Star Peak Manor (1)

"Master, it's time to depart!" Li Da said as he walked into the room. He looked at Uncle Zhang and gave a mischievous smile.

"Uncle Zhang, we're about to set off. Shouldn't you be getting ready?" I said to the beaming Uncle Zhang, who was still basking in my earlier flattery. He took a moment to respond to my words, looking at Li Da and me before clearing his throat and saying to me, "I'll be ready shortly. I don't have much." Uncle Zhang stood up and turned to go into his room. Suddenly, Zhang Yu, laden with four or five large bags, emerged from the room. He grinned at his father, Uncle Zhang, and said, "Dad, I've packed everything. We're all set and ready to go at any moment." It seemed Zhang Yu was extremely happy to hear his father's genuine paternal affection. The usually cool Zhang Yu was beaming, and today he was exceptionally cheerful, likely smiling more than he had in the past month.

I looked at them and smiled too. The small bamboo house was filled with warmth and joy. I said loudly, "Let's go!"

When we reached the foot of the mountain, Brother Wang and Sister Yu had already loaded the large chests of gold and silver into the carriages. Seeing us arrive, Sister Yu walked up and said, "Young Master, everything is ready. We didn't have enough carriages, so we took two from the mountain stronghold. The middle one is for the iron boxes. Shall we depart immediately? Please give the order!"

I looked around at the people with me. From now on, they would be my core team. Our stage was the Capital City, the place where we would showcase ourselves, and where I, Zhang Xingfeng, would make my first impression on the Zhang Family.

"Depart!"

I roared, and everyone immediately got into their assigned carriages. The carriage wheels began to turn, and we continued our journey to the Capital City.

Father, watch me. I will show you my capabilities. I want you to regret your past decision. Sitting in the carriage, I gazed at the vast blue sky outside the window and thought to myself.

"Ah! We've finally arrived, haha..." A group of people shouted outside the city gates of the Ming Dynasty's capital.

After nearly six days of travel, we had finally reached our destination. The exhaustion of six days transformed into sheer ecstasy in that instant.

I looked at the city built with massive granite blocks and exclaimed in my heart: Capital City, I'm here, I, Zhang Xingfeng, am here!

Our group of nine entered the Silver Storage Merchant House, built by the Ming Dynasty. Carrying 850,000 in bank notes, we headed to a nearby restaurant – the Wind and Rain Tower. We hadn't expected this restaurant to be the best in the entire Capital City. Its exterior was ordinary, but its interior environment was truly... amazing!

I was truly impressed by the person who designed this restaurant. They had modified the "Heavenly Wind Silver Rain Formation" and transformed it from a combat formation into one that served people. The entire hall had eight small private rooms for VIPs, situated in the "Kan, Li, Dui, Zhen, Xun, Qian, Kun, Gen" directions. The "Heavenly Wind Silver Rain Formation" was originally designed to confuse opponents' vision by generating wind and rain. After its modification, a gentle breeze and a hint of mist continuously flowed through the entire hall, making it feel fresh and comfortable. Dining and drinking inside felt unlike other places; it wasn't stuffy but rather like being in the mountains after rain.

Naturally, we requested a small VIP room. There were even better VIP rooms upstairs, but those were not places one could enter with just money.

At the table, I noticed that my three disciples dared not eat before me. After I said, "Help yourselves," Li Da and Li Er immediately began a rapid eating competition. My eldest disciple, Lang Feng, although only ten years old, was clearly much better than my two disciples who were already seventeen. My third disciple was even more so; he usually had a cool demeanor and only smiled occasionally when he was with people he knew well. However, this also had its advantages. As soon as we entered the restaurant, more than half of the women in the hall cast captivating glances at him, yet he remained unfazed. We immediately pulled him into this private room.

"Brother Wang, we'll be living in the Capital City from now on. After dinner, you and Sister Yu take Li Da and Li Er to find a large manor. The main requirement is that it should be spacious. Cost is not an issue, as we plan to stay long-term. And most importantly, the foundation must be solid, as I plan to build an underground secret chamber. That's all. After eating, go out and look. We'll be staying in the guest rooms behind the Wind and Rain Tower. I've already asked the waiter to book five superior rooms for us. Brother Wang and Sister Yu will share one room, Li Da and Li Er will share another, Big Brother and First Wife will share one, Ah Yu and Uncle Zhang will share one, and I'll have my own room. Alright, that's all. Let's eat." I picked up my bowl and reached for the chopsticks, only to be stunned. Half of the dishes on the table were gone, and only the ones in front of me remained untouched.

I looked at my two good disciples. Li Da and Li Er smiled at me innocently. Seeing their empty bowls, I knew who had devoured the food! Just as I was about to scold them, they said, "Master, we're still hungry. Can we eat yours?" Two pairs of big eyes stared at me, full of anticipation.

"Get lost, you unfilial disciples! You're going to make me angry to death!" I yelled. Li Da and Li Er froze, looking at me pitifully. This was the first time I had ever scolded them!

