High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2392: Chapter 613: Paulownia Tavern

Before she called my name

I was a seed deeply buried beneath the soil

After she called my name

I became a flower

——

Jiang Yu put down the small card in her hand and stared at the bouquet of flowers in front of her, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed.

The short poem was a gift message written on the card without a signature; the card was inserted into the bouquet; the flowers were delivered to the Paulownia Tavern by the steward after she returned from visiting her grandmother this morning; and the Paulownia Tavern was her residence in the old Zhongshan mansion.

Although the steward of the old mansion was usually taciturn and reserved, he was meticulous and diligent in his work, and it was impossible for him to make the mistake of sending something to the wrong courtyard on New Year’s Day.

Yet Jiang Yu couldn’t figure out who would send her such a bouquet on New Year’s Day.

Those who might be motivated to send her flowers did not know the address of the old Zhongshan mansion; those who had the ability to send flowers there did not have a clear motive for sending them.

Similar to Buji Island, the old Zhongshan mansion was also located within a massive barrier, protected by countless powerful magics, so ordinary Green Birds or magical messengers could not possibly find its address, and the number of visitors to the old mansion on New Year’s Day was few and far between—Jiang Yu really couldn’t think of anyone who would give her such a strange bouquet of flowers.

”Did Uncle Wu mention which family sent it?” The witch faintly asked the maid of the Paulownia Tavern while delicately sniffing the chaotic fragrance emanating from the bouquet.

Uncle Wu was the old mansion’s steward, managing the Zhongshan Jiang Family mansion’s affairs for hundreds of years, having seen many Jiang Family children grow up, so he was highly respected by the family’s younger generation, who usually addressed him as ’Uncle Wu’.

The maid respectfully replied, ”The chief steward said that the flowers were sent from the Greenhill Mansion at Buji Island, but the Green Bird that delivered them couldn’t clarify which young lady or young master from Qingqiu sent them.”

”Greenhill Mansion?”

Jiang Yu narrowed her eyes, reassessing the bouquet in her hand.

The flowers in front of her were diverse in color, including rare evening glory and Other Shore Flowers; blue tulips, purple baby’s breath, pink oleanders; as well as ordinary plum blossoms, peach blossoms, cherry blossoms, and more. A small bouquet encompassed more than a dozen different flowers, each with diverse traits and periods, arranged in a somewhat chaotic and haphazard manner, entirely unlike the work of the Qingqiu Su Family.

On the other hand, however, these flowers were exceptionally fresh, definitely harvested within less than twenty-four hours, with their delicate petals and tiny flower buds emanating light and airy magic, and faint traces of flower sprite footprints were visible on the pollinated flowers. It was clear these unique yet similar flowers could only originate from a meticulously maintained magical garden.

She let out a cold laugh, tossing the flowers onto the jade-inlaid Gu Long patterned table by the window.

One plum blossom in the bouquet, hit by an external force, fell from its branch, bouncing onto the table and hit the pale green three-legged jade incense burner. The Deer Complex sculpture on the burner extended its neck, swallowing the flower into its belly, and soon the smoke rising from the incense burner carried a faint plum blossom scent.

”Do you know what this bouquet’s language is?” Jiang Yu’s fingers rested on the back of the rosewood chair in front of the table, stroking its fine and smooth texture, abruptly asking.

The maid looked at the bouquet, listing the different languages of each flower in her mind, discarding the unsuitable ones and associating the appropriate ones, then analyzed earnestly, ”Evening glory represents beauty, Other Shore represents longing, tulip is confession, baby’s breath is fantasy, oleander is steadfastness...”

”Steadfastness?” The Paulownia Tavern’s owner rolled her eyes dramatically, rarely swearing, ”Steadfastness, my ass. The only thing this bouquet wants to express is that it wants everything! It’s like a bear picking corn in the field, unwilling to let go of any beautiful piece of corn it finds!”

The maid stared in astonishment at her mistress.

In her impression, her mistress was always calm and composed, embodying the spirit of being immune to external joys or personal sorrows, and had never displayed such a loss of composure—especially since she compared herself to a ’beautiful piece of corn’, which was indeed an expression lacking restraint.

”Miss!”

The maid chided softly, then paused, raising the wooden box cradled in her arms and changing the topic, ”How do you plan to handle the New Year’s money this year?”

Jiang Yu replied without hesitation, ”The usual routine, all received...Wait, what did we receive this year? Hmm, jade coins, jade coins, jade coins, still jade coins...”

Her fingers fiddled with over a hundred jade coins inside the box, the crisp clinking sound as the jades collided was far from delightful, only adding to her annoyance.

”What do I need so many jade coins for!” she complained, suddenly perking up as she spotted a glittering Copper Coin, engraved on the front with ’Pacify a Hundred Gods’ and on the back with ’Bestow Boundless Blessings’, clearly a protective coin embedded with powerful blessing magic.

The witch picked out the Copper Coin and tossed it to the maid.

”Get a red string, tie a lucky knot, about this big,” she gestured with her hands to indicate the size, adding, ”Hmm, just enough to hang around a two-year-old Little Fox’s neck.”

”Is it meant to be a gift?”

”Yes.”

”Does it need to be placed in a small box?”

”A red one,” Jiang Yu nodded slightly, pausing to emphasize, ”Make sure there’s not a hint of Qingqiu in it.”

The maid noted this down, perplexed yet dutifully.

”And one more thing, regarding this year’s Shanglin Garden Spring Hunt,” the maid seemed to remember something, quietly adding, ”Madam asked me to remind you to participate... Madam is aware that you will be in school during that time, but she said you don’t need to participate for the entire event, just show up for the weekend at Shanglin Garden... Madam also mentioned that you are nineteen this year and should start contemplating further down the road...”

”Madam says this and that, whose side are you on? Are you with Paulownia Tavern or the Main Mansion!” Jiang Yu glared angrily at her maid, casually plucking out a gold-inlaid cloud-patterned jade rabbit paperweight from the bouquet and tossing it aside, ”Pack this bouquet into a flower bag, no need for magical enhancement, just don’t let it die.”

Then she pulled out the rosewood chair and sat down, spreading a sheet of pale red floral paper, tugging at the jade rabbit paperweight’s ear to place it upon the paper, then took out a brush, dipped it in thick ink, intending to write a reply to someone.

But after three attempts, she couldn’t bring herself to start.

Only wasting a few sheets of beautiful floral paper.

The jade rabbit sitting on the paper waggled its ears, eagerly eyeing the bouquet being placed in the flower bag, its small three-petal mouth twitching, as if still savoring that fresh floral fragrance, looking pitifully eager yet too timid to flee.

”Is the gift prepared to be sent to Greenhill Mansion?” The maid stood behind Jiang Yu, quietly inquiring.

”Yes...Um, never mind.” The owner of the Paulownia Tavern abruptly stood up, crumpling the half-written floral paper into a ball, tossing it aside, resolutely stating, ”I will go myself instead.”