Hearing about the temple fair, the Xiaowan became energetic and said to Ling Chaofeng: "Hubby, I'm going."
Ling Chaofeng took a bag of copper coins for her: "Don't be reluctant to spend anything that you love to buy."
Xiaowan waved her purse and said happily: "Don't worry. If by any chance I meet someone I shouldn't have met, I will raise my head and walk past them. I won't be afraid anymore."
"Go, tell Ershan to drive the carriage slowly." Ling Chaofeng escorted them to the door and instructed them a few times. After the carriage had gone far, he turned around and said to Uncle Biao, "I will go to the cellar to retrieve some things."
The Uncle Biao understood: "I'll be watching in the shop, you go and get busy."
The town on the first day of the new year was especially lively. The group of people arrived at the temple of the city's god, inviting Xiang to kowtow and make a wish in front of the city lord.
Susu asked Xiaowan in a soft voice, "What wish did you make, why are your face so red?"
Xiaowan blushed as she lowered her eyes. Susu then laughed, "Are you begging Old Master City Elder to give you a little kid."
"Don't speak nonsense." Xiaowan punched her, "Don't say anymore, it won't work if you say it out loud."
Susu laughed, "Don't be anxious, this Manager Ling loves you so much, and this will happen sooner or later. In the future when you have a little kid, you'd better ask me to be a godmother. "
Xiaowan was shy but also looked forward to it. She had promised her husband this wish and wanted to give birth to a little child as soon as possible. After all, she was a young lady who had grown up in a village, and having children was a top priority between husband and wife. She wholeheartedly loved Ling Chaofeng and thought that what she could do for him was to pass on his legacy to the Ling Family.
But Xiaowan was also curious. Hubby was not the biological son of the previous shopkeeper. He was lost while he was still a baby.
After exiting the City God's temple, young lady went shopping along the streets. After the young lady bought some new and interesting things, he was going to bring Ershan to the study room to buy some brush, ink and paper so that she could prepare for her examination in February.
At the other end of the bridge, Xiaowan and Susu were jumping and jumping on the bridge when suddenly, someone rushed over and crashed into them. The Xiaowan was silly and repeatedly apologized, but that person left in a hurry.
Susu asked her: "Are you alright?"
Xiaowan patted her clothes and said, "It's nothing, it's just that …" But when her hand found her waist, the purse was gone, and she carefully touched both sides, the purse really was gone, she suddenly quivered and looked into the distance, and sure enough, she saw the person who had just bumped into her sneakily running forward.
"My purse, my purse!" When the Aunt Zhang and the Auntie Chen heard him, they immediately asked them what was wrong. When Ershan heard that the Xiaowan had lost his purse, he immediately went to chase after the man.
When the man heard the commotion, he also ran, and with everyone chasing after him, Xiaowan became angry, her right hand formed a fist, and with a thought, she fell to the ground, allowing Ershan to catch up and push him down.
"Where did this little thief come from?" Ershan grabbed onto his hat, causing the people below to struggle, they all had their hats pulled off, causing their hair to fall apart. Ershan was startled, was it actually a woman?
Everyone gathered around, and upon seeing that it was a girl, they found it inconceivable.
That girl was stubbornly struggling when Susu suddenly said: "My cotton shoes." She pointed to the shoes on the man's feet. "These were the cotton shoes I bought for my mother. They were in the same bundle with the roast chicken that day. They were stolen."
He stole Susu's roasted chicken and shoes, and then stole Xiaowan's purse today. Xiaowan angrily took the purse, patted it again and again, and reproached: "You're a girl, why aren't you doing well, you're a thief. Do you know that Susu spent a lot of money just to buy a chicken for her mother to eat? On that day when we gave our porridge and money, how could you steal it? "
In such a cold day, it was unknown how many families he had stolen in order to not starve to death. No matter how kind the Xiaowan was, he was not used to seeing such people, so he said: "Ershan, let's send her to the yamen, and hand her over to the Constable Li."
"Wait."
Aunt Zhang walked forward and pinched the girl's face. The black color on her face looked like it was purposely smeared on it, revealing her tender skin and tender flesh underneath.
