When Xiao Jingcheng caught up with Ye Wanmian, the girl still wore a hint of anger on her face. She stomped her feet heavily, as if there were bugs under them.
Fortunately, they soon reached their destination, a stall specializing in bowls and dishes.
The blanket on the stall was now covered with bowls, dishes, and tea cups made of various materials. Some were painted with patterns, while others were simply shaped. But they were colorful, presenting a dazzling array.
"Miss, what do you need? We have all styles and prices here. I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
Ye Wanmian temporarily forgot what the swindling Taoist priest had said. She squatted down, picked up a rough brown pottery bowl at random, and asked, "How much is this?"
Xiao Jingcheng squatted beside her and glanced at the bowl in her hand, immediately showing a look of disgust.
What taste she had! She actually picked such an ugly one.
The peddler said to Ye Wanmian, "That one's not expensive. Three copper coins. You can take it, ma'am."
Ye Wanmian asked about a few more items. A plate cost five copper coins, a bowl or tea cup three copper coins, and a cup one copper coin. In total, it was still within her budget.
She had earned eighty copper coins from selling medicinal herbs today, and she also had a string of a thousand copper coins hidden on her. Buying a few bowls and cups was more than enough.
Suddenly remembering something, she turned to the yellow dog beside her and said, "I know you don't like your bowl. You can pick one you like."
Pick one by himself?
Xiao Jingcheng lowered his eyes and looked at the stall in front of him.
Ceramics were abundant in the Xia Kingdom, with five major official kilns and seven minor civilian kilns. As the name suggested, half of the porcelain produced by the official kilns was supplied to the palace, and the other half was transported by land, river, and sea to neighboring countries for trade.
The porcelain produced by civilian kilns mostly circulated in the market and found its way into the homes of the common people in the Xia Kingdom.
As the crown prince, all the utensils in the Eastern Palace where Xiao Jingcheng lived were of the best quality. Naturally, his appreciation was far beyond that of ordinary people.
The bowls, cups, and dishes in front of him were made of extremely rough materials and craftsmanship. They were even inferior to the lowest - grade porcelain from civilian kilns. How could they catch his eye?
After Ye Wanmian said that, she ignored him and started to pick by herself.
After some selection, she picked two bowls, three plates, and a tea cup for making tea. Then she stopped contentedly. She turned to see what the yellow dog had picked, only to find the space beside her empty. The dog had run away somewhere.
Ye Wanmian stood up and looked around. "Dahuang, Dahuang?"
There were only passers - by around. Not even a shadow or a hair of a dog could be seen.
Strange. Where had it gone?
Ye Wanmian mumbled. Just as she was about to hand the items she had picked to the peddler, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something. She was so scared that she quickly jumped up and ran to the right.
"Dahuang, Dahuang, put it down quickly!"
The yellow dog had somehow run to another stall selling bowls. It grabbed the silver bowl placed on the outermost side. The bowl was so shiny that it almost blinded Ye Wanmian!
"Dahuang, let go quickly. This belongs to someone else. We can't take it!" Ye Wanmian grabbed the other half of the silver bowl and tried to snatch it from the dog's mouth.
However, the yellow dog ignored her at all. Instead, it bit the silver bowl even tighter, and let out growls from its throat, as if saying that she had told it to pick by itself, and now did she want to go back on her word?
Ye Wanmian was annoyed that she could understand the hint in those beady eyes. She said anxiously, "When I told you to pick freely, I meant for you to pick pottery or porcelain bowls, not gold or silver ones!"
How much silver would a silver bowl cost? How could she afford it?
But Xiao Jingcheng didn't care about these things. She had said that he could pick by himself. He was the crown prince. What was wrong with using a better one?
He just wouldn't let go!
Not only wouldn't he let go, but the yellow dog also shook its head and wagged its body, shaking off Ye Wanmian's hand. Then it bit the bowl and jumped to the side in a flash, making it impossible to catch.
"Dahuang! Give the bowl back!"
Ye Wanmian was so angry that she chased after it. The yellow dog played hide - and - seek with her in front of everyone. It even stopped from time to time and turned to look at Ye Wanmian, who was out of breath behind, with a provocative look on its face.
"Don't... don't run! You... you bad dog!" Ye Wanmian leaned on her waist, pointed at the lithe yellow dog, and stamped her foot angrily.
Xiao Jingcheng felt a bit proud. For the first time, he thought that this body he was in was somewhat useful.
Inside his body, the yellow light ball was jumping around anxiously.
[Mother is angry. We can't make mother angry.]
The yellow light ball tried to seize control of the body from Xiao Jingcheng again. Xiao Jingcheng clearly felt that his dodging speed had slowed down. Several times, he almost had his tail grabbed by Ye Wanmian.
Xiao Jingcheng clicked his tongue in his heart. He rolled his eyes and coaxed the light ball.
[Do you know that a silver bowl can be used to detect the poison hidden in food?]
[Don't you forget that you ate the wrong thing and were poisoned the day before yesterday. You almost lost your life, and that's how I took advantage of the situation. I'm doing this for your own good.]
The light ball hesitated for a moment, then stopped obstructing Xiao Jingcheng and gave the control of the body back to him.
Ye Wanmian's act of chasing the dog in the street attracted a lot of onlookers. Everyone was amused by the two as if they were playing hide - and - seek. The stall owner selling the silver bowl wasn't angry that the yellow dog had grabbed his silver bowl. Instead, he laughed and said,
"Miss, since the dog likes it, just buy it for it."
"Yeah, buy it." Others also joined in the teasing.
The yellow dog bit the silver bowl and nodded slightly, as if agreeing with everyone's words, which caused another cheer.
"It understands human speech!"
"This is a divine dog!"
The stall owner deliberately said, "Look, the silver bowl has been bitten by the dog, and there's the dog's saliva on it. It's not good for me to sell it to others. If you don't buy it, miss, I won't be able to do business."
Ye Wanmian knew very well that if it were her, she wouldn't use a bowl that had been bitten by a dog to eat either!
But, but how much would a silver bowl cost!
She hung her head and said tearfully, "How much is this silver bowl?"
The stall owner said, "This bowl weighs ten taels and three qian. Since it's fate with you, miss, I'll give you a discount. I'll sell it to you for nine taels of silver!"
Ye Wanmian felt dizzy when she heard that.
Nine taels of silver!
How many times would she have to sell medicinal herbs to earn that much money! She felt heart - ache when the stinky Taoist priest asked for two taels of silver to resolve her problem. How could she spend nine taels of silver on a dog bowl!
She had raised a prodigal ancestor. What a profligate!
Actually, Ye Wanmian wasn't short of silver.
After she fled from Xuanzhou, she sold her wedding dress and phoenix crown and got quite a lot of silver, at least a hundred taels.
But as the saying goes, one should not show off one's wealth. She was just a village woman in Dongli Town, and a "widow" at that. She "shouldn't" have so much money, so as not to arouse others' suspicion and covetousness.
At this time, there was a "clang" sound from behind. The yellow dog let go of the silver bowl, and it fell to the ground.
It pressed the edge of the bowl with its paw and stared at the stall owner menacingly, barking once.
It seemed to want to bargain with the stall owner.