Ice Crystal Dew Drink

"Who are you?" Lu Xiaoxiao asked, clutching Wang Shouzhe's arm and glaring at Wang Luojing. "Let go of Cousin Shouzhe's hand this instant. Have you no shame, girl?"

In the Changning Guard region, most noble families did not follow strict generation naming conventions for their daughters, preferring to name them as they pleased. Because the Ping'an Wang Clan had such a long and storied history, Ancestor Zhouxuan had personally established generation names for the women, and this custom had naturally been maintained.

"I am Fourth Brother's younger sister, and he dotes on me the most," Wang Luojing retorted, refusing to yield an inch as she hooked her arm through his other side. She sneered, "I think you're the one with no shame, throwing yourself into Fourth Brother's arms the moment you saw him."

"You're lying! Cousin Shouzhe dotes on me the most," Lu Xiaoxiao said, pouting. "Every time we meet, Cousin Shouzhe brings me gifts."

"Fourth Brother treats me the best. Just the day before yesterday, he gave me an Amethyst Spirit Bee hive to play with. It's worth over two hundred Qian gold!" Wang Luojing held her head high, looking thoroughly smug.

"Cousin Shouzhe, I want an Amethyst Spirit Bee hive too." Feeling suddenly outdone, Lu Xiaoxiao began to tug on Wang Shouzhe, acting spoiled. She was so pampered that she likely didn't even know what an Amethyst Spirit Bee was.

"Uh..." Wang Shouzhe was momentarily speechless. How had these two little girls started bickering over him the moment they met? Especially Luojing—she was actually a year younger than Lu Xiaoxiao and usually quite well-behaved, yet here she was, competing for his favor.

"Shouzhe, did you really buy an Amethyst Spirit Bee hive for a child to play with?" his uncle Lu Zhengjie, who was accompanying them, asked in astonishment. "That's far too extravagant and wasteful. I don't see how you're going to get past your cousin with this one."

Two hundred Qian gold was a massive sum, whether for the Wang Clan or the Lu Clan. For instance, Sixth Uncle Wang Dinghai's fishing fleet, with its ten ships braving the elements year-round, struggled to net a profit of about two hundred Qian gold annually.

Even the Fenggu Farm, one of the Wang Clan's pillar industries with two hundred tenant households and thousands of acres of farmland, only cleared a profit of six or seven hundred Qian gold a year—and that was just on paper.

He had prepared some gifts for this visit to the Lu Clan, but they were indeed just small trinkets.

"Uncle, there's a misunderstanding," Wang Shouzhe said with a bitter smile. "Why don't you try to persuade her? Even if you sold me off right now, I couldn't afford another Amethyst Spirit Bee hive."

"I don't have the ability to persuade her," Lu Zhengjie said, shaking his head hurriedly. "This girl is the most pampered of them all; even the Ancestor dotes on her, and my eldest brother can do nothing with her. Shouzhe, you'll have to fend for yourself."

Even the Ancestor doted on her?

Wang Shouzhe felt a bit dazed. The Lu Clan's Ancestor, Lu Mingsheng, was of the Lu Clan's direct 'Ming' generation and had to be over a hundred years old by now. In terms of lineage and seniority, he was Wang Shouzhe's great-grandfather on his mother's side.

Most ancestors of the great Profound Martial Aristocratic Clans rarely showed their faces. They usually spent their time in secluded cultivation, hoping to reach the next level, and only emerged to stabilize the situation during major events.

In his eighteen years of life, Wang Shouzhe could count on one hand the number of times he had seen Ancestor Mingsheng. He had only been summoned once, when he was seven and his aptitude was found to be quite good; the Ancestor had praised him and bestowed some resources upon him.

Considering that Wang Shouzhe's aptitude was nearly mid-grade, that was the extent of the treatment he had received. What right did this little girl, Lu Xiaoxiao, have to be doted on by the great-grandfather...

But since things had come to this, he couldn't produce a gift worth two hundred Qian gold, and even if he could, he wouldn't be willing to give it away. He could only offer a perfunctory excuse to Lu Xiaoxiao: "Xiaoxiao, that hive was a lucky find I stumbled upon..."

"Wah! Cousin Shouzhe doesn't like me anymore! Wuu wuu, Cousin is a bully!" Upon hearing she wouldn't get one, Lu Xiaoxiao felt completely defeated and ran back into the house in tears.

Meanwhile, Wang Luojing clung to Wang Shouzhe's arm, looking triumphant at having defeated the "villain," which made Wang Shouzhe roll his eyes. She really was just a little girl, getting jealous over something like this.

