385 Xuanyuan Ce (2)
After adding to his debt, he shamelessly spent more money to hire a carriage.
Pinellia and the others had also hired a carriage when they came over, so they only needed to hire one more carriage when they returned.
Perhaps because this was the docks, there were many merchants coming and going. The fee for traveling in this busy area was double, and cost an extra tael of silver.
Her heart ached so much that she added another ten taels to the IOU with a charcoal pen.
Seeing her add it, Eunuch Deng was so angry that he rolled his eyes and almost fainted.
However, he had no choice but to agree. He did not doubt that these people would abandon him without hesitation after bringing him here safely.
The group got into the carriage and left the docks. The white-haired man from before was still standing there, staring in the direction they had left.
“Your Highness?” the follower reminded him.
Xuanyuan Ce retracted his gaze indifferently and walked towards a carriage not far away.
July was the hottest time of the year, but there was no heat in the carriage at all, because there was an icebox in the carriage.
There were two holes above the ice box, from which endless cold air emitted. There were even some seasonal melons and fruits frozen inside.
Xuanyuan Ce was about to get into the carriage when he smelled an unpleasant smell.
Only then did he realize that he had been standing under the hot sun for nearly 15 minutes in these dirty clothes.
He frowned, took off his robe, and threw it to his follower. He instructed indifferently, “Burn it.”
The follower heaved a sigh of relief. If His Highness did not take off his clothes, he would start to wonder if someone had replaced him.
The carriage started moving in the direction of the capital.
In the carriage, Xuanyuan Ce fiddled with the piece of silver in his hand.
Every country would send envoys to congratulate Emperor Chong’an on his birthday.
He was out all year round and rarely returned to the capital of the Xuanyuan Kingdom. He typically wouldn’t have the time to attend the birthday banquet of the emperor of another country.
However, in February, he received a letter from his nephew, Xuanyuan Ziming.
Not only did he return to Feng City to take on this job, but he also set off a month earlier than the diplomatic mission.
They had specially made a detour to Xunyang City in Great Xia before coming to the capital. They had just arrived today.
There was still more than half a month until Emperor Chong’an’s birthday. Based on the time, the diplomatic party would only arrive in five to six days.
Pinellia briefly explained their situation in the capital to Shen Yijia.
The five of them entered the capital with the 500 taels of silver that Shen Yijia had given them.
Their eyes were opened to a whole new world.
Five hundred taels was a huge sum of money that they did not even dare to think about in the past. However, when they arrived in the capital, they realized that they were mistaken.
The rent of those shops was easily hundreds or thousands of taels a month. The so-called huge sum of money in their hands could only rent a small shop for a few months. They also had to pay a deposit.
The few of them thought that their young lady had grown up in the capital. It was impossible for her not to know the situation here.
In their minds, she clearly knew, but she still made such arrangements. There was only one possibility. She wanted to test them!
Thinking of this, the five of them, who had been so shocked that they doubted their whole lives, pulled themselves together, reinvigorated. They nibbled on steamed buns every day and asked around.
It was also because they were lucky that they heard that a family was going back to their hometown.
That family had a small shop. Because it was a little remote and the shop was small, they wanted to close it down and return to their hometown to do business.
The five of them took turns bargaining. In the end, they spent 400 taels of silver to buy the shop. They were left with 100 taels of silver.
The shop originally sold food, but the five of them were all mediocre in this aspect. If they continued to sell it, not to mention making money, they would probably be in a worse state than the original family.
However, there is always a way out.
Among the five of them, Indigo’s family used to sell alcohol for a living. She had helped out since she was young and learned this skill.
Therefore, they decided to turn it into a wine shop. At first, business was not very good, but the five of them focused on it and started selling a few fruit wines.
This business slowly started.
There was a small courtyard at the back of the shop. The few of them built a shed to brew wine there. At night, they slept on the ground in the shop.
Of course, Pinellia did not mention the hardships. She only told them about opening a wine shop and promised that although they had yet to earn back their capital, it would happen soon.
Shen Yijia expressed that she had no idea what was going on in the capital.
As for the test? There was none.
Back then, she had only spent more than a hundred taels of silver on that shop in Qingping Town. She thought that the 500 taels of silver she had given them was more than enough.
After hearing this, she did not react, but Pinellia thought that they had not met Shen Yijia’s expectations.
She secretly made up his mind to do better.
Madam Li was stunned and looked at Song Jingchen.
The latter had a calm expression.
Of course, the people who stayed by this girl’s side could not be too useless.
To enter the city, one had to register for a travel pass. There was a long line in front, so the carriage could only stop and wait.
Shen Yijia found the carriage stuffy and lifted the curtain to get some air.
As soon as the tall city gate appeared, the atmosphere in the car suddenly became oppressive.
It was summer when they left, and it was summer when they returned. It had only been two years, but it felt like a lifetime.
Shen Yijia carefully turned around and glanced at Madam Li and Song Jingchen’s expressions. She felt inexplicably depressed, but it wasn’t because of the heat.
By the time they entered the city, it was already midnight.
It was definitely too late to find a house today. In addition, everyone was exhausted.
They decided to find an inn to stay in first.
Pinellia said that they had already booked an inn. If not for the fact that they were afraid that Shen Yijia had other arrangements, they would have rented the house with the money in their hands.
They only needed to pay a deposit to reserve rooms in the inn. Even if they didn’t stay, the losses wouldn’t be too great.
They wanted to do their best. The inn they booked was also one of the best inns for travelers in the capital. It was on Chang’an Avenue.
Normally, if they returned with a team, one of them would enter the palace first to report to Emperor Chong’an.
They would then operate based on Emperor Chong’an’s arrangements. Unfortunately, they weren’t around, so Song Jingchen pretended to forget about this matter and stayed in the inn with a clear conscience.
Eunuch Deng stood outside and followed them in.
As he hesitated, Shen Yijia waved the IOU in front of him. Eunuch Deng shuddered and climbed back into the carriage to urge the coachman to leave quickly.
He wanted to look for Emperor Chong’an and cry about how poor he was and how difficult it had been for him.
Song Jingchen glanced in the direction he had left and said in a low voice, “Are you afraid?”
Shen Yijia hooked his finger and grinned at him. “Of course not. Didn’t we agree?”
Behind the scenes.
Pinellia thought, “Miss tested us.”
Shen Yijia thought to herself, “I didn’t. Don’t spout nonsense. It’s my husband that wanted to test
