Chapter 239
Yue Fuguang gently patted her forehead, almost forgetting about this matter. This golden lotus wasn't just pretty to look at; it was also an incredibly precious medicinal herb.
Every part of it was a treasure.
It was one of the few plants from the cultivation world that could be grown in the mortal realm, where there was no spiritual energy.
It had a specific habit: it had to be planted during the hour of Chen, between seven and nine in the morning, and right after planting, it required spiritual energy to nourish it and help it take root.
Yue Fuguang played with a green jade stone in her hand, slightly larger than a quail egg. Its translucency was even better than the spiritual jade hanging at Yu Chongshan's waist.
This was the spiritual stone she had hoarded back then, perfectly suited to nourish the golden lotus.
"Grandfather, Grandmother, I brought the lotus seeds. I'm going to the pond to plant them first."
The two elders knew she was talking about the golden lotus, but they didn't know how Fuguang's golden lotus differed from the ones in the pond at the back mountain of Baoye Temple.
"Let's go, Grandfather and Grandmother will go with you."
Yu Chongshan smiled and said, "When your grandfather was young, I even sneaked to the pond at the back mountain of Baoye Temple to pick lotus seeds."
Old Madam Yu added, "The back mountain of Baoye Temple your grandfather mentioned also has a few golden lotuses planted there. They only bloom a few flowers every year.
Over all these years, the lotus pond hasn't grown many new lotuses, which shows how delicate and hard to raise golden lotuses are."
Speaking of this, Old Madam Yu laughed again. "Because of stealing lotus seeds, your grandfather was punished by your great-grandfather to kneel in the ancestral hall for a whole night."
As for the part about getting spanked with a board, she saved her old man's face and didn't mention it to their granddaughter.
Hearing his old wife expose his embarrassing past, Yu Chongshan was displeased and forced himself to save face, saying, "Who was I doing it for? If it wasn't for you saying you wanted to eat fresh lotus seeds when you were pregnant with our third child.
At that time, only the golden lotuses at Baoye Temple had lotus seeds, otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to pull a tooth from the tiger's mouth."
Back then, if it weren't for his good martial arts skills, he would have almost been caught red-handed by the martial monks in the temple.
Even so, he didn't escape a beating when he got home. Poor him, he was already a father of several children at that time!
"My golden lotus is much better than the ones at Baoye Temple," she said as she took out nine lotus seeds from her pouch. They sparkled like round golden beads.
The two elders each picked one up to look closely, and couldn't help but praise, "It is indeed better than the lotus seeds at Baoye Temple. The lotus pod I sto... ahem, picked back then only had five lotus seeds inside. They were pale gold and not as plump as this one."
[Master, your grandfather has quite a good eye. This golden lotus is no ordinary item. In the world today, only the two of us, master and servant, can grow it successfully.]
Not an ordinary item? No wonder!
Yu Chongshan secretly thought to himself that once the golden lotus grew, he would have to send more men to help his granddaughter guard it, in case she encountered someone like him... ahem! In case she encountered someone unafraid of death.
The group soon arrived at the pond, which was only separated from the courtyard garden by a wall. Looking ahead, the pond was about five or six mu in size.
Stones were placed around it, and flowers and grass were planted, though they hadn't grown yet in this season.
Seeing the effort put into it, one could foresee that in the season of warm spring and blooming flowers, this place would definitely be a beautiful sight.
Old Madam Yu pointed to a spot in the west and said, "Fuguang, the flower farmers planted white and pink lotuses over there."
"Then we'll plant the golden lotuses in the east. Later, we can open a small door in this courtyard wall, so we can see the lotus pond as soon as we step out."
Golden lotuses were domineering and naturally had to be kept far away from those regular lotuses, otherwise, the latter wouldn't survive.
Walking to the east side, Yue Fuguang casually scattered the nine lotus seeds in her hand into the pond water. Finally, she tossed the spiritual stone in her hand into the water as well. Feeling it wasn't enough, she tossed in three more with a plop, plop, plop, before stopping.
