Chapter 216: Going Back on One's Word

Pan Yun straightened her back and returned to her room. Miao He was holding a cat in her arms, and the moment they stepped inside, she shut the door.

The door had barely closed when three heads instantly huddled together. "Quick, quick, quick, take it out and let me see. I've grown this big and it's still my first time seeing a gold bar."

Miao Zhen immediately took it out.

Each gold bar was about three fingers wide, gleaming golden; even with the doors and windows shut, it still dazzled the eye.

Pan Yun grabbed a gold bar in each hand, fondled them to her heart's content before reluctantly setting them down, and pushed them toward Miao Zhen, saying, "Record it under the Daoist temple's accounts."

Miao Zhen was surprised: "All of this was earned by you, Little Martial Uncle."

Pan Yun gave her a look and said, "Record it under the Daoist temple's accounts." If she really needed to withdraw some, would her senior martial brother and Miao Zhen not give it to her?

Besides, Pan Yun was quite confident—run out of money, just earn more.

Miao Zhen caught her look and put all the gold bars alone in a box, stuffing it into the jade tablet's space.

Pan Yun said, "Pack up. We leave first thing tomorrow morning."

The three did not plan to linger here long.

Since the matter was already done, they had to retreat quickly. The longer they stayed, the more flaws would be exposed.

Everything she could do, she had done; every hook she could leave behind, she had already buried. From here on, it was up to fate.

Huang Shijian had not expected Pan Yun to leave so soon. Panicking, he hurriedly tried to retain her.

Pan Yun handed him a faceless divine statue and a talisman paper, saying, "This is my family's deity. His surname is Pan, so you may address him as Pan Gong. You may worship him just as I do. Place this talisman paper before the statue. If something comes up, use cinnabar to write clearly on the talisman paper to invite Him, and I will definitely see it."

Master Huang immediately asked, "Will the Immortal Lady definitely come once she sees it?"

Pan Yun smiled lightly and said, "As long as I can free myself from my affairs, I will definitely come."

Master Huang probed, saying, "Immortal Lady, besides the divine statue, I would also like to enshrine your longevity memorial tablet."

Pan Yun did not want him enshrining her own longevity tablet. He was no good person. Her master ate incense offerings, but she did not. What she wanted was merit, alright?

If she let him worship her, and he committed sins that got counted on her head, what then?

Pan Yun said with a solemn face, "Master Huang, your intentions are noted, but worshipping deities requires single-minded devotion. Right now, I myself am worshipping Pan Gong."

The implication was: focus, don't worship her.

Master Huang was very disappointed and could only confirm with her once more, "Immortal Lady's family surname is Pan, and your Daoist name is Sanzhu?"

Pan Yun nodded without changing expression. "Correct."

Master Huang secretly noted it in his heart, planning to send someone to inquire afterward.

If it weren't for the fact that his residence's feng shui was closely tied to Long Hushan, sending people to Long Hushan to inquire would actually be the best method.

After all, the name Pan Yun sounded as though she had a grudge against Long Hushan, so they should be able to find something.

But...

His entangled interests with Long Hushan seemed to be even greater.

He feared that if he sent people to Long Hushan to inquire about Pan Yun, others might not find anything, but instead lure the people of Long Hushan here. If they then discovered something odd about his residence's feng shui, wouldn't that be inviting wolves into the house?

Pan Yun looked very capable, but Long Hushan was the seat of the world's Daoist lineage. The Zhang Zhang Tian Shi of Long Hushan's Zhang Zhang Tian Shi Mansion was a True Person appointed by the Emperor himself. He did not think Pan Yun could beat Long Hushan.

Especially since Long Hushan also had the imperial court behind it.

So Master Huang did not dare send people to Long Hushan to inquire. In fact, the farther he could stay from Long Hushan's people, the better. Pan Yun had calculated this long ago, which is why she dared to let Miao Zhen and Miao He use their real names. She was betting that Master Huang would not dare to go ask Long Hushan's people about them.

But asking wandering Daoist priests and occultists in the jianghu...

