Chapter 363: Meeting an Old Acquaintance

After dinner, as it was still early, Li Qing’an decided to stroll around the West Market. Lady Pei did not dissuade him; his behavior at the banquet had already satisfied her. As long as the first step toward reconciliation was taken, the second and third steps would follow smoothly. There was no need to rush—haste often led to failure.

It was late spring now, with a gentle warm breeze making the weather exceptionally pleasant. The people of Chang’an had shed their thick winter coats for lighter summer garments. Most men wore robes and flat-top hats, looking relaxed and composed, while women were dressed in colorful, flowing garments. Having removed their thick winter robes, they wore single-layered shirts and long skirts, mostly made of silk—light, elegant, and vividly colored. The translucent fabrics revealed their graceful figures, creating a breathtaking sight, like a vivid and dazzling painting of the Tang Dynasty.

Since the night curfew was lifted, the West Market had become much livelier at night. The wide streets were filled with stalls selling various trinkets—cheap perfumes, hairpins, combs, and bronze mirrors, mostly items for women. Indeed, there were more women on the streets, especially groups of young girls who chattered like birds returning home at dusk, haggling with vendors to buy small items they liked.

Li Qing’an also changed into casual clothes, wearing a jade belt around his waist and a black gauze hat. It was a pity that folding fans had not yet arrived from Japan; otherwise, holding one would have added to his elegant appearance, reminiscent of Pan An. Li Qing’an wasn’t shopping alone—he brought Mingzhu and Pei Min’s younger daughter, Pei Yu, along to the West Market.

Mingzhu wore a pomegranate-colored dress with a green silk shirt, her hair styled in twin buns—a sign typically associated with unmarried women. She and Pei Yu each held a light silk fan, following behind Li Qing’an as they eagerly looked around. Around them were also over twenty bodyguards, carefully observing their surroundings.

The West Market, also known as the Gold Market, was where all kinds of goods from Chang’an were gathered—grains, fabrics, tea, and more. It served as a barometer of the Tang Dynasty’s economy, with its prosperity reflecting the dynasty’s fortunes. However, it was night, and most stores selling grains and fabrics were closed. Only a few shops selling silk, fabrics, cosmetics, and jewelry remained open, operating as night markets.

Li Qingan entered a large store selling jewelry and treasures. It was here that he had bought many pieces of jewelry for Gao Wu back in the day. The store was spacious but not high-end, mainly selling ordinary jewelry worth one or two guan each. Of course, it was a bit better than the jewelry sold at street stalls for just a few dozen wen. It was clear that the store was very busy, with customers coming in thick and fast, and dozens of staff members were busy introducing various pieces of jewelry to them.

“Big brother, do you want to buy some jewelry for us?”

Mingzhu’s eyes shone as she looked at the dazzling jewelry hanging all around the walls. Mingzhu’s emotional development was much slower than that of other girls. While other girls showed great interest in jewelry and clothing at the age of thirteen or fourteen, Mingzhu was still climbing trees and playing outside. As she grew older, she wore strange and exotic clothes, dressing in a rather eerie manner. It wasn’t until she was eighteen, when other girls had already gotten married and become mothers, that she gradually developed a normal girl’s mindset, developing an interest in jewelry and clothing.

Next to her, Pei Yu was a typical girl. Although she was only fourteen, she was already skillfully selecting various pieces of jewelry and asking the staff about their prices. Her brows would occasionally furrow slightly, clearly because the prices seemed too high. Her mother had only given her five hundred wen as pocket money, enough at most to buy a silver hairpin.

At that moment, the second manager of the store noticed that Li Qingan didn’t seem like an ordinary person, with so many soldiers following him, so he quickly stepped forward with a smile and said, “Sir, would you like to pick a few pieces casually, or perhaps some high-quality jewelry?”

“Do you have any high-quality jewelry here?” Li Qingan asked with a smile.

“Yes! Yes! Please follow me.”

The second manager wanted to lead Li Qingan inside, but Li Qingan called out for Mingzhu. Mingzhu happened to be with Pei Yu, who was selecting some silver jewelry. Hearing Li Qingan call her, she quickly pulled Pei Yu over. “Big brother, what’s the matter?”

“Come with me; let’s go inside to choose.”

Li Qingan led the two girls inside. The inner hall was slightly smaller than the outer one, with wooden shelves all around, each holding various small sandalwood boxes labeled with items such as bracelets, hairpins, and gems. Unlike the outer hall where jewelry was hung on walls for easy viewing and selection, the inner hall had more than a dozen large seating cushions arranged neatly in the middle, with a small table beside each. Two cushions already had people sitting on them, with two experienced staff members introducing various precious items to them.

