After leaving the imperial palace, it was still early, so Su Ruojin returned to the villa, picked up Nian'er and Wu Yushan, and took them to explore Chigen City.
Nian'er happily took Su Ruojin's hand, looking around curiously at everything.
The streets of Chigen are different from those of any other city in the Great Chu. The streets are lined with low-rise townhouses, which are arranged in a very neat manner.
Perhaps because Akakane is the capital of Yamato, the streets were bustling with people and looked quite lively.
Some of the women, clearly from noble families, wore silk furisode kimonos embroidered with butterflies, orchids, and other patterns. Surrounded by maids, they walked the streets in clogs, occasionally stopping to pick out some exquisite fans from roadside stalls.
Occasionally, one could see samurai in the crowd wearing straw hats, plain linen clothes, and carrying two swords of different lengths at their waists.
However, one can distinguish from the clothing which are samurai from various daimyo's mansions, or wandering samurai who have not yet found a patron.
The shops along the roadside all had colorful signs hanging up, attracting people to come in.
Some food stalls even have female owners standing at the entrance, inviting customers to come in and dine.
Ox carts, laden with all sorts of goods, would occasionally pass slowly through the town.
Nian'er found everything fascinating and kept asking questions.
I was especially startled when I first saw those noble ladies from Yamato families with thick layers of powder on their faces and black teeth.
After Su Ruojin explained, he understood and whispered to Su Ruojin, "Mother, the Yamato people are really strange. They think something so ugly is beautiful. I'm glad I wasn't born in Yamato."
Su Ruojin smiled and said, "Nian'er, there are not only Great Chu, Yun Qi, Xiao Yue, and Da He in this world. There are many different countries on the other side of the sea. Each country has its own customs and traditions, and each custom has its own historical reasons. We must learn to respect them."
Nian'er nodded. "Mother, Nian'er understands. Nian'er will respect that, but I won't make myself look like that. People would be terrified if I walked down the street at night."
Su Ruojin was about to say something when she suddenly saw a crowd of people blocking their way.
Before they even reached the crowd, they heard a woman crying, "Healer, please save my grandfather, please save my grandfather!"
“Young lady, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but your grandfather’s illness is just too serious, and we really can’t do anything about it.”
"No, no, no, there's still hope. I'll do anything you ask if you can save my grandfather."
Su Ruojin looked up and saw that the place where the crowd was gathered was a pharmacy.
Unlike the Great Chu, in the Great He, ordinary people don't call the places where they see a doctor "medical halls," but rather "pharmacy shops" or "medical stores."
It seemed that the woman had brought her grandfather to the pharmacy for treatment. Su Ruojin had seen this scene dozens of times, if not hundreds, and was already used to it.
"Your Highness, shall we go take a look?" Yanluo asked.
She knew that given the young lady's temperament, she wouldn't just stand by and watch someone die.
Before Su Ruojin could answer, a commotion arose again not far away.
"Make way, make way!"
The crowd parted to make way for them.
A middle-aged man pushed a wheelbarrow quickly toward the pharmacy, his eyes bloodshot, shouting, "Doctor, doctor, please save my daughter, please save my daughter!"
The cart stopped in front of the pharmacy. The middle-aged man picked up the little girl from the cart and tried to rush into the pharmacy, but was stopped by someone.
“I am a doctor from the pharmacy; I’ve come to take a look,” said another middle-aged doctor.
"Alright, thank you for your help, doctor." The middle-aged man quickly put his daughter down and let her lean against him.
The girl looked to be no more than fourteen or fifteen years old. She was pale and not unconscious, but she was very weak. If the man hadn't been supporting her, she might have collapsed.
As the doctor was taking the little girl's pulse, another man carrying a little girl on his back squeezed into the crowd.
"Doctor, please save my sister."
The man also picked up the girl and rushed towards the pharmacy, but was stopped by Ding Zhi (an apprentice at the pharmacy).
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