Chapter 36036 In full swing
Chapter 34
The next day, the sky was cloudless and the sun was shining brightly.
Meng Yuning woke up early as she was thinking about going ashore to do some shopping today.
When he opened his eyes, Qi Jingyan had just woken up, and Yier was half asleep, with his little butt sticking out, his face lying on the bed, staring blankly with his round eyes.
Meng Yuning found him so adorable that she couldn't help but lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek: "Yier, I'll buy you something delicious later."
Yi'er smiled when she was kissed, and she crawled along An Ning's legs into her arms: "An Ning, Yi'er wants to go with you too."
This was absolutely impossible. Regardless of whether Qi Jingyan would allow it or not, Yi'er was so young and her status was so special that she couldn't take her out casually. Without a second thought, Meng Yuning gently refused, "Yier, dear, we've bought so much this time that we can't take you with us. Once we get to Lingnan, I'll take you shopping, okay?"
Yi'er was a little disappointed, but still hugged An Ning's neck and nodded obediently: "Then An Ning, you have to come back soon. Yi'er will miss you."
Being relied upon by such a lovely child, Meng Yuning's heart almost melted. She hugged Yi'er and put her cheek against his. Her voice softened unconsciously. "Okay, An Ning must come back early. Let's go wash our faces and brush our teeth first, and then go eat, okay?"
Yier nodded, "Okay."
Qi Jingyan was still lying there with his legs spread out, so Yi'er and Meng Yuning walked around him, crawled from the foot of the bed to the edge, put on their shoes and got up. Seeing this, Qi Jingyan supported himself on the bed with both hands, dragged his legs that dared not move, and sat up little by little. Meng Yuning, who had just put on her shoes, wanted to roll her eyes. What were you doing earlier? If you had sat up earlier, she and Yi'er wouldn't have to crawl for so long. Qi Jingyan understood her look and couldn't help but curl his lips.
Meng Yuning went to open the door first and called Mu Shan in, then took Yi'er to the bathroom to wash up. After the two came out, Mu Shan pushed Qi Jingyan into the bathroom.
After Meng Yuning combed Yier's hair, she went to the cabinet, took out her bag, and took out two ten-liang silver notes from it.
Qi Jingyan just happened to come out and saw her taking out the banknotes, and repeated what he had said last night.
Meng Yuning said yes perfunctorily, but still carefully put the banknotes in her purse.
It was fine to put the food and supplies for everyone on Marquis Yu's account. But she wanted to buy some for her own personal use, and since she didn't know Marquis Yu, she felt embarrassed to put the money on his account.
Seeing that she insisted, Qi Jingyan didn't say much. After she took her things, the three of them left the room.
The guards got up early and made a large bowl of hand-rolled noodles with vegetables and eggs. Everyone took a bowl and ate it. Just as they finished eating, the boat slowly approached the dock.
Meng Yuning slung the empty bag over her shoulder, feeling very excited.
Ever since she came here, she has been following Qi Jingyan and the others on the journey. Later, they were in a cabin in the mountains, almost isolated from the world. This is her first time to return to a real town to take a look.
Seeing that she was about to leave with excitement without even saying hello, Qi Jingyan grabbed her wrist and said, "A Ning."
Meng Yuning turned around: "What's wrong?"
Qi Jingyan: "After you get ashore, Mu Feng, Mu Shan, and A Yang will follow you. Just carry the things you bought for them. Don't get tired."
Meng Yuning looked at the lowered planks and the guards who were getting off the boat one after another, and said anxiously, "Okay, okay."
Seeing that she was distracted, Qi Jingyan reminded Mu Feng and the others: "There are many people outside, so make sure to follow Miss Meng closely."
Several people responded, Qi Jingyan waved his hand, and everyone started to leave.
Yi'er leaned against Qi Jingyan's wheelchair, watching An Ning's back as she slowly walked away. Suddenly, she ran after her, hugged her legs, and looked up at her with her little head tilted back: "An Ning, you must come back soon. Yi'er is waiting for you at home."
