Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

The next day, as promised, Old Man Wang delivered five taels of silver to Xia Yu's house, apologizing humbly to Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi. Knowing he would be coming, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi accepted the money without saying anything else, politely chatting with Old Man Wang for a while, and even seeing him off to the courtyard gate when he left.

The next few days were peaceful for Xia Yu's family. Everyone had things to do every day, and although life was a bit busy, it was very comfortable.

Two or three days passed, and the weather grew increasingly hot. On this day, Zhang Youtie was leading people to dig a pond on the wasteland, while Xia Yu and Liu Shi were at home boiling mung bean water.

Several carriages and a guard stopped outside Zhang Youtie's courtyard in the distance. Zhang Youtie, who was digging a pond, saw the carriages parked outside his yard and became uneasy. He stuck his shovel into the ground and ran home.

At this moment, Liu Shi and Xia Yu in the courtyard watched as the young master alighted from the carriage. He was dressed in a dark-colored silk robe with subtle patterns, a dark-colored belt with a beast-head design and gold trim around his waist, and a black jade crown. His appearance was gentle and refined, but his sword-like eyebrows gave him a sharper look.

Steward Ding from the Shen family, whom he had met once before, trotted up to the young master, bowed, said a few words, and then quickly walked towards Xia Yu and Madam Liu.

"Sister-in-law Zhang, that's my master. He's here to ask Brother You Tie and Sister-in-law Zhang about some things. Is it convenient for you?" Steward Ding said politely to the two of them.

"So it's Lord Shen! Please come in quickly. My humble abode is simple, please forgive me." Madam Liu was quite surprised when she learned that this was the master of the Shen family. She didn't expect that someone of his noble status would come to their house in person. She wondered what else he could ask her. Although she had some doubts, she still politely invited him in.

Standing to the side, Xia Yu sensed something was amiss. If there was anything wrong, Steward Ding could have simply asked; why did this official have to make the trip himself? Looking at the villagers peeking into the courtyard, she saw they were all being kept out by the guards brought by Lord Shen. Among the crowd, she also spotted the people from the old house.

Lord Shen nodded slightly to Madam Liu, said "I'm sorry to bother you," and went inside.

Just as Xia Yu was feeling uneasy, his father ran back, only to be stopped at the door as well.

"Manager Ding, Manager Ding!" Zhang Youtie shouted anxiously at the door, seeing the scene.

When Steward Ding turned around and saw it was him, he quickly ran a few steps to the courtyard gate and personally welcomed him in. Seeing how polite he was to his father, Xia Yu felt a little relieved.

Perhaps at Steward Ding's instruction, Zhang Youtie first washed his hands and face with water and dried them before entering the room to greet Shen Jingheng.

Shen Jingheng looked at the family of three kneeling below and sighed inwardly. He hadn't wanted to meet them in this way, but the Emperor had summoned him back to the capital immediately, and he had no time to linger with them any longer.

"No need for formalities, please rise and reply."

After saying that, he waved for Steward Ding to leave, and cleared away all the onlookers at the gate. Seeing this, Xia Yu didn't know what her parents were thinking, but her heart felt like it had fallen into an ice cave, sinking lower and lower.

After doing all that, two men dressed in tight-fitting clothes carried in something, put it down, and then left. Xia Yu glanced at it and was immediately shocked—it was a water vat from the kitchen, filled with well water from her spatial dimension. When Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi saw the water vat being carried in, they understood that something big was about to happen.

Shen Jingheng stood up, took a bowl, scooped some water from the water vat, and pulled out a watermelon seed from somewhere, tossing it directly into the bowl. He then watched the seed sprout, grow, and mature before his eyes. After the seed germinated, grew, and matured, Shen Jingheng poured the remaining water back into the water vat. He then carefully wiped the water off the seedling with a cloth, even as the seedling continued to grow and thicken in his hands. His face remained expressionless as he meticulously dried the seedling, then tossed it into a dimly lit corner of the main room.

"Zhang Xiayu, whose childhood name is Xiaxia, is the daughter of Zhang Youtieliu. She was born on the 25th day of the seventh month of the fifth year of the Da Huai era. A month ago, she hit her head on the mountain and woke up with extraordinary intelligence. She can make objects appear and disappear out of thin air, and can conjure water and make plants grow rapidly. As for your family, before a month ago, your daily diet consisted mainly of corn and coarse grains. However, after your daughter woke up, she first went to Baohetang in town several times to sell golden silk grass. Then you went to the county town to sell shrimp. A few days later, you went to the county town to sell watermelons. During this period, your family also bought an oxcart, purchased 28 mu of wasteland, and enrolled your eldest son, Zhang Changyun, in school." With each sentence he spoke, Xiayu's heart sank. She didn't understand why she had been exposed so quickly. It seemed that this Lord Shen had thoroughly investigated her family before coming.

Looking at the three people kneeling on the ground, trembling, he said, "You two go down first. I need to speak with your daughter alone."

"My lord, if you have any questions, ask this humble servant. My daughter is just an ordinary girl. Please spare her, please spare her!" Zhang Youtie pleaded, kowtowing repeatedly to the ground. Each kowtow landed firmly on the ground. At that moment, Zhang Youtie was filled with remorse. If he had known he would so quickly offend a high-ranking official, he would have honestly farmed the land and would never have used his daughter's spatial ability to make a fortune.

"My lord, my daughter is only eight years old. Please spare her," Liu Shi pleaded from the side.

Shen Jingheng looked at the girl lying on the ground without making a sound. He still spoke up and explained to the two of them, "I have no ill intentions. It's just that there are some things that require your daughter's help. These are not things that just anyone can listen to. It's for your own good that you're not here."

Hearing his attitude, Xia Yu felt a little relieved.

"Father, Mother, you should go out first. If Lord Shen wanted to do something to us, he wouldn't have needed to say all that. Don't worry, Lord Shen is a good person."

Hearing their daughter say the same thing, Zhang Youtie and Liu Shi helped each other up and left the house, looking back every few steps.

Seeing that her parents had left, Xia Yu turned to look at Shen Jingheng above her. "Sir, may I stand up to answer your question?"

Seeing the little girl suddenly unafraid of him, Shen Jingheng stared at her for a while, then a smile suddenly bloomed on his face. "I know you're different from the people around you. Get up. I really do want to ask for your help."

Upon hearing this, Xia Yu nimbly got up from the ground.

"My lord, ask away. I will answer to the best of my knowledge."

“You are not Xia Yu, you are a ghost from another world!” Shen Jingheng said, not as a question, but as a statement.

"I am Xia Yu, but my three souls and six spirits were separated into different worlds before, and I just have some memories from another world." In fact, Xia Yu was talking nonsense, but she couldn't tell the whole truth. Even the biological parents of this body recognized her, and outsiders would have no evidence to doubt her.

"You can make things disappear out of thin air and then reappear."

"Would you believe me if I said it was just a magic trick?"

Where does the water that allows plants to grow quickly come from?

"That was given to me by an old deity while I was in a coma."

"An old sage?" Shen Jingheng looked at Xia Yu suspiciously.

"Yes, it was the old hermit who appeared while I was unconscious after I hit my head."

"Why should he compensate you?" Shen Jingheng asked persistently.

"Because in my other life I was also a fool, suffering and tormented, and in the end I died saving someone." Xia Yu said expressionlessly, as if she were really stating something that made people very unhappy.

After listening to what she said, Shen Jingheng stared at her intently for a long time, as if trying to see through her. Xia Yu sat on the stool, letting him look at her, her expression as if she had no expression at all.