Xiao Hong seemed thoughtful, probably understanding somewhat, but said with difficulty, “But it doesn’t like eating the food you brought. If you force-feed it, it will spit it out.”
The sword-brow man said, “Food for purifying the heart and curbing desires naturally has little taste. It’s normal not to like it. If it doesn’t want to eat, let it starve. When it’s so hungry it can’t bear it, it will naturally eat. This little one has just been weaned. It’s precisely the time to develop good eating habits. Don’t spoil it. After another month or so, when its stomach and intestines’ ability to digest food has improved, it can be given Evil Spirit Pills. By then, as it slowly grows, its spiritual intelligence will gradually awaken, and it will become the best companion for your family’s young lady.”
Evil Spirit Pill? Nan Zhu’s eyes flickered slightly, his heart secretly shaken. Goodness, this little dog would actually take an Evil Spirit Pill worth ten million taels of silver per pill?
He sometimes truly couldn’t understand the thinking of wealthy families. The value of one Evil Spirit Pill was enough to cultivate a Profound-level cultivator. They would rather casually spend so much money on a pet than casually spend it on a person. He really didn’t know what they were thinking.
He discovered that his entire life was not as good as a dog of a wealthy family.
Xiao Hong picked up the little dog. “Purple Dragon, now you’re going to go hungry. Who told you not to be good.”
Feng Changdian couldn’t help asking, “This spirit pet really does look like a dog.”
The sword-brow man smiled faintly. “Steward Feng, this is not called a dog. It’s called a ‘Purple Cloud Hou’. It simply hasn’t grown out yet. When grown, it will be much bigger than a dog. One swipe of its claw can easily burst the brains of lions, tigers, and leopards. Ordinary fierce beasts will have to walk around it.”
Feng Changdian sighed. “Never seen one before. When did the Third Miss start raising this thing? When it grows up, we’ll have to be careful.”
Xiao Hong said proudly, “It’s a gift from the Sect Leader of Green Lotus Mountain to the young lady. Young Master Chu brought it down the mountain just three days ago.”
Hearing it was a gift from the Green Lotus Mountain Sect Leader, Feng Changdian swallowed back his words about raising this thing being dangerous and simply responded with a couple of “ohs”.
Nan Zhu clicked his tongue in his heart again. The Green Lotus Mountain Sect Leader was the leader of a major sect. He didn’t know who this Third Miss was to have such great face.
At this moment, Feng Changdian also realised this fatty was still there. He immediately said with a grunt, “You did well. Go back first. I said there would be a heavy reward, and there will be a heavy reward. You won’t be shortchanged.”
“Yes.” Nan Zhu retreated with an obsequious smile on his face.
The sword-brow man and Xiao Hong didn’t stay long either. They left together with the little one.
As for Nan Zhu, the moment he walked out of the drying yard, he was surrounded by a group of envious servants.
“Hey, fatty, what did Steward Feng reward you with?” a servant in blue asked.
Nan Zhu spread his hands. “Don’t know, he said he’ll give it later. By the way, who was that maid? How come it looked like even Steward Feng had to give them face?”
The servant in blue chuckled. “That’s Xiao Hong, the Third Miss’s personal maid.”
“And who is the Third Miss?” Nan Zhu took the opportunity to ask.
…
The sun was setting in the west. Outside the side gate on the west side of the Wen residence, a small cargo boat was moored in the river lane. Mu Aotie, together with other servants, boarded the boat one after another to load grain. Once two baskets were full, they were carried ashore and delivered to the residence.
The grain was fine, new grain. The common people at the bottom might not be able to afford it, but in the Wen residence, it was regularly supplied to the various kitchens within the residence.
Although he could only walk the designated route under the watchful eyes of the guards, Mu Aotie had still managed to enter the inner courtyard of the Wen residence.
Along the way, he was silently observing his surroundings, memorising routes and terrain, secretly guessing where the “Wen Shu Pavilion” was.
Nan Zhu had likewise mixed into the inner courtyard of the Wen residence on his first day entering, although the level of access was rather superficial.
He could only wander around the nursery area near the entrance to the inner courtyard.
Under the setting sun, a large fatty was following an old gardener learning how to weed, how to prune flowers and trees, how to water plants and trees, and so on.
The entire Wen residence’s flowers, plants, and trees were constantly tended by dedicated personnel. They had to remain vibrant, lush, and eternally thriving for guests to see. This was the grandeur of a great family.
Steward Feng kept his word. The reward came quickly. First, a direct reward of one tael of silver. Secondly, this gardening job.
It counted as an easy assignment. The key point was that he could learn some skills, and moreover, his monthly wages could increase by fifty wen.
This was the so-called heavy reward from Steward Feng.
This was the heavy reward Nan Zhu received for hogging the credit of all three fellow disciples.
Nan Zhu accepted it with a smile to his face, but the moment he turned around, he scoffed and cursed inwardly. Spirit pets were so valuable, yet for helping find it, he was only rewarded one tael of silver. They really treated him like an ignorant country bumpkin. Had he known earlier, he might as well have let Old Fifteen have a meaty meal, and they could all have tasted iron-pot stewed spirit pet together.
At the root of it, he simply looked down on this kind of reward.
In reality, for other ordinary servants, this was indeed a heavy reward.
The sun was about to set. The servants who had finished their work packed up one after another and went to eat.
The three fellow disciples met again in the dining hall. None of them were used to the food, yet they all had to force themselves to come.
When getting food, the others wished for more, so the three of them couldn’t very well ask for less.
