Chapter 425: Seeking a Physician

In Yushi Alley, Hangzhou, at Huang Fu, a flock of maids and Servants were bustling about, packing luggage.

Time rewound to the Scene where the Gunboats bombarded the Xu Residence.

After the Xu Family Residence in Shanghai was smashed to pieces by naval gunfire, the Land Deed Alliance, once so overbearingly Arrogant, promptly announced its dissolution.

These great Landlords now made a miserable discovery: unless they exposed the reactionary nature of the Cao Bandit in the imperial court and pushed the court to launch a Bandit Suppression Campaign, the efforts of local upright gentlemen alone could no longer restrain this tiger that had wormed its way into the system.

Yet how difficult was it to start from the court and drag an opponent through the mud? With the Great Ming in its current sorry state, leaking from every side, the court, as long as it had any brains at all, would not dare touch a Military Strongman who held military power and might rebel again if provoked.

And so the Land Deed Alliance disbanded in desolation — the gentry class is a thoroughly rotten class; when dealing with their own, the Donglin Party types truly had endless tricks and would stop at nothing, posturing as the very embodiment of justice, as if gods had descended to earth.

Yet the moment they stepped out of that decayed Circle and met an external foe, these people were instantly helpless. Why? Because an external foe does not discuss the Dao of the gentleman with you; an external foe only critiques your Knife technique.

By this point, for a superstructure that relied on philosophers to govern the state, collapse was merely a matter of time.

The Cao Bandit had taken exactly this path this time: no wasted words, just a direct, hard confrontation. This method of counterattack, skirting the edges of the system, left the gentry, so accustomed to crushing others with influence, utterly disoriented and floundering at every turn.

After the alliance dissolved, each family, according to the final negotiation results, once again pooled together a box of land deeds exactly as before and sent someone to Sell them cheaply to Xiong Dao, Master Xiong.

And with that, the bloody case sparked by a single box of land deeds was finally brought to a close.

The masters, having paid a painful price, were now thoroughly dejected and, for the short term, had no interest in continuing the struggle against the Cao Bandit.

This left the radical Huang Shaozhou, who had been clamoring for an irreconcilable, life-or-death battle against the Cao Bandit, in an awkward spot. Now that defeat was overwhelming, no one was Be Willing To join him in resisting oppression anymore.

So, after a final visit to the gentlemen of the alliance, receiving some polite words of consolation, and leaving Behind a Pile of harsh parting threats about "returning another day to reclaim lost ground," Master Huang, who had by now become an opinion leader in this affair, had no choice but to leave Shanghai County in dejection and return to his home in Hangzhou.

Within a few days of arriving home, Master Huang, citing a "foul mood," decided to visit relatives and friends in Fujian and clear his mind along the way.

Huang Fu was thrown into chaos once more, because this time, Master Huang was taking his primary wife with him on the journey.

"Uncle, your journey is long; you must Be Sure To guard against foot ailments and must not catch a chill."

In the warm chamber of Huang Fu, heated by a charcoal stove, a fair-skinned young man in a brocade robe, with a refined bearing, was earnestly advising Master Huang, who was half-reclining on a daybed.

"Mm, I will be careful." Stretching his legs, the portly Master Huang nodded in agreement.

Just then, another young man, also of young-master appearance, promptly cut in: "The damp cold of Fujian is even worse than Zhejiang. I see that Huang Shou and Huang Xi don't seem like capable sorts. Why not let your nephew accompany you, Uncle? It would be convenient to look after you on the road."

"Alright, alright, I appreciate the sentiments of you juniors. I'm going merely to clear my mind and don't wish to make a fuss. Having Huang Shou and Huang Xi will be more than enough." Master Huang spoke up in time, putting a stop to his nephews' filial theatrics. "Mm, it's getting late. You may all withdraw now."

After a few gentle words, sending these clan juniors away, Master Huang shook his head, his face full of helplessness. "Help me back to my room."

Huang Shou and Huang Xi, his two personal Servants, hurried over at once to support their master and help him back to the bedchamber.

In the bedchamber, the primary wife of the Huang Family, Huang Xieshi, was directing the maids in packing various items into chests. Seeing this scene, Master Huang, entering the room, shook his head helplessly again. "Pack less. What fine things could that place possibly lack?"

The story of this Huang Fu is a long tale.

Huang Xieshi was the legal wife married in from the prominent Xie Clan of Huzhou, a match of equal social standing with the Huang Family. The primary wife was thirty-seven this year and still looked youthful in bearing, though by Ming Dynasty customs, a woman of this age could already fully refer to herself as an "old woman."

Since marrying into the Huang Residence twenty years ago, Huang Xieshi had scrupulously observed womanly virtues and managed the inner household. Her bond with Master Huang was deep; they could be considered a harmonious couple.

It was just that, in a large clan of the Seventeenth Century, such feelings certainly had to yield to ritual law — if a woman could not bear children, what use was a good relationship?

In this era, if a couple could not produce offspring, the blame would invariably be pinned on the wife first.

Huang Xieshi, born of a great clan, was well-versed in ritual law. Thus, upon discovering she "could not bear children," she had no choice but to follow custom, grit her teeth, and take the initiative to arrange for her husband to take a Second Branch, Third Branch, Fourth Branch, Fifth Branch...

As a result, after many years passed, when people discovered that five wives and concubines still could not bear a single son or daughter for Master Huang, a Consensus was silently reached: the problem lay with the master.

