"These dresses are too ordinary!"
Unexpectedly, Xu Yuqing disliked all the dresses after the owner introduced them, exclaiming with disdain.
"As expected of a small place. Look at these dresses, not a single decent one. None of them are pretty or good-looking, and the material is poor."
Seeing that the shop only had two small rooms, exuding a sense of shabbiness, she shouldn't have had any expectations. Such a small shop wouldn't have the beautiful and luxurious dresses from the large fabric stores in the capital.
What a nerve, for the owner to say his shop had so many pretty dresses!
The owner felt somewhat awkward and annoyed by Xu Yuqing's dissatisfaction and disdain, but he couldn't openly scold her, as she was a customer.
"I think that white dress is quite nice," Huangfu Yue said, pointing to a snow-white long dress hanging on the south wall.
She was speechless regarding her second sister-in-law. The dresses in this shop were not as bad as she claimed; Huangfu Yue felt many of them were acceptable.
"That dress is too plain, and it doesn't have any patterns at all. It's extremely simple and also exudes a sense of shabbiness. It will definitely look ugly to wear and make people suspect I'm a pauper," Xu Yuqing glanced at the white dress her sister-in-law pointed to and immediately shook her head, full of disdain.
Huangfu Yue suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. The white dress was a bit plain, but it wasn't exactly shabby. Moreover, it was meant to be worn as mourning attire, so it naturally had to be very simple.
Mourning clothes were all simple. Like the one she was wearing now, it had many finely embroidered beautiful white patterns, which were too opulent for mourning attire. Not good!
She felt this second sister-in-law was too fond of beauty, wanting to wear beautiful clothes even when in mourning.
"I think that 'Liu Xian' dress is barely acceptable. How about I buy that powder-blue dress?"
After looking through all the dresses multiple times, Xu Yuqing grudgingly selected a light blue 'Liu Xian' dress.
Huangfu Yue knitted her brows and immediately refused, "This one won't do. Don't forget we are in mourning and cannot wear colored clothing, only white."
Did this second sister-in-law even remember she was in mourning!
"This dress is light blue. Light blue is very faint, just a hint of blue, not really a color, so it can be worn," Xu Yuqing said.
"No. You cannot wear it! No matter how faint, it is not white. You can only wear white," Huangfu Yue refused again, shaking her head.
"You should still take that white dress I just told you about," she said, pointing to the white dress she had previously found for Xu Yuqing.
"No! That dress is both ugly and shabby. I absolutely will not wear it. I want this light blue dress. Hurry up and pay for it," Xu Yuqing said demandingly.
Fearing Huangfu Yue would still not agree, Xu Yuqing threatened, "If you don't buy this light blue dress for me, I won't leave!"
Huangfu Yue was completely speechless, her brows furrowed even tighter. Just as she was considering whether to use some tactics to make her realize she wasn't a child anymore and shouldn't be so willful or make such ridiculous threats, Consort Dowager Zheng's voice came from outside...
"Yue'er, give in to her."
The soundproofing of "Xiang Ji" was not good. Consort Dowager Zheng and the others outside could clearly hear Huangfu Yue and Xu Yuqing's voices.
Hearing Consort Dowager Zheng's words, Huangfu Yue raised her brows.
Listening to her grandmother's words, it was obvious she had heard their conversation. Why didn't Grandmother oppose her along with her, and instead told her to give in to her second sister-in-law?
Grandmother was really strange!
What was Grandmother thinking...
"Did you hear? Grandmother told you to give in to me. Hurry up and buy it for me. I also want to buy two pairs of shoes, my shoes are dirty too."
Xu Yuqing happily called out to Huangfu Yue, then went to look at the embroidered shoes placed not far away, picking out shoes.
Huangfu Yue suppressed her displeasure and asked the owner how much the light blue 'Liu Xian' dress cost. Hearing it was one tael, she found the price reasonable and, without bargaining, had the owner pack it up.
The owner agreed, feeling strange. Why was this young lady paying? He had thought it would be that picky woman, whom she called her second sister-in-law, paying.
That woman was clearly older than this young lady and was her sister-in-law, so why would she let this young lady pay for her? What a terrible sister-in-law she was!
"Miss, we are done," Feng Ruoyuan said, cupping his hands and reporting to Huangfu Yue.
Feng Maoyuan and his men were not as troublesome as Xu Yuqing. They had already picked out their clothes and asked the shop assistants where the fitting rooms were. They went into the small rooms one by one, changed into their new clothes, and took off their yamen runner uniforms.
Huangfu Yue glanced at the clothes on Feng Maoyuan and his men, a hint of satisfaction flashing in her eyes. She asked the owner how much Feng Maoyuan's clothes cost.
