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 time."
"Mother, there won't be a next time," 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 memorized 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 me into talking."
"No, no, I was just asking casually," Li An chuckled. "Mother, I just remembered I haven't finished my homework. 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 homework to do?"
"Mother, your hands must be tired from sewing shoe soles. Let me massage your shoulders." Li Ping walked behind Ye Yunniang and began kneading her shoulders.
Early the next morning, Bao Min personally came 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 embankments.
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 mechanism 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 came 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 came 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 some filled with jewelry and ornaments, others with precious medicinal herbs, and still others with antique jade pieces.
"We're rich!" Li Pan exclaimed, startling everyone who was lost in awe.
"Luo Xin, take some men and check for any other mechanisms," Bao Min ordered.
"Yes, sir." Luo Xin and his men 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 something with it."
Unconvinced, Bao Min scanned the surroundings, pondering where the mechanism 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 medicinal 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 home.
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 home 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 me?"
"Everything we have is Mother's."
Li Ping and Li Pan didn't speak, only nodding to show their agreement.
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 Damei knew about Bao Min borrowing money from Ye Yunniang.
"Grandma, don't blame 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 some sacrifices."
The three children spoke one after another, fueling Cai Damei's rising anger.
Ye Yunniang didn't stop them, nor dared she, afraid of making Cai Damei angry with her.
In her heart, Ye Yunniang prayed Bao Min could withstand the fury Cai Damei was storing up for him.
Bao Min, unaware Cai Damei was waiting for him, was extremely 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 embankments.
He also arranged for inspections of houses in Jiangcheng city and its subordinate counties, towns, and villages to prepare for rain.
Just as the embankments 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 came 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.
Some 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 meant water, water meant 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 immediately worried.
Ye Yunniang checked the cellar daily. Was it leaking?
The men 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 come with us?"
