Those two young men saw Master Peony take the initiative to ask for the price, and they both stopped, with the first one looking older in age, like an elder brother, slightly shyly saying: "Is it for sale? Does the lady want to take a look?"

  "It's exactly what we need to see." Peony hinted that they would move the purple-spotted peony to the shade of the willow tree by the road and put it in a good place. The two young men looked at each other, overjoyed, and did as Peony said, without disturbing her, standing aside to catch their breath, leaving the space around the flower to Peony and others.

  The people around laughed at Peony and the two young men: "This is just a wild peony, it's all over the mountains and fields, with few petals and dull colors. Many families have them in their gardens, what's the big deal? There are even more in the medicinal herb gardens, and people dare to sell them, and others are willing to buy!"

  "They're all crazy."

  Even someone loudly beckoned the peony to come over and buy their own flowers: "Little girl, why not buy mine? Mine is much better than his. Look at this flower, look at these leaves, all of which are carefully cultivated."

  Those two young men heard this, their dark faces turned even redder, and they were so ashamed that they couldn't lift their heads. They had also heard people say that in the capital city, people loved peonies the most, a cluster of deep-colored peonies could be sold for enough to pay the taxes of ten middle-class households. They knew that these wild peony trees were everywhere and weren't anything special. But this peony was different, most of the peonies they had seen before were white, but this one was pink. That's why they dared to dig it up and hurry to sell it, not expecting much for it, just hoping to exchange it for some oil and salt money would be good too.

  Being laughed at, the peony didn't get annoyed either. It gazed calmly at those people and smiled, then walked forward to carefully observe the plant in front of it. As soon as it got close, the unique fragrance of the peony flower wafted up to its nose.

  Paeonia suffruticosa, as the name suggests, its most distinctive feature is that all petals have more or less purple-brown or reddish-purple spots at the base, called basal spots. The flowers are upright, fragrant, and the main branches are sturdy, with a diameter of over four inches, and a height of over one meter, making it one of the largest peonies. It is said that when planted in a garden, it has its own unique charm. However, what peony likes most is its drought tolerance, cold resistance, few pests and diseases, and late flowering period. As a resource for hybrid breeding, it is very rare.

  These people didn't know that Peony understood the way, they only thought she was ignorant, yet they liked to follow the fashion of raising peonies like rich women. Liu Chuan, however, knew that Peony loved flowers and understood them. This unremarkable peony flower was so attractive to Peony, there must be a reason for it. Liu Chuan thought about this, then stopped in his tracks, put aside his intention to bother Peony, and stood quietly to the side to observe.

  The value of a flower tree lies largely in whether it can be planted alive. Peony carefully examined the roots of this flower and confirmed that it could be planted alive, then discussed the price with those two young men: "How much do you want?"

  Those two young men exchanged a glance, and the older one spoke up: "I've heard that peonies are very expensive and valuable."

  Next to a flower vendor smiled and said: "Right! Very expensive, you this less say also value five six ten thousand money!" The crowd covered their mouths in a burst of snickers, only Zou Laoqi and the whiskered man looked thoughtfully at the peony, not participating in the teasing.

  Those two young men, seeing the situation, also knew that others were intentionally bullying them, and they couldn't help but feel both ashamed and annoyed. The younger one hesitated for a moment, then blushed and said loudly: "We don't know the price, whatever you're willing to give is fine! After all, we're also from the mountains, although we've traveled a long way, our labor is spent on our own family!"

  The older one heard this and pulled a long face, muttering a few words in a low voice, meaning to scold him for being foolish, who would give money to anyone? The younger one disagreed, saying loudly: "Brother, you also saw that except for this lady, others may not want it. Can't we just take it back? Exchanging it for some oil and salt money is good enough."

  It's actually honest. Peony stopped the dispute between the two brothers and lowered his voice, saying: "I'll give you 10,000 yuan. Do you think this price is fair?"

  I thought it would be just a small business of a few hundred or over a thousand dollars, but Peony gave this price. Compared to the attitude of the crowd who ridiculed him earlier, it's indeed too fair! But these two brothers are rough but have their subtleties, after exchanging a glance, the older brother hummed and said: "How can you be so generous?" Isn't there another thought behind this? People in the city are the most cunning.

  "Peony smiled and said, 'I have a condition. From now on, if you see any that look different from others, dig them up and sell them to me. I won't treat you unfairly.' For the time being, she had no chance to go deep into the mountains and forests. If she could reach an agreement with these two people, they would help her find these wild mutant varieties during their spare time, which would be perfect."

  That's the best it can be! Just as her brother was about to shout loudly, Peony said in a low voice: "Don't let others know, otherwise they will all go and dig them up to sell, what will you sell then?" Peony had an ulterior motive for saying this. If people knew that wild peonies were selling at high prices, who knows, they would all go and dig up the wild peonies. Those wild peonies would fall into other people's hands and be useless, and would also destroy the wild population.

