Chapter 33 Then he can relax and indulge in his love of peony cultivation...
While Lou Xueying was doing her hair, Cuicui came over and said that Li's mother had already gotten up.
Because she was going to play in the street, she only dressed up simply and didn't wear much makeup. On the other side, Li Pan had already put on a thick, medium-length beard and was stroking it with satisfaction.
Lou Xueying was stunned: "Where did you get all these things?"
Li Pan: "While you were taking your lunch break, I had someone go out and buy it."
After saying that, he came over with great interest: "Feel it, it feels pretty good, the quality is much better than those in the Northwest, but the price is also higher."
Lou Xueying reluctantly touched it and said with disgust, "If you looked like this when you entered the city that day, I would never have married you."
Li Pan clicked his tongue and said, "Didn't you say you liked me as a person? I haven't even changed my face, except I have a beard now, so why won't you marry me? How superficial!"
The two exchanged a few words, changed their clothes, and then went to Li's mother's courtyard.
Li's mother had already packed up and was waiting for them to arrive. But when she saw Li Pan strolling over with a full beard, her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
Li Pan was still very satisfied with his beard: "How about it, Mother? Now no one can tell I'm the Marquis of Wu'an, right? You can go ahead and embarrass yourself without worry, it won't make you look like the Marquis of Wu'an!"
Li's mother: "...Now I think you'll embarrass Susu. With your appearance, walking with Susu, wouldn't you be making Susu lose face?"
“It’s alright, Mother, it won’t embarrass me.” Lou Xueying pointed to the veiled hat that Cailing was holding behind her. “No one will recognize me if I wear this.”
Li's mother: "...Alright, you've really gone to a lot of trouble to take me out."
The three of them got into the carriage, which stopped beside West Market Street.
Li Pan jumped out of the carriage first, then helped his mother and Lou Xueying out. Besides Cai Ling and Cuicui, they had also brought two new servants with them on this trip. These two servants had been chosen by Steward Lü from among the servants of the Marquis's mansion and sent to Li Pan and Lou Xueying's courtyard. After being trained by Cai Ling for a few days, they were now quite clever and capable. They were mainly brought along to run errands and carry bags.
Lou Xueying, arm in arm with Li's mother, walked at the front, introducing the place to her as they went: "This is the West Market of the capital, the most prosperous place for trade, where ordinary people do business. There is also an East Market, but it mainly sells rare and valuable items and caters to high-ranking officials or wealthy merchants. Mother probably doesn't like to visit those kinds of places, so I brought you here first."
Li's mother nodded repeatedly: "This is good, this is fine."
Shops on both sides of the street were open to welcome customers, and porters were going back and forth, calling out their wares. Some pedestrians were dressed smartly, while others were dressed simply. There was even a fight between the smartly dressed and the simply dressed. Li's mother couldn't help but stop and watch the excitement: "There are people fighting in the capital!"
"The capital is so big, it's inevitable that there will be conflicts between people. How could there be no fights?" Lou Xueying laughed. "But they don't last long. They'll either be persuaded to leave by passersby or pulled apart by the patrolling guards who arrive."
The two men by the roadside were fighting and cursing each other. Li's mother listened with great interest for a while, but when she realized it was just a trivial matter of cutting in line, she couldn't help but feel contemptuous: "The rich guy still cuts in line, no wonder he got beaten up."
Upon stepping outside, Li's mother saw two people from the capital fighting, which immediately eased her mood considerably.
So this is how Beijing locals pull hair and tear clothes when they fight, swearing all the time. They don't care about their image in front of so many passersby, so what does it matter if an old woman like her loses face a little?
Looking around at the shops, they just sell a wider variety of things, are a bit prettier, and are a bit more expensive. Plus, there are a bit more customers. It's not fundamentally different from the streets of the Northwest!
Li's mother breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Let's stop looking and walk a little further."
So Lou Xueying led Li's mother to continue strolling forward.
As they passed a flower shop, Li Pan, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "Mother, Susu has grown a lot of flowers at her parents' house. Let's see what we can buy to take back with us. We still don't have enough flowers and plants in our yard."
"Oh, really?" Li's mother looked at Lou Xueying. "You like growing flowers, why didn't you say so sooner? If you had, we could have had Lü Gui buy more!"
Lou Xueying said shyly, "I don't really like growing flowers, I just think they look pretty. Besides, I used to live alone, but now I live with my husband, the Marquis. I'm afraid that if I decorate too much, my husband will feel that I've lost the dignity of the Marquis's mansion."
Husband?
Li Pan curled the corners of her lips slightly; the word sounded quite nice coming from her mouth.
But he curled his lip and said, "What are you saying? You're blaming me. You didn't even ask me. Buy whatever you like. Yesterday you said I didn't know anything about the zither, and now you're saying I don't know anything about flowers. I'm really wronged."
Lou Xueying smiled and stopped refusing, then went to look at the flowers in the shop.
The shop owner enthusiastically introduced the shop, but Lou Xueying wandered around the shop several times and still couldn't make a decision.
Li Pan: "Is it because the flowers here aren't good enough for you?"
Come to think of it, the Lou family certainly didn't buy flowers from places like this before, so it's normal that she didn't like them.
The shop owner was a little unhappy: "The customer is mistaken. Although flowers and plants have different prices, they are not inherently superior or inferior. What I sell here may not be the most expensive or rarest varieties, but each one is carefully cared for. How could it not be good? Each one has its own unique characteristics. If you truly love flowers, you will cherish each one."
"It's really not good," Li's mother couldn't help but say. "Look at this pot of yours. The outer leaves are green, but the new leaves growing inside are yellowish-white. What's wrong with that? It's clearly diseased!"
Lou Xueying looked at her in surprise.
Weren't you afraid of losing face? How did you end up arguing with someone?
After Li's mother spoke up, Cuicui couldn't help but add, "Yes, Madam, several pots here are like this. It's obvious they were planted in a large patch in the flowerbed, and then the plants were divided, dug up, and potted separately. It's just that the disease spread and couldn't be cured. Otherwise, it would be understandable if only one pot was like this, but how could every single pot be like this?"
"What?!" the shop owner exclaimed anxiously. "Don't you know what you're talking about? Those leaves are yellowish-white because they're being shaded by other leaves and aren't getting enough sunlight. Just move the leaves aside and let them get more sun, and they'll turn green! Judging from your accents, you're from out of town, aren't you? Have you never seen this flower before?"
Li's mother muttered, "I've never seen it before, but I'm not blind. I can still tell the difference between disease and lack of sun exposure."
She used to farm, but later she had no land to farm, so she planted some vegetables, flowers, and seedlings at the General's Mansion to pass the time. She doesn't understand the profound things, but how could she not understand the obvious things? This shop owner is clearly taking advantage of their ignorance and gullibility!
Li Pan rolled up his sleeves and said fiercely, "So what if you're from out of town? Do you look down on people from out of town? You think you can fool my wife because she's easy to talk to?"
The shop owner was startled when he saw the man roll up his sleeves, revealing his muscular arms. He took a few steps back and stammered, "W-what do you want to do? If you make a move, I'll call the authorities!"
Lou Xueying quickly pulled Li Pan back: "Don't hit me! Don't hit me! We won't buy it, let's go!"
She half-dragged, half-pulled Li Pan out of the flower shop, and after walking several steps, she shook him off, saying, "What are you doing? If he's cheating people, so be it, why resort to violence? If you really fight, we'll be the ones who get hurt in the end!"
Li Pan slowly lowered his sleeves and laughed, "Just trying to scare him, see if he dares to pass off inferior goods as superior ones again."
Lou Xueying: "You did this on purpose?"
"Of course it was intentional, otherwise would I really have hit him?" Li Pan stroked his beard. "But speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've shown off like this. It feels really good to do it once in a while. Sigh, being a marquis has its troubles too. I don't dare to fight with people anymore."
Using the veil as cover, Lou Xueying rolled her eyes at him.
Li's mother said from the side, "Susu, you can't buy flowers by yourself in the future. Money is a small matter, but it's annoying when the flowers you buy wither after only a few days. That's the real problem."
Lou Xueying smiled and said to Li's mother, "I really don't have that much experience. I'm so grateful to you today, Mother. Otherwise, if the shopkeeper had said that, I would have bought a few plants even if I didn't like them."
Li Pan: "So you're just a hypocrite, all you care about is how beautiful they look, you don't even know how to plant them."
Then he can relax and enjoy the peonies without worry.
Lou Xueying secretly reached out and pinched Li Pan from behind.
Li Pan's eye twitched, and he shut up.
"I really just admired them from afar; I've never planted them myself. I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Mother," Lou Xueying said. "It seems that bringing you along on this trip was the right decision. You really know the ins and outs. Perhaps you could help me choose some suitable flowers from other shops?"
"She can actually be of some help!" Li's mother perked up immediately and said, "No problem, no problem, let's go buy flowers right now!"
She led Cui Cui ahead excitedly, looking around to see where the flowers were being sold.
Lou Xueying and Li Pan followed a step behind.
Li Pan said, "You really have some tricks up your sleeve." Before, his mother wouldn't even get off the carriage, but now she can wander around the streets freely.
