The Eastern Market was bustling and lively. Carriages and horses moved back and forth like weaving shuttles, and pedestrians wove through the streets like thread on a loom.
With New Year's Day approaching, the long streets were filled with commoners purchasing New Year goods.
Merchants set up stalls along the street. Some sold spring couplets, some sold paper flowers, gold paper money, and candle lanterns for sacrificing to the City God, and others hawked cured meat, cured sausages, wind-dried chicken, and pressed salted duck. It was a Dazzling Display of beautiful goods.
Being in the middle of the bustling market, Chen Ji suddenly felt the festive atmosphere. This was his first Spring Festival in this world... no, it should be called New Year's Day now.
Chen Ji walked in front, while Xiaoman followed behind, skipping and bounding happily.
He turned back and asked curiously, "Why are you so happy?"
Xiaoman smiled and said, "After Young Master went to the medical clinic, Wang Gui was angry that I stood up to him, so he demoted me to a third-class maid. I only got one day off every two months! Furthermore, during several of my off-duty days, Wang Gui ordered me to go empty nightstools, prune flowers and plants, and pick vegetables. I haven't been out of the estate for such a long time!"
Chen Ji fell silent for a moment. "Xiaoman, what was the reason you sold yourself to the Chen Family?"
Xiaoman answered relaxedly, "My older brother needed to marry a wife, and our family didn't have money. So when I was nine years old, my Father and Mother sold me to a human trafficker."
Chen Ji asked casually, "Who bought you into the Chen Estate?"
Xiaoman said as if it were natural, "Auntie, ah. Don't you remember? I remember it very clearly. It was freezing cold that day. The human trafficker stuck a piece of straw in our hair and led us to stand at the entrance of the Six Livestock Market in the Capital City. Auntie was originally just passing by and didn't plan on buying me, because I was too young to do much work. But at that time, the human trafficker was beating and scolding me. Pitying me, Auntie used two taels of silver to buy me and bring me back."
On the street, Chen Ji stepped sideways to avoid an old man carrying a pole of candied hawthorns, asking curiously, "Why did that human trafficker beat you?"
Xiaoman said in a low voice, "At the time, there was a family who wanted to buy me as a child bride. The human trafficker said my face was bright and open, so he demanded seven taels. The other party disagreed and left. Out of anger, the human trafficker beat and scolded me, saying I didn't say nice, auspicious words to the other party."
Chen Ji asked in confusion, "Eh? Didn't he want seven taels? How did Auntie spend only two taels to buy you?"
Smiling and revealing her two small canine teeth, Xiaoman said, "Auntie was exceedingly shrewd, and she also had patience. She haggled the price for an entire shichen, forcefully haggling the price down to four taels. Then, Auntie discovered this human trafficker didn't have an Official Seal certificate, so she summoned people to arrest the human trafficker and threw him into the grand prison. Those two taels weren't given to the human trafficker either; they were given to the government runners..."
In the Ning Dynasty, Brokerages needed to have an 'Official Seal certificate' to operate; otherwise, they would be thrown into the grand prison.
The Ning Dynasty Laws explicitly stated: "For buying and selling, brokers must be used; for loading and unloading goods, ports must be used. Without a broker to buy goods, the weights will be light and the goods fake. For all various Brokerages and ship ports in cities and villages, households with property as collateral will be selected to fill these roles. The government will issue Official Seals and account books. The origins, names, Travel Permits, trade names, and quantity of goods of traveling merchants and boatmen must be recorded and submitted to the government every month for inspection."
Chen Ji was momentarily speechless. That biological mother of his, Madam Lu, not only bought a cheap maid but actually sent the Middleman to prison as well. The shrewdness in Xiaoman's bones was probably learned from Madam Lu...
He carefully observed Xiaoman, and after a moment, said, "Wait here for a bit. I need to go handle a matter."
Giving an "Oh" sound, Xiaoman asked, "Young Master, can this matter be recorded?"
"No."
"Got it."
Carrying Wu Yun, Chen Ji left, slipping into a small Alley. Leaving only Xiaoman standing alone in place, looking around curiously until her gaze finally landed on the Donkey Meat Burger stall next door.
She stared at it for quite a while, her mouth watering as she wanted to buy one to taste. But after taking out her pouch several times, she kept stuffing it back into her waistband, unable to bear spending the money.
Xiaoman just stood on the street where people came and went, staring fixedly without any attempt to hide it.
Being stared at by her for so long, the worker at the Donkey Meat Burger stall felt somewhat uncomfortable. "Little girl, you've been looking for so long. Do you want to buy one?"
Xiaoman stared foolishly at the Donkey Meat Burgers. "Since I've been looking for so long, could you give me one for free?"
The worker rolled his eyes and muttered softly, "Idiot."
At this time, under the shadows of the Eaves in the Alley, Chen Ji silently watched Xiaoman's back, speaking to Wu Yun: "The logic in her speech has no flaws; it doesn't seem like she's lying. However, her appearance was too sudden."
