The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Everyone outside was given a start.

Before too long, Zhang Min and Little Douzi came out, water dripping down them, holding two enormous peony flowers in their hands.

“There are two flowering trees inside the cave! They’re this tall!”

Little Douzi got so excited he started babbling, “It’s a miracle! Ah! This Shiquan Cave is actually the dwelling of the Heavenly Empress!”

Zhang Min was also very excited. She put on her shoes, took the two peony flowers and ran to find her master, ignoring her junior sister disciple who was calling after her.

“Master! Master!” Zhang Min found her master and eldest fellow disciple at the entrance and brandished the flowers, “Look at this! Found these in the Shiquan Cave!”

Zhou Wuchang was talking with old man Wu and was stunned when he saw the flowers his disciple was holding.

He took them and looked, took a sniff, and frowned, “Grown in the cave?”

“Yes, yes!” Zhang Min nodded vigorously, “There were two peony trees over a person’s height and they were full of flowers!”

She pointed at the peony in her master’s hand, “One tree blooms with bright red flowers and the other with pale white ones, their roots as thick as a bowl!”

At the mention of peony trees growing in the cave, old man Wu’s beard quivered with excitement. “So the gods really have shown a sign! Truly the blessing of the Three Pure Ones! Our place will become a blessed land!”

Whenever a miracle happens, even without a Taoist Temple, there would be a thriving incense business.

By then, the water from that cave will be worth its weight in gold.

Zhou Wuchang was skeptical, but, with his second disciple, he went to the cave and indeed found two huge peony trees.

Looking at the roots of the trees, they were firmly embedded in the ground, not as if they had been recently transplanted.

Could it be that this little disciple of his was a reincarnated luck deity?

If not, why was everything she said coming true?

With these thoughts in mind, Zhou Wuchang climbed onto the cart, taking his three disciples toward Jingzhou City.

Wu Yi and his son, Little Douzi, followed with their donkey cart.

The cart contained ten barrels of water and one villager. Because of the weight, the donkey cart was moving somewhat slowly. It wasn’t until afternoon that they reached the Prefecture City.

Zhou Wuchang directed Wu Yi to follow their horse cart to a fairly bustling street.

“Just leave your donkey cart here and take out the peony flowers. When you see people coming you need to shout out loud. Just like I taught you, don’t show any fear.” Yingbao was teaching Wu Yi and his son how to do business.

She wanted to watch them sell a barrel of water before going with her master to Zhang Min’s home.

Zhang Min saw that they were close to her house, but she wasn’t in a hurry. She calmly watched Wu Yi and the others to see how they would hawk their wares.

Wu Yi and a thin man called Waitou started to shout, “Selling Immortal Water! Benefit for longevity! Good for beauty and complexion! One coin a barrel! Limited supply, come early for your share, once it’s gone, it’s gone!”

At first, they were a bit shy, but then they saw other peddlers yelling, so they also let themselves go and even added a few extra lines to their pitch.

At first, people were quite surprised when they heard a barrel of water cost one coin. Some even rolled their eyes at them and said they were crazy for money.

But later, when they saw the two vibrant, enormous peony flowers, they couldn’t help but crowd around to look.

Someone reached out to touch a petal and, discovering it was real, asked in surprise, “Do you have a greenhouse?”

Wu Yi held the flowers up higher and said, “These grew inside our Immortal Cave, and the water is also from the Immortal Cave. Recently there was a divine sign, and two large peony trees grew in the cave.”

“Is what you’re saying true?” a person in the crowd asked.

Wu Yi: “Could it be false? Look at these peonies, it’s September now, whose greenhouse can make peonies bloom at this time?”

This person seemed persuaded. He took a small two-liang silver ingot from his waist pouch and gave it to Wu Yi, “Give me two barrels, but you have to help me take them home.”

Upon receiving the two-liang silver ingot, Wu Yi was overjoyed. His head was spinning, and he quickly agreed.

They never imagined that the Immortal Water could fetch such a high price in the Prefecture City, their village was saved now.

Seeing Wu Yi and a villager named Skinny Monkey rushing out on a donkey cart to deliver goods, Yingbao immediately followed Master Zhou Wuchang to the Prefectural Government Office.

Zhang Min’s father was the Governor of Jingzhou. When he found out that his son and his son’s master had returned, he hurriedly laid aside the official documents he was working on and ran back home.

When Yingbao arrived at the Prefectural Government Office, she closely followed her master and senior brother.

Zhang Min was already in tears with his mother and siblings. It would take some time for him to come out.

But soon after, Mrs. Zhang sent for Yingbao through a maidservant.

Yingbao had to leave the guest hall and follow the maidservant to the inner courtyard.

Upon reaching the inner courtyard hall, she saw several people sitting.

At the head was Mrs. Zhang.

“Yingbao, come here, let me get a good look at you. I heard about you from Min a long time ago and finally get to meet you today.”

Mrs. Zhang warmly took Yingbao’s hand and asked her to sit beside her.

She then pointed to a few young ladies and said, “This one is Lady Xuehua, my eldest daughter, four years older than you and eleven this year. The other two are Chun Hua and Xia Shi, the same age as you.”

The three young ladies smiled at Yingbao together.

Yingbao nodded towards them: “Hello, sisters.”

Lady Xuehua came over, and pulling Yingbao, said, “So you are Yingbao! Our second brother mentioned you in a letter, and we thought you were the same age as me, turns out you’re a younger sister.”

Yingbao smiled a little.

After a brief chat, Xuehua invited Yingbao to her room without bringing the other two young ladies.

It was then that Yingbao found out Chun Hua and Xia Shi were illegitimate daughters of Zhang Min’s father’s concubines.

Amongst the siblings, there was a hierarchy based on legitimacy.

Lady Xuehua was the legitimate daughter of the Zhangs, and her living conditions were much better than that of the other two. She even had her own private courtyard.

The other two lived with their mothers in a remote cottage and rarely had guests.

However, today, since Zhang Min was back home, the siblings were supposed to meet. That’s why Chun Hua and the others were called over.

Xuehua asked Yingbao to sit down. “Second brother mentioned that you built a Taoist temple on the outskirts of the provincial city. Are you going to stay there permanently?”

Yingbao shook her head: “No, the temple was built for the villagers.”

Housing in that location was convenient for the villagers to guard the Shiquan Cave.

Once the water from Shiquan Cave was sold as a commodity, many people with evil intentions would definitely scramble for it.

Even though the master had already bought that place, without the temple, some people would recklessly treat the place as unclaimed and do as they pleased.

For example, the nearby military camp, as well as the surrounding gentry.

Xuehua seemed a bit disappointed and sighed, “So, you’re going back south again?”

Yingbao: “Master said we will stay here for some time, Lady Xuehua, if you wish to see second brother, you can visit there.”

Xuehua blinked, “Then, when you return, I’ll go with you to take a look. Second brother mentioned that there is a big limestone cave that is quite beautiful. I…I’ve never seen it before.”

“Okay, you can go back with me when the time comes.”

Lady Xuehua is also a young lady of renown in the Prefecture City. Having lived here for several years, she would undoubtedly have interactions with several ladies of equivalent social status.

As long as she is taken to Shiquan to take a look and shown the extraordinary peony trees, Jujube Tree Village’s fame should rise before long.

By then, the villagers would not have to repeatedly go into the city to sell water; perhaps, customers would queue up at the village to make purchases.

Hehe! The incense from the temple might become even more prosperous.