Early in the morning, after washing and dressing, Yin and Qingyan took their youngest son, got into the carriage, and left together.
The carriage slowly entered the country lane, and the people gradually walked towards the canal, where a flower market had opened.
This flower market starts at 1 AM, and those going there now are just ordinary people hoping to buy some flowers and plants to decorate their homes.
"Master, have you ever seen a flower market?" Qingyan was very curious as to how Yin knew about the flower market here.
“I came out with my father before, and there were similar flower boats on the canal of the Yongding River. At that time, I was also very curious as to why such small boats would be closed and resting during the day.” Yin reminisced about his time serving the emperor. That trip was the only time the three of them went out together.
Later, it became difficult for them and their family of three to travel together again. Under pressure from the Empress Dowager, Kangxi had no choice but to bring other concubines with him.
However, Emperor Kangxi rarely stayed at the residences of other concubines; he always ate and lived with Consort Tong.
"Little darling, this flower market is the largest. Because there are so many festering sores here, the flowers are sent from here to all parts of the Qing Dynasty!" Yin explained the origin of the flower market to Qingyan.
So big?
Qingyan could hardly believe it. As the carriage approached the entrance of the flower market, she was still shocked by what she saw. Not only were there more people, but the place was also bustling with noise, with arguments between sellers and buyers rising and falling.
"Sisi, there are so many people, you'd better not go down!" Qingyan looked at the canal bank, which was already completely packed with people.
There were simply too many people over there; even the guards around Yin and the people hidden in the crowd weren't enough.
“No, you’re about to get off the train, how can I not go?” Yin immediately refused.
"I want to go down!" Qingyan said coquettishly.
Because he got up too early, Hafeng'a fell asleep in the carriage again. Qingyan figured that if he got off, Yin would definitely stay in the carriage.
"Forget it, don't go!" Qingyan thought for a moment and then changed her mind.
"Huh?" Yin was stunned. "Weren't you really looking forward to it? Why aren't you going down now?"
“I am looking forward to it. Hafeng is still in the carriage. I don’t want anything to happen to the child. There are just too many people today. It’s hard to guarantee that there aren’t some people with ulterior motives. If you are in any danger, it will be difficult to explain.” Qingyan refused directly.
Seeing Qingyan gazing pitifully at the flower boats outside, Yin secretly made a mental note of it. He planned to have Qingyan come over alone before leaving.
"I can accompany you for a stroll all day. Where would you like to go?" Yin had specially asked someone to investigate the scenery here and found that there were some old houses. Yin thought that these places would be suitable for Qingyan to come and take a walk.
After feeding Hafeng, you can carry him around the market, which is quite different from going to the flower market. There are very few people there. After all, wealthy merchants occupy the best spots in the commercial street, and ordinary people only come here when they want to buy something.
During the day, there were many people, and some small flower farmers brought their own flowers directly to the commercial street to sell.
"Didn't you say you'd never seen a flower market made up of flower boats? I immediately had an itinerary prepared, but now you say you don't want to go. Don't worry, there are many places selling flowers!" Yin hoped to fulfill all of Qingyan's wishes.
Qingyan sat in the swaying carriage, wondering what their next destination would be!
"Sisi, where are we going?" Qingyan looked at the distance to the canal and headed directly towards the county town.
"I'll go buy you flowers. Didn't I say I'd make sure you have some plants to keep you company while we're on the road?" Yin promised.
Each time Qingyan arranged flowers, it was the most tranquil time, and Yin liked this quiet and harmonious atmosphere very much.
"Fourth, really?" Qingyan would sometimes ask Sulan to pick some wildflowers for the carriage. She would then use these wildflowers to make a vase for 'flower arranging' and place it on the cabinet to decorate the carriage.
"Yes, there are some small flower farmers here who don't have the money to buy flower boats, so they can only sell the flowers they grow directly on the commercial street." Yin came over with Qingyan after he understood the situation.
Upon arriving at the commercial street, the carriage stopped at the entrance of the pedestrian street. Qingyan looked inside and saw that many people had already set up stalls to do business.
These stalls sell breakfast items, and people and vendors go out early, some even skipping breakfast altogether.
"Master, let's have some breakfast too. The breakfasts here all taste like they're from the south!" Qingyan really enjoys eating out, but Yin has always tried to stop her.
"Aren't you afraid of getting a stomachache? This time it won't work!" Kangxi told Yin that someone was watching them all the time, so they should avoid eating anything outside.
Yin's nervous expression startled her.
"Let's buy some flowers and herbs and then go back!" Qingyan took out a list and asked Zhang Desheng to go to a cosmetics shop to buy the raw materials.
On the carriage, Qingyan enjoyed playing with these little things; she even made quite a few rouges herself.
The recipes for those rouges all came from Dream of the Red Chamber. Back then, she was a big fan of Dream of the Red Chamber and loved the rouges and face powders in the book.
She tried her best to remember all the shortcomings Jia Baoyu had made.
"What are you going to do now?" Yin didn't like Qingyan always doing things himself; he preferred to have the servants in the inner quarters do these things better.
"Master, just passing the time!" Qingyan understood that those rouges were made of pure plant materials, so they were definitely better than the ones made by the imperial court.
However, she couldn't always be neglecting her duties, so she decided to arrange for her servants to do the work properly.
As noon approached, Qingyan returned to her tent. She looked helplessly at the pair of items Zhang Desheng had brought over, checked them one by one, and prepared to put them in the box. Tomorrow, she would first make a lip balm, as her lips felt a bit dry in the spring.
"Hurry up and eat lunch, stop messing around with your things!" Yin and Qingyan had been running around all morning, and because of Kangxi's instructions, they had to return hungry.
"Okay!" Qingyan walked out of the inner tent with cheerful little steps.
After taking her seat, Qingyan saw a steamer of small buns in front of her. The outside was made of rice noodle skin, and the inside was filled with bright green filling. They looked very appetizing.
"What is this?" Qingyan asked curiously, looking at the steamed bun in front of her.
“They say it’s rice seedlings, but now that we’re in the south, it would be great to eat some of the seasonal things here!” Yin said directly.
Rice seedlings?
Qingyan had never heard of this before. She was born in the capital and rarely stayed in the south.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
