Doctor Qiu and Tian Guang circled around Jiang Yuqing twice, looking up and down.
No matter how they thought about it, they couldn't figure out how this little girl managed to earn herself the title of County Mistress after just going to the palace to give thanks. Since when did titles in the Da Xia Dynasty become so easy to obtain?
Tuanzi had no choice but to explain everything that happened in the palace. Only then did the master and disciple let her off the hook. At the same time, they marveled at how gutsy this little rascal was, daring to debate with the Emperor. She really was a newborn calf unafraid of tigers.
Doctor Qiu and Tian Guang had just returned and were only there for a short while when the gatekeeper came to report that the Mu En Marquis Mansion had sent someone to invite Doctor Qiu over to see the young master, who was ill.
As soon as Tian Guang heard the name Mu En Marquis Mansion, he frowned. "Go back and tell them my master has no time. They can look for another famous doctor!"
The gatekeeper responded and left to pass on the message.
Jiang Yuqing asked curiously, "What's wrong with the Mu En Marquis Mansion...?"
Tian Guang said, "That's just filth. My ears hurt just hearing that name."
And so, Tuanzi didn't ask further. She was afraid of hurting her ears.
After Jiang Yuqing gave thanks in the palace, and gained the favor of the Empress and Crown Prince, being granted the title of County Mistress, the news spread quickly throughout the capital.
It also made all the noble ladies twist their handkerchiefs to shreds and grit their silver teeth.
Just an uncouth country bumpkin and yellow-haired country girl who happened to say a few amusing words was granted the title of County Mistress. Why should she get to have that?
Unlike the petty thoughts of the young ladies, the officials and nobles had a different mindset.
All the major families in the capital had spies in the palace.
Besides, Jiang Yuqing's audience with Emperor Xia Jing in the Jiaofang Palace was not concealed from outsiders.
They were crystal clear about every word Jiang Yuqing had said.
With just a few light words, she made Jiang Wenyuan gain the Emperor's praise again, making the big shots turn green with envy and jealousy.
Just look at someone else's daughter - so young yet already knowing how to gain merit and pull strings for her own father in front of the Emperor.
And then look at their own bunch of jealous and petty daughters and concubines, faces red from yelling, what do they know besides fighting over favor?
The big shots had no choice but to admit that others knew better how to teach their daughters.
The sudden rise of the Qing Prefecture Marquis Mansion from the remote Qing Prefecture meant that besides a few families, no one else in the capital had connections with them to seek relations.
And now, after just a few days in the capital, this daughter of the Jiang family rose from country lord to county mistress. While they were still picking up their jaws off the floor, they couldn't help but be envious of the favor shown to the Qing Prefecture Marquis Mansion.
Adding to that the high-yielding grain seeds tightly held by the Jiangs that everyone desperately wanted but couldn't get, many families suddenly flocked to their doors to congratulate them, regardless of whether they were previously associated.
All kinds of invitations to admire flowers and poetry meetings flew towards them like snowflakes.
Jiang Yuqing was impatient with entertaining these people, and there was no one suitable in the household to handle it either, yet she couldn't truly offend them.
Helpless, she could only accept their gifts and send back return gifts of equivalent value,
And have her subordinates put out the word: "The young mistress is still young. There is currently no one managing affairs in the Marquis Mansion in the capital. Please come to pay your respects after the Marquis and Madam arrive in the capital."
This was reasonable, and all the families expressed understanding.
On the 17th day of the 3rd month, Jiang Yuqing brought Nanny Yan, Er Yu and 20,000 catties of grain seeds straight to the farmstead on the outskirts of the capital.
Emperor Xia Jing was afraid someone desperate for money would make trouble for the 20,000 catties of seeds, so he specially dispatched a squad of 20 Imperial Guards to protect them.
This farmstead was originally an imperial farm. Later, when the current Emperor's cousin, Grand Princess Rong Ning, was married, the previous emperor gave it to her as dowry.
