Chapter 5.1: Merchant

Another ten days passed.

Jiang Lî quickly adapted to the harsh life on the mountain. Although she had endless work to do every day, could not eat her fill, slept in a damp place, and was often bullied, Jiang Lî quickly adapted to it.

Perhaps she was too quiet and obedient these days. For the first time, the nunnery’s head nun, Jing An, took the initiative to come and see her.

Head Nun Jing An was a young woman in her twenties. It was said that she had once been the wife of a rich family. After her husband died, she went to the mountain and had her hair shaved to become a Buddhist nun.

A few days ago, Jiang Lî had noisily demanded to go back to Yanjing after hearing the matter of Marquis Ning Yuan’s young master’s marriage, and almost fought with Head Nun Jing An.

Head Nun Jing An came over and glanced at Jiang Lî, said a few polite words of concern and then left without giving them a single thing.

Tong’er placed her hands on her hips and spat at the departing back of Head Nun Jing An, saying, “Pah! Stingy old woman!”

Jiang Lî smiled and said, “She is much younger than an old woman.”

In reality, Head Nun Jing An was only in her twenties. Although she was wearing a grey robe, it couldn’t hide her slender and graceful figure. Furthermore, her appearance was exquisite. It was just that her attitude towards the two of them was somewhat condescending.

“What’s the use of being young?” Tong’er pursed her lips, “She’s already a nun here. Does she have a choice other than serving Buddha for the rest of her life? Can she eat meat or wear pretty dresses?”

“I don’t know if she eats meat, but she definitely eats better meals than the two of us. Whether she wears or doesn’t wear pretty dresses, her Buddhist robe is definitely thicker than ours,” Jiang Lî replied.

“Hateful!” Tong’er was furious.

“Not only that,” Jiang Lî continued explaining to her. “Although she wasn’t wearing jewelry, she used Yanjing’s Apricot Spring workshop’s cosmetics, Red Sleeve house’s silver case fragrant ointment, also the osmanthus flower hair oil from Fragrant Refined Building.”

Tong’er’s jaw dropped, and only after a long time did she say, “This is… Isn’t it too fancy?! That’s not right,” she came back to her senses and stared at Jiang Lî with sparkling eyes, “How did young miss know?”

Jiang Lî pointed a finger at her nose and said, “Smelled it.”

“This servant knows that the young miss smelled it. This servant wants to ask, how did the young miss know that it was the Apricot Spring Workshop’s cosmetics, the silver case fragrant ointment of the Red Sleeve house, and the osmanthus flower hair oil of the Fragrant Refined Building?”

Jiang Lî thought, of course she knew. When she had just married Shen Yurong and arrived at Yanjing, the Shen family had despised her because she was a young girl from a small county in Tongxiang. Even a few female relatives1 and Shen Yurong’s mother had looked down on her. She was afraid that she would embarrass Shen Yurong, so she worked hard to learn the popular clothing and accessories of the madams and young ladies in Yanjing, and slowly corrected her accent.

She had always been a fast learner. Xue Huaiyuan once said that if she wasn’t a girl, she, together with Xue Zhao, might be able to bring fame and honor to the Xue family name.

It was not possible for second miss Jiang who hadn’t gone down the mountain for 7 years to know these products. However, she was able to accurately distinguish them.

Jiang Lî said, “Of course I can distinguish them.”

Tong‘er thought about it and actually came up with a logical and reasonable explanation, “Of course young miss knows. Before, these things were used daily by the Jiang family, there’s no reason not to be familiar with them.” As she spoke, she was laden with grief, “Speaking of which, it has been a long time since miss has left the Jiang family…..”

“Tong‘er, do you want to go back to Yanjing?” Jiang Lî interrupted her,

Tong‘er’s eyes widened and immediately shook her head, resolutely said, “Don’t want! Tong’er only wants to follow young miss. Wherever young miss goes, Tong’er goes.”

Jiang Lî smiled, “It’s alright, very soon we will go back”

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Footnotes:

1: 妯娌, this lit. means sister-in-law, wives of brothers; however Shen Yurong doesn’t have brother; although it could refer to Shen Ruyun, it’s talking in plural, so it is most likely referring to female cousins or other types of extended family (in which SRY might be included) .:leftwards_arrow_with_hook: