Chapter 200: Taiyuan County

Chapter 200: Taiyuan County

Sui Yu had no intention of fortune-telling. She wandered around the divination stalls for a bit before stepping out, standing under the eaves to watch the passersby on the street. Most of the people entering through the Xuanping Gate were dressed in simple, coarse linen clothes, though there were a few women wearing curved-hem robes. One young lady, with a lovely face, wore a particularly elegant curved-hem robe—black sleeves and collar, with the rest of the robe made from grayish-brown hemp fabric. Her slender figure, small, light steps, and the slight sway of the red hair ribbon that tied her hair made her the perfect embodiment of a lady in Sui Yu's mind.

Song Xian came out of the divination stall and nudged Sui Yu. "Aren't you going in to have your fortune told?"

"No," Sui Yu retracted her gaze and didn't ask about Song Xian's fortune-telling results. She stepped down the stairs, followed by her servants, blending into the flow of pedestrians.

They headed to the Western Market first. As Sui Yu walked, she observed that the market resembled a flea market, with all kinds of goods available—farming vegetables, pots and bowls, bamboo baskets, winnowing fans, coarse linen spun by farmers themselves, or cracked pottery. In short, anything Sui Yu needed for daily life could be found here.

"How much for a bolt of hemp fabric?" Sui Yu asked, squatting down.

The farmer woman selling the fabric noticed Sui Yu's different accent and the fact that she was accompanied by servants. After some thought, she gave a standard price, "One hundred and thirty cash per bolt."

Sui Yu was silent. The price was much cheaper than in Dunhuang, but considering the effort of crossing mountains and ridges, and the fact that they were traveling as merchants, she felt the profit from selling a bolt of coarse fabric was too low.

"Head Merchant, I'll ask elsewhere," Xiao Chunhong said.

"Are you merchants?" the farmer woman asked, surprised, though it didn't concern her. She grabbed Sui Yu and said, "If you buy more, I can give you another ten cash off."

"How much can you provide? We can only stay in Chang'an for two months at most," Sui Yu said.

"At most twenty bolts. I'll get the villagers to weave the fabric together."

Sui Yu picked up the fabric and examined it. The coarse hemp fabric was rough with many loose threads, but it was thick, stiff, durable, and suitable for laborers to wear.

"Let's check elsewhere," Song Xian suggested.

"Alright," Sui Yu stood up and said to the farmer woman, "Auntie, we're going to look around. If we don't find anything suitable, we'll come back to you."

"Alright, I'll be setting up my stall here these days."

As they walked further, Sui Yu encountered a merchant talking to a stall owner selling cracked pottery. She pretended to select some flawed bowls. After the merchant left, she said, "Master Chen, I also want to buy a batch of pottery from you. Sell it to me at the same price as just now."

Sui Yu's tone was gentle. Even though her skin had darkened and her appearance had changed due to the wind and sun, anyone who heard her speak could easily tell she was a woman.

Master Chen looked at her and said, "I only have a small kiln, and I don't produce much pottery. I've already promised three other parties, so I can't sell to you."

"I'll be leaving in two months," Sui Yu said, selecting four cracked wine jugs from the stall. These would be fine for carrying water.

"I'll take these four wine jugs. How much are they?" she asked.

"They're not worth much. Two cash is enough," Master Chen replied.

Gan Da handed over a hundred copper coins but held onto the string, asking, "Before September, can we get newly kilned pottery?"

"How much do you need?" Master Chen asked Sui Yu.

"Forty pot cauldrons, forty basins, a hundred oil lamps, and two barrels of bowls," Sui Yu listed, "I really don't need that much."

Master Chen nodded, calculated, and said, "At the price given to the previous merchant, you'll need to pay seven hundred and sixty cash. Come on the 20th of August to collect them. If you don't show up that day, I'll sell them to someone else."

Sui Yu nodded and asked if a deposit was needed.

"Just a hundred cash will do. If you change your mind, I'll only refund half of it."

Sui Yu signaled Gan Da to pay, and she rubbed the surface of the cracked wine jug, noting that the pottery in Chang'an had a smooth and delicate texture, which would sell better outside the pass compared to coarse pottery.