Seeing Yi'er's worried look, Meng Yuning squatted down and stretched out her hand: "Yi'er, come here."
Yier stretched out her little hand and patted Aning's hand hard, and then they both laughed.
Meng Yuning touched his head and said, "A Ning is leaving. When you come back, buy some candy for our Yi'er."
After high-fiving, Yier felt relieved. He smiled and waved, watching Aning get off the boat, then turned around and ran back to his brother.
---
This time, there were more than thirty people who went ashore to buy things.
Meng Yuning followed Mu Feng and the others off the boat. After everyone gathered together, they walked towards the city.
Since he was unfamiliar with the place and didn't want to waste time, Mu Feng pulled an old man who was selling rice cakes on the roadside to ask about the situation in the city.
This place is Hezhou County, which is not very big. The wharf is located in the east of the county town, and the only larger market in the city is in the west of the county town, so everyone went through the city and went straight to the market.
A group of tall and mighty young men, each with a sword on their waist, looked very majestic, attracting passers-by to look at them frequently and subconsciously avoid them.
Meng Yuning was surrounded by them, her vision completely blocked. She said helplessly, "There's really no need to do this. I can't see anything here."
The big guy then realized that the brothers were like a fence, surrounding Miss Meng tightly. They looked at each other, burst out laughing, and quickly moved away.
Meng Yuning couldn't help laughing and walked out of the crowd, feeling the air was fresher.
After walking for about two quarters of an hour, they arrived at the market in the west of the city.
At the market entrance, Mu Feng assigned tasks to everyone, so everyone went their separate ways. Some people went to buy firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea and various seasonings, some people went to buy chicken, duck, beef and mutton, and some people went to buy various vegetables and eggs. They also agreed that after buying things, they would have the merchants deliver them directly to the dock, and they would go back to the dock to meet up later. Everyone agreed.
Before leaving, the guard who was in charge of buying meat whispered again to confirm: "Afeng, you are not mistaken, His Highness said that you want to put it on Young Marquis Yu's account, right?"
Mu Feng nodded and whispered, "Don't worry, I heard it right. That's what His Highness said. If you don't believe me, ask Miss Meng. She knows it too."
Meng Yuning could only nod: "Your Highness did say so."
Everyone laughed and dispersed to buy the portion they were responsible for.
Watching everyone leave, Meng Yuning asked worriedly, "They said they were reporting Young Marquis Yu's name, but there's no proof. If they just said that, would those merchants believe it? Will they beat them out?"
Mu Feng smiled: "Don't worry, Miss Meng, the brothers have their own ways to deal with it."
Okay, since everyone is so confident, Meng Yuning didn't worry about it anymore. She followed Mu Feng, Mu Shan, Su Yang, and two other guards to wander around. They didn't assign any tasks, but just said they were there to accompany her.
Meng Yuning thought about promising to buy candy for Yier, so she went to the pastry shop first and bought some malt sugar, dragon beard cakes, and also bought two kilograms of white sand sugar.
Then I bought some sour jujube cakes, snowflake crisps, mung bean cakes, and weighed some various candied fruits. Thinking that the weather was hot and it would be difficult to store too many, I just bought these few things and gave up.
When it was time to pay, Mu Feng took out the token engraved with the word "Yu". Just as he was about to speak, Meng Yuning grabbed him and took out a banknote from her purse to pay. This was something she bought for Yi'er and herself, so it would be better if she paid for it herself.
These few bags of candy and snacks cost over two taels of silver. Meng Yuning had no concept of money in this world, nor did she know whether things were expensive or not. She took the silver she had recovered and carefully kept it.
Everyone picked up their things and continued shopping.
Passing by a tofu stall, Meng Yuning saw that the tofu was well made. There were water tofu, smoked dried tofu, fried tofu, etc. Meng Yuning asked the price and bought all of it.
