Chapter 494 - Chapter 494: Chapter 490: Return to Youthful Years_1

Chapter 494: Chapter 490: Return to Youthful Years_1

Lady Wu was taken aback.

Was this old man seriously asking her to remove his boots?

Lady Wu, with her hands on her hips, pointed at him saying, “I think you’ve had too much to drink.”

She leaned in to sniff him, then turned to call the maid over to bring some hot water for the master to clean himself up.

Shortly after, the maid Atao carried in hot water. She set the kettle on the ground and then went to fetch a facial basin and a foot basin.

After clean-up and a cup of tea, Mr. Wu eventually sobered up and looked at Lady Wu for a long while. “Are… are you Zhizhi’s mother?”

Seeing his wife nod, he hastily sat up, picked up an oil lamp to get a closer look at his wife, exclaiming, “How can this be? How can this be?”

Lady Wu, quite pleased, whispered, “Yingbao, that child, truly is an immortal. With just a wave of her hand, it’s as if we became decades younger.”

Rolling up her sleeves, she bragged, “Look at this, my hand and my arm are so smooth, just like a girl in her teens. And, I’ve grown back all my teeth.”

She grinned at her husband, “I had only my front teeth left, but now they’re all back. Ha ha, I have returned to my youth.”

Mr. Wu, in astonishment, fell silent for a long moment.

“Is all you said true?” he reached out and pinched his wife, “Am I dreaming?”

Lady Wu slapped her husband, “Why did you pinch me? You’ve even left a mark on my arm.”

Mr. Wu, a look of envy, examined his wife while praising endlessly, feeling both astonished and regretful.

Seeing the envy in her husband’s eyes, the elder lady snorted, “Tomorrow, you better hurry to the Jiang Family to see Yingbao. Oh, and remember to bring her the best ruby headpiece we have.”

With this as a pretext, the old man won’t feel awkward when he visits.

Mr. Wu nodded immediately.

The next day, when the sky was just starting to brighten, Mr. Wu got up and, together with his wife, they selected a red ruby and gold headpiece from their treasure room, replacing the box with an exquisite one. After some thought, he also took out ginseng, bird’s nest and a set of stationery, planning to give these to Yingbao’s parents and her daughter Nuannuan.

After breakfast, Mr. Wu put on clean clothes, took the gift, and headed to the Jiang Family.

As soon as he arrived at the Jiang Family, he saw the Luo Clan Leader, Luo Daron, and Lord Wen Silang, Lady Wen’s husband, were all there.

All of them were holding gift boxes, probably to return the favor.

The few men, knowing each other’s thoughts, nodded to each other and greeted before stepping into the Jiang Family.

Seeing the Jiang brothers and the Jiang patriarch again, they were all startled.

It turned out that everyone in the house looked much younger compared to the time they saw them, unrecognizable from the day before.

The previous evening, Yingbao had rejuvenated her grandparents, parents, aunts, and even her second cousin couple back to their twenties.

Yingbao and Wei Zhan were also present in the hall, greeting Mr. Wu and the others.

Seeing how they all hesitated to broach the subject, Yingbao guessed their intentions and promptly performed the Eternal Spring Technique on them without further ado.

Among these people were kind benefactors of her family and her brother Jiang Jie’s father-in-law and grandfather-in-law, she needed to keep them well.

Besides, her brothers were now married, she would have less chances to come to Beijing. Therefore, it was better to do them a favor to strengthen her brothers’ footings in Beijing.

She was sure that from then on, no matter who they were, no one in the court would dare to easily offend the Jiang Family, no matter what ill intentions they had.

Just a few moments later, Mr. Wu felt an increasing sense of ease in his body, age spots on his hands faded gradually, revealing a youthful and healthy complexion.

Then, Yingbao took out a large standing mirror and let the men look at their reflections in it.

The bright bronze mirror reflected every detail, all of which were in the likeness of young gentlemen.

However, these gentlemen still had white hair, and their beards remained unkempt, but their figures and eyes were no longer old.

Old Master Luo laughed heartily, stroking his beard to appreciate himself for a while, then bowed to Yingbao: “Thank you, Little Immortal Yingbao, for granting me youth.”

Old Master Wu and Wen Silang, among others, also bowed to Yingbao.

Coming out from the Jiang family, Old Master Wu returned home cheerfully, only to bump into his son, Wu Shi, who was about to leave.

He was quite disgusted seeing his son in an elderly and sloppy state now.

Hmm! Previously, he had invited this son to accompany him to Jiang Family, but the latter declined. His reasoning was that if he became young again, then his wife would certainly go looking for Yingbao too. Her family would follow in pursuit, leading to chaos.

In the end, all of Beijing might go looking for Yingbao. If everyone had their wishes granted, all would be well, but if someone’s goal were not met, then Yingbao would become the target of everyone’s ire.

Old Master Wu agreed with his son, so he did not insist.

Anyway, he had already retired and did not need to serve anymore. If worst comes to worst, he could leave Beijing and live in Dongchen Village with Yingbao.

Dongchen Village was a good place, with clear mountains and waters. He and his old partner could spend their later years there.

When Wu Shi saw his father walking into the house, he was stunned but said nothing in the end.

He thought to himself, “I’m only in my fifties, not even sixty yet. I’ll wait till I am seventy or eighty before seeking Yingbao’s help.”

As for Yingbao, after performing spells for Old Master Wu and others, she took her grandparents and parents back to Dongchen Village.

She switched the sweet potato plots and some crops to her uncle, allowing him to sell to the villagers, and let Wei Zhan teach them how to cultivate.

After that, she enclosed a piece of land in her own field and had a large three-compound courtyard built on a whim.

The houses inside were made of green bricks and roof tiles, supplemented by a well and a pond.

This courtyard was reserved for Zhou Wuchang to live in, of course, the construction expenses must be borne by the Imperial Household Department.

After making the arrangements clear to her uncle and Clan Leader, Yingbao sent her parents into the Divine Mansion, and then returned to Zhouhe County to bring her mother-in-law and several maids there as well.

When Wei Zhan’s father saw Yingbao’s return, he rushed over with eyes gleaming like he had found a gold mine.

“Yingbao, I want to live in your village too.”

Wang’s wife owned a small courtyard in Dongchen Village, but she did not allow her husband to bring his concubines there to live, leaving Wei Zhan’s father with no choice but to ask his daughter-in-law for help.

Yingbao found herself in a difficult position, not for anything else, but worried that Wei’s father would bring a group of concubines to Dongchen Village and corrupt the atmosphere there.

Dongchen Village now is a nationally renowned wealthy village. Not only does each family have money, but many of them also hold official positions, such as the Jiang family, Wang Ke’s family, Chen Zhu’s family, and a few others were at least minor officials.

If Wei’s father were to move there and make the villagers follow his example, taking in several concubines, wouldn’t that turn things upside down?

“Dad, Yingbao can’t make the decision on this matter.” Wei Zhan spoke. “The land in Dongchen Village is extremely popular; it’s not something that one can acquire if they have money.”

Now, even the Emperor is abdicating his throne to the Crown Prince, to move to Dongchen Village himself.

Once the retired Emperor moves there, all the wealthy people in the country will follow the trend. It is estimated that the whole Chuanhe Town will become as precious as gold.

Wei Zhan’s father looked stern and shot a glare at his son.

He did not know about the retired Emperor’s plan to move there, but, as a businessman, he had sharp instincts. Since the appearance of the Divine Tree in Dongchen Village, he had bought a large piece of land nearby.

Though it was near, it was still five or six miles away from Dongchen Village.

However, he had no choice. The slightly closer farmland and housing areas were all not for sale.