on the street in small groups or duos. They whispered and laughed from time to time, making their fancy pearl ornaments sway gently with their movements.
The men dressed as scholars, bowed towards the women from afar, with a graceful attitude.
When a carriage and a few sedans passed by, all the people in the street bowed their heads in silence. No one dared to go about with their noses in the air.
While patrolling the street, a neatly dressed yamen officer with a single-edged sword hanging from the belt at his waist ran into his acquaintance. He stopped to say a few words and picked up a young child who had slipped and fallen to the ground, in passing. The child had barely opened his mouth to cry when he noticed the sword on the officer’s waist. He closed his mouth and stretched out his dirty and fleshy hand to touch the handle of the sword cautiously.
The officer pretended not to see the ignorant child’s minor movements and returned him to the grown-ups who thanked him repeatedly before walking into the crowd.
“The rouge shop is finally here.”
JiuZhu withdrew her focus: “We have arrived?”
“Yes, finally.” Ming CunFu stepped out of the carriage and extended his hand to JiuZhu: “Come, get off the carriage.”
JiuZhu bent over and walked out of the carriage door, ready to give her hand to Ming CunFu, when she heard the sound of a horses’ hooves.
She tilted her head and saw a handsome gongzi in a purple robe sitting astride a powerful white horse. His purple robes fluttered in the air as if wisps of this unusual color fell into the silent street.
The horse’s pace was very slow, almost like that of the languid purple-robed gongzi who did not seem to be intrigued by anything in this world anymore.
“Sister, what are you looking at?” Ming CunFu followed JiuZhu’s gaze and saw a group of ready-made cloth shops: “Did you like any dresses you like?”
The purple-robed gongzi riding a white horse had already entered the next alley, so JiuZhu retracted her gaze: “Brother, I’m just appreciating the view.”
View?
Ming CunFu was stunned for a moment. Then, he felt distressed. His Cousin Sister, who had been brought up in the mountains and fields all these years, regarded an ordinary sight of a street in the capital as a view to be appreciated.
Touching the purse on his body, he gritted his teeth: “Let’s go, Brother will take you to select clothes. You can buy whatever you like.”
The family was strictly managed. Due to this, his monthly payment had never been sufficient enough. So, to save even a coin, he had to expend his heart’s blood1Heart’s blood [心血] – Means a great deal of effort or meticulous care.. There was only one sister in the family, and he, as her Older Cousin Brother, had to be a bit more generous.
“Alright.” JiuZhu nodded and jumped off the carriage.
Ming CunFu glanced at his empty hands, and then at his cousin who was walking towards the rouge shop in cheerful and lighthearted steps. He glanced around furtively and sighed in relief.
It’s alright; as long as no one sees it, it wouldn’t appear crude.
As soon as the two siblings walked into the rouge shop, someone stepped forward to talk to Ming CunFu.
“Brother Ming.” It was the first time that Zhou ShuCheng had seen Ming CunFu taking a woman out alone. He bowed forward: “Brother Lin is holding a banquet in the bieyuan today, why didn’t Brother Ming go?”
“Brother Zhou.” Ming CunFu returned the greeting: “My family had been a bit busy these days so I didn’t have the time to go. I beg Brother Zhou to apologize to Brother Lin on my behalf.”
Zhou ShuCheng thought for a while and understood. Ming CunFu’s father had recently been ordered by His Majesty to go inspect the south. He was worried that his son would skip his lessons, so he handed him over to Ming JingZhou to teach.
The news of Ming JingZhou’s daughter’s betrothal with Chen Wang had set the entire capital abuzz. It was not surprising that Ming CunFu didn’t go out much in recent days.
“This girl…”
“This is my sister.” Ming CunFu smiled: “She just returned to the capital. As her Cousin Brother, I naturally have to accompany her more.”
Zhou ShuCheng agreed with a smile, stooping before Ming JiuZhu and clasping his hands together to greet her, “Hello, Ming guniang.”
The three brothers of the Ming family had a close relationship. Back then, when the eldest of the Ming family brothers was framed by a crafty scoundrel, the second and third brothers would rather be implicated and imprisoned than give up on their eldest brother.
Even in the face of life and death, by defending their brotherhood so strongly, the three brothers proved their strength and loyalty as opposed to many other families.
