The Lower Yuan Festival followed close on the heels of the Beginning of Winter.
In Fu Xi Yan’s previous life, the Lower Yuan Festival was far less well known than either the Middle Yuan or Upper Yuan Festivals, and even the custom of worshipping one’s ancestors had gradually faded with the passage of time. In Northern Zhou, however, many households still observed the day by eating sweet foods such as red-bean buns and rice cakes, though only a minority went so far as to hold elaborate ancestral rites.
Elio’s Notes: The Lower Yuan Festival (下元节) is the last of the traditional Upper, Middle, and Lower Yuan festivals. The novel emphasizes that ancestral observances remain much more prominent in Northern Zhou than in Fu Xi Yan’s previous life.
So when members of the Fu clan living in and around Haojing received invitations from Count Yongfeng’s Estate to attend ancestral rites, most assumed some bored person was playing a prank.
It was only a few days earlier, when the carriage Count Yongfeng had sent to their ancestral home returned to the capital with the clan elders, that outsiders finally realized Count Yongfeng’s Estate was genuinely determined to break the ice with the Fu clan’s collateral branches.
The clan elders had always hoped the direct and collateral branches would resume relations. The moment Fu Fu sent his letter, they agreed without hesitation and actively persuaded the collateral households to attend. Thus, although the weather had already turned cold by the Lower Yuan Festival, the entrance to Count Yongfeng’s Estate was crowded with carriages and horses and extraordinarily lively.
The children of Fu Xi Yan’s generation had never before seen their home packed with so many people that there was barely room to stand in the main hall. Madam Fu led them around greeting one great-uncle, uncle, and elder after another. Some responded warmly and pressed a few small silver ingots into their hands; others merely nodded with cool indifference.
Fortunately, the children’s purpose was simply to warm up the atmosphere so that when the ancestral hall was opened and the rites began, the adults would not appear too stiff around one another.
Although the two sides had gone years without associating, Fu Fu was still nominally the head of the Fu clan. He therefore led the incense offering, recited the ritual prayer, and presided over the remaining ceremonies.
Once the ancestral rites ended, every household knew that the real business was about to begin.
After so many years of estrangement, suddenly gathering everyone together could only mean there was something important to discuss. As soon as the clan elders nodded their approval, each household tacitly sent forward the representative they had already chosen, and the group followed Fu Fu and Fu Xuan into the inner hall.
Braziers had already been placed inside, making the room pleasantly warm.
Only one of the clan elders who had prevented the family from splitting apart all those years ago was still alive. The others were of Fu Fu’s generation. Yet all of them shared the same hope: to erase the resentment between the direct and collateral branches so that the Fu clan could once again live in harmony and prosper together.
The sole elderly clan elder recited the family precepts while everyone stood respectfully and listened.
When he finished, he looked around at the assembled family members with gratification. “Only after seeing all of you gathered here today will I have the face to meet our ancestors when my time comes. Now the Fu clan is whole in its people, united in its heart, and united as a family.”
A dark-faced man standing among the group raised a hand. “Clan Elder, not so fast. Since Count Fu called all of us here, we may as well open the window and speak plainly. Has Count Fu gathered us because he intends to settle the old grievances, or because he has something he wants from us now?”
Everyone turned toward Fu Fu.
Fu Fu did not bother with pleasantries. “The Fu clan has grown increasingly numerous, and more and more of our people now remain in Haojing. Yet the younger generation is scattered everywhere pursuing their studies, and inevitably some are neglected. I intend to follow the example of the great official clans and establish a Fu Clan School, inviting renowned Confucian scholars from Zijing Academy to teach there so that every child in our family has a stable place to study.”
The dark-faced man stared at him without answering.
Some of the families present were capable of sending their own children to Zijing Academy, but only Fu Fu could make it possible for every child in every branch of the clan to receive such an education.
Seeing that no one spoke, Fu Fu continued, “His Majesty intends to appoint me to a substantive vacancy in the Ministry of War. I should receive definite word within the next few days. I dare not promise anything beyond my abilities, but wherever I am capable of lending a hand in the future, I will not refuse.”
If establishing a clan school struck directly at the hearts of the parents present, those words moved the many family members who had entered officialdom only to find themselves drifting without support.
The root of the Fu clan’s ugly internal conflict all those years ago had been the old Count Yongfeng’s willingness to suppress his own relatives over personal grudges, even going so far as to interfere with the imperial examinations. Ruining a man’s future was little different from killing his parents; after something like that, it was hardly surprising that the old Count had become universally despised.
