Chapter 5: The Peddler

More than ten days had passed.

Jiang Li quickly adapted to the austere life on the mountain. Although there was endless work to do every day, the food was never enough to fill her stomach, the place where she slept was damp, and she was often bullied, Jiang Li adapted quickly.

Perhaps it was because she had been too quiet and submissive during this period, the nunnery's Venerable Master Jing'an even made a rare visit to see her.

Venerable Master Jing'an was a young woman in her twenties, who, it was said, had once been the wife of a wealthy family. After her husband died, she had come to the mountain to shave her head and become a nun.

In the past few days, because of the marriage of the Heir of Marquis Ningyuan, Jiang Li had made a fuss about wanting to return to Yanjing City and had nearly come to blows with Venerable Master Jing'an.

Venerable Master Jing'an came to take a look at Jiang Li, said some polite words of concern, and then left without giving her anything.

Tonger stood with her hands on her hips and spat in the direction of Venerable Master Jing'an's departing figure, saying, "Pah, stingy old hag!"

Jiang Li smiled slightly and said, "She is much younger than an old hag."

In fact, Venerable Master Jing'an was only in her twenties. Though she wore drab monk's robes, they did not hide her graceful figure, and her appearance was still beautiful. It was only her condescending attitude and cold demeanor towards them that made her seem more like a servant.

"What use is being young?" Tonger snorted, "She's already a nun here, isn't she destined to live forever with just her ancient Buddha and the cold light? Can she eat meat or wear colorful clothes?"

"I don't know about eating meat, but she definitely eats better than the two of us. As for wearing colorful clothes, her monk's robe is certainly thicker than what we wear," Jiang Li replied.

"How annoying!" Tonger fumed.

"Not only that," Jiang Li continued to explain, "though she wears no jewelry, she uses fat cream from the apricot spring district of Yanjing City, silver box perfume from Hongxiu Building, and osmanthus hair oil from Fragrance Xiu Pavilion."

Tonger's mouth hung open, and after a long while, she said, "That's... too fancy, isn't it? No, wait," she then quickly realized and looked at Jiang Li with bright eyes, "Miss, how do you know these things?"

Jiang Li pointed to her nose, "I smelled it."

"I know you smelled it, Miss. What I want to know is how you knew it was the fat cream from the District of Apricot Spring, the perfume from Hongxiu Building, and the osmanthus hair oil from Fragrance Xiu Pavilion?" Tonger asked.

Jiang Li thought, of course she knew. When she first married Shen Yurong and came to Yanjing City, the Shen family looked down on her for being from a small county in Tongxiang. Several sisters-in-law along with Shen Yurong's mother despised her. Not wanting to embarrass Shen Yurong, she worked hard to learn the popular dresses and jewelry of the ladies of Yanjing City and gradually corrected her provincial accent.

She was always quick to learn new things. Xue Huaiyuan once said that if she were not born a daughter, she might have been able to compete with Xue Zhao and earn a distinguished reputation for the Xue Family.

Miss Jiang the Second, who had not been down the mountain for seven years, would not know these cosmetics, but Jiang Li could identify them precisely.

Jiang Li said, "Of course, I can smell them."

After thinking for a moment, Tonger came up with a plausible reason and said, "You must know, Miss. You used these things every day when you were in the Jiang Family. It's only natural you're familiar with them." As she spoke, she grew melancholy, "Speaking of which, it has been so long since you left the Jiang Family..."

"Tonger, do you want to go back to Yanjing City?" Jiang Li interrupted her.

Tonger's eyes widened, and she immediately shook her head, saying firmly, "I don't! I only want to follow you, Miss. Wherever you go, that's where I'll go!"

Jiang Li smiled, "It's fine, we will be able to go back soon."

Just as Tonger was about to say something, she suddenly heard a loud and clear hawking from outside, a man's voice filled with laughter, seeming to sing a little tune. Tonger pricked up her ears to listen, then suddenly sprang up, laughing and jumping, "Miss, Trader Zhang has come! Trader Zhang has come to deliver things this year!"

Jiang Li followed her gaze towards the window and said with a smile, "Then let's find all our copper coins, and we'll go buy pastries and cakes."

"All of them?" Tonger turned around in surprise.

"All of them."

It wasn't until Tonger had scrounged up all the copper coins from inside the house and wrapped them all in a blue cloth bag, clutching it to her chest, that she and Jiang Li went out together towards the temple gates.

The mountains here were very high, and the nearby Helin Temple was thriving with incense burning, visited by the rich and noble, who normally disdained the goods sold by peddlers. Hence, peddlers generally were reluctant to do business in these mountains. Trader Zhang only came because he lived at the foot of Green City Mountain, and didn't usually come up here. Every May to June, when the peach blossoms on Green City Mountain were in full bloom, not only the rich families but also the common folk were willing to admire the flowers. With more people around, the peddlers chose this time to come up the mountain to sell small trinkets like rouge and face powder.

Tonger and Trader Zhang were acquainted, and so they had agreed to meet here on the tenth of May each year to buy things. The nunnery here couldn't compare to the bustle of Helin Temple, and for Jiang Li and Tonger, this was also the only time of year they could buy snacks from the peddler, which was their only luxury.

Indeed, there was a middle-aged man wearing a bamboo hat at the temple entrance, dressed in short brown hemp clothes and pants, with a white silk sash around his waist and black cloth shoes, dressed like a typical Trader.

Jiang Li looked on, somewhat lost in thought.

Before she'd married Shen Yurong and moved to Yanjing, when she was still a young girl, Xue Huaiyuan had just been reassigned to the backwater of Tongxiang, where there was barely anything, and the entire county's shops could be counted on two hands.

Living in such an environment at a young age, Xue Zhao and her only joy was when the peddler came by each month, hawking his wares through the streets. From the peddler, they could buy novel clay figurines, beautiful silk ribbons, sweet maltose candy, and coarse brushes for writing practice.

Although life was hard, the days were filled with happiness. Later on, under Xue Huaiyuan's management, Tongxiang improved increasingly, later Xue Zhao began to prepare for the military exams, later she married and moved to Yanjing, later... there were no more 'laters'.

Jiang Li lowered her eyes.

Trader Zhang had grown familiar with the two of them, complimenting Tonger on her growth, which made her very happy. Turning to Jiang Li, she asked, "Miss, do you want those pastries and cakes?"

Only then did Jiang Li turn her attention to Trader Zhang. She smiled at him, which made Trader Zhang, for some reason, feel a bit uncomfortable.

Jiang Li took the cloth bag from Tonger's hands, unfolded it, and inside were orderly rows of copper coins. Those copper coins had been gathered by Jiang Li and Tonger over the past half year, knitting insoles, combined with savings from the past few years, stealthily accumulated behind Venerable Master Jing'an's back, totaling forty strings.

"Uncle Zhang," Jiang Li said with a smile, "all these copper coins, let's exchange them all for pastries and cakes, any kind will do."

Tonger's eyes widened, "Miss!"

Even holding all their worldly possessions, Tonger couldn't really believe that Jiang Li would spend all the copper coins. The people at the nunnery frequently skimped on their rations, and sometimes it was better to keep some money to trade with the mountain kids for something to eat or a blanket. Buying snacks, there wouldn't be much to preserve, as they would all go bad after not too long—how could this be done?

"What's the matter?" Jiang Li was still smiling, "Can't the daughter of the Chief Minister's Family spend a few copper coins on pastries and cakes? What kind of Princely Heir would I be then?"

Tonger was at a loss for words.