Chapter 71: Leaving the Manor

Zheng Fa was not unwilling to let his family live well.

But these shops, as well as these courtyards, are not something he can hold onto right now.

If he goes to attend the Immortal-Grade Item Gathering and fails to enter an Immortal Sect, then such vast wealth will inevitably invite conflict.

Not to mention the covetousness of others, even within the Zhao Manor, there might be those who wish to seize them, after all, these things were all divided from the Zhao Manor's assets by the Lady.

Even if he can smoothly enter an Immortal Sect, judging by the situation of the Eldest Young Lady, at least for the first few years, he must leave his mother and younger sister in Jingzhou.

Two women, one of whom is not even ten years old; even with the Zhao Manor's care, it will be difficult to guard this wealth.

If he develops smoothly in the Immortal Sect later, then the good days for Zheng Mother and the other will still be ahead. If not, this current prosperity will one day have to be returned.

The Lady pointed at the box and said, "I have moved such a long way; you must take at least one deed."

The Butler Wu behind her looked at the box on the table, then looked at his own hands, and fell into deep thought.

Since the Lady has given them the ownership deeds, living in the Zhao family is indeed no longer appropriate.

Zheng Fa picked up a land deed; this was a courtyard with two courtyards, not large, only about half larger than the current Zheng family small courtyard.

The only benefit is that it is close to the Zhao family; this entire area is filled with high gates and great households, with many guards, making it relatively safe.

Should anything happen in the future, it will be convenient for the Zhao family to look after them.

Adding the shop given by the Senior Butler, at the very least, his mother and younger sister can live without worry, yet not attract jealousy.

The Lady saw him take the smallest courtyard and slowly frowned.

"I already said it is tuition. True Person Zhang said you teach well, but you... this really puts me in a difficult position."

She thought for a moment, untied a small purple pouch from her waist, and a jade box larger than the pouch appeared in her hand.

"A Storage Bag?"

Zheng Fa remembered Senior Sister Zhang's bracelet; he never expected the Lady to possess such a magical artifact as well.

Butler Wu behind the Lady looked at the box he had carried all the way, then looked down at his own hands, then looked again at the Storage Bag in the Lady's hand, and the look of deep thought on his face grew even stronger.

The Lady seemed to know what Zheng Fa was thinking; she waved her hand and said, "The cheapest one; it cannot compare to True Person Zhang's Storage Treasure."

She carefully opened the jade box, revealing ten transparent, slightly blue mineral stones.

"What is this?" Zheng Fa had some guesses.

"Spirit Stones." The Lady explained, "These are what I accumulated while I was in the Immortal Sect."

A flash of pain over flesh passed across her face; compared to those extremely valuable assets, taking out these Spirit Stones seemed to pain her even more.

"Has the Lady also been to an Immortal Sect?"

"Of course; otherwise, how did I cultivate immortality?"

"Then can the Lady tell me, what exactly is the Immortal Sect like?"

Compared to the Spirit Stones before him, Zheng Fa was even more curious about what the Immortal Sect looked like.

"The Immortal Sect..." A trace of recollection flashed in the Lady's eyes as she said, "If you have outstanding talent, that place is where Immortals reside."

"If your talent is mediocre, then your life is worse than that of ordinary mortals."

"Like me, I gave up cultivation and returned to the mortal world."

You are an immortal drifter who returned home to lie flat after getting tired of the rat race.

It seemed the memories of the Immortal Sect were not very pleasant; the Lady was unwilling to say much, she only pointed at that pile of Spirit Stones and said, "These are my savings from many years in the Immortal Sect; besides what is for Fan'er and the two of them, the rest are all here."

"Nowadays, Spirit Stones are harder to come by in the Immortal Sect than in the past; this Zhao Manor courtyard might not even be worth a few Spirit Stones."

Hearing this, Zheng Fa looked at the pile of stones with a gaze full of awe.

According to the Lady's words, this is at least worth one Zhao Manor courtyard.

As if afraid Zheng Fa would feel dissatisfied, she added an explanation, "If you develop arrogance because of that one Immortal-Grade Item token and take those assets, I was not planning to bring out these Spirit Stones."

"Hmm?"

"Talent is important, but without your state of mind, talent might make you die even faster. Giving you these Spirit Stones wouldn't they just be thrown into the water? It is better to wait until my foolish son goes to the Immortal Sect and is about to starve to death; I can still support him a bit."

