"What's wrong?" Feng Qingyi looked bewildered at her wrist, which Qin Yuchuan had grasped.
"There are too many prying eyes," he said.
She was about to lift the curtain to look outside. Could there be some potential danger?
"The carriage will stop up ahead. You won't miss anything you want to see or buy."
Since Qin Yuchuan had said so, Feng Qingyi decided not to dwell on it any longer.
After about fifteen minutes, the carriage came to a smooth stop in front of Jin Zun Tower.
"General, Miss Feng, we have arrived," Yan Yang's voice came from outside the carriage.
Qin Yuchuan led Feng Qingyi out of the carriage, holding her hand.
They were on Ning'an Street, the busiest and most prosperous area in Shengjing. The wide road was lined with restaurants and shops.
Street vendors spoke in various dialects, and pedestrians hurried back and forth.
Feng Qingyi had seen many foreign buildings, each with its own unique features, but she still loved Chinese-style architecture the most.
The wisdom of the ancient people remained untarnished, even after centuries.
Although she had never encountered the country of Tianqi in her history textbooks, this place seemed very similar to certain dynasties from history. It appeared to be a fictional world reminiscent of ancient times.
"Where do you want to go?" Qin Yuchuan asked.
Feng Qingyi glanced at the gilded sign of Jin Zun Tower nearby. "Is this a restaurant?"
Qin Yuchuan nodded. "Yes. Do you want to go in?"
"Let's look around elsewhere first. It's still early, not quite time for a meal yet."
Qin Yuchuan continued to hold Feng Qingyi's hand. "We can go wherever you like."
Curious about this world, Feng Qingyi wanted to see everything.
So, a scene unfolded where Feng Qingyi looked left and right, occasionally stopping in front of shop entrances to peek inside.
"If you want to look, let's go in," Qin Yuchuan suggested.
The shop Feng Qingyi had paused at was called Brocade Embroidery Workshop, selling various fabrics and ready-made clothes.
No one could resist beautiful clothes. With Qin Yuchuan's approval, Feng Qingyi stepped into the store.
The owner of Brocade Embroidery Workshop was a woman in her thirties, known to everyone as Lady Jin.
Her embroidery skills were unrivaled in Shengjing, and the city's women took pride in owning garments from her shop.
However, Lady Jin only personally made three to five pieces of clothing each year, sold to the highest bidders.
The profit from those few garments alone was considerable.
Only a select few could afford clothes personally made by Lady Jin, but she wasn't the only embroiderer in the shop.
While the other embroiderers' skills weren't quite on par with Lady Jin's, they were still excellent.
Leveraging Lady Jin's reputation, Brocade Embroidery Workshop's business thrived.
When Feng Qingyi entered, Lady Jin looked up from behind the counter and noticed the embroidered floral dress she was wearing.
"Miss, what would you like to see?" Lady Jin asked.
Feng Qingyi looked around and her gaze finally settled on a cloak on display.
Lady Jin glanced at Qin Yuchuan standing beside Feng Qingyi, seemingly realizing something.
A few days ago, this young man had commissioned her to make a garment, providing a sketch and specifically requesting begonia flowers to be embroidered on it.
Women in Shengjing preferred peonies, plum blossoms, and orchids. She was well-versed in embroidering those flowers.
Embroidering begonias was a first for her, and it had taken quite some effort.
It seemed he had done it to please his sweetheart. These two made quite a handsome couple.
"If you like it, we'll buy it," Qin Yuchuan said, noticing Feng Qingyi staring at the cloak for a long time.
Feng Qingyi gently touched the red cloak. It was very soft and of medium thickness. She was tempted, but she had no money.
"Madam, how much is this?" she asked.
Lady Jin smiled warmly. "You have good taste, miss. This scarlet satin cloak suits you well. It's only fifty taels of silver."
Fifty taels of silver – Feng Qingyi wasn't sure how much that would be in modern currency, as the value varied in different dynasties.
If she calculated based on the Qing Dynasty, one tael of silver was worth about 150 to 200 yuan. So fifty taels would be nearly 10,000 yuan.
A cloak for 10,000 yuan seemed quite expensive.
"Never mind, it's too expensive. Can I look at something else?" Feng Qingyi said.
Lady Jin was a bit confused. The girl was wearing a dress worth eight hundred taels, yet she thought fifty taels was expensive?
"Wrap it up," Qin Yuchuan said. "And if there's anything else you want, feel free to choose."
Hearing this, Feng Qingyi felt hesitant to choose anything more. She whispered, "Are you very wealthy?"
"I can afford to take care of you without any problem," he replied.
Feng Qingyi continued to ask, "How much do you make in a month?"
"How much in a month?" Qin Yuchuan seemed puzzled by the question.
Feng Qingyi had to explain a little. "I mean your salary, your official pay. How many taels per month?"
"Five hundred taels," Qin Yuchuan answered.
Feng Qingyi did some quick calculations. Five hundred taels was about 100,000 yuan – definitely an annual income in the millions.
"Annually," Qin Yuchuan added before Feng Qingyi could speak.
"Five hundred taels a year? That's..." Feng Qingyi trailed off. Only 100,000 a year would make it difficult to support a large family.
Perhaps the value of silver here was closer to that of the Tang Dynasty, where one tael was worth about 3,000 yuan.
If that were the case, they definitely couldn't afford this cloak. They should leave quickly!
150,000 yuan could be better spent elsewhere – it was enough to live on for several years.
"Let's not buy it. Let's go!" Feng Qingyi tugged at Qin Yuchuan, trying to pull him towards the exit, but he didn't budge.
"Qingyi, do you think I can't afford it?" he asked.
"...No, it's just that I don't like it," she lied.
Qin Yuchuan looked at the clothes in the shop. There weren't many ready-made garments on display, only about a dozen, with the rest being fabrics.
"Wrap up everything here," he said, gesturing to the clothes.
Feng Qingyi was now wondering if Qin Yuchuan was involved in corruption or bribery.
Otherwise, how could he afford to buy so much with an annual salary of just five hundred taels? Wouldn't this bankrupt him?
The Qin Yuchuan she knew wasn't the type to put on airs. If he said he could afford it, he must be able to pay for it.
But even if he dared to buy it, she didn't dare accept it!
"Please don't. I can't wear so many clothes, and I don't come here often," she protested.
Qin Yuchuan could read Feng Qingyi's expressions easily. She never hid her thoughts; everything was written on her face.
"I own several shops in the city that do good business. You don't need to worry about me going bankrupt, nor about the source of this money," he assured her.
Lady Jin had already instructed her staff to wrap up all the clothes Qin Yuchuan had pointed out.
As she watched the couple speaking softly to each other, she felt a twinge of nostalgia.
Once upon a time, she too had been a radiant young girl like Feng Qingyi. But time waits for no one.
Feng Qingyi noticed that Qin Yuchuan had seen through her thoughts and spoke with a touch of shyness.
"I was just making a reasonable guess. I didn't mean to doubt you."
"Hmm, besides what we've just gotten, is there anything else you want?"
Feng Qingyi shook her head. You've already bought out all the ready-made clothes in the store, what else could she choose?
"Then let's go look elsewhere."
Yan Chi and Yan Yang followed behind the pair, very tactfully paying the bill.
Each carrying a bag of clothes, they maintained a safe distance of about five meters from the couple in front.