She then grabbed a pair of hands. Although her hands were dirty, her fingers were thin and delicate, and her fingernails were neat and tidy. The Immortal Phoenix Flower juice on her little fingers had not been completely washed away yet, so she asked, "Miss, you don't look like a thief, do you?"
"Does it have anything to do with you?" She turned her face away and said righteously, "Since it has fallen into your hands, you can do whatever you want to me."
Aunt Zhang sneered: "Deliver it to the yamen, strip naked and fart 20 boards, you don't have any shame, are you willing?"
The girl's face immediately turned red, she struggled for a while, then shouted at Ershan: "Let go of me, in broad daylight, you want to snatch my daughter?"
Originally, Ershan felt a little uncomfortable pulling a girl away. After being yelled at like this, he really did let go.
The young lady nimbly jumped back. She originally wanted to take the chance to escape, but she did not know that Xiaowan had "read" her name before, and as long as they did not say anything, she would not be able to escape. She only took two steps back.
"Be careful!" Ershan was quick to react and rushed forward to grab the girl's waist. If she was even close, she would have hit the back of her head on the stairs.
The two of them stayed in a stupidly deadlock for a moment. Ershan quickly let go of his hands and the bashful little brother actually blushed red. The girl said aloud, "What are you going to do with me?"
The Aunt Zhang looked at her from head to toe, then turned and said to Xiaowan and Susu: "If you haven't lost your purse, please spare her. I'm afraid there aren't many people who are on duty here today. Susu will not bring back her roasted chicken, you will not take this pair of cotton shoes, just treat it as a good thing and let her wear it, this board will be good for a beating at the yamen, I am afraid that she will not live long. "
Susu looked at the cotton shoes on the girl's feet, and muttered: "It's been a month, but she's still wearing them cleanly."
Aunt Zhang felt that this little thief had all kinds of weird looks, she did not seem like a thief at all. Maybe she was a young miss who came from a big family, full of herself, lawless, and did not want to get involved with this kind of person.
"You can go." When the Xiaowan heard Aunt Zhang say this, she agreed and said to the girl, "You better not steal anymore. If you meet someone else next time and get caught, I really will drag you to the yamen to take a beating."
"Heh …" The girl just sneered. She patted the dust off her body, put on her hat, turned around and walked away confidently.
"Alright, let's go buy pen and paper." The Aunt Zhang said, then warned Yue'er and Susu, "Both of you take good care of your own things, don't run and jump."
They returned back to the original road. Just as Ershan was about to leave, he saw an exquisite small purse lying on the ground. When he supported the girl just now, he felt something fall out from her waist.
Ershan looked around, the young lady had long ran far away and kept her herself.
After they bought paper and brush in the study, they turned around and headed towards the Siyun Pavilion.
Half of the people in the store had returned to their homes, but the store had not opened for business. It was quiet and deserted.
Yue Huaiyin came out to welcome them, and greeted them happily. Seeing that Xiaowan was dressed in a bright red new cotton-padded jacket, which was obviously a tacky outfit, but against her pretty and lovable face, it actually fit her perfectly.
They greeted each other and left behind some gifts. Yue Huaiyin also gave them a few boxes of ointment as they hurried back to the tavern before sunset.
On the carriage going home, Susu explained to the Xiaowan what the bottles were used for. She said that the noble ladies in the capital had to rub many things on their faces every day to maintain their skin.
Xiaowan replied, "I'm lazy. I don't want to go through all this mess everyday."
Susu laughed: "Guess where the most sought after scented cream and powder in the capital, especially the ladies of our residence, they always sent people to think of ways to buy it."
The Xiaowan tilted her head and said with a quiver, "The imperial palace must be the best place for the Empress and the princesses to use."
Susu laughed: "That is impossible, those are the things that can be used, for ordinary people to use, they would definitely lose their head."
Aunt Zhang smiled as she listened. After all, Susu had been to the capital before.
Xiaowan really couldn't think of anything. "What kind of place is that, a famous Rouge Shop?"
Susu laughed: "Oh, the brothels, some of the courtesans in the buildings in the capital all have devastatingly beautiful appearances. Not only do they have good faces, their bodies and skin are also excellent, Qin, chess and calligraphy are omnipotent, if not for the fact that they are destined to be lowly in the wind and dust, even the noble clans would never be able to compare to their looks and talents."
