Zhang Wulang quickly spread the news of his intention to purchase peonies at a high price next year through his unique way. In the first few days, everything was calm and peaceful, with no special reaction. Peony continued to ride her horse every day, going around famous temples and Taoist monasteries to gather information. Especially those temples and monasteries that had been booked by Cao Wanrong this year, she went there the most, revealing her longing and infatuation for these peony varieties in conversation. However, except for the varieties she particularly needed, she basically didn't pay any deposit, only verbally expressing her intention to purchase, and also didn't sign a contract with those people.

  On the fifth day, she arrived at a flower farmer's house. This family was said to have a peony called "Powdery Lion" that bloomed with dozens of flowers and was famous. As soon as Peony entered the door, the host personally came out to greet her and called out her name, laughing and asking if she wanted to order some seedlings. Peony's heart skipped a beat, knowing that her goal had basically been achieved.

  That flower farmer took the peony to see that peony king, and that peony king was indeed worthy of its name. The cluster reached over 4 zhang (about 13 meters) in circumference and nearly 5 chi (about 1.67 meters) high, already very eye-catching. The flower farmer proudly introduced the peony: "Madam He has come at the wrong time, if it were during the lush season, this peony would be over 6 chi (about 2 meters) high. This year it bloomed with more than five big flowers, each half a chi (about 16.7 cm) in diameter and over two inches high. The flower shape is very special, I'm not bragging, in the capital city, there are only a few like this one that can bloom so well and have so many. If you want it, at a good price, I'll naturally pick out the best for you to take."

  Even if you haven't seen the peony bloom, you know what this powder lion looks like. The flower is a rare variety of peony with a pale pink to white color, 2 rows of outer petals, and a large purple spot at the base of the petal that occupies the entire base of the petal. The purple stripes around the spot are radiating, and the inner petals are long and slightly curved, with the purple spot occupying four-fifths of the petal. Not to mention the color and shape of the flower, just the fact that it can bloom several times a year makes her truly interested in it. For such a flower, compared to grafting, she is more interested in the whole plant.

  The peony thought for a long time and made an offer: "This peony of yours, although it blooms quite a lot, is nothing compared to the famous and expensive varieties. I'll give you 1.5 million yuan, plus two grafted Yuhuang and Weizi, and you can sell the whole thing to me."

  The flower farmer hesitated, but the price offered by Peony was tempting. After some consideration, he finally agreed. Then, under his introduction, Peony bought several mature peonies from a few different flower farmers. Within one day, she spent 10,000 yuan, all cash on delivery.

  Then she took a break, and two days later, Zhang Wulang sent someone to tell her that Cao Wanrong had started acting again. This time, not only did he widely book appointments in temples and Taoist temples, but also went deep into many flower farmers' homes. He really paid for the booking and wrote a contract with the family, rather than just making a verbal appointment like she did.

  Peony immediately went out and rushed to book two houses. Cao Wanjun was even more crazy, and someone even came to the door to refund Peony's deposit. Peony smiled and didn't mind, took the money and sent the person away, and never bothered with this matter again.

  When winter was approaching, the peonies in Fangyuan were collectively fertilized for the last time that year. As a result, for those few days, Fangyuan had been filled with the smell of manure. According to Xier's private complaints, even her hair smelled like manure, and no amount of perfume could get rid of it. It was so smelly, yet Fangyuan didn't seem to mind at all, standing by every day watching people fertilize the peonies, and sometimes even rolling up her sleeves to personally control the amount of fertilizer used.

  The flower farmers and the villagers who came to help also looked at Peony with strange eyes, clean and beautiful little girl, not enjoying happiness by their side, but smelling stinky here, and walking back and forth with a dung scoop, not only teaching people to scold, but also scooping up a scoop for herself at any time, this is really...

  Peony was wearing an old coarse linen garment, holding a dirty and smelly manure scoop in her hand, personally demonstrating to the group of half-grown children who had just arrived. This group of half-grown children were basically selected by her from the He family, and they were generally well-behaved and obedient, but when it came to applying fertilizer, these city-bred kids would wrinkle their brows in distaste, and some even couldn't help but feel nauseous. After Zheng Huajun and others had taught them a few times, they became impatient and stopped paying attention, going instead to complain to Peony, saying that these spoiled children hadn't suffered enough and weren't suitable for this kind of work, suggesting she find someone else to sell.

  Peonies are very particular, and these home-born apprentices are naturally somewhat afraid of getting dirty and disobedient. Zheng Huaizhang and others would not have sincerely taught these children who were unrelated to them. Since that's the case, she had no choice but to personally teach them these most basic things. It's not easy to cultivate an excellent peony craftsman, let alone a whole group of craftsmen who belong entirely to oneself. She must be willing to put in effort on their behalf.

