Chapter 116: Washing Away the Worldly Dust for the Divine Nun, Returning to the Mortal Realm

At this moment.

Liu Qingmei, who was currently at the porridge-dispensing station outside the city, was stunned when she saw the task information pop up from the system.

Ye Yin, who was by her side, noticed the strange look on her mother's face and immediately asked with concern, "Mother, what's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing!"

Liu Qingmei hurriedly denied it.

However, her gaze immediately shifted to the third task.

This task had appeared before, but it had been among the options and she had not chosen it.

Now, however, it had become a mandatory task! Liu Qingmei knitted her brows slightly.

She had no objection to wearing prayer beads; after all, she had already opened that door.

But having to do it in front of Ye Yin made her feel very uneasy! Seeing that her mother seemed to be hiding something on her mind yet unwilling to confide in her, Ye Yin could not help but feel a little heartache.

During this period, her mother had been working too hard! Busy with disaster relief every single day.

"A Yin, the Poetry Gathering begins tomorrow. Mother has signed up for both you and Ning Mu. Tomorrow, Mother will accompany you both."

Liu Qingmei suddenly spoke up.

"Ah?" Ye Yin was startled, then nodded immediately and said, "Alright, Mother."

Although she was somewhat unhappy about having to be with Ning Mu, it was ultimately a good thing if it allowed her mother to rest.

On the other side.

After leaving Jikong Temple, Liuli rushed to the next temple.

Temples in prosperous times have flourishing incense.

Within the entire territory of Yonghang, there were dozens of temples, both large and small.

If she could get all these temples to reshape the golden bodies of the Buddha statues and renovate their temple halls, it would bring a strong mitigating force to this disaster.

In truth, she admired Ning Mu from the bottom of her heart.

Although this brat was always acting like a loafer and was driven by lust, unable to move his feet whenever he saw a beautiful woman.

But it could not be denied that while he loved beauty, wealth, and enjoyment,

there was still a glimmer of kindness hidden deep in his heart.

Work-for-Relief.

Expanding the Sacrificial Saint Festival to stimulate consumption.

Colluding with officials to stabilize grain prices and tricking all the outside Grain Merchants into coming.

Although these various methods appeared somewhat underhanded on the surface,

it could not be denied that they were indeed a good prescription for saving the disaster situation.

If that brat could be so concerned for the world, how could she, as a Disciple of Bolu Zushi and a member of the Buddha Gate, be inferior to others? She also had to contribute!

After a simple inspection, she discovered that the current workload of the Work-for-Relief projects was completely insufficient to cope with the increasing number of disaster victims.

Buddhist temples were undoubtedly the best places in this chain to implement Work-for-Relief.

Therefore, she took action!

In two consecutive days, she had already negotiated with eight temples to launch Work-for-Relief measures.

Next, she planned to negotiate with at least fifteen more! Of course, her negotiation tactics might not be that honorable.

Languan Temple.

Just as she arrived at the temple gate, Liuli's expression suddenly froze.

Looking at the new task appearing on the system panel, her face immediately flushed red.

Bah! What kind of bizarre system is this? It actually wants her to soak in a hot spring with him? Especially the option for Task Three below, which was even more embarrassing.

Looking at the three options.

A sense of rebellion rose in her heart.

Hmph.

Option one was so obvious; wasn't it just trying to make her choose that?

This seat simply won't choose it! Liuli sneered and immediately chose the second option.

Herding on the Southern Mountain.

"The arrival of Divine Nun Ciyun is a great honor, a great honor indeed. My Languan Temple has already made full preparations. The Arhat Hall is responsible for dispensing porridge down the mountain. In addition, we plan to recruit another three thousand to five thousand able-bodied men to reshape the golden bodies for the Buddha. Furthermore, we will build two more temple halls and a pagoda. The people to be recruited have already gone down the mountain. Please, Divine Nun, do not hesitate to instruct us if this arrangement is appropriate~"

Before Liuli could speak.

At this moment, a figure arrived from the temple, landed steadily in front of Liuli, pressed their palms together, recited a Buddhist chant, and explained with a sincere attitude.

This person was the Abbot of Languan Temple.

He had already heard that Divine Nun Ciyun was storming the gates of various temples, ordering them to implement Work-for-Relief.

Therefore, without waiting for Liuli to speak, he had already taken the initiative to make arrangements.

Rather than eventually being forced by intimidation to save the world,

it was better to be proactive, which could earn him a reputation and leave a bond of kindness with Divine Nun Ciyun, and especially with Bolu Zushi behind her.

"Very good. If the abbots of other temples were as easy to talk to as you, it would have saved this nun a lot of breath."

"We shall meet again if fate allows. This nun takes her leave!"

