Entering the City

Liu Xiaolan looked at the bustling city around her and couldn't help but feel that she's a little lucky…

While the original Liu Xiaolan has never been outside of the Liuojia village, she still lived inside the Liu family for most of her life. Because of that, even if she didn't want to, she would still hear some things about the city itself or life within it.

Shenyang…

That's the only name she could find in the memories of the original Liu Xiaolan, but she still knew some things about the city.

Shenyang is a bustling city with a large port. Thanks to the port a large amount of merchants flocked to the city in hopes of increasing their business.

While the Datang Empire forbid public sea trades, there are still quite a few so called "Royal Merchants", basically merchants rich enough to pay for the possibility of going out on their boats in hopes of gaining riches.

Also, from time to time ships from other countries would come here as well. Although most merchants can't afford the fees needed to become Royal Merchants, they can still trade with foreigners coming to the port themselves.

With more and more people flocking it, Shenyang itself became more and more prosperous, becoming one of the main transport hubs of the Datang Empire. With more merchants coming to the city, more and more shops, inns, restaurants, theatres and other types of buildings started popping out on the streets.

Also, unlike most cities with at least partially corrupt officials, Shenyang is near the border with Joseon Kingdom. That means that the city is basically under the rule of the military, or if someone needed a direct comparison - under the general.

Joseon Kingdom used to be a subordinate state of the Datang Empire, but almost 100 years ago, when their national strength increased, they declared independence. While Datang's Emperor wasn't happy, at that point in time, with threats from nearby countries, he couldn't afford to move too much of a military force to recapture the land.

With no other choice, all he could do was to send a military force to the border and uphold his empire's borders.

Now, the Qin Army has been stationed here for almost a 100 year, fighting with Joseon's armies, but with neither side really wanting to deeply invade the other side, all they did was to occasionally fight back and forth on the border, without taking away any land from the opposite side.

This however didn't impact the business ongoing in Shenyang city, as most people just got used to it. With the strength of the Qin Army, while it wasn't necessarily possible to destroy the Joseon Kingdom, they were fully capable of stopping anyone from intruding Datang Empire's land.

Liu Xiaolan thought about where to sell her mushrooms and finally remembered a name. It seems that Liu Weixin, once, when he was going around the village, boosted up his image to the villagers for eating in a what he called "Restaurant for the rich people".

While what he said very likely was false, but she still remembered the name. Qingxue Pavilion. Unfortunately, he didn't really say where it was, and even if he did she probably wouldn't remember the road anyway…

'Guess I've got no choice but to ask someone…'

Liu Xiaolan looked around and saw a middle aged woman walking past her. Seeing that she looked as a down to earth person, she stopped her.

"Auntie, sorry for bothering you, do you know where I can find Qingxue Pavilion?"

The aunt looked at her. a little hesitant. and said, "Little girl, are you sure you want to go to Qingxue Pavilion? That's the most prosperous restaurant in the city, it's really expensive in there…"

"Don't worry auntie, I just want to go and see it from the outside…" Liu Xiaolan sold a white lie.

The auntie looked at her for a moment and said, "Well… Do you see that road over there?"

Seeing Liu Xiaolan looking to the place she pointed at, she continued: "Follow that street until you pass by the Zhouhua clothing workshop, once you're there, go towards the street on the left side and after some time you'll see the Qingxue Pavilion..."

Liu Xiaolan smiled towards the older woman and said, "Thank you, auntie!"

"No need to thank me, just be careful little girl." After that, the auntie stopped talking to Liu Xiaolan and went away.

Liu Xiaolan followed her descriptions, passed by Zhouhua, and soon found what she was looking at.

"This Qingxue Pavilion looks really rich…" She said to herself, and moved towards the entrance. Before even stepping inside the restaurant, she was stopped by a little guard keeping the door.

"What are you doing here, peasant girl! Quickly go away. Even if you sold your whole family you wouldn't be able to afford our food…" The little guard's mouth was really poisonous.

"I'm not here to eat, call your manager over."

"What manager? You mean our shopkeeper? Don't even think about it, he won't bother himself with you…"

Before the guard could finish his sentence, a voice was heard. "Xiao Zhong, what's going on here. Don't disturb our guests…"

After that, Liu Xiaolan saw a fat, middle aged man coming out. While he looked a bit crooked, by the clothes he was wearing one could see that he didn't need to worry about having money.

"Yes! I'll kick her right away, shopkeeper Liao. You don't need to worry about it."

Seeing that the guard was about to push her out, she quickly asked, "Shopkeeper Liao, I want to sell some mushrooms to you. Do you accept them?"

"What mushrooms, never heard of a thing like that. Xiao Zhong, what are you waiting for? Quickly get rid of this poor ghost, otherwise she disturbs out guests…"

With no other choice, Liu Xiaolan could only hold her baskets and run away while cursing under her nose, "Really thinking he's some kind of noble spirit… Not even knowing what mushrooms are…"