The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

Zhuang was very angry with Xia Mianwan. Her family status in Xiyang gave her a great sense of superiority. But now Xia Mianwan's words "a hero does not ask where he comes from" made the other officials' wives feel a little happy.

Finally, the prefect's wife came out to smooth things over. Originally, she wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between the two tigers to dampen Xia Mianwan's arrogance, but who knew that Xia Mianwan would unilaterally crush her. It seemed that the good impression she made today was left on Xia Mianwan.

At lunch time, Xia Mianwan specially asked the kitchen to prepare two flavors of food. Those who wanted to try the Jiangnan flavor could sit at the table on the left, and those who wanted to eat the local Xiyang flavor could sit at the table on the right.

Xia Mianwan's careful preparations made all the women in the family feel very happy.

After finishing the meal, the prefect's wife said, "Madam Pei, I know you are doing this for us, but today is really too expensive. Tongyu Pass may face a war at any time, and our soldiers are short of food and grass. Although I am grateful to you, I can't help feeling a little uneasy."

The prefect's wife spoke very sincerely, and the officials' and their wives present felt that it made a lot of sense. The officials' and their wives in Xiyang were different from those in the capital, because in the border town, many of them had killed the enemy, so they could naturally empathize.

Xia Mianwan was not unhappy at all. "Madam Yu is right, but sometimes you can't save anything just by saving. It's useless to only save money without increasing revenue, and it's useless to only increase revenue without saving money. Everything is complementary. Madam Yu, don't worry."

The prefect's wife was not idle when she said this. If Pei Yanxu had not been parachuted in, her master would have been the governor. Who knew that the emperor's transfer order would shatter her beautiful dream. Madam Tong was naturally annoyed with Pei Yanxu, but now that he was in the upper position and she was in the lower position, it was not good to openly argue with him.

Xia Mianwan's words made the ladies present feel emotional. Madam Tong looked at Xia Mianwan carefully, but couldn't tell whether Xia Mianwan realized her intention or not.

How could Xia Mianwan not hear it? He was just pretending not to know.

After a day of banquets, Xia Mianwan remembered a few people in her mind, and then started to plan for tomorrow's trip. Xiyang was too poor, and poverty led to chaos. Pei Yanxu went to investigate to see what kind of livelihood there was in the county, and Xia Mianwan planned to start from the city.

Xia Mianwan specially invited Mrs. Liu, the wife of the county magistrate who was at the banquet, to accompany her.

Madam Liu was quite surprised to receive Xia Mianwan's invitation. After all... she had made a fool of herself at the banquet. The next morning, Madam Liu arrived at Pei's house early. Xia Mianwan wore a narrow-sleeved Hu costume that was convenient for movement and went out with Madam Liu.

Mrs. Liu found that Xia Mianwan did not call a carriage, and asked in surprise: "Aren't we taking a carriage?"

Xia Mianwan smiled and said, "We won't take a carriage today. Let's just walk around the streets. Or if you have any recommendations for a place, we can call a carriage to pick us up."

Xia Mianwan was very approachable. Mrs. Liu was a little nervous at first, but then she relaxed a lot.

Pei Mansion is located in the main urban area of ​​Xiyang, and the location is not bad. Xiyang has two main roads, connecting the east, west, south and north. East Street is where the rich gather in the city, and West Street is where the common people gather.

Xia Mianwan and Madam Liu went to East Street first. East Street was already the busiest street in the city, but there were only a few people scattered on the street. "This East Street doesn't seem to be very lively either."

When Madam Liu heard what Xia Mianwan said, she replied, "It's indeed not lively. The whole of Xiyang is poor. Even the most prosperous place in the city can't compare to other places."

Xia Mianwan thought for a moment and asked, "Is it because of the war?"

Madam Liu nodded. "If Tongyu Pass is not defended, we will be the first to bear the brunt."

Yes, how can a place without peace develop business? If business cannot develop, how can the people be retained?

"Is there no one doing business here?" Xia Mianwan looked around and found that there were not many shops around. She entered a shop and walked around for a while, and found that there were not many types of goods.

"There are many military households in our area, and military households are not allowed to do business. Plus, there are many ethnic minority people living in the mountains. They are basically self-sufficient and rarely go down the mountain. Therefore, there are few small vendors here, and... we have to pay a lot of kickbacks at all levels, so..." Mrs. Liu started talking nonstop. Xia Mianwan listened carefully to Mrs. Liu's words while strolling around.

The shops on East Street were concentrated together and it didn't take long to finish shopping. Xia Mianwan and Mrs. Liu sat down in a teahouse, drank a cup of tea, rested for a while, and then went to West Street.

West Street was a little more lively than East Street. At this time, there were still many stalls on West Street. Xia Mianwan saw a stall selling wontons, so she asked, "How about we have some wontons?"

Mrs. Liu naturally agreed. She didn't expect the governor's wife to be so humble. She couldn't associate her with her image from yesterday at all.

"Ladies, what would you like to eat?" the owner of the wonton stall asked, bending over.

Xia Mianwan asked: "How much do you sell these wontons?"

"Excuse me, madam, are you going to barter or pay with copper coins?"

"Coppers."

"Wontons are five cents a bowl."

"Then give me two bowls." Xia Mianwan said and asked Ruzhu to pay the copper coins.

Xia Mianwan held the spoon very elegantly, which made Mrs. Liu feel a little inferior in comparison. For a moment, she didn't know where to put her hands.

Xia Mianwan knew that Mrs. Liu was somewhat restrained, so she didn't say anything. "Can we barter when doing business here?"

Mrs. Liu saw that Xia Mianwan had something to ask and quickly answered, "It's not so bad in the city. In our county, most people trade with goods. The mountain folks don't want copper coins and they all bring their own measuring instruments down the mountain, so... copper coins are not used except in the city. Over time, copper coins are used less in the city."

Xia Mianwan was a little surprised that even the weights and measures and currency were not unified...

"Mrs. Liu, does your family use copper coins or barter?" Xia Mianwan asked casually.

Mrs. Liu was a little hesitant. The court had issued an order that copper coins must be used, but there were so many mountain people here that she had to deal with them. This was a matter of every policy having its own countermeasures.

"It's okay, just tell me directly." Xia Mianwan added when she saw Mrs. Liu hesitate.

Madam Liu felt that Xia Mianwan was not the kind of person who would make trouble, so she said, "Madam, my family is not rich. Mountain people living in the mountains do not have to pay taxes or copper coins, so the things they exchange are cheap. We can save a lot of money in one round trip, so my family also barters in the county."

Xia Mianwan smiled and nodded, then continued eating her wontons.