Chapter 21

"Ha ha ha ha!" A carefree laugh echoed.

Tang Jie slowly stood up, only to see the flower bed, which had been trampled and rolled over, was now in a terrible state.

Beside him, Shimu said proudly, "Remember this, after the young master casts his spell, you must act like this. Don't let us remind you again."

As he spoke, he strode out of the garden, stepping heavily on the flowers and plants that Tang Jie had carefully trimmed, crushing the broken leaves and branches.

Another servant, Shimeng, shouted, "Haven't you cleaned up the flower bed yet? Do you want to be lazy and ruin the young master's mood? Useless thing!"

Young Master Weitianchong, however, was completely unconcerned. He just looked at the fallen flowers and his eyes lit up, "Hmm? I didn't expect the flowers to look so beautiful when they fly."

"If the young master wants to see them fly, we can make all the flowers fly," Shimu quickly interjected.

The young master was immediately intrigued, but at that moment, another voice said, "What nonsense? Shimu, don't give the young master bad ideas. If Madam finds out, be careful, she might skin you alive!"

A slightly older youth, Wenqing, the head of the young servants, was walking over. Seeing the flower bed in such a state, Wenqing was clearly furious.

Shimu was not afraid of Wenqing; he just snorted and ignored him.

It was only when the young master heard Madam's name and thought of his mother's cane that he became afraid and had to give up his thoughts, shouting, "Let's go, let's go!"

The group left with a flourish.

Seeing Shimeng ignore him, Wenqing was furious. He knew Shimeng was confident that he would likely be admitted to school and thus didn't take him seriously. Wenqing was angry but had no way to deal with it. He looked at Tang Jie, who was still standing in the flower bed, and said irritably, "Why aren't you cleaning up? What are you standing there for?"

Tang Jie smiled, "I need to report to the storeroom first before I can clean up; otherwise, it will be considered my fault."

Wenqing was surprised by his smile, "Your hard work has been destroyed, and you can still laugh?"

Tang Jie replied calmly, "The flowers belong to the Wei family, not to me. If the young master isn't upset, why should I be?"

Wenqing, seeing this, was dissatisfied and whispered, "Do you know they are deliberately targeting you? I heard Madam is very satisfied with you and wants to transfer you to the young master's side. This is what Yanzhi said."

Tang Jie just glanced at him coolly and continued his work without responding.

Wenqing, seeing that Tang Jie was ignoring him, became even more angry, "Don't you believe me?"

"I believe you, but so what?"

"Of course, you should take the initiative!"

Tang Jie looked at Wenqing with a strange expression.

He knew Wenqing wanted to use him to retaliate against Shimu and Shimeng for their disrespect, but in his eyes, this method was as crude as Shimu's.

Punishment should have a clear target and meaning.

If he were Shimu, he wouldn't openly destroy his work but would secretly cause trouble, like watering flowers that shouldn't be watered or destroying the garden at night and framing him for incompetence, leading to his expulsion from the manor.

Now, with the flowers and plants crushed, it felt good, but it wasn't due to Tang Jie's negligence. It was just the young master's whims, and it didn't harm Tang Jie at all.

Whether it was Wenqing's provocation or Shimu's challenge, neither achieved the ultimate goal of suppression. They were still at the primitive level of venting their anger, enjoying the act of retaliation rather than having a clear purpose.

Therefore, Tang Jie just sneered inwardly, feeling that dealing with these kids was beneath him.

Unfortunately, if he wanted to stand out, he had to be crushed by the strong and the weak, but how he was crushed was his decision, not to be manipulated by Wenqing into being a pawn.

At this moment, Tang Jie replied, "I'm not interested."

"You..." Wenqing, seeing Tang Jie's attitude, was furious and pointed at him, "You're a coward!"

"Being a coward is fine. As a servant, who else should bear the委屈 if not us?" Tang Jie replied.

After working in the government for so many years, Tang Jie had long understood that one should not be too persistent.

