Chapter 41

  Ning Fibian silently cursed Shen Qianshan and Ning Chean to death in her heart. However, she had finally put one worry behind her; it turned out that this perfume bottle was already known to people at this time, but she didn't know whether it was transmitted from the Western world or if the craftsmen of the Great Qing Dynasty had already mastered the technique of making it.

  As she thought, she smiled slightly and said: "It's not that I didn't want to take it out, but originally I was thinking of waiting until the weather on Chushi Day is suitable, and then give this to my grandmother. This fragrance is very good for relieving internal heat when mixed with water and drunk. Since everyone wants to see it, Yuer, go to San Lao Taigong's place and bring over the small drawer's fragrance bottle."

  Yu'er responded with a sound and went out. The eyes of the several girls looking at Ning Fengbi here were all shining, and they were all secretly thinking: How can this sixth sister's temper be so strange? Is it something given by the prince's son-in-law? Can't there be anything bad about it? Without saying that it was kept in a hidden place, it was casually placed in the drawer.

  Yuan Shi looked Ning Fengbi up and down a few times, then suddenly smiled and said: "Third Master, why did you suddenly think of giving something to Sixth Miss? Are you two usually in contact with each other?"

  Ning Xi furrowed her brow, gazing indifferently at Yuan Shi. She understood the malice in Yuan's heart and replied calmly, "Today, I was making medicine in Xinglin Garden when several brothers accompanied Third Young Master here, saying they came to fetch a heat-clearing medicine that Third Grandfather had specifically made for Eldest Princess. Since Third Grandfather wasn't around, I gave it to him, and he left this thing behind. Originally, it should have been given to Third Grandfather, but I thought, since Third Grandfather is usually healthy and can move about freely, whereas Grandmother is confined at home, it's better to give this thing to Grandmother instead."

  Yuan heard that Shen Qianshan was accompanied by his sons and nephews, and he smiled with a hint of embarrassment: "Sixth sister is indeed filial, it's not in vain that the old lady doted on you."

  Qu Furong smiled and said, "Second Brother and Sister are also too tense. Such a small child, what does he know about private transactions? It's just Liu Yiniang who took the medicine, San Gongzi has a childish heart, doesn't want to receive it for nothing, so he threw away the bottle of fragrance, is it worth your overthinking?"

  Yuan's face turned red, and he looked at Qu's wife, defending himself: "Sister, you're wronging me, what do I have to think about? But since the conversation has reached this point, I'll just ask a casual question."

  "After saying that, Ning Yulan laughed and said: "In any case, this is a good thing. The Third Uncle and the Ruiqin Wangfu have such a relationship, and the nephews can get along with the Third Young Master, which will only benefit them in the future. This Third Young Master's reputation was also heard of when we were in Jiaozhou that day, and it is indeed rare for someone to be famous at such a young age."

  So the crowd said a few more good things about Shen Qianshan, Ning Fengbi listened with annoyance, while the other girls' eyes showed eager light. She sighed in her heart, knowing that these girls may not have fallen in love with Shen Qianshan yet, but were just being vain, knowing that the boy they knew was so powerful, so they had a sense of satisfaction.

  It's just that as they grow up, this vanity will turn into a subtle and delicate affection. It's only natural for beauties to love heroes, and the girls in the Ning family are all beautiful. Bai Caiyi is outstanding among them, but her identity as the daughter of a criminal has destined her not to be married into the Shen family through proper channels. As for herself, she currently has the most contact with Shen Qianshan, but she's also just an ordinary-looking girl, so it's no wonder that both Big Aunt and Second Aunt have secretly made up their minds. It's likely that these girls' enthusiasm for Shen Qianshan is also due to the teachings of these two mothers behind the scenes.

  As I thought of this, I felt a sudden loss of interest, when suddenly the door curtain rustled, and Yu'er walked in, handing the perfume bottle that Ning Fibiao had placed in the drawer to Old Lady Jiang. Everyone passed it around, admiring it with exclamations of praise. But Ning Fibiao didn't even give it a glance, walking over to Ning Chegu's side and whispering: "Second Brother, this perfume is very expensive, but is the glass bottle also very valuable? Is there anywhere in the capital that sells things like this?"

  Ning Chuo Shou smiled and said, "In recent years, the number of ships going out to sea has increased slightly. I've heard that there are often some strange foreign goods coming from Guangzhou, but I've never seen this glass before. I've heard that a foreign envoy entered the palace and presented twelve glass mirrors, which are much clearer than our copper mirrors. When people look into them, they don't appear blurry at all - what you see is what you get. However, apart from a few royal households, it's unlikely that anyone else would have seen them. There are only twelve in total within the palace, and even if some were bestowed upon the princes, that would be the extent of it. If this were merchandise from Guangzhou, it would be too valuable and too fragile - merchants wouldn't dare take such a risk."

  "So it was like that."

  It's hard to conceal disappointment, glass mirrors are already so expensive, let alone expecting to find glass for sale on the market. Not to mention those professional culture media and test tubes. She sighed: Indeed, I was too naive after all.

  But Ning Chuo's guard laughed and said, "This glass is indeed a good thing, looking at its delicate transparency, it's no wonder that Liu Meimei likes it. However, if others like it, that's fine, but if you want to like it, why not go find Shen San Gongzi? I heard that because of the illness of the eldest princess, he often entered and exited the Foreign Affairs Institute at the age of seven, specially dealing with those foreigners and even getting some foreign medicine for the eldest princess, although the effect was minimal. Those people from the Foreign Affairs Institute, whether they were missionaries or foreign envoys, were all very polite to him. If you want glass, I don't dare say you can get a large piece, but maybe you can get some small ones."

  "Isn't the Sì Yí Guǎn a place for foreign envoys to stay? How come even missionaries can move in?" Ning Fengbi had some knowledge of this Sì Yí Guǎn from her previous transmigration, so she roughly understood what it was.

  Ning Chuo's eyes widened slightly as he saw that she even knew this, and he couldn't help but smile: "It's said that Sixth Sister loves to read books, and indeed you know a lot. The Siyi Guan is indeed where foreign envoys reside, but because these people are too different from us, if we were to let them roam freely elsewhere, who knows, they might be beaten to death by the local people as if they were monsters. Therefore, whenever foreign envoys and missionaries come to our Great Qing Dynasty, they must first go to the Ministry of Rites to register and obtain a certificate, which serves as a guarantee for their safety. Also, because they are envoys of some god or other, even the envoys themselves show great respect towards them. So, in order not to lose national prestige and to display the grandeur of China, the Emperor has built Siyi Guans in each province specifically for them to reside in. The missionaries and foreign envoys in the capital all live together in the Siyi Guan east of the Imperial City."

  "It's like that." Ning Fengbi nodded, thinking to herself that if there were missionaries among them who specialized in medicine, perhaps she could find simple glass instruments from them.

  Although it's a common topic, I still want to talk about it hehehe, seeking clicks, recommendations and collections OTZ