Chapter 21 - Meeting The Villagers (1)
Li Ming and Xian appeared in the front yard of the orphanage. The children and the old couple were also there, busy in their morning session.
They all wished Li Ming good morning and continued with their class.
Li Ming looked at Xian who was looking at her with terror. She dragged him towards the swing and after he sat down on it, she started swinging it with light pushes from behind.
"Why are you looking at me like I had murdered someone?" Li Ming asked with a soft chuckle.
Xian didn't reply for sometime but then asked with a voice full of both suspicion and admiration, "How can you do that?"
"What? Doesn't cultivators do this place traveling thing all the time?" Li Ming asked as she lightly pushed the swing.
"But they need teleportation arrays for that. Moreover, the powers like these are only used by the immortal cultivators and you are just a little girl!" Xian nearly shouted with excitement but then controlled himself.
"Hmm...! Then consider it a special gift of mine. Now, tell me! What do you think of this place? Wanna stay here with me?" Li Ming asked.
"You are not going back to the capital city?" Xian asked her as he looked towards the other children studying with smiling faces.
"I have some matters to take care of here. So, I'm going to stay here for the time being." Li Ming answered his question.
"Why are you helping me?" Xian asked after a few minutes of silence.
Li Ming looked at the children running after squirrels. She sighed as she said, "Because you are special. Just like the rest of them." She nodded her towards the children of orphanage.
A small smile appeared on Xian's face when he heard her reply.
She asked him to follow her and went towards the group of children. She already knew his decision.
"You all have a new friend. He's Xian and he will be going to stay here with you guys. Treat him with love and kindness. Okay?" Li Ming said as she pushed Xian on a seat between two other boys.
"Yes Miss!" The children answered her in a loud voice. The old couple nodded their heads in understanding and continued the class.
Li Ming told them that she was going to the fields and teleported.
Although at first her plan was to keep her powers a secret but later she realized that the people of this world both respected and feared the powerful person.
That's why she's no more trying to keep her powers a secret. Also this show off of her powers were helping her in making the people trust her.
If not for her powers, she couldn't have gained the ownership of the Black Jade Inn.
The villagers had already received Sir Liu's orders and nearly every villager was present at the fields with their families.
They were waiting for the special person about whom Sir Liu had told them. According to Sir Liu, that person had the ability to help them.
They all were waiting for past one hour but they still couldn't see a single soul coming towards the fields.
It's not that Li Ming was late. Rather the villagers were too excited after hearing Sir Liu's words, so they all came to the fields very early.
Just as they were getting impatient from the waiting, suddenly a girl appeared by the side of Sir Liu. They all were too shocked to utter a single word. The whole place was dead silent. Only the voices of the birds and insects could be heard.
Li Ming saw the large crowd gathered. She was kinda impressed. She thought that the villagers wouldn't believe Sir Liu and most of them would carried out with their plan. But it seemed she was wrong about the level of trust the villagers had in Sir Liu.
When Sir Liu saw Li Ming suddenly appearing beside him, he nearly got a heart attack but he somehow controlled his reaction.
He nodded towards Li Ming and then said to the villagers, "This is Miss Li. She's from a very noble and respected family. When she heard about our problems, she offered her help. I think you all should hear her out."
Li Ming looked at the crowd who were still looked like they had seen a ghost.
Actually, it was not the villagers fault. The only powerful cultivator that they had seen for last few decades was The Old Sir Liu. They had only heard about the High Level Cultivators. It was their first time seeing a person appearing out of thin air.
"I did some study on the soil samples from your fields yesterday. And I think I know the problem of the damage in the crops." Li Ming said as she looked at the crowd.
The silent crowd suddenly erupted into loud voices. After Sir Liu told them to keep quiet, the crowd again settled down.
"But before telling you guys the reason, I want to ask a question." This time Li Ming directed her words towards Sir Liu.
"What do you want to ask? I will try my best to answer." Sir Liu said as he looked at the little girl who was emitting a very cold aura. Her every step and word showed the high position and personality that a Master had.
"Did anyone in the village got sick with some weird disease in the recent years?" Li Ming asked seriously.
