Chapter 167

Chapter 167

Zhou Wanyi was already furious, so she slapped the maid across the face on the spot.

“You wretched dog! Are you blind?”

The blow nearly left the maid dazed, her ears ringing.

Terrified, she dropped to her knees and repeatedly kowtowed in apology.

“Fifth Miss, this servant was wrong. Please spare me this once.”

As the maid begged and knocked her head against the floor, a jade pendant suddenly fell from her clothes.

The jade gleamed with a lustrous sheen in the sunlight and was clearly no ordinary object. This woman was only a low-ranking maid assigned to sweep Zhou Wanyi’s courtyard. How could she possibly afford such an expensive pendant?

The maid scrambled to pick it up, but Zhou Wanyi had already seen it.

She kicked the maid onto her back and snatched the pendant from her clothes.

Zhou Wanyi held the jade up to the sun for a closer look.

“Someone drag this wretch inside. I intend to question her properly about where she stole this pendant.”

Two servants immediately pinned the maid down, dragged her into the room, and shut the door.

The other two maids inside were Zhou Wanyi’s trusted personal attendants. They had grown up with her from childhood, and their encouragement had played no small part in making her so overbearing.

“Speak, you wretched servant! Where did you steal this pendant?”

Zhou Wanyi sat on the heated platform, glaring down furiously at the maid sprawled on the floor.

The maid’s demeanor abruptly changed. She stood and gave Zhou Wanyi a perfectly proper bow.

Zhou Wanyi was so astonished that, for a moment, she forgot to rebuke the woman for her insolence.

The maid gently wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief before speaking slowly. “Fifth Miss, this servant can grant your every wish. I can give you a life of wealth and splendor, help you establish yourself in the Capital, and even find you an excellent husband. But what I am about to say is not suitable for outsiders to hear.”

Without lifting her head, the maid studied the blood on her handkerchief. A sinister smile briefly curved her lips before vanishing.

Zhou Wanyi felt as if the woman before her had suddenly become someone else. How could this possibly be an ordinary maid?

She waved a hand and dismissed her trusted attendants.

Once the room was empty, the maid stepped two paces closer.

“Do you like the jade pendant, Fifth Miss?”

As the Zhou Family’s legitimate daughter, Zhou Wanyi had seen all manner of fine objects. Even so, jade of this quality was rare, and she owned nothing like it. She immediately wanted it for herself.

“You still haven’t answered my question. Where did this pendant come from?”

Zhou Wanyi had always been domineering and hated being led by the nose.

The maid’s manner made her even more displeased. Her expression and tone suggested that Zhou Wanyi had never seen anything valuable before. Just who did she think she was looking down on?

How dare a mere maid behave so presumptuously before her?

The maid neither took offense nor showed any fear at Zhou Wanyi’s anger. She calmly replied, “Fifth Miss, my master asked me to deliver this pendant to you.”

Zhou Wanyi immediately grew wary. The anger disappeared from her face as she began wondering whether the maid harbored ulterior motives.

The collision earlier had probably been deliberate as well.

Only then did Zhou Wanyi examine the maid carefully. She was plain but pleasant enough to look at, and her hands were not rough. She did not appear accustomed to heavy labor. Her face was also unfamiliar, and Zhou Wanyi rarely saw her around. Since when had her courtyard become a nest of spies?

Suppressing her anger, Zhou Wanyi asked, “Who is your master?”

The maid was delighted. The fish had taken the bait.

“Miss, my master belongs to the Chen Family, one of the great families of the Capital. The Chen Family is a powerful clan, and its second legitimate son is of marriageable age. He heard that the Zhou Family’s Fifth Miss is as beautiful as a flower, virtuous, and refined, so he wishes to meet you.”

Zhou Wanyi frowned slightly. If her mother learned that she had secretly met an unmarried man, she would surely break her legs. This maid was trying to get her killed.

“Is this Young Master Chen currently in the Northern Frontier?”

The maid nodded quickly. “Yes. Our young master is staying at an inn in Baishui Town. He has admired your reputation for a long time and hopes to speak with you.”

Zhou Wanyi did not answer at once. Seeing that, the maid added further temptation.

“Our young master said that if the two families can form a marriage alliance, he will never take a concubine. He can also help the Zhou Family’s businesses spread throughout the Capital.”

That genuinely tempted Zhou Wanyi.

The Zhou Family’s businesses had always been confined to their small corner of the Northern Frontier. They had no connections in the Capital, which was precisely why her father wanted her to marry into one of its great families and open the way for the Zhou Family’s trade. This offer had arrived exactly when they needed it.

She knew nothing about the man himself, but the jade pendant was not something an ordinary person could produce.

Zhou Wanyi thought of her second sister, Zhou Wanting.

Zhou Wanting had married well and was now the wife of the Lushan Qi Family’s head. That was why their father valued her enough to let her remain at her maiden home without restraint. Even Zhou Wanyi’s eldest sister, the legitimate eldest daughter, had never received such treatment. Zhou Wanting had simply been outrageously lucky. Only a few years after she married into the family, its former head died, and she reaped the benefit.

