Chapter 53 Leaving the House
A luxurious carriage was slowly driving along the streets of the bustling commercial district in Pingyang City, followed by a dozen maids, old women and servants. It was obviously the master of a wealthy family traveling. Pedestrians on both sides of the street stopped to watch, consciously standing on both sides to make way for the carriage, and talking about it:
"Look at this car, wow, it's as luxurious as it can be. Look at the maids following behind, each one looks like they came out of a painting, more beautiful than fairies. I wonder how beautiful this lady is?"
"Look how envious you are. This car alone is as big as the three shabby thatched houses in your house. Do you know who this is?"
"I really don't know, who is it?"
"See that crescent moon on the car? It's a unique mark of the Xiao Mansion. I wonder which concubine of the Xiao Mansion it is?"
"Aunt? An aunt can be so dignified, and she needs so many people to follow her? That's fucking awesome!"
"Of course, they are from a noble family. They are rich! This is called showing off. Why wasn't I born into such a family?"
…
In the car, Mengxi gently lifted the curtain and looked out. She was finally out of the house, and she felt happy. It seemed that breathing the air of Pingyang City could make her feel comfortable. Mengxi thought that the ancient people did not value business, and the streets would not be too prosperous. When she got out, she realized that she really underestimated the ancients. Looking at the bustling crowds around her and the shouts of buyers on both sides of the road, she thought to herself that this trip was really the right one...
It turned out that after Mengxi learned about the ancestral precepts of the Xiao family, she knew that she would not be able to escape the fate of being divorced, so she began to make plans for herself secretly. She had read all the time-travel novels on Qidian. Those time travelers made glass, gunpowder, soap and other new things that only appeared in later generations, and made a lot of money and became very talented. But when it came to her, she really couldn't do it. She didn't have the business mind at all, and she didn't graduate from a business college in her previous life. She wanted to use the time travelers' understanding of history to become a prophet, but she found that she had traveled to a chaotic time and space. She knew nothing about it, and finally had no choice but to face the facts. She, a doctor of medicine, had nothing but medicine. In Da Qi, there was no precedent for women practicing medicine. She also understood that "extraordinary people are demons" and was afraid that if she showed too much medical talent, she would be regarded as a demon and burned to death, so she also stuck to her duties and dared not make any mistakes.
She was not an ambitious person. She just wanted to live a quiet and simple life. She didn't need too much money, just enough to spend. But she eventually discovered that in ancient times, in this world where men were superior to women, it was simply impossible for a woman to make money. It was really difficult, harder than climbing to heaven, except in brothels, of course.
Finally, she remembered that Zhiqiu mentioned that day that her father and brother both ran a pharmacy, which made her eyes light up. Yes, she studied medicine in her previous life, majoring in pharmacy. Why not she pay money and provide materials to let them run the business for her outside the Xiao Mansion? But she didn't know what the market in Pingyang City was like. In her memory, the ancient times emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, and there were scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, and commerce was the least developed. She didn't know if this pharmacy could be opened in Pingyang City. She had to come out and investigate before she could feel at ease.
Only then did she anxiously ask the old lady for permission and left the house despite the pressure from the second master and her mother-in-law. She said that this was called market research and she didn't have much time. She had to find a place to stay in Pingyang City before the Xiao family discovered that she was a concubine's daughter.
What gave Mengxi a headache was that she was surrounded by a bunch of people, saying that they were worried that something might happen to her. Mengxi knew that they were spies in various courtyards. Whatever she did today would be known to the higher-ups in the mansion tomorrow. Thinking of this, she lost all desire to go shopping and secretly planned to find a way to sneak out of the mansion and be alone with Zhiqiu in the future.
After symbolically visiting two or three silk shops, Mengxi turned her main attention to the pharmacy. Every time she saw a pharmacy, she ordered the driver to stop the car. Everyone waited outside while she and Zhiqiu went in. Hongzhu and others wanted to follow, but she stopped them with various excuses.
What a joke! If Hongzhu and others knew what she talked about with the shopkeepers of various pharmacies, she would have no chance of opening her own pharmacy. After visiting several pharmacies, Mengxi discovered that the pharmacies here only sold Chinese herbal medicines. There were almost no pills or the like. There were only a few kinds in one pharmacy, and the prices were ridiculously high. The shopkeeper said that the pills were a secret recipe of their family that had been passed down from generation to generation, and there was no other family that could make them in Pingyang. Moreover, only the respectable people in the palace and wealthy families could afford them. It was good enough for ordinary people to be able to afford medical treatment.
This made Mengxi see a glimmer of business opportunity. She thought of the common medicines in her previous life, such as Niuhuang Jiedu Pills, Niuhuang Shangqing Pills, Liuwei Dihuang Pills, and Wuji Baifeng Pills. She might as well try to formulate some of them, give them new and resounding names, and sell them at a lower price specifically to ordinary people. Wouldn't that be a great gain in both fame and fortune? She could then formulate some high-end products and sell them to dignitaries to make huge profits. As she was thinking about it, Mengxi seemed to see piles of silver bills flying towards her. She couldn't stop them, and she grinned and laughed out loud.
"Second Grandma, what's wrong?"
Zhiqiu, who was sitting in the car with her, saw the second grandmother laughing without any image and asked hurriedly.
"Nothing, I just remembered something funny."
"Second Madam, it's almost noon, where do you think we should eat?"
"We only have so little money. Is it enough for so many people to eat?"
Mengxi frowned when she heard that they were going to have lunch. She really didn't know how much money a meal in Pingcheng cost. She was very short of money money in two halves. Zhiqiu looked at her as if she was an idiot:
"Second Madam, there are Xiao family properties everywhere in Pingyang City. We can just find a place to eat. Why should we pay money?"
"Yes, yes, why didn't I think of it? I have such a good identity but I can eat and drink for free. When did our Zhiqiu become so smart?"
Mengxi said this jokingly, but Zhiqiu ignored her, raised her hand, stopped the driver, and told him to find a restaurant run by the Xiao family for lunch.
After the group finished lunch, Mengxi frowned as he saw so many people following him. After thinking for a while, he instructed Hongzhu who was following him:
"Hongzhu, you and Zhixia and Zhidong go walk around here and wait for me around 3 p.m. Zhiqiu, Zhichun and I will go somewhere else."
"Second Madam, I can't do that. Second Master ordered me to stay with you. If anything happens to you, I won't be able to bear the consequences. Let's stay together. I don't have much to do anyway."
Hongzhu waved her hands repeatedly after hearing what Second Grandma said. Zhixia and Zhidong were also unwilling, but when they saw the look Second Grandma gave them, they suddenly understood that Second Grandma wanted to take Zhiqiu to see her brother and wanted to get rid of Hongzhu and others, so they kept silent.
"Zhiqiu and Zhichun, what could go wrong if they follow me? How could they get lost in such a big city like Pingyang?"
"Then Second Madam must be careful and must return here at 5 p.m. It's too late and will make Second Master unhappy again."
Hongzhu saw that the Second Madam insisted . She was the most powerful one here, and she also knew that the Second Madam had the right idea and even the Second Master couldn't change it. So she had to give her consent reluctantly after repeated warnings.
Mengxi nodded and said she understood. She left some silver for Zhixia and Zhidong to use, then got in a carriage with Zhiqiu and Zhichun, and took four servants with them, making a circle all the way to Zhiqiu's house.