It’s just that fate wasn’t so favorable all the time. The only girl they had in the next generation had to marry Chen Wang.
JiuZhu perceived the strange gaze with which this gongzi surnamed Zhou looked at her. It was as if he was looking at a rabbit that had been shot by an arrow and was about to be skinned and roasted.
“Please take care.”
Hearing the commotion upstairs, JiuZhu raised her head and looked up, meeting the eyes of the woman who happened to be coming downstairs.
The woman was stunned. Seeing JiuZhu smiling at herself, she curled the corners of her lips slightly to return a smile.
“Brother, I’ve already chosen.” The woman walked to Zhou ShuCheng’s side and gave a short greeting to the Ming brother and sister: “Ming gongzi, Ming guniang.”
Again. It was that expression of looking at a rabbit being roasted on fire again.
When the Zhou family’s siblings left, JiuZhu asked Ming CunFu in a low voice, “Brother, does the whole capital know that I was poor before?”
Otherwise, why would they all look at her with those eyes?
Ming CunFu: “……”
No, they are just feeling sorry for you, who is going to marry an abnormal person.
“Ai.” JiuZhu sighed. If only she had met the kind-hearted people from the capital a few years ago. They would definitely be willing to make some donations to the Daoist temple.
Picking out a few boxes of the most popular rouge, JiuZhu followed Ming CunFu to purchase some ready-made clothes.
The capital was prosperous, and so, the fabric chosen for making the garments was also selected carefully on the basis of their quality. When Ming CunFu saw that there were many female customers in the shop, he went to the rear to have some tea and refreshments, letting the maid, ChunFen, accompany her to try on the clothes.
The ready-made cloth shops frequented by the high officials and noble people have all set up places for male customers to take a rest. Probably, it was meant to make the male customers wait patiently while the female customers decided on the clothes with peace of mind.
“Guniang has a good physique. You’ll look good in any clothing you wear.” The female shop assistant’s tongue seemed to be a blossoming lotus flower. Every time JiuZhu tried on a dress, she could speak out so many different types of compliments.
“If this dress is paired with the latest style of buyao, guniang will look exactly like the female immortal of the moon, detached from this mundane world.” The female shop assistant helped JiuZhu to sort out the skirt: “There are jewelry and jade items for sale on the third floor, guniang can go take a look if she’s willing.”
“Young Miss, since the sixth gongzi is paying the bill today, you must buy more.” ChunFen smiled and whispered in JiuZhu’s ear: “When the third gongzi was in the capital, the sixth gongzi would always ask him to help settle the accounts. You have to help the third gongzi spend the money back.”
Among their three branches, Ming CunFu was the sixth oldest in their generation while JiuZhu’s fully blood-related older brother, Ming JiYuan, was the third. Although the two brother and sister had never met, JiuZhu heard a lot about him from their parents.
“Won’t it be a bit too much?” JiuZhu said this, but her feet were quite truthful. They were already taking her up the stairs.
There were not many sisters who would really feel a twinge of guilt for spending their brother’s money.
The female shop assistant’s smile became brighter and brighter. Which shop assistant would disapprove of the customer buying too many things?
The entwining vine bracelets, vermillion dyed hairpins, ten-thousand flower crown with jade and pearl, if no rich customer were buying them, wouldn’t they feel lonely?
“Why are these hairpins, bracelets, and head ornaments produced by your shop so tacky? These entwining vine gold bracelets and red pearl tortoiseshells are truly so intolerably flashy!”
JiuZhu looked at the golden entwined flower hairpin in her hand. To her, it was absolutely beautiful. She turned her head silently and looked at the young man who had spoken just now.
“Only this jadeite bracelet is barely good.”
JiuZhu, who didn’t like the jade bracelet at the beginning: “……”
“Gongzi, these are the styles that are the most popular at the moment.” The shop assistant explained with a smile: “If gongzi doesn’t like it, we can show you some other styles.”
“What do you mean by ‘most popular’? It’s just that a certain noble person in the Palace likes these things, so the people of the capital have begun to imitate it recently.” The man sneered, and picked a few random things in a somewhat disdainful way: “That’s all. I don’t want anything else.”
“Guniang.” The female shop assistant pretended not to hear these words, and asked JiuZhu in a low voice, “Would you like to try it?”
