Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 800: Chapter 796: Does Shen Wansan Also Have a Spiritual Pearl?

Seeing Huo Sining staring blankly at the year painting in her hand, Gu Xu found it strange and couldn’t help but ask, ”What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with this painting?”

Interrupted by Gu Xu, Huo Sining snapped back to reality, shook her head, and said, ”Nothing, just thinking that Shen Wansan’s Cornucopia is quite interesting.”

Gu Xu dismissively curled his lips, ”It’s just people being envious of Shen Wansan’s success. People always envy those slightly better than themselves, but not those far stronger. These people don’t want to experience the hardships of effort and struggle, so they can only use such a mental tactic to comfort themselves, thinking Shen Wansan is not really that remarkable, just relying on the Cornucopia.”

Huo Sining’s eyes gleamed with amusement. She looked at Gu Xu and asked with a smile, ”Do you also think the Cornucopia is just a tall tale?”

Gu Xu initially wanted to deny it outright, but at the moment he opened his mouth, a memory of the rainy night when Huo Sining treated his gunshot wound flashed through his mind. His expression paused, and he instinctively lifted his head, trying to glean something from Huo Sining’s face.

Is the world really as he saw it, where everything can be explained by scientific principles? If that’s the case, then how did Huo Sining remove the bullet from his body without bandages or medicine, silently and instantaneously healing his wound?

Gu Xu’s eyes deepened, and his face showed an expression of contemplation.

But Huo Sining did not notice Gu Xu’s anomaly; her mind was still stirred by the shock brought by the year painting.

Previously, when at Shen Wansan’s old residence, the guide had introduced the legend of the Cornucopia without much intent, but Huo Sining, the listener, had listened with keen interest.

Is there really no Cornucopia? In such a feudal era, with such strict hierarchical distinctions, can Shen Wansan, a mere commoner, truly build such a huge business empire with just some capital and extraordinary vision?

Huo Sining felt somewhat doubtful. Especially after seeing the doggerel inscribed on Shen Wansan’s year painting, her inexplicable feeling grew stronger.

There is Shen Wansan in Henan, fishing by the river every day. Fishing not elsewhere, guarding Longwan daily. Fish piled into mounds, selling fish for mountains of silver. The Dragon King granted a treasure basin, wealthy and honored for tens of thousands of years.

The content described in this doggerel suddenly gripped Huo Sining’s heart tightly.

Fishing, treasure basins, dealings with the Dragon King, such terms were very familiar. Since rebirth, Huo Sining accidentally obtained the Water-Repelling Pearl, walking along a path of aquatic treasures and exploration.

Huo Sining suddenly recalled the recent records about the Hongwu Blue and White Twining Branch Pattern Jade Spring Vase. In the twenty-third year of Hongwu, Mo Li, who had risen to the position of Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Finance, took leave to visit his hometown and had called upon Shen Wansan at the Shen residence in Zhouzhuang.

According to Mo Li’s recollections, upon arriving at the Shen residence, he saw that all the utensils used were made of gold and silver, with silk carving as table coverings, and twelve tables set with purple goods. Each table had two Mutton Fat Jade pieces, longer than a foot and about an inch wide, with grooves in the middle for placing chopsticks to avoid dirtying the silk carving.

Drinking vessels were White Agate Plates with markings and a branch of purple grapes, five monkeys competed for picking, called Five Monkeys Competing for Fruit, all treasures.

There were twelve tables of Celestial Harmony goods. Each soup set had seven wine rows; each row had a different treasure cup. Even the household servants wore silk and satin, not to mention other rare exquisite dishes.

Such descriptions had just flashed by Huo Sining previously, but now recalling them, she found it increasingly bizarre.

Historical records even mention that Shen Wansan had a transparent agate wine pot, similar to crystal, with a vine of grapes like ink spots, called Grape Under the Moon, which could allegedly exchange for ”a whole county’s salt vouchers in Jiaxing.”

These utensils from the Shen family were definitely not something ordinary people could buy, with some being rare and sought-after, usually only used by royal families.

In ancient times, adhering to the class distinctions of scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant, Shen Wansan, a mere merchant, should have very low status in that era. Even with more money, it was impossible to have channels to buy such top-tier items.

This further validated Huo Sining’s doubts and speculations. Eliminating these impossibilities only leaves one explanation.

This Shen Wansan likely had similar experiences as her, the Cornucopia might be just a tall tale or a fabrication by the common people, but Shen Wansan very likely obtained a Spiritual Pearl like hers, allowing him to move freely underwater and help him explore and find treasures.

Thus, this man could amass such immense wealth in just a few decades.

If this is true, then Shen Wansan becoming a civilian fortune god wouldn’t be surprising.

Unfortunately, Shen Wansan was too flamboyant. In that monarchical era, his wealth made even the Emperor envious. During those turbulent times, he thought flattering the Emperor would ensure peace, but he didn’t realize his ostentation would lead to his death.

Zhu Yuanzhang exiled Shen Wansan to Yunnan for not presenting his treasure, where Shen Wansan’s property was confiscated. However, the legend of the Cornucopia never ceased.

Zhu Yuanzhang made great efforts and dug Shen Wansan’s grave into pits, even emptying the wells he had dug, without finding the Cornucopia, which enraged Zhu Yuanzhang. He accused Shen Wansan of extermination crimes, implicating the Shen family, forcing some to flee and some to change names, resulting in the Shen family’s extinction and the filling up of Shen Family Village’s wells.

Shen Wansan spent the rest of his life in Yunnan, but the legend of the Cornucopia continued.

During the Republic of China, the Kuomintang authorities heard rumors about the Cornucopia being buried under the Zhonghua Gate in Nandu. They ordered excavations to retrieve treasures, but even digging a hole large enough to house a company yielded nothing.

According to Huo Sining, if Shen Wansan had the same encounter as her, then the Spiritual Pearl must still exist in this world. However, whether Shen Wansan left it to his descendants or hid it somewhere remains unknown.

Even if Huo Sining’s guess is correct, this answer has turned to dust; only Shen Wansan himself knew where the Spiritual Pearl is.

Huo Sining felt conflicted about Shen Wansan’s fate. While lamenting, she also sounded an alarm in her heart. Human nature is greedy; she must keep the secret of the Water-Repelling Pearl absolutely undisclosed. Otherwise, her end may be worse than Shen Wansan’s!