Lou Xueying: "You have to pay for the flowers later and give them to me."
"Do you even need to tell me?" Li Pan teased her again, deliberately lifting her veil slightly and whispering, "I'd even give myself to you."
Lou Xueying pulled down her veil and said angrily, "What kind of behavior is this in the street!"
Li Pan shrugged and laughed, "What's all this talk about propriety? I don't know anything about it. I'm just an outsider."
Li's mother went shopping with great enthusiasm to buy flowers for Lou Xueying. She actually found a few nice shops and bought several nice pots of flowers, which the servants carried away.
After buying the flowers, Lou Xueying took Li's mother to browse some other shops, such as pastry shops, clothing shops, and all kinds of daily necessities. The variety was dazzling, and even if they didn't buy anything, Li's mother found it interesting just to look at them.
"There are so many good things in the capital, and so many different kinds of things," Li's mother exclaimed repeatedly. "There are also many street performers, who are quite interesting too."
Lou Xueying smiled and said, "Yes, there are always new things and new things to see every day. If you have nothing to do in the future, Mother, just ask me to come out for a stroll with you. Even if I'm not there, you can have Cuicui and a few servants accompany you."
Before they knew it, the group had been strolling around for over an hour. Lou Xueying said, "There's a theater up ahead. How about we go listen to a play and rest for a bit?"
Li's mother asked, "Is this theater open to all ordinary people, or is it only for high-ranking officials and nobles?"
Lou Xueying smiled and said, "Ordinary people and high-ranking officials alike can sit in the main hall if they spend less money, and in a private room if they spend more. We can just spend a moderate amount of money and sit in a more secluded private room."
After thinking for a moment, Li's mother nodded: "Okay, then go ahead."
Shopping at the market was at least for buying daily necessities, but going to the theater was pure entertainment. Actually, she wasn't quite comfortable in such purely pleasure-seeking settings; she always felt uneasy. But since she was already there, she couldn't just stand at the theater entrance without going in—wouldn't that be letting her daughter-in-law down?
After entering the theater and paying their bill, a waiter led them to a private room on the second floor.
While pretending to be a regular visitor, Li's mother strolled leisurely forward, but couldn't help glancing around furtively. Once inside the private room, the waiter hung up the curtain for them to watch the performance, served them a pile of fruits and drinks, and then took his leave with a smile.
Lou Xueying lifted her veil, sat down at the table, and asked Li's mother, "Mother, have you ever seen a play in the Northwest before?"
Li's mother said, "I've gone to watch a few performances during festivals when they set up a stage in town. But I've never seen anything like this that requires an entrance fee."
Lou Xueying: "After the Marquis became a general, didn't Mother ever visit him?"
“Oh, how could I dare to go? Everyone knows I’m Stone’s mother, and I can’t stand having everyone fawning over me. Besides, Stone said there are too many people with ulterior motives, and I’m easily deceived. It’s best not to deal with outsiders,” said Mother Li. “Stone also asked me if we should invite an opera troupe to the mansion to liven things up, but I thought there were only a few people in the whole mansion. Inviting an opera troupe would only make the place seem even more deserted, so I decided against it.”
Lou Xueying then smiled and said, "That's perfect now. Mother is sitting in the private room, undisturbed by outsiders. This play isn't just for Mother; there are many audience members in the audience. It will naturally get lively when it's time to make it exciting."
As they were talking, the martial arts performer on stage suddenly started doing somersaults, drawing cheers from the audience.
Li's mother smiled and said, "The opera they sing and the clothes they wear are different from those in our area."
Lou Xueying: "Mother, don't you like it?"
"It's not that I dislike it, it's just that I've never seen it before, and it's interesting."
"If Mother doesn't understand, just ask me."
Li's mother waved her hand and said with great interest, "You don't need to worry about me. I'll take a look by myself for a while and see if I can understand it."
She shifted her chair, opened her eyes wide, and began to watch the actors' performance on stage with rapt attention.
Lou Xueying and Cailing, having seen many such plays, showed little interest. Lou Xueying distributed some pastries, letting Cailing take them aside to eat, while she herself sat down next to Li Pan and whispered, "Does the Marquis enjoy watching plays?"
Li Pan shook his head. For a general like him to enjoy watching plays, that would be disgraceful.
Lou Xueying smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you to sit here patiently for a while, Lord Marquis."
Li Pan pinched her cheek. Anyway, he had nothing else to do, so if his mother was happy, she was happy, and he was happy too.
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Author's Note: Thank you everyone for the comments and nutrient solutions! There will be another update at 6 PM~
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