Chapter 161 - 136: News
A month had passed since their return to Xiahe County. It was March, the perfect time for a spring outing.
"Sigh, Zhi’Er, the Wei Family is so prominent. Their young lady must be well-read and courteous. Why won’t you even agree to meet her?"
"Steward Wang has visited several times this past month. It shows they’re sincere."
Ms. Chen nagged, trying to persuade him.
Right now, for the Fang Family, the matter of Fang Yue’s marriage had become a thorny problem, their top priority.
Father Fang and Fang Cheng were both blocks of wood—terrible with words and unable to persuade Fang Yue. Thus, the heavy burden fell entirely on Ms. Chen’s shoulders.
"Mother, please don’t worry about this. I’m still young, not even twenty-five yet."
Fang Yue refused with a smile. Seeing that Ms. Chen was about to say more, he quickly cut in, "That’s settled, then. I’m off to train."
With that, he fled.
Ms. Chen was at a loss. She knew Fang Yue was genuinely unwilling to marry into the Wei Family. ’Maybe it’s for the best,’ she thought. ’If we bring home a young lady from a Noble Family, she might not even look twice at a humble family like ours.’
’When the time comes, it’s hard to say who would be serving whom.’
At this thought, some of Ms. Chen’s frustration dissipated.
She immediately sent someone to speak with Steward Wang of the Wei Family and politely decline the marriage proposal.
~~~~~~
「Xiahe County Town. The Wei Family Mansion.」
In the rear courtyard.
"I won’t come tomorrow. Your father will be back in a couple of days. If I visit too often, he might notice something, and that would be trouble."
The delicate, pitiable woman reclined languidly, gazing affectionately at her lover as she spoke with great reluctance.
"My Lady, it’s fine," Wei He said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Once I take up my official post, we’ll figure something out. My father is getting old. It’s about time we found a place for him to retire."
His father had finally secured a position for him. As soon as his father returned, he would be off to assume his new role: Captain of the Xiahe County Guard Inspection.
It was a Junior Seventh Grade position, the same rank as Fang Hu.
However, the authority and responsibility were much less. He would only be in charge of patrolling the region and hunting down bandits that the government constables couldn’t handle.
In the future, he would definitely be spending a lot of time on horseback, patrolling the area.
He had to take advantage of the time before his father returned to properly hone his skills on horseback.
That way, his skills would be sharp and ready when he started his new post.
"I know~" the woman replied noncommittally.
After a moment, once the aftertaste had faded...
"You were truly wicked this time, trying to introduce that ’cousin’ of yours to Fang Yue. Aren’t you afraid he’ll fight you to the death when he finds out she’s not ’original goods’?"
The delicate woman brushed aside her sweat-dampened hair and yawned. "Besides," she said, "are you really willing to part with that little vixen?"
Wei He chuckled slyly.
"Heh, my Wei Family is honoring him by marrying my cousin to him. A mud-legged peasant like him should be eternally grateful."
"Besides, that little girl is nowhere near as... entertaining as you are."
A moment later, outside the bedroom. Perhaps it was about to rain; the air was oppressively humid.
In the pond, several golden carp repeatedly leaped from the water, only to fall back and send ripples across the otherwise calm surface.
「A quarter of an hour later.」
Wei He emerged from the room, looking refreshed and invigorated.
"Speak. What happened?"
Wang Quan bowed slightly, his face a mask of indignation.
"Young Master, the Fang Family actually refused. They should take a good look at themselves! For the young ’cousin’ to be willing to marry down to them is a blessing they haven’t earned in three lifetimes, yet they dare to refuse! Truly, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear!"
"Hmph. I know."
Wei He’s expression darkened. ’That Fang Yue really doesn’t know what’s good for him.’
’In that case, I’ll let the matter rest for now. I’ll deal with him after I take up my post.’
~~~~~~~
’So that’s it. It was this thing.’
In his room, Fang Yue stared at the wooden staff before him. He noticed that the small beast he had just fed the Secret Medicine to was still alive and kicking, showing no signs of fainting.
Meanwhile, the other small beast, which was one zhang away from the staff’s range, had already fallen completely unconscious.
He knew at once that the reason none of them had been affected by the Secret Medicine that day was because of this wooden staff he had been carrying.
Since this wooden staff could incite the surviving mountain people of the Mo Mountain Tribe to fight for it with their lives, it had to have some unique quality.
Fang Yue had originally thought the staff was some kind of sacred object to the Mo Mountain Tribe, but his experiment now proved it possessed the ability to ward off poison.
That being the case, the staff must have other functions as well.
Fang Yue then took out the Beast Skin Map. He finally noticed that on the path leading deep into the mountains, the Mo Mountain Tribe had drawn an area of dense, swirling mist.
’This must be an area of poisonous miasma!’
And using the wooden staff to ward off the poison would indeed allow for a relatively safe passage deep into the mountains.
However, Fang Yue had no intention of going in.
He didn’t know what was in there. The risks were unknown, and the potential reward was not proportional to the effort.
Besides, even if there was some treasure inside, it wasn’t worth him taking such a huge risk to get it.
’With my Golden Finger, as long as I lie low and play it safe, I’m bound to grow stronger sooner or later.’
’There’s no need to take risks for something completely unknown.’
Having made up his mind, Fang Yue casually put everything away.
As for the wooden staff, he shaved off a few splinters from it, planning to carry one himself and give one to each of his family members.
Fang Yue then turned his thoughts to his cultivation.
’Sigh, next I need to keep searching for cultivation methods for Qi Cultivators. The more I understand, the better my decisions will be.’
In reality, if he truly couldn’t break through to Qi Sensing in the future, then his current achievements and his family’s business might not remain secure.
After all, with the rise of the Yuezhong Mountain Tea House and Chubby’s involvement, it was bound to shake up the entire tea market in Shanyang Prefecture.
That would represent an enormous fortune.
Others might not dare to touch Chubby, but they would definitely turn their sights on him.
Right now, it was just a few thousand mu of land, which was manageable. But if they continued to expand...
...then his current cultivation level and his title of Martial Scholar would no longer be enough.
Therefore, he had to find a way to break through to a higher cultivation level and continue to advance his official rank as soon as possible.
The Great Wei Dynasty valued martial strength above all, and it was an era where holding an official position was of paramount importance.
Not to mention, the greatest variety of cultivation resources was held by the Government Office.
Whether for the future development of the Fang Family or for his own cultivation, he had to put in the effort on this front.
’So, I must participate in next year’s Prefecture Examination and strive to obtain an official position. Then, I have to continue investigating the differences between the cultivation paths of Qi Cultivators and Secret Medicine Martial Artists. This will help me make a choice for the future.’
Having made his decision, Fang Yue felt a weight lift from his shoulders.
The following days gradually settled into a peaceful routine.
Fang Yue continued his training, practicing his skills daily and advancing his progress in Marrow Transformation.
Unwittingly, several months passed.