Chapter Eighty-Two: A New Family Milestone

The owner of Green Jade Tower was called over. When he heard that Su Yang intended to buy out a courtesan who sold only her art and not her body, he was overjoyed at once. With every intention of taking a hefty cut, he said, “Esteemed guest, Miss Qingqin is one of our brightest stars. If you wish to take her away, it will take at least this much silver.”

As he finished, the owner held up a single finger toward Su Yang.

“One thousand taels?”

“Yes, esteemed guest.”

In a small place like Yanggu County, one thousand taels was no trifling sum; it could be called a fortune. Unless one were blinded by love, no one would be willing to pay that price to redeem a courtesan.

Yet, likewise, if one were not blinded, how could one ever be willing to redeem a courtesan in the first place?

“Wang Han, go home and fetch the silver,” Su Yang said, his expression unchanged, not the least bit concerned with the thousand taels. Last night, when he wiped out that household, he had already taken several thousand taels.

Spending one thousand taels for a woman with third-rate talent was still well worth it. More importantly, unlike the maids in his home, Miss Qingqin was thin and frail; without a period of careful nourishment, it would likely be difficult for her to bear children.

Miss Qingqin was a courtesan in Green Jade Tower, selling her talents but not her body. The income she earned, though not enough to make one rich and powerful, was more than sufficient for a life of food and drink. Her figure had been nourished into softness and fairness, especially the full, rounded contours of her bosom, which gave her a very particular charm.

She was in no way comparable to those immature, yellow-haired girls.

“Esteemed guest... are you certain?”

Seeing how resolute Su Yang was, the owner of Green Jade Tower grew a little regretful. He should have raised the price even more.

The thousand taels were quickly brought over, and Qingqin’s contract of servitude was fetched as well and handed to Su Yang.

After a night of storm and rain, Su Yang gained a personal maid in his chamber.

The next morning, after washing and dressing, Su Yang brought Qingqin back to his residence. Since she was already his woman, there was no reason for her to remain in that filthy place. On the way, he also intended to retrieve the Heart-Controlling Insects.

“Master, the warriors from yesterday have returned,” Wang Han’s voice came from outside not long after Su Yang returned.

“Bring them in.”

At Su Yang’s command, four men entered one after another. They were the same four who had remained to the end yesterday, and all four had actually come today. It seemed they were truly determined.

“These are Heart-Controlling Insects. Swallow one, and the moment I give the command, they will burrow from within your bodies into your hearts, gnawing at them and making your lives worse than death.”

“If you are loyal and never commit treachery, I will not kill you.”

“And one more thing: for the first year, the reward is not two eighth-grade spirit medicines, but three. From the second year onward, rewards of spirit medicines and similar resources will be granted according to your merit and contributions.”

“If there are no objections, take one each from the insects on the table and swallow it. From this day on, you will be members of my Su family.”

A trace of excitement flashed through Su Yang’s tone. Once these four men swallowed the Heart-Controlling Insects, his clan progress would be complete, and the one hundred points of incense would be credited, solving many of his current problems.

“Three?”

“Thank you, Master.”

“With three eighth-grade spirit medicines, I can surely step into the eighth grade.”

As soon as Su Yang’s words fell, the hearts of the four ninth-grade martial artists were filled with joy. They had never imagined that the promised two eighth-grade spirit medicines would become three. They had only ever heard of masters who squeezed every last drop from their servants; they had never heard of one who increased the reward.

In an instant, the four men’s loyalty to Su Yang became absolute.

One after another, they swallowed the Heart-Controlling Insects and became the Su family’s estate guardians, named Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, East Wolf, and West Leopard.

Now, Su Yang had eleven ninth-grade subordinates, and at last, clan progress was complete.