Sir Liu thought for a while and finally shook his head, "As far as I remember there was not any case of any strange disease in the past few years. All the people who got sick were suffering from some normal cold or fever and they even recovered in a few days after taking the medicine.....But why are you asking this question?" Sir Liu was puzzled.
Li Ming nodded her head as she listened to what Sir Liu had said.
"Then my theory was actually right. When I studied the soil samples yesterday I found a very rare poison in it. This poison is making it unfertilized for past 5-6 years. There's only two methods for getting this poison into the soil without getting caught. The first one is through the irrigation, but since the same water is used by the villagers for drinking purpose and no one had been infected by any strange illness that mean the water is safe. That leaves the second method...."
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Chapter 22 - Meeting The Villagers (2)
After listening to Li Ming's words, everyone was shocked.
One of the villager could not help it any more and finally asked, "Miss Li, what is the second method about which you were talking?"
The others also supported him and started asking the same question.
"I'm not 100% sure about this one as I have no proof but I think that if the poison was not in the water then it was in the seeds." Li Ming said.
The crowd again started talking but this time it was in anger. No one had ever thought that someone was deceiving them like this.
"Does that mean Han Zhe was providing us with those poisoned seeds? That mo***r f****ng bastard!" A young man, maybe in his late twenties, shouted in anger.
The villagers continued to talk angrily among themselves and continued to curse the Han Zhe.
It took a lot of effort from both Sir Liu and Li Ming to make the boiling villagers cool down a little.
"Miss Li, why are you so sure that the poison was in the seeds? Maybe whoever did it had used some other methods." Another one of the villagers asked after they all had settled down.
Li Ming nodded her head in agreement and said, "You are not completely wrong, But I have my reasons. If the poison was not in the water and nor in the seeds, then it means that someone had sprinkled it in the fields. Although one could also sprinkle this poison at night or at a time when no one was present in the fields but it is kind of hard and nearly impossible. First, it's really tiring to sprinkle the poison in such a large area. And if there were more than two or three persons then it was also impossible that no one from the village saw anyone or anything."
"Now, let's consider that they got away with it for the first time but the poison continued to seep into the soil for past 5 years. That mean the poison was added every year. How can someone be so smart to get away with it all these years without getting caught."
"But still as I said before I'm not 100% sure that the poison was in the seeds but don't worry, we'll find out the real culprit behind it. But right now, the most important thing is to start the preparation for this season." Li Ming told the crowd who nodded their heads after listening to her explanation.
The villagers finally settled down when they heard Li Ming talking about the crops. Since their soil was already poisoned, how they were going to feed their families anymore!
"Miss Li, you are very kind and intelligent person. Your level of cultivation also seems quite high. By any chance do you know any method or some way that can help us?" The woman who spoke this time was Sir Liu's daughter - in - law, Liu Hansi.
Before Li Ming could reply, someone from the crowd spoke up.
"She is just a little girl. Although she has some tricks up her sleeve but that doesn't mean she can solve such a huge matter. How can we trust a complete stranger like this? Moreover a little child!" These words were spoken by a fat woman who was in her mid thirties. Her name was Yan Ning.
'What a place? Everyone is jealous after seeing someone as talented and beautiful as me!'
Right! These were Li Ming's exact thoughts after she listened to that woman's words.
Snowy shook his head but didn't bother to say anything to his stupid master.
Li Ming looked at the woman and spoke in a very cold voice, "Can you suggest a better option? If not, then don't open your mouth again! I'm not known for my patience."
It was clearly a warning, both to that woman and to all the other villagers.
No one said anything and completely ignored the woman who was left both terrified and angry by Li Ming's words.
"Now it's time for business." Li Ming told the villagers.
Everyone was surprised after hearing this. "Miss Li, what are you talking about?" Another woman asked.
"You want someone who can help you in getting rid of the poison. And I can help you." Li Ming looked at the crowd who became happy after listening her words.
"But I want to make some things clear before that." Li Ming looked at Sir Liu who nodded his head.
The crowd felt silent and looked at Li Ming as they waited patiently.
