Luo River Bank

Winter was only three months long, but Verdant Green Maiden felt as if half a year had passed.

At first, she woke up almost every day to see accumulated snow.

Watching the Palace Staff struggle to trudge a path through the white snow, Verdant Green Maiden ground her fangs, her mood growing more irritable by the day.

This ghostly weather was targeting snakes!

Eventually, Verdant Green Maiden simply stopped waking up, sleeping straight through the entire winter day.

She took over the main hall where Jiang Ziya handled political affairs to hibernate.

To avoid disturbing her, Jiang Ziya moved all the bamboo slips to another palace room and conducted his business there.

Only when the chilly spring arrived and the sunrise melted the snow did Verdant Green Maiden come back to life.

She stretched lazily, kicked open the door, and walked out.

When Jiang Ziya returned and saw one main door crooked and the other shattered, he helplessly called for someone to fix it.

Verdant Green Maiden went out and didn't return for five to six days.

Jiang Ziya was about to send people to find her, but just as he had gathered the Qi people and prepared to set out, she came back.

On her shoulder, she carried half a deer.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, start cooking!"

Jiang Ziya stared in astonishment as Verdant Green Maiden hauled in a deer nearly as big as she was, quickly calling for people to help.

The men originally gathered to search for her now became perfect laborers, helping to carry that half a deer.

"Sir, what are you doing? And where did this deer come from?"

Verdant Green Maiden handed the deer to the Palace Staff, loosened her joints, and said to Jiang Ziya, "Got it from a hunter. Don't worry, I didn't steal it—I paid."

"Ziya didn't mean that."

Jiang Ziya shook his head. He said, "If Sir wanted deer meat, a single word would have sufficed. Ziya would have sent someone to find it for you."

"Why trouble yourself and make the trip personally?"

"I've slept so long—if I don't move around, I'll stiffen up!"

Verdant Green Maiden waved at a few nearby Palace Staff and urged, "Half of this deer meat for roasting, half for stewing. Go on."

"Yes!"

The Palace Staff quickly nodded, and several of them worked together to carry the deer meat away.

While waiting for the deer meat to be prepared, Verdant Green Maiden looked at Jiang Ziya and asked, "I don't see you handling political affairs this time. Have you found all the artisans needed for the new capital construction?"

"Found them. We set out half a month later."

Jiang Ziya nodded.

Verdant Green Maiden said, "I'm going too."

Jiang Ziya looked at her, puzzled, and asked, "Sir is going as well? Why?"

Verdant Green Maiden nodded and said, "Mm, to buy some real estate in the new capital."

"Real estate?"

Jiang Ziya was even more confused. Daily necessities were never something someone of his status considered.

He never expected Verdant Green Maiden to care about such things.

"You wouldn't understand. For people like us, having a nest in the capital city makes you a successful person. I need to go early—if I'm late, the new capital's housing prices will go up, and if I can't afford it, I'll have to sleep in a tree."

"Wind and rain—a little snake's body can't take it."

Verdant Green Maiden smiled, showing her little tiger tooth, and wagged a finger in front of Jiang Ziya.

But even after her explanation, Jiang Ziya still didn't quite get it.

"If Sir wants a residence, just say the word. The Great King will surely prepare an excellent palace room for you."

"No, getting too entangled with power holders isn't a good thing."

Verdant Green Maiden shook her head, resistant to the idea.

The Verdant Green Maiden of the past might have scoffed at auspicious fortune or karma, but since she had turned from a snake into a human, and had truly felt the existence of auspicious fortune over these two thousand years, she naturally kept her distance from those who bore the world's dragon qi.

Unless necessary, she didn't want too much interaction with them.

Who knew if one day the dynasty would run into trouble, and the monarch would need an auspicious true dragon, sending people to search mountains and seas for snakes? Then her little days would be over!

Search book name—if you can't find it, try searching the author. Maybe it just changed its name!

Jiang Ziya didn't say much.

He respected all of Verdant Green Maiden's decisions!

Half a month later, Verdant Green Maiden set out with the Qi State artisan team, heading for the Luo River Bank.

Some artisans recognized her as the legendary Green Robe Immortal Maiden from Ying Qiu, and a few boldly came up to ask her for fortune telling. Verdant Green Maiden turned no one away.

But this time, it wasn't free.

Want a fortune reading?

No problem!

One wild rabbit per divination—if anyone can offer up an ox, she'll cover their fortune-telling for life.

The rabbits on the road had a rough time of it.

After a month of good food and drink, the group arrived at the construction site of the new capital.

On the plain north of the Luo River, an area had already been marked out, with many artisans working within.

In the future, a majestic capital city would stand here!

On a mound, a finely dressed aristocrat was inspecting the site, holding a scroll of animal hide depicting the completed new capital.

Verdant Green Maiden came up behind the youth and peeked at the drawing on the hide scroll.

"How long until Luoyang is finished?"

The youth was startled by Verdant Green Maiden, and only then did the guards beside him notice that a woman had somehow arrived there.

They immediately surrounded her!

The youth steadied himself, saw that Verdant Green Maiden was dressed elegantly, with fair skin and a face unlike that of ordinary citizens—clearly a noblewoman raised in comfort—so he stopped the guards around him.

"I am Ji He, a kinsman of the Great King, in charge of the construction affairs of the new capital, Luoyi."

Ji He gave a slight bow with clasped hands to Verdant Green Maiden as a gesture of courtesy, then asked, "May I ask where the young lady hails from?"

"I came from Qi State," Verdant Green Maiden replied.

Ji He recalled that earlier today, the artisans sent by Qi State had arrived, and asked further, "Did Tai Gong Wang send you here, miss?"

"No, I came on my own."

Verdant Green Maiden shook her head.

Her answer convinced Ji He of her noble status, and he assumed she was a woman of the Jiang Qi imperial clan.

Ji He clasped his hands again.

"Please rest assured, Tai Gong Wang. The artisans sent by all the vassal lords have arrived. At this pace, in just two years, Luoyi will be completed!"

Verdant Green Maiden took a few coin shells from her purse and handed them to Ji He.

"I'm settling down here. This is my rent."

"This..."

Ji He looked bewildered, staring at the coin shells Verdant Green Maiden offered.

"Not enough?"

Seeing Ji He not reach out to take them, Verdant Green Maiden thought he found the amount too little, so she said, "This is for one day. Tomorrow's I'll pay tomorrow."

She wasn't sure how many days she'd stay—if she paid and didn't stay, wouldn't that be a loss?

A poor snake couldn't afford that.

Ji He quickly shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. Since you're a lady of the Jiang Qi imperial clan, there's naturally no problem with you living here. No coin shells are needed."

A lady of the Jiang Qi imperial clan?

Her?

Verdant Green Maiden blinked, looked Ji He up and down, then understood and nodded with a bright smile.

"Alright, thanks then."

A Bastard would pass up a good deal.

Verdant Green Maiden carefully put the coin shells back into her purse. Since he didn't want money, she wasn't about to force it on him.

Ji He, meanwhile, marveled. Everyone said the Qi people were wealthy and especially skilled at trade.

Now it seemed true!

Even a member of the imperial clan talked about coin shells.