Judgment

Feng Xiu felt that his line of reasoning seemed to be off. The Thousand Sect sought wealth, emphasizing a steady, long-term flow or one big score.

It was extremely rare for them to drain a person's essence dry in just a few short days.

Just as Feng Xiu was deep in thought, a murmur escaped Feng Shouzhuo's lips.

"Wantang, Wantang, where are you? I miss you so much. Don't go~"

Accompanied by a foolish grin on his pale face, the scene was nothing short of eerie.

"..."

"Wake him up." Feng Xiu spoke flatly.

The maidservant quickly obeyed, reaching out to shake Feng Shouzhuo's arm. "Second Young Master, wake up."

In his sleep, Feng Shouzhuo slowly opened his eyes. The dream of meeting his wife had yet to fade when he saw Feng Xiu's grim face in the room.

"B-Big Brother?"

Feng Shouzhuo's gaze instantly cleared. He sat up, his lips moving in a faint whisper.

"Awake now?" Feng Xiu's tone was calm, impossible to read as pleased or angry.

"I'm awake."

Feng Shouzhuo struggled to sit up straight, but his body went limp. He had to prop himself up with his arm on a soft pillow, his expression betraying a hint of unease.

Feng Xiu stared at him for a long moment before slowly speaking. "Feng Shouzhuo, what can I even say to you?"

"Bewitched by a prostitute to the point you've become like this. Second Brother, have I been too lenient with you all along?"

Feng Xiu's words were not harsh, but instantly, the room fell into dead silence.

"She's not a prostitute. Wantang is different."

"Wantang is well-educated and reasonable. Her background is tragic. She's sincere with me!"

A look of defiance spread across Feng Shouzhuo's face. Though his body was unsteady, he still lifted his head, a flush of red crossing his features as he argued his case.

As soon as he finished, he broke into a violent fit of coughing.

Uncle Zheng lifted his gaze, watching the two brothers locked in confrontation. In the end, he let out a soft sigh.

"Different, huh." Feng Xiu laughed, cutting him off.

"Sincere means you lying in bed now, your blood and qi drained dry, making me worry for you? You insist on defying Father, disgracing the family name, and marrying a woman of unknown origin?"

"You insist on making me set aside the drought in the farmlands to deal with your sordid affairs in the pleasure quarters?"

Feng Xiu's tone was calm, shifting to a different cadence as he fired off a series of questions.

"Fine. You say she's well-educated. Then let me ask you: has she ever written you a love letter? What style of calligraphy did she use? What piece did she love to play most on the qin? Besides you, has she been close to any other men?"

Feng Shouzhuo was taken aback. He didn't catch the hidden meaning in the words, his eyes glazing over for a moment. "She... her hands are very cold. Her handwriting is delicate... The piece... I can't quite remember. It seemed to be the Record of Spirit Flowers from Taizhou. Listening to it put my heart at ease."

Before he could finish, Feng Shouzhuo broke into another violent cough, his face flushing with an unhealthy red. He looked up at Feng Xiu again.

"Big Brother, I truly like her. She, she's a good person."

Seeing that he could get nothing more out of him, Feng Xiu's tone gradually cooled. He also managed to calm him down. "We'll talk about this later. First, focus on recovering your health. If she truly wants to marry into the Feng Clan, I'll speak to Father about it."

Feng Shouzhuo's expression lit up with wild joy. He struggled to sit up, his emotions surging so violently that he grabbed hold of Feng Xiu's arm.

Through the fabric of his sleeve, Feng Shouzhuo's grip was fierce, his emotions intense.

Feng Xiu almost thought he was having a final burst of lucidity before the end.

"Big Brother, d-do you mean it?!"

Then, Feng Xiu patted his withered hand.

"Of course I mean it."

The moment those words were spoken, Feng Shouzhuo could no longer suppress the overwhelming happiness surging within him.

His entire face flushed red, his breath came in ragged gasps, and his eyes rolled back before he collapsed, unconscious.

"Second Young Master!" the maidservant beside him cried out in alarm.

Prying Feng Shouzhuo's arm away, Feng Xiu felt a weight lift from his heart. He rubbed his forearm, where red marks had already formed from the grip.

Only then did he turn to Uncle Zheng and say, "Let's go."

Feng Xiu was utterly vexed. He turned to the maidservant and added, "Take good care of him. If he mutters anything else in his sleep, write it down word for word."

"Y-yes." The maidservant's voice faltered, her words stumbling out.

Then, together with Uncle Zheng, he left the room.

In the courtyard, the afternoon sun was blindingly harsh.

Feng Xiu sighed in exasperation. Unbelievable. Even in another world, there were people with love-addled brains.

Judging by Feng Shouzhuo's state, he was probably genuinely smitten.

Wasn't this just asking for trouble?

A mere actor and singing girl, they dote on her like a treasure.

If this gets out, the charge of lax family discipline will come crashing down, and your Feng Clan's ancestors for eight generations will lose all face!

Feng Xiu shook his head straight away.

"Eldest Young Master, Second Young Master has only lost some yang energy. This old servant has already had the physician examine him; he only needs a few days of rest to recover."

Sensing the change in Feng Xiu's expression, Uncle Zheng's voice rang out.

Second Young Master was bewitched, blinded by a woman. Much persuasion would eventually bring him back to his senses, but bodily harm from illness was the top priority.