After securing the pottery, Sui Yu and Song Xian continued to stroll around. Whenever they passed a fabric stall, they inquired about prices. After several comparisons, they found that the coarse fabric from the first farmer woman was the thickest.

By noon, Sui Yu and Song Xian left the city with five servants to have lunch and didn't rush back into the city. Instead, they walked around the majestic city wall.

"According to what we've learned, this palace is the Changle Palace, where the Empress Dowager is said to reside," Song Xian said, looking far at the imposing roof tiles and gutters from outside the wall.

"It would be nice to go inside and take a look. We've reached the foot of the imperial city but can't enter the gates," Song Xian daydreamed and joked, "Is this how the royal family treats distant guests? How petty."

Sui Yu patted her and told her to stop talking nonsense.

After walking further, they reached the area where the Jianzhang Palace was located. Sui Yu faintly heard the sounds of bells and drums from within the walls.

As they completed their circle, it grew dark, and Sui Yu and Song Xian returned to the farmhouse where they were staying to rest.

The next day, Sui Yu and Song Xian, along with Qingshan and Zhang Shun, and five others, entered the city again to go to the Eastern Market. The Eastern Market had many music houses and was a place for high-ranking officials and nobles to enjoy themselves.

Passing by a teahouse, the aroma of tea wafted out. Sui Yu suddenly thought of the caravan she had encountered on the South Mountain Ancient Road. That caravan was probably heading to Shu to transport tea.

A horse-drawn carriage emerged from the workshop gate, and everyone on the road avoided it. Sui Yu and Song Xian followed suit, only looking up after the sound of the wheels had faded.

Song Xian suddenly found Chang'an dull, filled only with people and power, not as free as Dunhuang.

"Are you planning to stay in Chang'an for the next two months?" Song Xian asked.

Sui Yu shook her head, "After buying silk, fabric, pottery, and lacquerware, I want to visit a few nearby cities. I also want to buy some performers of the hundred plays. I don't know if I'll be able to find any."

"I'll accompany you," Song Xian agreed.

That was the plan, but Sui Yu had many other tasks. Besides purchasing goods, she needed to find out where caravans coming from outside the pass sold their wares, so she wouldn't wander aimlessly like a headless fly next time.

After five days of exploring the Eastern Market, Sui Yu finally encountered a caravan delivering goods to a silk shop. This caravan was from the south and wasn't familiar to Sui Yu, so there was no rapport to strike up a conversation. She bought six bolts of thin silk at a price of one thousand cash per bolt, much cheaper than the silk she had bought in Dunhuang, saving nearly four hundred cash per bolt.

"You bought those two bolts of silk at a loss," Song Xian said.

"There's nothing to be done. Exchanging money for silk was to guard against highway robbers on the road. Money boxes are cumbersome and heavy to carry, but silk can be carried when escaping," Sui Yu consoled herself.

The money box was more than half empty, and the servants tidied it up, planning to use it to carry the pottery when they left.

The next day, Sui Yu returned to the Western Market and ordered twenty bolts of coarse fabric from the previous farmer woman for a total of two thousand four hundred cash. She followed the woman to the village and signed a contract with the village head, paying a deposit of one thousand cash.

The only thing left to buy was lacquerware. Sui Yu went to the Eastern Market, where the lacquer-painted pottery was expensive, and lacquered wooden items were also pricey. The cheaper ones didn't catch her eye, and the expensive ones were too much for her to afford, so she ultimately gave up.

The remaining time was uneventful, and Sui Yu led the camel caravan further east, heading towards Taiyuan County.

"Chang'an doesn't seem to have much fun," said Song Xian.

"The fun things all cost money. You wouldn't even spend a penny to take me to the music house," Sui Yu teased. "Sister Song, I just realized you're a bit stingy."

"I'm saving my money to support your tea house in the future," Song Xian smiled.

"My tea house can't compare to those in Chang'an," Sui Yu tapped the camel's hump, looking distressed. "I can't even find performers for the variety shows, let alone the tea. How can I even start the tea house without the tea?"

It took Sui Yu and her group seven days to travel from Chang'an to Taiyuan County following the official road. They arrived at noon.

Taiyuan had many mulberry trees, stretching across the fields. The mulberry saplings formed small forests. It was the end of July, the season when mulberries ripened. The air was filled with a sweet fragrance, and the fallen berries stained the ground, leaving reddish-purple marks on the yellow-black soil.

