The Chinese New Year was approaching. There was a lot of business in the court, and things at home were also keeping everyone busy. Everyone in the Gu family was occupied, except for the sick Old Madam Gu and Gu Liyue.
Gu Liyue was used to getting up early and never missed the morning and evening visits to pay respects to the elders. At first, the old madam advised her not to get up so early to pay respects, but later, seeing that she wouldn't listen, she simply made an excuse that she wasn't feeling well and couldn't get up, so she told her not to come.
There was no need for her to do embroidery anymore. Gu Liyue just read books and played with the cats. She really had nothing to do.
It was Mrs. Qin who, seeing Gu Liyue sitting in a daze on the corridor, worried that she would get sick from boredom. So she asked her son, Gu Chengzhi, to take Gu Liyue to stroll around the capital.
Back at the Jiang family, Gu Liyue would go out to play with Jiang Yingyue. But she never just wandered around. Once they got to a place, she would sit in a corner. No matter how much the noble ladies there mocked her, she never retorted.
Come to think of it, she was really not familiar with the streets and alleys of the capital.
When the carriage stopped, Gu Chengzhi helped Gu Liyue out. She found that they were on a bustling street with people coming and going. But it seemed that she had never been here before.
"Where is this?"
Gu Chengzhi explained, "This is the busiest street in the capital."
Gu Liyue frowned and thought for a while before saying, "But before, Jiang Yingyue took me to Mingzheng Street. She said that was the most magnificent street in the capital, with all kinds of shops."
Gu Chengzhi shook his head with a smile. "She's right, but also wrong. Mingzheng Street is indeed the most magnificent, but it's not the busiest. Haven't you noticed that there aren't many people on that street? There are only carriages going there and then stopping in front of each shop. Everything is booked in advance. Once someone goes there, the shop won't receive other customers."
Gu Liyue thought about it and found that it was indeed the case.
Gu Chengzhi added, "Moreover, most of the time, those shops don't even open. They directly send the newly acquired good goods to each mansion for the masters to choose. Others can't even take a look."
"Is this what they call hoarding rare goods for profit?" Gu Liyue asked.
Gu Chengzhi reached out and tugged at his younger sister's hair bun. "My sister is really smart. If you want to go shopping, this is the best place. This is a famous pedestrian street. No carriages or horses are allowed to pass. Whether it's ordinary people or high - ranking officials, they all have to walk here."
Gu Liyue looked curiously at the street. There were crowds of people, even more than the people she saw when she went to the market with Yunniang in Yangxin Town.
The shops here sold all kinds of things. There were many that Gu Liyue saw for the first time, and she found them extremely novel. However, many shops had price tags on their goods. Gu Liyue was secretly shocked when she saw the prices of those things.
She had lived in the inner courtyard of the Jiang family for a long time. She only knew that the things bestowed by the madam were very valuable, but she didn't really know how valuable they were. Now seeing that these far - inferior things were not cheap, she couldn't help but sigh that the prices in the capital were so high.
If it weren't for the Feng and Jiang families, how could she and Yunniang have survived in the capital?
Gu Chengzhi remembered his grandmother's words well. As long as Gu Liyue took a second look at something, he would wave his hand and immediately ask someone to wrap it up.
Gu Liyue quickly shook her head. "No, Fourth Brother. I was just curious about the price. I don't really like this thing."
Gu Chengzhi's eyes curved with a smile. "It's okay, it's okay. Since you're curious, just take it home and have a good look."
The shopkeeper on the side, seeing a big customer coming, didn't even let the shop assistants receive them. He ran over himself and bowed enthusiastically. "This is a hair ribbon for young men. It's most suitable to give it to a young gentleman. Look, the mandarin ducks embroidered on it symbolize a deep and affectionate relationship. Miss, are you going to give it to this young gentleman, right?"