Seeing their granddaughter throw such high-quality spiritual jade into the water, the two elders couldn't help but feel a bit of heartache, but they said nothing.
The items belonged to their granddaughter, so naturally, she could do whatever she wanted with them.
As people get older, they should meddle less so as not to annoy the younger generation.
Besides, since Fuguang did this, there must be a reason for it.
Yu Chongshan thought a bit more. He looked around and felt relieved. Fortunately, as soon as they arrived, the manager had cleared out all the irrelevant people.
Except for their respective attendants, no one saw the treasures their granddaughter threw into the water.
'Little Zhu, activate the spiritual stones to help the golden lotus grow.'
[Received!]
The couple exchanged a glance. It turned out that such beautiful stones were called spiritual stones, not spiritual jade as they had thought.
So the growth of this golden lotus actually relied on such good things for nourishment.
That made it much more delicate and precious than the golden lotuses at Baoye Temple!
Not long after planting the golden lotus, Lady Bao sent someone with a message, saying the wontons were ready.
Yue Fuguang happily ate two small bowls of shepherd's purse and pork wontons, suddenly feeling energized again.
"Grandfather, Grandmother, I want to go up the mountain to check on the tea trees and fruit trees."
[Master, we can sneakily make it rain spiritual rain on the mountain. The sun is perfect today. A sun shower will let us see a rainbow on the mountain.]
'Little Zhu, that's a good idea. Later, I'll bring all the guards we brought along up the mountain, so they can take the opportunity to get caught in the rain.'
[Master, Zhang Fang and the other injured ones are following too. You didn't object. Are you planning to let the spiritual rain heal their injuries?]
'Exactly. I noticed that Cuizhu, Chunying, and Dongxue all have hidden injuries from practicing martial arts. Getting caught in a rain shower will be good for them.'
Yue Fuguang linked her arm with Old Madam Yu's and smiled at Lady Zhang and the others, "Grandfather, Grandmother, Mother, Aunts, do you want to go up the mountain to have a look together?"
[Master, you're just climbing a small dirt hill. Do you need to bring the whole family?]
'Little Zhu, you don't know this. If I don't drag them along, when it rains later, my mother and grandmother will definitely hide in their rooms.'
[So you were planning to make them get caught in the rain all along.]
'Of course! Your master is smart, right! Getting drenched in your spiritual rain for a while has effects not much worse than a Body Strengthening Pill.'
Praised by Yue Fuguang, the system proudly puffed out its round little body in the system space and said arrogantly, [Little Zhu's spiritual rain can not only help plants grow.
Even if mortals drink it, it only brings benefits without the slightest harm.]
'Now that you mention it, after today, won't the weeds on the mountain and in the fields grow wildly alongside the crops and fruit trees?'
The system said nonchalantly, [What's there to fear? Just pull them out when they grow. Weeds that grow up drinking spiritual rain are top-quality fodder.
Master, absolutely do not waste them!]
'It's impossible not to waste them. I can't exactly tell Grandfather and Grandmother that these weeds are great treasures, even more nutritious than soybean cakes and rice bran.'
Yu Chongshan chuckled inwardly. Rest assured, Granddaughter, Grandfather promises not to waste a single bit.
He would have to send a trusted confidant to handle this matter, and he couldn't keep it from His Majesty either.
Not bringing him along to plant the golden lotus, not bringing him along to catch the spiritual rain... Yu Chongshan could imagine how resentful His Majesty would be when the time came. But there was no fear, he had a backup plan.
Sitting steadily in the Golden Throne Room, Emperor Mingxi, who was still listening to the courtiers in the hall arguing endlessly about how to handle the accomplices of the Four Great Families, suddenly let out a soft sneeze.
He casually picked up the tea in front of him and took a small sip, gesturing for them to continue bickering, while he could just use this opportunity to slack off for a bit.
Emperor Mingxi's thoughts instantly flew outside the hall. He wondered what delicious food Fuguang would make at the estate today...