"Can't you ask the waiter to order more dishes and rice? You want to eat my food, but what will I eat!" I said, smiling and scolding these two.

Li Da and Li Er suddenly froze, then realized what I meant and shouted, "Thank you, Master, thank you, Master!" Li Da immediately turned to the waiter serving them and said, "Waiter, bring me braised pork trotters with soybeans, wild mushrooms with ribs, braised duck, soybean-wrapped pig's trotters with preserved eggs, roasted pigeon, honey-glazed pork trotters, live fish prepared in a new way, pig's trotter king, spicy snails..."

I was dumbfounded. The only ones who remained calm at the table were Li Er, Zhang Yu, and Uncle Zhang.

The waiter, smiling, listened to the entire order and then loudly recited it back from beginning to end, word for word. I was stunned and could only exclaim, "The quality of the waiters at Wind and Rain Tower is truly high. It lives up to its reputation as the best restaurant in the Capital City."

After a satisfying meal, Brother Wang and the others went to look for the manor, while I comfortably returned to my room to rest.

"Knock, knock." "Young Master, it's Brother Wang. Open the door."

Heavens! I had just gotten into bed and hadn't even taken off my clothes yet! Brother Wang arrived. He had only been gone for a few minutes!

Although I was annoyed, I reluctantly went to open the door for Brother Wang.

"Brother Wang, what's going on? I just got into bed, I haven't even lain down yet, and you're here. Didn't I tell you to go find the manor? Why are you still here?" I vented my dissatisfaction to Brother Wang. Brother Wang and Sister Yu had watched me grow up, and only in front of them could I throw a tantrum like a young master.

"Young Master, I've found the manor. It's just north of this restaurant. It's extremely large and priced at 200,000 taels of silver. It used to be a prince's mansion. That prince is long dead, and he had no descendants, so the Emperor took it back. The Emperor set the price at 200,000 taels, but no one has bought it for a year. The main reason is its high price and its vast size, which most people don't need. Legend has it that the former prince was an enthusiast of formations and had gathered countless formation masters throughout his life. Therefore, the entire back garden and some of the houses within it are inaccessible because a grand formation was set up outside. Moreover, it was jointly created by ten of the most powerful experts at the time, and now no one can break this formation. This has led to no one buying the property, and even if purchased, one cannot enter the back garden." Brother Wang explained the overview of the manor to me.

"Oh, it used to be a prince's mansion, and there's a powerful formation outside the back garden? Interesting. Good, good, I'll go take a look with you right away. Let me tidy up my clothes first. You go and call everyone else. We'll go together to see our future new home. Hurry up!" I said to Brother Wang.

"Yes, Young Master. I'll go do that immediately." Brother Wang acknowledged me and turned to notify the others.

I walked to the bronze mirror and carefully adjusted my clothes. Not bad, the child is quite cute.

Walking out of my room, I found everyone else already waiting outside the door. I felt a little embarrassed. I composed myself and said to them, "Let's go, everyone, let's go see what our future place is like. Ah, let's go!"

"Ha, ha, we have our own territory in the Capital City now!" Li Da is always like this. I've told him so many times, but it's no use.

"Big Brother, do you think Master will give us a big house?" Li Er, this idiot, is pretty much the same as his older brother. How did I end up accepting such disciples!

"Nonsense, we're Master's first disciples, so of course, we'll get a big and nice house. Do you even need to ask? Sigh, having a brother like you is my misfortune, Li Da. Ha, fortunately, I have an excellent Master. Master is?" This Li Da started flattering me again.

"Shut up!"

I glanced at them and turned onto the north-bound road. After walking less than fifty steps, a huge manor appeared before me. The two giant stone lions at the entrance were as imposing as ever, seemingly looking down with arrogance at those entering the prince's mansion.

Two yamen runners were leaning against the sides of the main gate, their large sabers held tightly, already drowsy.

"Hey, two officers, we want to buy this manor, hey!" Sister Yu ran forward to speak to the two yamen runners, but her final shout was too loud. Poor, poor yamen runners!

"Who, who disturbed this old man's good dream? Ah, what did you just say? You said you want to buy the manor here? Is that true?" The older yamen runner found it hard to believe that these people would buy this large manor that had been for sale for a year without being sold.

Sister Yu said loudly, "It's true. I'm telling you clearly, we want to buy this manor."

"God, I can finally leave this place. A whole year, a whole year I've been exposed to the elements here. Heaven has finally opened its eyes!" the yamen runner shouted loudly. The yamen runner next to him also mumbled, "I can finally leave here and start my own business. My wife hasn't let me into bed for half a year..."

We were a bit stunned to see this and didn't react for a while. They were just too happy.

"A'jun, hurry and report to the prefect's yamen. I'll take a few guests inside the manor for a tour. Everyone, please follow me inside for a closer look!" This guy had just woken up and was yelling at us earlier, but now he immediately put on a humble demeanor. It seems he knew that we, who could afford to buy this estate, were not people he could afford to offend!

The yamen runner took out the keys and opened the gates of the former royal manor. We all walked towards our future home!