Gu Chengzhi's face fell when he heard the misunderstanding. He swatted at the shopkeeper. "What are you talking about? This is my younger sister, my real younger sister! If you talk nonsense again, I'll make sure your shop can't stay in business."
The shopkeeper knew he had made a slip of the tongue and quickly apologized repeatedly.
Gu Liyue quickly took the hair ribbon and forced a smile. "It's okay... But this hair ribbon actually costs twenty taels of silver?"
The shopkeeper nodded and said, "Twenty taels is already a cheap price because jade crowns are in fashion in the capital now, and this kind of hair ribbon is out of style. Look, this is the finest material, and it was embroidered by a famous embroideress from the Suzhou - Hangzhou area. Twenty taels is really worth it."
Gu Liyue looked seriously at the embroidered pattern of mandarin ducks on the hair ribbon. There were mandarin ducks on the front, and on the back, there were a few words embroidered: "The golden wind and jade dew meet, and the affection is endless." She had thought this hair ribbon was double - layered before, but now looking closely, it was actually embroidered on both sides. Moreover, the stitching was so good that the connection was seamless. Even on close inspection, one couldn't find any flaws.
She looked up. "Can you make it a bit cheaper?"
The shopkeeper was surprised. From the clothes and appearance of this brother and sister, he could tell that they were from the most noble families. But would noble people haggle over just twenty taels? It didn't seem likely.
Gu Chengzhi didn't expect his younger sister to bargain. He found it interesting for a moment and stared at the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper glanced at the threatening Gu Chengzhi, swallowed nervously, and nodded. "If the young lady wants it, I'll sell it to you for eighteen taels."
Gu Liyue shook her head. "The embroidery work is indeed very good, but the silk thread and material are not of the highest quality. If it were a high - quality item, even if it were out of style, it could still be sold at a good price. The reason this hair ribbon can't be sold at a high price is that the wrong silk thread was used. The pattern of the mandarin ducks is nice, but the bright red words on it are a bit tacky. The embroideress probably didn't think about how embarrassing it would be for a young man to wear this hair ribbon on his head. It would be much better if the words were embroidered in dark gold."
The shopkeeper realized that he had met an expert and no longer insisted. "The young lady has good taste. It's because the color of the words is too eye - catching that this hair ribbon was left unsold. But the purchase price of this hair ribbon is not cheap. The lowest I can go is fifteen taels. Any lower, and I'll be making a loss. My boss won't agree either."
Gu Liyue hesitated for a moment and glanced at Gu Chengzhi. She saw that his face looked extremely ugly, and he was glaring at the hair ribbon, obviously very dissatisfied.
She originally wanted to put it down, but in the end, she really liked the embroidery work. She couldn't help but ask timidly, "Fourth Brother... Can I buy it?"
When Gu Chengzhi heard his younger sister's timid voice, his heart softened. He quickly said, "Of course you can. If my sister likes it, just take it. Do you like anything else?"
Gu Liyue shook her head repeatedly. She held the hair ribbon carefully and looked at it all the way. She didn't seem interested in going into other shops.
Gu Chengzhi had been introducing things to his younger sister for a long time. When he looked back, he saw that his younger sister was completely focused on the hair ribbon. He was very unhappy and asked, "Sister, this hair ribbon..."
Gu Liyue looked up blankly. "What?"
Looking into his younger sister's innocent eyes, Gu Chengzhi finally just sighed. "Forget it. Are you hungry, sister? There's the Fuguilou in front. I'll take you there for lunch."
Gu Liyue thought that everything here was very expensive. She always felt reluctant to spend money. But today, Gu Chengzhi had already spent dozens of taels with a wave of his hand. If they continued shopping, it would cost hundreds of taels. So she obediently followed Gu Chengzhi all the way to the Fuguilou.
As soon as the shop assistant saw Gu Chengzhi, he immediately smiled. "Fourth Master Gu is here? Master Lu has already arrived. He's waiting for you on the third floor."