However, it was just a minor episode, and Wang Shouzhe didn't take it to heart.

Shortly after, led by his uncle Lu Zhengjie, Wang Shouzhe and Wang Luojing arrived at the main hall of the Lu Clan's residence.

At the same time, the Lu Clan Leader, Lu Zhengxiong, and his wife, Lady Wang, were already waiting in their formal attire.

Lu Zhengxiong was in his fifties, with a square face and a three-stranded beard, giving him a rather imposing air.

His wife, Lady Lu-Wang, was Wang Shouzhe's own paternal aunt—Wang Liuling. She was already over fifty, but thanks to good care and grooming, she looked like a beautiful middle-aged woman as she sat there.

"On behalf of my fifth sister, Wang Luojing, I pay my respects to my uncle and aunt," Wang Shouzhe said, stepping forward to perform the etiquette of a junior greeting his elders. He had already sent a family guard ahead to inform them that this trip was to pay respects to his elders, not a formal meeting between clan leaders.

"Shouzhe, please, no need for such formalities." Lu Zhengxiong stepped forward to help Wang Shouzhe up, looking him over. "It has been quite some time. I never expected you to have grown to such a level, Shouzhe."

"Zhe'er, Zhe'er." Wang Liuling also stepped forward to take Wang Shouzhe's hand, acting very affectionate. "You've only just become Clan Leader, yet you're already running about like this. It's truly been hard on you."

Aunt Wang Liuling had personally attended the funeral at the Wang Clan; she had already shed her tears for her own brother. The dead were gone, and now she was more concerned about her nephew, Wang Shouzhe.

"Uncle, Aunt, it's no hardship at all," Wang Shouzhe replied. "Our Wang and Lu clans share the same blood; looking out for one another is our duty."

Because his mother was a daughter of the Lu Clan, Wang Shouzhe had always felt a deep affection for them. The exchange of marriages between the direct lines of the previous generation had made the two families' bloodlines extremely close.

After some brief pleasantries, Aunt Wang Liuling took Wang Luojing aside to chat.

Lu Zhengxiong sat down to talk with Wang Shouzhe, but instead of serving regular spirit tea, he brought out the Yingxiu Lu Clan's specialty: Ice Crystal Dew Drink.

Occupying the prime location of Yingxiu Lake, the Lu Clan not only excelled in aquaculture but had also cordoned off a section of "spirit water" to cultivate a submerged spirit plant—Crystal Dew Grass. This grass produced thumb-sized spirit fruits that looked like grapes but were as transparent as cicada wings. When the pulp inside was extracted and chilled, it made for an exquisite drink.

With one sip, a cool, clear sensation traveled down his throat into his stomach, and a refreshing chill spread throughout his entire body. He shivered involuntarily, feeling a sense of total rejuvenation, as if his marrow had been cleansed and his body purified.

Come to think of it, this was only the third time Wang Shouzhe had tasted the Ice Crystal Dew Drink, as it was a rare delicacy. A single cup was worth several Qian gold, and even the direct members of the Lu Clan rarely got to drink it.

The Yingxiu Lu Clan was not a very powerful family, with only one ancestor guarding them. However, their Ice Crystal Dew Drink was a major specialty; most of the output was supplied exclusively to the Purple Mansion Academy, with only a small portion shared among the direct lines of powerful families.

Wang Shouzhe didn't know their exact annual net profit, but he estimated it wouldn't be less than eight or nine hundred Qian gold.

Besides Wang Shouzhe's cup, Wang Luojing had also been given one. It was her first time tasting such a fine drink, and her eyes went wide.

After the drink, they were treated to a meal of spirit food, which left the Wang siblings feeling full of vigorous energy.

Then, they naturally moved on to the main business. Wang Luojing would coordinate with the Lu clansmen to carry out the pest extermination. The method was simple: they would just copy the approach used by the Shanyang Gongsun Clan. Moreover, the Yingxiu Lu Clan didn't have too much farmland—only six or seven thousand acres—so it wouldn't be too difficult to handle.

Wang Shouzhe had originally intended to help, but just before leaving, he received a message from Ancestor Mingsheng, summoning him for an audience.

This left Wang Shouzhe feeling uneasy. Could Lu Xiaoxiao have gone to Ancestor Mingsheng to complain, causing the Ancestor to have a poor opinion of him?

However, this absurd thought vanished as quickly as it came. Ancestor Mingsheng was the pillar of the Yingxiu Lu Clan; he wouldn't involve himself in the petty squabbles of children.