There was something else Zhou Wanyi hated. Her father was forever spending the night in his concubines’ rooms and upsetting her mother.
She had vowed that when she married, she would never allow her husband to take a concubine.

She did not want to share a husband with anyone.

But this decision was far too important for Zhou Wanyi to make in a moment. Reason warned her not to trust the maid, while a voice deep inside urged her to go.

For a time, Zhou Wanyi was torn.

The maid saw her hesitation and did not press any further.

She took a slip of paper from her sleeve and placed it on the low table.

“Miss, this is the inn where our young master is staying. If you are willing, meet him there within three days. The invitation will expire after that.”

The maid dipped into a curtsy, then turned and swaggered out.

By the time Zhou Wanyi came to her senses, the woman had long since disappeared. No one could find her anywhere in the courtyard.

Zhou Wanyi stared blankly at the jade pendant in her hand.

At that moment, her maids entered.

“Miss, what is wrong?”

Zhou Wanyi suddenly looked up. “Cui’er, isn’t Zhou Wanting going to Baishui Town?”

Cui’er was the maid who had eavesdropped earlier. She nodded. “Yes, Miss. Second Miss is already writing the calling card. She will probably go to Baishui Town tomorrow.”

Zhou Wanyi immediately put away the pendant.

“Come. We are going to see Mother. I want to visit Baishui Town too.”

No one knew how Zhou Wanyi persuaded her mother, but in the end, she truly did accompany Zhou Wanting to Baishui Town.

Xiao Che and Jin Bao had already been there for two days.

Xiao Che bought every last bit of grain the Xiao Family had in storage.

The two sides also reached another agreement.

Once spring arrived, Xiao Che would provide seeds, and every estate belonging to the Xiao Family would plant new high-yield crops.

Xiao Lan had never heard of potatoes until Jin Bao pulled one from her little satchel and handed it to him.

He regarded the yellow, dirt-covered lump with suspicion.

“Can this thing truly yield several thousand jin per mu? That sounds like a fantasy. Older Brother Xiao, you had better not be fooling me.”

Jin Bao had known they would not believe her. But her second brother had said that the next step was to spread potatoes throughout the Northern Frontier. Then its people would no longer starve, and more than half of them would survive each winter. If coal could be distributed as well, they would have fuel to keep warm and food to fill their stomachs. Nine out of ten people might survive.

Within a few years, the Northern Frontier’s population could double.

With more people came greater demand, which would naturally drive the growth of every trade related to food, clothing, housing, and travel.

Jin Bao did not understand all of that. She only knew that if they wanted ordinary people to eat their fill instead of starving to death, spreading potatoes was the first step.

The second goal of her trip to Baishui Town with Daddy was to establish a trial program for growing potatoes there.

But it was difficult to convince anyone with an object they had never seen before.

The people of the Northern Frontier were especially unfamiliar with new ideas, making such things even harder for them to accept.

Jin Bao could only use her power to convince the Xiao Family’s head first. Once Xiao Lan agreed, nothing would stand in the way of putting the plan into practice.

She climbed down from Xiao Che’s arms and took another potato from her satchel.

“Uncle, come with Baby. Baby will show you how many potatoes it can grow!”

Jin Bao tugged at Xiao Lan’s clothes, trying to pull him outside.

Xiao Lan quickly bent down and picked her up.

“Where are we going?”

As he looked at Jin Bao’s soft little face, he could not help wanting to pinch her cheek. Yet his heart was filled with reverence for her, and he did not dare move his hand.

“Anywhere you can grow potatoes is fine.”

With Jin Bao’s power, the exact place did not matter. Any patch of soil would do.

Xiao Lan carried her to the garden west of the side courtyard.

“How about here?”

Jin Bao bobbed her little head. “Okey-dokey. Put me down.”

Xiao Lan set her beside a flower bed.

With a wave of Jin Bao’s hand, every plant in a small section of the bed shifted aside, exposing the rich soil beneath.

The feat stunned the Xiao Family members who had followed them.

Xiao Lan rubbed his eyes. “Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Why did all the flowers in that patch disappear?”

“I saw it too, Family Head. Your eyes are fine. That was the Star Maiden’s power.”

Everyone had watched Jin Bao move an entire patch of flowers and shrubs with a flick of her hand.

What happened next was even more astonishing.

Jin Bao tossed the potato in her hand straight into the soil.

Then she used her power to make it grow.

In the span of a few breaths, the potato went through its entire growth cycle before their eyes, like a film from her previous life played at high speed. Everyone watched in amazement.

At the same time, Jin Bao sensed that her ability had become much stronger.

Growing a potato to maturity had once taken considerably longer. Now her Mental Power seemed several times stronger than before, and she felt no discomfort at all.

Jin Bao did not know why her body had undergone such a change. Still, she felt perfectly well and brimming with energy, even healthier than before.

She patted her little hands clean and stepped back.

“Uncle, why don’t you dig up the potatoes yourself?”

Xiao Lan was still too stunned to react. Only when Jin Bao spoke did he close his gaping mouth and immediately order someone to bring tools.