Chapter 157: Give First Before You Take
After watching the carriage go, Brother Yuan said, "This Second Master Shen seems to be a good person. He is very honest in his deeds, and it is obvious that he is not short of money."
Some of the key points he had thought of, such as no compensation if the crops failed to survive, quantity restrictions, and different wages based on the value of the flowers...he had thought of all of them and written them all in the deed, without any calculation at all.
Moreover, the wages were set at two cents of the market price, that is to say, if the market price was one hundred taels, he could get two taels as wages. Because these were all precious flowers, and one pot could cost several thousand taels, so the wages were considered very generous.
Yan Shenjue said: "I can't tell whether people are right or wrong. I only know that if you want to take something, you must give it first."
Brother Yuan nodded: "That's true. He is loyal and honest as promised. He didn't ask any more questions. He seems to be quite sure that you can be rescued. He might send someone to spy on you."
The second brother said, "I have already answered it."
"Haha, yes," Brother Yuan said with a smile, "Don't worry, nothing will happen."
After a pause, he changed the subject: "Do you know that the Xiaoxie Tomb has chosen a good site and started construction? It's in a place called Laolangtun, not far from the county town. I also heard that the higher-ups have sent officials to supervise the work!"
The second elder brother was surprised and asked, "Does it take this seriously?"
"Yes," said Brother Yuan, "No matter how small the matter is, if there is such an imperial decree, the people below will have to run around. But don't worry, it shouldn't have anything to do with you. After all, this is not a glorious matter. The more people are involved, the worse it will look. Officials are not stupid."
The second brother nodded.
Brother Yuan chatted and laughed for a few words before leaving.
The second brother sat back and then cleaned up the stove to boil the medicine, while subconsciously glancing at Xinbao.
At the beginning, Tang Sanshui drank the wrong medicine and Xinbao had that stone dream.
But later, Liu Pozi died and Tang Sanshui died, and Xinbao never had the dream again.
It seems that his guess was correct. Whether Xinbao dreams or not is indeed related to how important she feels in her heart. When she first left the old house, Xinbao was still afraid of Tang Sanshui, but later when Tang Sanshui was imprisoned, she gradually became less afraid. So when he died, Xinbao no longer dreamed of him.
The second brother suddenly spoke up: "Xiao Jue, you said...you said Xinbao is blessed, so will she be able to turn misfortune into good fortune and turn disaster into blessing? So I don't need to be too nervous about planting flowers or something, right?"
"Yes," the beautiful boy said calmly, "I won't let anything happen to Xinbao. Even when I'm in bad luck, I still have the ability to do so."
Second brother: “…”
He smiled and said, "So Young Master Yan, do you plan to take care of Xinbao's brother... and me? After all, if something happens to me, Xinbao will be very sad! Does being very sad count as something happening?"
The young boy's sonorous and cool painting style changed in an instant.
Yan Shenjue looked at him in silence for a while.
He discovered that his second brother would be steady when you were naughty, and would be naughty when you were steady. In short, he was very good at playing by unpredictable means and disrupting your rhythm.
He stood up silently, placed the stool in front of Xinbao's bed, turned his back to him, and refused to communicate.
The cheerful laughter of my second brother was heard behind me.
He really thought this kid was fun.
When Xinbao woke up, he went to brush his teeth in a daze, and then he saw two large flower pots next to him.
She had just glanced at it casually, then suddenly came to her senses, her eyes widened, and she couldn't help swallowing the salt in her mouth, choking as she held her neck.
Yan Shenjue said anxiously: "Hurry up, why did you swallow it?"
Xinbao obediently drank a mouthful of water, gulped it down, and spit it out, pointing over there: "That?"
Yan Shenjue said: "This is Mr. Shen's flower. He wants Xinbao to help him take care of it."
With water stains still on the corners of Xinbao's mouth, he ran over there with his short legs and looked at it carefully.
This seems to be another extinct flower called magnolia.
Nowadays, the city flower of Yangzhou is also called Qionghua, but this kind of Qionghua is actually a flower called Jubaxian, which is different from the extinct ancient Qionghua of Yangzhou.
Zheng Xingyi's "Distinguishing Qionghua" lists three major differences between ancient Qionghua and Jubaxian: "Qionghua is large and has thick petals, and its color is light yellow, while Jubaxian is small and has thin petals, and its color gradually turns green. This is the first difference; Qionghua leaves are soft and lustrous, while Jubaxian leaves are thick and have awns. This is the second difference; Qionghua stamens are flat, do not produce seeds but are fragrant, while Jubaxian stamens are lower than the flowers, produce seeds but are not fragrant. This is the third difference."
This is enough to prove that these are two different flowers.
It is said that Emperor Yang of Sui spent a lot of money and labor to dig the Grand Canal just to see the ancient magnolia, but he was murdered in Yangzhou by the rebel army led by Yu Wenzhi. So the ancient magnolia was labeled as the flower of national destruction at that time, and very few people planted it. It was not until the Song Dynasty that it gradually revived.
It is said that Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty transplanted the ancient magnolia to Kaifeng, and Emperor Xiaozong of Song Dynasty also transplanted it to Hangzhou, but both trees withered after a year. Once they were brought back to Yangzhou, they revived again, so the ancient magnolia is also called Yangzhou magnolia, which means a flower of affection.
Han Qi once praised the poem "Jade Flowers in Hou Tu Temple" as follows: "There is only one flower in Weiyang, and it has no similar flowers in the world; every year in Hou Tu Temple, it is more precious than jade and jade."
When Ouyang Xiu was the governor of Yangzhou, he built a "Wushuang Pavilion" for the flower, implying that it was unparalleled in the world.
There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!
But when the Song Dynasty fell, they all died.
The Qing Dynasty's "Qionghua Zhi" once recorded that "the flower was planted in the Han and Tang Dynasties, flourished twice in the Song Dynasty, bloomed once in the Jin Dynasty, and withered again in the Yuan Dynasty."
However, apart from written records, no images of Yangzhou's ancient magnolia have been passed down.
At this moment, the two flowers in front of him were also dried and withered, and many details could not be distinguished, but for some reason, Xinbao felt that this must be the ancient Qionghua, the ancient Qionghua that has become extinct in later generations! !
Xinbao's eyes were bright, and he was completely immersed in the flowers in front of him, not moving for a long time.
She didn't even notice that the big rock in her mind suddenly appeared. In the rolling clouds and mist, a faint light flashed on the big rock, in a corner of the small world, as if the flowers that were originally unclear suddenly became clear and vivid.
It appears for a moment and then disappears.
After a long while, the second brother couldn't help but ask, "Xinbao?"
The stupid guy blinked.
The second brother said softly, "What's wrong with Xinbao?"
Tuanzi murmured stupidly: "Xinbao likes this flower."
The second brother patted her little head and said to Yan Shenjue, "When we signed the contract, why didn't we think of keeping one pot of each flower? We only think about the wages. How vulgar."
Looking at Tuanzi's enthusiastic eyes, he felt a little guilty: "I'm sorry, Xinbao, I gave you Yipinbi yesterday without asking you."
Xinbao blinked her eyes and she said, "It's okay. Xinbao likes it, but she only needs a few. As long as it grows well in one place, Xinbao will be happy. It doesn't need to stay at home."
Second brother: “…”
He deeply felt that he would never be able to reach his sister's level in this lifetime.
He was speechless for a moment and just rubbed Tuanzi's little head silently.
Yan Shenjue took a step forward and handed him the box of green salt. The second brother knew that he wanted him to take the box so that he could take his hands off his sister's head, but he pretended not to understand and took the box with his other hand.
(End of this chapter)