Although winter lasted only three months, Verdant Green Maiden felt as if half a year had passed.
At first, she woke almost every day to find snow piled everywhere.
Watching the palace attendants struggle through the snow to clear a path, Verdant Green Maiden ground her sharp teeth, growing more and more irritable.
This cursed weather had it in for snakes!
Eventually, Verdant Green Maiden simply stopped waking up and slept through the entire winter!
She hibernated in the grand hall where Jiang Ziya handled state affairs.
So as not to disturb her, Jiang Ziya moved all the bamboo slips to another palace chamber and conducted his affairs there.
Only when the chill of early spring set in and the snow melted beneath the rising sun did Verdant Green Maiden come back to life.
She stretched, kicked the door open, and walked out.
When Jiang Ziya returned, he saw that one door hung crookedly, while the other had been smashed to pieces. Helpless, he called for people to come repair them.
After Verdant Green Maiden went out, she was gone for five or six days.
Jiang Ziya had been about to send people to look for her, but just as he had gathered them and was ready to set off, Verdant Green Maiden returned.
She had half a deer slung over her shoulder.
"Quick, quick, quick! Get a pot on and start the fire!"
Jiang Ziya stared in astonishment as Verdant Green Maiden carried in a deer nearly as big as she was, and hurriedly called people over to help.
The people he had summoned to look for her now made the perfect labor force, helping carry the half-deer.
"Sir, what are you doing? And where did this deer come from?"
Verdant Green Maiden handed the deer to the palace attendants, loosened up her limbs, and said to Jiang Ziya, "I got it from a hunter. Don't worry, I didn't steal it. I paid."
"That isn't what I meant," Jiang Ziya said.
He shook his head. "If you want venison, just say so. I can send people to find some for you!"
"Why go to all this trouble and make the trip yourself?"
"I've slept so long that if I don't get some exercise, I'll stiffen up!"
Verdant Green Maiden waved at the attendants nearby and urged them, "Roast half the venison and stew the other half! Go on."
"Yes!"
The attendants hurriedly bowed, then carried the venison away together.
While they waited for the venison to be ready, Verdant Green Maiden looked at Jiang Ziya and asked, "I haven't seen you handling state affairs lately. Have you found all the craftsmen you need to build the new capital?"
"We have. We leave in half a month," Jiang Ziya replied with a nod.
"I'm going too," Verdant Green Maiden said.
Jiang Ziya looked at her in confusion. "Why would you go, sir?"
"Mm. I'm going to buy some property in the new capital."
"Buy property?"
Jiang Ziya was even more bewildered. Food, clothing, housing, and transportation were never things someone of his station had to worry about.
He hadn't expected Verdant Green Maiden to care about such things, either.
"You wouldn't understand. For people like us, having a place of our own in the capital means we've made it. I have to get there early. If I go too late and prices in the new capital rise, I might not be able to afford a house. Then I'll have to sleep in a tree."
"Being battered by wind and rain is too much for a little snake like me."
Verdant Green Maiden smiled, showing a little fang, and waggled a finger in front of Jiang Ziya.
Even after all that, Jiang Ziya still didn't quite understand.
"If you want a place to stay, sir, you need only mention it. The Great King will surely prepare one of the finest palaces for you."
"No, thank you. Getting too entangled with those in power is never a good thing."
Verdant Green Maiden shook her head, clearly reluctant.
Perhaps the Verdant Green Maiden of old would have scoffed at talk of Auspicious Fortune and Karma. But she had gone from a snake to a human, and over the past two thousand years, she had felt the existence of Auspicious Fortune with her own body. Naturally, she kept her distance from those who bore the Dragon Qi of the realm.
Unless absolutely necessary, Verdant Green Maiden wanted as little contact with them as possible.
Who knew what might happen if something went wrong with the dynasty one day? The King might need an Auspicious True Dragon, and then the whole realm would be combing mountains and probing the seas to catch snakes. How would she ever live in peace?
Jiang Ziya said nothing more.
He respected every decision Verdant Green Maiden made!
Half a month later, Verdant Green Maiden set out with the team of Qi State Artisans, heading for the banks of the Luo River.
Some of the craftsmen recognized her as the Green Robe Immortal Maiden from the legends of Ying Qiu. A few worked up the courage to ask her to tell their fortunes, and Verdant Green Maiden turned no one away.
This time, though, it wasn't free.
Want your fortune told?
No problem!
One wild rabbit bought one reading. If anyone could offer a whole ox, she'd tell his fortune for the rest of his life.
The rabbits along the road suffered for it.
After a month of good food and comfortable travel, the group arrived at the construction site of the new capital.
A section of the plain north of the Luo River had already been marked off, and plenty of craftsmen were at work there.
One day, a towering capital would rise here!
A richly dressed nobleman stood inspecting the site atop a mound, holding a scroll of animal hide that depicted what the new capital would look like once it was finished.
Verdant Green Maiden came up behind the young nobleman and leaned over to look at the drawing.
"How long will Luoyang take to build?"
The young nobleman jumped at the sound of Verdant Green Maiden's voice. Only then did the guards at his side notice that a woman had somehow appeared there.
They immediately surrounded her!
The young nobleman steadied himself. Seeing Verdant Green Maiden's fine clothes, fair skin, and features unlike those of an ordinary person from the realm, he decided she must be a noblewoman raised in privilege. He stopped the guards.
"I am Ji He, a kinsman of the Great King. I'm in charge of building the new capital, Luoyi."
Ji He bowed slightly and clasped his hands in greeting, then asked, "May I ask where you've come from?"
"I came from Qi," Verdant Green Maiden replied.
Remembering that the craftsmen sent by Qi had arrived earlier that day, Ji He asked, "Did Tai Gong Wang send you here?"
"No. I came on my own," Verdant Green Maiden said with a shake of her head.
Her answer convinced Ji He that she was a noblewoman, and he took her for a daughter of the Imperial Clan of Jiang Qi.
Ji He clasped his hands again.
"Please assure Tai Gong Wang that craftsmen sent by all the lords have arrived. At this rate, Luoyi will be finished in just two years!"
Verdant Green Maiden took several Coin Shells from her purse and handed them to Ji He.
"I'm staying here. This is my rent."
"This..." Ji He stared at the Coin Shells she was offering, looking perplexed.
"Not enough?"
When Ji He didn't reach out to take them, Verdant Green Maiden assumed he thought it was too little. "This is for one day. I'll pay you for tomorrow tomorrow."
Who knew how many days she'd stay? If she paid in advance and then left early, wouldn't that be a loss?
A poor snake couldn't afford to waste money.
Ji He hurriedly shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. Since you're a daughter of the Imperial Clan of Jiang Qi, you may stay here if you wish. There's no need to pay in Coin Shells."
A daughter of the Imperial Clan of Jiang Qi?
Her?
Verdant Green Maiden blinked, looked Ji He up and down, then understood. She nodded with a bright smile.
"That works, too. Thank you."
A fool was the one who turned down a freebie.
Verdant Green Maiden carefully tucked the Coin Shells back into her purse. Since he didn't want the money, there was no reason for her to insist on giving it to him.
Ji He, meanwhile, couldn't help marveling. Everyone said the people of Qi were wealthy and especially skilled at trade.
It seemed that was true after all!
Even the first thing a member of the Imperial Clan brought up was Coin Shells.
Before you continue