Pan Yun snickered. She dared to bet that among the itinerant Daoist priests asked, nine out of ten would say they knew her, knew of her, and would certainly help blow her reputation up as a rare genius under heaven and above earth, with profound cultivation and unfathomable Daoist attainment.

Judging others by herself—she was best at that.

She was the considerate, understanding big-sister Daoist priest.

With a hundred taels of gold already spent, since Pan Yun wanted to leave, Master Huang certainly would not be stingy on such small matters. He therefore specially prepared a horse carriage for them. He even wanted to send them a coachman, but Pan Yun refused.

At least the horse carriage was accepted. Master Huang felt a little more at ease. He personally saw them off beyond the town and only after the carriage vanished did he turn back to ask the steward, "Has the matter of reducing the rent been passed down yet?"

"Not yet," the steward said. "This year, one-third of the tenant farmers have already paid their rent. Should their rent be returned, or..."

"How can there be any reason to return money once it's been collected?" Master Huang said without thinking, "Since some have already paid rent, this year we'll still collect the usual seventy percent. We'll reduce it next year."

Steward:...

He could not help but remind him, "Master, will this affect our residence's feng shui?"

!. Read

Master Huang frowned, thought for a moment, then said, "At the winter solstice, take out two sacks of last year's old grain and make porridge to give to the beggars and starving folk in town. Isn't that merit?"

The year was almost over, and it was a bumper harvest year. Reducing the rent by a full tenth right away—he felt the pinch.

It was only one year. How bad could the feng shui get? Two years ago he was still collecting eighty percent of the rent. If it weren't for Deng Yun of Deng Family Village leading a bunch of troublemakers to cause trouble, he absolutely would not have reduced the rent to seventy percent, to the point that now, to earn merit, he actually had to reduce it to sixty percent.

Just thinking about it made his heart ache.

The steward muttered inwardly but did not dare oppose Master Huang, only asking, "Then the reductions on green grain stores and chickens and ducks..."

Master Huang asked, "Have any tenant farmers handed in green grain stores and chickens and ducks this year?"

The steward immediately said, "No, it doesn't happen that fast. Generally, tenant farmers hand in green grain stores and chickens and ducks only two days before the winter solstice."

Master Huang was quite disappointed. He frowned for a moment, then said, "Then, as we promised the Immortal Lady, reduce it by fifty percent."

The steward immediately agreed, not daring to delay any longer. That very day he had the matter sent to every village, so that even if Master Huang wanted to go back on his word, there would be no time.

Master Huang was quite free with his own spending. He was willing to spend a few hundred taels on materials for Pan Yun, and even over a hundred taels of gold as payment. But giving tenant farmers one extra sack of grain per acre—he could not bear it!

He taught Huang Cong, "Wealth is accumulated, penny by penny. Don't look down on that one extra sack of grain per acre. Most of our Huang family's fortune was built up bit by bit just like this."

Huang Cong kept his head down playing with his toys, ignoring him.

Master Huang frowned, patted his head, and sighed, "Forget it, what's the use of talking to you? You don't understand anyway. Hurry up and give me a grandson. I'll teach him myself. I hope I can see him start a family and establish himself before I die, so he can run this household properly. That way, there'll be someone to look after you too."

Speaking of this, Master Huang felt a little guilty. A grandson was still very important. He feared that going back on the rent reduction this year would affect his heirs. After thinking it over, he still called the steward and said, "Don't wait until the winter solstice for the porridge. Start setting up the sheds and giving out porridge tomorrow. Remember, only give it to the truly poor. Don't give it to just anyone."

The steward immediately said, "I'll scatter a handful of rice husks into the porridge. I absolutely won't let anyone who's not poor come take advantage."

Master Huang was satisfied. "Rummage around and see if there's any old grain from the past two years. Use that first. Also, don't pound the rice too clean. If you ask me, just cook it with the husks still on. When a person's stomach is empty, would they complain about rice having husks?"

The steward forced a smile and agreed, then after stepping out couldn't help but spit at his own toes, muttering something under his breath as he left.

(End of chapter)