Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 250 - 249: Sacrifice of Love

Chapter 250: Chapter 249: Sacrifice of Love

Chu Lingxuan laughed and said, "The vegetarian feast you have prepared is also delicious, just bring out some wine." Thinking that Fu Garden had no men and definitely wouldn’t have good wine, he instructed Manager Luo, "Go to Tang Garden and fetch a few jars of Blue Flower Brew."

Chen Afu, remembering that Lu Garden prepared a lot of meat, sent Shan Zi to fetch some. As it was the busy farming season now, most men were working in the fields during the day, so Lu Garden hosted guests at night, allowing the men to eat and drink well.

The few of them sat down in the room, and Qiu Yue served the tea. Only a few people who had accompanied the servants of the Chu family and the Seventh Prince had entered, while the remaining guards were either outside in the courtyard or in Tang Garden.

Chen Afu noticed the Seventh Prince forcefully maintaining his composure, but he was internally uncomfortable like a cat being scratched, which made her want to laugh.

The Seventh Prince, seeing the Chus talking happily, turned to Chen Afu and said, "Ms. Chen, I find the flowers in your garden particularly beautiful, and I would like to take another look."

Chen Afu laughed and said, "Please feel free, Fifth Master."

The Seventh Prince continued, "This prince has always enjoyed gardening. If Ms. Chen has any famous flowers, she could consider selling them to me. Rest assured, I would pay a high price for them."

When did he start enjoying gardening? The three from the Chu family were utterly puzzled. Normally, they would have helped Chen Afu be polite to him since he was, after all, a prince. But this guy first teased Chen Afu and then joined the party without being invited, which made Liao Chen miss the party. Therefore, the three of them continued their conversation, pretending not to have heard him.

The Seventh Prince walked out on his own, followed by a eunuch. After looking at the tricolor ball plant for a while, the eunuch returned to the room and whispered to Chen Afu, "The prince has invited Ms. Chen outside. The prince has indeed taken a liking to a potted plant."

Chen Afu then came to the courtyard.

The Seventh Prince casually pointed at the tricolor ball plant and said, "This flower is large and stunning, with a rich fragrance. I had never seen it before."

Chen Afu laughed and said, "The prince has a good eye. This flower was bought at a considerable price some days ago. A hunter who went into the deep mountains for hunting unexpectedly found it and brought it back. I heard it looks very similar to a certain type of rare herb which is even harder to find than the Thousand-Year Ginseng. I don’t know if that’s true, but I was planning to bring it to the medical hall for the doctor to examine tomorrow."

The corner of the Seventh Prince’s mouth twitched, hurriedly denying, "Such a beautiful and fragrant flower, how could it possibly be a medicinal herb. Impossible!" He continued, "I am very fond of this flower, Ms. Chen. Could you let it go?"

Chen Afu pretended to be in a dilemma, "Well, it’s the flower’s good fortune to be liked by the prince. However, I have only this pot, and not even a second one can be found in the whole of Sanqing County. I really... If the prince is interested in any other flowers, I’ll give them to you free of charge."

The Seventh Prince really wanted to shout out, "If you don’t give it to me, I’ll take it by force!" But looking at the main room, which housed the Chus and Princess Huachang, he did not dare to snatch it forcefully, not to mention attracting their attention.

He only wanted to cut the Gordian knot and close the deal in the shortest possible time, so he decided to dazzle Chen Afu with silver. He whispered, "I really like this potted plant and want to buy it back to Capital City for daily viewing. I offer 5,000 silver pieces, how does that sound? As far as I know, even the most expensive Lan Hua doesn’t cost this much."

Chen Afu didn’t expect this guy would offer so much money, but she could see how urgent he was. Originally, she was considering how to haggle with him, but the amount he offered was indeed tempting. Seeing his anxiety, she didn’t want to torment him any further. After all, he was a prince, and it was good to be on good terms with him.

She said, "If the prince likes it so much, I can only reluctantly let it go. Ah!" After speaking, she sighed and looked extremely distressed.

Seeing Chen Afu agreeing, the Seventh Prince was excited, fearing she might change her mind and refuse to sell. He stretched out his hand to the eunuch and said, "Bring the silver."

The eunuch quickly took a wallet out of his chest and drew out several silver notes. The Seventh Prince handed the silver notes to Chen Afu and said to the eunuch, "Quick, quickly carry this potted plant to my carriage. Be careful and take good care of it. If anything goes wrong, I’ll have your head."

The eunuch agreed and carefully started walking towards the door.

Chen Afu looked at the silver notes in her hand; each one was 1,000 taels, totalling 5,000. She really made a fortune! She happily tucked the silver notes into her wallet.

The Seventh Prince finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the eunuch carrying the potted plant out of the main gate. The flower was finally his, and he was finally going to rise.

A year, an entire year, this hidden disease had caused him to be humiliated and even started questioning his life. But it was all good now!

The Seventh Prince unfolded a folding fan and started fanning himself leisurely, giving Chen Afu a beaming smile brighter than the sun. In this state, he even resembled a cheerful Dabao.

Chen Afu shivered, hoping this guy was not Dabao’s biological father. That would be too miserable.

The two went back inside. The Chu family was surprised to hear that the Seventh Prince had bought a flower pot for 5,000 taels of silver.

The Seventh Prince said, "A heart’s love is worth more than a fortune. If I love it, I am willing to spend any amount of silver."

Mrs. Chu asked what such an expensive flower looked like and suggested to see the flower.

The Seventh Prince excused himself, "I have already asked for it to be moved onto the carriage."

Mrs. Chu said, "It’s just been moved onto the carriage; it can be moved back."

The Seventh Prince said again, "Allow me to keep this a surprise. Once I return to the Capital, I will specifically hold a flower appreciation banquet and invite my imperial sister to my residence for the feast."

To herself, Chen Afu thought, once back in the Capital, what will be left of that flower? As much as she wished to say this, she kept her professional integrity and kept her client’s secret.

Soon, Auntie Zeng led people to serve lunch. One table was set in the hall with the Seventh Prince, Marquis Chu and Chu Lingxuan eating there. Another table was set in a side room where Chen Afu accompanied Mrs. Chu, and the children along with the Animal House were eating in the West Wing.

Mrs. Chu suggested that even their two meals should be moved to the West Wing to eat with the children.

Although the feast was primarily vegetarian, the dishes prepared with seasoning were also delicious. Moreover, each dish was decorated with flowers, some were arranged with fruits and fresh flowers, while others were carved out of small pumpkins or cucumbers.

Mrs Chu kept praising, "Oh my, no wonder Xuan’er praised Afu for being thoughtful, she really is. Such attractive food, I almost don’t want to eat it."

The most popular item among all the dishes was the small cucumber. This cucumber seed was placed in Chen Afu’s space for a few days. It hadn’t grown big yet and was only about ten centimeters long. Dipped in sesame sauce, they were fragrant and crisp. If eaten without sauce, they tasted distinctly sweet and tender. Chen Afu gave it a name, calling it fruit cucumber.

This type of cucumber was planted along the walls of the backyards of Fu and Lu Gardens, solely for family consumption.

The Seventh Prince was not as content as the people of the Chu family. His entire attention was focused on the tricolor ball plant. Finally, after finishing the meal, he said, "I suddenly remembered that there’s a fantastic scenery on Honglin Mountain that I haven’t visited yet. I would like to enjoy another visit. So I must bid farewell first."