Chapter 23: The

"By the way, Old Zhong, how have you arranged things for that Guan~Yu?"

As their conversation was about to end, Guan Huchen finally remembered his makeshift foster daughter.

However, when he mentioned "Guan Yu," he still felt uncomfortable, his expression unnatural.

"After returning yesterday afternoon, this old slave selected two daughters from the families of the pharmacy staff—one named Xia Zhi, the other Yong Xue—to serve Miss Yu. Now..."

He didn't quite understand the situation today, but last night...

Guan Zhong's aged face twitched a few times, and he said, "Early this morning, this old slave accompanied the Master to the Prefecture Governor's office, so I haven't seen Miss Yu yet.

But last night, Miss Yu ate a great deal."

"What do you mean she ate a great deal?" Guan Huchen asked, puzzled.

"She ate a lot of the medicinal meals, and she also ate quite a bit of rice."

Seeming to feel that "a great deal" couldn't give the Master a concrete impression, Guan Zhong added, "The Foundation Establishment medicinal meal specially prepared for martial artists—the one known as our Guan family's famous 'Bone-Strengthening Soup'—Miss Yu drank three vats of it!"

"Three... vats? What kind of vats? Why did you give her Bone-Strengthening Soup?" Huchen asked in shock and suspicion.

Guan Zhong sighed: "At first, this old slave didn't arrange the Bone-Strengthening Soup for her. It was she who smelled the medicinal fragrance—it was the meal Shopkeeper Zhang had prepared for his own son—and after asking the reason, she clamored to drink some too.

Shopkeeper Zhang explained to her that the Bone-Strengthening Soup was prepared for martial arts children undergoing Foundation Establishment, and that ordinary people shouldn't drink it indiscriminately.

She said she was also a martial arts child and asked him to bring her a bowl to try.

As it turned out, once she tried it, there was no stopping her. She said, 'It feels amazing, like I've only truly come alive today.' From the beginning of the Shen hour to the end of the You hour, nearly an hour and a half, she drank as fast as the pharmacy's herbalist could boil the soup.

That earthenware vat, which can boil two liters of thick soup, she drank a full three vats of it!"

"For an ordinary person, let alone three vats, even half a vat would cause their body to heat up and their skin to itch and turn red, like a boiled shrimp. If they were slightly physically weak, they'd have a nosebleed that wouldn't stop.

She only blushed, with white steam rising from the top of her head, like smoke coming out of a chimney.

But besides the three vats of Bone-Strengthening Soup, she also ate two roasted chickens, a steamed shad, a braised pork knuckle, a large bowl of shredded pork with green garlic, and she didn't leave out the white flour buns or the millet porridge."

Huchen asked curiously: "With such a small person and a small belly, could she fit it all in?"

"She couldn't fit it all at once; she chewed slowly and swallowed carefully, eating for an hour and a half," Guan Zhong said.

Huchen wanted to ask: Did she run to the latrine halfway through?

But feeling the remark was unrefined, and Guan Zhong might not have paid attention to such things, he didn't speak.

"Being able to eat is a good thing," Huchen nodded and said.

Being able to drink three vats of Bone-Strengthening Soup without having a nosebleed, her body must be as sturdy as a young calf.

As for the money spent...

Huchen didn't care at all.

Bone-Strengthening Soup is certainly not street-side fare like meat buns or sesame cakes; the Guan family pharmacy's standard price is six taels of silver per packet.

One packet can only boil one vat, two liters of thick soup, which is enough for six or seven martial arts apprentices for one day.

Thinking of his plans and expectations for Xiao Yu, let alone ten or several tens of taels of silver, even if it were one hundred thousand taels of gold, or even if the entire Guan family foundation were lost, as long as it succeeded, it would still be a ten-thousand-fold return—a massive profit.

"Not only must you let her eat and drink well, but you must also go outside and find one or two female tutors to teach her to read and write. Hmm, we are about to return to the pass, so don't be in a hurry. After we go back, you can go to Yingxiang Mansion to invite famous teachers.

If Yingxiang Mansion doesn't have any, go to Luodu. Just get the best; don't be afraid to spend money," Huchen instructed.

Guan Zhong frowned, hesitated for a moment, and asked suspiciously: "Master, why do you want to recognize a Sha Man with such an awkward status as your foster daughter, and even plan to spend great effort to cultivate her?

