Chapter 73 I'll Pay

Wang Erya was very anxious, but listening to the accusations from the crowd and seeing the worry on the face of the prefect's daughter, she quickly calmed down.

She thought of the trading system and quickly sent a message to Ning Xuan using her mind.

Ning Xuan received the message, analyzed Wang Erya's situation, and quickly replied:

[Buy me some time; I have a potion here that can make plants grow faster.]

Then Ning Xuan sent Wang Erya the description of the growth potion that Katerina had given her earlier.

Then she remembered another color-changing potion and sent its description to Wang Erya.

[You should be able to use this color-changing potion too. If you only compensate with flowers of the same color as before, people might continue to falsely accuse you of stealing flower seeds from the governor's house.]

After reading the descriptions of the two medicines, Wang Erya quickly decided to get both, knowing that the most important thing now was to buy herself some time.

So Wang Erya curtsied to the prefect's wife.

“Madam, I certainly didn’t damage these flowers, but it’s not possible to prove my innocence right now. I’m willing to present the Prefect with these camellias as an apology for being unwittingly caught up in this incident.”

Before the prefect's wife could speak, one of the ladies beside her sneered, "Compensate? What will you use to compensate? You don't even recognize this flower, do you know how precious it is?"

Wang Erya remained calm. "Someone just said I came from the countryside. It just so happens that I am a countrywoman and am skilled in planting. I happened to acquire a few of this variety of camellias. Please allow me to go back and retrieve them. I will personally deliver them to the Prefect's residence tomorrow."

The prefect's wife did not believe that Wang Erya really possessed such a precious camellia as the Eighteen Scholars. She thought that Wang Erya was just buying herself time to escape. But that didn't matter. If Wang Erya escaped, there would be no way to prove her innocence; she would be seen as fleeing from justice.

Anyway, she'll have people watching her, and if she dares to escape, they'll catch her immediately.

So the prefect's wife nodded, her face showing a mixture of anger and reluctance, and said, "Madam Wang is a benefactor of our family, and I don't want to believe that she would deliberately harm the eighteen scholars. So I'll give you a chance. Tomorrow is the day when my husband is off duty, so you can just send them to our residence."

Although the daughter of an official who framed Wang Erya did not live to see Wang Erya being convicted and punished by the prefect's wife, she did not believe that a peasant like Wang Erya would not possess such a precious camellia.

It's just a desperate struggle now. The prefect's family might let her go out of pity because she's their benefactor, but they definitely won't associate with her again.

From now on, the Prefect's daughter will not invite Wang Erya to any of her activities. Doesn't she know her own status? Yet she still overestimates herself and keeps jumping around in front of them!

Because of this incident, the prefect's wife felt that it had spoiled the enjoyment of the flower viewing, so she apologized to everyone and then dismissed the gathering.

The governor's daughter looked at Wang Erya with concern. Wang Erya nodded to her, indicating that she could rest assured, and then the governor's daughter left with the governor's wife.

Wang Erya also hurriedly returned to her home in the prefectural city.

She traded a few pieces of jewelry and headdress with Ning Xuan for two bottles of growth potion and two bottles of color-changing potion. Then she took out the camellia branches that she had secretly stored in her storage ring during the chaos at the manor, divided them into several branches, and put them in several flowerpots.

Then Wang Erya poured growth potion into a camellia branch in a flowerpot. Following the instructions, she did not pour the whole bottle at once, but rather poured it drop by drop, stopping after each drop to observe the growth of the camellia.

Watching the flower branch, which was originally only the length of a finger, quickly take root, grow taller, sprout new branches, and then bloom with flower buds, Wang Erya felt very amazed and finally felt relieved. This potion was really effective.

Since it worked, Wang Erya used the same trick again, dripping growth potion on the second camellia. The same branch only needed 5 drops to grow to half a person's height and bloom.

After the fourth drop, Wang Erya started applying a color-changing potion to the flower branch, followed by a growth potion. This time, the flower really changed color, no longer the original pure white, but a beautiful pink.

Wang Erya really wanted to try another color, but remembering Ning Xuan's reminder, she realized that for someone of her status, it was acceptable to get one or two of these precious varieties by chance, but getting more would be too conspicuous.

So Wang Erya planned to send these two camellias to the prefect tomorrow.

After the transaction, Ning Xuan thought that if Wang Erya's family only had the "Eighteen Scholars" variety, it would be quite eye-catching. So she asked Lin Yuhan for a few other varieties of camellias and other flowers to trade with Wang Erya.

So now in Wang Erya's yard, there are two white camellia bushes, two pink camellia bushes, and several camellia bushes of other colors.

In addition, there are several common flowers such as forsythia and crabapple blossoms, which Wang Erya decorates in the yard to create the persona that she usually likes to grow flowers and is a flower lover.

When the prefect returned to his residence, he heard that the camellias he had prepared as gifts had been destroyed. He was furious and anxious, and punished all the people who were in charge of guarding the camellias. He also complained that his stepmother should have gone to the estate two days later.

"My lord, I know I was wrong. I never expected anyone would do such a thing. The camellias are in full bloom, I really didn't expect this..."

However, Madam Wang said that she had eighteen scholars in her family, who would be sent to the mansion tomorrow. "The stepmother seemed to be admitting her mistake, but she was actually trying to sow discord between Wang Erya and her.

The prefect's face was indeed full of distrust. "I obtained this 'Eighteen Scholars' tree by chance and at a high price. How could she, an ordinary woman, really have it?" The prefect wanted to call her an ignorant countrywoman, but then he remembered that she had saved his daughter, so he held back.

"We'll see the outcome tomorrow, sir, please be patient."

The prefect sighed, "Alright, alright. Considering she's been a benefactor to our family, let it go even if she can't afford it. I'll find another way to get the gift. Don't make things difficult for her."

Aside from the prefect's daughter, almost everyone who participated in the spring outing to admire the flowers was waiting to see Wang Erya make a fool of herself. They all considered themselves superior and felt that associating with someone like Wang Erya was beneath their dignity.

They couldn't say anything about the noble status of the prefect's daughter, so they could only say that Wang Erya was wrong, that Wang Erya had seized the opportunity to climb up to the prefect's family.

The second day finally arrived.

Last night, Wang Erya was worried about something going wrong. After settling the children, she didn't dare to sleep all night and stayed by the flowers.

Worried about disturbing the prefect's family's rest by arriving too early, Wang Erya waited until the time seemed right before loading the flowerpots onto the carriage and heading to the prefect's house.

Those watching outside were shocked to see that Wang Erya was actually heading towards the prefect's residence. They quickly sent one of them back to inform the madam.