Fu Fu, however, had prepared more than one trump card. “I have also purchased a thousand mu of fertile farmland. Each year, the clan elders will distribute its produce among widowers, widows, the elderly, children, and any households facing hardship. We are all members of the Fu clan. Naturally, we should look after one another.”
Elio’s Notes: A mu (亩) is a traditional Chinese unit of land area. One mu is roughly 667 square meters, so a thousand mu represents a substantial agricultural estate.
He was effectively taking responsibility for the welfare of the entire clan from top to bottom.
The clan elders were delighted.
The dark-faced man, however, gave a cold snort. “Surely that isn’t everything. Count Fu has told us what you intend to do. You still haven’t said what you expect us to do.”
He was descended from the juren whose imperial-examination prospects the old Count Yongfeng had once ruined. Under pressure from the clan, the old Count had later found his father a position as an Assistant County Magistrate, but nothing could ever make up the difference between entering officialdom as a juren and doing so as a jinshi. His father had worked conscientiously as an official for more than twenty years and was still only a minor County Magistrate, with little hope of further advancement. Naturally, their household regarded Count Yongfeng’s Estate with extreme hostility. When this sudden ancestral gathering was announced, the man had firmly believed that unsolicited generosity always concealed ulterior motives.
Fu Fu looked at him mildly. “If I remember correctly, Zishan passed the jinshi examination the year before last and is currently serving in the Ministry of Works. Has everything been going well?”
Fu Shi’s face flushed crimson.
How could anything be going well? His family had spent an enormous amount of silver and called in countless favors merely to secure him an opportunity to remain in Haojing. In the end, he had managed to stay in the Ministry of Works only by accepting appointment at a lower grade. He had been told that if he endured for another two or three years and performed well, he would eventually be appointed to a substantive vacancy. Yet he had already spent two full years in the ministry doing nothing but miscellaneous temporary work every day. When had he ever been given an opportunity to prove himself?
He replied coldly, “Naturally, my prospects cannot compare with Count Yongfeng’s. You bask in imperial favor and have a boundless future ahead of you.”
Fu Fu had naturally investigated his circumstances long ago. He sighed. “Brother Zishan, the estate may appear prosperous and flourishing from the outside, but only we know the strain within. As you said, His Majesty has indeed shown us great favor. Yet in my generation there are only my brother and me, while the next generation is still young. No matter how many opportunities arise, we can only look at them and sigh. That is why I have shamelessly invited all of our brothers here today and asked everyone to help raise the fortunes of the family together.”
Fu Fu had lowered himself considerably with those words, but he had also supplied a clear reason. His meaning was simple: Yes, the emperor has been treating me very well lately, and there are plenty of opportunities. But the cake is too large for the two of us to finish, so I’m inviting everyone to share it.
An opportunity like that was impossible to find even if one searched with a lantern. Even Fu Shi—Zishan—who still carried a deep grudge against Count Yongfeng’s Estate, could hardly open his mouth to refuse.
Everyone present understood that given the current imbalance in strength between the two sides, this might be described as “raising the family together,” but for the foreseeable future Count Yongfeng’s Estate would unquestionably be contributing far more than anyone else.
The elderly clan elder said “Good” several times in succession.
Once Fu Fu sat down, Fu Xuan immediately continued, “However, if we are opening the ancestral hall this time, we need another reason for doing so.”
The emperor had only just revealed an intention to elevate Count Yongfeng’s Estate. If the household immediately opened its ancestral hall, reconciled with collateral relatives it had ignored for years, and then began arranging transfers and promotions for them, it would look far too nakedly opportunistic.
There were few fools in the room. Even those who were slow to understand figured it out once the person beside them explained.
The elderly clan elder asked, “What do you propose?”
Fu Xuan smiled. “My fourth nephew developed a strange illness as a child and has never been able to cultivate true qi. Not long ago, he visited Peijie Town, where a physician said that a powerful spirit medicine might be able to force a breakthrough. Didn’t our ancestors leave behind two Mighty Strength Divine Pills? They have been enshrined in the ancestral hall all these years. One reason for opening the hall today is to ask everyone’s permission to use those pills to treat my unfortunate nephew. Naturally, all the concessions my elder brother just offered are meant to repay everyone for agreeing.”