"Are the noble ladies willing to buy it?" Xiaowan felt that this was unbelievable.
"They all secretly bought it, and secretly used it." Susu said, "Which one of you doesn't want to be liked by your man?"
Xiaowan remembered that Master said that he didn't want Master to live to please him, so it can be seen that the men in the capital aren't good. Could it be that in their eyes, their wives and beauties are all the same thing? "
Susu held onto a jar of ointment and sniffed it: "All of our Miss' things are really top quality, all of the ladies in the mansion didn't use anything this good."
Aunt Zhang asked: Susu, where did Miss Yue come from?
Susu shook her head and said, "I don't know."
The Auntie Chen also said: "I saw that the girls in the shop did not bring up this matter, so we did not dare to ask too much."
Aunt Zhang smiled, "So that's how it is. My apologies for talking too much."
When the carriage returned to the Ling Xiao Inn, Ling Chaofeng had already come out of the cellar long ago. Xiaowan vividly narrated the matter of them catching thieves on the streets, then went to wash their hands and change their clothes with Susu.
Ling Chaofeng understood: "That's how it should be."
The Aunt Zhang asked again, "Shopkeeper, have you asked about the background of the Miss Yue?"
Ling Chaofeng smiled faintly: "Why should I care so much about unrelated people?"
Aunt Zhang was very satisfied: "You are right."
Very quickly, the sky darkened. Dinner was set in the shop, and the dishes were the same as before. Xiaowan sat at the table and watched as the Aunt Zhang served her soup, laughing, "Right now, the palace is also eating the wedding wine of the Emperor and Empress."
Aunt Zhang laughed: "Then let's just treat it as a wedding feast."
Everyone raised their cups to congratulate him, they were eating happily, but the happy days passed in the blink of an eye. After the new year, Susu and the Auntie Chen should return to the Rouge Shop.
Early in the morning, Ershan was holding up a carriage in front of the gates when he saw Constable Li riding in on his horse. He asked: "Master Li, what is the matter with the imperial court now?"
Ling Chaofeng walked out and greeted the Constable Li with a happy new year. He then said: "This time, it is not about the matters of the imperial government, but the daughter of the Lord Prefect. Sixteen Early in the morning, the wedding procession passed by. The county magistrate ordered me to inform you that everything that you need to take in should be brought back to you. "
The Constable Li then said to Ershan: "In the second month, it will be the Academy Competition. If you pass it in August, then it will be the old master of the High Scholar.
Ershan cupped his fists: "I would not dare."
Thus, they walked together to send Susu and Auntie Chen back to the Baisha Town. Ershan then drove the carriage, which was entrusted to him by the Xiaowan, to the blacksmith shop to give a gift to Uncle Zhou.
On the way back, seeing that the sky was getting dark and the snow was about to fall, he hurriedly drove the carriage and ran out of the Baisha Town, only to hear the sound of the wheels and the sound of the horses' hooves. He did not even hear the shouts from behind him, and ran far away in one breath.
On the night of the Lantern Festival, Ling Chaofeng brought Xiaowan to the city gate to see the lanterns. Because the Lord Prefect had married his daughter, this year's Lamp City was especially lively.
But Xiaowan had never seen a lanterns before, no matter how she looked at it, she liked it. After happily strolling around, she took the lanterns and followed her husband home.
Last night's blizzard, there must have been snow on the road this morning. They were preparing for the Prefect's escort team to pass by, and they had already swept the door clean, even moving several miles away. Because the county magistrate usually took care of him, he did not want to cause him any trouble, so it would be difficult for him to get along with his superiors.
In the middle of the morning, the wedding procession arrived. Ershan hurriedly put away his broom and stood at the side of the road, waiting respectfully for the procession to pass by. He carried the palanquin into the distance, and when he arrived in front of him, a gust of cold wind blew, and lifted the curtains.
The bride did not have a red veil over her head, and looked at Ershan through the window.
Ershan's heart skipped a beat. The bride in the sedan was actually the little thief that he had pressed down on the ground that day?