This was the dish for everyone. Mu Feng stopped Meng Yuning from paying this time. He said to the stall owner in a gentle voice, "Big brother, these things are wanted by Young Marquis Yu from the capital. His ship is docked at the East City Wharf. You can deliver the goods there and someone will issue you an invoice. Later, you can take the invoice to the government office to ask Young Marquis Yu for payment."
The stall owner looked like a simple and honest man, but upon hearing this, he immediately put on a cautious smile and protected his tofu with his hands. He said, "My dear friends, this is a small business. My family depends on this tofu stall for their livelihood. I can't afford such jokes. How about you go to other stalls and have a look?"
Mu Feng tried his best to persuade him: "Big brother, haven't you heard of Young Marquis Yu?"
The stall owner forced a smile and said, "I've heard of it, but Young Marquis Yu is far away in the capital. How could he come all the way to a small place like Hezhou to buy a few pieces of tofu on credit?"
The stall owner's words almost made it clear that they were scammers. Meng Yuning felt a little embarrassed and started to empty her wallet again, thinking of just paying the bill.
Before he could even take out the silver, he heard laughter coming from a mutton stall ten steps away at the front of the market: "Hey, Wang Laosan, what's the saying? Ah, yes, wealth and honor are sought in danger."
"Just now, those gentlemen came to your stall to buy sheep, but you refused to sell them. You made up an excuse and pushed them to my stall, hoping to make me suffer the loss. But look what happened. Not only did I get all the money for those sheep, but I also got a reward of one or two taels of silver."
Someone asked curiously, "Is it true that Young Marquis Yu from the capital has come to our little place to do some shopping?"
The bearded uncle at the mutton stall raised the money bag in his hand and shouted loudly: "Even if my words are false, can this silver be false?"
As he spoke, he shook his heavy purse and said, "I saw it with my own eyes. The big ship parked at the dock is the ship of Young Marquis Yu. As soon as I delivered the sheep, they immediately issued an invoice for it. I took the invoice to the government office."
"But to be honest, on the way to the government office, I was very nervous, afraid that I would be beaten."
"Guess what happened? Young Marquis Yu had already informed our county magistrate. When I handed him the bill, he immediately asked the accountant to pay the money without saying a word. He praised my good work and even gave me a reward."
The bearded uncle carefully put away his money bag, laughing so hard that his beard trembled: "Hahaha, thanks to Wang Laosan, I've made a profit today. Okay, I've sold all the meat, so I'm going home first."
The mutton stall owner next to him, named Wang Laosan, had a gloomy face. He spat on the ground and cursed in a low voice that the villain was successful. But he felt a little sour in his heart. He thought to himself that if he had known that what those people said was true, he would have agreed to it. Why did he tell that lie and say that his sheep was slaughtered yesterday and the meat was not fresh.
But even though he regretted it, he consoled himself by thinking that this time the bearded man was lucky. If he had met a real scammer, wouldn't he have lost a few sheep in vain? Thinking of this, he calmed down and continued to shout: "Mutton~, fresh lamb~"
When the other merchants heard what the bearded man had to say, they all felt relieved.
The grain and oil shop owner who had previously hesitated to deliver the goods on the pretext of stocking up, the beef stall owner who had used the excuse that his cart had been lent out and was temporarily unable to deliver the goods, and the vendors selling chicken, duck, eggs, and various vegetables, all started moving at once, some driving donkey carts, some pushing carts, some carrying loads, some carrying baskets, all scrambling to deliver their goods to the east city wharf.
Mu Feng smiled and reminded the embarrassed tofu vendor: "Big brother, don't just stand there, hurry up and pass the tofu over."
Seeing that these well-dressed customers didn't blame him for being blind, the tofu vendor hurriedly said, "Hey, I'll send it right away. I'll send it right away."
As he said this, he put all the wooden trays for tofu in place, pushed his wheelbarrow, and trotted towards the east of the city.
There were still some stall owners who had not received any orders. Seeing this situation, they were also tempted. They thought that whether the business was successful or not, they had to go and have a look to see if there was a chance. So they took their own goods and ran towards the pier.
