Favor

Favor

Zheng Fa quickly understood why Gao Yuan said Seventh Young Master had become like him.

That day, the morning light had only just illuminated the upturned eaves, while dew still clung to the blades of grass by the roadside.

As soon as Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan arrived at the study, they saw Seventh Young Master sitting primly, reading a copy of Complete Guide to Talisman Diagrams. He was holding a brush in one hand, reading and drawing on the paper as he went, utterly serious.

Zheng Fa could not help turning to glance at Gao Yuan. Gao Yuan gave him a slight nod.

"How long has this fit lasted?"

"Two days," Gao Yuan replied.

"That's some serious shock!"

Zheng Fa frowned. Seventh Young Master was behaving far too strangely.

Of the three of them, it was hard to say whether Zheng Fa or Gao Yuan was the most diligent and serious, but the laziest was definitely Seventh Young Master.

Normally, when they came over in the mornings, Seventh Young Master would not even be out of bed, much less sitting at his desk and taking the initiative to study so earnestly.

Gao Yuan had described Seventh Young Master as being like him with perfect accuracy:

Zheng Fa was used to memorizing the contents of books first, then slowly making sense of them. To outsiders, he spent most of his time staring blankly into space rather than reading.

Gao Yuan, on the other hand, liked to brood over books, reading while taking notes. Whenever he reached a difficult part, he loved to scratch his ears and rake at his head—just like Seventh Young Master, who was currently tearing at his hair in frustration.

Bang!

Seventh Young Master angrily flung down the brush in his hand, rose to his feet, and glared at the open book before him through gritted teeth, as though he wanted to battle it for three hundred rounds.

After sulking for a while, he finally looked up and noticed Zheng Fa and the others at the door.

"Young Master, what is this?" Zheng Fa asked.

"Hah... My mother told me my sister is coming back," Seventh Young Master said with a long exhale.

"The Eldest Miss? Didn't she go to the Immortal Sect? She's coming back?"

Having grown up on the estate, Zheng Fa did not know the relationships within the residence as well as Gao Yuan did. Only now did he learn that Seventh Young Master's legendary full-blooded sister, the immortal seed of this generation of the Zhao Residence, was the eldest child of the Zhao Residence.

"But what does Eldest Miss's return have to do with you working so hard, Seventh Young Master?" Zheng Fa still did not quite understand his change.

"Though my sister went to the Immortal Sect, she writes to my mother every ten days or so. Her letters are all about telling my mother to make me study talisman arts properly. She even said she'll test me when she gets back."

Zheng Fa understood. Seventh Young Master had pre-exam syndrome.

"But if Eldest Miss wants to test you, let her test you. Why are you so concerned, Young Master?" Gao Yuan asked.

Zheng Fa understood what he meant. If Seventh Young Master had even a shred of reverence for examinations or a shred of shame over his grades, he would not have become Teacher Shen's secret disciple he was unwilling to mention.

"You don't understand my sister." Seventh Young Master's expression turned hard to look back on. "When I was little, I went carousing with those older brothers of mine in the front courtyard. My sister carried a stick straight into the front courtyard and beat them so badly they couldn't get out of bed for three days."

"My sister was only ten then."

By now, Zheng Fa had heard a little about the structure of the Zhao Residence. Most authority lay in Madam's hands, but the front courtyard was under the control of the master of the Zhao Residence, Seventh Young Master's father. Madam scarcely interfered there.

The front and rear courtyards were as distinct as the Jing and Wei Rivers. The master of the Zhao Residence in the front courtyard did not concern himself with mundane affairs. Rumor had it that he was wild and unrestrained, steeped in wine and women, and had raised many beauties, concubines, illegitimate sons, and illegitimate daughters in the front courtyard.

The older brothers Seventh Young Master spoke of were probably those people, while their so-called carousing was likely another sort of inner-residence intrigue.

Gao Yuan knew even more of the inside story. With a moved expression, he said, "An eldest sister is like a mother. Eldest Miss truly cares for you, Young Master."

Seventh Young Master bared his teeth. "After she returned to the rear courtyard, she gave me a beating too. I couldn't get out of bed for three months. If she finds out that over these past ten years, I've, ah, been somewhat lax..."

Zheng Fa: ...So she was a tiger mother. No wonder Seventh Young Master was panicking.

