Chapter 318： weirdo

Xiaodouzi agreed and ran down the mountain quickly.

The villagers stretched out their heads to take a look at Yingbao, and said hello with a smile: "Young master started working so early."

Yingbao nodded to them and returned to the Taoist temple.

Nowadays, the village is getting richer and people are getting energetic.

Even Cuilan and Xiaodouzi, brother and sister, have gained weight.

People from the military camp ten miles away have also come here several times, but they are not looking for trouble. Each time they are discussing things with the master in the room.

Originally, Yingbao wanted to listen to what they were talking about, but was stopped by her senior brother and she was not allowed to go near the master's house.

So Ying Bao had some guesses, and whenever he saw them coming, he would avoid them and go elsewhere.

The second senior brother is not allowed to get close to her like her, so he takes his little junior sister to explore the cave every time at this time.

In the evening, Xiaodouzi and his grandfather brought several large clay pots to Yingbao, each of which could be used for bathing.

These pottery basins are not expensive, only twenty or thirty yuan each.

Yingbao paid the money and ignored the second senior brother's questioning. He cleaned them all and said he would use them to hold things.

The next day, while his master and two senior brothers were away, Yingbao filled them all with water and placed them in a secluded place in the yard, and then waited for them to freeze.

Not to mention, in just half a day, all the water in these large basins froze.

But trouble came. She couldn't get the ice out of the basin.

After thinking about it for a long time, I came up with an idea.

Go to the stove and heat up a pot of hot water. Place the ice basin on the steaming hot water to warm it for a while. The ice at the bottom of the basin will melt and the ice cubes can be poured out easily.

After the ice cubes were poured out, Ying Bao did not rush to put them into the cave. Instead, he left them outside to freeze for a while before taking them into the cave.

For the next month, Yingbao kept using this method to collect ice cubes, and every time he worked secretly when his senior brother and master were not around.

At the twelfth lunar month, more and more people came to the Taoist temple to offer incense and buy water. Zhou Wuchang's young apprentice was too busy to do so, so he went to discuss with the village chief and asked them to select two neat young men to take care of the incense.

However, the income from Shiquan Cave is still responsible for the three villages, and the money earned is also divided among them.

Yingbao didn't care about that. She wrote a letter to her family and Sister Wen to report that she was safe. She also sent a large package with the letter, which contained crystal stalagmites.

These letters and packages were all sent by Master to be mailed, so I didn’t worry about them.

At the end of the New Year, it snowed here for the second time.

The falling snow quickly covered the snow that had not yet melted.

Ying Bao sat alone on the hot Kang, looking through the window at the people who came to worship in the snow.

Most of them are from poor families nearby. Some come to ask for money, some seek medical treatment, and some seek children.

Most of the time, Master Zhou Wuchang went to see people seeking medical treatment. Occasionally, when he met a female patient, he would ask Yingbao to come over.

Yingbao has seen a lot of female patients for consultation recently, but most of them are not sick. They actually ask how they can give birth to a son.

Once he met these women, Ying Bao called his second senior brother and asked him to perform a sacrificial dance for them.

Zhang Min was unhappy at first, but after receiving the death stare from his junior sister, he had no choice but to dance a few steps to fool him.

Time passes quickly in such trivial matters.

In a blink of an eye, it’s June next year.

At this time, Shiquan Mountain has become a famous holy place for incense.

The foot of the mountain slowly gathered into a market. First, Wu Yi led the villagers to build several houses and several thatched sheds on the wasteland at the foot of the mountain.

The house is for people to rest and is equivalent to a temporary inn. There is a tea stall under the thatched shed selling spring water from the stone spring. Other villages saw the situation and came over to build a few houses and several thatched sheds. They did not sell tea, but food such as flatbreads, steamed buns, pickles and other food.

When strangers saw this, they also secretly came over with baskets to sell their own things. Some of the smart ones even sold sachets and handkerchiefs embroidered with the Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl.

The two peonies in the cave kept blooming after Yingbao watered some Pupil Spring from time to time, completely convincing people that these flower trees were two sacred trees.

The sons and wives of aristocratic families who came from Fucheng spent a lot of money to buy one or two peonies and took them back home, where they could brag about them for a long time.

As a result, the villagers in Zaoshu Village and the other two villages quickly became wealthy. Some even quietly invited their relatives to come over and set up stalls at the foot of the mountain.

Just when Ying Bao thought he would continue to stay here, Master Zhou Wuchang told his disciples that he was taking them back to Qinchuan County.

Yingbao was so happy that she immediately packed her things and prepared to go home.

Five days later, the three masters and apprentices rented two carriages and walked south along the official road.

When they came to a water transport terminal, the master and his disciples boarded a large ship.

As soon as she got on the boat, Ying Bao felt that the atmosphere on the boat was wrong.

More than a dozen neatly dressed young men were protecting a young man intentionally or unintentionally.

This man has a graceful demeanor and a fair and handsome face. At first glance, he is a son of a noble family.

Master Zhou Wuchang seemed to recognize this person and nodded towards him, but did not come forward to speak.

Ying Bao was wary. After entering the cabin, she quietly asked her second senior brother, "Do you recognize that person?"

Zhang Min shook his head: "I don't recognize it, what's wrong?"

"It's okay, I'm just curious about who this person is and why Master recognizes him." Ying Bao said perfunctorily.

Zhang Min smiled and said: "Master knows so many people, what's the fuss about?"

Yingbao said nothing and went to pack her luggage.

At night, Yingbao lay on the small bed and closed her eyes to fall asleep. She first went to the cave to clean up the crops, and then she thought about the identity of the person on the deck.

He obviously didn’t want to reveal his identity, so he didn’t talk to the master on the deck. But at night, he actually went to the master's cabin and asked several people to guard outside the cabin, which seemed abnormal at first glance.

The ship sailed for two days, and the man rarely walked on the deck during the day. At night, he went to the master's cabin again, seeming to discuss something.

Yingbao couldn't figure it out, and couldn't ask his master or senior brother, so he could only observe secretly.

On the third day, the group got off the boat at a pier.

Yingbao watched them leave and asked the senior brother: "Elder brother, what is the name of this place?"

Zhou Hao said: "This is the boundary of Chengzhou."

Yingbao blinked, feeling that Chengzhou sounded a bit familiar.

Suddenly an idea flashed in her mind.

Chengzhou, isn’t it the fiefdom of the feudal lord who would rebel?

Could this man be a king? Or is he the son of King Cheng?

No wonder he was sneaking around all the way.

The vassal king was not allowed to leave the fiefdom without an edict, otherwise it would be regarded as having evil intentions.

If this person is really a king or a king's son, what is the master plotting with him?

Thinking of this, Ying Bao felt chills running down her back.

King Cheng is the younger brother of the late emperor, and Master is the brother-in-law of the late emperor, and can also be regarded as the uncle of the current emperor.

If the master also participated in the feudal king's rebellion, wouldn't his family be destroyed along with it?

No, no, no! Master must not be allowed to have anything to do with King Cheng.