  With her leading by example, the children didn't dare to say much more. After all, if their master wasn't afraid of getting dirty and smelly, why should they be? Peony watched them work after she had set an example. She cast her gaze towards Man, who was at the front of the group. He was the smallest in stature among them and not a member of the He family, but rather someone Zhang Wu Lang suggested she buy when he knew she needed people. Man's original surname was Zhao. His father had gambled away all their property and his wife and children, then hanged himself. The creditors were fierce and notorious, so it was easy to imagine the tragic fate that befell his mother.

  Zhang Wulang was accustomed to seeing such things every day, and he wasn't a compassionate Bodhisattva, nor did he like to get involved in such trivial matters. But somehow this kid moved him, so he stepped forward to find Peony. Without asking half a sentence, Peony followed his intention and bought the mother-child pair at a high price. This kid was indeed very useful, not afraid of getting dirty or tired, no matter what happened, as long as Peony spoke up, he would be the first one to rush forward silently.

  For this, he often suffered rejection and bullying from other children, but he endured it, didn't complain, didn't shed tears, and was always the most diligent. These past few days, when others pinched their noses in disgust, he carried a half-bucket of feces behind Zheng Hua's back, doing whatever Zheng Hua did.

  Peony had long seen through his actions, but did not intervene in the affairs between him and the other children according to Yuhe's intentions. Instead, she let him solve it himself. She would give him opportunities, and if he could stand firm and pass her test, he would be her key target for cultivation.

  After the children finished what they were doing, Peony announced: "I had planned to pick one of you to be in charge, but I didn't know who was the best. Now it seems that Man is the most suitable. From now on, all of you will be managed by Man. If there's anything you don't understand, ask him."

  As soon as she made the announcement, everyone was in an uproar. Man then looked at her with disbelieving eyes, and Peony smiled slightly: "You all listen up. I know you didn't suffer much at home before, but since you're here, you'll have to follow my arrangements. I won't be able to watch you work like this every day, so it's up to you to be self-aware. Starting today, I'll assign tasks to each of you, and then ask the master to demonstrate. If anyone can't do a good job, Man will come and tell me. If someone is afraid of getting dirty or tired, that means they're not cut out for this line of work. Fangyuan doesn't raise idle people; if you can't be a florist, then go sweep the floor, carry manure, or fetch water. If you still can't do it well, I'll have no choice but to ask you to leave."

  She didn't say anything else unpleasant, but the children all understood instantly. She was satisfied to see that several of the children who usually had conflicts with Man looked at him with complex expressions, while Man's face turned slightly red and his eyes sparkled. Peony secretly sighed, hoping that Man's actions would disappoint her instead.

  Just as she had settled in, Kuang Er came to report that Li Man Niang and Du Fu Ren, Xue Niang and the others had arrived. They refused to drink tea and wait in the main hall, instead coming straight this way. Peony hurried over to greet them, but Li Man Niang hadn't mentioned anything about visiting beforehand, so she didn't know what they were here for.

  "Why didn't you let someone come and tell me ahead of time?" She stopped a few feet away from the group, only because Xue Niang covered her nose and scrunched up her face, waving her hand nonstop: "He sister, you stink to death. You're supporting so many people, but you still have to do it yourself. They're all eating free meals, aren't they?"

  "Peonies are not easy to explain, can only apologize with a smile: 'This is a delicate task, no room for sloppiness. If you think I stink, you should wait in the hall until I'm done, and then it'll be fragrant, won't it?'"

  "It's to take you hunting, to fulfill my promise." Li Maniang smiled and said: "I sent someone to your home to look for you, saying that you came here, I thought if we send someone to tell you first, it would be a waste of time, so I came directly to find you. The others have already gone ahead, we specifically came to pick you up."

  She hadn't seen Peony for a long time. On the day of Li Wei's engagement, He Erlang went, Bai Shi went, but Mrs. Cen pleaded illness and Peony was nowhere to be found. Although the He family's etiquette was impeccable, making it impossible to find fault, ultimately, discerning people could see that this relationship would never be comparable to what it once was. The current situation is that if the Li family doesn't take the initiative to visit the He family, the He family will absolutely not take the initiative to get close. Relatives are like that, the more you walk together, the closer you become; if she doesn't take the initiative, this relationship will eventually come to an end.

  The peony looked up at the sky and saw that it was already noon. She hesitated: "Should I leave now? Will I make it in time?"

  Li Man Niang said: "The farther you go, the better. Of course, we'll leave now and set up a felt tent outside to rest for the night. We'll start early tomorrow morning."

  "However, I haven't prepared anything."

  Xue Niang was afraid that Peony would refuse, and didn't mind her stench either. She went forward to push her: "Don't be shy, hurry up and take a bath and change your clothes. I've been waiting for this day for a long time. You only need to change into something convenient for riding and shooting, everything else will be taken care of by me. Hurry up, hurry up."

  Mrs. Dou also smiled: "Dan Niang, just fulfill her wish."

  Peony smiled and nodded, hurrying to pack her things.

  When they arrived at the destination, Peony suddenly found that among the people who came to hunt this time, there were many familiar faces, and even some people she couldn't think of.