The peony led a group of tails into the backyard, and in a remote corner of the backyard, far from other peonies, it found a place with high terrain, good ventilation, shade, deep, loose and fertile soil to prepare for the new home of this purple-spotted peony.

  Lin's mother smiled and pointed to the side of the artificial hill: "Dan Niang, plant it there, won't it be better with other flowers for company?"

  "Here is fine."

  Lin's mother looked around and said, "It's settled then. It's better to plant something here than leave it empty."

  The peony just smiled. Newly bought flowers cannot be placed with the original flowers and trees at home immediately, because if they bring diseases and pests, they will infect other flowers and trees. The proper method is to separate them, observe them carefully for a period of time, and confirm that they are healthy before letting them be together with other flowers and trees.

  After selecting a good location, Peony saw that the flowers on the branch were in full bloom and thought it was a pity to throw them away. She called Kuang'er to bring over special flower scissors, a vase, and a copper basin filled with clear water. Rolling up her sleeves, she carefully cut off the blooming flowers and buds that could still open, according to the requirements for fresh-cut flowers, and handed them to several nephews and nieces to insert into the vase.

  A few children have never seen people cut flowers, and it's always been a matter of cutting them off with one snip. They've never seen the way peonies are pressed into water before being cut. Ten-year-old Rui Niang asked curiously: "Auntie, why do you press them into water before cutting? And your cuts are slanted."

  Cutting the stems at an angle and putting them in water again is to prevent air from entering the xylem, which would hinder water absorption. Cutting at an angle also increases its water intake. However, Peony couldn't explain this principle clearly to the children, so she just vaguely said: "This way, the flowers will last longer in the vase."

  Several children murmured "oh" and squatted down beside her, passing things to each other and asking questions in a cacophony of voices: "Auntie, are you going out again tomorrow? Can you take us with you?" "Auntie, teach me how to plant flowers." "Auntie, the flower you bought today isn't particularly good-looking, it just smells nice. Is that why you bought it?" "Auntie, did you go eat liangpi? Why didn't you bring some back for us?"

  The peony smiled and answered their various strange questions, while taking scissors to carefully cut off the injured roots of the purple-stained peony that had been split but not fallen off. She also cut off the dense branches and weak branches from the base, and pruned other branches according to the requirements of the shape, leaving only the outer buds, cutting off one-quarter to one-half of them, so that the number of branches was less than the number of roots before stopping. Then she ordered the old woman to dig a hole.

  Originally, she should have first applied imidacloprid or methyl isothiazolinone granules to the soil to prevent underground pests and root-knot nematodes, then used a mixture of imidacloprid and methoxyfenozide to soak the entire plant to eliminate any disease-carrying insects on it. But this was ancient times, where would she find these things?

  According to the old method, I instructed the servant girl to mix white mustard powder and fine soil together to prevent insects, and put crushed bean cakes at the bottom of the pit as base fertilizer. Then, I planted the purple peony according to its original branch orientation, as peonies are prone to rot if planted too deeply. So, I only covered the soil up to the original planting line, carefully spreading out the roots, tamping down the soil firmly, and securing it with wooden stakes.

  The peony was just about to ask someone to fetch a bucket of well water that had been exposed to the sun to water the flowers, when it suddenly found itself surrounded by a large crowd of onlookers, each with an expression of eager curiosity.

  He Zhizhong's Yangzhou beauty, Ms. Yang, wore a blue and white striped skirt with a slanting moon-shaped eyebrow, cherry lips painted with vermilion, and a sweet smile on her round face as white as condensed fat. She fanned herself with a beautiful fan and said: "Oh my, Dan Niang has made great progress, she even took the initiative to do it herself! Look at this flower arrangement, it's even more impressive than Old Zhang's."

  Lao Zhangtou was a gardener specializing in flowers and trees for the He family. When Mrs. Cen heard Yang describe him that way, she became unhappy. What's so impressive about being compared to a gardener? She immediately said: "Raising flowers is soothing, she used to love taking care of them, but at that time her body was not good, naturally she could only instruct others to do it. Now that her body has recovered and she has energy, naturally she wants to take action herself."

  Everyone saw Mrs. Cen's undisguised favoritism and smiled slightly. Yang didn't get angry, but just smiled: "Actually, I've always thought that Dan Niang looks very good this time she came back, all her illnesses are gone, which means her hardships have paid off and it's time for her to enjoy her blessings."

  Mrs. Cen loved to hear this and, while arranging for someone to fetch water for Peony to wash her hands, smiled and said, "You're absolutely right."

  The peony just smiled, and after transplanting, watering was the key to survival, so she didn't dare let others do it. She took a water scoop and carefully poured water once to soak thoroughly, then put down the water scoop to prepare for washing her hands. After washing her hands clean, Wu Shi personally handed over a towel for her to wipe her hands, which made her jump in surprise: "Auntie, why are you being so polite?"

  "Wu smiled warmly and said: 'It's just convenient.' She insisted on stuffing the handkerchief into Peony's hand, affectionately holding her hand to wipe it dry."

  Yang watched from the side, fanning herself and smiling strangely. Seeing her own husband's mother being so attentive to Peony, Zhen's face flashed with a hint of displeasure, and she turned her head away to talk to Zhang.

  The peony saw everyone's face but couldn't refuse Wu's kind intentions, so she reluctantly accepted and thanked him sincerely.

