Chapter 621: - Heavenly Secrets

It was rare to get a day off because of personal business.

That referred to Fourth Lady, not Marquis Zheng.

Strictly speaking, Marquis Zheng was on holiday every day.

The Princess and Liu Ruqing had gone to gather the servants of the residence and prepare for the wedding. It would only be a lively little family affair. They had no intention of making a grand spectacle of it.

After tea, Zheng Fan and Fourth Lady went together to the rear residence.

Whether back at the Count’s Residence in Snow Sea Pass or now at the Marquis Residence in Fengxin City, the rear residence had always been very quiet.

Of course, in this case “rear residence” meant the rear residence within the rear residence, the place where Tian Tian lived.

Tian Tian was sitting on a small stool before a low rectangular table, eating today’s meal.

He held a spoon in one hand and had tied his own napkin around his neck. One bite of vegetables, one bite of rice. He ate with great appetite.

Most of the time, he ate by himself.

It was not that Zheng Fan, his godfather, neglected him. Tian Tian simply preferred it that way.

For example, Demon Pill was beside him right now.

Whenever they were not away at war, Demon Pill would generally leave Marquis Zheng and stay beside Tian Tian.

It would not be much of an exaggeration to say Tian Tian had been raised by Demon Pill since childhood.

“Big Sister... eat...”

Outside, Fourth Lady looked at Zheng Fan.

“Master, this subordinate has always been curious about something.”

“Say it.”

“Is Demon Pill male or female?”

“Hmm...”

Tian Tian had always called Demon Pill “Big Sister,” perhaps because Demon Pill liked laughing “jie-jie... jie-jie...”

Master, meanwhile, liked calling Demon Pill his godson.

But that might simply be because if he called Demon Pill his daughter, they could no longer bathe together.

“He’s too young. At that age, what difference does male or female make?” Zheng Fan answered.

Fourth Lady nodded in agreement.

“True enough.”

So this question was one that even Zheng Fan himself could not answer.

Or perhaps, when he had originally created Demon Pill, he had deliberately left sexual characteristics vague because that made the character easier to use.

So one really could not blame Demon Pill for treating his “father” the way he did.

Anyone put through those circumstances and experiences might end up becoming the number-one “filial child” under Heaven.

When Tian Tian saw his godfather arrive, he was delighted.

He stood, untied his napkin, picked up the cloth beside him and wiped his mouth, then ran over to the little washbasin and washed his hands.

Only then did he happily run up to his godfather and lift his arms for a hug.

Zheng Fan picked Tian Tian up and kissed him on the cheek.

The little fellow smelled sweetly of milk.

Zheng Fan spent the entire afternoon playing with Tian Tian in the rear courtyard.

They had built slides, seesaws, and other toys there, so there was no lack of things to do.

Zheng Fan eventually sat down, while Demon Pill continued watching the child to make sure nothing happened.

Fourth Lady handed Zheng Fan an iced drink.

Zheng Fan took a sip and sighed.

“If our own child in the future can be this well-behaved, that would be perfect.”

“Does Master want a boy or a girl?”

“I’d like either.”

“I wonder when I’ll finally get pregnant.”

“We just need to plant the seed a few more times. Worst case, I’ll have to tire myself out a few more nights.”

Fourth Lady shot Zheng Fan an indescribably alluring glare.

Marquis Zheng, having gotten the advantage and then acting as though he had suffered for it, felt extremely pleased with himself.

He raised a hand and beckoned.

The black cat and fox that had been lying in the corner of the courtyard immediately ran over.

“These two demonic beasts are remarkably patient.”

They had once bewitched the Naiman King. They were no half-grown little spirits.

And yet, for the better part of a year, they had essentially remained at Tian Tian’s side.

That went beyond merely being “forced by circumstances.”

“Liqing once told this servant that Tian Tian’s spiritual aura has never dispersed. He can be called a spirit child. That naturally draws spiritual creatures close to him. They enjoy staying beside him, and it actually helps their cultivation. Liqing’s green python likes crawling into this courtyard whenever it has nothing else to do.”

“Can they siphon it from him?” Zheng Fan asked, somewhat worried.

“It isn’t yang qi. The aura is already naturally dispersing from him. Rather than let it simply fade into Heaven and Earth, it might as well be absorbed by them.”

“Oh, right. Liqing should know techniques for controlling beasts, shouldn’t she?”

“She does. Something similar to a ritual for recognizing a master, though it does not impose especially strong restraints.”

“Mm.”

Zheng Fan looked at the black cat and fox kneeling obediently before him.

“Then here’s the arrangement. Stay with him as he grows up. Protect him properly. In another few years, once he’s a little older, I’ll make the decision and have you recognize him as your master.”

For demonic beasts, cultivation required spiritual qi first, but noble qi as well.

The former strengthened the body.

The latter improved fate.

Folk tales loved stories about fox demons seducing impoverished scholars.

Those stories were fabricated.

In reality, if you were unsuccessful and had no decent birth behind you, even demons could not be bothered looking at you.

The black cat and fox immediately began kowtowing in thanks.

Zheng Fan waved them away.

“Enough. Go wait over there.”

Just then, a servant came from outside to report that Third Master and the others had finished their tour and returned.

“Have San’er bring them here.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

Before long, Xue San, Bamei, Fan Li, A’da, and Granny all entered the rear residence.

The moment Granny saw Tian Tian, her eyes visibly turned over him twice.

