There is a happy inn in the capital.

It's a new day when you open your eyes and close them again.

Li Shuchen got up, opened the window, and breathed in the fresh morning air.

A head suddenly popped out of the window

Princess Changning smiled and said, "So you're up! I thought you were going to sleep until the sun was high in the sky."

Princess Changning placed her hands on the windowpane, blinked her eyes, and asked, "Where shall we go today?"

Seeing how adorable she was, Li Shuchen couldn't resist pinching Princess Changning's cheek and said slowly, "Let's go to the market."

Princess Changning nodded: "Then let's go quickly."

Seeing that she really couldn't wait, Li Shuchen grabbed an oil-paper umbrella and said, "Let's go."

Princess Changning saw Li Shuchen take out an umbrella and asked in confusion, "What are you doing with an umbrella?"

She pointed to the sky again and said, "There's not a cloud in the sky, and the sun is shining brightly. Are you out of your mind?"

Li Shuchen said good-naturedly, "Just in case."

She didn't stoop to Princess Changning's level.

In this season, the grass grows lush and the birds sing in Jiangnan, with spring rain drizzling down. Who knows when it will rain again?

Princess Changning: "The market is so lively! Wow, this looks nice, I want to buy this! That looks nice too, I want to buy that! They're all beautiful, I'll buy them all!"

From the moment they arrived at the market until now, Princess Changning has been chattering nonstop.

Before long, her maids and servants were carrying loads of goods, their purchasing power astonishing.

Li Shuchen didn't buy anything; she hadn't seen what she wanted yet.

Suddenly the sky changed drastically; a cool breeze arose, the clear sky vanished, and dark clouds appeared.

Li Shuchen looked at the gray sky, feeling somewhat disappointed. She hadn't bought what she wanted yet.

But he still said to Princess Changning, "It might rain, let's find a place to take shelter."

Princess Changning knew it was going to rain without even looking up. She had initially laughed at Li Shuchen for being foolish, but it turns out she was the fool in the end.

A light rain had started to fall, thankfully not heavily. Li Shuchen opened his umbrella and shared it with Princess Changning, while Grape opened hers alone.

Changning's servant was somewhat clever; seeing the bad weather, he quickly went to buy oiled paper umbrellas. The umbrellas sold out in no time, and the merchants happily went home.

The streets were in chaos; everyone was packing up their belongings and running home.

The raindrops weren't large, but they were frequent, and over time they soaked through clothes.

Li Shuchen led Princess Changning to take shelter from the rain under a long eave, where several people were already gathered.

We found an open space, steadied ourselves, and everyone got a little wet, but not much.

"Sigh, these seeds got rained on, how am I supposed to sell them? My whole family depends on these seeds to make a living. It's all my fault for forgetting to bring an umbrella."

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault," the white-haired old man said, raising his hand to smear his face. Li Shuchen couldn't bear to watch and stopped him.

Li Shuchen: "Grandpa, may I ask what kind of seeds you are selling?"

The old man looked up, pointed to a large bag beside him, and said with some delight, "These are some cantaloupe seeds, grapevines, orange seedlings, and sweet pear seedlings that we kept from our own farm."

The old man's voice faded: "Now that it's wet, it might sprout."

Li Shuchen only wanted to go through the motions; getting wet didn't matter, since she had Xiao Jizi anyway. However, the seed that Li Shuchen wanted most was something he didn't have.

Li Shuchen glanced at the bag and felt that the amount wasn't much; he needed to collect more.

Li Shuchen: "How much silver? I'll take it all."

"Ah!" The old man looked up in disbelief and said, "Young lady, have you... thought it through?"

Li Shuchen nodded emphatically: "I've thought it through."

The white-haired old man said, "Young lady, these seeds could originally sell for forty taels of silver, but you can give me twenty. Once they sprout, plant them. These are all old seeds; many of them will survive."

Li Shuchen thought it meant a high survival rate.

