Translator: churnie
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Qiu Xing coquettishly wrinkling her nose. “There is nothing to buy, we don’t need anything.”
“You don’t understand this.” Qiu Lan obviously has young face but her expression is very mature, she says a sentence at a time, “Rong Hu said, there are many good things in the Tong Kingdom that you can’t see anywhere else. The most famous is the cloth……”
Qiu Yue says with a smile, “What’s so rare about cloth? The cabins are piled up in hills, everything is top-notch, silk satin, it’s okay for you to pick one and make a dress, Duke Ming must be agree, right?” The last sentence is directed to ask Feng Ming.
Feng Ming smiles and nods. He couldn’t bear to see Qiu Lan’s disappointment, so he’s amiably follow up. “But the market should be very lively, even if you don’t buy clothes, it’s good to hang out.”
Qiu Lan says, “Of course I know we have the finest cloth here. But the most surprising thing about the cloth of the Tong Kingdom is the dyeing, there is a color called Emperor Purple which is really astonishingly beautiful, I heard that other places can’t dye it, only the cloth workshop master of the Tong Kingdom can do it.”
The girl are mostly curious about the clothing and jewelry, they are immediately became interested in Qiu Lan’s words.
“Hey!” Qiu Yue says, “Why don’t you say it earlier? I have also heard of Emperor Purple, i didn’t expect it to be the place where I stood under my feet.”
Qiu Xing also shouts with widened eyes. “I don’t know what Emperor Purple is, but when it comes to the good stuff of the Tong Kingdom, I also think of one, there is something called what -men ah? A top trade waiting list rouge gouache. What is it called ah?”
Qiu Lan said with shame, “How do I know? I am only listening to Rong Hu, that’s why I have to go to the market…” she inclines her eyes and squints at Feng Ming, giving a pitiful cute look.
Feng Ming laughed loudly. “Okay! Okay! It’s so decided, let’s shopping in the market!”
Suddenly, a delicate shout is heard on the deck.
****************************
After determining the target, a large number of people are transferred from the ship to the shore.
The horse ate the fresh and delicious grass on the shore, had long been flinging its tail, waiting for the owner. As soon as Feng Ming and other get on the horse, the whip swayed in the air, the horse neighing in a high spirit, and powerfully rushed forward.
The Xiao family’s Young Master, the maids, the guards, no less than thirty or forty people run toward Tong pond city, as if infected by the joy of their youthful blood, even the sun shine brightly.
After entering the city, they can no longer run wildly, they each bound on their own mounts.
In every capital city of a big country, business is generally more prosperous, with more wealthy people.
Especially the satin cloth shop, no more or less, if not where will those bigwigs madams and misses spend their pocket money?
The larger shops are basically concentrated in a street, a bit like a modern commercial pedestrian street, selling clothes, selling rouge gouache, selling jewelry, selling gold and silverware, and more mouth-watering snacks.
Feng Ming and Qiu Yue have been off the horses, and handed over the horses to the guards, a group of people are wandering in front of them.
There are many strange items that too much for their eyes to take in, Feng Ming repeatedly praises, “I didn’t expect to pass through the prosperous market of the Tong Kingdom, wow, there are so many things.” In his impression, he always felt that Xirei is stronger than the Tong Kingdom and the business of the capital city of the Tong Kingdom must be inferior to Xirei.
(t/n: 目不暇接 too much for the eye to take in (idiom); a feast for the eyes)
It’s not that way.
After looking for a local person to ask, Mian ya comes back and asks a few girls. “Do you want to look at the rouge gouache first, or the clothes first?”
“Rouge!”
“Gouache!”
“Clothes!”
The delicate voices repeating continuously.
Mian Ya’s gesture shows his good temperament, makes the crowd of excited birds quiet down, give them a very good news, “It’s pretty much the same where you go first, the person told me that the best rouge gouache shop is called Fu He Men and The best cloth shop is called Fu Qi Men, and the two are next to each other.”
Qiu Yue and others are very happy, surrounding Feng Ming in the middle, and eagerly ask Mian Ya where’s the place to go.
These two shops must have a great reputation, just look at the grandeur of the shop is extraordinary, look from afar, the signboards hung high and eye-catching, the wooden signboards are coated with a layer of gold paint, which is illuminated by the sun. People who are even across the street can look up and see the words above.
Feng Ming and others advance to the Fu Qi Men to buy clothes.