Liuli accepted the new task, nodded with satisfaction at the Abbot of Languan Temple before her, then leaped up and headed to the next one.

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, it was the fifth day of the fourth month.

Today was the day the Yichun Courtyard leisure, entertainment, and wellness club officially opened.

Under Ning Mu's arrangements.

Today, Liuchun Pavilion, along with this Yichun Courtyard, as well as the Perfume manufacturing workshop, the brewing workshop, and other industries, have been unified under the banner of the Ning Trading Firm.

And Tong Yuyue, the concubine of Ye Bufan who nominally still belongs to the Ye Family.

Has officially taken up the post of Shopkeeper of the Ning Trading Firm.

Ning Mu has completely washed his hands of the matter.

The opening of Yichun Courtyard, with Prefect Pi Taiyu personally showing his support, plus Liu Qingmei's connections in Yonghang City, was naturally incomparably lively.

However.

As the host, Ning Mu only accompanied Pi Taiyu to the third floor of Phoenix Tower, while the rest of the people were being attended to by his subordinates.

And at Pi Taiyu's side, Pi Yalu was prominently present.

After some idle chatter.

Looking at the endless stream of guests entering Yichun Courtyard downstairs, Pi Yalu suddenly turned her head to look at Ning Mu and asked curiously, "Brother Ning, I heard from my father that the Liuchun Pavilion perfume shop is also your business?"

Ning Mu was stunned for a moment, then nodded and smiled, "Just a small venture, I didn't expect it to alarm Miss Pi?"

"What scent of perfume does Miss Pi like? Shall I have someone send a few bottles to your residence another day?" Pi Yalu smiled lightly, "Brother Ning is too kind, isn't this supplied in limited quantities and numbers? If I take an extra bottle, wouldn't others have one less?"

"The limit only applies to others. Perfume is for beauties, after all. For someone as naturally beautiful and stunning as Miss Pi to use my family's perfume is giving me face, and it can be considered as doing publicity for my Liuchun Pavilion, right?"

Ning Mu smiled.

Who doesn't love being complimented? Hearing Ning Mu's words, Pi Yalu's eyes lit up, and she immediately smiled lightly, "Then Brother Ning must send a few more bottles, my close friends are very numerous~"

"I'll send them, I'll send them all, haha!" Ning Mu said with a smile.

"Brother Ning is truly a strange person. The limited supply at Liuchun Pavilion, that ingenious queuing method, the current renovation of this brothel, and the various measures for disaster relief—at first, I was very confused, but thanks to my father's patient explanation, I finally understood the deep meaning behind them."

Pi Yalu did not stint on her appreciation for Ning Mu, her words full of admiration.

Her father, Pi Taiyu, stood to the side with a look of great satisfaction.

"Speaking of which, tomorrow the seniors from Jixia Academy will come to our Yonghang to look for talented scholars who can enter the Academy. I wonder if Brother Ning has any excellent poems to present, so you can stand out at this grand gathering and gain the favor of the Academy seniors?"

Pi Yalu changed the subject, her beautiful eyes fixed on Ning Mu.

Obviously.

Her purpose was to probe his background.

For this Sacrificial Saint Festival Poetry Gathering, Jixia Academy will, according to old custom, recruit the top-ranked individuals to practice in the Academy.

For this spot, Pi Yalu is determined to win.

Over the past year, she has polished several works, hoping to draw the Literary Qi of the Saint into her body during the Sacrificial Saint Festival Poetry Gathering and simultaneously be admitted to the Academy.

Ning Mu was naturally already familiar with these rules.

But he had no intention of going to that so-called Jixia Academy to practice.

Isn't this carefree life now wonderful? He smiled and waved his hand, saying to Pi Yalu, "I am shallow in talent and learning, so I won't make a fool of myself. I heard that Miss Pi is a talented woman at White Deer Academy; surely you will stand out this time and gain the favor of the Academy!"

"Brother Ning is joking~"

Pi Yalu felt relieved in her heart.

And at this moment.

Pi Taiyu interjected, "Little Friend Ning, I wonder when the grain price will fall back?"

Ning Mu counted the days on his fingers, then calculated the grain sent by those grain merchants at the various ports and inns, and then said to Pi Taiyu, "Prefect, in my opinion, let's wait a few more days. By then, the official granary and the Jin Trading Firm will lower prices simultaneously. This period should last about half a month. The grain from the Jin Trading Firm might not be enough, so I will have Jin Xiangyu find a way to collect some more, striving for about seven or eight hundred thousand catties."

"Hmm, I have about a million catties of coarse grain in the official granary, nearly two million catties in total; surely that will be enough to crash the grain price!"

Pi Taiyu frowned, feeling a pang of heartache.

According to the Ministry of Revenue's reply, for self-organized disaster relief, official grain and imperial grain can be used.