Wu Yun meowed. "You think there's a problem with her?"
Chen Ji pondered, "If I say there's a problem with her, I walked away alone yet she didn't secretly follow me, truly just standing in place to wait... Let's observe her further."
"What matter did you come out to handle today?"
"Buy Ginseng."
After saying that, carrying Wu Yun, he turned and walked deeper into the shadows of the Alley.
On the other side, Xiaoman was still looking around when a group of eight or nine-year-old children playing cuju passed by her.
The children had messy hair and dirty faces, their clothes disheveled. While fighting for the cuju ball, they would occasionally bump into pedestrians. As one child ran, he bumped into Xiaoman, and was about to leave without apologizing when Xiaoman suddenly reached out, grabbing the child's index and middle fingers, and snapping them downward.
Letting out a cry of alarm, the child instantly fell to his knees. He wanted to struggle to stand up, but his two fingers were firmly gripped by Xiaoman. Sweating profusely from the pain, his eyes turned vicious. Using his other hand, he pulled out a blade that had been hidden under his tongue and slashed toward Xiaoman's wrist.
With a 'smack', Xiaoman slapped the blade out of his hand, saying aggressively, "Not learning good things at such a young age!"
The child froze for two breaths, instantly turning to beg for mercy: "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Female Bodhisattva, spare my life, Female Bodhisattva, spare my life!"
Xiaoman looked at the pedestrians left and right. Seeing no sign of Chen Ji, she then turned to look at the child. "You dare to steal my, Xiaoman's, things! Are you tired of living?! Hand over the pouch!"
The child fished out a light blue silk pouch from his robes. "Here you go, here you go."
Letting go of him, Xiaoman placed her hands on her hips and said with feigned anger, "Scram!"
...
...
Dingchang Pawnshop.
Chen Ji stepped over the threshold. Behind the high counter, the old shopkeeper, whose beard and hair were completely white, narrowed his eyes and peeked out from a small hole. He drawled lazily, "What do you want to pawn... Oh my, Sir, why have you come!"
After saying that, the old shopkeeper hopped down from his chair, nimbly opened the side door, and welcomed Chen Ji inside.
He rebuked his worker angrily, "What are you still standing there dazed for?! Serve tea to Sir!"
Chen Ji waved his hand. "There's no need for tea; I have matters to attend to. How is the Ginseng you were collecting on my behalf? How many roots have you collected?"
"Sir, please wait a moment." Bowing, the old shopkeeper went to the side room. Together with the worker, they carried out two long, red sour-branch wooden boxes. Flipping them open, forty roots of Ginseng were lined up inside, their fine rootlets bound to the red silk cloth by gold threads.
The old shopkeeper explained, "Sir, you previously instructed that after the Hundred Deer Pavilion was completely shut down and sealed, the imperial court would definitely auction off its assets. This lowly one found people to make the necessary arrangements and grease the wheels, managing to snatch up forty-two roots in one go!"
Reaching out, Chen Ji gently swept his hand through the air above each root of Ginseng. "Are these all the inventory the Hundred Deer Pavilion had?"
The old shopkeeper showed a difficult expression. "For this lowly one to be able to procure so many is already not easy. With the price as low as fifteen taels of silver per root, many medicine shops were fighting over them."
Chen Ji gave an "Mhm", pointing to two of the roots. "I don't want these two roots. I'll take all the rest."
Astonished, the old shopkeeper asked, "Why doesn't Sir want them?"
Chen Ji glanced at him. "The quality is poor."
The old shopkeeper was baffled. "You just reached out your hand like that, and you're absolutely certain the age is wrong? This lowly one has run a pawnshop for over forty years and has never made a mistake on Ginseng. Whether this Ginseng is cultivated or wild mountain Ginseng, whether its age is sufficient, this lowly one can tell at a single glance with absolute certainty. Initially, you were the one who told this lowly one to buy them. How can you refuse to acknowledge the account after buying? Although this pawnshop of mine is small, the backing behind it is..."
Chen Ji swept his hand past the old shopkeeper's face. "Sixty-one years old."
The old shopkeeper's eyes widened. "You truly have this ability? You can even probe out this lowly one's age?"
Smiling, Chen Ji said, "Not only do I know your age, but I also know you have two sons serving in the prefectural yamen. One is a scribe, the other is a constable. That constable son of yours patrols the Eastern Market docks year-round. He likes to skim grease and extort people. Do you want me to dispatch someone to escort them here for questioning?"
The old shopkeeper fell Silent As A Winter Cicada.
From his robes, Chen Ji pulled out the string of Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency that Chen Wenzong had given him. "Forty roots of Ginseng at fifteen taels per root, totaling six hundred taels. I have one thousand seven hundred taels of silver in Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency here."
The old shopkeeper said, "Please wait a moment."
After saying that, he went to the storeroom in the backyard and brought out a string of Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency. "Sir, this currency is worth one thousand one hundred taels."
Chen Ji asked casually, "Is this Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency real or fake? Is it one thousand one hundred taels? You're not bluffing me, right?"
