Their Villain, The Mogul's Beloved

Chapter 223

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Chapter 223

“This?” Zinnia dug it out from the bottom, where it had been buried for weeks. Her master had given it to her, muttering something about how she could take it to some shop if she ever got into trouble.

But she’d been half-asleep, and the details were fuzzy. She hadn’t needed it in Jinston, so she’d just shoved it in her bag-partly because she was still annoyed that her master had left without explanation. The token stayed, forgotten at the bottom.

“Yeah. Can I take a look?” The clerk’s voice buzzed with sudden energy as he stared at the

token in her hand.

“Sure.” Zinnia handed it over without a second thought.

The clerk took the token in both hands, studying it. At first glance, it looked ordinary—just a plain brown piece of wood. But when his fingers touched the bottom-right corner, he recognized the texture. His pulse jumped as the truth hit him-this was the real deal.

“Miss, what herbs are you selling? We’ll take everything you have.” The clerk smiled as he handed back the wooden token, his tone shifting from polite to friendly in a heartbeat.

The higher-ups had been clear: Anyone with this token got whatever they asked for-no questions. He didn’t know why a girl like her had it, but that wasn’t his problem. His job was simple-follow orders.

“I only have five,” Zinnia said, tucking the token away and pulling out a small white tin. She hadn’t planned to sell more—the rest were for something else.

“Will

you buy these?” She opened the box, revealing a messy pile of ginseng roots.

The clerk’s eyes went wide. “This… this is wild ginseng! At least eighty years old!” His hands trembled as he reached toward the roots.

The store handled plenty of ginseng, but specimens like this-wild, with perfectly preserved roots-were extraordinary. It was not quite ancient, but the wild growth made it worth a

fortune.

“Yeah,” Zinnia replied casually. She glanced at the tangled roots, suddenly guilty for stuffing them in carelessly. As she tried to straighten them out, a thin rootlet snapped between her fingers.

any longer. “Please, miss, don’t trouble yourself,” he said hurriedly. “We’ll take it all. Just leave it

rare, wild ginseng, worth a small fortune, and

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Chapter 223

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have fetched thousands-yet Zinnia snapped it off without a second thought, as if it were worthless. Worse

disbelief. ‘Does she truly not understand how

understand his reaction. To her, it was just ginseng-nothing special. She’d grown up surrounded by it in that small town, where her master had once ground it into bitter

thought about giving the ginseng as a gift when she

gone well. After Betty fainted that first day-sending the family scrambling to the hospital while Zinnia stood

she’d made up her mind- the Shaws didn’t deserve it.

infinitely better than handing it over to the

forget a grudge. Wrong her, and she’d return the favor with frost. Offer kindness, and she’d match it

mutual.

*****

five wild ginseng

never failed to surprise her. She had expected

in that small town, wild ginseng might fetch a few thousand at best—just enough for her master to put meat on the table for a week or two before

enough to keep her in meat for

were only the smaller roots. Her suitcase still held bigger ones, and more grew untouched in Tareston.

neatly packed, Zinnia left the mall, eager to get home and properly position

would never have swallowed all those ginseng pills her master gave her. Each

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marveled at the ginseng’s staggering worth in Jinston. Back home, this much money could have fed them properly for

much about ginseng’s value. Her master had simply told her one root could buy a meat meal, and she’d taken

a warm thrill through her. For now, she was staying with the Lynns,

coin.