Yu Qing had experience. He had his own separate quarters, which made things easy. After filling a bowl of food, he turned around and left directly. If anyone asked, he said he was taking it back to eat slowly.
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie noticed out of the corners of their eyes, and also got up one after another to follow him.
Along the way, one in front and one behind, carefully watching their surroundings, they walked to the entrance of Yu Qing’s courtyard. After confirming no one saw them, they quickly slipped inside.
In the courtyard, Yu Qing was sitting on a chair waiting. Seeing the two of them eyeing him furtively in the dining hall, he knew they would come.
“Alas, this stuff is truly inedible. If only we could give it away. The beggars on the street would probably laugh themselves awake from their dreams.”
Nan Zhu muttered and complained with his mouth, walked behind Yu Qing, and directly poured a large bowl of food into the pot Yu Qing had previously washed clean.
Mu Aotie followed suit and also poured his into that pot.
Yu Qing, turning his head to look, was stunned. He quickly stood up and said, “What do you mean by pouring the food you don’t eat into my place?”
“Alas, disposing of one portion is the same as disposing of two or three portions.”
“I say, who is the sect leader?”
“We’re all servants now, all grasshoppers on the same string. What’s the point of saying that? I’ve found out quite a lot of information here. Do you want to know or not?” Nan Zhu retorted. He was already at the well, dropping the bucket tied with rope, drawing water up. Then he shoved his own bowl to Mu Aotie, who had already crouched down to wash the dishes, telling him to wash them together.
Yu Qing, seeing this, asked with his mouth, “What information?” His hands weren’t slow either. He quickly poured the food from his bowl into the iron pot as well, then shoved it to Mu Aotie to wash together.
Mu Aotie swept a cold glance at the two, clearly asking, what do you take me for?
Nan Zhu chuckled. “Old Nine, I’ll help you move a chair.”
Afterwards, shaking his body fat, he ran into the storeroom, quickly fetched two chairs. There was no shortage of such things in this storeroom.
Yu Qing sat back down first and asked again, “What information?”
Nan Zhu sat down holding his belly, leaned against the chair back, and exhaled. “I’ve figured it out. To be a long-term servant in this Wen family, you’re either a home-born servant of the residence or someone who has signed a deed of sale. Others have almost no possibility of staying.
That is to say, we have at most three months. Once the grand sacrificial ceremony here is over, if we still haven’t obtained what we want, we’ll have to get lost.”
Yu Qing said, “You don’t need to tell me this. It can be figured out with a bit of thought. I don’t believe we can’t enter the ‘Wen Shu Pavilion’ in three months. By the way, what was that about the spirit pet? You snatched my credit and ran. What benefits did you get?”
Mu Aotie, having finished washing the dishes and stood up, walked over and sat down. “I heard he was rewarded one tael of silver, promoted to gardener apprentice, with fifty wen more in monthly wages.”
Nan Zhu was a bit embarrassed and changed the subject. “Fortunately, we arrived in time and stopped you from killing it. Otherwise, things would have gotten big. That spirit pet is the legendary ‘Purple Cloud Hou’, a gift from the Green Lotus Mountain Sect Leader to the Third Miss of the Wen family. It was only brought down from the mountain a few days ago.”
Yu Qing was surprised. “For the Green Lotus Mountain Sect Leader to send a spirit pet as a gift, who is this Third Miss?”
Nan Zhu said, “The current clan head of the Wen family, Wen Mao, had three sons and two daughters. They all married and established their own households. The youngest son and his wife had a daughter, but something happened, and they died, leaving behind an orphan girl named Wen Xin.
Wen Xin had no father or mother. She was raised by the clan head Wen Mao from childhood. Perhaps due to the closeness between grandparent and grandchild, she was extremely doted upon by Wen Mao, so her status in the Wen family was unusual. Wen Mao had two other granddaughters, but they had both married out, so Wen Xin was called the Third Miss.
I heard this Third Miss is beautiful and gentle, well-mannered and courteous, skilled in the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, a talented woman well-read in poetry and books, the meticulously crafted pearl in Wen Mao’s palm. I reckon that Green Lotus Mountain Sect Leader sent the spirit pet to cater to Wen Mao’s preferences.”
Hearing him say this, Yu Qing nearly drooled. How did it sound like his dream other half? He swallowed his saliva and said, “Is that Wen Xin really as good as you say?”
Nan Zhu said, “I’ve never seen her, how would I know? I heard she’s quite good, but there’s one bad point. It’s said she’s already engaged. What a pity.” He said this with a sigh and a shake of his head.
Yu Qing was amused. “She’s engaged, what are you pitying? Look at your own age. By the way, who is it that can match such a good girl from this family background?”
Nan Zhu said, “Can’t remember clearly. It’s said Wen Mao personally found a match for his granddaughter. Something about a literary giant with the compound surname ‘Yuwen’, his grandson, said to be a great figure known to all scholars. You should know who it is the moment you hear this, right?”
Yu Qing snorted. Speaking honestly, though his tone wasn’t very good, “Never heard of him. Who knows which pile of dog shit he is.”
Nan Zhu was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t expected that even Old Fifteen, who was well-read in books, hadn’t heard of him. He continued, “I heard the man himself is not bad either, also a great talent. He came third in the provincial exam. He should have gone to the capital for the imperial exam in the same year as you, but who knew he suddenly fell gravely ill and was delayed. He’ll have to wait for the next session.”
“Pfft!” Yu Qing’s face was full of disdain. “I don’t even dare call myself a great talent. Is he worthy?”
Mu Aotie suddenly piped up, “You haven’t even seen that girl, and you’re already speaking sour words. That’s a bit much.”