Chapter Forty-Five: Searching

  It's better this way, so she won't misunderstand me. At this time, Ning Che Bao said this, and he smiled slightly, nodding: "In that case, it's not worth much, I still have some in my room, and I don't use them, when I'm free one day, I'll give them to you, take two bottles back to pay respects to the old lady, and the rest... hmm, just divide them among the sisters."

  He had originally wanted to say that the rest would be given to Liu Niang, but then felt it was not suitable, and instead seemed to make himself look too concerned about her. So he changed his words on the spot, and several Ning brothers here hurriedly thanked him. Ning Chugou joked: "Third Master's good things, can't they just give some meaning to their brothers?"

  "That thing is more suitable for girls, we are all men, what do we need it for? My mother gave me a few bottles, I just opened one to try it out, it's really good to drink, but apart from that, there's no other use."

  Ning Chuo Shou smiled and said, "I was just joking. I see that Liu Mei is quite ordinary towards this perfume, but she seems to be very interested in that glass bottle, and even asked me if such glass is sold on the market nowadays."

  He casually changed the subject of Xianglu, but unexpectedly Shen Qianshan took advantage of it and muttered: "Glass? That's right, those things are crystal clear, I think girls like them." Because his voice was low, Ning Chengu didn't hear clearly, asked a sentence, and was interrupted by Shen Qianshan, so he didn't mention it again.

  Everyone in the Liuli Factory was familiar with it, and after strolling around for a while, they didn't find anything new or interesting. Feeling that there wasn't much point to staying, they said their goodbyes at the crossroads. Shen Qianshan waited until the Ning brothers were out of sight before mounting his horse and heading towards the Sichuan Guild Hall.

  He was indeed a frequent visitor to the Yiheyuan, which occupied a large area in the capital city and housed foreign envoys and missionaries all year round. However, officials and ordinary people were often unwilling to interact with them due to their unusual appearance, let alone take the initiative to visit them.

  So when that young nobleman from the prince's palace came again, all the ministers and missionaries gathered around him, greeting him warmly.

  Among them, the missionaries were the most diligent, bringing out all sorts of curious foreign goods to attract Shen Qianshan's attention, hoping to win him over and gain his help in spreading the Gospel of God throughout this enchanted land.

  Shen Qianshan searched for a while, but didn't see anything made of glass. He couldn't help feeling disappointed and thought to himself that he would have to take out the small mirror given by the empress dowager after all. As he was thinking, his hands unconsciously rummaged through the pile of things. Hearing the missionaries talk about how advanced their country's science was and how exquisite the things they made were, he casually said: "Still dare to say exquisite? Can't even find a single glass thing."

  "So the Third Master likes objects made of glass?" The missionaries finally understood that the Third Master had come to their place today not to ask for medicine, but to see these small things, and it turned out that he was looking for something made of glass.

  It's just that thing is as fragile as crystal, and it's not safe for people to get hurt when it breaks, so they usually don't bring it with them. Only one missionary brought a glass music box, originally intended to listen to his hometown tunes, but now he had to grit his teeth and contribute it to God.

  Shen Qianshan was delighted by the exquisite music box and hastily accepted it. However, he refused to accept it for free and took out a 10-tael ingot from his pouch to give to the missionary. Just then, another missionary nearby curiously asked, "Young master, you were seeking medicine earlier, and now you're looking for glass objects; could it be that you're searching for a set of our Western doctors' specialized glassware used for pharmaceutical research?"

  Shen Qianshan was taken aback for a moment, he actually didn't want that thing, but heard Ning Che'an say that Ning Xianbi seemed to be interested in the glass thing, so he ran over, thinking it would be a simple task, if he really found it, it could make the Sixth Young Lady not cold to him anymore, and it was worth it. Hmm, although she looked ugly, when speaking, she revealed a white tooth, and when she grew up, she should also be a pretty little girl.

  Who would have thought that at this time, after listening to the missionary's words, her heart suddenly moved, and she secretly thought that Liu Niang was most fond of medicinal materials. If she were given a set of Western glass instruments used by doctors, even if she might not use them, she should still like them, shouldn't she?

  "Is there such a thing? Bring it out and let me see." But then he saw the missionary shaking his head, spreading his hands and saying: "That thing is too hard to carry, besides we all know that the East has miraculous medicine, so no one would cross the ocean to bring that set of things over. However, I do know that Lord Williams brought a set of special medical glassware for studying drugs when he went to pay respects to His Majesty the Emperor some days ago, but now it's unknown what happened to it."

  Shen Qianshan furrowed his brow and thought carefully, thinking to himself that since the thing had been presented as tribute, he should go to the palace to ask about it. The Emperor, being his uncle, wouldn't care about such things, and it was probably stored in the inner warehouse, not worth much anyway. His uncle had always doted on him, so asking for it would surely result in a reward.

  Having thought of this, I couldn't sit still any longer and rushed straight to the imperial palace as soon as I left Liuli Factory.

  As the emperor's favored younger generation and also the queen's maternal nephew, the guards only sent someone to report inside and didn't require Shen Qianshan to present his card. After a short while, words came from inside the palace, allowing Shen Qianshan to enter for an audience.

  The Emperor Zhou Ming is now forty-six years old, with twelve sons. Among them, the second son Zhou Qian born to the Empress and the sixth son Zhou Jin born to Consort Chun are particularly favored by him. Among his younger generations, Shen Qianshan is the most pampered, often summoned into the palace to ask a few questions about books and observe his archery skills.

  Now, hearing that his nephew had arrived, Zhou Ming was also very happy. When he heard that his nephew had entered the palace at noon, it was to find a set of glass medical instruments. Zhou Ming couldn't help but be stunned. However, thinking of Empress Dowager's illness, he thought this nephew was motivated by filial piety, so he ordered his personal eunuch, Bei Kezi, to go to the inner warehouse to take a look.

  Bai Kezi went for half a day and finally brought several boxes over, with someone holding them. Zhou Ming saw that he was sweating profusely and couldn't help but shake his head: "It's just asking you to go to the inner warehouse to find a few things, how did you get so tired? And delayed until now, look at what time it is already, this is good, let this kid stay here for a meal."

  "This is naturally a joke, and Baozhen couldn't help but laugh: 'Your Majesty, I really didn't think this errand would be so troublesome. When that foreign envoy presented this set of things, he said it was used by doctors in the Western world, so after it was received by the inner warehouse, the imperial physician went to take a look at what kind of medical instruments the West made. So I arrived at the inner warehouse and took a note to the Imperial Hospital, but none of those imperial physicians knew how to use it, so they put it away in the pharmacy...'"