“Please have a seat!” The second manager invited Li Qingan and the two girls to sit down and ordered tea to be served. Then he smiled and asked, “I wonder what interests you?”

“What do you two want?” Li Qingan asked the two girls with a smile.

Mingzhu thought for a moment and smiled, saying, “I want to give our mother a pair of bracelets. As for me, I’d like to buy a nice necklace. In a few days, I’m going to a birthday party for Cui Yanyan’s son, so I need to change into a low-necked dress—showing my neck isn’t very good-looking.”
“Great! Have the shopkeeper fetch them first.”
Li Qing’an turned to Pei Yu with a smile and asked, “What about you? What do you want?”
Pei Yu was very embarrassed and quickly waved her hands, saying, “I don’t want anything. I just came to help Sister Mingzhu shop.”
“Who said that? Didn’t you want to buy hairpins?” Mingzhu corrected her.
Pei Yu said in a shy voice, “Everything here is too expensive. I can’t afford it.”
Li Qing’an chuckled and said to the second shopkeeper, “Go! Bring the hairpins too.”
A moment later, the second shopkeeper arrived with two assistants, carrying three rosewood boxes. They were placed on the table one after another. When the lids were opened, the dazzling jewels inside made the two girls exclaim in awe. One small rosewood box had three layers, each with twelve compartments, and each compartment was lined with red silk, holding a fine piece of jewelry—truly like a treasure chest.
The shopkeeper and assistants took out the items from each compartment. There were nine layers in total across the three boxes, leaving the two girls dazzled. Although they were from wealthy families with strict upbringing, they had never seen such splendid treasures before. Usually, when they were with their friends, they would buy cheap trinkets for thirty or fifty coins at street stalls. Such high-end jewelry was out of reach for them before marriage. But today, with Li Qing’an taking them here, it was their day of great fortune.
Li Qing’an smiled and said, “Feel free to choose. Take whatever you like. You can have as many as you want.”
The second shopkeeper beside him was stunned. He could tell Li Qing’an was no ordinary person, but the statement “take as many as you like” was something even a prince wouldn’t dare say lightly. Who was this man?
Seeing that he and his assistants didn’t seem to have large bags for money, the second shopkeeper carefully reminded them, “Sir, even the cheapest of these jewelry pieces cost over a hundred strings of coins.”
Pei Yu had just picked out a green feather hairpin inlaid with sapphires. Hearing this, she quickly put it down in fear. How could she dare to ask for something costing over a hundred strings of coins? What she didn’t know was that the gift bead Li Qing’an had given her earlier that day was worth at least a thousand strings of coins.
Mingzhu also hesitated. Although Li Qing’an was her brother-in-law, their mother had become even stricter with her in recent years. She didn’t dare to indulge herself lightly.

Li Qing’an waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “I already said, if you like something, just take it. Mingzhu, pick out a couple of pieces for your mother and Lady Zhang. Xiaoyu, pick out a couple for your mother too—as a token of my goodwill.” He then ordered, “Bring in all the other boxes!” He wanted to pick out a few pieces for each of his concubines. His attitude scared away the guests sitting nearby and also alarmed the store’s manager, who hurried out to pay his respects to Li Qing’an. “I am Liu Le, the manager of this store. May I ask your surname, sir?” Li Qing’an smiled slightly and said, “My surname is Li. I’ve come specifically to buy some jewelry.” At that moment, the deputy manager secretly pulled the manager aside and whispered in his ear, “I think they don’t seem to have that much money with them.” Though he spoke very softly, Li Qing’an heard it. With a cold laugh, he took out a handful of Anxi silver coins and placed them on the table, asking, “Do you accept Anxi silver coins?” Seeing that the customer had heard, the manager glared fiercely at the deputy manager and quickly stepped forward with a smile, saying, “I’m sorry for offending you. Anxi silver coins are the most valuable currency in the Tang Dynasty—each coin is worth 300 coins of regular currency. But if you want ten pieces…” He didn’t finish his sentence, but his implication was that ten pieces of jewelry would cost over a thousand coins of regular currency, which would require at least a thousand Anxi silver coins—so many that they would need a bag just to hold them. Li Qing’an took out a gold medal and placed it on the table, saying calmly, “Use this gold medal to exchange for Anxi silver coins at Juhai Bank. Not to mention a thousand coins, even ten thousand won’t be a problem.” The manager’s eyes widened in shock. He suddenly realized who this customer was and quickly knelt down, pleading, “This humble servant didn’t realize it was the great general in charge. I’ve said many offensive things. Please forgive me, General!” The deputy manager was even more terrified and knelt down as well. Li Qing’an waved his hand and said, “Get up! I’m not angry at you. No need for all this fuss.” The two managers wiped their sweat and stood up. At that moment, a woman’s voice came from the inner room, “I heard a big customer has arrived. Why didn’t you call me?” “General, this is the owner of our store!” the manager quickly explained. Li Qing’an found the voice extremely familiar—it belonged to an old acquaintance. He picked up his teacup and waited smiling for the woman to arrive. Soon, a woman in a yellow dress stepped in—a stunningly beautiful young woman, none other than Li Qing’an’s old rival, Lady Yang Huahua of the Guo State. “Where in life can we not meet again? Third Sister, how have you been?” “So it’s you!”

