Chapter 43: An Unexpected Encounter with an Old Man

  The sixth day of the twelfth lunar month was the day Qin Dai'er had agreed with two maidservants to go out together.

  Early in the morning, Qin Dai Xin went to pay her respects to Tai Furen Fang Shi and Fang Wanru. Due to the upcoming New Year's celebrations, both of them were extremely busy, so they didn't chat for long before sending Qin Dai Xin back. Qin Dai Xin was delighted to save time and happily returned to her own Xiangxiao Garden.

  Yesterday's shocking event involving Su made everyone somewhat worried, fortunately she didn't have a major problem. Moreover, last night the people from Lan Garden specifically informed Qin Dai Xin that her aunt had woken up and was in good health, telling her not to worry, only then did she truly put her mind at ease.

  "Little... young master, is this okay?" Ruyi looked at Qin Dai Xin who had already put on men's clothing and couldn't help but feel a bit worried.

  Qin Daiyun vaguely remembered that according to the ancient rules, when the young ladies of the mansion went out on the street, they had to wear a hood with silk gauze all around to cover their faces, while the accompanying maids did not need to. This was done for two reasons: first, so that people could immediately distinguish between the mistress and the servant, and second, to preserve the dignity of the young lady's family, lest someone with ill intentions would take liberties with her.

  But it seems that Daxing does not have this rule, and there are hardly a few people on the street covering their faces.

  Ru Yi got up early and started preparing everything for Qin Daihe to go out, from big things like clothes and accessories to small things like purse decorations. But after she looked at them, she said they were no good.

  "It's really inconvenient to act like this." This dress looks good, but it's too inconvenient. When going out, it's all about having fun and breathing in some fresh air that can't be breathed in at home.

  "Miss, every girl on the street is like this." Ruyi whispered her complaint, who doesn't want to dress up a bit more beautifully, but Miss thinks it's cumbersome.

  "Is that it?" Qin Dai pointed to the clothes placed aside and asked, "I'm dressed like this, how can I go out on the street?"

  "What should we do?" To be exact, what does Miss want to do?

  In this way, Qin Dai'er forced Ruyi to find three sets of men's clothes. She disguised herself as a young master, Ruyi as an attendant, and Chunli, who was slightly smaller in stature, was disguised as a book boy.

  "What's wrong?"

  "What if someone finds out?" That would be terrible, people will laugh at me!

  Three people registered at the gatehouse in the morning, received the waist cards from the government office, and could go to call two small servants or guards to follow them. Qin Dai Xin thought they were getting in the way, so she didn't use them, but Ruyi still felt that having someone follow was safer.

  "Three big men going out, who would dare to mess with us?" Qin Dai's heart played with the fan in her hand, quite pleased. Compared to those women dressed as men on TV in the past, she was not just wearing men's clothes, but also had her face and hands dyed slightly darker, and even stuck on a small mustache.

  "Stop dawdling, we've already wasted some time. If we don't leave now, it'll be dark soon." With that said, he didn't even look at Ruyi and walked straight ahead.

  "Come on, Ruyi. Hurry up and follow us." Chunli quickly followed Qin Daihe's footsteps forward, not forgetting to turn back and shout at Ruyi.

  "It's not just to give you a headache that I've wasted time, one moment it's clothes, the next moment it's shoes, and in the middle of winter, they even want a fan." Ruyi muttered a few words to herself against Qin Dai's background, and hurriedly followed the footsteps of the two people ahead.

  Taizhou is a beautiful and rich town, although it has no sea, but the traffic is also quite convenient. The superior geographical location of Taizhou is mainly because it is relatively close to the capital city, although it is still thousands of miles away, but after all, it belongs to the north, compared to the southern water town, it is much closer.

  What a place the capital is, under the feet of the Son of Heaven, with many noble and aristocratic families. Even if a signboard falls down carelessly, it can hit several officials above the fourth rank in the imperial court. It's a place that values food, drink, and entertainment, and it's not an exaggeration to say it's the richest place under heaven.

  Taizhou is precisely because it is close to the capital, so many cultures are influenced by the capital. Clothing and food are all led by the capital's trend indicators, and over time they have combined with local culture to form a unique cultural style of Taizhou.

  "We should take a good stroll today and just head back home before dinner."

  Qin Dai Xin rarely goes out, so she naturally wants to take a good look at this Taizhou city. Chun Lian also became excited because of Qin Dai Xin's words, as a servant, the most important thing is to follow the master's arrangement, since Qin Dai Xin fell ill, Chun Lian has not left the Qin Mansion for a long time. In comparison, Ru Yi is much more calm.

  Qin Dai Xin had never seen the appearance of Taizhou City before, so she decided to take a good look around. Although she had watched ancient TV and visited tourist attractions, after all, this was a living and breathing ancient city in front of her eyes, how could she not be moved?

  "Little... young master come and see, isn't it beautiful!" Chunli picked up a string of shell-made bracelets from a small stall and handed them to her.

