Aoyama

Chapter 209: Fire, Sugar Man, Honey Three Knives
The East Market is bustling with cars and horses passing by and people walking around.

As the New Year is approaching, the streets are filled with people buying New Year's goods.

Vendors set up stalls along the street, some selling Spring Festival couplets, some selling paper flowers, gold banknotes, and candles for worshiping the City God, and some selling bacon, sausage, wind-fried chicken, and pressed duck, a dazzling array of goods.

Chen Ji was in the bustling city and suddenly felt like it was a festival. This was his first Spring Festival in this world... no, it should be called New Year's Day now.

Chen Ji walked in front, and Xiaoman followed behind, jumping and skipping.

He turned around and asked in confusion: "Why are you so happy?"

Xiao Man smiled and said, "After the young master went to the clinic, Wang Gui was angry at me for contradicting him, so he demoted me to a third-class maid. I can only take one day off every two months. And many times when I took a day off, Wang Gui ordered me to wash the chamber pot, trim the flowers and pick vegetables. I haven't left the house for a long time."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "Xiao Man, why did you sell yourself to the Chen family?"

Xiaoman answered easily, "My brother wanted to get married, but my family had no money, so my parents sold me to a trafficker when I was nine years old."

Chen Ji asked casually, "Who bought you into the Chen Mansion?"

Xiao Man said as a matter of course: "Aunt, you don't remember? I remember it very clearly. It was very cold that day. The trafficker put straw on our heads and led us to stand at the gate of the Beijing Livestock Farm. Aunt was just passing by and didn't plan to buy me because I was too young to work. But at that time, the trafficker beat and scolded me, and Aunt took pity on me and bought me back with two taels of silver."

On the street, Chen Ji dodged an old man carrying a candied haws stick and asked curiously, "Why did that man beat you?"

Xiaoman whispered, "At that time, a family wanted to buy me as a child bride. The trafficker said that I had a fair face and asked for seven taels of silver. The family disagreed and left. The trafficker got angry and beat and scolded me, saying that I didn't say nice and auspicious words to the family."

Chen Ji asked in confusion: "Hey, didn't he want seven taels? How come Auntie only spent two taels to buy you?"

Xiaoman smiled, revealing two small fangs: "Auntie is very smart and patient. She bargained for an hour and managed to reduce the price to four taels. Then Auntie found out that the human trafficker didn't have an official gift, so she ordered someone to arrest the human trafficker and put him in jail. The two taels were not for the human trafficker, but for the official..."

In the Ning Dynasty, pawnshops needed an "official license" to operate, otherwise they would go to jail.

Ning Law states: Buying and selling requires ya, and loading requires a port. If you don’t have ya, the goods will be weighed lightly and the goods will be fake. All yamens and boat docks in cities and villages should select people with business to serve as agents. The government will give a seal and a book with the residence, name, pass, name, and number of goods of the merchant and boat owner attached, and the official will check it every month.

Chen Ji was speechless for a moment. His biological mother, Mrs. Lu, bought a cheap maid and even sent the broker to jail. Xiao Man's shrewdness must have been learned from Mrs. Lu...

He looked at Xiaoman carefully, and after a moment he said, "Wait here for a while. I'll go do something."

Xiaoman said, "Sir, can you please remember this?"

"No."

"Good drop."

Chen Ji carried Wuyun away and went into a small alley, leaving Xiaoman standing there alone, looking around curiously, and finally his eyes fell on the donkey meat BBQ next door.

She looked at it for a long time and wanted to buy one to try, but she took out her purse several times and put it back into her waist, reluctant to do so.

Xiaoman just stood on the busy street, staring at them without any hesitation.

The guy at the fire-baked bread shop felt a little uncomfortable after being stared at by her for so long: "Little girl, you've been staring at me for so long, do you want to buy one?"

Xiaoman stared at Huoshao infatuatedly: "I've been looking at it for so long, can you give me one?"

The guy rolled his eyes and cursed in a low voice: "You are stupid."

At this time, under the shadow of the eaves of the alley, Chen Ji silently looked at Xiaoman's back and said to Wuyun: "There is no problem with her language logic. She doesn't seem to be lying, but she appeared too suddenly."

Wuyun meowed: "Do you think there's something wrong with her?"

Chen Ji thought: "There must be something wrong with her. I was walking alone, but she didn't follow me secretly. She just stood there waiting... Let's wait and see."