A hint of surprise flashed in Yang Huahua’s eyes. She hadn’t expected it to be Li Qing’an. After so many years, she knew she could never have him, and those feelings had gradually faded. Thinking of him now, she felt mostly regret and loss.

She had heard today that Li Qing’an had come to the capital, but never imagined she would meet him here. This surprised and delighted her, so she stepped forward with a smile and said, “Qilang, how did you know this shop is mine?”

Li Qing’an smiled and replied, “I just brought my two younger sisters shopping, wanting to buy them some things. I didn’t know you ran this shop. Third sister, you’ve become rich!”

“Ah! What rich? I just want to sell the jewelry others gave me to earn some extra money to support my family.”

Yang Huahua sat down next to Li Qing’an and laughed again, “You know what, if I weren’t here tonight, would you still come to see me?”

Mingzhu didn’t like Yang Huahua. Hearing her tone as she cooed at Li Qing’an, she rolled her eyes and cleared her throat, saying, “Brother-in-law, it’s getting late. We should head back now!”

“Brother-in-law?”

Yang Huahua glanced at Mingzhu. Seeing how beautiful she was—with fair, delicate skin that glowed with health, exuding a vibrant youthful energy—she felt a hint of bitterness. Compared to them, she felt old already.

“You must be Mingzhu! You’re just as beautiful as your sister.”

After all, Mingzhu was young and not as experienced as Yang Huahua. Her casual compliment made her feel as if she had been too harsh on others, leaving her with a sense of guilt.

Li Qing’an, however, saw through it all. He smiled, picked out a necklace of colorful gems from the jewelry box, held it up against Mingzhu’s chest, and tilted his head with a smile, saying, “This necklace suits you well. I’ve bought it for you.”

He handed the necklace to the shopkeeper. “Pack it up!”

“Wait!”

Yang Huahua stopped him. She took the necklace and frowned, saying, “I just remembered. This necklace was given to me by my fourth sister. How could I sell it? What a fool I am.”

She put the necklace away and apologized to Li Qing’an with a smile, “I’m so sorry, Qilang! I came here today intending to choose carefully. Some jewelry has sentimental value and can’t be sold. How about you come back tomorrow?”

Li Qing’an smiled faintly and said, “Then I’ll offer ten times its price to buy that colorful necklace of yours. Will you sell it?”

“Ten times?” Yang Huahua’s eyes sparkled as she laughed. “Qilang, you know this necklace is worth a thousand guan! Ten times that would be ten thousand guan. Are you willing to pay that?”

“What is there for me to be reluctant about? If Third Sister wants it, I can even give her a silver mine, so she won’t have to mint iron coins anymore.”
Yang Huahua laughed, trembling all over. “You guy—you may not have any other skills, but you’re really good at mocking people!”
She then took out a necklace of colorful gems and handed it to Mingzhu with a smile. “Never mind. I’m always stingy when it comes to money, but today I’ll be generous. I’ll give you this necklace to avoid angering your brother-in-law, the military governor.”
“No! No!” Mingzhu quickly refused. “It was given to you by the Imperial Concubine. How can I accept it?”
“I’m just joking. If it really were given to me by the Imperial Concubine, I wouldn’t have kept it here. This necklace was actually a gift from the Emperor. To others, it might hold some special meaning, but to me, it’s just an expensive necklace. I’m giving it to you.”
She then took out a hairpin adorned with sapphires and handed it to Pei Yu. “Young lady, I’m giving you this hairpin as a gift to welcome you.”
The two girls were quite embarrassed, but Li Qing’an laughed and said, “Just accept it! It’s rare for Third Sister Yang to be so generous.”