"Kid, can we pick some mulberries to eat?" Xiao Chunhong asked the child guarding the tree.

The kid nodded as he was busy picking mulberry leaves from the tree.

Xiao Chunhong quickly climbed up a mulberry tree. The berries were overripe and crushed easily.

Sui Yu sent Zhang Shun to inquire about a place to stay. She walked to the mulberry tree and looked up, seeing that the lower berries had already been picked.

"Kid, how much are the mulberries?" she suddenly asked.

"They're not for sale. We use our mulberries to make wine. You can pick a few bowls to quench your thirst," the kid replied, jumping down from the tree. He lifted the black cloth covering the basket and poured all the mulberry leaves from his pocket into it.

Sui Yu glanced into the basket, filled with white silkworms, their wriggling bodies making her skin crawl.

The black cloth was placed back, and the kid continued picking mulberry leaves with his empty pouch.

"How many silkworms do you raise?" Sui Yu asked.

"Too many to count. There are three baskets and four trays," the kid said proudly, looking down at the people below. "Are you here to buy raw silk or wine?"

"Both, do you have them?"

Xiao Chunhong handed over the bowl of mulberries she had picked, and Sui Yu grabbed a few to eat. They were sweet, and after finishing, her fingers and tongue were stained with color.

"My little one would love these. I'll dry a jar of mulberries to bring back for him," Sui Yu told Song Xian.

"Can they be dried? I'll bring some back for my children too," Song Xian squatted down and asked, "Kid, can mulberry saplings be grown in Dunhuang?"

"They'll die on the way," the kid replied, jumping down from the tree again. "Uncle, my parents are home. If you want to buy mulberry wine or raw silk, go ask them."

Sui Yu instructed Song Xian and took Gan Da and Gan Er with her to follow the kid back to the village.

In the village, every household had sheds set up in their yards, with wooden frames holding round bamboo baskets filled with white silkworms munching on mulberry leaves.

"Dad, someone wants to buy mulberry wine and raw silk," the kid led Sui Yu home and quickly ran off again.

"Elder brother and sister, we're from Dunhuang. We went to Chang'an first and then came here," Sui Yu introduced herself, showing her travel documents to avoid suspicion.

Seeing the documents, Qi Sheng and his wife relaxed, noticing Sui Yu was a woman, and they didn't pry further.

Qi Sheng brought out two jars of mulberry wine from his house. "The silkworms haven't started spinning silk this year, and last year's silk has already been sold. I'll take you to other households later. These two jars of wine were brewed last year. The new batch of mulberry wine hasn't matured yet, so you came at the wrong time."

Sui Yu realized why they hadn't encountered any caravans along the way.

Qi Sheng opened the wine jar for Sui Yu to see the color, a dark reddish-black wine with a sweet fragrance. Sui Yu tasted it, finding it better than the tusu wine or sorghum wine she had in Dunhuang.

"How much for a jar of wine?" Sui Yu asked.

"Each jar contains three dou (a unit of volume), and one dou costs twenty coins," Qi Sheng replied.

His price was on the higher side since the new wine hadn't been brewed yet, making last year's vintage more valuable and expensive.

Sui Yu didn't haggle. Even the spiciest sorghum wine in Dunhuang cost more, so she happily bought the two jars of mulberry wine for 120 coins.

Zhang Shun arrived, having found a place to stay in the village.

"Do you know who else has mulberry wine?" Sui Yu asked Qi Sheng.

"Yes, tomorrow morning, the dew will be too heavy to pick mulberry leaves. Come find me then, and I'll take you there," Qi Sheng said.

Sui Yu thanked him, her eyes drawn to the wriggling white silkworms under the shed. "Big brother, can you sell me ten silkworms and a few mulberry saplings? I have a child at home who has never seen these before."

"Ten silkworms are nothing. You can have them. When you leave, come and get them," Qi Sheng's wife said. "We have plenty of mulberry trees too. You can dig up a few saplings when you leave."

Sui Yu was delighted. Later, she sent someone to deliver four cracked wine jugs she had bought in Chang'an. Although the jugs had cracks, they didn't leak as long as they weren't jostled or dropped.