Name: Su Yang, a prospective immortal
Incense Points: 144
Cultivation: Sixth Grade
Arts: Incense Division, Sky-Watching Art, Heart-Controlling Insects, Root-Testing Art
Secret Technique: Savage Bull Long Fist
Reference Text: The Holy Book of Gynecology
Lifespan: 57+
Clan Heirs: 2
Long-Term Progress: The clan is advancing smoothly. For the healthy growth of the heirs, and to better care for them, please assign one maid to each mistress who is with child. Each assignment grants 20 incense points!
Clan Progress: The clan is advancing smoothly. You already possess part of the ability to protect your wives and heirs, as well as household servants. Marry a fifth wife to obtain 40 incense points. Completed.
Clan Progress: The clan is advancing smoothly. You already have wives, maids, household servants, and estate guards, and have begun to develop the scale of a small clan. However, your compound is far too small. Obtain a proper mansion to receive 500 incense points.
Mansion Requirements: A grand estate containing one four-courtyard compound, more than ten three-courtyard compounds, and more than thirty connected courtyard houses.

After opening the panel, a new clan progress objective appeared before Su Yang, and the incense reward beside it made his eyes widen in disbelief.

Five hundred incense?

That was equivalent to completing about ten ordinary clan progress tasks!

However, this clan progress task was also extremely difficult. It required a vast mansion compound, with many courtyards within it. A place of that scale could probably only be found at the residence of County Magistrate Zhou, who had entrenched his family in Yanggu County for many years.

Ordinarily, merely owning a single four-courtyard compound would already count as the lowest level of a wealthy household.

As for families like the Wangs, of middling wealth and status, most of their homes consisted of connected courtyard houses. With five such courtyards in all, that was the entire fortune Old Master Wang had built through a lifetime of hard work.

The mansion requirement for the new clan progress was, aside from County Magistrate Zhou’s estate, only matched by the Feng family and the Wei family. Beyond that, there was another method: build one yourself.

Or, by purchasing many neighboring homes within one area and making simple renovations, one could also achieve this effect. For instance, the Hong family next door possessed one three-courtyard compound and six connected courtyard houses.

If he bought up the surrounding houses and made a few openings and alterations, it would be entirely feasible.

Thinking of this, Su Yang felt much better. This clan progress objective did not seem too difficult after all. It simply required some means to bring the houses around the Wang and Su homes into his own possession.

...

He informed his subordinates at the market that if anyone came again, they were to give the address as the Su residence on Osmanthus Street.

Taking the newly recruited ninth-grade martial artists back to the estate, Su Yang locked himself in the room where the black-furred rat demons were stored, and used incense points to purge the remaining flesh tumors from the other nine rat demon corpses.

In front of him, ten clean demon corpses were laid out in order. In total, ten incense points had been spent, leaving 134 incense points.

As for the yellow weasel demon, a wild eighth-grade demon slain last night, purging the tumors within its body would require two incense points. That was equivalent to an eighth-grade spirit medicine, so Su Yang naturally did not begrudge the two incense points.

After all the corpses had been processed, he still had 131 incense points remaining.

“Bring Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, East Wolf, and West Leopard here,” Su Yang ordered.

...

P.S. There will be an illustration in the bonus chapter later to show everyone what a four-courtyard compound, a three-courtyard compound, and a connected courtyard house look like.

My initial idea is that the connected courtyard houses are for concubines, while the three-courtyard compounds are for the chamber maids, each with a separate room, or for concubines with good bone structure. The four-courtyard compound is naturally where the protagonist lives.

At the same time, this courtyard layout is only the framework’s first draft. After the protagonist links everything together, the estate will not only have houses, but also gardens, lakes, artificial hills, groves, and even a nunnery. These facilities will all be present, and monsters will gradually appear as well. From here on, the story will become a little more lively, and he will no longer rely solely on incense to break through. Finally, I’m asking for a wave of monthly votes.

The bonus chapter needs time to be reviewed, so please be patient!

Today’s final chapter is the fifth one, a little late. My apologies!

The next update will be tomorrow afternoon!