Chapter 93: The Minor God of Incense (Major Chapter)

“Collect everything.”

A big hand waved, and Wang Hanmachao hurriedly stepped forward to take the land deed and the old medicines. The unconscious Zhou Bao was pulled down by the servants at home.

All the houses near the Su residence were taken into his possession. He would then return to recruit enough workers, and soon he could clear out the entire courtyard and build a thick wall outside.

“White Ran Ran, are you saying what you mean?”

Zhang Qing Shi’s cold gaze swept over Bai Ran Ran, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile as bright as moonlight.

“The master of this pavilion has never broken his word. From today onward, I shall be your husband’s concubine.”

Dressed in white training clothes, Bai Ran Ran stood up, her tone firm.

“Miss Bai, don’t take it seriously. Qing Shi was just joking with you!”

After stepping down from the ring, Su Yang quickly tried to explain the reason for Bai Ran Ran’s apparent regret.

After all, if a woman is unwilling in her heart, it is better not to marry her!

“I never joke.”

“From today onward, I shall be your concubine.”

Bai Ran Ran spoke with conviction, her bright and beautiful eyes sweeping up and down over the man before her.

“Good sister, I see that choosing an auspicious day is better than choosing a day. Today, move into my husband’s residence and work diligently to carry on the incense of our family.”

“It is no problem,” Bai Ran Ran replied expressionlessly.

“Good sister, you are already in your thirties. Finding a suitable husband is already fortunate, and to think that it is my husband, a man who is both civil and martial. If I had not seen you in your pitiful state and realized you were still an untouched maiden after so many years, how could I have consented to let you marry my husband as a concubine? Sister, you must understand my good intentions.”

A smile lingered in Zhang Qing Shi’s eyes.

“I never thought we would become sisters instead of master and disciple.”

Bai Ran Ran’s words were truly shocking. She turned toward the direction of the martial arts pavilion and left, adding, “This master of the pavilion will return to pack my luggage now. Tonight I shall come to my husband’s residence for the bridal chamber.”

The disciples of Bai Yuan Martial Arts Pavilion were left stunned.

From now on, would they have to address that man as Master Husband?

…

“I never thought Bai Ran Ran would actually keep her word so rigorously.”

Su Yang gazed at her retreating figure, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

“What is it? Does your husband not like her?”

Zhang Qing Shi walked over, her eyes brimming with only Su Yang, dimming the entire world around her.

“Such a beauty as Bai Ran Ran would attract any man, but as your husband I only hope that the women who admire and like me are like Bai Ran Ran. The one who married me as a concubine simply because she lost a bet—I still do not wish to take advantage of her in this moment.”

Su Yang spoke with a gentleman’s bearing, elegant and graceful.

“Husband… that is exactly why I hold you in such deep affection. If you were to act upon Bai Ran Ran’s body, I would truly have to consider whether I should still marry you.”

“My good wife, how is this Bai Ran Ran to be handled? I truly find myself in difficulty, for if she, a sixth-rank martial artist, suppresses me out of anger with you, it will be hard for me to resist.”

Upon hearing Bai Ran Ran’s words, Su Yang let out a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had come to understand Zhang Qing Shi somewhat in recent days. Women’s hearts run as deep as the sea, and luckily his character was good, so he had passed the test.

If he had truly acted upon Bai Ran Ran, this good girl with grade-A aptitude might have said goodbye to him forever.

“Haha… husband, rest assured.”

“If Bai Ran Ran were widowed, she might truly be like that. But she is merely a thirty-something virgin who has never experienced the world. She cannot possibly be like that toward you; it is simply to satisfy a momentary whim.”

A trace of intelligence flashed in Zhang Qing Shi’s eyes.

“If that is the case, then I am relieved.”

Su Yang showed a trace of disappointment in his eyes.

“However, if Bai Ran Ran, this old woman, truly comes to like you in the future, you may of course bring her into your inner chambers.”