You already have the eldest young lady, Tianfeng, and there are quite a few cousins and distant cousins in the household.

Moreover, there are already female tutors in the house.

The young ladies in the mansion, even if not full of literary talent, at least know how to read and write and attend poetry gatherings; that is enough."

Guan Huchen shook his head: "Not enough, far from enough! What kind of talent is attending a poetry gathering in Yingxiang Mansion? I want Guan Yu to be able to shine brilliantly in the Central Plains, in the Imperial Capital of Xianyang—"

He paused and corrected himself: "Shining brilliantly is enough; at the very least, she must be able to integrate into the most high-end circle of literati and scholars in Xianyang, and not be mocked as a blockhead or a barbarian."

Guan Zhong was shocked: "Master, what are you trying to do? She is just a Sha Man; even for you, it is difficult to... uh, this old slave means, you are a military general, it is not easy to integrate into the circle of literati."

Let alone the most high-end circle of literati in the Imperial Capital of Xianyang, his Master couldn't even squeeze into the circle of literati in Yingxiang Mansion.

It was both a lack of willingness and a slight insufficiency in ability.

Huchen laughed: "It is not that I am indulging in wishful thinking; it is that you do not understand her.

Although she comes from a barbarian background, she possesses innate wisdom, a talent rarer than even great miraculous powers.

Before the Heavenly Emperor attained the Dao, she might even have become a 'Human Saint.'

Even in this current age where humanity is flourishing, she, a ten-year-old child, has already cultivated a dragon vein sufficient to dominate the West.

Let alone what I plan to do next, even if I simply adopted her as my foster daughter, she would be fully qualified.

As for my arrangements for her, of course, it is to present her to His Majesty the Human Emperor, hahahaha..."

Thinking of the wonderful outcome, he laughed triumphantly, "I, your Master, am truly favored by fortune and blessed by the heavens!

On my way to the Great Qin, I encountered her. Hahaha, my grand ambition and hegemony are right before my eyes!"

"Present her to His Majesty the Great Qin Human Emperor?!" Guan Zhong was first shocked, then his expression twisted, and he muttered: "Master, aren't you thinking too beautifully? Don't blame this old slave for being blunt, but Miss Yu may have innate wisdom, but her appearance and bearing are not even as good as our Guan family's maidservants."

"Old Zhong, are you blind? In terms of appearance and posture, she has the bearing of a peerless beauty; in terms of temperament... perhaps it doesn't meet the standard of 'gentle and virtuous' in the eyes of ordinary people, but she was able to face me and the Daoist boy Qingsong calmly in a desperate situation where her life was not her own, answering us fluently, and even showing a little bit of cunning.

From beginning to end, there was not a trace of true humility or self-abasement in her eyes.

And you actually say she is not as good as a maidservant.

Let alone the maidservants of the Guan mansion, even my own Tianfeng... no, even the Monarch of Qinghe, even the 'Thirteenth Princess' famous in Luodu, are far inferior to her in terms of bearing and capacity!"

Guan Zhong had obvious disapproval and non-acceptance on his face, but he didn't speak to refute.

Seeing this, Huchen sneered: "The appearance shown in front of people of equal status is never true bearing.

The beauties you think have excellent temperament are nothing more than 'flesh screens.'

A flesh screen would find it difficult even to enter the harem of the King of Shu.

Let alone the Great Qin Human Emperor, who possesses the world and aspires to immortality.

To be able to talk and laugh calmly when facing a great crisis and great terror is the mark of a true hero and a great person.

Even I, your Master, cannot be counted as a true hero; I only dare to gossip behind others' backs and vent the pent-up frustration in my heart.

Facing the Daoist thief Qingsong and the boy Yu Yu, I was as honest as a frightened quail, fearing that saying one inappropriate word would offend the noble person and ruin my own future.

The Sha Man... that girl Guan Yu is only eleven years old by nominal age.

You really should see her flattering the little Daoist boy Qingsong, jokingly calling him 'Old Ancestor,' and the peaceful atmosphere of the negotiation scene, like warm soup."

Master Guan exposed his own shortcomings, clearly stating that he was not a true hero, and Guan Zhong gradually began to understand.

"Master, this slave also feels that Miss Yu is not an ordinary person, not like a barbarian... although she eats a bit too much.