But by this point, Master Huang was already over forty. What damn use was solid proof? The Huang Family remained without an heir.

This was also why the clan nephews and juniors of the Huang Family had grown increasingly arrogant in recent years: the master would eventually have to adopt one of them to inherit the family estate; it was merely a question of which one he chose.

And the various inner-residence struggles this sparked within the Huang Family are not worth detailing to outsiders. In short, from the several concubines above down to the sweepers and errand-runners below, everyone was more or less drawn into the "fight for succession," turning the inner residence into utter chaos.

Just as Huang Shaozhou and his wife were hesitating, looking at these worthless juniors and unsure which one to adopt, suddenly one day, Fang Tangjing returned from his official business in the south!

Upon his return to the residence, this Fang Tangjing not only brought back a large quantity of fashionable novelties but also many exotic tales from foreign lands.

While the entire household was buzzing around those fashionable goods, Fang Tangjing, with an excited look, pulled the master into the study. Day after day they muttered and whispered, no one knowing what they were discussing.

After This, Master Huang seemed like a changed man and launched a series of baffling maneuvers.

Not only did he vigorously adjust his family's commercial layout and Shrink Back on credit, but after this, he also went to Shanghai County to fight over a property that no one knew when he had bought, reportedly even filing a lawsuit, only to return in defeat, the property lost.

Normally, after suffering a loss outside, one should at least come home and recuperate for a period, right? Yet Master Huang refused. Within a couple of days of returning to Hangzhou, he was loudly complaining of a foul mood and insisting on going to Fujian to visit friends and clear his mind...

And so Huang Fu was thrown into chaos once more.

After entering the bedchamber and seeing his wife packing, Master Huang said helplessly, "Pack less. What fine things could that place possibly lack?"

Seeing her husband enter, Huang Xieshi hurried over to help him sit down. "Travel poor, arrive rich. Who knows if that place will have suitable household items? Bringing more always puts one's mind at ease."

Upon hearing this, Master Huang scoffed, "Hmph, weren't all those items my son-in-law Fang brought back snatched up by you all anyway?"

The primary wife smiled gently at this. "Then I shall heed you, my lord, and pack less luggage."

Master Huang nodded, his tone turning firm. "We must travel light and simple, and make no fuss along the way... There are many critical points in this matter; we absolutely cannot draw attention. You understand this."

Seeing his lawfully wedded wife nod, Master Huang thought for a moment, then asked in a consultative tone, "Otherwise, why not pick one from among them to come along on the journey? Just in case... it's better than being caught unprepared."

"No!"

The normally gentle and virtuous Huang Xieshi, at this moment, raised her slender brows and widened her almond eyes, staring uncompromisingly at her husband. "I am not yet forty this year, and my constitution has always been robust. I am certain I can bear children!"

At this, tears already welled in Huang Xieshi's eyes. "My lord, since I married into the Huang Family, have I ever shown the slightest lapse in virtue? Yet all these years, who knows how much vicious gossip has been spoken Behind my back? All this I have endured. But now that hope is finally in sight, why should the eldest son not be born of me?"

Master Huang now had a splitting headache. The two of them had discussed this issue in private before, but the usually magnanimous and rational Huang Xieshi refused to yield an inch on this matter, leaving Master Huang utterly helpless.

Seeing his lawfully wedded wife about to unleash the ultimate weapons of tears and tantrums, Master Huang, feeling guilty at heart, finally made his last concession and stopped dwelling on the matter. "Enough, enough. Then it shall be just the two of us going first."

Hearing this, Huang Xieshi's expression immediately changed. "I simply cannot swallow this grievance. Please rest assured, my lord, if the divine physician there truly rules me out, it will not be too late to send word back then."

"Ah, I suppose it must be so."

Once all preparations were complete, Master Huang and his wife, along with their advisor Fang Tangjing, plus four household Servants, male and female — a party of seven in total — boarded a Black Canopy Boat moored at the river dock outside their gate.

After this Black Canopy Boat left the water gate of Hangzhou, it wound its way circuitously and ultimately, in the middle of the night, Docked At Shanghai Port, where Master Huang had not long ago returned in defeat.

Upon arriving at Shanghai Port, the party was quietly and discreetly escorted onto a New Lock Ship moored in the harbor.

And moored beside this vessel was precisely that enormous warship: the Zhenman.

After Master Huang's party waited silently in the upper cabin of the cargo ship for a day, the great mass of ships gathered at Shanghai Port finally began to set sail.

These ships split into two groups. The Fleet of the North took the Majority of the Transport Ships and several fast warships. The Zhenman, along with two Escort Ships, headed Southward, returning to Tai River Naval Port.

And setting out together behind the Zhenman were two New Lock Ships carrying settlers, with Master Huang and his party aboard one of those vessels.

After the fleet sailed south from Shanghai Port, it was not long before the two New Lock Ships were left far behind by the Zhenman.

Transport Ships are certainly not as fast as warships. Once the Zhenman formation engaged its Coal Gas Power, black smoke billowed, its speed steadily increased, and it sailed farther and farther away, swaggering off until it vanished from the Sea Surface.

The two New Lock Ships, meanwhile, obediently followed the routes they had traveled many times before and began their journey to Tainan.

Fortunately it was winter, and Master Huang and his party had a favorable wind. So by the time they reached Taijiang, the whole journey had taken them only five days — at that moment, the Fleet of the North led by Comrade Zhang Dongdong had not even reached Tianjin yet.