Chapter 33 The shop
After Chen Hui returned to her own room, she didn’t want to go out no matter what. She felt that her chest couldn’t stand a second ravage in such a short time.
Xiao Tiao didn’t know what had happened in the main room. Seeing that Chen Hui’s complexion wasn’t good, she was little worried but she didn’t have the guts to ask. She could only guess that master had vented his anger on Lady Chen and felt very distressed.
Chen Hui asked Xiao Tiao to go out and get something to eat for her. The moment Xiao Tao left, she pulled off her clothes and took a look. She felt so much heartache that she wanted to cry. Last time, it was just a few squeezes, but this time, he really squeezed a long time back and forth. She almost groaned in pain at that time. She just simply felt that it would be too weird to say something under such circumstance. So, she forcibly endured it.
She touched her own hand and felt that she was too naïve for thinking that she had gotten a small advantage from touching Li youde’s face. In comparison, she had suffered a huge loss! What worries her more was whether this will happen again in the future? In case he has this kind of demand again, does she refuse strictly or ask him to be gentler?
Until then, she really couldn’t make up her mind.
Fortunately, Li Youde didn’t do anything for the rest of the day. Chen Hui hid in her room for dinner and went to bed early.
When Chen Hui woke up the next day, Li Youde had already gone to the palace. Xiao Liu said that Li Youde would stay in the palace for the next few days to supervise the progress of the project.
Chen Hui was secretly pleased that she could happily play when Li Youde was not here. Because of Li Youde’s request, Chen Hui must bring Xiao Liu when going out. So, when she got up, Chen Hui informed Xiao Liu that they were going out.
Between Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu, Chen Hui naturally preferred Xiao Wu who was easier to fool. It seemed that Li Youde was also very clear about the personality of these two. Therefor, he let Xiao Liu follow her instead of Xiao Wu. Chen Hui felt that she was a very well-behaved person and would definitely not cause trouble for Li Youde. So, it made no difference to her whether she was followed by Xiao Wu or Xiao Liu.
Chen Hui first asked Xiao Liu to drive to Full of Hope Bookstore. When Xiao Liu went to set up the carriage, she let Xiao Tiao go into it first.
Chen Hui had only been here two days ago. The clerk at the bookstore would naturally not have forgotten her. He immediately greeted her with a smile, “Lady Chen, you have come?”
Chen Hui laughed, “I’ll just have a look. You can continue busy yourself.”
The clerk was also tactful. He hurriedly retired and went to inform the shopkeeper.
It was the first time that Xiao Tiao came here. She looked around curiously and whispered, “Lady, it turns out that a bookstore looked like this. So amazing…”
Chen Hui quietly whispered in Xiao Tiao’s ears, “Look at these scholars. Which one do you think looks best?”
Xiao Tiao blushed, “Lady…what, what are you talking about?!”
Chen Hui smiled and said, “It is not illegal to look. Moreover, only you and I know about this. Don’t be shy. Let me do it first then. I think the scholar in white over there looks the best.”
What Chen Hui referred to was a scholar with a clear, bright and gentle face. From his clothes, it could be seen that he didn’t come from a very rich household, but a gentle and reserved aura came from his body, making the people who looked at him feel very comfortable.
Xiao Tiao shyly followed Chen Hui’s sight. Unexpectedly, after just one glance, the other party looked over, frightening her that she quickly hid behind Chen Hui and said in panic, “Lady, we have been found out by the gentleman!”
Chen Hui didn’t know what to say and sighed. This kind of peeping and being caught was a trivial matter to her. It would be fine as long as she pretended to be nonchalant. It was really 300 silver taels not hidden here with such a big reaction from Xiao Tiao.
- 300 silver taels not hidden here: to reveal what one intends to hide
Chen Hui slightly nodded with a natural expression at the scholar who looked over here.
That scholar was slightly stunned. Then, he also nodded slightly with a shallow smile on his face.
Chen Hui turned her gaze away. It was just as simple as two strangers who had accidentally met and greeted each other. Then, she whispered to Xiao Tiao, “Xiao Tiao, it doesn’t matter. Calm down. What can he do even if he discovered that we are stealing glances from him? Beat us?”