  His younger brother heard this and immediately covered his mouth, looking around at the crowd in surprise. Seeing that everyone was staring at him with curiosity, some even asking loudly how much money they had made, he couldn't help but feel that Peony's words were very reasonable. He composed himself, took the change from Yuhe, and happily followed his older brother to move the flower, wanting to go with Peony and the others to collect the money.

  The Suns and the Zhangs, although they didn't know what peonies were, looked down on all other flowers, but surprisingly took a liking to this wild flower. However, compared to peony flowers, they were far less familiar with them, so they didn't say much. After asking about the meaning of peonies, they prepared to head home.

  Peony had just taken a few steps when Liu Chuan blocked her way: "How much did you pay them? What's so special about this flower?"

  The peony would never tell him, but just smiled faintly and turned around to walk in another direction.

  For some reason, Liu Chong always felt that Peony was mocking him. A surge of evil fire suddenly rushed up in his heart, and he couldn't help but step forward to block the two brothers: "It's all about selling things, whoever has a higher price wins. How much does she sell for? I'll offer more than her." Not to mention that this wild peony must be strange, just because it doesn't feel good in his heart, he won't let He Peony have her way.

  Zou Laoqi and the whiskered man also walked over to ask the two brothers, "How much did you sell it for? You look so happy." As they spoke, they gathered around to carefully examine the flower, each with their own thoughts. The others, seeing this, also surrounded them, asking about the price in a cacophony of voices.

  If she hadn't asked about the flower, these people probably wouldn't have given it a second glance. Seeing her buy it, they all thought there must be something special about it. This is just human nature's profit-seeking heart, nothing strange about it. The most hateful one is Liu Chuan, who clearly came to stir up trouble and oppose himself. Peony got angry, looked at the two brothers, pointed at Liu Chuan and said: "This young master has a lot of money... his price may be higher than mine, you've had a hard time on this trip, I won't make it difficult for you. Who do you want to sell to?"

  Liu Chang had not spoken, and the two brothers shook their heads: "Everything has its order, we have already received the deposit, how can we go back on our word? If this gentleman wants to, we'll dig another one when we meet again." They refused to answer any further questions from others. They were not foolish, of course they wanted to ensure long-term benefits and keep their lucrative business method safe.

  "Well, in that case, let's go get the money together." Peony smiled slightly, this response was within her expectations. Not everyone is as greedy for money as Old Zou, or as unreasonable as Liu Chuan with his whiskers. The vast majority of people still value integrity and righteousness.

  That whisker saw the two brothers not answering their own words, guessing that the price must be expensive, so he went over and got close to Peony: "Little girl, I see you checking the roots of the flower doesn't seem like you don't understand flowers, what do you want to buy this peony for?"

  Because of the previous dispute over buying peonies with Zhang, Peony had a bad impression on this person and naturally wouldn't speak the truth. With a faint smile: "Each flower has its own charm. I like its fragrance and also its tall stature."

  Liu Chong saw Peony and the whiskered man talking, and felt extremely displeased in his heart. He flashed to Peony's side and said in a harsh tone: "How much longer do you want to make trouble? Come home with me! If you come home with me, I won't hold anything against what happened before, and I'll let this matter go."

  Everyone who heard about it thought it was strange. As a family, why did they need to bid against each other?

  She spat! Trash! If she goes back to follow him, she's also trash! Peony pretended not to hear and turned around to ask Zhang Shi: "Wu Jie, I remember there's a spice shop near our house? Is it Fourth Brother who's in charge?" Although He Dajiang was hot-tempered, He Si Lang was even more so. The apprentices under him were all rough and not easy to get along with. It's said that being friendly can bring wealth, but the He family's jewelry and spice business required frequent sea travel to sell goods, and encountering pirates would require fighting for one's life. Therefore, the He family developed a fearless personality. She didn't know how high Liu Chuan's martial arts skills were, but she knew that if he dared to fight, He Si Lang wouldn't be afraid. Anyway, He Dajiang had already beaten Liu Chuan and made an enemy of him, so it wasn't like this one time would make a difference.

  "Zhang said: 'I've already sent someone to call for Si Lang, he should be here soon.'"

  "Mr. Liu, the matter has reached this point, why must you continue to entangle yourself? In our opinion, a day of husband and wife is a hundred days of kindness, it's better to part on good terms, which is beneficial to everyone. We've also seen the county princess, who truly matches you! A talented scholar and a beautiful woman, with equal family backgrounds, making for a perfect match! Just let our Dan Niang go!"

  Mind your own business! Liu Chong glared at Sun with a fierce gaze, how could he not understand the implicit threat and sarcasm in He's words? Thinking of He Dabang's fists, he was even more furious, he didn't necessarily think he couldn't beat He Dabang, but at that time he didn't want to fight back. If he didn't let the He family know his ferocity today, he would write the character "Liu" upside down! With a cold smile, he went to grab Peony's hand: "You're just relying on your own brothers being lawless and unreasonable, and having some stinky money at home?! Call him out, call him out, it's just right for your family to know that I, Liu Chong, am not someone who will yield with a mere gust of wind! And even more so, not some kind of weakling who can be butchered at will!"