Emotional Wounds: Investiture

Standing outside the gate of his manor, Zhang Xingfeng looked at the four gilded characters of the Star Peak Manor and felt a pang of emotion. He realized he was indeed a scoundrel, leaving everything to Brother Wang and the others while he himself did almost nothing. He even rarely visited the Dragon Soaring Jade Shop. It seemed he needed to do more work in the future.

"Greetings, sir!" the servant standing outside the gate said respectfully.

"Hmm," Zhang Xingfeng strode inside. Suddenly, Zhang Xingfeng turned around, looked at the servant, and felt that he looked very familiar. He said, "Have you been here for ten years?"

Lai Fu looked at the master before him, feeling quite apprehensive. His master, who was usually so elusive, was actually showing concern for a servant like him. However, he quickly replied, "Master, I was among the first servants recruited for the manor, and it's been almost twelve years now!"

Twelve years. It's been twelve years since I left home. I'm almost nineteen now. Twelve years! My mother is almost forty now! I've really been a jerk. I haven't even visited my mother once. I wonder how she is now, and how my father is doing? Perhaps family ties are the most precious thing in the world. Back then, I was so angry with my father because of that kind of thing. How could I not know his hardships? It seems that even though I have memories from thousands of years ago, I was still influenced by a child's mind. I should go back and see my mother and father!

Zhang Xingfeng glanced at Lai Fu, who was standing anxiously to the side, and said, "From now on, your wages will be doubled. Work hard! Star Peak Manor will not treat you unfairly!" After saying that, he walked into the manor.

Lai Fu really didn't expect such a good thing to happen. With double the wages, life would be much better. Looking at Zhang Xingfeng's back, Lai Fu was filled with gratitude.

"Young Master, Young Master, you're back!" Xia Shui exclaimed excitedly as soon as she saw me. Although she was my personal maid, she hadn't spent much time with me.

"Xia Shui, your kung fu is quite good! You've reached the seventh level of the Taiji Yin Yang Art, which makes you a third-rank master!" Zhang Xingfeng said with a smile when he saw Xia Shui.

Xia Shui blushed and said, "It's nothing, I just had nothing to do, so I practiced kung fu with the Star Peak Guard. Some of them are better than me. Young Master, are you not leaving this time you're back?"

Zhang Xingfeng smiled and said, "Yes, I'm not leaving. I'll have to rest well at the manor from now on. I'll be in your care."

Xia Shui was very happy to hear this, but then suddenly said, "Young Master, are you back in seclusion?" After saying that, she looked at Zhang Xingfeng, afraid that he had come back to seclude himself. The last time she was in seclusion for ten years, she was so bored.

Looking at Xia Shui's adorable expression, Zhang Xingfeng wondered to himself: How come I never noticed how cute Xia Shui was before? It seems that girls change a lot as they grow up. Xia Shui is twenty-four years old now.

"No, why would I need to go into seclusion? Wouldn't my life be too boring?" Zhang Xingfeng said with a serious expression.

"Ah Shui, Ah Shui... Ah! Master, you're here, hehe..." A bald man appeared in front of me.

Looking at Li Da's strange expression, Zhang Xingfeng smiled to himself: It seems it's best to go back to the manor.

Li Da looked at his master, feeling quite conflicted: he was excited to see his master return, but he also felt embarrassed that his master had seen him treat Xia Shui that way. That's why he had such a complex expression on his face!

Seeing Xia Shui's flushed face and Li Da's strange expression, and recalling Li Da's shout earlier, Zhang Xingfeng had a sudden realization. He smiled at the two men with a strange expression on his face.

Three days have passed since Zhang Xingfeng returned to the Star Peak Family, and he has felt the peace and tranquility of life. Everything is very calm.

"Young master, young master, it's terrible, it's terrible! A eunuch and palace guards have arrived and want you to receive an imperial decree!" Xia Shui rushed in.

Zhang Xingfeng, who was absorbing the spiritual energy of water from heaven and earth, stopped abruptly.

Hearing Xia Shui's words, he frowned: How did a palace eunuch end up here? I haven't had anything to do with the palace! Whatever it is, I'll go check it out first.

"Let's go see how this eunuch got here!"

