Upon entering, the tall and imposing mahogany tea cabinets on both sides of the lobby on the first floor, displaying a dazzling array of high-end teas and exquisite tea sets, immediately caught Xuan Yuan Yue's attention. The lifelike bronze models of tea farmers drying tea leaves, along with the overall natural and rustic decor, further enhanced the atmosphere.
The sun was shining exceptionally well today, making the fresh tea leaves in the transparent glass cups steeping in the sun glow brightly, instantly refreshing the mind and spirit.
Suddenly, Xuan Yuan Yue's gaze fell on a pair of plum blossom-patterned teacups on the tea cabinet. She slowly walked over to them, carefully picked them up, and held them in her hands, admiring them with delight, saying, "These teacups look quite nice!"
Clearly, she now extends her affections to everything related to Mei, and she can immediately become extremely interested in anything related to Mei.
At this moment, the shopkeeper glanced at the ink plum blossom folding fan in the young man's hand, then stepped forward with a beaming smile and chimed in, "This young master has excellent taste. Our shop's pair of plum blossom and bird teacups are truly unique, crafted with the finest materials. They are truly one of a kind among teacups in the entire Western Qin Kingdom. Judging from your demeanor, you are clearly a tea connoisseur. As a tea lover, wouldn't it be a waste to not have a fine vessel to appreciate the fragrance of tea?"
As the shopkeeper spoke, he carefully examined Xuan Yuan Yue from head to toe.
"It's not bad, but I feel like something's missing. It's a real shame that it's not perfect!"
Hearing this, it was clear that the shopkeeper was just bragging, praising his own wares. Xuan Yuan Yue immediately frowned, her smile gradually fading. She slowly handed the teacup to the shopkeeper, gesturing for him to see for himself, and then revealed her dissatisfaction.
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper looked embarrassed and looked down at the perfectly flawless pair of cups in his hands, completely baffled. Of course, he didn't know that the utensils Xuan Yuan Yue usually used in the palace were also of the finest quality. However, at this moment, her interest was entirely focused on the artistic conception of the patterns on the cups.
After Xuanyuan Yue finished speaking, she opened the ink plum blossom folding fan in her hand again, gently waving it as she turned and leisurely walked towards the other side of the tea leaves to take a look.
The shopkeeper took another close look at the plum blossom folding fan that she was holding, then turned back to examine the pair of plum blossom and bird cups in his own hand that had been rejected. He muttered to himself, puzzled, "Compared to that folding fan, these cups only lack the full moon, so why can't they be acceptable?"
Unbeknownst to them, Jinlan had quietly followed him in.
This was the first time in her life that Jinlan had ever seen such a magnificent tea house. When she saw the colorful and exquisite teawares in front of her, she couldn't help but reach out to gently touch one of the emerald green pear blossom porcelain teapots.
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from inside the hall: "Don't move!"
Startled by the sound, Jinlan's fingertips, which were about to touch the teapot, trembled slightly, knocking over a beautiful, round, red agate porcelain teacup next to it.
"Crack!" Suddenly, a crisp sound rang out, and the red agate porcelain cup slid to the ground at Jinlan's feet.
The shopkeeper stared wide-eyed at the broken pieces on the ground in surprise, then, his brows furrowed and his anger flared, he rushed over, grabbed Jinlan's small arm, who was still stunned, and launched into a tirade of abuse:
"Where did you sneak in, you worthless wretch? Do you think you can just walk into my Sihai Tea House, a place for a poor, uncouth, and stupid commoner like yourself? Do you know how valuable that teacup you just broke is? Even if you sold your whole family, you couldn't afford to pay for it."
Upon hearing the sound, Jinlan immediately came to her senses and apologized repeatedly, saying, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I was just looking at it, but your exclamation startled me, and I accidentally knocked it over and broke it."
The shopkeeper insisted without further ado, "Don't try to distort the truth. Are you implying that I'm the one to blame? Enough nonsense, pay up now. If you can't afford it, I'll take you to the authorities right away."
This commotion drew the attention of several young ladies from prominent families, who, along with their maids, gathered around the two arguing individuals, chattering and pointing amongst themselves.
Xuan Yuan Yue faintly heard that the person speaking seemed to be Jin Lan's voice, so she turned around, pushed through the crowd, and hurriedly stepped forward to pull Jin Lan to her side to protect her. She said angrily to the shopkeeper, "You really have a bad eye for people. He is my servant. What's the big deal about a broken cup? He can keep you company. Why do you have to humiliate him in public like this?"
"Alright, then I'll pay! Such a clear red agate porcelain tea set is worth at least one hundred taels of silver. Here's the money!" Seeing that the young ladies next to him had suddenly turned their attention to him, the shopkeeper couldn't lose face, so he unceremoniously spread out his hands and said.
"One hundred taels, you..." Upon hearing this, Jinlan's mouth dropped open in shock. Just as she was about to say something, Xuanyuan Yue stopped her.
