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Chapter 56
Qiu Chan nodded repeatedly, indicating that she would definitely listen to the lady's words. The two of them came to Wu Auntie's room and knocked on the door. "Wu Auntie, are you inside?"
From within the room, Wu Auntie heard the voice and got up, dragging her feet to open the door. "Qiu Kui, Qiu Chan, why have you come?"
"Lady, we were asked to come and check on you. How is your leg?" Qiu Kui and Qiu Chan helped Wu Auntie to sit down.
"Thank you for your concern, ladies. I'm fine, it's just my old ailment. A bit of rest and I'll be alright." Wu Auntie said this, but beads of sweat were forming on her face from the pain in her leg.
"Wu Auntie, this won't do. We should take you to see a doctor," said Qiu Kui, seeing how much pain Wu Auntie was in. She asked Qiu Chan to carry Wu Auntie on her back.
"No need," Wu Auntie struggled, unwilling to go. But her strength was no match for Qiu Chan, who carried her to see the doctor.
Qiu Shui returned and saw Li Xia lying on a reclining chair with her eyes closed, resting. The others were not around, and she frowned, wondering where Qiu Kui and Qiu Chan had gone, as she had instructed them to guard the courtyard.
Li Xia didn't open her eyes, but recognized Qiu Shui's footsteps. "Qiu Shui, there's a box on the table inside. Go and fetch it."
Qiu Shui went into the room and brought the box to Li Xia.
Li Xia gestured for Qiu Shui to open it. Qiu Shui opened it and saw two rows of silver coins inside, looking at Li Xia questioningly. "Lady, what is this?"
"Keep these silver coins. In the future, if the Orchid Courtyard needs money, let them come to you to withdraw it. Keep a record of the accounts, and when the money runs out, come to me for more," Li Xia said casually.
It seemed that the lady was entrusting Qiu Shui with the management of the entire Orchid Courtyard. Qiu Shui felt both honored and anxious. After a while of emotional turmoil, she finally calmed down and said solemnly while holding the box, "Lady, rest assured, I will manage the affairs of our courtyard well."
Seeing Qiu Shui's solemn expression, Li Xia smiled. "Don't be so tense, just do as you've always done."
Qiu Shui took a deep breath and nodded. She would do her best. "Lady, I shall go and attend to my duties now."
After Qiu Shui left, Li Xia couldn't help but sigh. The silver was dwindling too quickly. She had given Qiu Shui 200 taels of silver, and now she only had less than 20 taels left. She was running out of money. She had been a bit lax recently and needed to find a way to earn more silver coins, or else she wouldn't be able to support Qiu Chan. Thinking of money made her think of the secret chamber in the mountains and the men in black, which in turn made her think of Tian Jiu. She wondered if he had found his second brother.
That night, Li Xia went to the mountain and entered the secret chamber. When the men in black had come to this chamber before, Li Xia had searched it thoroughly. They had left no traces. But the more this was the case, the more uneasy Li Xia felt. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough people to investigate further, nor could she inform Li Ming and Li Hui.
After leaving the chamber, she headed deeper into the mountain. Along the way, she tore off some vines and wove a small basket. Li Xia had been to this part of the mountain many times and was familiar with where the good things were. She ventured deep into the mountain, gathering various mountain delicacies and putting them into the basket. She then returned to the city and entered a shop.
The Precious Plant Pavilion was a restaurant that specialized in mountain delicacies. Their ingredients were of excellent quality. They would regularly send people into the mountains to forage, and they also bought from outside sources. However, it was rare for someone to show up at night, as Li Xia did. Wang Tao, the manager of the Precious Plant Pavilion, was woken up from his sleep. He opened his eyes to see Li Xia, dressed in black, sitting at the table.
Wang Tao remained calm and got up to greet Li Xia respectfully. "May I ask why the lady has graced the Precious Plant Pavilion with her presence at this late hour?"
Li Xia didn't exchange pleasantries with Wang Tao. She placed the small basket on the table. "Give me a price."