"I'm a business woman. Everything that I do is related to my business one way or another. As I said I can help you guys but I have a business proposal and I can assure you that this proposal is the best thing that can happen to this village in an entire century." Li Ming's said in a voice full of confidence.
The villagers started talking among themselves. Li Ming didn't disturb them and stayed silent. She looked at the crowd and her eyes sparkled with an evil light as her gaze focused on Yan Ning.
After listening to Li Ming's words, Yan Ning thought that it was the perfect moment to sow the seed of doubt in the heart of villagers as Li Ming was only thinking about her own benefits.
But somehow her lips got stuck to each other. Not only that but her whole body was paralyzed. She couldn't move a single finger. Her heart started beating rapidly with terror. She looked around in horror and saw Li Ming looking at her.
Cold sweat appeared on Yan Ning's forehead. If her body was not paralyzed then she might be shivering in pure terror.
"It looks like you don't understand normal language. Didn't I tell you to keep your mouth shut if you don't have anything important to speak? I will not be kind enough to repeat myself a third time. I hope you will not disappoint me."
Yan Ning heard Li Ming's cold voice in her head and she immediately nodded her head in understanding.
That's when she realized that she could move her body again at her will.
She looked at Li Ming and immediately looked down to avoid her cold eyes.
It looked like this Miss Li was not a human but a devil...!!
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Chapter 23 - Farming (1)
Li Ming looked at the waiting crowd in front of her and finally said, "As Sir Liu has already told you, I'll be providing you with seeds and any other requirements. So, you all don't need to sell your crops from the last season. Use that for your family. And don't worry, the grains are not affected by the poison and are completely safe for use."
The crowd happily accepted and thanked Li Ming for her kindness. After a few minutes, she again said, "Now here's my deal. I want all of you to listen to me carefully without interrupting, to the end. After you have listened to my deal it will be your decision whether to accept it or not."
All the villagers nodded their heads in understanding as they all waited for Li Ming to tell them her proposal.
"I want to take over the ownership of your entire fields." Li Ming had imagined a lot of questions, anger, and doubts from the villagers. But to her surprise, all of them remained silent. No one argued or cursed her. They kept looking at her like they were waiting for her to say something more.
She raised her eyebrow in surprise and asked, "Are you not angry?"
"Didn't Miss Li asked us to listen to you till the end without interrupting and coming to conclusions!" The person who spoke was an old grandma who was sitting with her family beside Liu Hansi.
"....." Li Ming smiled lightly and nodded her head.
"Alright! As I said I want to take over your fields and I want you to work for me. In return, 10% of the final production will be distributed between the families of this village at the end of the season from their fields. In addition to that, each family will also get 10 silver taels at the end of each month as your salary. But since I have already given the entire production of last season to you and am also taking care of the seeds and other requirements, you all will not get any silvers for the next 4 months. I think my deal is fair enough. Now you all can decide if you want this deal or not." Li Ming stated and then sat down on a chair that she had produced with her magic.
The villagers started talking among themselves. Although the 10% portion of the crops was very little but it was completely out of their hands whether the production would be good or bad in the end. That's why everyone focused on the fact that no matter how bad the result of the production would be if they excepted the deal then they would get 10 silver taels each month which was more money than they had ever earned. In their village merely a few families could earn a few silvers if they worked hard for the entire year. Also, they had enough grains to feed their families for the next 4 months.
After discussing for an entire half an hour, the villagers agreed to accept the deal.
Li Ming didn't waste any time and made a contract. She made the villagers either sign it or left their thumbprint.
After everything was taken care of, Li Ming took a look at the contract and after making sure that everything was fine, she placed it inside a locker in the mansion.
"I want all of you to stand a little away from the fields." Li Ming told the villagers and started walking towards the center of the fields.
The villagers didn't waste any time and made a straight line a few meters away from the fields.
Li Ming approached the center of the fields and took out the crystal ball with runes. She placed the ball on the soil and put two drops of her blood on the ball. Then she teleported back to where the other people were standing.
The crystal rose a few feet above the earth and started glowing with a faint green light. Soon black colored smoke-like substance started coming out of the soil and entered the crystal.
The villagers looked with shock and horror at the scene that was taking place in front of them. As far as their eyes could see the fields were covered with that black substance.