"Hmph, it's just a mere hundred taels, I'll pay you! I... I will make Sihai Tea House pay soon!" Xuan Yuan Yue said indignantly in front of the shopkeeper, and immediately began to frantically search his pockets, unaware that his purse was already empty.
Seeing Xuan Yuan Yue's increasingly embarrassed expression, the shopkeeper sneered and said gloatingly, "What? You didn't bring any money with you? If you didn't bring any money, why are you pretending to be rich? We see plenty of people like this every day. Men, tie these two arrogant bastards up and take them to the authorities."
"How dare you! Any of you who dare to lay a finger on me, just try it!" Xuan Yuan Yue shouted at the four tea shop waiters who were itching to come forward.
The shopkeeper found it quite strange and said in a sarcastic tone, "Hey, this is really strange. Does this mean that those who owe money are now acting like big shots? Today, I'll make you understand what this is all about."
The shopkeeper then gave a fierce look, and the four waiters rushed over without any further hesitation.
"What are you doing? Don't you dare lay a hand on her! Do you even know who she is?" Seeing that those clumsy guys were about to attack without any restraint, Jinlan, who had been trembling and keeping her head down, seemed to have decided to risk everything and quickly stretched out her arms to block Xuanyuan Yue's way of stopping them.
The shopkeeper, hands on his hips, declared confidently, "No matter who he is, if he damages our property, he must pay for it. Even if it's the Emperor himself, that principle will always apply."
As the shopkeeper was speaking, he suddenly raised his voice and said, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and get to work!"
Jinlan continued to protect Xuanyuan Yue as she retreated, frantically blocking the newcomers: "You can't arrest her, she is the most noble person in the Western Qin Kingdom..."
Xuan Yuan Yue quickly shouted to stop her, "Jin Lan, shut up!"
Jinlan was so anxious she was almost in tears: "Young Master..."
Just then, Tuoba Ze, who had been away for many days, finally returned to the tea plantation.
As soon as he entered, upon seeing the chaotic scene before him, he shouted angrily, "Stop! What are you doing?"
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper immediately became obsequious and stepped forward, bowing and scraping, his face full of flattery. "Master is back! You've come at the perfect time. These two ignorant fools actually dared to cause trouble at our Sihai Tea House. Not only did they smash things and have no money, but they also dared to boast that they would soon teach our tea house a lesson. This old servant was just about to arrest them and take them to the authorities."
Upon seeing that it was the person in question who had returned, Jinlan quickly defended herself, saying, "Who said we didn't have any money? We were just accidentally robbed on the street. Besides, if you hadn't startled me, how could that cup have been broken?"
Tuoba Ze understood what was going on after hearing their words. He then carefully examined the two men before him, noticing the noble and refined air emanating from Xuan Yuan Yue. He then reprimanded the shopkeeper beside him, saying, "How can you treat your customers like this? If we meet by chance, we're all friends. Who hasn't encountered a few petty thieves on their journey? Besides, look at this young master; he's clearly handsome and wealthy. Why would he be short of a few coins for tea? Hurry up and apologize to him, then go and prepare something to calm his nerves!"
The shopkeeper was shocked upon hearing this, but he had no choice but to obey and turn to apologize to Xuan Yuan Yue repeatedly: "It was this old servant who was blind and did not recognize your greatness. I have offended you, young master. I am truly sorry and ask for your forgiveness."
"Hmph, you are indeed blind and arrogant, unable to recognize a great man. Get lost, get as far away as possible, I never want to see someone like you again. If you were in my palace, I would never have kept your worthless life alive until now."
The shopkeeper looked embarrassed after hearing Xuan Yuan Yue's rebuke. He turned to look at Tuoba Ze's face behind him, only to be met with Tuoba Ze's angry shout: "Get out of here! Don't get in the way of the young master's noble eyes!"
"Yes, yes, yes, this old servant will leave right away, this old servant will leave right away." The shopkeeper hurriedly backed away with a bitter expression on his face.
"How are you? Are you alright?" Xuan Yuan Yue looked at Jin Lan with concern and asked. Jin Lan frowned and shook her head.
At this moment, Tuoba Ze smiled apologetically and stepped forward to personally apologize, saying, "Young master, I am truly sorry. The shop assistant was ignorant and neglected you. I apologize to you personally. May I ask if this young master has come to Sihai Tea House to purchase some tea or to buy tea utensils?"
Xuan Yuan Yue initially disdained to pay him any more attention. With such a snobbish waiter, how could her master be any better? However, thinking of the purpose of her visit, she finally straightened up, adjusted her white robe, glanced at him disdainfully, and said, "As long as it is not vulgar, I will take it all."
Upon hearing this, Tuoba Ze was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. His eyes suddenly fell on the tea set cabinet beside him, so he went over and took down an exquisite box from the corner of the top shelf...
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