After seeing off His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, An Ning and An Dashan looked at His Royal Highness's gifts. When they saw five large boxes of gold, silver and jewelry, they were shocked. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually called it a small gift. The two counted and found that there were two thousand taels of silver and countless jewelry.
An Dashan and An Ning ordered their servants to help move the boxes into the room, which also contained the gold, silver, jewelry, and silks that the emperor had bestowed upon them last time.
An Dashan looked at these things with some worry, and said, "How can I bring so many things home?"
An Ning smiled and said, "Dad, I'll perform a magic trick for you." Then he picked up a silver ingot, and An Dashan saw the silver ingot disappear before his eyes.
An Dashan was very surprised and asked, "Ningning, where did the silver go?"
An Ning said, "Dad, this is the storage space the old immortal gave me. It can hold a lot of things." Then he put all the big boxes in the room into the space.
An Dashan nodded and said, "That's great. Did you put all the silver you had before in like this?"
An Ning nodded and said, "Yes, this way we won't have to worry about losing it."
An Dashan can now accept everything An Ning says, so he feels relieved.
An Dashan thought for a moment and said, "Will this arouse suspicion?"
An Ning thought for a moment and said, "Don't worry, I still have a lot of food in this space. We can put the food in the box, so it won't arouse suspicion."
When An Dashan heard this, he said, "That's a good idea. Do you want my help?"
An Ning shook her head and said, "Dad, I can do it myself. Go out and keep an eye on the people so that no one finds out."
An Dashan nodded and walked out the door.
An Ning entered the space, took out all the gold, silver and jewelry in the box, and put a bag of food into the box.
The next day, An Ning and An Dashan left the capital under the escort of guards sent by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Because there was no living target like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on the road and there were so many guards, the journey was very smooth.
After the father and daughter returned home, An Dashan said to the leader sent by the prince, "Thank you for your care along the way. Come into the yard and have a cup of tea. Have lunch before returning."
The leader politely declined An Dashan's offer and said, "Lord Rongchang is too polite. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is still waiting for us to return and report, so we won't delay any longer."
Seeing that they did not stay for dinner, An Dashan took out the silver he had prepared long ago and said, "Use this silver to buy some drinks for the brothers on the way back."
The leader did not refuse. He took the money and had people move all the things out of the car. Then he said goodbye to An Dashan and the other man and left.
After everyone left, Gao said to the two of them, "You're finally back. Did your trip go well?"
An Dashan took the son from Gao's arms and said, "Yes, I was delayed in the capital for a few days." Then he said mysteriously, "Do you know what the emperor gave me?"
Gao rolled her eyes at An Dashan and said, "The county magistrate has already sent someone to convey the emperor's order, saying that you have been conferred the title of Earl of Rongchang and Ningning has been conferred the title of Princess of Yongjia County. The emperor has also exempted our village from taxes for three years. You don't know that everyone in the village was so happy that they insisted on building a shrine for you and your daughter, but I persuaded them to give up after much persuasion."
An Dashan didn't expect the villagers to be so enthusiastic. He nodded and said, "Fortunately you stopped me. I don't want to build a shrine for my ancestors."
When An Ning saw that the two had finished talking, she said, "Mom, our family has become rich. Come with me into the house and I will show you some good stuff."
Gao looked at the mysterious An Ning with some confusion. An Dashan knew what An Ning wanted to do, so he turned around, closed the door of the main room, and followed the mother and daughter into Gao and An Dashan's bedroom.
An Ning said, "Mom, I'm going to perform a magic trick for you, don't be afraid!" Gao looked at the mysterious An Ning and nodded blankly.
An Ning waved her hand, and a large pile of gold, silver, jewelry, and silks filled half of the room. Gao was startled, but fortunately An Ning had given her a heads-up, otherwise she would have screamed. She touched the gold, silver, jewelry, and silks in front of her in disbelief, and said, "Are these all gifts from the emperor to our family?"
An Ning shook her head and said, "Not entirely. There is also a thank-you gift from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
An Dashan was afraid that An Ning had said something wrong, so he tried to wink at An Ning. An Ning received the look from her father and stopped talking.
Gao also thought that the Crown Prince was thanking An Ning for the recipe, and did not think about it in other ways. So she asked An Ning, "Ning Ning, how did you make these things out of thin air?"
An Ning repeated the same excuse she had used to fool An Dashan. Gao nodded and said, "Our family has received so many benefits from the old immortal for nothing. We must make a tablet for him." After thinking for a while, she asked An Ning, "Do you know who the old immortal is? Does he have a name?"
An Ning was dumbfounded by the question and could only continue to fool around: "Mom, the old immortal didn't tell me his name. Maybe he didn't want us to know!"
Gao sighed and said, "Okay, next time you see the old immortal, be sure to ask his name."
An Ning didn't dare to say anything else, so she could only nod. Gao looked at the room full of gold, silver, jewelry, silk and satin, and said, "Ning Ning, put all these things away quickly, don't let outsiders see them."
After hearing what Gao said, An Ning waved his hand and took everything back into the space.
Seeing that Gao was still a little dazed, An Dashan changed the subject and asked, "Have you planted the winter wheat at home?"
After hearing An Dashan's question, Gao came to her senses and said, "It has been planted. I have my elder brother to help me take care of it. Don't worry about it!"
An Dashan nodded and said, "I think the soybeans in the field will soon be ripe."
Gao smiled and said, "By the time you remembered, the daylilies were cold, the soybeans had been harvested, and my eldest brother had planted winter wheat."
An Dashan thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case. It was already the end of August when he went to the capital, and he was delayed there for a few days. Adding the time spent on the road, it was now late September.
An Dashan chuckled and said, "Let's go to my mother-in-law's house tomorrow and bring some gifts to thank them."
Gao naturally had no reason to disagree and said, "Okay, I'll go see with Ningning what to get." An Ning also echoed her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