For a moment, half of the market was empty.
---
A few feet away, in a private room on the second floor of a teahouse, Young Marquis Yu stood by the window holding a cup of tea and witnessed all this.
He laughed out of anger, drank the tea in the cup in one gulp, and then slammed the cup on the table: "Let's go."
The attendant Yu Yan hurriedly chased after him, somewhat gloating: "Young Marquis, it turns out that when you sneezed last night, it wasn't because someone scolded you, but because someone was plotting against you."
Yu Xiao said coldly: "Shut up."
Yu Yan continued with a grin, "Young Marquis, what are we going to do with those bills? The Hezhou County Magistrate seems quite happy to pay them now, but who knows what he'll do with them later."
Yu Xiao: "Go to the county government office yourself and see how they convince the magistrate that the bill is mine."
Yu Yan: "Yes, I'll go right away. But what about the money the county magistrate paid? Should we return it to him?"
Yu Xiao: "Nonsense, of course I have to pay it back, my Cheng'an Marquis Mansion is still short of that little bit of silver."
Yu Yan agreed. After going downstairs, he headed towards the government office. After taking two steps, he turned around and caught up with Yu Xiao: "Young Marquis, where should I go to find you later?"
Yu Xiao: "After you finish your work, send a message to the team and ask Yu Qian to lead the team to continue south. You can find me at the dock and we will take the boat."
When Yu Yan heard this, he smiled and said yes, then ran away happily.
---
Looking at the crowd running away, Meng Yuning was stunned. "Reporting the name of Young Marquis Yu, it really works."
Mu Feng smiled very proudly and said, "Of course, the name of Young Marquis Yu is effective throughout Daxing."
Then he asked, "Miss Meng, shall we buy something else? We don't know when we'll be able to dock again."
Who doesn't want something that doesn't cost money? Meng Yuning also became interested and nodded with a smile: "Let's go shopping."
As they spoke, they continued to stroll forward.
After what happened at the mutton shop just now, they didn't even need to ask, as all the shops and vendors along the way greeted them warmly.
Meng Yuning bought four more pork ribs and fifty kilograms of smoked sausages and asked the stall owner to deliver them.
Now that there are many people, they have to cook a lot of dishes for every meal. Sometimes there are not enough basins to store and wash the vegetables, so they went to the grocery store and bought a few wooden basins and a few porcelain basins.
Meng Yuning also bought a steamer and a cloth for steaming buns, planning to make some snacks when she has time later.
Later, when passing by a bamboo and wood shop, Meng Yuning saw a small wooden horse that could swing back and forth for children to ride on at the door, so she bought one for Yier with her own money.
Afterwards, they went into a clothing store. Thinking that the weather was getting hotter, Meng Yuning bought two sets of thin clothes for herself and Yi'er. She also bought herself a set of cotton clothes, intending to wear them as pajamas at night.
Seeing that Meng Yuning didn't buy anything for Qi Jingyan, Su Yang, who had been following her, couldn't help but remind her, "Sister Meng, why don't you buy something for my brother Qi as well?"
Meng Yuning: "Ah? He has everything, so I don't need to buy any."
Su Yang urged: "But since you are here, it would be unreasonable not to buy him one."
Meng Yuning was embarrassed: "But, I don't know what size he wears."
Mu Feng hurriedly said, "I know, Miss Meng, you choose the style and I'll check the size."
As he spoke, he pulled Mu Shan, who was standing there stupidly with something in his hand, over and said, "I can measure it the same way as Mu Shan did."
After being persuaded by the two, Meng Yuning could no longer refuse. She looked around and pointed at a smoky blue long-sleeved gown: "Let's go with this one. It's light in color and looks quite cool."
Mu Feng stepped forward and asked the shopkeeper to get a few sizes. He compared the size with Mu Shan and finally chose one. He said to the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, please send all these to the dock."