Qiu Yue and Qiu Xing are particularly excited, when they step into the door, they shout at various clothes on the long table and hang on the wall, “so beautiful!”
“Qiu Xing, you look at the blue one, how come i have never seen it before, actually so fresh and lively color…”
“Don’t look at that color, come on, is this the Emperor Purple that Qiu Lan said?”
Qiu Xing calls, as if she found a treasure in the expedition, suddenly attract Qiu Yue, Qiu Lan and all over, several people staring at the cloth, several tender white hands greedily touched the rare colors.
“The purple is so beautiful.”
Feng Ming walked over to join the fun and had to admit that the color is indeed rare. “It seems that I have never seen such purple anywhere else, the color is gentle and generous.” He touches the cloth. “There is nothing special about the material, it’s estimated that it’s the method of dyeing is different?”
“This Young Master is right.” An old voice suddenly comes in.
The people look up.
The person who just spoke is an old man, his hair and eyebrows are all white, he looks at least seventy. In this era of underdeveloped medical care, it can be considered as a high life. He’s holding a cane, slowly comes out from the inside, walking unsteadily, he pants while walking, next to him is a short man who looks like a servant, carefully guarding him. “Master, be careful.”
Although the old man is old, but he has clear articulation, he says word by word, it sounds so comfortable too. “Old Fu Tong is merely the shopkeeper of the small shop. Young Master please sit down, the material of this thing, look slowly in the place where the sun shines. Even if you don’t buy it, you can see it comfortably.” He has been in the clothes business all his life, at a glance he can see Feng Ming is a big customer, that’s why he came out to personally greeted him.
Feng Ming of course can’t be fussy with his impeccable response, with a slight smile he give him a little salute to respect the elders. With a smile on his face, he made a generous and modest self-introduction, ” Feng Ming from Xiao Family.”
Fu Tong’s eyes wide opened, the layers of wrinkles on his face seem to straighten with surprise, “Xiao Family Young Master? Ah! Ah…” He has already sat down, subconsciously pressing his cane to stand up and see the tall guards who had almost occupied the door of his house, he mutters, “No wonder, no wonder, I am wondering, it turned out to be the people of the Xiao family. Xiao Young Master please sit down.”
The old man has been in the business for many years and has veteran experience, however he calms down for a while and asks Feng Ming to sit down again.
He doesn’t know that the Young Master of the famous merchant in the world who is looked forward to is coming by, it’s invigorated his spirit, the old man suddenly becomes a lively dragon and animated tiger, he told the servants to serve the tea and to find the manager of the store, he stretches his neck and shouts. “Quickly! Go get the keys and open the storeroom. Take all the good clothes.”
(t/n: 生龙活虎 lively dragon and animated tiger (idiom): vigorous and lively)
Feng Ming on the contrary feels embarrassed. “Old man, we just come and stroll around…”
(T/n: the Old Man 老人家 is use as a polite term to call old man or woman)
Fu Tong waves his hand and asks Feng Ming not to talk first. He ordered the purple cloth that discovered by Qiu Xing just then to be brought over.
“Xiao Young Master, you just boast that this purple cloth looks good, right?”
“En.”
There’s a hint of slyness on the smile that appeared on Fu Tong’s old face, “The common people call this color “Emperor Purple”. Actually, what is this Emperor Purple?”
Qiu Yue and other maids are deeply fascinated by the color, they are surprised to hear this master of Fu Tong.
Qiu Yue asks, “Fu Tong old shopkeeper, are you saying this is not Emperor Purple?”
Fu Tong pinches a few of his white beards and smiles. “It can’t be said that it isn’t.”
“Uh?”
“This cloth is not the long-waited Emperor Purple, the raw material is not good, and the dyed color is not very good-looking. The real Emperor Purple is much more beautiful than this.”
“Real Emperor Purple? Is there any more beautiful purple than this?” Qiu Xing curiously says, “Then it’s really going to be knowledgeable, Old man, you must have it here, right?”
Fu Tong mysteriously laughs.
By this time, the housekeeper has opened the storeroom and leads several servants each holding a few clothes coming with panting.
Fu Tong turns his head, he says to the housekeeper with trembling. “You, go and open the small closet in the storeroom and hold the Emperor Purple out.”
The housekeeper is surprised, it seems that he didn't expect the old shopkeeper to ask such a thing, it took a while before he turning back to the storeroom.