Chapter 60: Sudden Wealth

Ten thousand taels of silver — what concept is that? For the current Wu Chengyu, it was no less than a fortune from the heavens; recalling himself limping about begging just a few months ago, Wu Chengyu actually felt an extreme sense of unreality.

The question is how his parents could have left him so much money — just relying on the Wu Family's thirty taels of silver per quarter? Or Wu Zhengkang's salary as a biaotou at the escort agency? Even if Wu Zhengkang embezzled family funds, he couldn't have scraped together this many taels of silver.

He checked the banknotes again, and upon close inspection, surprisingly discovered that each banknote had a small "Mu" character written in the lower left corner of the reverse side — so these banknotes actually all belonged to his mother, Mu Qingyin?

The original body's memory of his mother only went up to age five; what he remembered was all her kindness and gentleness; as for his mother's family background, he understood only half.

Recalling childhood, he once heard Wu Zhenghui and several other uncles mocking Wu Zhengkang, saying he was stupid, big, and dark yet married back a rich family's daughter, making others green with envy.

In memory, apart from his mother's aunt marrying into the Feng Family, producing this cousin Feng Heng, the rest of the relatives were already gone.

So the only possibility was that his mother brought her entire family property when she married into the Wu Family — all this money was her dowry. Good fellow, what virtue and ability did this father of his possess?

It seems his mother's former family was somewhat out of the ordinary, but neither Mu Qingyin nor Feng Heng ever mentioned it.

All the past inside stories have long become impossible to verify with his parents' passing; everything is merely guesswork — but the banknotes before his eyes are real, and from now on they all belong to Wu Chengyu. Thinking of this, Wu Chengyu felt his mouth go dry.

He set down the banknotes and picked up the other wooden boxes; one large wooden box contained Mu Qingyin's jewelry — jade hairpins, floral ornaments, step-shaking ornaments, ear pendants, jade tablets, necklaces, bracelets — apart from a few jade bracelets, the rest were all crafted of gold, exquisitely shaped, completely unlike what ordinary commoners would possess.

Fang Xiu handled a mutton-fat white jade bracelet; in his previous life when his leader married off his daughter he gifted one, costing tens of thousands, and he felt so pained he couldn't sleep — but in terms of crystalline quality, it fell far short of the one in his hand, and there were three pairs of such jade bracelets in the wooden box.

Just these jewelry pieces alone, Wu Chengyu estimated, would be worth at least several thousand taels of silver — and that's without even considering the craftsmanship.

Of course the banknotes Wu Chengyu would certainly use; the jewelry are all remembrances of his mother Mu Qingyin, absolutely not for sale — perhaps someday to leave to a certain wife of his own.

The remaining wooden boxes held books left by Mu Qingyin — all poetry and songs, personally excerpted by Mu Qingyin, uniformly in the "hairpin-flower small standard script" calligraphy style.

Wu Chengyu flipped through a few at random — nothing remarkable, just a boudoir woman practicing calligraphy and copying books; of course these, too, are mementos left by his mother.

Wu Chengyu let out a light breath. This original body of his, though both parents deceased, had a prosperous and harmonious family and so much legacy — clearly he could have had a comfortable life, yet he died the moment he left Peach Blossom Island, and in the original work he merely left behind a name; if not for his transmigration, his death would truly be too unjust.

The contents of the wooden box were mostly packed away; only a palm-sized small box remained. Wu Chengyu opened it — inside was a jade tablet, three inches long and two inches wide, also made of mutton-fat white jade.

One side was carved with a "Mu" character, and beside it a deer — not a common sika deer, but a "Deer" with two tall, tree-branch-like antlers standing high on its head.

The other side bore rows of dots; touching them with his fingers gave a slight uneven feel, but under Wu Chengyu's extraordinary vision, these dots were clearly numbers carved with micro-carving technique — not Arabic numerals, but traditional Chinese numerals similar to yi, er, san, si.

The numbers paired two by two: yi-jiu, san-wu, ba-lu, er-qi — completely without any pattern; it did look somewhat like a cipher. On this tiny jade tablet, such number combinations numbered over a hundred; an outsider would fundamentally be unable to distinguish them.

