While Jiang Jiuniang was getting ready, Gou'er ran to ask Peng Yuan if she wanted to go out.
Peng Yuan was so frightened by the Cao family's situation that she hadn't left the house for a long time, and now she was feeling restless and definitely wouldn't see this as a good opportunity.
Qin Jian wanted to accompany her, but Peng Yuan refused because she had something to take care of. In the end, it was just the two of them, along with the dog and a few maids, who went shopping together.
Considering that Gou'er's friends were all children he met at school, Jiang Jiuniang suggested that they go to the bookstore to browse, so that they could find a more suitable gift.
The dog listened to the advice and the group went directly to the largest bookstore in the city. To accommodate Peng Yuan, they went by carriage.
"Will Mother help me choose?"
The dog ran a few steps, then turned around and asked Jiang Jiuniang something.
"Go and pick the one you like first. If you can't decide, your mother will help you take a look."
The dog laughed and ran happily inside, following the shop assistant around.
The bookstore was quite large and the service was good. Seeing that they had brought their children, they even prepared tea and snacks for them and told them to wait patiently.
Not long after she sat down, several young men came in. They were all dressed as scholars and were quite handsome. Jiang Jiuniang couldn't help but take a few more glances at them.
In this day and age, looking at scholars is like looking at college students in later generations. However, most scholars in this era are weak and frail, unlike college students in later generations who are pleasing to the eye. But Jiang Jiuniang doesn't discriminate when she sees someone attractive, and she enjoys watching them with great interest.
The waiter hurriedly went up to them upon seeing them, and asked with a smile, "Have you gentlemen produced a new work yet?"
The group nodded and handed their manuscripts to the waiter. The waiter glanced at them and smiled, "As expected, it's another story about the wives of two generals. This one is even more interesting than the last. I'll go find our manager right away, and he'll definitely be able to give you gentlemen a good price!"
With that, he turned and hurriedly went into the backyard, where several scholars waited.
They were all well-educated and polite people, and seeing the two ladies sitting here, they wouldn't come over, so they didn't realize that their fanfiction had been overheard by the main characters.
When Jiang Jiuniang learned that they were actually writing a story about her, she became very interested. She glanced at Peng Yuan and saw that she also looked interested. She smiled and gave Peng Yuan a look, signaling her to check the situation further.
A short while later, the waiter brought out the shopkeeper. After briefly glancing at the storybook, the shopkeeper said, "Gentlemen, you have been long-time partners of our bookstore, so your writing quality is naturally excellent. However, the content of your works is quite similar, and I cannot accept them all. I can only choose the best one. What do you gentlemen think?"
The shopkeeper's meaning was clear: although it wasn't plagiarism, the stories of the two generals' wives had been written about countless times. If he didn't come up with something new, readers wouldn't be interested. If he accepted all the manuscripts, the bookstore would be the one to lose money.
The scholars exchanged glances and said, "It's entirely up to the shopkeeper to decide."
Actually, they had considered this issue when they were writing, after all, they had already written several books of this type and made a lot of money, so the current situation was still acceptable.
The shopkeeper was quite satisfied to see that they were all easy to talk to, and began to study them carefully.
There were five or six storybooks, but the shopkeeper was only one person and was obviously a bit overwhelmed. He originally wanted to send the scholars back first and then send someone to inform them after he had finished reading them. At this moment, Jiang Jiuniang spoke up.
"Shopkeeper, would you mind if I took a look? I can pay in advance, consider it a purchase."
Aside from the bookstore staff, anyone who wants to see the contents in advance must offer something; otherwise, it's disrespectful to the creators.
Upon hearing the sound, the scholars instinctively looked over and saw Jiang Jiuniang's smiling face.
Everyone was stunned, never expecting to run into the heroine of the book here!
The reason they wrote these stories was because they had received kindness from Jiang Jiuniang. They were among those who provided free medical consultations when Jiang Jiuniang was there, so they knew what Jiang Jiuniang and Peng Yuan looked like.
If it were any other time, they would definitely feel lucky to meet the person in question, but meeting them at this moment is really awkward!
The scholars' toes were so thick they could have dug out a three-bedroom apartment, and the smiles on their faces were more like cries.
Jiang Jiuniang wasn't ignorant of these things; she was just too curious about how they wrote about themselves, so she couldn't help but ask.
The bookstore owner didn't know Jiang Jiuniang at first, but when he saw the scholars suddenly become flustered and blush, he knew something was amiss and guessed what was going on.
He looked up and asked the scholars what they thought, and they nodded stiffly, "It is our honor to have the lady's favor..."
Since they had all said so, Jiang Jiuniang naturally stopped worrying about it. She and Peng Yuan each took a book and began reading them with great interest.
After looking up for a while, she noticed a row of young men across from her staring at her nervously. Feeling embarrassed for them, she said, "You can wander around. You don't have to stand here all the time. Also, you write very well. I really like it, so don't be nervous."
As she spoke, she smiled gently, which was a lifesaver for the scholars, who all breathed a sigh of relief.
Surprisingly, she wasn't angry at all when she found out they were making money by writing her story; in fact, she praised their writing.
As a result, everyone's impression of her rose to a new level.
If she hadn't suddenly come over today, she really wouldn't have known that she was so popular with the people. The book practically portrayed her and Peng Yuan as living bodhisattvas who saved people from suffering.
She, in particular, appears very frequently. In order to perfect her character, the book fabricated all sorts of magical origins for her, such as a disciple who descended from the mountain to cultivate, a fairy who descended to earth, or a successor of a divine doctor. In short, it was written in a positive light, without a single flaw in her entire being.
Jiang Jiuniang seemed to like it quite a bit, but she also knew that this kind of thing couldn't be spread around, otherwise it could easily bring trouble upon herself.
After quickly reading through them, she asked, "How much do you usually sell these storybooks for? I'll buy them all this time, but be more realistic when you write them in the future. Don't portray me as a fairy or anything like that. I'm not a fairy, just an ordinary person. You can say I look like a fairy, but you can't say I'm a fairy descended from heaven. That will cause me trouble, understand?"
Jiang Jiuniang spoke politely and showed no sign of anger. She knew that their portrayal of her in this way was well-intentioned, but if such a document were to reach the capital, things would get interesting. Those old fogies in the Censorate would drown her in their spittle.
Before the scholars could even reply, Gou'er came running back excitedly: "Mother, I've picked out several items, can you help me take a look!"
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