"Is that...!" Sir Liu was also shocked to the core that he couldn't even voice his thoughts.
"The Poison." Li Ming finished what Sir Liu had started to say.
It took nearly 10-15 minutes before the black substance finally stopped coming out of the soil. But the pure white crystal ball was now completely filled with black smoke.
Li Ming again teleported back to the center of the fields and picked up the crystal ball. She looked at the slightly hot ball in her hand with a frown.
According to her theory, the poison should be in liquid form but the crystal ball was completely filled with black smoke.
Li Ming continued to look at the ball for a few minutes but then put it in the spell room inside a golden box. After she made sure that the ball was completely safe, she looked at the villagers who had already approached her.
"Is the soil now free of poison?" Sir Liu asked her. All of them were still shocked after witnessing so much poison in the fields.
"Yes, it is now completely free of poison. We can start our preparation for this season now." Li Ming told the villagers.
"Miss Li, what's your plan? Should we start plowing the fields so that we can sow rice and wheat crops?" Sir Liu's eldest son, Liu Nian asked.
"I have a new plan for this season. First, we are going to divide the fields into three parts. One part for crops, the second part for vegetables and the third part for fruit orchards." Li Ming told the villagers.
Although they had no idea how they were going to do that but they were sure that Miss Li had her own ideas and plans for that.
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Chapter 24 - Farming (2)
After telling her plan to the villagers, Li Ming started her work.
The villagers worked with their full potential and didn't give Li Ming any chance to doubt their sincerity.
For the next whole week everyone was busy. They separated the fields into three parts as per Li Ming's directions.
Firstly they ploughed the first part with the help of Li Ming's magic and completed the work only in three days.
On the fourth day, Li Ming took out bags after bags of hybrid seeds from her mansion and the villagers planted the seeds. They planted wheat, rice, maize and sugar cane in the first portion.
Li Ming had already soaked the seeds into a special potion which would increase their level of consuming spiritual energy from the air. After that everyone started watering the fields.
By end of the first week, the work in the first portion of the fields was completely done and they had planted the crops successfully.
Li Ming gave the villagers break for one day. She decided to visit the Black Jade Inn as it had already been an entire week since she had left.
When she teleported back to the inn, the environment inside of the inn was as dark and cold as possible.
She frowned and looked at the terrified people inside the main room. That's when her gaze fell on the person who was responsible for the situation.
Of course, it was none other than the Fourth Prince!
Li Ming rubbed the tip of her nose and sighed softly.
Elder Fu saw Li Ming and came running towards her. Although he didn't say a single word, but Li Ming could read the request in his eyes.
All the people inside the main room, including Fourth Prince's guards, were nearly begging her with pitiful faces to handle the situation and save them.
Zhang Yong felt her presence behind him the moment she appeared. Although he had never seen from his own eyes but he had been informed that she could teleport without using a teleportation array.
He didn't turn behind as he saw Elder Fu running towards Li Ming from the corner of his eyes.
He had been waiting for an entire week. He had visited the inn nearly every day but he didn't get a single glance of her all this time.
Even his most powerful trackers and shadow guards couldn't find her whereabouts.
Though he could have got the information using his position from the Black Jade Inn, but he had a feeling inside him that Li Ming would not like that.
And didn't know why but he didn't want to make her unhappy.
Li Ming looked at Zhang Yong and then at the staff. She signaled all of them to leave the room quietly.
No one wasted any time and flew from the room like a demon was after them.
Li Ming looked at the Prince who had not made a single movement since she had entered the inn. She observed the peerless beauty and the long silky hair of Zhang Yong for some time. She had a strong desire to touch those rosy lips.
Zhang Yong was the most handsome man in the entire Han Empire. He was known for his high achievements in Spirit Cultivation and his sharp mind. He's also the favorite son of the Emperor.
Before Li Ming could divulged deeper into her fantasy, she was interrupted by his voice which was as sweet as honey.
Li Ming shook her head and looked at the man in front of her. She furrowed her eyebrows as she thought, 'Is this man doing some magic on me? Otherwise how can I think about him and his voice in such a way!'
