Chapter 30: Night Turmoil

The sky had grown completely dark, and the carriage sped through the starlight.

The Seventh Young Master, looking utterly despondent, clung to the carriage door and asked Gao Yuan, "Where are we?"

"We should be arriving soon," Gao Yuan replied, not entirely certain.

"You can't even get the road right! What use are you!" the Seventh Young Master cursed. "When we get back, you're fired!"

"I learned to drive, but I never learned to read a map!" Gao Yuan argued, quickly shifting the blame: "Why don't you scold Zheng Fa? He can't even find his way home!"

Both turned their heads, staring at Zheng Fa, who was watching the commotion from the side as if it had nothing to do with him.

Zheng Fa:... This blame truly belongs to him.

Once out of the city, the roads all looked much the same; who could tell which fork was the right one?

In the modern world, after GPS navigation appeared on phones, many people couldn't even read a map anymore.

Moreover, this place had no road signs at all; they relied entirely on an old horse knowing the way.

"Hmm, this road must be the right one! No mistake!"

Fortunately, Zheng Fa had a good memory; recalling the scenery along the way, he finally found the correct intersection.

Hearing Zheng Fa's so certain reply, the Seventh Young Master turned back, sat on the chair, rubbed his stomach, and frowned: "I'm so hungry! Is there anything to eat?"

They had originally set off after lunch; according to the carriage's speed, they should have arrived at the manor where the Zheng family lived before dinner.

But now they had taken the wrong road, delaying them for most of the day; forget about dinner.

They had even missed the time for a late-night snack.

All three were actually hungry.

Zheng Fa keenly noticed that when the Seventh Young Master said this, he was staring at the food box at his feet.

He thought for a moment, then picked up the food box.

The Seventh Young Master broke into a smile, then watched helplessly as he hid the food box behind his back.

Not even letting me take a look?

"Zheng Fa!"

"Hmm?" Zheng Fa looked somewhat bewildered.

"I'm hungry!"

"So am I," Zheng Fa said with an expression of deep sympathy.

"I saw it! You took so many pastries from the kitchen; they're all in there!"

Seeing him play dumb, the Seventh Young Master revealed his true intentions.

"These are for my younger sister," Zheng Fa refused coldly. "There's only this little bit."

"... Brother!"

Even though Zheng Fa always considered himself more knowledgeable than the people of this world, he was still shocked by the Seventh Young Master's shamelessness.

"She's only six years old..."

Zheng Fa had a sentence he didn't say: And you have the nerve?

"I'm hungry!"

Zheng Fa sighed; the Seventh Young Master, with such a background, must have never gone hungry from childhood to adulthood.

That was why he couldn't stand it so much.

He opened the food box; inside were two plates of small pastries, all selected by Zheng Fa because he found them delicious.

Now, everyone in the Zhao household knew Zheng Fa had some standing before the Seventh Young Master; for these pastries, Zheng Fa just needed to say a word in the kitchen, and someone would make them for him.

"Here!" He handed one plate of pastries over.

The Seventh Young Master grabbed a piece of bean cake and stuffed it into his mouth.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, lifted the carriage curtain, and said to Gao Yuan, "Gao Yuan, you've been driving all this way; you must be hungry too? Come have some."

He held the plate out; Gao Yuan nodded and eagerly took a piece as well.

Zheng Fa thought that since both of them were at an age where they could eat a lot, one small pastry probably wouldn't fill them up, so he placed the food box inside the carriage and said, "Take more after you finish."

The Seventh Young Master quickly finished a piece of bean cake, then looked at Zheng Fa, who had sat back down without taking a pastry, and asked with some confusion, "Aren't you eating?"

"I'm not hungry."

Zheng Fa smiled.

The Seventh Young Master looked at his own palm, which he had licked clean of even the pastry crumbs, then looked at Zheng Fa, remembering that they had all eaten lunch together.

He and Gao Yuan were both hungry.

Zheng Fa wasn't hungry?

Probably wanted to save a few pieces for his younger sister?

The Seventh Young Master swallowed hard, then suddenly said, "I'm not that hungry anymore; I won't eat."