When Zhang Xingfeng walked to the corridor outside the hall, he heard that shrill sound. It was neither a sound that a man could make nor a sound that a woman could make. It seemed to be the eunuch.

"Your Star Peak Manor has been doing quite well these past few years, haha..." The sharp laughter made Zhang Xingfeng frown.

Zhang Xingfeng strode into the hall, where an old man dressed as a eunuch was smiling and talking to Brother Wang.

When Brother Wang saw Zhang Xingfeng arrive, he immediately got up and walked to Zhang Xingfeng's side.

"Eunuch, this is Zhang Xingfeng, the young master of our Star Peak Manor. Young master, this is Eunuch Wang from the palace. Eunuch Wang is a favorite of the Emperor!"

Eunuch Wang was clearly pleased by Brother Wang's compliment, being called "the emperor's favorite." In reality, he was just a minor eunuch in the palace, and there were many eunuchs with more power than him; otherwise, he wouldn't have been sent to the Star Peak Manor.

"Young Master Zhang is indeed a man of great talent for his age. To have built such a large fortune at such a young age, I truly admire you!" As a servant who was used to flattering others, Eunuch Wang was naturally adept at this simple compliment. He also knew that the young man before him was not someone he, a mere eunuch, could afford to offend.

Zhang Xingfeng smiled. The eunuch in front of him was not bad. He didn't have the arrogance of people from the palace. Immediately, his impression of the old eunuch improved a lot.

"Eunuch Wang, what brings you here this time? You've gone to so much trouble!" If someone treats me with respect, I'll treat them with even greater respect. Anyway, I have nothing to lose.

When Eunuch Wang saw that Zhang Xingfeng treated him like this, his vanity was greatly satisfied, but he immediately got down to business.

"Young Master Zhang, after evaluation, it has been determined that Star Peak Manor has suppressed Baoyuxiang in the jade industry for the past eleven years. Moreover, Star Peak Manor has accumulated enough silver over the past eleven years. Therefore, His Majesty has ordered me to come today to tell you, Young Master Zhang, that you will be granted the title of Baron in the palace in five days, on the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month! Of course, there will be guards to guide you there."

Zhang Xingfeng was stunned: Baron! He had actually been granted the title of Baron.

"Congratulations, young master, on being granted the title of baron!" Brother Wang immediately said to Zhang Xingfeng with great joy. This was Brother Wang's greatest joy. With a title, the imperial court would provide much assistance in his business. In fact, it wasn't simply a matter of having money to be granted a title; one also needed a sufficiently large business, and most importantly, a good attitude towards the imperial court. For this title, Brother Wang had offered the imperial court 500,000 taels of silver, which was why he had such a good attitude, and why Eunuch Wang had come today.

Zhang Xingfeng smiled at Brother Wang. He hadn't really paid much attention to these things, and he hadn't expected to suddenly receive a baron title. But Zhang Xingfeng still wanted to take advantage of the benefits, knowing how difficult it was to obtain such a title. In the Four Great Families, apart from the patriarch, no one held a title! If he hadn't been in the Zhang Family, he wouldn't have received this title. He wondered if this was heaven's compensation for him!

"Young Master Zhang, I have some business to attend to, so I'll be leaving now!" Eunuch Wang said loudly with a smile.

"Eunuch Wang, you've really gone to so much trouble. Lai Chun to the accounting office and get a thousand taels for Eunuch Wang," Brother Wang said immediately. Upon hearing this, Eunuch Wang smiled and walked towards the accounting office with Lai Chun, showing no modesty whatsoever. It seemed that the reason he had shouted so loudly earlier was for this matter.

Zhang Xingfeng looked at Brother Wang and said, "Brother Wang, you were the one who orchestrated this title. Never mind, let's not talk about it anymore. I have to go back and continue refining spirit pills. Sigh, it's really hard to collect the Five Phases Spiritual Qi in the world. I've been collecting for a whole day, and I can only get a maximum of thirty pills. It's really strange. I'm leaving now!"

Brother Wang was delighted to hear Zhang Xingfeng's words. Although the young master's collection was slow, he could still refine quite a few spirit pills, which would lead to a rapid increase in the number of experts. In the future, the development of the Star Peak Manor could enter the fast lane! The future was bright!

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