Wang Tao borrowed the moonlight to see a roughly woven basket on the table. He lit a candle and brought it closer to inspect the contents. Inside were rare mountain delicacies, haphazardly piled together. Seeing these treasures treated so carelessly pained Wang Tao. Forgetting everything else, he put the candle aside and carefully took out the mountain delicacies, arranging them on the table.
"How much?" Li Xia asked directly about the price, while using her dagger to poke at the candleflame.
Seeing Li Xia's action, Wang Tao cautiously replied, "800 taels of silver. What do you think?"
Li Xia was familiar with the prices of mountain delicacies. This basket was being priced at a high rate. The regular buying price that the Precious Plant Pavilion offered to outside sources was lower. This was why Li Xia was willing to come here.
Li Xia then took out a small bundle and tossed it to Wang Tao. "Add this, 2,000 taels."
Wang Tao fumbled to catch the bundle. Upon opening it, he was stunned and almost fainted. The ginseng root inside was even larger than the 300-year-old one his boss had previously acquired. A root like this would easily fetch 1,200 taels of silver. More importantly, the soil on the root was still damp, indicating it had just been dug up. If processed and sold, this root could fetch at least 2,000 taels of silver.
"Lady, this ginseng root alone is worth over 2,000 taels. The total price of 2,000 taels for everything is a loss for you," said Wang Tao. He reached for a box from his bedside, which contained the money his boss had given him for purchasing mountain delicacies. He opened the box and placed it on the table. "Lady, there are 300 taels of gold in this box. How about this price?"
At the current market rate of one tael of gold for ten taels of silver, 300 taels of gold would be equivalent to 3,000 taels of silver.
With a wave of Li Xia's hand, the gold on the table vanished before Wang Tao's eyes. His mouth fell open. What sorcery was this? Even more astonishingly, she disappeared from Wang Tao's sight. All that remained were the mountain delicacies, the ginseng root in his hand, and the bundle it had been wrapped in was gone as well.
"This must be a celestial being," Wang Tao muttered in a low voice. He lost all sleepiness and carefully put away the mountain delicacies and ginseng root. He would guard these items until daybreak, then report the matter to his boss.
Li Xia returned to the Orchid Courtyard, placed the gold in a corner, and lay down to meditate and rest. At daybreak, she opened her eyes, got up, and washed. Together with Auntie Mei, she went to the Wild Goose Pavilion to pay her respects. Mrs. Lu's expression was not very good, while Auntie An could barely conceal her smile.
Li Xia glanced at Li Xin, whose expression was also unsatisfactory. What was going on?
"Mother, I had no choice," Li Shan said helplessly.
"Enough, I'll handle this matter myself," Mrs. Lu didn't want to hear Li Shan's excuses.
After leaving Mrs. Lu's courtyard, Li Xia walked alongside Li Xin. "Sister, what happened?"
"I'll tell you when we get back," Li Xin said, and only after they reached her own courtyard did she explain the situation. Li Hui had become a ranked scholar, and Mrs. Lu and Li Ming had planned to hold a grand celebration. At that time, the officials and ladies of Liuzhou, both great and small, would bring their daughters and sons. It would be an excellent opportunity for Li Hui and Li Xin to meet potential matches.
Li Xia had made preparations in the needlework room in advance, so there was no need to worry about that. Li Xin had also made preparations in the kitchen early on, and Mrs. Lu had arranged everything else as well. They were just waiting for Li Hui to return. But that morning, Li Shan had come to pay her respects and reported that the arrangements for the garden were not going to work.
During the last banquet in the summer, the garden was in full bloom, which was beautiful. But now it was autumn, and there were no flowers in the garden. It was too late to order chrysanthemums. At that time, all there would be to see were the water and trees.
This was unacceptable. This celebration was for Li Hui, a major event. How could there be no flowers in the garden? Mrs. Lu was angry at Li Shan for concealing this until the last minute, only revealing it when it could no longer be hidden.
"Li Shan did it on purpose."