Outside the carriage, Gao Yuan also said, "No water; eating too much makes me choke! I won't eat either."

Zheng Fa actually didn't feel that hungry; he was probably used to enduring hunger.

He did indeed intend to save a few pieces for his younger sister.

These two...

He didn't urge them further; smiling, he closed the food box and said, "We're almost there; once we arrive, we can eat."

Just as Zheng Fa said, in less than half an hour, they saw the dark silhouettes of houses under the starry sky.

"We've arrived!"

The Seventh Young Master gazed at that cluster of small houses, wishing he could jump out of the carriage.

Suddenly, the foremost house lit up a torch.

The sound of gongs and drums rose up.

The farmhands, who had long since fallen asleep, rose one by one and lit the candles in their homes.

The entire estate seemed to wake in a sudden uproar.

"What is happening?"

The Seventh Young Master looked at the chaotic estate in shock.

"They fear bandits. We arrived too late; the sentries couldn't see the carriage clearly and thought we meant harm."

The Xuanwei Realm was far from peaceful.

Jingzhou City was relatively safe, but the estates outside the city often faced raids by bandits.

Every night, young and strong men from the estates stood guard as sentries.

His tone carried a hint of melancholy.

Zheng Fa's father had been one of the sentries at the estate on that very night when the demonic beasts descended the mountain...

By now, the estate was already in a state of panic.

Zheng Mother held the drowsy Zheng Shan in her arms, gazing out through the window.

"Mother?"

Zheng Shan felt her mother trembling.

Zheng Mother forced a smile for her daughter; when her husband had passed away, Zheng Shan had been only one year old and had no memory of it.

But she had never forgotten.

Back then, it had been the same sound of gongs, the same chaos.

A moment later, a farmhand suddenly ran over, shouting loudly, "It's nothing, it's all nothing! The carriage from the manor has arrived!"

Zheng Shan felt her mother's arm holding her suddenly relax, and a sigh of relief came from above her head.

After a while, her mother's body suddenly stiffened.

She put Zheng Shan down and ran frantically outside.

"Mother? What happened!"

Zheng Shan saw her mother, barefoot, stumbling as she followed.

Zheng Mother did not answer, nor did she dare to answer.

Some time ago, when Wang Gui had been beaten by the Lady and sent back...

It had also been a carriage.

It had also been a night.

People from the manor had arrived suddenly, carrying the unconscious and near-death Wang Gui.

At Wang Guanshi's house, Wang Gui, now dressed, was excitedly whispering with his father.

"I told you Zheng Fa wouldn't last long! We should have dealt with the Zheng family sooner! Father, you always said 'wait a bit longer, wait a bit longer'!"

"Shut your foul mouth."

Wang Gui fell silent, but his face still showed defiance.

Wang Guanshi knew his son was actually not wrong.

He knew a little of the Seventh Young Master's temper.

His own son being sent back was one thing for being useless, but this Seventh Young Master was truly difficult to serve.

Moreover, people from the manor rarely came at such a late hour.

Just as Zheng Mother had thought, he too recalled the night his son had been sent back.

"Being cautious is not wrong! Besides, he has been spurned by the Seventh Young Master, and his whole family is in the estate; where could they run? Why the rush?"

Wang Guanshi scolded his son once and walked toward the edge of the estate.

Wang Gui followed behind, smiling; he knew his father would never stop him again.

A carriage was slowly approaching. Wang Gui looked at Gao Yuan, the driver, feeling somewhat puzzled by the man's youth and unfamiliarity.

And where was Zheng Fa?

Lying inside the carriage?

He leaned forward to look into the carriage, only to see the curtain lifted and the Seventh Young Master poking his head out.

The Seventh Young Master?

Wang Gui stared dumbfounded at the Seventh Young Master's face, unable to fathom why the other would come here.

Could it be that he had come to take him back?

"Young Master!" he cried out excitedly, secretly swearing in his heart: The Seventh Young Master has come personally to fetch me; I will surely give my life for him!

Even if the Lady broke his legs this time, he would still take him to the Misty Rain Pavilion!

"Huh? You live here too?"

At that moment, the Seventh Young Master's surprised face made Wang Gui feel so cold and hurtful.