That night, at the Lu residence.
The carriage stopped outside the entrance. Lu Yulin lifted the curtain and stepped down by himself.
The streak of orange-red faded from the horizon, and heavy dusk swallowed the countryside, shrouding Changle County.
"Once autumn comes, it gets dark quickly."
Lu Yulin glanced up and spoke softly.
Then he climbed the steps, crossed the threshold, and settled into a grand armchair in the front hall.
Before long, Wanrong, his second concubine, who stayed in the inner courtyard and rarely showed herself in public, appeared.
She approached with graceful steps and took the ginseng tea from the maid:
"Master, you must take care of yourself. How can you work yourself so hard?"
Recently, with the Dacheng Trading Firm's year-end dividend distribution approaching, he also had to properly handle the repercussions of Luo Youxian's death and redistribute the supply routes among the shops.
Lu Yulin had been so busy his feet barely touched the ground, and he had hardly been home for days.
He accepted the teacup, gently scraped the lid across it twice, and blew away the foam:
"It's fine. An owner is fated to toil. Unless I inspect the accounts and check the figures myself, I won't know how much those under me embezzle, take, or spend.
"Let them run wild, and sooner or later they'll squander the family fortune."
Wanrong listened quietly. Her master had always been like this, steady and unruffled, calm as still water.
As though even if the sky collapsed, he could hold it back up with both hands.
Lu Yulin took a few small sips of ginseng tea, recovering a little of his spirits:
"Don't you have an older brother? Youxian was blown up by his son, and Yihe Workshop has plenty of shops left. Why not let your brother take a gold shop and do some business? It would save him coming to you for silver every festival and New Year."
Wanrong gently shook her head, her attitude firm:
"My older brother idles about, loves his food, and hates work. Giving him some silver every year to support him is one thing, but he absolutely mustn't be allowed to run a business. If he caused trouble, you would have to clean it up again, Master.
"Besides... Master, I've never taken money from the household to help..."
Lu Yulin set down his teacup and gently took Wanrong's fair hands.
Amused, he said:
"In your eyes, am I, Lu Yulin, really such a miser that I would mistreat the woman sharing my bed? I know full well how hard it is to be a daughter, caught between her husband's family and her birth family, taking grief from both.
"It's only a gold shop. Even at the very worst, how much could it lose? Consider it buying you some peace."
Wanrong's eyes immediately brimmed with tears, and she almost choked up:
"Master..."
Lu Yulin patted the back of her hand and said quietly:
"You haven't enjoyed much comfort since you came to me. Especially after Zhan'ao's incident, you've handled all the decoctions and soups yourself.
"And those medicinal meals take hours of simmering over a low flame, with you watching them the whole time. How could I not know how much you've done throughout?"
Hearing Lu Yulin's words, Wanrong was even more moved. All the grievances filling her heart vanished like clouds and smoke.
Lu Yulin continued:
"You needn't dwell on what happened with Granny Ma. Zhan'ao has grown up. He knows how to appreciate others' kindness now, and he remembers what you've done for him.
"He's no longer the muddleheaded boy who couldn't tell good from bad and treated you so slightingly."
Wanrong dabbed at the corners of her eyes. The knot in her heart loosened, and some of the gloom left her face.
She was about to lean into Lu Yulin's arms when she suddenly realized this was the front hall, not an inner chamber in the rear residence.
So she stepped aside, her face faintly flushed, and hurriedly asked:
"Master, since you're home for once today, shall we ask Sui'er to join us for dinner?"
Lu Yulin's tone was even:
"Never mind. He's finally willing to put real effort into martial arts. Let him enjoy his special meals in the rear courtyard. If he sat at the same table as me, he'd only feel uncomfortable again."
Wanrong wanted to offer a few words of comfort, but Lu Yulin cut her off:
"This is the fate of the Lu family. Thin bonds with our kin, strife and harm between our own flesh and blood.
"My grandfather especially loved giving money away and trusted his friends too easily. He nearly ruined the family fortune for it. In his seventies and eighties, my father confined him to the rear courtyard and forbade him to leave.
"When my father took charge, lust clouded his mind instead. Some vixen stole his soul, forcing me to usurp his position and seize power.
"Haha, I wonder how Zhan'ao will treat me when I'm old."
Wanrong lowered her head and said nothing.
As the woman who shared Lu Yulin's bed, she knew very well that her master had one inviolable boundary.
Outsiders were never to meddle with the Lu family or its affairs.
Anyone who dared cross that line would certainly meet a terrible end!
Back when the old master was stripped of his position as owner, members of the other Lu branches had come to take his side. Every last one had later died during bandit-suppression campaigns.
Lu Yulin waved a hand:
"Wanrong, go on. I'll sit for a while."
Night deepened. Lu Yulin watched the lanterns beneath the eaves light up one by one.
A little later, he summoned Chai Sanjin and asked with seeming casualness:
"Has Zhan'ao settled in since hanging his curtain at the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School?"
Training in martial arts was a bitter road, demanding perseverance and resolve.