Grand Princess Rong Ning did not have children with her husband. After she passed away, the farmstead was taken back by the court, together with the official slaves who managed the farmstead.
It wasn't until last year that it was granted to Jiang Wenyuan.
Back when Jiang Yuqing was still on the way to the capital, Qin Jue had already received orders from Jiang Wenyuan to till the fields in preparation.
After arriving, Jiang Yuqing first took a tour of the farmstead and inspected the irrigation ditches.
She then had someone dig in a few places in the leveled paddy fields with hoes to check if enough base fertilizer was applied before she nodded in satisfaction.
Looks like the farm steward did a good job.
Next, Jiang Yuqing truly busied herself.
Before sowing the seeds in the seedbeds, they first needed to be germinated. The first step of germination was soaking the seeds.
20,000 catties of grain seeds filled 67 large 300-catty clay vats, packed full in a warehouse. It was a spectacular sight.
Soaking the seeds required 2 days. During that time, the water saturation level of the seeds had to be constantly checked. If the water in the vats was insufficient, more had to be added in a timely fashion.
On the third day, Jiang Yuqing was directing the unsoaking process when Doctor Qiu and Jing Yan came with piles of things.
She suddenly recalled that today seemed to be her 3rd birthday.
She turned three. This represented that her body could now enter the Ling Realm.
Thinking of this, she suddenly became excited.
But there were too many people around. It wasn't the right time. She could only restrain herself and talk about it at night.
At noon, she had a bountiful lunch with Jing Yan and Doctor Qiu. She also gave cash rewards of 200 wen each to the farmstead workers on behalf of Nanny Yan, adding some festive cheer.
During the meal, after Jiang Yuqing asked about the banquet preparations and heard that everything was going smoothly, she felt relieved.
Jing Yan still had classes in the afternoon. After eating, he hurried away again.
As the Crown Prince, he had few chances to be free.
Doctor Qiu on the other hand stayed behind. He said the situation back home no longer required his presence and Tian Guang could take care of the rest.
Rather than dealing alone in the capital with those people who would come knocking even if it was just a little skin peel just to get him to see them, it was much more comfortable to stay at the farmstead and keep his disciple company in the fields.
At night, Jiang Yuqing suppressed her excited mood and got Nanny Yan and Er Yu to rest early. She immediately asked Bai Xiaoshi in the Spirit Realm, "Can I enter the Spirit Realm now?"
After getting an affirmative reply from Bai Xiaoshi, her body flashed and she entered the Spirit Realm.
Previously, it was just her consciousness that entered, but entering physically felt different.
As she toured the Spirit Realm, Jiang Yuqing asked Bai Xiaoshi, "In the future, can I bring people in here?"
Bai Xiaoshi said, "As the master of this Spirit Realm, you can as long as you wish, as long as you ensure the people you bring in will not have malicious thoughts. You must know, an innocent man carrying jade will be found guilty."
Jiang Yuqing knew this reasoning.
There were huge changes in the Spirit Realm compared to before. First of all, there was now a jade stele by the spring, with scale markings similar to a thermometer scale on it. On top of the stele was a bowl that seemed to be made of glowing white jade.
Bai Xiaoshi said this was a karma stele.
When her karma level reached a certain marking level, spiritual milk would condense in the spiritual spring. The higher the karma level, the more spiritual milk that would condense in the spring.
And a single drop of spiritual milk could increase lifespan by 10 years - a true treasures of immortals.
Currently, the gold marking line on the karma stele hadn't even reached the lowest marking.
A long road still lay ahead!
Behind the hospital was previously a jelly-like wall of nothingness. It now expanded into an endless stretch of majestic mountains. A transparent barrier separated the mountains from the hospital side.
An ancient and spectacular palace loomed within the mountains, obscured by misty clouds. Numerous immortal cranes danced around it.
