After breakfast, Shen Xihe did not return immediately. He had finally come out for a trip, and there was no sunshine today, so Shen Xihe went out for a stroll in the sparse woods.
Perhaps because it is close to Kyoto, this small town has the prosperity of a county town, with some food and folk arts that they have never seen before. The two finally came to a street selling flowers and trees, and Shen Xihe actually saw the magnolia.
The flowers were huge and well preserved by the flower grower. They must have been picked last night and were still fresh. "Old man, how much do you want to sell the magnolias for?"
The flower farmer was an old man who looked to be in his fifties. He was very thin and had a dark face. He glanced at Shen Xihe and Bu Shulin and saw that they were dressed cleanly. He couldn't tell the quality of their clothes. He only felt that they were rich, as if just seeing them was enough. There was a glimmer of light in his dry pupils: "One... one tael of gold per plant."
"How much?" Bu Shulin couldn't believe it and raised his voice to question.
The flower farmer timidly bowed his head. Another young stall owner next to him helped him and said, "Please don't blame me, Uncle Chen's family was in trouble and he needed twenty taels of silver to survive. That's why I picked two white flowers and took good care of them. I hope to sell them at a good price. I didn't mean to cheat you. If you think it's too expensive, please treat it as a joke."
One tael of gold and ten taels of silver were a farmer's income for two to three years, let alone twenty taels of silver.
Shen Xihe glanced at the two of them, then looked around, and looked at the flower farmer named Chen with sympathy. It seemed that they all knew that his family was in danger, so they did not laugh at him, but only protected him.
"Where did I pick this flower? Are there any more?" Shen Xihe asked.
The flowers are picked when they are in best bloom. Xiao Huayong still needs magnolia flowers, but when he found out about it last year, the magnolia flowers were already coming to an end, while this year the season has just begun. Shen Xihe also sent people to look for them, but there are not many of this variety.
"Yes, if you want, I will take you there. But I'm afraid the flowers won't bloom during this period of time." The flower farmer said in a hoarse voice.
"Please trouble the old man to take us there." Shen Xihe said with a smile, "I will pay the old man for the guide."
Qionghua can only alleviate Xiao Huayong's poison, making him suffer less attacks of the poison, or making him feel better when the poison attacks. This is the method provided by Sui Axi. The prince has also sent people to collect Qionghua, but he failed to grasp the opportunity and lost a lot of them.
A little guide money is better than nothing. Selling the magnolia flowers is just their desperate attempt to save their lives. In their hearts, they know it is impossible to sell them, and all the people they have asked have left.
As the old man took Shen Xihe on the way, Shen Xihe asked him if he knew where else there were such magnolias. He also asked them some other questions, such as whether they were good at picking magnolias, etc.
After getting a satisfactory result, they found a small patch of white magnolia forest. They roughly counted about ten or twenty plants. Shen Xihe was very satisfied and asked Zhenzhu to take out one or two taels of gold and give it to the old man: "This is the deposit. These two white magnolias are not worth two taels of gold, but if you can keep every white magnolia plant in this patch until it blooms, when it blooms to its fullest..."
Shen Xihe raised the two plants in his hand and said, "Just like this, pick them and send them to the outside of the palace, and I will give you another tael of gold."
Upon hearing this, the old man fell to his knees and kowtowed to Shen Xihe repeatedly. He was helped up by Zhenzhu and Biyu. Shen Xihe gave him some detailed instructions before he left.