A Tale of Encounters with Immortals: A Peach Blossom Temple in the Martial World

Li Bai wrote in his poem: "My talents will surely be put to use in heaven; though I spend all my money, it will come back again."

Because of the construction of the Taoist temple, Zhang Zhengdao reluctantly spent more than 100,000 taels of silver, thus ushering in the darkest moment of his life.

Building a house is never about how much you spend based on the budget. It's about continuous investment during the construction process. As a result, Zhang Zhengdao now feels a sense of melancholy as he looks at the treasury of silver, which is now mostly empty.

He even asked his eldest disciple, Qingyangzi, to check the account books several times.

The ledger shows that the eldest apprentice, Qingyangzi, was a master of bookkeeping.

At such a young age, he managed not to find any flaws in his work.

Tired of heart!

Today I went to Sister-in-law Gui's house for a banquet.

I was originally planning to take on some business orders, but Sister-in-law Gui said that her elderly mother was already sixty years old, so praying for her was meaningless; living to that age was already a great achievement.

They simply couldn't close the deal.

The main problem is that the price was too high, two taels of silver.

Two taels of silver are no longer enough to hire Zhang Zhengdao; the only option is to hire his junior disciple, Qingxuanzi Yang Shengtian. If we could offer five taels of silver, we could hire his senior disciple, Qingyangzi.

If one is willing to bleed a lot of money and gain a great reputation, spending two hundred taels of silver can invite Master Zhang, whom even the emperor cannot persuade to come. That would give one both face and substance.

This time, the business was brought in for Qingxuanzi Yang Shengtian, but it was unsuccessful.

If it works out, Zhang Zhengdao will receive one tael and five mace of silver, and Yang Shengtian will receive five mace of silver.

However, generally speaking, Yang Shengtian would give all the silver to Zhang Zhengdao.

After all, before becoming a monk, Yang Shengtian was from the Demonic Sect. The Demonic Sect had many ways to make money, and righteous people couldn't beat them, so being called the Demonic Sect was the only way to appease the resentment of righteous people.

If I had known better, I wouldn't have made this one-off deal. Instead, I should have collected tuition and fees every year, like the emperor sent his seventh princess to study here. That would have been a long-term, sustainable plan.

Lu Xiaohua was helping out at Sister Gui's house, constantly on her feet, serving dishes and refilling wine...

"Xiao Hua, don't bother, come and have a drink with the Taoist priest."

Butcher Hu waved to Lu Xiaohua.

Zhang Zhengdao glared at him.

Butcher Hu chuckled sheepishly, "Master, not to be rude, but Xiaohua is not young anymore."

Zhang Zhengdao said, "Why are you just like my aunt, gossiping like a woman?"

Upon hearing this, people from another table nearby chimed in, which displeased Feng the blacksmith's wife. She retorted, "Oh ho, now that you've found a real person, you look down on us ordinary folks. Who says women are gossipy? My wife isn't one. Who does she think she is?"

Zhang Zhengdao suddenly remembered that he had once offended this family.

Back then, someone wanted to introduce Feng Yaogu, the daughter of the blacksmith Feng, to me, but I refused.

When we first got engaged, I was sixteen or seventeen. I should be eighteen now.

These are all old maids.

The main issue is that we haven't even talked about the other person yet.

It's embarrassing to have such a grown woman sitting at home all the time. This woman is now disgusted with everyone, especially this Taoist priest who even refused her marriage proposal.

In particular, this Taoist priest is doing better and better now. I heard that he has spent a lot of money on repairing the Taoist temple. Some even say that the emperor gave the entire Peach Blossom Mountain to Zhang Zhengdao.

Although the government has not made any official statement, the more mysterious the story becomes, the more people believe it.

I felt so much regret before, and now I feel so much hatred.

It's inevitable that they'll speak in a sarcastic or ironic tone.

Lu Xiaohua came over, poured wine for Butcher Hu, and then went to Zhang Zhengdao, bowed deeply, and poured wine for him.

"Please enjoy your meal, Taoist priest!"

Zhang Zhengdao smiled and said, "Go ahead and get busy!"

Lu Xiaohua blushed, took a slight step back, turned around and walked a few steps, then secretly glanced back at the Taoist priest. Although it was somewhat secretive, there were still so many people around, and her heart was pounding.

"Sigh, I regretted not having a daughter."

Butcher Hu slapped his thigh and sighed.

Zhang Zhengdao glanced at Butcher Hu, remaining silent in his heart.

With your looks, if you were to have a daughter, I'm afraid you'd have to spend a lot of money on dowry to get her married off.

Just as they were drinking, they saw the eldest disciple, Qingyangzi, hurriedly come over, lifting the hem of his Taoist robe, with a happy expression on his face. He then whispered a few words in Zhang Zhengdao's ear.

Zhang Zhengdao's hand trembled, and he quickly put down his chopsticks, stood up, apologized to Butcher Hu and the others at the table, said "I'll leave first," and hurriedly left.

