Chapter 1460: Chapter 1436: Grown Crooked
Manbao smiled slightly and, together with Mingda, said, "We just wandered around."
The Princess Consort felt more at ease seeing Manbao. She didn’t disturb them but instead sat in the pavilion, patted their hands, and said, "Go find them to play."
Mingda pulled Manbao to meet her friends and introduced her to them.
Among the ladies present, Manbao had met several before, although she wasn’t very familiar with them.
After all, young ladies preferred to play with children around their age. Each time Zhou Man went to the inner court for medical visits or attended banquets, she was always pulled into the group of women. Even though they had met, she hadn’t played with them before.
They also wore flowers in their hair, and quite a few had chosen from among those Manbao had brought, so when they saw Manbao, they felt a bit embarrassed and then praised her flowers.
Manbao smiled and said, "If you like them, you can send someone to my house later to get some. My house has a lot of flowers, if nothing else."
The girls had also heard the rumors about Zhou Man’s love for flowers and plants. It was said that the Princess Consort had rewarded her with many flowers last year.
The lady from the Liu family looked at the flower in her hair and laughed, "The flowers you’ve chosen suit you very well. Among us, only Changyu can wear such large peonies, but flowers with good color and shape are big. We can’t even choose a moderate size."
Manbao then laughed and said, "I have them at home. What colors and varieties do you like?"
The Liu family’s lady was delighted upon hearing this, her eyes brightening, and said, "I like bicolors too. It doesn’t need to be too many colors, as long as it’s red and purple."
Changyu, who was beside her, thought for a moment and said, "If there were a touch of yellow in the middle, that would look nice too."
Manbao nodded, indicating she would definitely find it for her.
The Li family lady on the side couldn’t help but ask curiously, "Young Lady Zhou, do you really have so many peony flowers at home?"
Manbao smiled and said, "Even if I don’t have them, I can get them for you."
She said, "I know many flower farmers."
Everyone chuckled but didn’t take it to heart.
Flower farmers inside and outside the capital are essentially tenants of the various families, just planting flowers for the aristocratic families.
In terms of the number of flower farmers, who could compare to them?
Changyu seemed to think of something and pulled Manbao aside, saying, "There is a pot of peony in my courtyard, pure white, which grew well last year but has gone bad this year. Would you come and have a look?"
Manbao felt a bit uneasy but was still pulled by Changyu to see it.
Those on good terms with Changyu also went to join in the fun.
Mingda stayed behind to entertain the rest.
Changyu, feeling that everyone who came was close, spoke bluntly, "This pot of Baixue was sent from the inner treasury, reportedly confiscated from the Prince of Yizhou’s residence, and brought from Yizhou by the Princess Consort of Yizhou."
She said, "I heard that many beautiful peonies came out of Yizhou last year, all famous varieties. This pot was the most popular in Yizhou. I’ve been taking care of it for half a year, hoping to present it to my father this year, but look at what happened."
As everyone entered Changyu’s garden, they recognized the Baixue she spoke of right away.
Because it was really eye-catching.
She also liked peonies very much. There was a place in the garden dedicated to growing various colors of peony trees. These trees grow upwards, with lush branches and leaves, interspersed with large peony flowers, looking very beautiful.
But this part of Changyu’s garden was utterly spoiled by a single pot of flowers.
It was Manbao’s first time seeing what a second-year variant peony looked like, and she was dumbstruck for a moment.
Baixue’s branches and leaves looked quite normal, but as for the flowers blooming at this time...
Let’s call them flowers. They were still white, but instead of large petals, the blooms stretched out long like vines, spreading among the branches and leaves. More frighteningly, those petal-like vines had entwined themselves around the neighboring peony flowers.
Changyu said, "This pot of peonies looked quite normal at first, but last month when it started to bloom, the flowers began to look stranger and stranger, growing like snakes, wrapping around the branches, and the petals were as tough as vines, entirely different from the other peony petals."
The Liu family lady couldn’t help covering her heart and stepping back, whispering, "Why didn’t you cut it off?"
Changyu helplessly replied, "Of course, I tried to cut it. That’s when I discovered the problem. This isn’t a flower—it’s like an iron vine. I couldn’t cut it off with a single snip, and even the branches were like that."
She explained, "This matter even alarmed my mother. After she saw it, she told me to leave it alone for now and see what it eventually ends up looking like."
She looked at Manbao expectantly, asking, "You love flowers and plants. Do you have any idea how to solve it?"
Keke silently mocked, thinking: If she knew how, even the alliance would go to whatever lengths to have her ascend to the highest dimension as a deity.
Manbao shook her head silently. If she knew how, she would have long bought all sorts of flowers, plants, and even grain seeds from flower farmers and earned a lot of money.
She wouldn’t have had to rely solely on selling flower branches, afraid to sell entire pots of flowers.
Meanwhile, Madam Tang in her garden was staring speechlessly at the peony flowers before her.
The gardener beside her was kneeling and shivering, saying, "Madam, I really tended to it with care, but this pot of peony... I don’t know what’s wrong with it. The petals started growing crookedly ten days ago, and within days, it turned into this."
Madam Tang thought for a while and reached out, "Bring me the scissors."
A servant carefully handed her the scissors. Madam Tang snipped down, but the flower branch didn’t budge an inch.
She frowned, picked up a single peony petal—indeed, it was a single one, white, stretching towards her like a ribbon.
She snipped down, but it didn’t cut through.
Madam Tang placed the scissors down without expression and said, "Choose an empty room and move this pot of flowers in there. Just water it regularly."
The gardener quickly agreed, kowtowing.
Madam Tang turned to leave, thinking she must go and have a chat with Manbao.
Manbao and the Princess Consort returned to the Eastern Palace after dining at a palace banquet with Princess Changyu and the others.
The Crown Prince had already had his meal and was waiting. As Manbao administered acupuncture to him, he had the chance to close his eyes and relax.
He closed his eyes and suddenly, without context, said, "Thank you for today."
Manbao was puzzled and asked, "Thank me for what?"
The Crown Prince laughed and said, "Nothing."
After a pause, he said, "If you like flowers and plants, just let the Princess Consort send you some. Why bother taking Mingda everywhere to dig? She’s not well, she can’t be in the wind, or under the sun."
Manbao said, "I’ve seen all the flowers and plants here at the Eastern Palace."
"So you only like to nurture flowers and plants you’ve never seen before?"
Manbao nodded in agreement.
The Crown Prince thought she was being too picky, so he didn’t plan to indulge her whims, and said, "Then I’ll reward you with fabric in the future instead."
Manbao didn’t mind at all. She was happy to receive any gifts, so she directly expressed her gratitude.
The Princess Consort came in with tea, just about to take a sip, and Manbao glanced over and said, "My lady, it’s best not to drink tea now."
The Princess Consort paused and asked, "Then what should I drink?"