Zhang Wulang quickly spread the news about the high-priced orders for next year’s peony grafts through his unique methods. For the first few days, everything remained calm with no special reactions. Mudan continued her daily routine of riding around to temples and Taoist monasteries known for their prized peonies, listening for information. She visited most frequently those temples and monasteries whose peony grafts had been ordered by Cao Wanrong this year, expressing her admiration and passion for these peony varieties in conversation. However, aside from the varieties she specifically needed, she generally didn’t place deposits, only verbally expressing her intent to order without signing any contracts.
On the fifth day, she visited a flower farmer who was said to have a peony king called “Pink Lion” that could produce several dozen blooms each flowering season and was quite famous. As soon as Mudan crossed the threshold, the owner came out to greet her personally, addressing her by name and asking if she was there to order grafts. Mudan was inwardly delighted, knowing that her goal had essentially been achieved.
The flower farmer-led Mudan to see the peony king, which indeed lived up to its reputation. The plant’s circumference reached over 4 zhang, and it stood nearly 5 chi tall, already quite striking. The farmer proudly introduced it to Mudan: “Miss He, you’ve come at the wrong time. When it’s in full bloom, this peony can reach over 6 chi in height. This year it produced over fifty blooms, each half a chin wide and over two cun tall. The flower shape is very special. I’m not exaggerating when I say that in this capital, you can count on one hand the number of peonies as large, blooming as beautifully, and as prolific as this one. If you want it and offer a good price, I’ll naturally select the best grafts for you.”
Even without seeing it in bloom, Mudan knew what the Pink Lion looked like. It was a rare托桂型 (tuo gui xing) variety among peonies, a medium-sized flower with a light pink color fading to white. It had two rows of outer petals with large ink-purple spots at the base covering the entire petal base, with purple veins radiating around the spots. The inner petals were narrow and slightly twisted, with the ink-purple spots covering four-fifths to five-sixths of the petal. Aside from the flower color and shape, she was truly interested in its ability to produce so many blooms in a year. For such a flower, she was more interested in the entire plant rather than just grafts.
After much consideration, Mudan made an offer: “Your peony, while prolific, isn’t particularly precious compared to more famous varieties. I’ll give you 150,000 cash, plus two grafted Yao Huang and Wei Zi peonies, for the entire plant.”
The flower farmer hesitated greatly, but Mudan’s price was tempting. After consideration, he finally agreed. Following his recommendations, Mudan then bought several mature peony plants from different flower farmers. In one day, she spent 10,000 cash, all in cash-on-delivery transactions.
Then she rested for a while. Two days later, Zhang Wulang sent someone to inform her that Cao Wanrong had begun acting again, not only widely pre-ordering grafts from temples and Taoist monasteries but also reaching out to many flower farmers. He was making real deposits and signing contracts, unlike her verbal agreements.
Mudan immediately went out and rushed to pre-order from two more families. Cao Wanrong became even more frantic, to the point where some people came to return Mudan’s deposits. Mudan just smiled, not minding, and after receiving the money back, she saw them out and no longer concerned herself with the matter.
As winter approached, the peonies in Fang Garden received their final fertilization of the year. For those few days, Fang Garden was filled with the smell of manure. Shu’er privately complained that even her hair smelled of manure, and no amount of incense could mask it. She marveled at how Mudan could stand watching people fertilize the peonies every day, even rolling up her sleeves to personally control the amount of fertilizer when necessary, without showing any disgust.
The gardeners and the farmhands who came to help also looked at Mudan strangely. A clean and beautiful young lady, instead of enjoying herself elsewhere, was here smelling the stench, walking around with a manure scoop, not only instructing others but also scooping it herself. It was truly…
Mudan, wearing old coarse clothes and holding a dirty, smelly manure scoop, personally demonstrated for the group of young helpers who had recently arrived. These youths, mostly selected from the He family, were generally well-behaved and obedient, but when it came to fertilizing, these city-raised children wrinkled their noses, and some even dramatically pretended to be sick. After Gardener Zheng and others had taught them a few times, they grew impatient and complained to her, saying these house-born servants hadn’t experienced hardship and weren’t suitable for this work, suggesting she buy other workers instead.
Mudan understood clearly that while these house-born servants might be afraid of dirt and sometimes disobedient, Gardener Zheng and others were certainly not wholeheartedly teaching these children who had no relation to them. Since that was the case, she had to personally teach them these basic skills. It wasn’t easy to cultivate an excellent peony gardener, and it was even harder to cultivate a group of gardeners entirely her own. She had to be willing to put in the effort with them.
