A Clash of Gods - Chapter 62
Chapter 62 Enjoy Flowers
It was not that Yang Ning had improper thoughts towards the girl. He just remembered that he had bumped into somebody when he chased the elder in grey robe. He was in such a hurry that he didn’t have time to stop and apologize. That person seemed to be dressed in such green clothes. He planned to ask her, but he couldn’t come up right away as he saw the girl lowering her head.
Hearing the girl inquire, the old man hurriedly came over. “Lady, are you interested in this daffodil?” He showed a thumbs-up sign. “You have great insight. You are an expert. You can look for such flowers on the street and it is hard to find daffodil at this season. On this street, there are no more than three plants of this.”
The girl raised her head and responded, “I have checked shops on the street and found that you have this flower, so I want to ask how much it is.”
“Girl, it appears that you really like it.” The old man laughed. “Since you are an expert, you must know that the daffodil is not cheap at ordinary times, and it’s rare at this season. If you want to take it away, just give me two taels of silver.”
“Two…two taels of silver?” The girl furrowed her beautiful brows and obviously didn’t expect a plant to be so expensive.
The old man certainly found that the girl thought the flower expensive and explained, “Lady, I can see that you know well about the flower and sincerely want to sell it to you. I have managed the flower shop here for many years and won’t offer a high price randomly. If you can find any other one that is cheaper, I will give this plant to you for nothing.”
The girl hesitated for a while and had a look at the daffodil, forcing a smile. “I will check elsewhere.” She turned to leave. After taking two steps, she looked back at it, unwilling to go without it.
Although Yang Ning knew nothing about flowers, he could see that the girl liked this daffodil a lot. Seeing that she was going away, he shouted, “Lady, wait a moment please.”
The girl was stunned. Yang Ning came up and asked the old man, “Two taels of silver?”
The old man answered in a hurry, “Your Excellency, would you like to buy this plant, too? In fact, if you want any flower, I can give it to you for enjoyment, but… but there are rules in the flower market and I can’t break the rule. Otherwise, the other sellers would…”
Yang Ning laughed. “I understand.” He took out his wallet, taking two taels of silver and giving them to the old man. Then he picked up the flowerpot and walked to the girl, smiling. “Lady, if you like this plant, just take it away.”
The girl shook her head immediately and replied, “No, I can’t.” Apparently, she was nervous. The girl turned around, preparing to leave. Yang Ning explained hurriedly, “Lady, do you think I am too impulsive? In fact, I didn’t mean anything. You deserve this flower.”
The girl stopped and looked back, asking in surprise, “Your Excellency, why did you say so?”
“If I remember correctly, I bumped into you just now as I was in a hurry. Is that right?” Yang Ning was uncertain.
The girl lowered her head and whispered, “You didn’t mean it. I… I have forgotten it.”
Yang Ning’s brows spread and he thought it was great that he didn’t make a mistake. He smiled. “I bumped into you by accident, but you don’t blame me. However, I can’t play dumb. I would like to give you this flower as an apology. Please accept it, or else I will feel guilty.”
The old man had received the silver and took it as a transaction. He said, “Lady, His Excellency is a good man. Just now, he didn’t even fear King Shu’s heir but showed up to bell the cat. He wants to apologize to you, so you just accept it.”
“I… I have seen it just now.” The girl felt constraint and even blushed. “But I can’t accept this flower. I can’t accept anybody’s gift for no reason.”
Yang Ning expressed, “You wouldn’t accept a gift for no reason. It’s a gift to show my apology.”
“No.” The girl still shook her head.
Yang Ning pondered for a minute and then laughed. “Lady, you seem to like this daffodil very much. In fact, I know nothing about flowers. How about you telling me about the flowers and plants here to enrich my knowledge if you are available? What’s your opinion?”
The old man spoke anxiously. “Lady, you are such an expert on flowers obviously. Since His Excellency wants to enjoy flowers, you can learn from each other by exchanging views and I can also learn from you. Perhaps I can give this plant to you.”
“Well…” The girl glanced at the daffodil in Yang Ning’s hands and hesitated. She thought for a while and then continued, “In fact, I know little about flowers.”
Yang Ning expressed in a hurry, “Let’s forget anything else. Lady, how would you explain this flower’s unique appearance?”
Noticing that Yang Ning was easy-going, the girl had more courage and showed a sweet and fascinating smile. She pointed her slender finger at the daffodil. “Your Excellency, put down the flowerpot and look down at it carefully.”
Yang Ning put down the flowerpot as the girl told and looked down at it. The girl stepped forward. “Watch the flower. The white petals are around. After it blossoms, is it like a silver table top? And isn’t the golden bud in the middle like a gold cup?”
Yang Ning didn’t notice it before. Hearing the girl’s introduction, he checked it carefully, and it was exactly the same as she mentioned. He expressed happily, “Right, that’s it. The bud is really like a gold cup on the table.”