The Mighty Strength Divine Pills were Yellow-grade spirit medicines with one particularly useful effect: for a short period, they could stimulate a person’s potential and double their combat strength. The first Count Yongfeng had relied on the pills to cut down enemies across several crucial battles and establish the family’s foundation. In the present era of peace, however, the two remaining pills had become more symbolic than practical.
Fu Xuan’s explanation silenced the room.
The Mighty Strength Divine Pills were, after all, the very medicine their ancestor had used while carving out the family’s fortunes. Their symbolic importance was extraordinary, and simply consuming them seemed rather wasteful. Yet apart from needing those pills, no one could think of another convincing reason why the direct branch would suddenly open the ancestral hall and offer the collateral branches so many benefits.
In the end, the elderly clan elder made the decision. “Our ancestor left those pills behind so that later generations could make the Fu clan prosper. What better use could there be than this?”
Many eyes in Haojing were fixed on Count Yongfeng’s Estate, so news that the direct and collateral branches of the Fu clan had reconciled quickly became one of the capital’s hottest topics. Even Emperor Jianhong specifically summoned Fu Fu to ask what had happened.
Fu Fu poured out an ocean of grievances and finally sighed helplessly. “Were it not for that troublesome son of mine, why would this subject, at my age, cast aside all dignity and beg favors from others?”
After hearing the story, Emperor Jianhong was moved as well. “Such is the heart of every parent.” He promptly awarded Fu Fu one hundred taels of gold, effectively reimbursing him for the fortune he had supposedly bled for his son.
After Fu Fu left, Emperor Jianhong sighed to Yu Shuang Xi. “There truly isn’t a simple person anywhere in Haojing.”
Only after Fu Fu returned from the palace with the imperial reward did he and Fu Xuan finally relax.
To the Fu clan, repairing relations had supposedly been their true purpose, while the pills merely served as a smokescreen. To Emperor Jianhong, the pills were supposedly their true objective, while reconciliation had simply been an unavoidable means of obtaining them. Yet only Fu Fu and Fu Xuan themselves knew that, from the very beginning, both the Mighty Strength Divine Pills and reconciliation with the clan had been their goals.
Having resolved two major problems at once, Fu Fu felt refreshed and triumphant. “Call Fourth over.”
Fu Xi Yan had recently been plotting ways to make money.
The weather had turned cold, and the Censorate prison covered a large area and was gloomy and bitterly cold. Several braziers had to burn there every day. The yamen provided only a limited allowance, so most of the expense came out of Fu Xi Yan’s own pocket. Unfortunately, the financial support his uncle and elder brother had given him before his trip had already been mostly spent. Since he wanted to avoid sponging off his family, he needed to find a new source of income.
He had been thinking about finally putting his plan to open a shop into motion. So when Fu Fu sent for him, Fu Xi Yan immediately brought his soap formula along.
Before he even arrived, a booming “Father!” announced him from the courtyard. A few bounding steps later, he landed directly in front of Fu Fu. “Father, even if you’ve forgotten Xia Yu He by the shores of Daming Lake, surely you haven’t forgotten the promise you once made to your beloved son?”
Elio’s Notes: Fu Xi Yan is parodying a famous line from the television drama My Fair Princess, where Xia Yu He by Daming Lake represents a woman and an old promise that someone ought not to have forgotten.
Fu Fu said expressionlessly, “Then perhaps I should spend some time remembering Xia Yu He of Daming Lake.”
Fu Xi Yan: “…”
“Stop fooling around.” Fu Xuan produced a cold-jade box. “There are two Mighty Strength Divine Pills inside. Take them one at a time and see whether they can help you break through.”
Fu Xi Yan had already heard that the family had asked permission to use the Mighty Strength Divine Pills during the ancestral rites. He had assumed they were intended to cure his perpetually single uncle of his lifelong bachelorhood. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined they were actually for him!
Deeply moved, Fu Xi Yan accepted the cold-jade box and carefully opened it. Two white spheres, each about the size of a ping-pong ball, lay quietly inside.
“Aren’t these Mighty Strength Divine Pills… a little too big?” Fu Xi Yan swallowed nervously.
Fu Fu placed a meditation cushion on the couch and beckoned him over. “Get up here.”
Fu Xi Yan climbed onto it and laboriously folded his legs. Fu Xuan pinched one of the white “ping-pong balls” and applied a little pressure.
With a soft pop, the sphere split neatly in half, revealing a black pill inside.