Xiao Tiao poked her head out, looked at Chen Hui and said hesitantly, “That gentleman doesn’t look like someone who would beat people…”
“Then, isn’t it fine?” Chen Hui said dryly, “Look, do you have any books you want to read? Anyway, it is all mine. You can choose anything you want!”
Xiao Tiao said awkwardly, “But Lady, this slave is illiterate…”
Chen Hui said, “Teach yourself. Reading makes me happy!”
Xiao Tiao nodded ignorantly and really ran to choose a book. As for what she would choose, no one knew…
Chen Hui also flipped through the books slowly. When she came here last time, there were only some scholars in the bookstore. However, this time, she found that there were also some women hanging around here with their maids. In other words, the prevention of men and women being in the same place was not so strict in this era.
Last time, when Chen Hui took a fleeting glance, she didn’t see the whole picture. This time, she looked more meticulously. She also intended to take some books back. She couldn’t do embroidery and designing every day would also not do. She also wanted to find some books to read to understand this era a bit more. As she skimmed over the books, she suddenly discovered a book called <Talking about ancient times and investigating the present time>. She curiously reached out for it. Who would’ve known that someone was one step faster and took that book before her?
Chen Hui looked up. That person was actually the scholar who she thought was the most handsome before.
That scholar seemed to be a bit embarrassed and quickly put the book back. He smiled at Chen Hui and said, “A gentleman won’t take away what another likes. Lady, after you.”
Chen Hui has no status in Li residence and she also didn’t done a special hairstyle. So, she hasn’t put on a wife’s hairstyle yet. When others see her, they would just think that she was still an unmarried girl.
- Women before fifteen have another hairstyle. After fifteen, they would have the hairstyles of unmarried girls and when they marry or become a concubine, they would have the hairstyles of married women.
“Gentleman, after you. Anyway, I don’t understand it. I was just flipping through it casually,” Chen Hui smiled. She had no intention of chatting with him and was about to leave.
When that scholar saw that she was about to leave, he seemed to have become a bit anxious and said hurriedly, “Lady, this humble one is Qi Shengwen, what is Lady’s…?”
Chen Hui raised an eyebrow, pointed at the bookstore and said, “Gentleman Qi, I am the boss of this bookstore. My surname is Chen, the Chen with the ‘ear’ radical and the character for ‘east’.”
- The character Chen (陈) is written by combining the ear radical (阝) and the character east (东)
Qi Shengwen was surprised and said with some embarrassment, “This humble didn’t know before…this humble one has offended lady. Lady Chen, this humble one doesn’t have other meaning.”
It seemed that he was afraid that Chen Hui would think that he came to claim connections with her.
Chen Hui said that just to end the topic as soon as possible. After hearing that, she just smiled. She thought, if she told him that she is now Li Youde’s, a eunuch’s woman, she wondered what expression this young man who had mustered up the courage to strike up a conversation would make,
“Gentleman Qi, take your time in selecting. I will leave first,” Chen Hui said politely.
Qi Shengwen seemed to want to say more, but Chen Hui’s put the attitude of keeping people a thousand miles away. Naturally, it wasn’t good for him to keep her from leaving.
When Chen Hui walked away from Qi Shengwen, Xiao Liu had just come in from the outside. She glanced once at him. She didn’t know whether Xiao Liu had seen her talking to Qi Shengwen. In fact, she was a good person. She didn’t want to get this good-looking brother into trouble. If he gets involved with someone with her identity, nothing good will come out from it for him. Fortunately, people in this era were quite reserved, especially scholars. Not many would keep entangling.
After this incident, Chen Hui didn’t want to stay here any longer. She could retreat now after she came here and showed her sovereignty. She helped Xiao Tiao select a few books for beginners, informed the clerk and left.
She was just passing by the bookstore. The place where Chen Hui wanted to go the most was still Li Clan’s Cloth Shop. She brought her design drafts. She was gong to select some fabrics to take back. Afterwards, she would let the tailor come over and instruct the other party on how to make the clothes according to her design. After the tailor become proficient, it would be easier. She would give her designs to the tailor and let the tailor to it her/himself. After it was done, she would take a quick look. If there was no problem, it could be displayed in the cloth shop. When she thought about that she could have a one-person exhibition, Chen Hui’s heart was filled with expectations and her mood soaring.