“It’s excellent.” The girl smiled. “It has a clear bud and petals. Not every flower is like this. Some petals spread but it’s hard to become like a table top, and some buds are not in shape, and not like cups. It has to be taken care of, and if the weather is suitable, then it would be like this.”
“Oh, so there are few chances for them to become like this, right?” Yang Ning asked.
The girl pondered for a while before answering, “As far as I know, only one in five hundred flowers would be like this.”
“Lady, you know a lot.” The old man showed a thumb-up. “You are really an expert. I have managed the flower shop here for many years and lots of people came to buy flowers, but most of them just pretend to be graceful, and few people know much about flowers…” While speaking, he suddenly realized that Yang Ning knew little about flowers. He felt embarrassed probably and didn’t dare to continue.
But Yang Ning laughed. “You are right. Many people pretend to be elegant. So, this daffodil is one in a thousand. No wonder this lady loves it so much.”
The girl responded after pondering for a short while, “In fact, it’s not that I like it. It’s…my mother who loves this kind of flower. She shows special preference to the daffodil only.”
“Your mother must be a graceful lady.” Yuan Rong’s voice came over. This guy moved slowly and finally came. He continued with a smile, “Only such a graceful lady as your mother can raise a girl like you.”
Yuan Rong showed up all of a sudden and frightened the girl. She was only just relieved but got nervous again. Yang Ning couldn’t help but glare at Yuan Rong, thinking that this guy was not sensible and came over to join them at this time. But in front of others, Yang Ning couldn’t drive him away.
“All of you came here and brightened my shop.” The old man naturally found that Yuan Rong was from a noble family and raised his hand. “There are many kinds of top-grade flowers in the room. How about you coming in and having a look? Maybe you can find the kind you like.” He turned to the girl. “Lady, you are an expert on flowers. Please come in and give us some instructions.”
The girl appeared restless and shook her head. “I… I am not going in. My mother is still waiting for me at home.”
“Lady, it’s early now. No hurry.” Yang Ning admired the girl for her knowledge about flowers and raised his hand. “Don’t worry. We will just enjoy flowers. You said that this daffodil is what your mother loves. Which flowers do you like? Maybe you can find the type you like inside.” He glimpsed at Yuan Rong and added, “This guy is not well-behaved, but I am here, and you don’t need to bother about him. Just pretend that he is not here.”
The girl heard Yang Ning’s humorous words and put on a beautiful smile. Yuan Rong showed a sad face. “Ning, how can you comment on your friend like this? Why am I not well-behaved?”
But since Yang Ning said that, the girl didn’t refuse him. Apparently, she was a flower person. The old man led them into the room. In the spacious hall, there were all kinds of flowers and plants with different shapes everywhere. The plant fragrance filled the room and it was fascinating.
The girl saw the flowers and plants around, and joy was shown in her clear eyes. The old man smiled. “Since you came to enjoy flowers today, I will ask a question. What do you think?”
“Oh?” Yuan Rong shook his fan and laughed. “Come on. I am going to see what question you will ask.”
Yang Ning thought he knew nothing about plants and if he was asked, he would have nothing to say. But the girl was here, and he couldn’t reject the offer. He asked with a smile, “Lady… Right, what’s your name?” He was clear that it was impolite to ask an unmarried woman’s name in this era, so he added, “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me.”
After a hesitation, the girl replied, “Your Excellency, just call me Xiaoyao.”
“Like the Yao Pool, the abode of fairy mother goddess?”
The girl nodded slightly. Yang Ning laughed. “It’s Lady Xiaoyao. This uncle will ask a question to examine us. What do you think, Xiaoyao?”
Xiaoyao seemed to be interested and asked, “What question?”
The old man laughed. “My question is simple. All of you, which flower is the king of flowers among so many in the garden?”
The king of flowers?
Yang Ning couldn’t help but raise his head to rub his nose, glancing at Yuan Rong. The latter laughed loud and unfolded his fan. “I will be the first.” He raised his fan and pointed at somewhere. “In my opinion, the king of flowers is the crape myrtle, the peony of best quality.”
Yang Ning thought this guy had good taste and must have some knowledge about flowers. The old man had told him that this crape myrtle in the room was the treasure of the shop, and this guy pointed at it immediately.
The crape myrtle was brilliant red, standing for happiness.
“This crape myrtle has tender flowers and can fully spread and close, like the most talented person.” Yuan Rong slowly walked to it and stated complacently, “The color is pure and has profound meanings. It stands for our prosperous and long-lasting country. It’s an auspicious sign falling from the sky. As it’s said in a poem, it spreads the wave of the blue water and moistens the rich soil of the ground. It congeals the essence of mountains and gathers the softness of the sea. It walks proudly from the ancient time but changes its beautiful face as time goes by. It stands out while freshening itself with many flowers. It is more gorgeous than other flowers.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Ning put on a long face and thought this guy deserved to be from the mansion of the Minister of Rites. Glaring at Yuan Rong who shook his head while speaking, Yang Ning had the urge to beat him up if nobody else was present.