Bai Xiaoshi signaled her to ride its back. Without a doubt, Jiang Yuqing got on. This guy actually took off into the air, shooting straight for the palace!
Jiang Yuqing was greatly surprised. "Bai Xiaoshi, you can actually fly!?"
The spiritual beast looked at her in contempt. "Quite an eye-opener huh? I'm a primordial beast; flying is standard equipment."
The country bumpkin master said cluelessly, "But don't you not have wings?"
Bai Xiaoshi said, "Who said you need wings to fly? Don't ostriches in the desert have wings? Can they fly?"
"You're...right about that!"
Thinking about it, the mounts of many immortals in Journey to the West also didn't have wings, for example Taishang Laojun's mount was an ox spirit.
"Not right. Why didn't you tell me you could fly?"
Bai Xiaoshi shamelessly said, "You didn't ask! Besides, I assumed you would know!"
Jiang Yuqing almost wanted to strangle her own spiritual beast. "How would I know something like that? I'm not an ancient immortal. If I had known earlier you could fly, I would've gone home to see my parents long ago!"
As she suddenly stopped speaking, she followed up: "Oh right, how long would it take for you to fly home?"
Bai Xiaoshi replied, "Around a day or so!"
"That fast!?" The master was instantly elated again. She immediately decided not to quibble with the ignorant spiritual beast.
Mentally calculating the distance from the capital to Qing Prefecture, the speed was about the same as a car.
Bai Xiaoshi's speed was very fast, and he soon flew to the palace. In front of the palace was a large open area as wide as a drill ground.
Above the front gate of the palace, the three characters "Inheritance Hall" were written. Seeing these three characters, Jiang Yuqing couldn't help but twitch at the corners of her mouth.
She had racked her brains to come up with the word "inheritance" as a reasonable and legal source for her medical skills. She didn't expect that there would really be such an Inheritance Hall in her spiritual space. What a coincidence!
She walked up the steps and entered the main hall. In the center was a beautifully painted statue with a solemn, dignified appearance.
The statue was lifelike, almost indistinguishable from a real person. It wore a tall hat with wide ribbons, and had an immortal aura. Judging from its clothes, it was clearly a Daoist immortal.
In front of the statue was an incense table. In the middle of the table was an incense burner, and on either side were a few jade tablets and two small jade bottles.
Covered with years of dust, at first glance they did not look valuable.
But this did not affect her piety.
After dying in her previous life, she had wandered as a lost soul until she was enlightened by this Daoist immortal and allowed to be reborn. Naturally she had to light incense and kowtow three times.
As she finished the third kowtow, a vision suddenly arose.
The jade tablets on the table emitted a bright glow and eagerly flew over to her, sticking to her forehead one by one.
Moments later the glow faded, and the jade tablets crumbled into fine powder sprinkling the ground.
She felt a stab of pain in her sea of consciousness, followed by a rush of information.
These jade tablets turned out to be cultivation methods!
One was called Attracting Qi, one Green Wood Extension, and one Return to Spring.
Attracting Qi was a foundational method. The latter two were wood-elemental methods. As for the jade bottles, one contained a black iron thorn seed, the other two Marrow Cleansing Pills.
The former was a spiritual seed that would take her as its master after she stimulated its growth, and could be used as a powerful attacking and defending weapon.
The latter were Marrow Cleansing Pills, also good things, used for cleansing the channels and cutting the marrow.
And she herself turned out to have an even rarer and more precious wood-elemental physique than a top-grade single wood-elemental spirit root.
The aura of a wood-elemental physique was extremely mild, instinctively attracting living creatures to become intimate.
No wonder the animals she had seen in both lifetimes called her the "Mother of the Earth".
What she had previously thought were wood-elemental abilities were actually just the manifestation of her physique.
Also, because she did not cultivate corresponding wood-elemental methods, she did not truly stimulate her potential. Her ability to stimulate plant growth was very limited - like guarding a treasure mountain without knowing how to use it.
