Chapter 34: Sworn Brotherhood

“Brother! You’re saying this room is all mine now?”

Zheng Shan asked Zheng Fa dazedly, her mouth stretched to her ears, as if she couldn’t believe his arrangement.

“What? Afraid to sleep alone?” Zheng Fa chuckled.

“Not afraid!” Little sister hurried to say.

Their new home was truly not large by Zhao family standards, but compared to their previous mud hut, it was extravagantly spacious.

A single-entry courtyard, with a small room on each side, which Zheng Fa planned to use as a kitchen and firewood shed.

The main house had four rooms total, not counting the central parlor.

The remaining three, Zheng Fa intended to assign one to each of the three family members.

This thrilled Zheng Shan; she tugged Zheng Fa’s index finger, gazing at her room.

She nodded solemnly: “My new room is so beautiful!”

Zheng Fa glanced inside—the room was empty, save for dust covering the floor.

He had no idea where she saw beauty.

“Your sister is still young; leave this room for you as a study,” Zheng Mu hesitated before saying. “You’re the Young Master’s personal attendant now—reading is important. Your sister can sleep with me.”

Zheng Shan lowered her head at these words, saying nothing, only pouting, looking deeply wounded.

Zheng Fa knew Zheng Shan suffered sleeping with their mother: since their father’s death, their mother had overworked herself, could not stay up late, and slept lightly, while Zheng Shan was full of energy, stayed up late, yet was thoughtful enough to pity her mother.

Every time their mother fell asleep, the little girl dared not move a muscle, afraid of waking her—something truly torturous for a lively, restless child.

That was why, before coming to the new home, Zheng Shan’s greatest wish had been to have her own bed.

“Though my sister is young now, she’ll grow up. Since we have extra rooms, let her sleep here—it’ll save moving later,” he told his mother.

Zheng Shan’s head snapped up, grinning foolishly at Zheng Fa.

Seeing his mother about to speak again, he continued: “I read in Master Shen’s classroom and in Young Master’s study—why can’t I read in the parlor when I’m home?”

“But… I heard Wang Manager’s household set up a study after Wang Gui enrolled, saying a scholar must have a dedicated room for books.”

Zheng Fa waved his hand and laughed: “Poor students have lots of stationery… wait, I mean, books on shelves are useless—only books in the mind matter.”

“But…”

“Mother, he’s read his way to the Misty Rain Pavilion—his father’s manager position vanished because of it. If we’re going to learn, let’s learn something better.”

“You’re right!”

Thank you, Wang Gui—for making Zheng Mu incredibly easy to persuade…

Zheng Shan raised both hands above her head and cheered: “Mother! I’m going to decorate my own room!”

“Then you clean it yourself,” Zheng Mu said, smiling at her daughter’s joy.

“I’ll clean it myself! I’ll clean Brother’s room too, and Mother’s room!”

The mother and daughter, delighted, leaned close together, whispering about how to arrange the furniture Master Gao had sent. Zheng Fa glanced at the sun and said to them: “You two discuss it—I need to train with Instructor Xu.”

Zheng Mu waved him off without even looking, lost in the joy of decorating their new home, leaving Zheng Fa with a strange sense of neglect.

…

In the training ground’s room, Instructor Xu stroked several thick volumes, sighing deeply.

His rugged face was filled with delicate sorrow.

His young apprentice, also his nephew by blood, walked over and, seeing his master’s expression, asked worriedly: “Uncle, what’s wrong?”

“Sigh… my wife sent me the Spirit Crane Body. She wants me to teach it to Zheng Fa.”

“The Spirit Crane Body!” the nephew gasped, staring at the book in Instructor Xu’s hands—yes, the cover clearly bore the three large characters: Spirit Crane Body.

His gaze locked onto it: “Uncle, can I take a look?”

“Do you want to die?! I’ve served the Zhao family for twenty years, and only now has my wife granted me the privilege to learn the Spirit Crane Body—and yet…”

“Uncle, you spent twenty years to earn this right,” the nephew lowered his voice: “That’s a bit unfair…”

“Shut up! Your nerve’s growing bold—how dare you speak ill of my wife?” Instructor Xu slapped his nephew on the head.

The nephew rubbed his head, grimacing: “I’m just upset for you, Uncle!”

Instructor Xu’s expression softened. “It’s not that. I… didn’t I want to take Zheng Fa as my disciple?”

“You can’t now!” the nephew suddenly understood.

“Exactly—he’s now gained my wife’s favor. How could I dare? What would she think of me?” Instructor Xu nodded. “But I should’ve spoken of this earlier.”

“If you had, he’d be your junior brother already!” the nephew grasped it.

“Even if you can’t take him as a disciple, speaking early could have forged a good connection.”

Instructor Xu looked deeply regretful, unaware that his nephew’s eyes darted sideways, slipping quietly out of the training ground.

…

Zheng Fa reached the training ground’s entrance and saw a young man crouching there, as if waiting. The man looked familiar—likely one of those who’d stood beside Instructor Xu before.

He stopped, gave a slight bow, and prepared to enter.

The man leapt up, beaming at him with warm enthusiasm: “Brother Zheng!”

“Hm?” Zheng Fa halted, puzzled: “Who are you?”

“We met before! Instructor Xu is my uncle.”

“Brother Xu, what do you want?”

“Nothing important!” The man stepped forward, warmly gripping Zheng Fa’s arm: “When we met before, I felt an instant kinship with you. Now, to meet again here—it’s fate!”

Zheng Fa glanced at the two shallow depressions the man had dug while crouching, leaned back slightly to avoid his enthusiastic spittle: “Indeed, a fortunate meeting!”

“How about we swear brotherhood?” Before the words finished, Zheng Fa watched the man pull from the spot where he’d been crouching a censer, insert three incense sticks, and light them—three slender trails of blue smoke rose.

“Isn’t this… a bit hasty?”

“As the saying goes, a single umbrella shared brings instant friendship—I feel exactly this way about you, Brother Zheng.”

Such warmth made refusal difficult; Zheng Fa could only politely reply: “Swearing brotherhood isn’t necessary. Why not just call each other brothers in daily life?”

“Then…” Seeing his reluctance, the nephew seemed to realize he shouldn’t press, and nodded reluctantly, earnestly: “Remember—I already see you as my younger brother, Brother Zheng!”

“Brother Xu, I have matters—I must go!” Zheng Fa replied, then hurried off.

The man still stood there calling after him: “Let’s renew our brotherhood another day!”

…

Zheng Fa entered the training ground and found Instructor Xu’s room.

There, Instructor Xu stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at Zheng Fa with tear-filled, fierce eyes—his expression tender, as if staring at a long-lost relative.

“Instructor?” he asked cautiously.

“Little Zheng, do you know what day this is?”

“What day?”

“When I was young, I had a younger brother—our bond was deep. Sadly, he died young. Today is his memorial day…”

Zheng Fa murmured: “Instructor, please accept my condolences.”

Instructor Xu wiped his face and said: “To be honest, the first time I saw you, I thought you resembled my late brother.”

“…”

“Let’s swear brotherhood!”

“Wait—this sounds familiar.” Zheng Fa glanced at the incense altar behind Instructor Xu and frowned.