Fu Xuan handed it to Fu Xi Yan. “The effect of a Mighty Strength Divine Pill is temporary. Try using its strength to break through. If it doesn’t work, don’t force it. Once enough time passes, the medicine’s effect will fade on its own. If you insist on breaking through and damage your heart meridians, you’ll only lose more than you gain.”
Fu Xi Yan nodded, tossed the pill into his mouth, and slowly swallowed it.
Unlike the Harmonized Yang Pills, which had dissolved the instant they entered his mouth, the Mighty Strength Divine Pill sat in his stomach for a while before its surging medicinal power finally erupted. The blood throughout his body seemed to boil with it, and a torrent of true qi poured out from his true origin. Following the route of his cultivation technique, the qi completed a full circuit through his body, and the bottleneck that had always remained a hair’s breadth beyond his reach finally began to loosen.
Seizing the opportunity, Fu Xi Yan circulated his technique another two or three times. The golden hue within his bones spread outward like a tide, gradually permeating his muscle tissue before slowly seeping into his skin.
Fu Fu and Fu Xuan, who were standing guard beside him during the breakthrough, exchanged a glance, delight appearing on both their faces.
Ever since they learned that Fu Xi Yan had accidentally swallowed the Harmonized Yang Pills and advanced to the peak Bone Forging Stage, they had been searching for all kinds of spirit medicines. After comparing one option after another, however, the ancestral Mighty Strength Divine Pills had still seemed the most suitable. First, they already possessed them and did not need to search elsewhere. Second, they were Yellow-grade spirit medicines with no harmful side effects, so even if Fu Xi Yan failed to break through, his body would not be damaged. Whether they would actually work, however, could only be known now.
As a pale golden sheen appeared across Fu Xi Yan’s skin, both men knew what it meant.
He had entered the early Vajra Stage.
Even Chu Guang, Commander of the Brocade Guard, was only at the early Vajra Stage! Among the younger generation of Haojing’s noble military families who practiced martial arts, Fu Xi Yan could now be said to stand second only to Lou Wu Zai.
Fu Fu rubbed his hands together in delight, but Fu Xuan’s expression gradually became grave.
When a Mighty Strength Divine Pill took effect, the user’s face became flushed. Yet the redness in Fu Xi Yan’s face had already almost completely faded, and he still showed no sign of ending his cultivation.
Fu Xi Yan had not stopped because—
he could still go higher.
The surging true qi returned to his true origin and began showing signs of being drawn back in. Yet it was not dissipating. Instead, it felt as though something inside was devouring it. Fu Xi Yan remembered how Fu Xuan and Zhou Zhong Xin had nearly had their true qi sucked dry and suddenly had an idea.
Perhaps the reason his true origin had contained no true qi all these years was because…
it had been holding the qi back.
Today, that suspicion felt stronger than ever.
Perhaps the Mighty Strength Divine Pill was simply too effective. Fu Xi Yan could clearly sense his true origin trying to retain the qi, but the process seemed unusually sluggish: a little at a time, then another little bit. Only after he circulated several more full circuits did the amount of true qi available to him gradually diminish.
Then could he force his true origin to spit some of it back out?
Fu Xi Yan had always valued his life. Put less politely, he was terrified of dying. But when it came to his true origin, for once he felt an urge to stake everything on a gamble.
After all, the wounds his true origin had inflicted upon his heart over the years were simply too deep!
Fu Fu and Fu Xuan watched anxiously as Fu Xi Yan’s face suddenly turned white as paper even as the gold across his skin deepened further.
If Fu Xi Yan had been conscious of his surroundings at that moment, Fu Fu would have dearly loved to rap him on the skull several times. Countless geniuses throughout history had destroyed themselves by greedily pushing their cultivation too far!
Now, however, Fu Fu did not dare move a muscle. He was afraid even breathing too loudly might disturb him.
Their only comfort was that Fu Xi Yan’s skin was still changing normally. Once it had turned completely red-gold, the color gradually stabilized.
Seeing a little color finally return to Fu Xi Yan’s face, his father and uncle quietly breathed a sigh of relief. They had just raised their hands to wipe the sweat from their foreheads when Fu Xi Yan, still sitting there with his eyes closed, said, “Another one.”
Another one, my ass! Fu Fu had just lost half his life from fright. Did the brat want him dressed in mourning before the day was over?!
