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Qichang and Gouzi ran over, happily circling around Jiang Jiu and Lu Man.
Lu Man was too preoccupied to pay attention to them, still looking towards those few people, her heart racing.
Approaching closer, Zheng Qiang loudly exclaimed, “Third Young Madam, we’ve found the flower.” Turning around, he carried a large basket on his back, containing a green, long-stemmed plant.
Lu Man was so delighted that she covered her mouth, preventing herself from screaming out loud.
As they came closer, Zheng Qiang and another guard lifted the basket for Lu Man to see clearly. He continued, “When we found this flower last night, it was in full bloom—yellow, large blossoms, incredibly vibrant. As dawn broke, it closed up. We knew then that this must be the flower Third Young Madam was searching for.”
Lu Man didn’t reach out to touch it, fearing it might be poisonous and harm someone. It wasn’t about her own safety, but the concern for the child in her belly.
She bent down to observe carefully, seeing only a single stem, over three feet long, with two green flower buds the size of thumbs at the top. The leaves were slender, smooth on top, and covered in dense white fuzz underneath.
This long-stemmed plant was identical to the one little Lu Man had seen, except for the slightly different flower buds.
The flower buds little Lu Man had seen that morning were tightly closed, but these two were not tightly wrapped, they had a small opening revealing a pale yellow hue.
Lu Man looked up at the sky, although it wasn’t completely dark yet, there was already a crescent moon on the horizon.
It was evening now, and the flower was about to bloom.
This was undoubtedly the same flower Lu Man had seen! Lu Man was exhilarated, her heart pounding with excitement.
Zheng Qiang added, “Last night, we found this flower and were thrilled, but then the Sweet Pea disappeared suddenly. These brothers here mentioned it could find the way back to the village. Is that true? Should I go back into the mountains to search for it?”
Lu Man replied, “That little thing has a knack for finding its way, it will come back on its own.”
Upon returning to the village, Lu Man gave Zheng Qiang fifty taels of silver and each of the five guards five taels of silver for their hard work.
While Mama Wang and the others bathed and fed the children and Qichang, Lu Man, along with Mrs. Wei, watched the flower in a corner of the backyard. She instructed a maid to keep watch nearby and not allow any disturbances.
Mrs. Wei had already transplanted the flower into a large pot. She mentioned that this plant, resembling a woody species, had only one stem and couldn’t be divided but propagated through seeds.
As the night grew darker, the yellow petals slowly unfurled, becoming larger and more vibrant until fully open.
Once the flower fully bloomed, its five petals began to open and close with the night breeze. When open, the petals slightly curled outwards, revealing a thread of red stamen that danced vividly. When closed, the petals curled slightly inwards, resembling yellow lanterns, seemingly enclosing the eager stamen.
“Incredible! I’ve been cultivating flowers for decades and never seen such a beautiful and miraculous one.” Mrs. Wei exclaimed.
Both of them, without a hint of sleepiness, watched until midnight. They noticed the petals opening and closing less frequently, eventually only curling outward, while the red stamen stayed tightly wound.
“Why is this happening when dawn is still far off?” Lu Man murmured.
Mrs. Wei suggested, “I believe this flower has bloomed to its fullest and might be nearing the end.”
If that were true, Lu Man’s luck was truly remarkable. If it had happened a day later, they wouldn’t have found this flower this year.
About two hours later, the colors of the two flowers gradually faded, falling to the ground.
Seeing that Mrs. Wei had touched the flower for so long without any issues, Lu Man picked it up without fear.
Mrs. Wei pointed to the two green flower buds at the top of the long stem, mentioning, “These are likely the fruiting bodies. Whether we can cultivate this kind of flower will depend on them.”
With only two seeds, even if they managed to grow them, they would only have two pots of flowers.
Lu Man took the flower back to rest and asked Mrs. Wei to take care of it in her room. Tomorrow they would return to the capital. Lu Man planned to refine Huang Ke Lai while Mrs. Wei nurtured the flower and planted the seeds once the fruit matured.
Having slept well into the early morning, Lu Man woke up at the Hour of the Si (9:00 AM).
Mama Wang said, “Everything for the return to the capital is prepared.”
By midday, they still hadn’t seen Sweet Pea return. Lu Man instructed Qingqing to wait for it at the village while they headed back to the capital.
Song Mo, thoroughly enjoying himself and reluctant to leave, wanted Jiang Jiu to stay with him at the village to wait for Sweet Pea. Naturally, Lu Man disagreed.
After lunch, the entourage was all set to head back to the capital.
Zheng Qiang and his wife arrived with their two sons to bid farewell, bringing along some mountain produce as gifts.
As Lu Man was about to board the carriage, she heard a high-pitched meow, unmistakably Sweet Pea.
A yellow blur dashed over, Sweet Pea skidding to a stop right in front of Lu Man. She exclaimed, “You’re finally back. Perfect timing, go find Qingqing, we’re heading back to the capital together.”
Sweet Pea stood there motionless, followed by a series of frantic meows.
Frowning, Lu Man said, “Always up to mischief. I have urgent matters in the capital and must leave today.”
Sweet Pea, on the verge of tears, would have jumped up to tug at Lu Man’s hair if it weren’t aware that she didn’t want it near. It was beyond frustrated!
After a few sniffs, Sweet Pea dashed to a carriage, hopped onto the window, drew back the curtain, meowed inside a few times, then stretched out a paw pointing towards the mountains, meowing a few more times.
The carriage indeed contained the same flower.
Excitedly, Lu Man asked, “Are you saying there are more of these flowers in the mountains?”
Sweet Pea nodded, letting out a couple more meows.
Overjoyed, Lu Man felt like hugging and kissing Sweet Pea, exclaiming, “Good job, Sweet Pea! You’re amazing.” She then turned to Zheng Qiang and said, “Sweet Pea must have found more of these flowers. It’s a task for you, Brother Zheng.”
Zheng Qiang chuckled, waving his hand, “No trouble at all. A good amount earned in just ten days. I feel a bit guilty.”
Lu Man replied, “It would be great if you find more, but it’s fine if you don’t. Brother Zheng knows the mountain paths well, aware of where to go and where not to. If it leads you to a dangerous place, just come back.”
She then instructed five guards to accompany Zheng Qiang to the mountains and asked Qingqing to stay at the village to wait for Sweet Pea. Additionally, she left thirty taels of silver. Regardless of finding the flower, Zheng Qiang would be rewarded twenty taels, while the other guards would receive two taels each.
The journey back to the capital was leisurely, arriving at the city gates towards the end of the Hour of the You (7:00 PM) and finally reaching Donghui Courtyard by the Hour of the Xu (around 7-9:00 PM).
Dinner was prepared and He Cheng and Jiang Zhankui were anxiously awaiting their return.
Upon noticing a large bruise on He Cheng’s face, Lu Man exclaimed, “What happened here?”
He Mingzhu was also worried, pulling him to explain.
He Cheng chuckled, “Nothing serious, just tripped during the night journey.”
Lu Man advised him to be more careful in the future.