Concubine-Born Son Chen Nianchu

Changping County town.

It was now the hour of the dog, roughly seven in the evening by the standards of his previous life.

Unlike Guang'an Prefecture immortal city, which remained brightly lit throughout the night, Changping County had not imposed a curfew, yet once night fell, only a scant few wealthy households still had lamps burning.

Chen Liangyu's home was one of them.

As a luxurious carriage slowly rolled to a stop before the gates of a grand residence,

Chen Daoxuan descended from the carriage unhurriedly beneath everyone's gaze.

"Chen Manor."

Chen Daoxuan raised his head, looked at the two bold characters dancing like dragons and flying like phoenixes on the weathered plaque, and nodded in praise. "Excellent calligraphy."

At Chen Daoxuan's praise, pride immediately appeared on Chen Liangyu's face. "That plaque was inscribed by our Chen Family's Old Clan Leader himself and gifted to my ancestor."

"Oh?"

Hearing that the inscription had been written personally by Chen Family ancestor Chen Dengyuan, Chen Daoxuan could not help taking another look.

Creak!

Just as he was admiring the plaque, the gates of Chen Manor suddenly opened.

A group of people filed out from within, pouring out all at once.

Looking closely,

The one in front was a woman nearing forty. Behind her followed the Chen Family's servants, including maids and male attendants.

Seeing this, Chen Daoxuan remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.

But in everyone's eyes, the Young Clan Leader was an immortal. It was only natural for immortals to be aloof and detached, standing high above all others. If an immortal ever mingled freely with mortals, it would instead leave the mortals feeling uneasy.

The middle-aged woman at the front gave a slight curtsy and bowed her head. "This common woman, Madam Chen, greets the Young Clan Leader."

As for the maids and servants behind her, they all knelt prostrate on the ground, burying their heads deeply and not daring to look up.

A trace of displeasure appeared on Chen Daoxuan's face at the sight.

Chen Liangyu was exceedingly shrewd and immediately realized that Chen Daoxuan had misunderstood. He stepped forward at once and explained softly, "Young Clan Leader, these maids and servants are not members of our Chen Family. They are slaves the Old Clan Leader purchased from Guang'an Prefecture."

Hearing this, Chen Daoxuan could not help recalling the serfs he had seen at the Guang'an Prefecture docks, their feet shackled and their backs burdened with grain.

"You mean they are all slaves from Cloud Country?"

"Precisely."

Chen Liangyu nodded.

As though recalling something, Chen Daoxuan asked, "Are there many servants like these on Twin Lakes Island?"

"Quite a few."

Chen Liangyu considered it. "Chen Manor alone has forty-six purchased maids and thirty-seven servants, nearly a hundred in all. As far as I know, there are another three or four Chen Clan households like ours."

Chen Daoxuan nodded in understanding. "No wonder our Chen Family has so much fertile land, yet only one hundred and seventy-seven farming households. You have them cultivate it all, haven't you?"

Seeing Chen Daoxuan point toward the servants kneeling on the ground, Chen Liangyu smiled awkwardly.

To him, this was no great matter.

Indeed, for the present Chen Clan, a little land consolidation was no great matter.

In fact, many Chen Clan members were not particularly willing to work the fields, because the family provided its members with a minimum livelihood guarantee.

In other words, so long as one was a Chen Clan member, even if one did no work, the family would not let them starve to death on the streets.

This had undoubtedly bred laziness among a small portion of the Chen Clan.

These were precisely the drawbacks Chen Daoxuan was eager to reform.

However, the investigation into the family's population, fields, and land had not yet been fully completed. Moreover, Chen Daoxuan had spent the past month occupied with matters concerning the Artifact Factory.

He simply had no time to deal with such trifles.

But being busy did not mean he would ignore them.

As someone who had crossed over, Chen Daoxuan knew perfectly well just how important a relatively fair system of distribution was to a power.

Land consolidation, whether in ancient Earth or in this world of immortal cultivation, was a great malignant tumor.

