Perhaps because winter was approaching, the flowers in the palace were not as vibrant as usual, so Wu Kuzha ordered the flower room to prepare some potted plants to be sent to each courtyard to add some life.
The same was true for Rongyi Courtyard, where Geng lived. On this day, as usual, someone delivered a lot of cultivated flowers to Rongyi Courtyard early in the morning.
Having just finished her breakfast, Madam Geng took her personal maid to the courtyard for a walk to digest her food. She then noticed the potted plants that had just been delivered and was very pleased with them.
Then, pointing to the unique flower in front of her, Geng asked, "Who sent these flowers? They are pruned in a very special way."
The maidservant stepped forward respectfully and said, "Your Highness, this was delivered by a new maidservant from the flower room."
Madam Geng nodded. "Indeed, the florist in this flower room has improved quite a bit. I haven't seen such exquisite flowers in a long time."
For several days in a row, fresh potted plants were delivered to Rongyi Courtyard every day. Geng looked at these newly delivered potted plants and noticed that the way they were pruned was different from the usual method.
After pondering for a moment, Madam Geng pointed to these words and asked the maid beside her, "Has anyone new joined the flower room recently? These potted plants certainly couldn't have been pruned by the old gardeners in the past."
Upon hearing Madam Geng's question, the maidservant hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, I was unaware. Please punish me."
"Alright, since you don't know either, come with me to the flower room. I want to see what kind of person with such a brilliant mind could prune such exquisite flowers." After saying that, Madam Geng turned around and personally led her personal maid to the flower room.
The head of the flower room was a eunuch, who was in charge of pruning the flowers and plants in the palace. Therefore, when Madam Geng arrived at the flower room, she summoned him.
Looking at the potted plants that Hua Fangli was pruning, Madam Geng asked, "Who has been pruning the potted plants in the Prince's mansion lately?"
Upon hearing this, the eunuch quickly replied to Madam Geng, "Your Majesty, these potted plants were pruned by the newly arrived Qiuyun." Then, he cautiously asked, "Is Your Majesty dissatisfied with these potted plants?"
Recently, Wu Kuzha ordered the flower room to prepare a large number of potted plants. The flower room was short-handed and the gardeners were too busy. If they were to find new gardeners outside the mansion, it would be too late. So the eunuch took it upon himself to ask who in the mansion had the skill to prune flowers and plants.
In less than half a day, a maid came up to recommend herself. He saw that the maid had trimmed the plants very well, so he moved them to the flower room. The potted plants in Rongyi Courtyard were made by this maid. When the eunuch saw that Madam Geng had come to inquire, he was very worried.
Upon hearing this, Madam Geng slowly said, "The trimmed bonsai is very good. Let her come out and meet me."
"Yes, this servant will go and fetch her right away." A moment later, the eunuch brought a woman to Geng Shi. This woman was Qiu Yun, the maid who had been sold into slavery.
Seeing that she was also quite well-groomed, Geng asked her, "Did you trim those flowers?"
"Your Majesty, it is indeed this servant," Qiu Yun replied respectfully to Madam Geng, bowing her head.
"How did you learn to prune flowers and plants? You've pruned these potted plants to my liking." Geng looked at the potted plants around her that had only been pruned halfway, and then asked Qiu Yun.
“My father used to be a gardener, but unfortunately he fell seriously ill and passed away not long ago. Thanks to the Prince’s kindness, he gave me some silver to bury my father.” Qiu Yun paused for a moment and continued, “I don’t have any other skills, except that I can trim some flowers and plants to repay his kindness.”
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