Li Pan, Li An, and Li Ping vied with each other, each claiming it was their idea.
"Enough," Ye Yunniang stopped the three of them.
Considering the three children had acted to vent her grievances, Ye Yunniang couldn't bring herself to be angry.
"There must not be a next ti."
"Mother, there won't be a next ti," the three nodded. Besides, there were no more treasures left for them to dig up.
Ye Yunniang told the three the location of Old Master Jiang's third treasure trove and how to open it.
The three morized it carefully.
"Mother, where is Foster Father's treasure?"
"It's at the sma—" Ye Yunniang stopped and looked at Li An. "Trying to trick into talking."
"No, no, I was just asking casually," Li An chuckled. "Mother, I just rembered I haven't finished my howork. I'll go do it."
"Mine either," Li Pan said, getting up and leaving the room as well.
Ye Yunniang looked at Li Ping, who was also standing up. "Do you also have howork to do?"
"Mother, your hands must be tired from sewing shoe soles. Let massage your shoulders." Li Ping walked behind Ye Yunniang and began kneading her shoulders.
Early the next morning, Bao Min personally ca to pick up the three brothers.
Once in the carriage, Li An gave the destination. "To the abandoned temple."
The carriage arrived at the abandoned temple. The weather was scorching, and many people had gone to dredge the river and reinforce the embanknts.
Very few people were seen along the way.
There were even fewer near the abandoned temple.
Looking at the dilapidated, empty temple, Bao Min had to admit the Jiang family knew how to hide things.
No normal person would think a vast treasure was hidden here.
"How is the chanism opened?"
The three Li brothers exchanged glances. Li An, as their representative, walked into the temple and approached the stone pedestal that once held a Buddha statue. He circled it once.
He stopped at the exact center of the pedestal's back.
He reached his hand into the gap beneath the fifth brick.
"Can you feel it?" Li Pan asked anxiously.
"My arm's too short, I can't press it. Master Bao, you try." Li An moved aside.
Bao Min stepped forward and reached into the spot Li An indicated. He felt a protrusion and pressed it hard.
A series of clicking sounds ca from behind the wall.
A stone door opened in the back wall.
Li Pan and the others were eager to rush in but were stopped by Bao Min.
"It's a sealed chamber. It needs to be aired out first."
After airing it out, Luo Xin entered first with a torch.
Once Luo Xin ca up and reported it was safe, Bao Min led the others down.
They descended the stairs and entered the chamber.
The chamber was spacious. In the center were mountains of gold and silver ingots. Stacked wooden crates lined the walls.
Opening the crates, they found so filled with jewelry and ornants, others with precious dicinal herbs, and still others with antique jade pieces.
"We're rich!" Li Pan exclaid, startling everyone who was lost in awe.
"Luo Xin, take so n and check for any other chanisms," Bao Min ordered.
"Yes, sir." Luo Xin and his n carefully inspected the chamber walls, tapping as they went.
After a thorough search, they found nothing.
"Jiang Mingzhe must have a backup plan," Bao Min's words puzzled Li Pan.
"What does Old Master Jiang's treasure have to do with Foster Father?"
"Your foster father is a master at using others' strength against them. He wouldn't just leave Old Master Jiang's treasure sitting here. He would definitely have done sothing with it."
Unconvinced, Bao Min scanned the surroundings, pondering where the chanism might be.
Hearing this, Li Pan also began looking around.
Li Ping recalled what Ye Yunniang had said yesterday and had a suspicion. He remained silent, mimicking the others by examining the walls.
Li An told Bao Min about the three brothers' discussion the previous night.
According to Ye Yunniang, the total value here was around a million taels of silver.
They would take a quarter share, which was 250,000 taels. The gold and silver were urgently needed by Bao Min. The three brothers only wanted the jade pieces, jewelry, and dicinal herbs.
Bao Min agreed and promised to have their share packed and delivered to Wanxia Lane.
As Bao Min arranged for the treasure to be moved, the Li brothers, having nothing else to do there, prepared to go ho.
Coming out of the chamber, they saw guards stationed outside restraining an old man.
The old man, pinned to the ground, struggled wildly, incessantly shouting, "My treasure! Thieves, you're all thieves..."
Old Master Jiang had moved away from the abandoned temple, but because his treasure was there, he lived nearby and usually kept a close watch on the place.
Seeing a carriage stop at the temple today gave him a bad feeling.
He rushed over only to be seized.
After hearing the report, Bao Min had Luo Xin escort the Li brothers away first.
It was better Old Master Jiang didn't know his own grandsons had brought outsiders to empty his treasure.
Bao Min walked towards Old Master Jiang. "What's going on here?"
Hearing the voice, Old Master Jiang strained to turn his head.
Recognizing who it was, his face turned ashen.
His treasure was lost.
"Old Master Jiang, let's have a talk about you concealing family assets."
Two days later, four large chests were carried into the Li family ho on Wanxia Lane under cover of night.
"Mother, all these are for you," Li An declared grandly with a wave of his small hand.
"You earned these through your own efforts. You're just giving them to ?"
"Everything we have is Mother's."
Li Ping and Li Pan didn't speak, only nodding to show their agreent.
They had gotten these for their mother, so she could live well.
"Alright, I'll keep them."
Ye Yunniang inventoried the contents of the four chests and made a register. In her heart, she planned to give it all to the three children.
The four large chests were very conspicuous. Cai Dai knew about Bao Min borrowing money from Ye Yunniang.
"Grandma, don't bla Master Bao. He's doing it for the people of Jiangcheng."
"Yes, so more children like us can survive."
"Master Bao has a hard job as the official in charge. As family, we should make so sacrifices."
The three children spoke one after another, fueling Cai Dai's rising anger.
Ye Yunniang didn't stop them, nor dared she, afraid of making Cai Dai angry with her.
In her heart, Ye Yunniang prayed Bao Min could withstand the fury Cai Dai was storing up for him.
Bao Min, unaware Cai Dai was waiting for him, was extrely busy after emptying the treasure chamber.
He had to calculate how much to use for labor wages and how much for materials to reinforce the river embanknts.
He also arranged for inspections of houses in Jiangcheng city and its subordinate counties, towns, and villages to prepare for rain.
Just as the embanknts were finished and people wondered what Bao Min would do next, clouds appeared in the previously cloudless sky.
The cloud layer grew thicker and thicker.
A rumble sounded.
Ye Yunniang ca out of the house and looked at the sky.
It was going to rain.
It was finally going to rain!
Boom, whoosh... A torrential downpour!
"It's raining!"
"It's raining—"
Everyone cheered and leaped for joy.
So young people, heedless of the chill, ran into the rain to feel the heavy drops.
At first, the people were ecstatic, overjoyed.
It had been over two years since the last rain.
Rain ant water, water ant they could farm.
With crops, they wouldn't starve.
After three days of relentless downpour, the people's smiles faded.
Half a month later, unease set in.
Low-lying areas were already flooded, and the residents there had been evacuated.
The Wanxia Lane where Ye Yunniang lived was on the city's outskirts, on high ground, so they weren't imdiately worried.
Ye Yunniang checked the cellar daily. Was it leaking?
The n Bao Min had sent had dug the cellar well; it wasn't seeping.
After another ten or so days of rain, water began to accumulate in the lanes of Wanxia Lane, and the water in their small courtyard couldn't drain.
As the rain continued, the water in the courtyard rose. They piled sandbags at the door to block the rainwater.
If the rain kept up, water entering the house was inevitable.
"Yunniang, we're moving to live at Jin Yu Man Tang. Why don't you co with us?"
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