The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

The restaurant was all done and everyone was waiting to close, but Lord Liang stayed by Crystal Orchid's side and refused to leave.

Under her uncle's pleading gaze, Su Qianqian went to the orchid.

Scholar Liang asked Su Qianqian curiously, "Miss Su, how could you grow such a rare flower? Did any of your ancestors work as gardeners?"

"No, my ancestors were farmers."

The orchids are able to grow so well thanks entirely to the spiritual spring water in the space.

Moreover, most orchids bloom in spring, but the spring water made this orchid bloom in autumn.

Su Qianqian thought that it was already late autumn and the nights were still quite chilly. She figured that if Lord Liang stayed in the main hall overnight, he would probably get sick. So she suggested, "Lord Liang, it's almost curfew. If you really like these flowers, why don't you take them home and bring them back to us tomorrow morning?"

Anyway, the restaurant only needs to use this pot of flowers during the day to attract customers, so it's a waste to leave it here at night. It's better to let Lord Liang, who loves it dearly, take it home to enjoy.

Lord Liang was overjoyed. "Really? Really? Thank you so much, Miss Su. I'll bring it back first thing tomorrow morning."

Su Qianqian thought that Lord Liang would immediately take away the orchid, but unexpectedly, Lord Liang took out his money bag and gave each of the sugar figurine maker's assistants a piece of silver.

"These flowers are too precious. I need the four of you to help me escort them to the Liang residence. Make sure they are not damaged or knocked over. Follow my instructions."

Su Qianqian couldn't help but sigh: It's truly unbelievable that the Grand Secretary Liang, who wields immense power in the imperial court, would waste his talents on such a trivial matter as moving flowers.

Sugar Man Ding was overwhelmed with emotion as he held the broken silver in his hand. He never expected that he would become rich after only working at the restaurant for a few days. This piece of silver was worth more than a year's worth of sugar paintings he had made.

The landlady was right, Gu Huai's niece is indeed a benefactor!

It was all thanks to this Miss Su who cultivated the rare orchid that he had the opportunity to earn money from Lord Liang. With this money, he could finally think about getting married.

Following Lord Liang's instructions, the group secured the orchid pots to the table with hemp rope and carefully carried the table with the orchids out of the restaurant.

For the first time, Tang Ren Ding, a grown man, was being instructed to take tiny steps, and he didn't even dare to breathe too hard.

Gu Huai stood at the restaurant entrance, shaking his head as he watched the tables being moved away. The scene looked utterly absurd.

The table is very light; one person could carry it. Yet, several people were brought in to lift it, making it look like they were moving mountains and overturning seas. Scholars are truly particular.

At the hour of Hai (9-11 PM), the night watchman struck his gong and announced, "Second watch of Hai hour, close doors and windows, beware of fire and theft—"

The night watchman stopped mid-sentence in fright, for he saw a group of people approaching, carrying a table.

Having worked as a night watchman for over twenty years, I've never seen such a strange sight before; I thought I'd encountered a ghost.

But the people carrying the table were carrying lanterns, and the lanterns cast many shadows on them.

The night watchman was relieved; there was a shadow, so it wasn't a ghost after all.

The night watchman approached and asked curiously, "What are you carrying?"

Sugar Man Ding cautioned, "Be careful not to get too close; we're carrying a priceless treasure."

The night watchman went closer to take a look and saw that what these people were carrying appeared to be a flowering tree carved from jade. The petals were as transparent as glass, and when they reflected the light of the lanterns, they looked like stars in the sky. It was indeed a rare treasure.

Even though I can't afford it, just being able to see it is a great blessing.

The night watchman wore a satisfied smile.

Tang Rending and his companions carefully made their way to the Liang residence and finally delivered the goods.

Lord Liang directed Sugar Man Ding and others to help put the flowers into the bedroom.

Handle with care, be extremely careful.

After the people who escorted the orchids left, the lamp oil in the room flickered, and Lord Liang lay on the bed, gazing at the crystal orchid with tears streaming down his face.

This flower is precious not only because there are only two in the entire world, but also because it holds a very special meaning for him.

Lord Liang's ancestral home was Qinghe County. Before he passed the imperial examination, his family was not wealthy. His wife stayed up all night embroidering to support his studies. Unfortunately, after he passed the examination, his wife's health deteriorated and she showed signs of exhaustion.

Lord Liang knew that his wife came from a family of florists and loved flowers and plants more than embroidery. All those flowers she embroidered late into the night were just to earn money to support his studies. So after he passed the imperial examination, Lord Liang bought his wife many precious flowers and plants.

When the envoy from the Southern Yue Kingdom came to the Great Qi, the emperor held a banquet in the palace and allowed all the ministers to bring their wives to the banquet. Minister Liang brought his wife.

