Not long after Zhang Min and Xiao Douzi entered, there was a sudden scream.
It scared everyone outside.
After a while, Zhang Min and Xiao Douzi came out wading through the water, holding two huge peonies in their hands.
"There are actually two flowering trees growing in the cave! They are this tall!"
Xiao Douzi was so excited that he was incoherent: "It must be a manifestation of the gods! Ah! This Stone Spring Cave is really the cave of the Queen Mother of the Nine Heavens!"
Zhang Min was also very excited. He put on his shoes, took two peonies and ran to find his master, ignoring his junior sister calling him from behind.
"Master! Master!" Zhang Min found his master and senior brother at the door, holding up the flower branch in his hand and shouting, "Look at this! I found it in the Stone Spring Cave!"
Zhou Wuchang was talking to Mr. Wu when he saw the big flower in his apprentice's hand and was stunned.
He took it, looked at it, smelled it, and frowned: "Growing in a cave?"
"Yeah!" Zhang Min nodded hurriedly: "There are two peony trees more than one meter tall growing in the cave, and there are many flowers in bloom!"
He pointed at the peony in his master's hand and said, "One tree has bright red flowers, another has pink and white flowers, and the roots are as thick as bowls!"
When Mr. Wu heard that there was a peony tree growing in the cave, his beard trembled with excitement: "It is indeed a miracle from the gods! It is really the blessing of the Three Pure Ones! This place is going to become a blessed land!"
Wherever a miracle occurs, there will be a lot of worshippers even if there is no Taoist temple.
By then, the water in the cave will be priceless.
Zhou Wuchang didn't quite believe it, so he went to the cave with his second disciple to take a look. Sure enough, he saw two huge peony trees in the cave.
Looking at the roots of the flower tree, they are firmly planted in the ground and don’t look like they were transplanted recently.
Could it be that this little disciple of mine is the reincarnation of a lucky star
If not, why did everything she said come true
With doubts, Zhou Wuchang boarded the carriage and headed for Jingzhou City with his three disciples.
Behind the carriage followed a donkey cart driven by Wu Yi and his son Xiaodouzi.
There were ten buckets of water in the donkey cart, and a villager was sitting on it.
Because it was carrying a heavy load, the donkey cart moved slowly and did not arrive at the city until the afternoon.
Zhou Wuchang let Wu Yi's donkey cart follow their horse carriage and came to a rather busy street.
"Just park the donkey cart here and take out the peonies. When you see someone coming, shout loudly. Do as I taught you and don't show any fear." Ying Bao taught Wu Yi and his son how to do business.
She wanted to watch them sell a bucket of water before going to Zhang Min's house with her master.
Zhang Min arrived at the door of his home, but he was not in a hurry. He stared at Wu Yi and the other two calmly, watching how they shouted.
Wu Yi and the thin man named Wai Tou started to shout: "We're selling magic water! It can prolong life and beautify your skin! One tael per bucket! The quantity is limited, so come early and get it. If you're late, it'll be gone!"
The two were embarrassed at first, but later, seeing other vendors were also shouting, they let themselves go and even added a few words to their hawkers’ calls.
At first, people were quite surprised to hear them saying that one bucket of water cost one string of coins. Some people even rolled their eyes at them and cursed them for being crazy about money.
Later, I saw them holding two large and gorgeous peonies, and I couldn't help but gather around to watch out of curiosity.
One of them reached out and touched the petals, and seeing that they were real, he asked in surprise, "Do you have a greenhouse at home?"
Wu Yi held the flower up high and said, "This is grown in the Fairy Cave where we live. The water is also the fairy water of the Fairy Cave. Recently, the fairy appeared and two big peony trees grew in the cave."
"Is everything you said true?" asked a bystander.
Wu Yi: "How could it be true? Look at this peony. It's already September. Who's greenhouse can make a peony bloom at this time?"
The man seemed to be persuaded. He took out a small silver ingot of two taels from the pouch on his waist and gave it to Wu Yi: "Give me two buckets, but you have to help me take them home."
When Wu Yi got the two-liang silver ingot, he was so happy that he felt dizzy and agreed immediately.
Unexpectedly, the magic water could really be sold at a high price in the capital. Now their village is saved.
When Yingbao saw Wu Yi and a villager named Shouhou driving a donkey cart to deliver goods, she followed her master the priest to the government office.
Zhang Min's father was the prefect of Jingzhou. When he learned that his son and his master Zhou Wuchang had returned, he hurriedly dropped the official documents, ran out of the office and rushed back home.
Yingbao arrived at the government office and followed closely behind her master and senior brother.
Zhang Min had already hugged his mother and brothers and sisters and cried bitterly, and could not come out for a while.
But not long after, Mrs. Zhang sent a maid to invite Yingbao over to talk.
Yingbao had no choice but to come out of the outer living room and follow the old woman to the inner courtyard.
When we arrived at the flower hall in the inner courtyard, we saw several people sitting there.
The one sitting at the head was none other than Madam Zhang.
"Yingbao, come here quickly and let me take a look. I've heard Min'er mention you a long time ago, but I finally get to see you today."
Mrs. Zhang smiled and took Yingbao's hand, asking her to sit next to her.
She pointed at the young ladies nearby and said, "That one is Xuehua, my eldest daughter. She should be four years older than you. She is eleven this year. The other two are Chunhua and Xiashi, who are about the same age as you."
The three little girls smiled at Yingbao together.
Yingbao nodded to them: "Hello, sisters."
Madam Xuehua came over, took Yingbao in her arms and said, "You are Yingbao. Second brother mentioned you in his letter. We all thought you were the same age as me, but it turns out you are a little sister."
Yingbao smiled.
After they talked for a while, Xuehua took Yingbao to her room, but did not take the other two ladies with her.
Only then did Yingbao know that Chunhua and Xiashi were illegitimate daughters, and their biological mother was the concubine of Zhang Min's father.
The sisters are divided into different levels according to their legal status.
The eldest daughter, Xuehua, is Zhang's biological daughter. She has much better food, clothing and other necessities than the other two, and she even has her own courtyard.
The other two lived with their aunt in a remote little cottage and usually did not come out to see guests.
But today Zhang Min is returning home, and the sisters definitely want to see him, so they called Chun Hua and the others over.
Xuehua asked Yingbao to sit down. "Second brother said that you have built a Taoist temple in a village outside the city. Are you planning to stay there permanently?"
Ying Bao shook her head: "No, that Taoist temple was built for the local villagers."
With that house, it is convenient for the villagers to guard the Shiquan Cave there.
Because once the water from Shiquan Cave is sold as a commodity, there will definitely be many people with bad intentions competing for it.
Even if the master has bought the place, if there is no Taoist temple, some people will unscrupulously treat the place as an ownerless land and do whatever they want.
For example, nearby military settlements and surrounding gentry.
Xuehua felt a little regretful and sighed, "So you are going back to the south again?"
Yingbao: "Master said that he would stay here for a while. If Sister Xuehua wants to see Second Senior Brother, she can go there and take a look."
Xuehua blinked and said, "Then when you go back, I will go with you to have a look. My second brother once said that there is a big cave there, which is very beautiful. I... I haven't seen it yet."
"Okay, then you will go back with me."
Sister Xuehua is considered a lady from a prominent family in the capital. She has lived here for several years and should have made some friends who are of similar social status.
As long as we take her to the stone spring and let her see the extraordinaryness of the two peony trees, I believe that Zaoshu Village will become famous soon.
By then, villagers will no longer have to go to the city again and again to sell water, and perhaps buyers will line up to buy from them.
Hehe! Maybe even the Taoist temples are becoming more popular.