When Zhang Yong didn't get a response from Li Ming, he finally turned towards her and raised his eyebrows in confusion.
Li Ming rolled her eyes and walked towards his table. She took out two cans of beer and opened their lids. She offered one to Zhang Yong, who looked puzzled but still took the can.
Zhang Yong saw Li Ming taking a sip from her beer and he did the same but the next moment he nearly cursed out loud but stopped himself.
She at least should have told him that it was going to be chilled and bitter.
He had gotten used to the rich taste of wine but what he had drank just now tasted completely different.
Li Ming saw the expression on Zhang Yong's face and laughed out loud.
"It's called beer. I thought you will prefer something bitter after making the day of my staff also bitter and uncomfortable."
Zhang Yong looked at the girl in front of him who was drinking that beer thing in pleasure. He looked at his own can. He noticed that the material from which the can was made was also something new and there were some sort of things printed on the can.
He took a long breath and decided to take another sip. After a few more sips, he finally started to relax.
"Where have you been all this week?" He asked the girl who had been sitting there quietly.
"Why do you want to know?" Li Ming said without even looking at him.
"Didn't I tell you that I want to eat those delicious food of yours? Then how can you disappear without a trace?" Zhang Yong asked with a hurtful expression.
"I'm not your servant, Your Highness." Li Ming replied softly but matter of factly.
"But I'm your Prince, you should be responsible for feeding your Prince." Zhang Yong said with a cute pout.
"....."
Li Ming was completely speechless after seeing the level of audacity of this person.
"Hah!....Why I should be responsible for feeding you? You have your own palace and your own personal cooks, who can make wonderful and delicious dishes for you anytime you want. SO, STOP BOTHERING ME!" Li Ming told the shameless person in front of her.
"Alright! I'll not ask you to cook for me everyday but you have to tell where you have been all this time." Zhang Yong asked curiously.
"Why do you care? It's none of your business. Now, if you excuse me Your Highness, I will like to focus on my Inn's business which has gone down into the gutter because of your presence." Li Ming stood up and looked at the Fourth Prince.
"I hope you can see yourself out. Have a safe trip home." She said sweetly and turned around to go and look for her coward staff.
But before she could take more than two steps, something hit her on her neck sharply and then everything went black.....
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Chapter 25 - Caught By The Fourth Prince
Li Ming was staring at the culprit who had nearly made her a suspect of committing treason against the imperial family.
If she had any idea that her decision of sending Snowy for the task of finding cultivation books would bring her to such a terrible situation, she would have found another solution.
When she first opened her eyes, she found herself in a pavilion at the outskirts of the Capital City.
The owner of this Pavilion was no one other than his highness the Fourth Prince.
She went into the back garden to teach her kidnapper a proper lesson this time, but everything went down the hill when she saw Snowy in Zhang Yong's arms.
undefinedAnd his next words nearly made her kill herself in embarrassment.
It's one thing to steal something after being all high and mighty in front of the people but it's entirely a different situation to get caught in the act.
It took her a few minutes to realize that if the Fourth Prince wanted, he could kill her right at that moment.
Zhang Yong looked at Li Ming with a small smile on his face. The embarrassed look in her eyes at the moment was priceless.
If it was someone else who had committed such a crime against him, he would have killed that person without even blinking twice. But of course, Li Ming was not just someone for him, Not Anymore!
He couldn't kill her but that didn't mean he couldn't tease her for a while. Moreover, he wanted to see what she was going to do now.
"Have you ever seen this little snowball before, Ming'er? I found it sneaking into my study. It was actually trying to steal my books of early level cultivation." Zhang Yong asked as he pointed to the little dog in his arms.
Li Ming looked at Snowy and after thinking about her current situation she finally decided to play innocent.
She was sure as long as she would not accept the accusations, Zhang Yong couldn't prove her guilty.
After taking a deep breath she looked at the Prince and said in an innocent voice, "I have never seen this dog before. I don't know what you are talking about!"
'Heartless Monster!' Snowy cried through their bond after he heard her words.
'Who told you to get caught in the wolf's claw? If you can't even save yourself, then don't expect me to save you.' Li Ming replied with a cool voice.