"What are you going to do today?"

“Buy ginseng.”

After saying that, he turned around and walked into the shadow of the alley with Wuyun in his arms.

On the other side, Xiaoman was looking around and a group of children around eight or nine years old were playing Cuju as they passed by her.

The children were unkempt, disheveled, and would bump into pedestrians from time to time when they were fighting for the ball. One child bumped into Xiaoman while running, and was about to leave without apologizing, but Xiaoman suddenly reached out, grabbed the child's index and middle fingers, and bent them downwards.

The child cried out in surprise and knelt down. He tried to struggle to get up, but Xiaoman held two of his fingers tightly, causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

But he looked fierce, and with his other hand he took out the blade under his tongue and cut towards Xiaoman's wrist.

With a snap, Xiaoman slapped the blade out of his hand and said angrily, "You are so young and don't learn well!"

The child was stunned for two breaths, and then he begged for mercy: "It hurts, it hurts, please spare my life, please spare my life, please."

Xiaoman looked around at the pedestrians, and seeing no trace of Chen Yi, she turned to look at the child: "You dare to steal my things, Xiaoman, do you want to die? Give me your purse!"

The child took out a light blue satin purse from his bosom and said, "Here you go."

Xiaoman let go of the man, put her hands on her waist, and said angrily: "Get lost!"

……

……

Dingchang Pawn Shop.

Chen Ji stepped over the threshold. Behind the tall counter, the old shopkeeper with white hair and beard squinted his eyes, looked out from the small hole, and said lazily: "What do you want to pawn... Oh, sir, why are you here!"

After saying that, the old shopkeeper jumped off the chair, opened the side door swiftly, and welcomed Chen Ji in.

He angrily shouted at the waiter, "What are you still standing there for? Show the master the tea."

Chen Ji waved his hand: "No need for tea, I have something else to do. How is the ginseng I asked you to collect for me? How many did you get?"

"Sir, please wait a moment," the old shopkeeper bent over and went to the side room, and together with the waiter brought back two long rosewood boxes. When they opened them, they saw forty ginsengs arranged inside, with their whiskers tied to red silk cloth with gold thread.

The old shopkeeper explained, "The master had previously instructed that after the Bailu Pavilion was sealed, the court would definitely sell off its property. I asked someone to help, and I seized 42 of them in one go!"

Chen Ji reached out his hand and gently stroked each ginseng in the air: "Are these all the stocks in Bailu Pavilion?"

The old shopkeeper looked embarrassed: "It's not easy for me to get so many. At such a low price of fifteen taels of silver per tube, many pharmacies are scrambling for it." Chen Ji hummed and pointed at two of them: "I don't want these two, I want all the rest."

The old shopkeeper was stunned: "Why don't you want it, sir?"

Chen Ji glanced at him and said, "The quality is not good."

The old shopkeeper was puzzled: "You are so sure that it is not of the right age just by holding out your hand? I have been running a pawnshop for more than 40 years and have never made a mistake with ginseng. I can tell at a glance whether this ginseng is cultivated or wild, and whether it is of the right age. It is definitely correct. You asked me to buy it at the beginning, how can you deny it after buying it? Although my pawnshop is small, it is backed by..."

Chen Ji stretched out his hand and passed it across the old shopkeeper's face: "Sixty-one years old."

The old shopkeeper's eyes widened: "You really have this ability, you can even find out my age?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Not only do I know your age, I also know that you have two sons working in the government office, one is a clerk and the other is a constable. Your son who is a constable often patrols the East Market Wharf and likes to take advantage of others and extort money. Do you want me to send someone to bring them here for questioning?"

The old shopkeeper was silent.

Chen Ji took out the string of Buddhist coins that Chen Wenzong had given him from his bosom and said, "Forty ginseng sticks, each worth fifteen taels, a total of six hundred taels. Here I have one thousand seven hundred taels of silver in Buddhist coins."

The old shopkeeper said, "Please wait a moment."

After that, he took out a string of Buddhist coins from the storeroom in the backyard and said, "Sir, this coin is worth one thousand and one hundred taels."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Chen Ji asked casually: "Is this Buddhist Tongbao real or fake? Is it one thousand one hundred taels? Are you kidding me?"