The market was so small that the strange thing that happened today had already spread. The shopkeeper immediately agreed: "Don't worry, sir, I will deliver it personally."
Meng Yuning originally planned to pay for it herself, but Mu Feng and the shopkeeper quickly reached a deal, and she was pulled away by Mu Feng before she had a chance.
After leaving the clothing store, Mu Feng took her to a jewelry store and said, "Miss Meng, our prince said that there are definitely not many good jewelry in this small place. You can choose a few pieces and wear them for now. He will buy you more when we return to Lingnan."
Su Yang also advised: "Yes, Sister Meng, Brother Qi told us to bring you here to buy a few things."
Meng Yuning was surprised: "No, I don't need it."
But she was no match for Mu Feng. Mu Feng grabbed her sleeve and dragged her into the shop in no time.
After entering the door, Meng Yuning still refused to choose. Mu Feng and Su Yang ignored her and, at the shopkeeper's suggestion, enthusiastically helped her pick. After a while, she picked a lot and Meng Yuning couldn't stop them.
After the two half-grown children finished choosing for themselves, they also picked out an expensive jade hairpin for Qi Jingyan in the name of Meng Yuning and asked the shopkeeper to put it in a brocade box.
Mu Feng took the brocade box and handed it to Meng Yuning, and whispered, "Miss Meng, please give this directly to His Highness later." Su Yang even winked at her, as if hinting at something.
"Okay then." Meng Yuning couldn't understand what these two half-grown kids were doing, but the things were already in her hands, so she could only sigh in her heart and take the things.
Thinking that she and Qi Jingyan both had something, she also picked out a blue hairband for Yier, intending to use it to make buns for him later.
By the time they had finished choosing, the shopkeeper's grin was almost reaching his ears. Without Mu Feng's instructions, he said very attentively, "I know. I'll send all the things to the dock."
Mu Feng nodded with satisfaction: "That's right."
After leaving the jewelry shop, the group wandered around a bit. Meng Yuning paid some money and bought some windmills, nine-linked rings and other toys for children at a roadside stall. Thinking they hadn't missed anything, the group headed back.
When they returned to the dock, they found that everyone had returned and was busy moving things onto the boat. Mu Shan handed the things to Mu Feng, who went over to help move them.
Meng Yuning, Mu Feng, and Su Yang boarded the boat. As soon as they stood on the deck, they saw Yi'er waving at them happily from the third-floor terrace: "A Ning, Yi'er is here, here."
"I'll be right there." Meng Yuning replied with a smile, and the three of them went up to the third floor carrying their bags. Before they even entered the room, Meng Yuning raised her voice, "Come on, Yi'er! I bought you some candy and some fun stuff."
"I'm here, Yi'er is here." Yi'er came out with a clatter, holding Meng Yuning's hand and walked inside, saying anxiously, "What's this fun thing? Ning, show it to me quickly."
Meng Yuning smiled and agreed, but as soon as she entered the room, she saw a tall young man sitting next to Qi Jingyan. The man had sharp features, handsome eyebrows and features, and a dark complexion. It was obvious that he had been exposed to the wind and sun for many years.
When Meng Yuning looked at him, he was also looking at Meng Yuning, but there was an ambiguous smile in those extremely aggressive eagle eyes.
Meng Yuning didn't know him, nor did she sense much kindness in his eyes, so she ignored him.
Qi Jingyan smiled and extended his hand towards Meng Yuning: "A Ning is back, what did you buy?"
Meng Yuning had no choice but to take out the brocade box containing the jade hairpin and handed it over: "Well, Mu Feng and the others helped me pick a hairpin for His Highness."
She thought she had made her point clear enough, but Qi Jingyan seemed not to understand. He took the brocade box, opened it, and smiled: "A Ning is so thoughtful."
After he said this, the man next to him sneered and rolled his eyes.
Meng Yuning looked over and saw the man pull out a stack of papers from his arms and shake them. "Let me see how much silver this hairpin cost me."
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