  Although Wu was a concubine, her status in the He family was quite different. She received genuine respect from several of He Da Lang's brothers, especially He Si Lang, who treated her differently.

  Compared to Madam Xun and Yang, Wu was not beautiful, but because she was Madam Xun's dowry maid, deeply trusted and relied upon by Madam Xun. As the years passed, only when Madam Xun grew old did Wu become He Zhitong's concubine and give birth to He Sanlang. For many years, whether He Zhitong went out on business or stayed at home, she always followed Madam Xun around, pouring water and holding towels, helping with household chores, obedient and gentle, earning the love and respect of everyone in the family from top to bottom.

  But the real reason why she was valued by Mrs. Cen and He Zhizhong, and respected by He Dalang and others, was not this. Peony was not the only daughter of this family, she originally had an older sister who died young, born to Wu Shi, just one year younger than He Sanlang.

  At that time, the He family was not as prosperous as it is today, and there were not so many hands. When He Si Lang was born, Mrs. Cen had a difficult labor, and He Zhitong was not at home. She devoted herself wholeheartedly to taking care of Mrs. Cen, busy from dawn till dusk. After Mrs. Cen was out of danger and the mother and son were safe, people discovered that He Dajie was nowhere to be found. They searched again and again, only to find her in the well.

  Since then, Mrs. Cen and He Zhizhong have had a sense of guilt towards her, always considering more for her and He Sanlang, and He Silang has been mindful of her feelings, requiring Li Shi to respect Wu Shi. Li Shi did so, but also bore a grudge against Wu Shi's biological daughter-in-law, Zhen Shi.

  Wu and the former Peony got along well, but after changing her heart, Peony had always been distant from her and Yang. It's not that Wu had anything bad to say about He Peony or Cen in memory, but rather she was too good, too perfect, with a level of attention that even surpassed He Sanlang and Zhen. She couldn't understand what reason would drive someone to this point.

  Madam Cen saw that Peony was not feeling well and also noticed the unease of Yang and Zhen, so she smiled and said: "A'wu, don't bother her, let her move around more, it's good for her body."

  Peony took the opportunity to pull her hand out of Wu's, and with a hint of playful annoyance, she said: "Everyone is an adult now, Auntie. If you behave like this, the children will laugh at me."

  Madam Wu smiled slightly and retreated behind Madam Cen. Madam Yang smiled lightly, glancing at Madam Wu: "Sister still treats Dan Niang like a child. I gave birth to Sixth Brother when I was 16, and Dan Niang will soon be 18!"

  Madam Wu just smiled and said nothing.

  Mrs. Cen's face turned ugly.

  Zhen's family saw the situation, and her heart was even more resentful. She thought to herself: What kind of show is Peony putting on? And she also found it strange that Wu's family always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else, being overly cautious in front of Mrs. Cen, and also doing so in front of Yang's family, and in fact, in front of everyone. He Sanlang was also like this, with a warm and gentle temperament, always following behind He Dalang and He Er Lang, trying to curry favor and show off, making her feel inferior among the several sisters-in-law.

  Yu He saw that Mrs. Zhen's face didn't look good, so she hastily presented her with two branches of purple peony and smiled: "Third Madame, don't you think these flowers are fragrant? They're also different from the others."

  Who would want to throw away these unwanted flowers? Zhen Shi smiled and said, "I'm just a rough person, I don't understand these flowers and grasses. It's getting late, we need to hurry up and finish our tasks." She didn't take the peony from Yu He's hand, but instead pulled her son He Jin forward: "You haven't finished reciting your book yet, let's go continue." She also asked her two daughters: "Have you girls finished writing your characters? The sky is about to darken, if you don't finish, when your father comes back, I'll make him deal with you!" Scaring Hui Niang and Yun Niang into hastily chasing after her.

  Yang ordered someone to take the peony from Yuhe's hand and smiled: "Look at Sanlang's wife's temper, saying wind is wind, saying rain is rain. It's just right, I haven't seen such a fragrant peony, so give it to me."

  Yu He hastily handed it over, and the rest of the people took advantage of the opportunity to divide up the remaining purple peony, dispersing the unpleasantness brought by Zhen Shi's inexplicable bad temper.

  Xue's wife came from the front, shouting to everyone that He Zhizhong and his son had returned home. The women and children all happily went to the front. Wu's wife glanced at Peony and whispered: "Your third aunt is angry with me. Don't mind her."

  "Of course not," Peony smiled. That's just how big families are - someone suddenly gets angry, then suddenly becomes happy again, it's all very normal, she was mentally prepared for it.

  That night, Li Wei followed He Zhizhong and his son back home, chatting and laughing as if nothing was wrong. He didn't seem to feel any shame or guilt for deceiving the He family, as if it were a matter of course. He Zhizhong also didn't show any unusual behavior, but instead kept Li Wei in the study room after dinner to discuss something for a long time. After coming out, he announced that a matchmaker had been found and told his two sons to go with him to the Liu family the next day.

  [bookid=1736421,bookname="Joyful Gate"][bookid=1296881,bookname="Flower Shadows"][bookid=1797584,bookname="The Husband Handbook"][bookid=1421817,bookname="Leftover Woman Unruly"][bookid=1589709,bookname="Heavenly Beauty"]