The old shopkeeper glanced at him cautiously. How come this gentleman didn't even know about this? Could he have just become an official?

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Look, this Tongbao has a total of eighteen beads. The first six represent which temple it came from, the middle six represent who it was given to, making it easier to trace its origin, and the last six represent the amount."

The shopkeeper continued, "One of the anti-counterfeiting methods of this Tongbao is that the first six, middle six, and last six were carved by fixed monks assigned by Luocheng Tuola Temple, Jingcheng Yuanjue Temple, and Jinling Qixia Temple respectively, and the strokes of a pen or a knife cannot be imitated.

At this point, the shopkeeper took out a glass magnifying glass and pointed it at the Buddhist beads: "The second is the secret seal. If you look closely, there are actually extremely tiny scriptures engraved on this Tongbao. More than a hundred words occupy a space as small as a grain of rice. Most people can't do it. And the scriptures corresponding to these more than a hundred words are only known to Buddhists... In short, once you get this Tongbao in your hands, it's easy to tell the real from the fake. The texture is completely different."

Chen Ji understood that in ancient times, Shanxi merchants also used special people to write to prevent counterfeiting of silver bills, which was not uncommon.

As for the micro-carving technology, it is just like the banknotes he used. Touch the raised dots of the Braille, look at the watermark, and then touch the material. The real banknotes and fake banknotes are easy to identify because the texture is different.

He thought for a moment: "If someone also mastered the technique of micro-carving, wouldn't it be..."

The shopkeeper panicked: "Sir, be careful with your words. You must not let the Buddhist sect know about this idea. Besides, nowadays, those who can do micro-carving in the world have been captured and become monks. This skill has been lost among the people!"

Chen Ji smiled, picked up the two wooden boxes and went out: "Don't be afraid, it's just a joke."

By the time he met Xiaoman, he had nothing in his hands.

Chen Ji bought two donkey meat hot pots and handed them to Xiao Man: "Eat it."

Xiaoman's eyes sparkled: "Did you buy this for me, Master?"

"if not?"

Xiaoman took the fire and took a big bite with a smile on her face. She asked with a bulging mouth, "Master, can you remember this?"

"can."

……

……

It's quiet at night.

Chen Ji had fallen asleep on the bed, and the dark cloud was nowhere to be seen.

Li Qiu's cough was heard outside Mingquan Garden. Xiaoman, who was curled up on a small bench guarding the charcoal brazier, opened her eyes immediately. She stood up, unbolted the door, and squeezed out through the crack in the door.

Li Qiu pulled her aside and said, "I heard from people in the mansion that the Third Young Master took you out of the mansion today?"

Xiaoman hummed.

Li Qiu asked again: "Have you written down everything?"

Xiaoman took out a folded paper from her sleeve and said, "Here, I've written it down."

Li Qiu was overjoyed, and quickly unfolded the paper, muttering in a low voice: "On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-first year of Jianing, the young master took Xiaoman to the East Market."

"Young Master bought donkey meat hotpot for Xiaoman."

"Young Master bought candied haws for Xiao Man."

"Young Master bought a candy man for Xiao Man."

"Young Master bought three honey knives for Xiaoman."

"Xiao Man still wants to eat peach cake, but Master won't let her."

beginning of autumn:"?"

She raised her head and said expressionlessly: "What are you memorizing?"

Xiaoman burped happily: "Sister Liqiu, just tell me if it's detailed enough."

Li Qiu frowned: "It's detailed enough, but I didn't remember anything important. Are you kidding me?"

Xiaoman said aggrievedly: "That's all that happened today. I wrote down everything. If there are other things in the future, I will definitely write them down as well. Don't worry, Sister Liqiu, I won't fool you no matter who I try to fool."

"Okay, you still have some conscience," Li Qiu turned and left. Xiaoman slowly restrained his smile behind her, turned back to the house, and closed the door tightly.

She glanced at the traces on the bed, then pinched a few honey pills from the table and stuffed her mouth with them, then sat back on the small stool and took a nap.

On the small path of Chen Mansion, Li Qiu walked quickly with his head down, looking left and right from time to time, for fear of being seen.

After passing through several hanging flower gates, Li Qiu came to a corner of the wall and coughed lightly a few times. When she heard coughing sounds outside the wall, she threw the ball of paper in her hand out and hurried back to Qunfang Garden.

(End of this chapter)