allonlinenovel Chapter 296 Heading to the Dock
Chapter 296 Heading to the Dock
A short while later, as the music from the neighboring zither slowly stopped, Song Qizuo, the eldest grandson of the Grand Princess, walked in from outside to greet Prince Rui, with his son Song He following closely behind.
Xiao Han and the other three stood up one after another and greeted Prince Rui.
Song Qizuo and Song He paid their respects to Xiao Hanqi, the three kings, and the three kings.
Prince Qi spoke up: "Cousin Song and his nephew, there's no need for such formalities."
This address of "cousin" truly touched Song Qizuo's heart, making their relationship seem less distant.
Although they meet at the Grand Princess's birthday banquet every year, they have virtually no contact with the royal family except for some banquet occasions.
The eldest princess is ten years older than the late emperor, and today is her seventy-fifth birthday, which is considered a long life in this dynasty.
She already has several great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
Just like Song Qizuo, he is thirty-seven years old this year. He got married at nineteen, his eldest son is already seventeen, and his eldest daughter is almost of marriageable age.
Song Qizuo smiled and said respectfully, "Thank you, Your Highness Prince Qi."
Over the years, his brothers and their father's uncles and aunts have not had much success in their official careers, and their businesses outside the region have also not been very successful.
The Song family is still able to maintain connections with the royal family and some prominent families in the capital, all thanks to the Grand Princess's influence and title.
My grandmother is getting old, and her health is not as robust as it used to be. I don't know how many more years she can live.
Their generation still had some kinship ties with the royal family, but the younger generation had little to do with the royal family.
While their grandmother is still alive, they can still maintain some contact with the royal family. If their grandmother passes away, the relationship between the Song family and the royal family will become even more distant.
Without a positive turn of events, the Song family may decline and completely fade out of the circle of prominent families in the capital.
Right now, he can only place his hopes on the younger generation, so he brought his son along this time, hoping to find a way to build a good relationship with the princes.
Song Qizuo said, "Your Highnesses, I still need to go to the front hall to entertain other guests, so I will leave my son here to keep you company and take good care of you."
Prince Rui: "It's alright, you can go and get back to work."
Song Qizuo exchanged a few words with Song He and then left.
King Xuan called out, "Everyone, don't stand there, Second Brother, come and sit down."
Princess Rui was led by her maid to the warm pavilion next door where the women were resting.
Princess Yu, along with Ye Lingwei, Fang Qiuyu, and other young ladies, were all gathered here. The one who had just played the zither was Song Qizuo's daughter, Song Jun.
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After leaving the Prince's mansion, Long Chuqing went directly to Doctor Yuan's pharmacy.
Xiaoyu peeked out from behind the counter, grinned, and greeted, "Hello, Sister Long."
"Hello, Miss Long!" Mr. Ji, the shopkeeper who was also in charge of cashiering and packing medicinal herbs at the pharmacy, greeted her with a smile.
"Hello! Xiaoyu, what are you doing?" Long Chuqing looked through the counter and saw Xiaoyu pounding medicine with a pestle.
"I'm helping Mr. Ji grind medicine!"
"Okay...then you guys get back to work."
When Doctor Yuan saw Long Chuqing, he chuckled and said, "Miss Long, did you come to help me because you saw I was busy here again?"
Long Chuqing looked around the hall. There were still quite a few patients sitting in the pharmacy, but there were far fewer than when he came to help before.
"I believe you and Dr. Sun can handle it."
"I suppose you didn't come here specifically to see me. Are you looking for medicinal herbs? Just go and get whatever you need."
"Okay, I'll go take a look myself. You go ahead with your work..."
Long Chuqing stood in front of the medicine cabinet and pulled out a medicine container filled with saltpeter. Looking at the small amount of saltpeter inside, she pushed the container back in.
"Dr. Yuan, do you have any extra saltpeter in your shop?"
Upon hearing the question, Doctor Yuan turned around and said, "How many do you need? There are still some in the storeroom."
After Long Chuqing told Dr. Yuan the amount she needed, he said that they didn't have that much. Pharmacies don't usually use a large amount of saltpeter, so they don't stockpile much.
So Long Chuqing asked Doctor Yuan where he could buy a large quantity of saltpeter.
"The medicinal herbs in my pharmacy are mostly supplied by Mr. Hu, a herbalist from Dongmen Wharf."
Dr. Yuan thought for a moment and said, "The mineral market in the northern suburbs also sells them, but it's a bit far. The docks have larger quantities and the prices are relatively affordable. If you're lucky, you might even find private individuals selling them, and the prices will be even cheaper."
After listening to Doctor Yuan's words, Long Chuqing thought that the nearby pharmacies probably wouldn't have stockpiled a large amount of saltpeter, so he still needed to go to the northern suburbs or the dock.
The journey from here to the northern suburbs is indeed quite long, and even by carriage it takes a considerable amount of time. To get to the docks, one has to leave the city, but the distance is relatively much shorter than going to the northern suburbs.
Thank you for letting me know...
After thanking Doctor Yuan, Long Chuqing left the pharmacy with Ziguang.
She decided to go to the dock, so she first went back to the Prince's Mansion to get her household registration transferred, and had lunch there before setting off.
The flow of people entering and leaving the city through the East Gate was not as large as that through the main city gate, the South Gate. Most of them were goods transport vehicles, merchants coming and going, and ordinary people who needed to travel by water.
Even though there weren't many people entering or leaving the city and there was no need to queue, the household registration checks were much more rigorous than usual, and there seemed to be a few more guards than at the South Gate.
Those accompanying the carriage had to dismount to have their identities checked. The guards also conducted a thorough inspection of the carriage, carefully checking the carriage and the undercarriage to ensure that no other people were hiding before allowing them to pass.
It may be related to the docks and goods. We really need to be more careful in inspecting the goods entering and leaving the city. We can't be careless at all, for fear that some opportunistic people might sneak into the city with the goods or transport some dangerous items.
The East Gate is not far from the pier; it takes about two cups of tea's time to get there.
Although the journey was short, it turned out that the path to the dock was not easy to walk.
Because of the frequent transport of goods, the muddy road had deep ruts and many potholes of varying sizes. The deeper potholes were filled with small stones, making the carriage ride very bumpy.
The unevenness of the road increased the difficulty of the journey.
As they swayed and rocked, they gradually approached the dock. The cold wind made the carriage curtains flutter loudly. Zi Guang lifted the curtain and looked out, only to be greeted by the dock's sign.
Dongmen Wharf, also known as Ling'an Wharf, was the main water trade center of the imperial city, and many goods were transported by waterway.
"Miss, this is my first time at the dock! It's just that it's a bit windy and cold right now."
A cold wind carrying a fishy, rusty smell rushed into the carriage, and Long Chuqing couldn't help but pull her cloak tighter around herself.
Uncle Chen, who was sitting outside the carriage, had already wrapped his cotton-padded coat tightly around himself and put on a hat for all-around warmth.
"The wind is indeed stronger by the river."
"Whoa..." Uncle Chen stopped the carriage and turned around to tell her, "Miss, there are many cargo vehicles parked ahead, our carriage may not be able to get in."