The old woman at the next table asked, "Master Zhang left in such a hurry, could it be that his concubine gave birth?"

"You don't know anything! She wasn't showing before, so how did she give birth? Did a baby just fall out of nowhere?"

Butcher Hu sneered, "Speak properly! You dare to make up stories about real people? Haven't you seen how even the emperor shows respect to real people? How dare you be so insolent!"

These women were genuinely afraid of Butcher Hu, this burly man.

She glared at him, seething with anger but unable to speak out, then turned back to continue eating.

But the three or four heads huddled together, discussing some strange things that had happened in Binhe these past few days.

Quan Laoshi went to work as a long-term laborer at the county magistrate's house.

A man ran out of Widow Tian's house in the middle of the night and almost bumped into Old Man Chang, who was sneaking into Widow Tian's vegetable garden to urinate.

……

Zhang Zhengdao walked very fast, almost losing his shoes in the process.

Once they reached the main street, they saw a group of people escorting three horse-drawn carriages.

"Yunying... I've been waiting for you to come home!"

Zhang Zhengdao took the lead, walked to the front, grabbed Hu Yunying's hand tightly, and shook it vigorously.

Hu Yunying was overjoyed, but forcibly suppressed her emotions and said shyly, "Master... in broad daylight..."

Zhang Zhengdao realized what was happening and quickly let go.

Being from ancient times, one couldn't be so blatant in public. So, he cupped his hands in greeting to Liu Yunfei and said, "Long time no see, Brother Liu!"

"Pfft!"

Liu Yunfei knelt down smoothly and kowtowed.

"Please, Master, accept me as your disciple!"

Zhang Zhengdao looked at the three carriages, sighed, and said, "When we parted, I said that if we were destined to meet again, we would meet again. Now it seems that we are still destined to meet. Please rise and greet your senior brother, Qingyangzi."

Qingyangzi proudly took a step forward.

Liu Yunfei then realized that this little boy was the senior brother, so he quickly bowed and called him senior brother.

Qingyangzi nodded slightly and said in a pretentious tone, "Now that you've entered the sect, I'll teach you some rules later. You must always act with decorum. Don't tarnish the reputation of my Daoist sect."

Liu Yunfei quickly agreed.

Zhang Zhengdao then offered his condolences to each of the people.

The car was pushed into the yard, and everyone surrounded Zhang Zhengdao, chatting amicably.

Qingyangzi and Hu Yunying counted the silver, and then together with Qingxuanzi, Yang Shengtian and others, they checked the silver and put it into the vault. Afterwards, they sealed the vault door.

The key to the warehouse door was hanging conspicuously on Qingyangzi's waist.

This is a symbol of power.

In Peach Blossom Temple, having high cultivation or many friends does not necessarily mean having a lot of influence.

To truly hold power is to have control over the treasury, especially the finances.

So when the eldest disciple, Qingyangzi, hung the bunch of keys on his waist, Hu Yunying spoke to him with a touch of warmth. Even though she was now the aunt of all her fellow disciples.

While everyone was chatting, Qingyangzi quietly came over and whispered the amount of silver in Zhang Zhengdao's ear. Zhang Zhengdao then made a promise.

"These past few days you've all thought of the treasures you've been looking for. I'll craft one for each of you as a reward for your trip out to try your luck."

Everyone was overjoyed when these words were spoken.

My wish has finally come true.

In particular, that shameless Qin Shouzhong actually took out a crystal-clear stone from his sleeve and respectfully handed it to Zhang Zhengdao.

"Master, this is a piece of jade that I obtained by chance when I went out this time. It is said to be very rare. I am giving it to you today. You must have gone through a lot of hard work to refine these treasures for us. This is just a small token of my appreciation."

Everyone:...

Even the honest Qing Xuzi was numb.

Can everyone please stop rolling it so tightly?

One person can be shameless, but don't expect others to follow suit.

And...you old geezer, when did you secretly get your hands on a piece of jade from somewhere while we were all out together? I didn't even see you remind me!

Guo Lanying reluctantly took out the only silver ingot from her bosom.

"Sir—I...I've saved up my secret stash of money this time..."

Hu Yunying stared wide-eyed at Guo Lanying in disbelief.

What an obedient disciple! You've really put your master in a difficult position...

He didn't have anything of value left on him.

In the evening, I can only offer my physical body to the Taoist priest to see if it can be exchanged for some money.

Zhang Zhengdao kindly closed Guo Lanying's fingers one by one, saying, "You're such a fool! How could I ask you for money? Keep it for yourself! Make some nice clothes..."

Guo Lanying burst into tears.

The old man is so kind, he cares about me.

"Come on, come on, now that we're back, let's get together today. Lanying... go to Butcher Hu's and buy some meat, buy a few fish from the fishmonger by the river, and also get some wine. Don't forget... also buy some fruit, snacks, and... some cloud cakes too..."

Guo Lanying was stunned.

He watched Zhang Zhengdao talking with a group of people in the courtyard, then looked down at the silver ingot in his hand.

I felt a little disoriented in the wind...