“Ah, yes.” JiuZhu took the golden branch entwined floral hairpin from the female shop assistant and held up the bronze mirror to look at her face.
The golden flower hairpin was half-hidden in her jet-black, dense hair. It did not look tacky at all. On the contrary, it looked as if a star was not careful and accidentally fell on her hair.
The young man who took the small jewelry box from the shop assistant and turned to leave, saw JiuZhu’s reflection in the mirror: “All these are so gau…”
Hm?!
Hm…
It didn’t seem so gaudy.
“It’s beautiful ah.” JiuZhu touched the hairpin, “I like it.”
After speaking, she noticed the gongzi who said that the jewelry was gaudy, staring at herself. JiuZhu’s eyes widened.
What? Would he not let others buy it just because he felt it was gaudy?
“Guniang has insight. This hairpin seems like a branch of cassia from the Moon Palace, a blooming jasper flower on the Jade Lake.” The gongzi returned to his senses and coughed dryly, bowing slightly towards JiuZhu.
JiuZhu: “……”
He spoke as if she hadn’t heard what he had said just a moment ago.
It was no wonder that before she set out for the capital, her two masters warned her about the profound thoughts of the people of this place. They were the most fearful of these people’s ability to talk intimately while being almost strangers.
“I am Marquis PingYuan family’s shizi2Shizi [世子] – Refers to the heir of a noble family., Zheng WangNan. Which family’s Young Miss is guniang?” Seeing that JiuZhu didn’t respond, the young man took a step forward.
Marquis PingYuan’s family, Zheng…
Wasn’t that the family of the brat she met at the Palace, the one that addressed Guifei niangniang as ‘Demon Consort’?
JiuZhu got up and said, “I like gaudy things and I have no intention of bothering you. Goodbye.”
The adults who couldn’t teach their family’s children well might have some problems with their brains. She should stay farther away from such people. Who knows, their mental sickness might infect others.
Looking at the back of the girl leaving in a hurry, Zheng WangNan actually felt that was fleeing from him.
He turned his head to look at his attendant: “Is Ben Shizi3Ben Shizi [本世子] – Similar to the usage of Ben Gong; it means ‘this heir’. ugly?”
“Shizi has an impressive appearance with a jade-like face.”
Zheng WangNan turned back to the shop assistant and said, “I want to buy the same hairpin that the guniang was wearing just now.”
“Gongzi.” The attendant reminded in a low voice, “Don’t you dislike it for being gaudy?”
“Have you heard that saying?” Zheng WangNan raised his eyebrows with a profoundly mysterious expression.
“Which one?”
“All men are fickle.”
“Is that so?” An indolent voice sounded: “Show that to me, let me take a look.”
Zheng WangNan followed the voice to its source and the sight almost made him drop the small jewelry box in his hands. He couldn’t help but look at the concealed room on the side. Why didn’t anyone tell him that this person was inside that room?
“I got to hear that you have a lot of vexation regarding the preference of a noble person in the Palace.” Sitting lazily on the chair, the purple-robed gongzi played with the horsewhip in his hand: “Which noble person is Zheng Shizi so dissatisfied with?”
“I didn’t know Your Highness was here, please forgive this humble one for his impropriety.” Zheng WangNan clasped his hands forward and bowed.
“En.” The purple-robed man nodded slightly: “It’s not your fault but rather, I’m to be blamed for being here today. Unfortunately, I’m in a bad mood, so I don’t permit other people to say anything about gaudiness.”
The purple-robed man threw the horsewhip on the table: “What is your name?”
Zheng WangNan gritted his teeth. He was Qi Wang’s maternal cousin and the Marquis PingYuan’s eldest son of the main wife. How could it be impossible for Chen Wang to not know his name? He was doing this just to humiliate him.
“Nevermind.” The purple-robed man stood up: “Even if you say your name, Ben Wang4Ben Wang [本王] – Basically translates to ‘this prince’, a form of self-address used by the princes. can’t remember it.”
After speaking, he looked at Zheng WangNan, whose shoulders were trembling slightly, and suddenly laughed: “Don’t be afraid. Ben Wang has always been lenient to mediocre people.”
Zheng WangNan trembled even more.
The last person whom you were ‘lenient’ towards was still moving stones on the outskirts of the city.
You think I will believe your nonsense?
Impossible!
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