"Lost yang energy?"

"Yes, the physician examined him and said he's lost his primordial yang." Uncle Zheng paused. "But this old servant feels that this time, Second Young Master isn't simply blinded by a woman—he's likely fallen into a trap."

"A trap, Uncle Zheng? You mean the art of harvesting?"

Feng Xiu frowned. The arts of yin harvesting and yang harvesting—Feng Xiu had heard the mansion's guards mention some skilled rooftop thieves before.

At the time, Feng Xiu hadn't taken it to heart, just treating it as a story.

Uncle Zheng shook his head at this. "This old servant can't say for sure, but the art of harvesting is also considered deviant and heretical within the martial world. Once exposed, one becomes a public enemy of the jianghu. For a woman to take a man's primordial yang is indeed very rare in the martial world."

Uncle Zheng didn't have much evidence to back it up, nor did he dare to jump to conclusions.

Feng Xiu fell silent. Hearing Uncle Zheng say this, it did seem possible.

Then, his thoughts flickered away, and he let out a sigh. "Regardless, let's investigate it first."

Uncle Zheng nodded.

"Uncle Zheng, I feel that without some strength in my body, my heart will never be at ease." At this, Feng Xiu's expression turned serious again.

What if the one lying there today wasn't Shou Zhuo, but himself?

This thought flashed by, and Feng Xiu turned his gaze to Uncle Zheng.

Uncle Zheng finished listening, his expression surprised, and then spoke. "If the young master truly wishes to learn martial arts, it's not difficult. But Cloud Province is located on a high plateau.

Now that your bone structure is set, if you want to learn martial arts, you'll need to put in several times, even ten times, the hard work. Young Master, are you truly determined?"

If it were about learning martial arts, Feng Xiu should have started at age three.

As the future helmsman, it wasn't that Feng Xiu lacked the talent.

Rather, in Feng Ao's overall family strategy, it was one civil and one martial, complementing each other.

"It's fine. As long as I can learn, that's good. Seeing Shou Zhuo like this, it pains me to watch..."

"Since that's the case, Eldest Young Master, follow the escort team's men to train your physique for now. Chief Escort Zhou's team is at the estate."

Feng Xiu nodded, but then immediately sensed something was off.

"Uncle Zhou isn't out on escort duty?"

It didn't seem like this was solely about using the escort team's men to suppress the rioting tenant farmers.

Uncle Zheng explained, "Eldest Young Master, you may not know this, but the family head intends to venture into martial-world livelihoods. Jin Province is unstable—refugees everywhere, bandits springing up like weeds. Our goods are bound to suffer some losses."

The Feng Clan had dabbled in gray-market businesses in the early years, and now they had formed an alliance with the Zhou Family's escort team.

Having Feng Xiu learn some martial arts was ultimately a good thing. This was also the family head's intention.

Currently, Feng Xiu hadn't yet reached the point of taking over the family merchant guild, so he didn't know much about this. Hearing Uncle Zheng's explanation, he suddenly understood.

The Great Liang Dynasty, though not yet spent, had rebel armies springing up everywhere.

It was only because the Cloud Ridge plateau's unique terrain kept the province peaceful, maintaining a semblance of decency, that it hadn't already erupted in flames of war.

After this exchange, Feng Xiu asked a few more questions about the specific cooperation details with the Zhou family.

In the end, it was still the grain business.

The profit from Golden Ear Wheat was astonishing. Transporting it from Cloud Province inland, round trip, guaranteed a net profit of several thousand taels at minimum.

Returning to the mansion, Feng Xiu forced himself to stay alert and quickly handled a few urgent farm estate matters.

He then found the accounting office to verify the quantity of Golden Ear seeds, and afterward ordered a count of the plows and tools used for spring plowing, as well as the amount of manure fertilizer purchased.

"Send all these broken tools to Zhao's Ironworks. Repair what can be repaired, replace what needs replacing."

Spring plowing in June, harvest in November—the timing was just right. Golden Ear Wheat had an extremely fast growth cycle, and spring sowing was the family's top priority.

As Feng Xiu gave orders, he unconsciously looked up at the glaring, scorching blue sky outside the window.

This weather—it didn't look like it would rain at all.

"As you command, Eldest Young Master."

Feng Xiu's mind wandered slightly.

Thinking of this, his father's arrangement to find honest tenant farmers echoed in his mind, and Feng Xiu sighed inwardly.

"Also, make a tally of the able-bodied laborers from the three farm estates of White Willow, Dendrobium, and Hundred Dou. Focus on screening for anyone with a martial background or a fierce temperament."

The reservoir water couldn't be relied upon, and Feng Ao's actions were very strange. As things stood, he had no good options left.

He could only focus on filtering out the tenants with troublemaking tendencies from among them.

Then let Master Black—no, let himself—handle it personally.

"If it really comes to it, just waive the rent. A living man isn't going to let himself be choked to death by piss, is he?"

Hearing these words, the old accountant looked somewhat puzzled, but still nodded in agreement.

Just as he stepped out of the accounting room, Uncle Zheng was already waiting at the side, his expression solemn as he said, "Eldest Young Master, the Zhou Family's escort team is currently drilling in the west courtyard. The family head ordered me to bring you there."

Feng Xiu suppressed the lingering concerns in his mind and nodded.