However, speaking of bearing, this slave's judgment is not as good as yours, so I will not comment.

If you say she also has the bearing of a peerless beauty, isn't that going too far?"

After speaking, he hurriedly added: "Master, you have always followed the way of a gentleman and rarely get close to women, so it is inevitable that you have some..."

"Do you think I have seen too few women and cannot distinguish between beauty and ugliness?" Guan Huchen looked at him askance, "Have you forgotten your Master's Immortal Pupil?

Within a thousand miles, all young women are as clear as patterns on the palm of my hand.

I have seen more beauties of all kinds than you have seen living people in your entire life."

"Master, you actually use the Immortal Pupil to look at women?!" Guan Zhong was shocked, and his heart began to worry.

He had one wife and three concubines.

In addition, he kept mistresses in different places such as Tianmen Town, Yingxiang Mansion, and Luodu.

He considered his aesthetic sense normal; whether it was his wife, concubines, or mistresses, they were all beauties picked from a hundred.

He also had daughters, and a mother... could it be that they had all been seen through by the Master?

"Everyone has a youth, and in youth, one is full of vigor..."

Huchen admitted it very calmly.

But he also told the truth.

At first, he was excited, then he became calm, then he saw without seeing, and then... he began to look at beautiful boys and strong men.

After all, the clairvoyant eye does not target only single men and women.

Couples, affairs, incest, homosexuality... he could see it all, and he saw it all, in minute detail, just like patterns on the palm of his hand.

Huchen was also a young master of a noble family, with money and power.

He was not a loser who could only get excited behind a computer screen; he could practice anything he wanted to practice.

In the very end, he reached the state where form is emptiness, and became completely desensitized to matters between men and women.

Now, except for a "great future," nothing could cause him to have too strong a feeling.

Therefore, in recent years, he had gradually gained the reputation of a "gentleman" among the people.

"This slave still feels that the distance between Miss Yu and a peerless beauty is a bit far... Sigh, this slave is dull-eyed and not as good as the Master." Guan Zhong only stubbornly said this one sentence before choosing to compromise.

"Even if Miss Yu has the bearing of a peerless beauty, her temperament and talent... can be cultivated by famous teachers, but how do you intend to send a lowly Sha Man to the Imperial Capital of Xianyang?"

If you really had such heaven-reaching means, wouldn't it be better to send the eldest young lady, Tianfeng, directly?

Huchen was a bit impatient and said: "I, your Master, have been talking for a long time, and you nod on the surface, but you still don't agree in your heart, right?"

Guan Zhong hurriedly said: "This old slave is convinced! But having only innate wisdom, peerless bearing, and the posture of a beauty is not enough!

Great Qin is the superior nation of the Central Plains; what kind of extraordinary women are there not?

It is said that many monarchs of the Central Plains have even been favored by goddesses and immortal concubines.

Without connections, even a true fairy from the Heavenly Palace cannot see the face of the Human Emperor."

Huchen laughed triumphantly, "She is, after all, just a Sha Man, and her status is too low.

No matter what kind of intelligence and bearing she shows, it will not make me think of sending her to the Xianyanggong.

I am not crazy; I have self-knowledge.

But I still took the initiative to recognize her as my foster daughter for two reasons."

He raised his right hand and held up his index finger, "First, according to the customs of the superior Central Plains nations, whenever they return from a great victory in an expedition against barbarians, they must present captives at the Ancestral Temple to demonstrate their brilliant martial achievements.

Behead the enemy chieftain to sacrifice to the ancestors.

Accept beauties from foreign lands to enter the palace and serve the monarch.

There are countless precedents for this.

At that time, Yu'er reminded me.

With her status, talent, and appearance, as long as things are operated properly, perhaps there is a chance to enter the Xianyanggong.

It is only a chance.

And the chance is very, very slim.

Just crossing the eight-hundred-mile Liusha River is very difficult.

When the Marquis of Lieyang came over, he didn't bring many people, and when he leaves, he certainly won't carry a large number of Western 'beauties.'

But my Yu'er not only has the appearance of a beauty who could topple a nation.

The most critical point is that she also looks extremely similar to another woman."

"Similar to whom?" Guan Zhong asked in surprise.

"The mother of the Marquis of Lieyang, Yu Yu, the Concubine Li who was once most favored by the Human Emperor!" Huchen laughed triumphantly.