  "You see, it's so special!" After all, girls just like flowers and grass, lipstick and powder, and a string of shell bracelets can make Chunli so excited?

  "This is a shell, what's special about it? There are many in the sea." Thought it was something good, but it's just a shell bracelet.

  "Is it from the sea?" Taizhou has no sea, so it's no wonder Chunli didn't recognize this thing.

  The peddler, seeing Chunli's delighted expression as she held the shell, hastily introduced himself: "Nice to meet you, we're from Taizhou, and this is a rare find from afar. If you like it, I'll sell it to you for 200 yuan."

  The main circulating currency in this era was still copper coins, similar to the unearthed objects of later generations. This era had no war and few natural disasters, so the common people were quite wealthy, and prices were not high, generally a dozen or so copper coins could buy a dou of rice.

  "My monthly salary is only two taels of silver, it's too expensive." Chunli put down the chain in her hand and looked at the stall in front of her.

  These things had no attraction to Qin Daihe, but the scenery and human feelings of this place were more attractive to her. Walking on the streets paved with bluestones, looking at the ancient buildings, Qin Daihe's mood couldn't help but soar. She felt that every breath she took was so fresh and sweet, without the dull taste of car exhausts and air pollution. The sky here seemed particularly high and blue. Every person who passed by her had a special connection with her, thinking that it was not easy for her to travel through time and space to come here, originally they should not have any intersection in their lives.

  The three of them wandered around like this until they unknowingly arrived in front of a wine tavern.

  "After walking for half a day, I'm actually getting a bit hungry."

  The two girls were naturally hungry too. In the morning, due to the hasty journey, no one had time to eat. It was not easy to get to the street, and then they walked from one stall to another, it's strange if they weren't hungry!

  "Xiangxiang Building." Qin Dai's heart raised her head and took a look at this wine building, wondering in her heart, why it seemed to have been heard somewhere?

  "Alright, just this one."

  The three of them entered the Drunken Fragrance Building, and immediately felt a sense of luxury coming their way. The decoration of the building was high-end, and the taste was not bad either, giving people a very comfortable feeling.

  Originally, ancient hotels were like this.

  The first floor of the wine building is mostly a scattered seat next to each other, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Qin Dai Xin still decided that the two people on the upper floor should have a elegant room, so they can enjoy delicious food and not be afraid of being disturbed.

  "Third floor, second floor VIP room please." The shopkeeper hurriedly led the two to the upper floor. Qindai chose a window seat and sat down. Then she gestured for Chunli to sit across from her.

  "Little second, what's special about your place? Introduce us." Qin Dai wore a men's outfit, don't know if it was the young master's clothes from the mansion when he was younger. The style wasn't popular nowadays, but the material was top-notch. This shopkeeper was in the business of recognizing people and money, so naturally he took these three masters and servants for rich people.

  "It's not a small boast! Our Drunken Fragrance Pavilion has everything, whether it's flying in the sky, swimming in water, running on land or jumping in the grass. It's all available. The chefs in our house are great at cooking. There's sweet, salty, spicy, fried, and cold dishes. There's nothing we can't do. However, the most important thing is that when you come to our Drunken Fragrance Pavilion, you must order a pot of good wine. This wine is all brewed by ourselves, and only after drinking the wine from Drunken Fragrance Pavilion can you truly experience the essence of our Drunken Fragrance Pavilion."

  Qin Dai Xin is happy, you still know the essence.

  "Alright then, we won't order anymore. You choose four dishes for us and pick a light and elegant wine to go with it, bring up a jug."

  "Alright, wait a moment, all three of you." The shopkeeper went downstairs with a smile to deliver the dishes.

  Just as they were waiting for the dishes to be served, a noisy commotion suddenly came from downstairs. It seemed that the waiters at Drunken Fragrance Pavilion were chasing someone away. Since she was sitting by the window, Qin Dai's gaze naturally fell upon the scene below.

  An old man in his fifties, wearing a coarse gray robe, with white hair and tattered clothes. One of his shoes had even fallen off due to the shoving from the waiters at the Drunken Fragrance Pavilion, and he stumbled along, almost unable to stand upright. With one push from the waiters, he fell onto the street.

  The servant just brought the dishes over, four dishes were placed on the table one after another, and the wine jug was also put in place, and two cups were also properly arranged. Then he said: "Young master, your meal is ready, please enjoy."

  "Hey, I've got a question for you. What was going on downstairs just now? Who's that old man?" Qindai closed her fan and pointed downwards with it.

  "Oh, that old madman! This old fellow has nothing to do all day, and when he has some money, he spends it on wine. When he runs out of money, he makes a ruckus downstairs in our building, and only stops when he's kicked out."

  Old man who loves drinking?

  Qin Dai's mind only felt a flash of inspiration...

  "Waiter, bring this old fellow upstairs and tell him Young Master is inviting him for a drink, on the house."