The curses had already reached Fu Fu’s tongue, but Fu Xuan moved faster. In a few quick motions, he opened the second Mighty Strength Divine Pill and tossed the black pill straight into Fu Xi Yan’s slightly parted mouth.
Gulp.
The pill slid smoothly down his throat.
His poor old father had no choice but to resume his vigil as a “Waiting-for-His-Son Stone.”
Elio’s Notes: This jokes on the traditional Wife-Waiting Stone (望夫石), the image of someone waiting so steadfastly for her husband that she seems to turn to stone. Fu Fu has effectively become the fatherly version.
With the experience of the first pill behind him, Fu Xi Yan’s second attempt proceeded much more smoothly. He could even sense his true origin faintly cooperating this time. Unlike before, he no longer had to threaten to blow apart his own true origin just to force it to squeeze out some true qi.
The color of his skin continued changing until it reached a rich golden bronze, where it finally stopped.
That was already astonishing.
The four phases of the Vajra Stage—early, middle, late, and peak—corresponded respectively to pale gold, red-gold, goldenbronze, and dark bronze. Fu Xuan had cultivated for decades and had only reached the upper end of the middle Vajra Stage, still a fraction short of advancing to late stage. Fu Xi Yan had already surpassed him.
Fu Xi Yan ended his cultivation, and his skin gradually returned to its normal color. His true origin stirred faintly, almost as though urging him to feed it a third Mighty Strength Divine Pill, but he ignored it completely.
At present, he lacked both the strength and energy to investigate exactly what was hiding inside his true origin. Whatever it was had been there for years without causing any truly catastrophic problems.
He could leave it alone for now.
Overall, this gamble had been a spectacular success!
Fu Xi Yan opened his eyes, expecting his proud old father to seize his hands and weep with emotion over how wonderfully his son had turned out. Instead, a gust of wind rushed toward him, followed by an enormous knuckle rap aimed directly at his forehead.
Whether to dodge did not even qualify as a question.
Fu Xi Yan obediently took the hit. It did not actually hurt, but he still immediately howled at the top of his lungs.
Fu Fu snapped, “Good! It should hurt! If it doesn’t hurt, you’ll never learn to be afraid!”
Fu Xuan tried to mediate. “Enough, enough. Fortunately, nothing happened.”
Fu Fu pointed at Fu Xi Yan’s nose and complained to Fu Xuan, “Look at him! Young, reckless, and completely ignorant of restraint! Everything we tell him goes in one ear and out the other. With you and me watching him, he already acts like this. If he were alone, wouldn’t he become completely lawless?”
Fu Xi Yan protested, “I went to Luoyang by myself not long ago.”
And I was forced to go, he added inwardly.
“That’s exactly how you brought the enormous trouble called the Immortal Treasury Palace home with you!” Fu Fu blurted.
Fu Xi Yan’s eyes widened slightly.
So in Father’s mind, Pei Yuan Jin was an enormous problem too.
Fu Fu had accidentally spoken his true thoughts aloud. Unsure whether one of the Immortal Treasury Palace’s hidden ears might have heard him, he coughed awkwardly. “In any case, if you ever dare do something like this again, see if I don’t break your legs.”
Fu Xi Yan’s eyes immediately lit up. “If I do it again? Does that mean our family has more Mighty Strength Divine Pills?”
“Dream on!”
Watching Fu Fu storm away, Fu Xi Yan suddenly remembered why he had come in the first place and hurried after him with the soap formula. Unfortunately, Fu Fu was still angry and had no interest whatsoever in what he regarded as his son’s frivolous business scheme.
Fu Xi Yan had no choice but to turn and pitch the idea to Fu Xuan instead.
Fu Xuan agreed with his elder brother. Now that Fu Xi Yan’s martial talent had finally been unlocked, as long as they could keep him supplied with suitable medicine, his future prospects would surely be extraordinary. Why waste his time and attention on something as minor as commerce?
As he spoke, Fu Xuan casually pulled out another five hundred taels in banknotes and gave them to him.
Fu Xi Yan naturally accepted the money as startup capital. In his head, he silently assigned his uncle a thirty-percent stake in the future business, gave his father another thirty percent, kept thirty percent for himself, and reserved the final ten percent to divide among his elder brother, sisters, and younger brother.
Five hundred taels was not enough to buy a shop, but it was more than enough to rent one. This was Fu Xi Yan’s first attempt at doing business across two lifetimes. He had plenty of confidence but very little certainty, and since a small boat was easier to turn around, he did not dare throw all his capital into the venture at once.