At lunchtime, Zheng Fa left the study and headed home. Ever since his mother and younger sister moved into the Zhao Residence, he had almost always gone home to eat at mealtimes.

Watching his receding figure from afar, Seventh Young Master quietly let out a breath and leaned back in his chair, seeming much more relaxed.

"Young Master?" Gao Yuan looked at him, then at Zheng Fa walking away.

"Gao Yuan..." Seventh Young Master stood and walked over to Gao Yuan, patting him on the shoulder. "In the past, this young master treated you too harshly."

The fact that he had suddenly started speaking like a human being filled Gao Yuan's face with terror. "Young Master, when Eldest Miss wants to beat you, I won't be able to stop her!"

"Get lost!"

Though his eyes remained fixed in the direction Zheng Fa had gone, Seventh Young Master recalled what his mother had told him before.

Zheng Fa... If there were no Nascent Soul True Person behind him, how could he have cultivated the Spirit Crane Body?

As for why Zheng Fa had not told him, his mother had explained that as well: How could a mere mortal, and one born a household slave at that, dare reveal the whereabouts of a Nascent Soul True Person?

Seventh Young Master was not even particularly worried that the Nascent Soul True Person might have designs on his family.

The Zhao Family truly had nothing worth a Nascent Soul True Person's designs. If he really had designs on them, with a Nascent Soul True Person's strength, why would he need to go through so much trouble?

After much speculation, he and his mother had decided that the most likely possibility was—Zheng Fa's talent was exceptional, and the Nascent Soul True Person had taken a liking to him, intending to accept him as a disciple.

"This young master used to think you were a little narrow-minded, always wanting to compare yourself with others, full of petty schemes, not forthright enough." Seventh Young Master spoke to Gao Yuan with some feeling. "I truly looked down on you a little."

Gao Yuan: "..."

"Now I finally understand you. With Zheng Fa by your side, it's perfectly normal for you to have a few petty thoughts."

"Young Master, I'm actually not like what you said..."

Gao Yuan tried to explain.

"Say no more, I understand you! Sigh, now that Zheng Fa is valued by a Nascent—by someone..." Seventh Young Master stopped himself before the words "Nascent Soul" could leave his mouth and vaguely continued, "Before, I was the young master and he was the bookboy. No matter how capable he was, I never felt much about it."

Seventh Young Master recalled how, no matter how gifted Zheng Fa had been, he had always treated him with a faintly condescending attitude.

After all, no matter what, Zheng Fa was still his bookboy. Even if he had the qualifications for the Ascension Gate, he still needed the Zhao Residence to give him a path to the heavens.

But now...

"Now, he could enter the Immortal Sect as easily as turning his hand. With him by my side, I suddenly feel uncomfortable all over." Seventh Young Master's face was full of conflict. "When I think of my sister going to the Immortal Sect, then Zheng Fa going to the Immortal Sect too... and only me being left behind, wouldn't this young master look far too useless? I haven't been able to sleep well these past two days!"

Gao Yuan did not fully understand, but he understood one thing.

Seventh Young Master had become so diligent not only because Eldest Miss was returning, but also because Zheng Fa's exceptional talent had made him anxious.

He did not even want to stay around Zheng Fa anymore!

Feeling Seventh Young Master's trust and warmth toward him were so different from before, Gao Yuan's smile bloomed, and his heart surged with excitement:

Zheng Fa, let the tall tree stand out in the forest! Though I can't surpass you in other ways, from now on, I alone shall enjoy the Young Master's favor!

"Young Master! From now on, I..." He was about to express his loyalty once more.

"With Zheng Fa around, I feel like I can't compare to him in anything. I feel like a piece of trash." Seventh Young Master cut him off. At this point, he looked warmly at Gao Yuan and said with deep emotion,

"But when I see you, I feel much better. Your talent in learning is inferior to his, you're even farther behind in martial arts, and you have no talent for talisman arts either. The only thing you had over him was your better birth and fairer skin... Oh, but you're not even fairer than him now."

The smile on Gao Yuan's face gradually froze.

"Whenever I look at you, I think, if someone as useless as you can be doing just fine, then at least I'm still a young master. My heart doesn't hurt nearly as much." As he spoke, Seventh Young Master even sighed sincerely. "Gao Yuan, from now on, this young master can't do without you."

Gao Yuan: ...Could favor really hurt this much?