The old shopkeeper carefully cast a glance at him. How could this Sir not even know about this matter? Could it be he had just recently become an official?
Smiling apologetically, the shopkeeper explained, "You see, this currency has a total of eighteen beads. The first six beads represent which Temple it originated from, the middle six beads represent who it was given to for ease of tracing the source, and the last six beads represent the amount."
The shopkeeper continued, "And one of the anti-counterfeiting methods for this currency is that the first six, middle six, and last six beads are respectively carved by fixed monks appointed by Tuoluo Temple in Luo City, Yuanjue Temple in the Capital City, and Qixia Temple in Jinling. The strokes and blade techniques cannot be imitated."
Speaking up to this point, the shopkeeper brought over a glass magnifying lens and aimed it at a prayer bead. "The second method is the secret seal. If you look closely, this currency actually has extremely minuscule scriptures carved onto it. Over a hundred characters occupy a space only the size of a grain of rice; ordinary people cannot achieve this. Furthermore, the scriptures corresponding to these hundred-plus characters are only known to the Buddhist sect... In short, once you hold this currency in your hands, the real and fake are very easy to distinguish; the texture is completely different."
Chen Ji understood. In ancient times, the Shanxi merchant banks also used designated personnel to write characters on their silver notes as an anti-counterfeiting measure; it wasn't anything unusual.
As for this micro-carving technique, it was just like the paper bank notes he had used in his past life. By touching the raised dots of the braille, looking at the watermarks, and feeling the material, real notes and fake notes were very easy to distinguish due to the completely different texture.
He pondered for a moment. "If someone else also masters this micro-carving technique, wouldn't that mean..."
The shopkeeper panicked. "Sir, please speak cautiously! You absolutely cannot let the Buddhist sect know about this thought of yours. Moreover, nowadays, anyone in The Jianghu who knows how to micro-carve has already been caught and taken away to become a monk. This craft has already been lost among the common folk!"
Chen Ji smiled, carrying the two wooden boxes as he headed out the door. "Don't be afraid, I'm just making a joke."
By the time he reunited with Xiaoman, his hands were completely empty again.
He bought two Donkey Meat Burgers and handed them to Xiaoman. "Eat."
Xiaoman's eyes sparkled. "Young Master bought these for me?"
"Otherwise?"
Taking the Donkey Meat Burger, Xiaoman smiled brightly and took a huge bite. Cheeks bulging, she asked, "Young Master, can this matter be recorded?"
"It can."
...
...
Deep in the quiet of the night.
Chen Ji was already lying on his bed, asleep. Wu Yun's whereabouts were unknown.
The sound of Liqiu coughing came from outside the Mingquan Courtyard. Huddled on the small wooden stool guarding the charcoal basin, Xiaoman immediately opened her eyes. She got up, slid the door latch open, and slipped out sideways through the crack.
Liqiu pulled her to the side. "I heard from people in the estate that the Third Young Master took you out of the estate today?"
Xiaoman gave an "Mhm".
Liqiu asked again, "Did you record everything down?"
Taking out a folded piece of paper from her sleeves, Xiaoman said, "Here, I recorded it all."
Joy filled Liqiu's face. Hurriedly unfolding the paper, she muttered softly under her breath, "Thirteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, thirty-first year of Jianing. Young Master took Xiaoman to the Eastern Market."
"Young Master bought a Donkey Meat Burger for Xiaoman."
"Young Master bought candied hawthorns for Xiaoman."
"Young Master bought a Sugar Figure for Xiaoman."
"Young Master bought Honey San Dao for Xiaoman."
"Xiaoman also wanted to eat peach crisps, but Young Master didn't allow it."
Liqiu: "?"
Raising her head, she said expressionlessly, "What in the world is all this that you've recorded?"
Xiaoman burped happily. "Sister Liqiu, just say whether it's detailed enough or not."
Liqiu frowned. "It's detailed enough, alright, but you didn't record a single important matter! You're probably bluffing me, aren't you?"
Xiaoman said aggrievedly, "That's truly all that happened today. I recorded every single thing. If there are other matters in the future, I will definitely record those too. Don't worry, Sister Liqiu, even if I swindled someone else, I would never swindle you."
"Fine, I'll count it as you still having a bit of conscience." Liqiu turned and left. Behind her back, Xiaoman slowly wiped the smile off her face, turned around, returned to the room, and closed the doors tightly.
She cast a glance at Chen Ji on the bed, then picked up a few pieces of Honey San Dao from the table and stuffed them into her mouth until her cheeks bulged. Sitting back on the small wooden stool, she began dozing off again.
On the small paths of the Chen Estate, Liqiu walked quickly with her head down, constantly looking left and right, terrified of being seen by someone.
Passing through several moon gates, Liqiu arrived at a corner of the wall and coughed softly a few times. Once she heard the sound of coughing coming from outside the wall as well, she tossed the ball of paper in her hand over the wall, then hurriedly returned to the Qunfang Courtyard.
(End of this chapter)