Chapter 59

Huo Meijun was the owner of a ready-to-wear clothing shop in the capital, a business left to her by her late father.

Previously, her father had always hoped she would marry so that they could leave the shop to the couple, allowing the two of them to manage it together.

At the time, she had listened to her father’s wishes, only to find out that the man she married was a complete scoundrel, who secretly plotted behind her back to murder her so he could steal the shop.

Later, the truth came to light, and that jerk was beheaded and displayed to the public.

It had been less than two months since Huo Meijun took back the ready-to-wear shop on her own when she heard the news that people from the future were coming to visit and sightsee in their capital.

Figuring this matter had nothing to do with her, she chatted with the female owner of the jewelry shop next door, preparing to see what these people from the future actually looked like.

"Hey, they're coming! They're coming!" Huo Meijun heard a shout, and pedestrians on both sides of the street stepped aside to make way.

Before long, she saw a long procession of carriages stretching so far into the distance that the end was out of sight.

Just as she was wondering what these people from the future looked like, the curtains of a carriage were pulled back, and one head after another curiously crowded by the window to look outside.

A chorus of gasps rang out from them, their eyes filled with curiosity and joy.

Huo Meijun noticed that there were many women among them, and some of those women even had pink hair.

"This..."

"These people actually cut their hair, and look at those hair colors!"

All of a sudden, the pedestrians along both sides of the street stared at them with identical expressions of astonishment.

"Wow! So many ancient people!" Wu Ran, sitting inside the carriage, gazed at the ancients lining the street and the antique-style shops.

She suddenly waved her hand. "Hello there!"

Huo Meijun was startled. Seeing that person smiling and greeting them, she fluttered her fan, suddenly feeling quite panic-stricken.

Should she reply?

Yet who on earth was this person greeting?

"Wow! The traditional costumes in this shop look so pretty," Wu Ran said excitedly, gazing at the garments inside the clothing store. "Let's come back and check them out later."

Gan Miao, sitting next to her, nodded. "That works."

This time, they had exchanged for a thousand taels worth of gold, planning to use that first.

They had no idea what a thousand taels of gold could buy in a place like this.

Anyway, looking around wouldn't hurt; they had no mindset that walking into a shop meant they were obligated to pay and buy something.

If you don't like it, don't buy it! The new generation of young people should bravely refuse!

The inn where they were staying was not far from the imperial palace, and this large group was split up to stay across two different inns.

As soon as Wu Ran arrived at the inn, she saw a waiter waiting at the entrance. "Please follow me inside, miss. Let me carry these bags for you."

She and Gan Miao followed the waiter all the way, only to find that this inn was completely different from what they had imagined.

In her imagination, an ancient inn should be a two-story building, but the reality was far from that.

After entering through the main gate, Wu Ran had no idea how many turns they had taken; the grounds of this inn seemed significantly larger than some modern hotels.

She felt like she could spend a whole day just playing around inside this inn, considering there were rockeries, flowing streams, and small pavilions for resting.

Actually, this inn wasn't built by the emperor. Since Pei Xiuyu was an emperor, how could he have the time to do business outside? The inn was managed by Yang Anping's mother, Ren Shulan.

Of course, she didn't manage it personally; she had simply hired managers to take care of it.

Now that His Majesty was letting these people from the future wander freely in and out of the imperial palace for the sake of the Xuan Dynasty, they, as subjects of the Xuan Dynasty, naturally ought to do something as well.

Besides, Ren Shulan wasn't without her own considerations.

After all, these were people from another world. If they stayed at her inn, who knew—she might even leave her name in history.

Even if she couldn't achieve lasting fame in history, after they left, countless people would likely come flocking here attracted by the fame of hosting people from the outside world, making this inn the number one establishment in the capital.

At that moment, Wu Ran and Gan Miao were unpacking their luggage. The two of them shared a room, which was quite spacious, featuring both a living area and a bedroom, though the two spaces were simply separated by a folding screen rather than a door.

"This is my first time staying in an ancient inn," Wu Ran remarked. "It feels such a great deal. The hotel fee back in modern times wouldn't even be enough to stay in a room this nice. These must all be antiques."

She looked at the furnishings and decorations in the room, not daring to touch a single thing casually.

Gan Miao, meanwhile, pushed open the window to gaze at the scenery outside. "Such beautiful mountains and clear waters."

"The air here is so fresh; it feels like returning to the embrace of Mother Earth."

Wu Ran nodded in agreement. "It feels like staying here for a few days could purify your lungs."

"Let's go! Let's go get some food first!"

The two of them walked all the way out, nearly getting lost midway, and only found the exit after asking a waiter.

When they finally stepped out onto the ancient streets, their hearts swelled with excitement.

After all, this wasn't just traveling to any ordinary place; this was an entirely different world.

Wu Ran spread her arms wide. "Ancient world, here I come!"