Rumor in the jianghu said Prince of Jingnan’s child was being raised in the Marquis of Pingxi Residence.

What she saw before her proved that rumor had to be true.

Xue San sat down in a chair nearby, accepted the iced drink Fourth Lady handed him, took two large gulps, then passed it to Bamei.

Fourth Lady asked, “How was it?”

Xue San shook his head.

“Exhausting.”

Third Master still had scouts and agents to train, yet he had spent an entire afternoon accompanying an old woman around the city.

“Master’s marriage to a Princess wasn’t even this exhausting. Her family didn’t come over demanding all these formalities.”

“Master would love it if the Regent of Chu and the Empress Dowager came to our home for a visit. But would they be willing to come? Would they dare?” Fourth Lady replied. “Besides, who told you to board the carriage first and buy the ticket afterward? Once you’ve done things in that order, naturally you have less room to complain.”

“Who could’ve known? From the way she talked before, I thought her Granny had died long ago.”

Fourth Lady comforted him.

“It’s only today. Tomorrow, she counts as one of the household.”

Xue San nodded.

Either way, the period in which he had to behave politely was limited to this one day.

“When are you planning to have a child?” Fourth Lady asked.

Xue San laughed.

“Ever since back in the State of Liang, we haven’t used contraception.”

Fourth Lady fell silent.

Xue San continued, “The Blind Man and his woman have been together for several years too, and there’s been no news from them either. People like us...”

At that point, Xue San glanced toward Master’s back in the distance, where Zheng Fan was speaking with Granny.

He lowered his voice.

“In the past, I liked finding powerful demonic beasts or divine beasts and crossbreeding them, just to see whether I could produce some new variety. So I’ve already prepared myself mentally. The stronger the roots, the more powerful the bloodline, the harder it is to produce descendants and continue the line. That is Heaven’s number. That is fate.”

If Pixiu and Fire Phoenixes could reproduce like pigs, the world would have fallen into chaos long ago.

The higher the level of life, the freer you became.

Correspondingly, the stronger the restraints imposed in other areas.

This difficulty had already gone beyond ordinary reproductive isolation.

Fourth Lady pursed her lips.

“But Fourth Lady, you really don’t need to worry,” Xue San continued. “Choosing Master was the right decision. Master came here together with us. Perhaps in this entire world, only Master has any real possibility of giving you a child.”

“Are you... trying to comfort me?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Xue San patted his tiny chest. “I’m using myself as the raft just to comfort you.”

“Heh.”

“Speaking from the heart, whether people like us leave descendants behind really doesn’t matter. We saw through things like that long ago. But I still hope you can have a child. It would be like a child of our own.”

Fourth Lady looked at him.

“Would you dare say that in front of Master?”

“Uh... What I mean is, if it’s your child with Master, then all of us will spoil that child straight into the heavens.”

...

“All right. This old woman will naturally follow the Marquis’s instructions.”

Granny offered no objection.

She seemed not to care at all that she had pissed herself in fright earlier. She simply crouched down in front of Tian Tian.

That itself was an expression of attitude.

At the banquet, Xiong Liqing had extended an olive branch on behalf of the Marquis Residence.

Would Granny accept it or not?

Since she had decided to accept it, she needed to understand what that meant.

Entering the Marquis Residence meant that the Marquis became her master.

Unless he ordered her to die, if he told her to do something else, did she really imagine she still had room to haggle?

Looking at Tian Tian, who resembled a little doll of good fortune, Granny smiled.

“Little Master, what do you like eating most? Granny will go buy it for you.”

It was the sort of thing adults often said when coaxing children, meant to lower a child’s nervousness.

Tian Tian answered:

“The Dragon Throne.”

“...” Granny.

“Heh.”

The Marquis of Pingxi standing nearby actually laughed.

A storm erupted inside Granny’s heart.

He was not angry?

He was laughing?

Granny had no choice but to force herself steady.

Following instructions, A’da brought over a basin of water. Granny washed her hands, dried them, then slowly placed them against Tian Tian’s face.

“Good boy. Don’t move,” Zheng Fan said.

“Mm. Tian Tian is good.”

Granny released a long breath.

In any case... there were still two spare pairs of flowered trousers in her bundle!

“Marquis, this thing called face-reading, put plainly, is reading the currents of qi and the opportunities tied to a person, then using those to glimpse what may come later. It’s accurate, but not entirely accurate. At best, one can only grasp a rough outline.”

“Just read him.”

“Yes, Marquis.”

The next instant, Granny began to “read” Tian Tian’s face.

...

At that exact moment, Demon Pill, lying nearby, gently rolled over.

In the courtyard next door to the Marquis Residence, a man was feeding chickens.

Longyuan, which had been thrown behind the stove and was now used as a pair of tongs among a pile of charcoal, suddenly trembled.

In Yanjing, inside the palace hall where the Grand Elder had once lived, a little eunuch in red suddenly opened his eyes.

South of Shangjing in the State of Qian, within a garden on the Back Mountain, a figure in white suddenly rose to his feet and gave a soft sound of surprise.

In Litian City, at the former Marquis of Jingnan Residence, the white-haired man sitting on the threshold slowly raised his head.

In the courtyard, the surface of the pond filled with dead leaves gently rippled.

And in the rear residence of the Marquis of Pingxi Residence in Fengxin City, the old woman crouching on the ground and reading a child’s face was already bleeding from all seven orifices.

[End of Chapter 621]