Zhang Yong smirked and said in a serious voice, "Alright! Since it's not yours then there is no problem. It's my bad to misjudge you. Don't worry, I will find out the real culprit and punish him for committing such a high crime."
"Put this dog in the boiling water." He ordered his guards.
Before the guard could take the dog in his hand, it was snatched away by a fuming Li Ming.
Li Ming pulled the shivering Snowy tightly in her arms and started rubbing his ears. She then pulled him inside the mansion before anyone could snatch him away from her.
Zhang Yong signaled his shocked guards to leave and looked at Li Ming.
"I thought it was not yours. Looks like I was wrong again."
Li Ming looked straight in his eyes and said, "I also judged you wrong. I have never thought that you will be such a cruel person to kill an innocent animal in such a terrible way."
"I was not going to really boil him. And he was not really innocent. It was just a stunt to make you accept that you are the owner of the dog." Zhang Yong said with a smirk.
"You...." Li Ming didn't get to say another word as Zhang Yong suddenly stood up from his seat and in the next blink, he was standing behind her, closing her within his arms.
Li Ming could feel his hot breath on her nape.
Zhang Yong looked at the girl in his arms. She neither tried to get out of his hold nor turned around to look at him. She just stayed standing still.
It had been a complete week since he had last seen her and even more longer since he last felt her in his arms.
He tightened his hold around her waist and said in a low voice in her ear.
"You have been found guilty of committing treason against this Prince. How do you think you should be punished?"
Li Ming pulled herself out of his arms and turned around. Although Zhang Yong was reluctant but he still let her go.
"Your Highness, don't beat around the bush! It's clear that you don't want to kill me, then please say what's your demand." Li Ming said while looking straight in Fourth Prince's eyes.
Zhang Yong looked at the girl who was staring at him. In his whole life, there was not a single person who had not feared him except his father Emperor. Even the Empress and the Crown Prince were afraid of him.
But this girl, who was standing before his eyes, had never shown any hint of fear from the first time they met. Rather she had contradicted him on nearly every point.
After meeting Li Ming, he had thought that he had finally found his equal. And he was determined to not lose her.
"Umm.....let me think! What about becoming my personal cook and spending the rest of your life in the glory of cooking those delicious dishes of yours for me!" Zhang Yong suggested.
"Your Highness, I have already made this clear before that I have no time to fulfill this fantasy of yours. I will trouble you to please ask for something else." Li Ming said sweetly.
Zhang Yong pretended to think for a while and finally said. But this time his tone was serious and although he was only suggesting Li Ming could hear the demand behind his words.
"I have two things to ask from you." Zhang Yong moved behind her as he said.
"The first one is that from today onwards, you will always inform me about your whereabouts. Deal?"
Li Ming rubbed her forehead with irritation but she knew that she could not get out of this situation unharmed without accepting his demands. Therefore, though reluctantly but she nodded her head in surrender.
A slightly bigger smile appeared on Zhang Yong's face but he soon hid his expression. "Great! And the second one is...."
The next second, the veil on Li Ming's face became loose and before she could do anything, it already fell on the ground.
"...that you should not wear that veil whenever you are alone with me." Zhang Yong completed his second demand as he turned Li Ming around to face him.
Li Ming looked at the Fourth Prince with a frown. Although he looked charming and down to earth most of the time but she was not one to be deceived by this.
Zhang Yong looked at the beautiful girl in front of him and said with a soft tone, "Look like my Ming'er is a peerless beauty."
"I thought you were not into children!" Li Ming said with a smirk.
"And I told you to grow up quickly." Zhang Yong said sweetly as he rubbed her head.
Li Ming pushed his hand away and said with a mocking tone, "Then I think you are in to wait for a long time."
"Right, since everything is sorted out, let me go. I have things to take care of at the inn before leaving. And I will also take you with me tomorrow morning to the place where I have been for the past one week, but you have to leave your guards behind."
"As you wish, I will meet you at the inn tomorrow morning." Zhang Yong said and Li Ming nodded her head.
Then she didn't wait any longer to let Zhang Yong change his mind and teleported back to the inn.