No matter how many reasons he had, no matter how just his cause, if he constantly fought with others, it would only leave a "troublemaker" impression on his superiors.

This would definitely not be a good impression!

As for being bullied by Shimu once?

So be it.

Who doesn't suffer some setbacks in life?

Those who can't bear a little hardship are likely to lack the ability to bear heavy responsibilities.

As for secretly getting rid of Shimu, Tang Jie had never even considered it.

The Wei manor was not a battlefield, and there was no room for such ruthless actions; the Qixia world was not a primitive jungle, and there was no such naked "survival of the fittest"; he, Tang Jie, was not a "chosen one" who would kill a family for a slight provocation.

Therefore, Tang Jie had no intention of retaliating; it was both meaningless and unnecessary.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Tang Jie, Wenqing could only say, "You're willingly low!" and stomp away in anger. Tang Jie just shook his head and smiled.

However, Wenqing's words did give Tang Jie a hint: the servants in the Wei manor had complex relationships and helped each other.

Today, Yanzhi had only secretly passed on Madam's words, but if they became more cunning and framed him, he would be in real trouble.

Although Madam was a shrewd person, relying solely on her shrewdness was not reliable.

So, Tang Jie decided to improve his relationships with the other servants. This could be done with some silver. Additionally, if Shimu and Shimeng came again, the flower bed would deteriorate, and even if it wasn't his fault, Madam might still think he was incompetent.

Thinking about this, Tang Jie knew he had to find a way to stop them from destroying his flower bed.

But how?

This had to involve the young master, making him unwilling to do so.

Unfortunately, the young master didn't appreciate it...

Wait, Tang Jie suddenly remembered how Weitianchong had been fascinated by the falling petals.

Right!

Who says men can't appreciate beauty?

Sometimes, it's just that things are so common that they are overlooked.

Weitianchong was still a child and naturally didn't find the familiar things around him interesting. Instead, new and interesting things attracted him more.

With this in mind, Tang Jie knew what to do.

That night, Tang Jie, for the first time, did not return to his room to study array formations but worked in the flower bed all night.

The other servants thought he was still cleaning up the flower bed and secretly laughed.

Shimu and Shimeng were determined to teach this presumptuous, ambitious bastard a lesson again the next day.

The next morning, the young master Weitianchong got up, and Shimu and Shimeng brought him to the garden again.

Just as they were about to repeat yesterday's scene, everyone was stunned.

The flowers in the flower bed had completely changed.

In the middle of the flower bed, a large smiley face appeared, with black chestnut flowers and white chrysanthemums forming the eyes, red blood cherry blossoms forming the lips, green large-leaf orchids and line bamboo forming the face, pink water lilies forming the ears, blue iris forming the nose, and purple mountain azaleas forming the hair, creating a vivid and lifelike smile, which even resembled the young master a bit.

"This... this is..." The servants were all stunned.

Only the young master found it interesting, "Hmm? This is fun! Is... is this me?"

Beside him, Tang Jie respectfully replied, "Yes, young master. Last night, while repairing the damaged flower bed, I noticed that the damaged pattern resembled the young master. I thought it would be interesting to create a likeness of the young master using these flowers, so I boldly tried it. I hope the young master likes it."

Resemblance my ass!

Shimu and the others all thought, can you roll a human shape out of a flower bed?

The young master, however, exclaimed, "I like it, I like it, this is great!"

Since he liked it, and the flower bed was in his likeness, even if Shimu and Shimeng had a hundred reasons, they wouldn't dare to destroy it. They could only glare at Tang Jie helplessly.

The young master asked, "Can you make anything else with these flowers?"

Everyone heard this and knew it was going to be bad.

Sure enough, Tang Jie replied, "Whatever the young master wants, Tang Jie can do it."

Using flowers to create various shapes, a common practice in Earth's landscaping, was something even supermarket ladies could do with cans or other items. In this world, it was still a novelty, no wonder it interested Weitianchong.