It was clear that Spirit Stones were truly valuable; the Lady, who gave away courtyards and shops without blinking an eye, now appeared somewhat calculating.

Zheng Fa thought for a moment, then picked up the jade box.

Only then did the Lady seem relieved; she looked at Zheng Fa seriously and said, "I came here; whether you view these Spirit Stones as an apology or as an attempt to win you over, I only want to hear one sentence."

Zheng Fa stood up, clasped his hands in a bow to the Lady, and said, "I view the Young Master as a friend."

A few days later, the door of Zheng Fa's house was bustling with activity again.

Today was the day Zheng Fa's family moved out of the manor.

Gao Yuan and the Senior Butler came specially to help pack the luggage; compared to the Zhao Manor situation where not even a single ox-cart could be filled, when moving, the Zheng family's belongings would require four or five horse-drawn carriages.

Besides the furniture previously given by the Senior Butler.

The Lady later had people send some daily necessities, saying to use them for the first few days after leaving the manor.

Zheng Fa looked around the empty Zheng family small courtyard, then turned back to look at Zheng Mother and the little sister beside him.

Confusion on their faces outweighed joy; it seemed that once they were no longer servants of the Zhao Manor, neither of them knew how to live in the future, especially for Zheng Mother, for whom the world outside was strange and dangerous.

"Get on the carriage."

Zheng Fa held the little sister's hand and led the two of them toward the foremost horse-drawn carriage.

When he saw the driver, he was stunned, "It's you again, old sir? Such fate?"

The driver was actually that old man who had always ferried him into the manor.

"This is not fate." The old man laughed heartily, jumped off the carriage, took a small stool, and placed it beside the carriage shaft to let Zheng Mother and Zheng Shan step on it to board, then said to Zheng Fa, "I fought almost to the point of breaking heads with other drivers to snatch this job."

"Snatch?"

These few horse-drawn carriages were all allocated by the Lady's order; they could be considered a task within the manor.

But Zheng Fa did not understand this word "snatch."

"Everyone knows the Young Master is about to become an immortal, and they all wish to catch a bit of his immortal aura."

"..."

"I still remember when I said back then, after all these years serving in the Zhao household, I'd never even seen a single hair of an immortal." The old driver glanced at Zheng Fa with a touch of reverence: "Now I can tell people I didn't just see an immortal—I even gave him a ride!"

Zheng Fa smiled and shook his head, saying nothing.

Compared to the Lady's subtle hints and warnings.

Those farther removed from the immortal sects seemed to harbor even greater fantasies about them.

Zheng Fa sat inside the carriage, lifting the curtain of the small window to bid farewell to the Gao steward and his son, who remained behind.

The driver cracked his whip, the wheels rolled forward, and the carriage headed toward the estate's outer gate.

Watching the departing carriage, Gao Yuan's emotions were complex; he turned his head and saw his father's expression was even more so.

"Father, are you laughing or crying?"

"Of course I'm laughing—my vision is so sharp, Zheng Fa has risen to greatness so quickly."

"Then why does it look like you're crying?"

"…How did my vision turn out so sharp! I haven't even firmly grasped his thigh, and he's already flown away."

…

Inside the carriage, Zheng Fa asked the driver:

"This road doesn't seem right."

He had entered through the back gate many times and knew the route well.

"The Lady gave orders," the driver replied with a smile. "Today, we're using the main gate to see you off from the estate."

Amid the rumbling of the wheels on the stone pavement, the driver sighed:

"This main gate hasn't been opened in years—I've driven for this household for thirty years and never once taken this path."

"I remember when I brought the Young Master to the Zhao estate, he could only ride on my fruit-and-fruit-cart, entering through the servants' back gate..."

"Now that the Young Master is about to become an immortal, the estate's main gate has been opened specially for him."

As Zheng Fa listened to the driver's sighs, he slowly rubbed the immortal-grade token in his hand.

"Huh?" Just as they passed through the estate gate, he heard the driver murmur softly: "Why is the Chen family's carriage parked at our gate?"

"The Chen family?"

"Didn't I tell you, Young Master? Jingzhou has three great families—the Chen family is one of them, equal in status to the Zhao family."

The driver continued: "Our two families used to get along well, but I heard the Seventh Young Master has had conflicts with several of their young masters, and lately we haven't had much contact. I never expected someone from the Chen family to come to the estate today."

Several? All?

That's exactly the kind of thing the Seventh Young Master would do.

No wonder he didn't come to see me off.