Time Travel and Love

"Second brother, don't jump to conclusions. Let's go for a walk. It's a good opportunity for them to see it." Chu Qingmeng sighed, "Feiying, go get the two young masters and find some washed, bleached clothes."

Mo Liuchen understood what she meant. The ordinary clothes he and Qing Meng wore before were very conspicuous among those people. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would not have known that there was such a poor place in the capital where he had lived for more than forty years.

When everyone was gathered, they were asked to change their clothes, which made several of them quite disgusted, but Mo Liuchen did not react at all.

"It just turned a little white after washing, it's not dirty. You guys shouldn't be that bad, right?" Chu Qingmeng changed into a coarse cloth dress. With Mo Liujin around, she was too lazy to change into men's clothes. She would have to wear a veil or a hood anyway.

"Aunt, although we should be low-key when going out, it doesn't have to be like this, right?" Mo Jiangli disliked this outfit. He was already very frugal, but he still had more than twenty sets of clothes every season.

"Mother..." Mo Jiangche looked at Chu Qingmeng.

"You'll find out in a moment." Chu Qingmeng glanced at the reluctant Mo Liuyuan and Mo Liujin, smiled, and said, "Let's go."

After leaving the house and getting on his horse, Chu Qingmeng paused and looked at Mo Jiangli. After hesitating for a while, he finally spoke, "Jiangli, if you hear me call Aunt Guihua, you should either stop calling me that, or call me... 'Mother'."

Chu Qingmeng was also quite embarrassed. Logically speaking, Mo Jiangli should be considered her brother? Never mind, it was quite confusing. An elder sister is like a mother. He didn't mind calling her mom.

"Yes. Mother." Mo Jiangli addressed her directly. His affinity for Chu Qingmeng stemmed from a sense of familiarity, though he didn't know where it came from. He didn't have a mother anyway, so to him, there was little difference between an aunt and a mother.

Mo Liujin and the others all changed their expressions. He was a prince, so they couldn't call him that casually. Jiang Heng could call him mother, but he couldn't call him that so openly.

"..." Chu Qingmeng looked at him and said, "Jiang Li, don't call me that. It's just a casual act. If you hadn't met Aunt Guihua, you wouldn't have to call me that."

"That's all right." Mo Jiangli looked at Chu Qingmeng, seemingly explaining to her, but actually speaking to Mo Liujin and the others, "I don't have a mother, and ordinary people wouldn't recognize me. And we only call me that in private, so don't take it too seriously, mother."

Chu Qingmeng secretly slapped herself in the face, unable to shake it off, and there was no need to say such a thing! Mo Liujin didn't stop her. After she finished slapping him, he grabbed her hand, frowned and scolded her, "What are you doing? Scream if you want, it's only for a moment!"

The group rode their horses forward, first going to the street where Aunt Guihua was, and then leaving their horses at the restaurant. They sat down at a roadside tea stall and ordered two pots of tea, but except for Chu Qingmeng, no one else moved. Mo Liujin stopped Chu Qingmeng from drinking tea and whispered, "Don't drink this. Do you have anything to drink at home?"

Chu Qingmeng glanced at him and smiled, "Try it. This might be the most bitter thing you've ever experienced." He turned to look at the younger generations, "Heng'er, Qing'er, you guys can try it too."

Mo Liuyuan heard her words, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, trying hard not to spit it out. Chu Qingmeng chuckled and drank it as usual. "This tea is called 'Gao Sui'. It can only be brewed in a large pot like this. No more water can be added. This is the only tea that ordinary people can afford."

Jiang Heng and his companions, who were about to say that the store was deceiving them, stopped talking in astonishment. Ordinary people would drink this kind of thing?

"Oh, you're an expert, girl. This Gao Sui is the best we sell in our store. Even the big guns at the docks would drink a pot of it and wait for the business!" The shopkeeper has a good eye! Although these people are dressed like ordinary people, the temperament and appearance they exude are not poor people at all! Maybe they are from a wealthy family doing business! Why are they dressed like this?

"Yes, shopkeeper. My brother has been working for a wealthy family and is used to the fine tea and water of his masters. I want to bring him along to experience the life of ordinary people." Chu Qingmeng knew that these clothes could not hide the temperament of these people. The aura of officials was engraved in their bones. He turned around and spoke in dialect, "Shopkeeper, look at these students coming and going. Why do they all look so half-dead? They don't have the spirit of a scholar."

Her dialect startled several people and they looked at her. Mo Liujin raised his eyebrows and forced a smile. What dialect was this?

The shopkeeper felt a little familiar with the dialect. "From your accent, you must be from Jizhou, right? Well, we are half fellow villagers. I am from Qizhou, and my home is at the junction of Qizhou and Jizhou. In that sense, we are not outsiders. You just arrived in the capital, and you don't know what to do yet!"

The shopkeeper, while carrying lumps of charcoal from the stove, whispered to her, "This year's imperial examination should have been held every three years, but it coincided with the death of the previous emperor, the ascension of the new emperor, and the rebellion of the kings. Because of these things, the examination has been delayed again and again. Most of these students come from ordinary families. A family of more than ten people has to tighten their belts to support such a scholar. Oh, can you imagine how difficult it is!"

Mo Jiangheng and the others couldn't hide the shock and astonishment in their eyes. They looked at each other, and they all saw shock in each other's eyes. A whole family supporting one person's education?! How could this be possible?!