Although Tang Jie didn't know much about gardening, he had seen it before and had some knowledge of patterns from studying array formations.

Professional gardeners might look down on Tang Jie, but the young master and the others were not professional appreciators.

An amateur gardener dealing with amateur visitors could still elicit some exclamations of surprise.

At this moment, the young master excitedly asked, "Can you make a likeness of my mother?"

Tang Jie was startled, thinking, this kid is really out of line, even wanting to make a likeness of his mother.

The young master was young and a boy, so making a likeness of him was fine, but the lady of the house was the main person in charge. Making a likeness for the servants to see every day... this would be a sure way to get himself killed!

Fortunately, Weitianchong realized it was wrong and quickly changed his words, "No, not her. What else can you make?"

Tang Jie replied, "This is just a flat image. With enough materials, I can create a three-dimensional one for the young master, like birds, beasts, flowers, and insects, or standing figures. If the young master likes, I can also create a flower statue of the young master, with Shimu and Shimeng serving beside it..."

Shimu and Shimeng both cursed inwardly, who wants you to make us.

The young master, however, was delighted, "Interesting, interesting. If so, make it for me to see."

"I need materials to do it," Tang Jie replied.

"No problem, just tell Wenqing what you need, and say it's my idea. How long will it take?"

"At least ten to fifteen days."

"That's too slow."

"If someone helps, it will be much faster."

"Okay, I'll have them help you, follow your instructions." The young master waved his hand, and his servants were all assigned to Tang Jie.

Shimu and Shimeng looked at each other in surprise. How did they become Tang Jie's subordinates in a moment?

Tang Jie smiled and bowed, "Yes, young master!"

From then on, the servants of the Jingxin Garden began to work with Tang Jie.

Shimu and Shimeng were initially worried that Tang Jie would take the opportunity to get back at them, but Tang Jie didn't do that. Instead, he used the opportunity to build relationships with everyone.

Strengthening oneself is more important than suppressing opponents, and forgiving opponents is easier to earn respect. Tang Jie knew this well.

This approach indeed won him the favor of everyone, even some of the older servants in the manor thought Tang Jie was good. They knew Shimu and the others were hostile to Tang Jie, and his lack of retaliation made them appreciate him even more.

Without the servants to cause trouble, the young master often came to see what Tang Jie was doing, sometimes even helping out.

Of course, his help was more of a hindrance, but no one dared to say anything, and he was having more and more fun.

The garden became the most lively place in the Jingxin Garden. Soon, various flower statues were erected. Tang Jie created all sorts of strange and interesting things, including human figures, dolls, pavilions, and even a small standing figure. The small garden was transformed into a magical and delightful place.

Of course, considering everyone's acceptance, Tang Jie didn't dare to create anything too bizarre, focusing mainly on common objects.

Despite this, when the work was completed, the garden still amazed the ancient manor. Even the old master, the old lady, and the master and madam came to visit.

This was the first time Tang Jie met the old master and others.

The head of the family, Wei Danbo, was a dignified middle-aged man who exuded authority even when silent. He valued rules and didn't like Tang Jie's approach, but the old master found it interesting, thinking it was somewhat showy but also creative. The old master, who had been in the manor for a long time, was tired of familiar things and was naturally pleased with Tang Jie's work.

Since the old master and old lady liked it, even the head of the family, Wei Danbo, couldn't help but be pleased.

For this, Madam Wei Zhengshufeng rewarded Tang Jie with five taels of silver.

Tang Jie took the five taels of silver home and bought a large amount of medicine for the Wu family elders to improve their health. When Madam learned of this, she was even more satisfied with Tang Jie. The young master Weitianchong also became more familiar with Tang Jie and no longer ignored him as before.

All of this, of course, was not pleasant for Shimu and the others. Even the other servants in the Wei manor looked at Tang Jie differently.