Li Shuchen: Success

Li Shuchen readily paid the money and took the seeds. The sapling turned to leave.

The white-haired old man looked at Li Shuchen. If it weren't for this young woman, her entire family would be starving. He touched the thing in his arms, and with a heavy heart...

White-haired old man: "Young lady, please wait."

Li Shuchen turned around

The old man took out a small cloth bag from his pocket and then invited Li Shuchen to a less crowded side.

He whispered to Li Shuchen, "This bag contains watermelon seeds. I've kept them in my coat pocket the whole time, and they haven't gotten wet. I'm giving them to you."

Li Shuchen raised an eyebrow; it was exactly what he wanted.

Judging from the old man's distressed expression, it was clear that watermelon seeds must be expensive and hard to find.

Not wanting to take advantage of an old man, Li Shuchen took out ten taels of silver from his purse and gave it to him. The old man couldn't refuse and had no choice but to accept it.

Li Shuchen and the white-haired old man conducted their second transaction quietly; no one knew what was going on.

Grape knew that her young mistress had come to Jiangnan to buy these seeds, but the seeds were all wet.

Grape asked with some worry, "Miss, will it be too late for us to plant them when we get back?"

Li Shuchen: "There's still time, don't worry."

Grape felt relieved; if the young lady said there was enough time, then there definitely would be enough time.

After about an hour (two hours), the rain gradually subsided, turning into a long, drizzling drizzle.

Li Shuchen: "Let's go back, Changning."

She was quite well-behaved at that time.

Princess Changning: "Okay."

I hurried back to the courtyard, quickly changed my wet clothes, and then rushed to the kitchen to prepare ginger tea.

The items were all bought by Princess Changning's servants.

Wash the ginger, cut it into thin strips, and put it in cold water to boil. Once the water boils, reduce the heat to low, add some brown sugar, and simmer for a few minutes.

After cooking, I ladled out a bowl and handed it to the grapes watching the fire.

Li Shuchen: "Grapes, drink up, don't catch a cold."

Grape: "Miss, you drink first."

Li Shuchen felt physically strong

Her tone left no room for argument: "I'm a young lady, listen to me, drink."

Grape picked up the bowl, blew on it to cool it down, and sipped it.

Seeing that the grapes had drunk their fill, Li Shuchen filled two bowls for himself, took them to his room, and went to knock on Princess Changning's door.

Li Shuchen: "Princess Changning, come to my room for ginger tea, hurry up."

Princess Changning: "They've arrived."

Princess Changning also changed her clothes and sat down at the table in Li Shuchen's room.

Li Shuchen: "Have all your people go to the kitchen and have some ginger tea to warm themselves up."

Princess Changning waved Pearl and Jade away, then instructed, "Tell them to go to the kitchen for ginger tea."

Princess Changning took a sip with a spoon and said, "Did you brew this ginger tea? It's quite delicious."

Li Shuchen looked up at her, wondering if it tasted really good.

Li Shuchen: "If the princess thinks it tastes good, I can teach you how to make it."

Princess Changning said, "I won't learn that," and then sipped her ginger tea.

Gu Ziying stepped into the room with a smile, looking relaxed.

Gu Ziying: "Shu Chen, I'm back."

Li Shuchen knew at a glance that the rumors were true; her music truly had a soothing effect on the mind and body.

Li Shuchen got up and pulled her down to sit on the stool.

Li Shuchen turned and left the room: "Wait for me, I'll go get you some ginger tea to warm you up."

Princess Changning remained still, lowering her head to drink her ginger tea.

Gu Ziying remained silent, sitting quietly.

Li Shuchen broke the awkward silence as he entered the room, letting out an awkward laugh.

"Haha, Ziying is drinking ginger tea."

Gu Ziying took a small sip: "Who made this? It tastes good."

Li Shuchen raised an eyebrow. Ziying also thought her ginger tea was delicious?