"Come on! Let's go eat!" Gan Miao urged.

Right next to this inn was the modern restaurant. This restaurant had been set up by demolishing the adjacent houses, considering that modern people without navigation systems would practically get lost everywhere.

It was much better to place the restaurant, cybercafe, and milk tea shop right next to each other.

As for the signal tower, having one inside the imperial palace was quite enough.

The ancient people who were peeking out in curiosity observed that almost all of these people from the future exuded an air of happiness, coupled with a sense of practiced ease.

As soon as they emerged from the inn, they headed straight for those strange shops next door.

Rumor had it that one of them was a restaurant, another was some kind of beverage shop, and nobody knew what the third one was, as no one had entered it yet.

These shops had only appeared last night. According to people nearby, the buildings had simply materialized out of thin air, which was utterly mind-boggling.

Some people had wanted to go inside and take a look, but the moment they stepped foot in, they saw a monster guarding the entrance, scaring them away.

Others looked at the signs hanging at the doorways; although they didn't know what characters were written on them, somehow they could understand them.

However, since they had no idea how high the prices were and worried they might be short on cash, they didn't venture inside.

Now, seeing someone actually go in, they watched with intense curiosity. The shops were made of colored glaze, allowing them to see the interior clearly from the outside.

Tie Daniu was standing outside watching with curiosity, balancing a carrying pole loaded with grass-woven trinkets he had made himself, covered by a handkerchief embroidered by his wife, Xiuniang.

None of these items were particularly exquisite; he usually sold his goods over at the West Market.

It was just that today, hearing about these so-called people from the future coming over, he figured there would surely be plenty of people here, and perhaps he could sell a few pieces.

Besides, he also wanted to join in the excitement and watch the commotion.

Xiuniang, who had tagged along with him, looked on as well. "Such large pieces of colored glaze, and they aren't even afraid of someone stealing them."

Tie Daniu looked at the transparent glaze and said, "If pieces of glaze this large were stolen, the whole family would probably be beheaded."

"And there are government bailiffs right over there," he said, shrinking his neck slightly at the thought.

Several bailiffs were stationed on both sides of the building.

On one hand, these bailiffs were there to help Pei Xiuyu observe whether these tourists were truly harmless and incapable of wrongdoing as Xia Zui had claimed; on the other hand, they were there to prevent any conflicts from breaking out between the visitors and the citizens of the Xuan Dynasty.

With the bailiffs around, at least someone could pull them apart if fights broke out.

"What do you suppose they're eating?" Tie Daniu rubbed his stomach as he watched the people inside eating with such relish. There didn't seem to be any waiters; they only saw a creature that looked somewhat human yet not quite human serving them dishes.

Yet those people didn't look scared at all.

Xiuniang licked her dry lips. "I don't know, but it must be delicious."

Just as she spoke, she noticed two children walking over whose attire instantly revealed them to be people from the future.

The children wore strange clothes and squatted down in front of the carrying pole to look. "This handkerchief is so pretty."

Mi Tianxin was holding a bamboo-woven dragonfly, while beside her stood her older sister, Mi Nuannuan. "How much is this?"

The moment Tie Daniu saw how delicate and fair-skinned the two little girls were, he knew they certainly weren't daughters of ordinary families. Yet, these were people from the distant future.

For a moment, he grew nervous and swallowed hard.

It was Xiuniang who gently spoke up from the side. "This bamboo dragonfly is two copper coins."

She couldn't help feeling somewhat nervous as she spoke, unsure whether these noble visitors would even deign to look at such trinkets, as nobles never bought these things normally.

Just as she was nervously gripping the hem of her dress with sweaty palms, she heard the young girl say, "I want this one, and this, and this, and this."

Mi Tianxin was examining a handkerchief, picking it up to look closer. Embroidered upon it was a gorgeous peony flower.

The peony looked lifelike, with a butterfly spreading its wings to land on it, and just by looking at the handkerchief, she felt as though she could already smell the fragrance of flowers.

"How much is this one?"

Seeing that she wanted a large pile of bamboo-woven items, Xiuniang felt her heart settle down a bit. "This handkerchief is ten... ten coins."

Actually, the fabric of the handkerchief wasn't anything high-grade, but considering the effort she had put into it, she priced it at ten copper coins.

Mi Nuannuan glanced at it and said to Mi Tianxin, "It's only two bucks for a handkerchief, and it's all hand-embroidered."

Looking at the bamboo trinkets in the baskets, she thought to herself how cheap the things sold by these ancient people really were.

"I'll take five of these, and we want this handkerchief too," Mi Nuannuan said, handing them a tael of silver directly.

For convenience, what they had exchanged wasn't just gold, but also a few pieces of silver. As for copper coins, the exchange counter didn't have any.

Tie Daniu accepted the piece of silver and stammered, "Noble lady, this... we don't have enough change."

Mi Tianxin tilted her head. "Keep the change as a tip!"