Lu Sui had been so accustomed to idleness that he could never bear the dull, tedious work of tempering his body and exchanging punches and kicks.
Chai Sanjin was as thin, short, and wizened as ever. He replied woodenly:
"The young master has settled in very well. Today, he even sparred with fellow disciples from the inner courtyard and won twice in a row."
Lu Yulin paused, seemingly surprised, and the corners of his mouth rose despite himself:
"Just like me. Exceptionally gifted, able to learn anything straightaway.
"It seems he only refused to endure hardship before because he was deliberately fighting me out of spite."
Had Duan Fusheng been here, he would certainly have played along, agreeing over and over.
But Chai Sanjin had a wooden disposition and remained expressionless throughout.
After waiting a moment without anyone taking up the conversation, Lu Yulin felt deeply helpless:
"Master Chai, Zhan'ao wasn't hurt, was he?"
Chai Sanjin said:
"The young master won fairly easily. I saw no injuries. He even made progress-his Qi and Blood now flow through his hands and feet. Though I heard he's made an enemy..."
A true Lu through and through!
Lu Yulin said delightedly:
"Zhan'ao really has come into his own! He knew to establish his authority on his very first day of hanging his curtain!
"Have the accounts office loosen the purse strings from now on. Allow him to draw a thousand taels of silver each month.
"Also, remember to send someone with money for treating the injuries of the disciples Zhan'ao hurt. Don't let him become a target of criticism at the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School, making it look as though the Lu family throws its weight around to bully people."
Chai Sanjin scratched his head:
"Owner, tell Old Duan to handle that. I'm a rough fellow. All I know is fighting. I can't do this sort of thing."
Lu Yulin pressed a hand to his forehead:
"True enough. Fine, I'll have Wanrong tell Xiaotang to handle it."
Suddenly, his brows drew down:
"Right, Master Chai, who did you say Zhan'ao made an enemy of?
"Youngsters in the martial trade love contests of courage and ferocity. We mustn't leave any hidden trouble."
Chai Sanjin thought hard:
"Master Smith Deng's son, from Deng's Weapons Forge."
Lu Yulin murmured the name "Deng's," his eyelids lowered.
"Good. I understand."
"Finally, it can transform!"
Lu Sui stood in the courtyard, moving through his stance practice while feeling the hot current beneath his feet.
Like blazing fire surging upward, it burned from his toes to his calves, then passed through his knees and converged at his waist and hips.
It was as though two living snakes were swiftly winding through his sinews, bones, flesh, and blood.
"Once my hands and feet are all connected, the Turtle-Snake Stance can transform!
"The Panwu Great Strength True Art I've been longing for is finally here!"
Lu Sui restrained his excitement:
"No. Stay steady!"
He calmed himself and dutifully completed his "homework."
Little by little, he gathered in his increasingly robust, scalding Qi and Blood, consolidating his foundations.
Though the Turtle-Snake Stance was a health-nurturing art that demanded time and effort for slow progress, it could subtly reshape his sinews and bones.
Otherwise, Tan Jingzong would never have judged Lu Sui a promising seedling with "long sinews, sound bones, and ample innate potential."
The improvement in this naturally had to be credited to the little turtle and little snake.
[Seeing your silent approval, the Turtle-Snake Stance proudly straightened up!] [Your affinity with the Turtle-Snake Stance grew ever stronger!]
"I can even farm favorability?"
Lu Sui was astonished.
Half an hour later.
He slowly exhaled a breath of white vapor and walked inside.
Xiaotang had already brought the hundred-year-old tortoise shell and old snake blood.
Two brocade boxes sat on the desk.
Lu Sui opened them in turn. The box on the left held a palm-sized porcelain bottle. When he pulled out the stopper, a strong, rank smell assaulted his nose.
The old snake blood had already congealed into a paste, like soft, springy tofu, with a dark red sheen.
The box on the right held powder ground from hundred-year-old tortoise shell, contained in an iron dish. It felt very fine between his fingers.
"Everything is ready!"
Lu Sui had Xiaotang bring another bowl of clear water, then poured the old snake blood into it. The thick, congealed lump sank to the bottom with a plop.
Then it slowly floated up and dissolved.
Thread after thread spread out, staining the water a deep crimson.
Next, he sprinkled in the hundred-year-old tortoise shell powder.
He stirred it gently, blending the two colors.
"Hopefully this won't poison me."
Lu Sui took a deep breath, tilted his head back, and gulped it all down.
His mouth instantly filled with a rank taste, leaving him slightly nauseated.
After roughly two or three breaths, tiny tadpole-like characters rose into his vision.
-[Seeing you feed it Calamity Qi, extend your Qi and Blood through all four limbs, and swallow hundred-year-old tortoise shell powder and old snake blood, the Turtle-Snake Stance felt grateful for your kindness and bowed repeatedly.] [All transformation conditions have been met!] [The Turtle-Snake Stance has gained an opportunity for advancement!] [Advancing into the Panwu Great Strength True Art!]