With her leading by example, the group of children no longer dared to complain. After all, if the mistress wasn’t afraid of dirt and smell, how could they be? After demonstrating, Mudan watched them work from the side. She focused her gaze on the Man at the front of the group. He was the smallest and thinnest among them and not a house-born servant of the He family, but someone Zhang Wulang had suggested she buy when he learned she needed workers. The man’s original surname was Zhao. His father had gambled away all their property and family, then hanged himself. The creditors were fierce and notorious, and one can imagine the tragic fate of this mother and child.
Zhang Wulang saw such things daily and was no compassionate bodhisattva, nor did he like to meddle in such affairs. But somehow this child had moved him, so he approached Mudan, who agreed to his suggestion without question and bought the mother and child at a high price. The child indeed proved useful, unafraid of dirt or hard work. Whatever Mudan asked, he was always the first to silently rush forward.
Because of this, he often faced exclusion and bullying from the other children, but he endured it without complaining or crying, always remaining the most diligent. These past few days, when others were pinching their noses in disgust, he had been following Gardener Zheng with half a bucket of manure, mimicking every action.
Mudan had observed all his actions but, contrary to Yuhe’s suggestion, did not intervene in the matters between him and the other children, letting him resolve things himself. She would give him opportunities, and if he could stand firm and pass her tests, he would be her key trainee.
After the children finished their tasks, Mudan announced, “I’ve long planned to choose one among you to be in charge, but I didn’t know who was best. Now it seems Man is the best. From now on, you’ll all be under Man’s management. If you don’t understand something, ask him.”
Her announcement caused an uproar among the group. Man looked up at her in disbelief. Mudan smiled slightly, “Listen well, all of you. I know that before coming here, most of you hadn’t experienced much hardship. But now that you’re here, you must do as I arrange. I can’t always watch over you as I did today; you must be self-disciplined. From today on, I’ll assign tasks to you, and then ask the masters to demonstrate. If anyone doesn’t do well, Man will report to me. If anyone complains about dirt or fears hard work, it means they’re not cut out for this job. Fang Garden doesn’t keep idle people. If you can’t be a gardener, you’ll sweep floors, carry manure, and fetch water. If you still can’t do that well, I’ll have no choice but to ask you to leave.”
She didn’t say the harsher words, but these children instantly understood. She was satisfied to see that even those who had conflicts with Man were now looking at him with complex expressions. The man’s face was slightly red, his eyes shining brightly. Mudan sighed inwardly, hoping that Man’s actions wouldn’t disappoint her.
Just as things were settled here, Kuan’er came to report that Li Manniang, Madam Dou, Xue Niang, and others had arrived. They refused to wait in the hall and were coming directly this way. Mudan hurried to meet them, wondering why Li Manniang had come without prior notice.
“Why didn’t you send someone to inform me in advance?” She stopped about ten paces away from the group, as Xue Niang was covering her nose, frowning, and fanning herself. “Sister He, you smell terrible. With so many people around, why do you have to do it yourself? Are they all eating for free?”
Mudan couldn’t explain to her and could only smile apologetically, “This is delicate work that can’t be done carelessly. If you think I smell, you should have waited in the hall. After I cleaned up, I would have come smelling fresh and clean.”
“We’re here to take you hunting, to fulfill my promise,” Li Manniang smiled. “I sent someone to your home looking for you and was told you were here. I thought rather than wasting time sending someone to inform you first, we might as well come directly. The others have already gone ahead; we came especially to fetch you.”
She hadn’t seen Mudan for a long time. On the day of Li Xing’s engagement, He family’s Erlang had gone, Madam Bai had gone, Mrs. Cen had claimed illness, and Mudan was nowhere to be seen. Although the He family’s etiquette was impeccable and no one could find fault, it was clear to discerning eyes that the relationship could never be the same as before. The current situation was that if the Li family didn’t actively seek out the He family, the He family would not take the initiative to approach them. Relatives needed to maintain contact to stay close, and if she didn’t take the initiative, this relationship would eventually fade away.
Mudan looked at the sky, saw it was already noon, and hesitated, “Leave now? Will we make it in time?”
Li Manniang said, “We’re going far, so, of course, we leave now. We’ll set up felt tents to rest for the night and start early tomorrow morning.”
Mudan smiled, “But I haven’t prepared anything.”
Xue Niang, afraid Mudan would refuse, pushed her, no longer minding the smell, “No refusals allowed. Quickly go bathe and change clothes. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. You only need to change into clothes suitable for riding and archery. I’ve taken care of everything else for you. Hurry, hurry.”
Madam Dou also smiled, “Daniang, just grant her wish.”
Mudan agreed with a smile and hurried to pack her things.
When they arrived at the destination, Mudan discovered that among the people who had come hunting, there were quite a few familiar faces, including some she hadn’t expected to see.