I was a god in the 18th century

After Wen Renyi left, Xia Qingdai never saw the map of the Beiying Tower in the capital again.

She was puzzled. Was there no believer there to burn incense for her?

The night before the auspicious day selected by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory for the departure of the British delegation, Xia Qingdai called Owen and flew out of the foreign embassy again, heading straight for the direction of the Infant Protection Tower.

After flying over there, Xia Qingdai was shocked to find that all the people coming and going below were officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty.

She put Owen in a hidden corner of the temple, and then appeared beside him and whispered, "Owen, hide well. I'll be back soon."

Owen, wrapped in a black cloak, nodded and said, "Okay, be careful."

"Don't worry, I'm invisible."

Xia Qingdai walked around the Infant Protection Tower in a dignified manner, including the metal version of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests that she used as a warehouse. She found that the place where her portrait was originally enshrined had been removed and replaced by a stone sculpture of the City God.

Those good men and women recruited by Wen Renyi were nowhere to be seen. There were soldiers guarding inside and outside the house. There were several maids in uniform taking care of the sleeping baby.

"Has this become official now?" Xia Qingdai muttered to herself. Looking at the scene in front of her, she felt like she was making wedding dresses for others.

But she didn't do anything. Although this place was confiscated by the authorities, it seems to be mainly used to shelter and care for babies, so that's no big deal.

Anyway, Xia Qingdai's original intention of leaving these two buildings and food and milk powder behind was to adopt abandoned babies. As long as this goal is achieved, it doesn't matter who is responsible for management and maintenance. The Qing court can take over the management.

Originally, the issue of abandoned babies should be the government's business, so Xia Qingdai regarded these things as aid to the babies.

After leaving the capital tomorrow, without Owen to open the map, she will have no chance to come back. I hope these babies can grow up smoothly.

After leaving the Infant Shelter Tower, Xia Qingdai returned to the modern era. She was seen sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the fiberglass, counting Owen's gift list one by one.

Qianlong was very generous in rewarding foreign envoys. In addition to the gifts prepared for the King of England, everyone in the delegation also received corresponding gifts.

As a deputy envoy, Owen was highly appreciated by Emperor Qianlong and received gifts comparable to those given to the chief envoy Macartney and much richer than those given to another deputy envoy, Staunton.

Those teas are nothing, but the other exquisite porcelain and brocade are all treasures!

Xia Qingdai had already thought happily about it a long time ago. Those porcelains bestowed by the emperor, such as snuff bottles, bowls, plates and lacquerware, could be appreciated in her spare time, and sold as miniature carvings for money when she was poor. There would definitely be a market for them.

Not to mention the magnificent brocades produced by the palace, all of which can be brought into the modern era by using the textile bug!

These dragon satin, makeup satin, blue satin, hat satin, brown satin, plain satin, Japanese satin, silk, damask, Hangzhou silk, spun silk, large roll yarn, eight-silk satin, etc., are not things that ordinary people can buy. They are not available in modern times, and they were not circulated in the Qing Dynasty at the end of the 18th century. These are all fine products monopolized by royal relatives and nobles.

While Macartney used illness as an excuse to buy time to negotiate with Qing officials in the vain hope of completing his diplomatic mission for trade cooperation, Xia Qingdai asked Owen to invite the most skilled embroiderers in the capital to help cut and make several sets of Hanfu.

Later, when Qianlong heard that Owen was making Hanfu to give to his oriental cousin, he waved his hand and gave him two additional sets of ready-made dresses.

Just imagine how luxurious it is to be gifted by an embroiderer from the imperial court of the Qing Dynasty. Even those high-end Western dresses are far more expensive than this. Now that Xia Qingdai has enough money from selling songs, she is reluctant to sell this gift from the emperor and decides to keep it for her own collection.

As for the ready-made clothes that she asked Owen to hire from outside the palace, she did not plan to sell them. Instead, she prepared them as gifts for her grandparents, uncles, and aunts during the Chinese New Year. Of course, her brother's gift was the most important one.

The only clothes they sell are those purchased from ready-made clothing shops in the capital. Although from the fabric to the stitching, they are not as good as the imperial gifts, they are much more ingenious than those made with sewing machines today.

She bought the high-end ones from the clothing store, which were usually sold to the nobility. Ordinary people couldn't even see them, let alone buy them. The people in the store would never show them to ordinary people.

During her visit to Daqing, Xia Qingdai brought 30 sets of various Hanfu costumes with her, and then she would sell them on Xiaohongshu. Each set was priced at 30,000 or 40,000 yuan, and she could make a small seven-digit profit. The reason why she didn't bring more was because Wen Renyi was here and could replenish the stock.

After that, the British delegation went all the way south along the canal. They did not accomplish any political tasks, but they did do a lot of things in terms of recording the customs and folkways of the Qing Dynasty.

Macartney also bought a small batch of tea trees and handed them over to the botanists on the fleet to take care of.

Fortunately, they brought two more botanists with them on this mission, otherwise they would not have any professional talents. One of the botanists died within two months of their fleet’s departure.

In this era, it is very easy to lose one's life if one is not physically fit when traveling long distances across the ocean. The doctors on board are limited in their abilities and cannot be expected to save people from the brink of death.

So when they were really seriously ill, in addition to having their blood drained by the doctor, everyone on the ship knelt down and worshiped God, praying that the goddess of the Owen family would appear and save them.

Xia Qingdai did take action a few times. After everyone prayed devoutly and offered her the power of faith, she would take people's pulses and prescribe medicine in an invisible state.

It was normal that all the patients she helped were saved. They were just some serious diseases due to the lack of medical care and medicine, and they were vulnerable to modern medicine.

A few months later, Owen and his delegation, which were heading south along the inland canal, met up in Guangzhou with a large ship carrying gifts shipped over by sea.

Xia Qingdai's charity trip in the Qing Dynasty also ended with Owen's departure. During this period, whenever the delegation arrived at a place, Xia Qingdai would place a baby shelter in the county town.

In order to absorb the power of faith, she went to the West Lake Makeup Store to do ancient fairy makeup, and then went to a shopping mall in the city that had a 3D portrait printer and printed several three-dimensional sculptures of herself.

Not to mention, if you put it in the lobby of the Beiying Pagoda, there will really be people worshipping and it will gain some incense.

It’s just that maybe there aren’t enough people worshipping, and the time is not long enough. Once Owen leaves that area, Xia Qingdai will no longer receive any worship.

As for whether the spark can be rekindled in the long run in the future, only time can give the answer.

Fortunately, there is a good news, that is, the stone statue of the ancestor god in Wenrenyi Village has been standing firmly in the same place. The map area has not shrunk because of Owen's distance, which is better than Fucui Villa.

Also, Wen Renyi seemed to have become her spokesperson in the Qing Dynasty. As long as he offered incense to the "ancestor god", Xia Qingdai would be able to see him. Although the range was very narrow, it was also a wild map, which was better than nothing.

(End of this chapter)