His original plan sounded excellent: rent a shop, renovate it simply, complete the required paperwork, offer grand-opening discounts…
and then watch customers flood through the doors.
Unfortunately, the plan stalled at the very first step.
There were no well-located storefronts available for rent in the Western Market.
The second step did not go much better.
Opening a business required registration with the Capital Markets Office, but the application first had to pass through the head of the relevant merchants’ guild.
…
After one setback after another, Fu Xi Yan’s affordable-luxury boutique was already teetering on the verge of collapse before it had even opened.
Yu Su Huan, who had been keeping close track of Fu Xi Yan’s activities, heard the news almost immediately. She shook her head. “Still too young.”
Pei Yuan Jin sat in the courtyard watching the white tiger eat meat and gave a dismissive snort. “Stupid is stupid. What does age have to do with it?”
“I don’t mean that he failed to get it done,” Yu Su Huan said. “I mean he shouldn’t have tried to do it this way.”
Pei Yuan Jin raised an eyebrow, plainly failing to understand.
“The Fu family hasn’t formally divided into separate households,” Yu Su Huan explained. “Before opening a shop, he should first obtain the permission of the principal wife who manages the household.”
Pei Yuan Jin frowned. His own mother had died early, and Aunt Qin currently managed the household affairs. It was one thing for her to handle domestic matters every day, but if she dared interfere with businesses he conducted outside the home, he absolutely would not tolerate it.
Seeing his displeased expression, Yu Su Huan was speechless. “Fu Xi Yan is a concubine-born son, while Madam Fu is the principal wife. His situation is naturally different from yours. First, if outsiders discovered that Fu Xi Yan was secretly operating a shop outside the household, they might assume the Fu family mistreats him. Second, disputes could easily arise later over who owns the shop and who is entitled to its profits. Young Palace Master might as well have someone remind him.”
Pei Yuan Jin suddenly smiled. “Why remind him?”
“If he can no longer stay with the Fu family, that would be perfect. He can move out with me.”
Yu Su Huan: “…”
Unfortunately, Pei Yuan Jin’s calculations ultimately came to nothing.
After running into obstacles, Fu Xi Yan immediately sorted and compared every useful connection at his disposal. Following a careful head-to-head evaluation, Madam Fu successfully defeated Count Yongfeng’s household steward.
The reason was simple. Fu Xi Yan could transfer his father’s thirty-percent stake to Madam Fu and achieve the same result. If he asked the steward to handle the business instead, he would have to give away an additional share of the profits.
He immediately went to see Madam Fu.
After hearing his proposal, she asked directly, “Is this soap truly as useful as you claim?”
Fu Xi Yan produced a finished bar.
Madam Fu tried it herself and decided the venture was viable. Just like that, the matter was settled. The ownership proportions would remain unchanged, but she would hire someone else to manage the actual business.
Her reason was simple. “Now that you’re an official, there are certain things you should avoid becoming personally involved in.”
Developing his own technology tree and opening an affordable-luxury boutique had originally been the escape route Fu Xi Yan found when he believed he had nowhere else to turn. After working toward it for so long, however, the idea had gradually become an obsession. Hearing Madam Fu’s words made him reconsider the whole matter, and he realized he really had gotten a little carried away—almost as if he had suffered cultivation deviation over it. After all, in his previous life, civil servants were not supposed to personally run shops either.
He immediately thanked Madam Fu for her consideration and agreed to her arrangement.
After Fu Xi Yan left, Madam Fu’s wet nurse could not resist gossiping. “This household has never shorted him on food or clothing, yet now he’s gone and started thinking about opening his own shop. Who knows what he’s plotting? When Concubine Bai was pregnant with him, she was constantly supplied with ginseng, lingzhi mushrooms, and every kind of spirit medicine. Who knows how much of Madam’s own dowry was spent on her? And now look at him! He keeps thirty percent of the profits for himself, while Eldest Young Master has to split a tiny share with the others. What an ungrateful little wolf!”
Madam Fu quietly drank her tea without replying. Once the wet nurse left to give instructions about the meal, Madam Fu summoned the household steward and told him to select a scenic farm estate surrounded by beautiful hills and clear water. After the New Year, the wet nurse would be sent there to retire.
There were certain things she might have gotten away with saying in the past.
From now on, however, Fu Xi Yan was no longer someone she could casually speak about that way.
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