Transmigration: Lady Chi Woos The Ice cold Professor Jun
Chapter 498: The mother tree was like a small buddha

Chapter 498: The mother tree was like a small buddha

It was still dark outside, that cold morning breeze was still blowing strong when Chi Lian was roused from bed at four o’clock by Muyang. Looking at the time, she yawned and put her head back down on the pillow. It was ungodly to wake up at this time unless it was related to the children. So, she yawned again and asked him, "Is it the kids? Is Mei-Mei crying again?"

"No," he replied in a serious voice, "The royal butler is here."

"At this time?" she questioned in surprise. Was the emperor sick? Had someone died? There was no good to reason to wake someone up at this time unless it was to give them bad news. "What happened?"

"No one died if that’s what you are thinking but the mother tree is being delivered. It is being planted in the garden and the royal butler is requesting for your presence." he pulled her up because he knew that as long as it was unrelated to the children she would be reluctant to leave the bed. After wrapping her up in a thick long silver coat, he escorted her downstairs.

The royal butler was standing at the bottom of the stairs with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, she could tell from it’s smell. How long had he been here exactly? she asked herself.

"Good morning, royal butler." she said as soon as her feet stepped down from the last step.

"Good morning Miss Chi, I am sorry for waking you up at this time." he apologized.

"My husband says that you came personally to deliver the mother tree, is there a need for this covertness? Should the presence of the tree be a secret?" she was rather curious about it. Was it possible that the emperor did not want the Yan family to be aware of this move?

"It’s a bit complicated, you can only keep the mother tree for a month or two. Anytime beyond one month it will be reclaimed at any moment. After two months whether you have made progress or not it will be taken back no matter what you say. The care for the tree is very specific and the instructions are all in this book. Whatever you do, the mother tree must not die or be harmed in any other way, the emperor has gone to great lengths to have it secretly sent to you." he explained.

So, she thought to herself, I must treat the tree like a small buddha, giving it time, love and devotion.

"If it’s a secret then he should not have sent you. Everyone knows that you are the hands and feet of the emperor so if someone sees you here then they will know that you are on an errand for him. Won’t they be able to track down the tree from wherever you got it from to here?" To her it was obvious that this was the reasoning that anyone with more than one brain cell would figure out.

"Don’t worry about, measures have been put in place to keep everyone thinking that the mother tree is where it should be." he assured her.

’Did you clone it?" she blurted.

"Something like that.’ the royal butler smiled mysteriously. ’Follow me, you should take a look a look at it and see what condition it is in. If you want us to change it’s position we can also do that. "

In to minutes they were inside the sealed off garden where two experts were patting the soil and watering around the tree.

"How old is it?" she asked him.

"Really old, some say as old as two hundred years."

She rotated around the tree, observing it looking for that thing which made it so special. "It looks like a bush, if it was placed among other bushes I would not notice it at all. Isn’t it supposed to grow on a rocky terrain, how is this one here?"

"The rest of the trees are on a rocky terrain, the land is owned by the Yan family and they have been making money off it for years as a tourist attraction spot. The royal family could have confiscated the land if possible but there is a an ancient rare tree and a temple on the mountain for an earth deity which has been there for five hundred years or so. Thanks to this it was declared a heritage site. To hold on to it tightly the Yan family even allowed a few monks to live there and build a temple for free. If the royal family attempts to touch it it will come to appear as a move made out of greed." The royal butler explained to her.

"So how did the royal family get this one tree?" she asked him.

The royal butler shook his head, "The tree does not specifically belong to the royal family, it was donated by the Yan family to the agricultural research department so it belongs to the ministry of agriculture."

"Oh, I see." she nodded. "Anyway tell the emperor that I will work hard and give him results within a month. We have made some advancements in genetically modifying plants so I am sure that from this one tree twenty can be raised. I am also sure that the emperor does not want the market to flood with Da Hong Pao because then it will lose it’s rarity and uniqueness. If he wants a specific number of trees I should be informed in advance. I would like to keep one by the way, no two, she changed her mind. I want it as a payment for my hard work. And I want permission to plant some palm trees around the courts, to beautify the environment."

The royal butler scoffed and nodded his head, then he said sarcastically, "Is there anything else that you want?"

"Yes." Chi Lian replied boldly. "Now that the lake has thawed, I want to be able to use it. Both the emperor and I will benefit greatly by turning that place into a mini resort of sorts. Think about it, I will plant some flowers, add some palm trees, build a small bridge across the lake and bring in some lovely swans and ducks. We can build some wooden cabins around for overnight guests and the horses can run around freely."

The royal butler’s eyes were partially closed and he breathed in the smell of the coffee as he imagined the scenario she painted. "You know that the emperor can’t frolic around with normal people."

"One end of the lake can be his private area."

"More people are waking, I have to leave now. Send a daily report of your progress." the royal butler walked out of the garden and they followed him. He handed the empty coffee cup to one of the maids.

"Thank you for coming." Chi Lian waved both hands as the cars drove away. "Muyang, I will meet you upstairs, I want to take a few samples from the tree and have them sent to the temporary lab."

"I will help you." he offered his help immediately.

"No," she stopped him and tapped his chest, "I need to concentrate and your presence will distract me. You heard the royal butler I have to take special care of the tree. I am simply going to pluck a few leaves and cut off a bit of the bark."

"Alright," he let her go, "Are we going back to sleep or do you want to work out?"

"Work out." she answered as she walked away. As soon as she ascertained that she was alone in the garden, she sent the mother tree into the virtual farm where it was cloned and then she planted it back into the ground as she found it. With extra dirt on her hands, it would look more believable that she had indeed done something to the tree. Confidently, with a smile on her face she hopped twice and hummed then continued her way upstairs.