Chuzhou City was still as bustling and prosperous as it had been centuries ago, but even those whose families had lived here for generations rarely remembered that it had once been a capital-the capital of a nation called Great Chu, which had had a very strange last emperor.
By contrast, people still often thought of Grand Academician Zhang, as well as Old Master Zhang, who was more famous in unofficial histories. The specific reason was, naturally, that the Zhang Household remained the foremost great lineage in Chuzhou City, with considerable influence even throughout the world.
As the saying went, a gentleman's beneficence was cut off after five generations. Old Master Zhang had hardly been a gentleman, so the count could only begin with his father, Grand Academician Zhang. More than a dozen generations had passed, yet the Zhang Household remained so prosperous. It had to be called an anomaly. Many people spread rumors that gods protected the Zhang Household. Even some members of the household spoke of this with great conviction, claiming to have seen their ancestors manifest.
That being the case, the Zhang Household's ancestral hall was naturally maintained exceptionally well. Only, the incense burner from centuries ago had long since vanished, and its smoke was naturally gone as well. Many of the wells that had once dotted the estate had also been sealed.
That fiery-red carp had long since moved from a well to a golden basin, then to a pool, and now lived in a great lake.
Mist stretched boundlessly over that vast lake. On rainy, foggy days, the opposite shore could not be seen.
One could imagine just how large the Zhang estate was now.
After reaching adulthood, the Fire Carp possessed boundless magical power even as a mere spirit body, and had no need at