Hearing the owner say it was a total of two taels of silver, Huangfu Yue thought that for seven sets of clothes, two taels of silver wasn't expensive. She nodded.
"Wait for my second sister-in-law to pick out her shoes, and I'll pay you for everything together."
"Alright," the owner replied with a smile, quickly agreeing.
Huangfu Yue had expected that since the shoes were worn on the feet, Xu Yuqing wouldn't be too particular and would pick them out quickly. She never imagined Xu Yuqing would be so picky, disliking all the women's shoes at "Xiang Ji" and expressing all sorts of disdain. Finally, she grudgingly picked out two pairs of embroidered shoes.
Seeing Xu Yuqing pick out a pair with purple uppers and a pair with crimson uppers, Huangfu Yue immediately objected, telling her to pick out white shoes.
They were in mourning, so the shoes should also be white.
But Xu Yuqing refused. She said she only liked the purple and red shoes and wanted no others.
She argued that since shoes were worn on the feet and would be covered by the skirt, no one would notice her wearing bright colored shoes during the mourning period. She then threatened Huangfu Yue again, saying that if she didn't buy them for her, she wouldn't leave.
Huangfu Yue didn't want to indulge her and was about to tell her that her threat was useless, but just as she was about to speak, Consort Dowager Zheng outside spoke again, telling her to give in to Xu Yuqing and buy them for her.
Huangfu Yue had no choice but to agree to buy them for Xu Yuqing.
Xu Yuqing felt victorious, her face beaming with a smile. She thought that the tactic of threatening not to leave seemed to work very well and she could use it in the future to make Huangfu Yue and the others satisfy her every wish.
"I also want to buy a small dress and a pair of small shoes for my Ying'er," Xu Yuqing said, not forgetting her daughter. "Boss, do you have dresses and shoes for little girls?"
"Yes, over there. I'll take you to see," the owner said. Although he didn't like Xu Yuqing, and even disliked her a little, hearing that she still wanted to buy dresses and shoes for a little girl, he respectfully took her to see the little girl's dresses and shoes.
After seeing the little girl's small dresses and shoes, Xu Yuqing was once again full of disdain and expressed a string of unhappy remarks. Only then did she grudgingly pick out what she considered the best from the "unacceptable" small dresses and shoes to buy for her daughter.
"Boss, how much are all the clothes and shoes in total?" Huangfu Yue asked the owner, suppressing her inner frustration.
"Replying to the young lady, it's a total of four taels and seven hundred wen," the owner replied with a fawning smile.
Huangfu Yue immediately had the space send out ten taels to her. She had no money on her; she had put all her money into her space.
The silver she had taken into her space was, at the smallest, in ingots of ten taels.
She thought she needed to find time to go into the space and take out some silver to carry with her. It wasn't always convenient to have the space send money only when she needed it.
The space immediately sent out ten taels of silver to her. She handed it to the owner, who promptly gave her five taels and three hundred wen in change.
"Let's go," Huangfu Yue said to Xu Yuqing and Feng Maoyuan and his men.
"Yue'er, aren't you going to buy a dress and a pair of shoes? Since you're already here, why don't you buy a dress and a pair of shoes? Your dress and shoes are also dirty!" Xu Yuqing said considerately.
Anyway, she wasn't spending her own money, so why not gain favor?
Huangfu Yue shook her head, "No need. My dress and shoes just need washing. I don't need to replace them."
She was different from her!
She hadn't forgotten she was in mourning, and before her family was raided, she had collected all her clothes into her space, and her shoes too. She didn't need to buy new clothes or shoes at all.
Xu Yuqing pouted. What a fool. She had money but didn't spend it, spending it on others, buying clothes and shoes for others but not for herself.
She thought this person looked quite intelligent and seemed very capable, but in reality, she was a brainless fool.
Huangfu Yue walked out of "Xiang Ji" first, followed closely by Xu Yuqing and Feng Maoyuan.
"Grandmother, we're done shopping. I see the sky is getting late, let's find an inn to stay at. The 'Tong Fu Inn' in this town is good, we can go to the 'Tong Fu Inn' to stay."
Huangfu Yue didn't rush to mount her horse. Instead, she went to the carriage and respectfully reported to Consort Dowager Zheng inside.
Consort Dowager Zheng smiled kindly, "Alright, everything is up to you."
She didn't ask how her granddaughter knew the "Tong Fu Inn" in this town was good. She knew it must be something her granddaughter had seen using her magic before.
Huangfu Yue turned, went to the horse she was riding, mounted it, then pulled the waiting Xu Yuqing onto the horse and led the Wangfu entourage to the "Tong Fu Inn"...