Chen Hui felt very excited at the thought that perhaps she might be able to become a famous designer in this era. Just when she was thinking happily, suddenly there was kind of uncoordinated commotion on the street ahead.
Chen Hui immediately stopped walking and looked nervously at the reactions of the surrounding people. Seeing that everyone was composed and even stood in a circle to watch with a bit of curiosity, she also became at ease. It was not a large-scale mass incident, so, she didn’t have to be afraid to lose her head when joining in with the fun.
Everyone has curiosity and the road ahead was the only way for Chen Hui to get to the cloth shop. So, she walked slowly forward.
As they got closer, the people who had been walking in this direction had gradually stopped. It seemed that they were afraid to bring disaster to the fish in the moat. As a result, the center of the incident was almost empty. Only those involved were there. Because of this, Chen Hui could also clearly see what was going on.
- Bring disaster to the fish in the moat: innocent bystanders get into trouble in a disturbance
She saw a young girl adorned in red standing in front of the carriage. In front of her lay someone who was hurdled together. It looked like an old woman. Just as Chen Hui caught the scene before her eyes, she saw the girl in red raise her whip and gave the old woman a hard whipping. Chen Hui shook with the scream of the woman and took a step back subconsciously.
The red-clothed girl glanced vigorously at the people around her. She didn’t have any embarrassment on her face because of being looked at. Her eyes swept across them provocatively.
Everyone avoided her sight. Looking at her clothes and the two sturdy men standing behind her, everyone knew that this girl was not easy to provoke.
Chen Hui felt that she was also someone who bullies the weak and fears the strong. It was better not to get involved in this kind of hard stubble. After looking at the old woman, the foot that was about to retreat was pinned again. She felt so much regret. Why did she have to go out and watch this commotion? Now that she was watching so lively, how could she retreat?
She asked Xiao Liu in a low voice, “Little Liu, do you recognize her?”
Although Xiao Liu was slick and sly, he usually rarely followed Li Youde out to handle matters, so, he also didn’t know many people. Hearing Chen Hui’s question, he said, “This little one doesn’t know. Lady, it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble…”
Before Xiao Liu finished speaking, the girl in red raised her whip again. Chen Hui suddenly stepped forward and asked with a smile, “Can I ask what lady’s name is?”
She had decided that if the other party’s identity was someone that Li Youde couldn’t afford to offend, she would withdraw. If he could afford it, she would meddle in other people’s business.
The red-clothed girl didn’t expect someone to stop her. She looked over and saw Chen Hui. She raised her chin and said proudly, “I’m Commandery Princess Shuning. Who are you?”
- Commandery Princess (郡主, junzhu) is the princess of third rank. It was a title usually bestowed to the eldest legitimate daughter of the prince of first rank (wangye).
Commandery Princess Shuning…Chen Hui put her attention on the words Commandery Princess. Commandery Princess. The daughter of a prince of first rank? That was the emperor’s relatives. Although, Li Youde was a Chief Eunuch, but he wasn’t as powerful as the Department of Rites. Thinking like this…can’t afford to offend, can’t afford to offend!
Chen Hui smiled brightly, “Commandery Princess, my surname is Chen. It is not important who I am. What is important is that Commandery Princess looked very beautiful when wielding the whip just now.”
Hearing Chen Hui praise her, Commandery Princess Shuning didn’t know what Chen Hui’s intentions were, but she still showed a smug smile on her face and asked, “So what?”
Chen Hui took a few steps closer and smiled, “I won’t hide it form you. I’m an owner of a cloth shop. I’m trying to make some trendy clothes. When I saw princess’s heroic appearance, I suddenly got inspiration. There is a riding attire that seemed to be tailor-made for you. Your unique aura coupled with my riding attire is bound to stun everyone. Like a crane in a flock of chickens, it is enough to capture everyone’s attention.”
[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]