If this grain were kept in his own hands, it would be a huge fortune!

Now, in order to quell this disaster, he has to grit his teeth and part with it.

Looking at the unnatural expression on Pi Taiyu's face, Ning Mu smiled and said, "The key is to ensure the work-for-relief measures are in place. Now that various temples have also come down from the mountains to recruit strong men for large-scale construction, as long as the disaster victims have work to do and can be self-sufficient, even if we don't crash the grain market, the price will naturally fall back!"

Hearing this, Pi Taiyu's eyes lit up immediately.

That makes sense! It seems he needs to expand the scale.

Suddenly.

A flash of inspiration hit him, and he looked at Ning Mu, saying, "The reason for this great disaster is mostly due to the collapse of the dam on the upper reaches of the Han River. Why not rebuild this dam? This would require many laborers, and I can also submit a memorial to the Imperial Court to request funds for the dam construction. It's a win-win strategy. What does Little Friend Ning think?"

Ning Mu thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "This is a good idea, it can also be considered disaster relief by the Imperial Court. A brilliant plan, Prefect."

"Haha, Little Friend has great talent!"

The two of them blew rainbow farts at each other.

Afterwards, Ning Mu had Yu Linglong make arrangements for Pi Taiyu to experience the new customized service, and for Pi Yalu to experience the sauna.

And almost at the same time that Yichun Courtyard successfully opened.

Far away in Jinshui Town, Cangjian Villa was in chaos, and several Clan Elders all came out of seclusion.

As the only Grandmaster guarding the villa, Ye Qingxian's life or death was unknown.

Countless doctors were urgently discussing treatment strategies in the room.

At the same time.

Several riders on flying horses departed from Cangjian Villa, galloping in all directions.

The Clan Elders gathered together and talked in the main hall for three days and three nights.

There was discussion, and there was arguing.

And during these three days, following the Clan Elders' decision, a total of three flying horses were sent to Yonghang City to deliver letters.

————

After settling Pi Taiyu and his daughter, seeing that he had nothing to do, Ning Mu took the little maid Xia Chan and went to Yingyue Terrace.

Passing through the corridors and pavilions, he had just entered the grounds of Yingyue Terrace.

Suddenly.

A graceful figure descended from the sky.

"Master, how do you have the time today for such refined leisure? Is there some happy occasion?"

Seeing Liuli drift down and block his path, her slender, graceful figure swaying with a charming afterglow as she walked toward him, Ning Mu could not help but ask.

Liuli pursed her lips, ignoring the undisguised appreciation in Ning Mu's eyes.

Instead, after stepping closer, she glanced sideways at Xia Chan, who was following behind Ning Mu, and then said to Ning Mu earnestly: "I have already urged the twenty-three larger temples within the borders of Yonghang to implement the Work-for-Relief initiative. The larger ones are recruiting thousands of able-bodied men, and even the smaller ones have hundreds. I trust this measure should be able to alleviate the current difficulties for you, little friend?"

A hint of surprise flickered in Ning Mu's eyes, and he nodded with a smile: "That is excellent. The Master is truly extraordinary. By stepping in, you have solved the employment problem for at least tens of thousands of people. In this disaster relief effort, the Master deserves the primary credit!"

Ning Mu gave a thumbs up, showing his approval to Liuli.

"Xia Chan, go and inform the Prefect of this matter, and then send someone to notify my wife."

Ning Mu casually found an excuse to send Xia Chan away.

"For me, this was just a matter of moving my lips; it cannot be considered primary credit. On the contrary, little friend Ning, you have been working hard these past few days. If not you, then who deserves the primary credit?"

Liuli looked at Ning Mu, her eyes filled with deep meaning, especially when she deliberately emphasized the words "working hard."

Ning Mu laughed heartily.

He walked straight into the Jia-sized Courtyard.

Liuli pursed her lips and had no choice but to follow quickly.

Looking at the task flickering on the task interface, her heart could not help but thump wildly; the depth and indifference in her eyes vanished completely, replaced by a flush of budding passion.

"Little friend Ning, can the water in this hot spring pool wash away all the worldly vanity from one's body?"

Seeing Ning Mu standing by the hot spring pool, already beginning to undo the buttons of his clothes.

Liuli gathered her courage, her words filled with hidden meaning.

"If the Master is interested, why not wade in and try? Whether my own worldly vanity can be washed away is one thing, but I can certainly help the Master wash away all worldly vanity, return to the mortal world, and become a beautiful woman, happy and carefree~"

Ning Mu smiled faintly, tossed the clothes in his hand aside, and looked back at Liuli, whose beautiful eyes were shimmering and whose expression revealed a hint of embarrassment and helplessness, his words filled with deep meaning and teasing.

(End of chapter)