The difference from Earth was that this world of immortal cultivation had cultivators, and cultivators in turn relied upon the vast population of mortals. Thus, once conflicts among mortals became irreconcilable,

The cultivators would serve as regulators, forcibly smashing the entrenched interest groups among mortals and allowing those at the very bottom to catch their breath.

But Chen Daoxuan did not intend to do that.

The Chen Clan was far too weak, and he was about to take great strides in developing the family. Before that, he would certainly cut away every ill within the family in advance.

Or rather, cut away this mindset of unfair distribution.

"Come, let us go inside."

"Young Clan Leader, please go first!"

Chen Liangyu immediately made a welcoming gesture.

The group hastily opened a path, allowing Chen Daoxuan to walk in front.

After Chen Daoxuan had passed, a young man jogged forward and called out to the middle-aged woman with delight all over his face, "Mother!"

Upon seeing her son, the middle-aged woman's face filled with both joy and concern. She hurriedly took out a fine silk handkerchief, wiped the sweat from Chen Yunsheng's forehead, and said solicitously, "Look how exhausted you are, drenched in sweat."

"What is this?"

Chen Yunsheng said carelessly, "Eh, why haven't I seen Second Sister and Third Brother?"

"They are in the rear courtyard with your Second Mother and Third Mother. We have an honored guest today, so it would not be convenient for them to come out."

The middle-aged woman spoke without changing expression.

Chen Yunsheng still had the temperament of a youth and lacked the deep calculations of his birth mother.

He asked casually, then did not dwell on it.

Seeing that Chen Yunsheng still wanted to chatter, the middle-aged woman gave him a push and a meaningful look. "Why aren't you hurrying over to help your father entertain the Young Clan Leader?"

"Oh!"

Only then did Chen Yunsheng react. Scratching his head, he smiled. "Mother, then I'll go help Father entertain the Young Clan Leader. I'll come pay my respects to you later."

"Go on, quickly."

With that, Chen Yunsheng hurried forward, following closely behind Chen Liangyu and Chen Daoxuan step for step like a lackey.

During the banquet,

With Chen Liangyu and his legitimate son Chen Yunsheng keeping him company, the reception hall was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation.

Before they realized it,

Chen Daoxuan had begun to find the father and son increasingly agreeable.

After everyone had drunk for about half an hour, Chen Daoxuan glanced at the sky and said, "How about we call it a day? We still have to continue with factory production tomorrow. Drinking ourselves into a stupor is not a good habit."

Hearing this, Chen Liangyu looked deeply regretful, but still smiled and agreed. "What the Young Clan Leader says—"

Clang!

"You bitch! You gave birth to a bastard, and you still dare let him bully my daughter? I'll beat you to death, you bitch!"

"I didn't bully her. She took my little wooden doll first, and she cursed at me too."

"Bastard! You still dare talk back? You bitch, are you going to control the bastard you gave birth to or not?"

"..."

Among those present, aside from Chen Yunsheng's birth mother, the rest were either martial artists or cultivators.

Though the argument from the rear courtyard was too faint for Chen Yunsheng's birth mother to make out, to Chen Liangyu, Chen Daoxuan, and the others, it was no different from a quarrel right beside their ears.

Chen Daoxuan silently took a sip of wine and said nothing.

Seeing this, Chen Liangyu's expression became exceptionally awkward, while fury burned in his heart.

That vile woman, so utterly lacking in propriety! Just wait until I deal with you later!

Chen Liangyu cursed viciously in his heart.

He had thought it was merely a momentary quarrel in the rear courtyard, but the insults only grew louder, until even Chen Yunsheng's birth mother, who had not noticed before, heard them.

"Young Clan Leader, misfortune has befallen this household. I have made a spectacle of myself before you."

Chen Liangyu's face was full of embarrassment.

Chen Daoxuan smiled faintly but did not reply.

After a while, something stirred in his heart. "Come, let us go take a look together."

As he spoke, he rose from the banquet.

Having swept the rear courtyard with his Divine Sense out of curiosity just now, he had discovered something rather interesting.