When the envoy from the Southern Yue Kingdom showed off the rare Crystal Orchid, Lord Liang's wife heard the other ladies praising the flower as the most beautiful in the world, and she squinted her eyes with anticipation on her face.

But her eyesight, which had been ruined from years of staying up late embroidering, was already damaged, and she couldn't see clearly from a distance.

"My lord, could you describe to me what the Crystal Orchid looks like?"

"Madam, its petals are as clear as crystal—"

As his wife listened to Lord Liang's description, a touching smile bloomed on her face.

Lord Liang only regretted that the Southern Yue Kingdom took away the orchids after showing them off, leaving only a few seeds to mock the Great Qi Kingdom for not being able to grow them.

If the Kingdom of Nanyue were to present the flowers to His Majesty, he would risk his life to beg His Majesty to allow him to take them home so that his wife could see them up close.

When Lord Liang returned home, he painted a crystal orchid so that his wife could see it more clearly.

That period was also the last of his wife's life. Three days later, he asked His Majesty for a seed of crystal orchid. He carefully carried the seed home, but his wife had already passed away, holding the crystal orchid painting he had previously drawn.

After his wife passed away, Lord Liang never remarried and had no children, living alone.

If he could live his life again, he wouldn't want to be some kind of high-ranking scholar, nor would he want to study and take the imperial examinations again. He would just want to be an ordinary person, where he would be responsible for earning money to support the family, and his wife would do what she loved: growing flowers every day.

All he wanted was to grow old with his wife.

Lord Liang took out two paintings from the box. One was a crystal orchid painting he had painted for his wife, and the other was a portrait of his wife, who was sickly but had a gentle and graceful expression.

Lord Liang took his wife's portrait to the crystal orchid and wept even harder.

"Feifang, didn't you want to see the Crystal Cymbidium orchid up close? I found it, you can look at it all night long. This one is even more beautiful than the one from Nanyue Kingdom."

"If you want to continue watching tomorrow night, I can ask that girl again. She's kind-hearted and might agree."

Lord Liang gazed at his wife's portrait and talked to her all night long, without feeling tired.

Early in the morning, Lord Liang hired a sedan chair and personally delivered the orchid to Gu's Restaurant.

"Miss Su, this flower has been returned to its rightful owner."

Su Qianqian noticed that Lord Liang's eyes were red and swollen with dark circles, indicating that he hadn't slept all night. It seemed that Lord Liang truly loved this orchid.

"Lord Liang, staying up late is bad for your health. Actually, I can lend you the orchid for a few more nights."

Lord Liang had originally intended to bring it up himself, as he wanted his wife to look at the crystal orchids for a few more nights, since it was her favorite thing on her deathbed. However, he did not expect the young girl to be so understanding and bring it up first.

Lord Liang took out crystal orchid seeds that had been stored for several years. He had personally obtained them from the late emperor many years ago for his wife.

"Miss Su, you can cultivate crystal cymbidium orchids even better than those in the Southern Yue Kingdom. You are a very skilled gardener. I would like to ask you to help me try planting this seed. This seed is of great significance to me. Back then, my wife..."

"Okay." Su Qianqian agreed. She hadn't expected that Lord Liang and Madam Liang had such a deep relationship. It was just a pity that they were now separated by death.

She finally understood why Lord Liang was so obsessed with the Crystal Orchid.

"Thank you so much, Miss Su. I have no way to repay you. Regardless of whether you can grow it or not, I am willing to take your younger brother Xiaobao as my personal disciple to repay your great kindness."

Lord Liang had met Xiao Bao a few times. The child wasn't particularly clever, but he wasn't stupid either.

Lord Liang thought that Miss Su was of good character, and her younger brother's character wouldn't be much worse.

For Su Qianqian's family, this is a good thing.

The school's teachers often came over for meals. Su Qianqian had already heard from Teacher Zhang and Teacher Xu that Master Liang was very talented and had once been a top scholar, enjoying unparalleled fame.

Madam Gu couldn't believe it. "Is it true? Is Lord Liang really willing to accept Xiao Bao as his personal disciple?"

Gu Huai: "It's true. I was right next to them at the time and heard it clearly."

With such an amazing older sister, Xiao Bao's future is sure to be bright.

Su Qianqian knew that the Great Qi Dynasty valued elaborate apprenticeship ceremonies.

I'm planning to ask someone to help me pick an auspicious day so that Xiao Bao can kowtow to Master Liang and acknowledge him as his master.

We also need to prepare a presentable gift for Lord Liang. It would be best to set the date a little later. If the seeds can be planted before the apprenticeship ceremony, that would be the best gift for Lord Liang.