Wu Chengyu knew this jade tablet certainly represented something, but Mu Qingyin left not a single fragment of explanation. If it truly is a cipher, without a cipher book it would be extremely difficult to decipher; Wu Chengyu also had no heart to investigate whatever secrets Mu Qingyin might have left — everything departed with the person's passing.

Wu Chengyu stared stunned at these things before him; a moment later he regained his senses. He set the banknotes aside separately, put the remaining legacy items back into the wooden box, then solemnly placed it in the hidden compartment beneath his bedroom bed.

From now on he no longer needed to worry about cultivation expenses; ten thousand taels of silver as cultivation resources — if he still couldn't achieve something with that, he might as well give up early and just be an ordinary commoner in this martial world.

However, some matters also require a decision.

Originally the parents' legacy items were all collected by Wu Zhengliang; he couldn't possibly have missed seeing these banknotes and gold jewelry. Compared to a large family it might not be much, but on a personal level it was a huge sum.

Wu Chengyu left for five years before returning home; at that time Wu Zhengliang was in Gusu City inspecting industries — yet the moment he returned he unhesitatingly returned these assets to Wu Chengyu. You must know Wu Chengyu's memory contained no trace whatsoever of the banknotes and jewelry; if Wu Zhengliang didn't speak, he would never have known.

So even if he only left Wu Chengyu a few hundred taels of silver, Wu Chengyu wouldn't have had any suspicion — on the contrary, he would have been grateful beyond measure.

Facing huge wealth yet utterly unmoved, keeping his promise and guarding these things for Wu Chengyu all along — Wu Zhengliang possesses the style of the ancient benevolent gentlemen.

Wu Chengyu doesn't know if he himself could possess such conduct; after all, in his previous life he never had the chance to undergo such a trial — but this doesn't hinder his respect for Wu Zhengliang.

Additionally, Wu Zhengliang's current plight — the Third House's decline, in the final analysis, was because they originally sought revenge and encirclement for the Wu Family disciples against a certain "Yi Chen Feng" — even if not solely for Wu Zhengkang, as the current Wu Chengyu who has inherited everything, this debt of gratitude Wu Chengyu must also acknowledge.

Wu Zhengliang's biggest problem right now is his crippled legs; that expert's two palms shattered his leg bones — even with timely treatment, from then on he could never stand again.

Lifelong disability plus the miserable deaths of brothers who grew up together from childhood left Wu Zhengliang disheartened, never able to rally again; these years, though he still runs about for the family, he also no longer has the shrewd capability of the past.

The Third House's decline is also because this leader can no longer act.

The current Wu Chengyu may not be able to help with other things, but in his hand he has the Bone Injury Saint Medicine: Black Jade Bone-Healing Ointment.

Only by using this medicine will Wu Zhengliang and the other two uncles certainly recover; nothing else is guaranteed, but at least they'll move normally. With a revived Wu Zhengliang continuing to lead the Third House, the Third House's situation will improve — rather than silently waiting for the next generation to grow up.

When the great river has water the small rivers are full; under a big tree it's good to enjoy the shade. Only when the Third House becomes strong again can Wu Chengyu live better.

But merely curing the three — Wu Zhengliang and the others — is not enough. After seeing this huge legacy, Wu Chengyu decided to contribute the Black Jade Bone-Healing Ointment formula to the Third House.

Without family support, Wu Chengyu could completely rely on the Black Jade Bone-Healing Ointment to build a reputation as a Bone Injury Saint Hand — establishing himself would be no problem.

But what Wu Chengyu now possesses — the Black Jade Bone-Healing Ointment isn't that important anymore; it only treats bone injuries, and no matter how miraculous its effect, it's just a prescription.

Yet this miraculous medicine, in the family's hands, would exert an effect far exceeding Wu Chengyu alone controlling it.

"You throw me a peach, I repay you with jade" — not failing gratitude, not betraying righteousness; debts must be repaid — just like when Wu Chengyu originally risked his life to save A Ku.

Today I'll find time to revise the earlier parts — the Bai Xian'er segment everyone has been complaining about. Actually it's not that I've been unwilling to change, but I hadn't figured out how; now I've roughly come up with a plan. Can't guarantee everyone will accept it, but some psychological descriptions will be deleted.

The only worry is I'm afraid too large a revision will trigger a warning, or a ban; whatever the final result, I'll tell everyone.





(Chapter End)