“Currently you are only seventh rank and have already offended people like Zhou Bao. If the Zhou family retaliates, you will be in danger. That is why I made a bet with Bai Ran Ran. Now that she has entered the Su residence as a concubine with proper status and sixth-rank strength, the Zhou family will not easily act against you.”

Zhang Qing Shi explained.

“So that was it. Wife has troubled herself.”

Su Yang suddenly realized the truth and felt grateful to Zhang Qing Shi. This was his proper wife, far better than women like Wang Chunxiao. Then he said, “Wife, you go back first. I still have some matters to attend to. I will come to see you when I have time.”

“Mm!”

Zhang Qing Shi nodded, then led the maids and servants brought from her family back home.

Su Yang had once used qi and blood to probe Zhang Qing Shi’s qi and blood, discovering that hers was exceptionally pure, almost free of impurities, like the purest essence in the world.

The purer the qi and blood, the more formidable the combat ability.

Within the same realm, no one would be her match. Moreover, Su Yang had a premonition that if Zhang Qing Shi wished it, she could advance to eighth rank in a single breath, like a female protagonist who had opened a cheat.

Such talent, paired with his future descendants, would undoubtedly be the supreme beings of the world, and he grew increasingly eager.

At the end of the alley.

A figure in black clothing slowly vanished from the alley entrance.

…

Su Yang returned home with the martial arts masters and servants, simply checking the old medicines stored in the warehouse.

Fifty pieces of ninth-rank old medicine!

Twenty-nine pieces of eighth-rank old medicine!

Six pieces of seventh-rank old medicine!

Among the eighth-rank old medicines, twenty had been contributed by Zhou Bao. Now that he had revealed his seventh-rank strength, he could recruit eighth-rank martial artists for the family. These would come in handy.

Moreover, the heart-controlling worms that could instantly kill eighth-rank martial artists would soon be ready. Everything at home was progressing in the right direction, and the only crisis was the Zhou family.

If fortune smiled on him, the Zhou family might not care about him. But once Zhou Bao woke, he would continue to harass him, and he needed to find a way to resolve it.

If fortune turned against him, the Zhou family Zhou county magistrate would act against him, forcing him to move out of Li county assistant’s residence. The final outcome would be unknowable.

In addition to the old medicines, there were also many corpses of black-furred rat demons, all of which could serve as resources to recruit martial arts masters.

Name: Su Yang (quasi-immortal)

Incense value: 179

Realm: Sixth rank

Gongfa: [Incense Department] [Qi Viewing Technique] [Heart-Controlling Worm+] [Root Observation Technique]

Secret Book: [Brute Bull Long Fist]

Information: [Women’s Medical Saint Book]

Lifespan: 46+

Family offspring: 3

Long-term progress: Assign a maid to serve the main wife, gaining 20 incense value!

Family progress: The family progress is proceeding smoothly. You already have a wife, maids, servants, guard martial arts masters, and a preliminary small-family scale has been established. However, the courtyard of the residence is too small. Please obtain a proper mansion to gain 500 points of incense value.

Mansion specifications: A large courtyard containing four yards, ten or more sets of three-yard layouts, or thirty or more sets of three-in-one courtyards!

Daily prompt: Grade-A aptitude offspring can provide 100 points of incense value daily; grade-B aptitude offspring can provide 5 points daily; grade-C aptitude offspring can provide 0.1 point daily.

The incense value accumulated on the panel was considerable. By doing nothing and simply lying around, he could still gain 3 points daily. Jin Ping’er had been pregnant for twenty-six days, and in four more days she would gain 4 points daily.

It was merely the information in the daily prompts that surprised Su Yang greatly.

A grade-A aptitude offspring could actually provide 100 points of incense value daily. If Zhang Qing Shi gave birth to offspring, she might well be grade A. The incense value she would provide daily would be equivalent to that of a thousand grade-C offspring.

By this calculation, he was still making a great profit.

Marrying Zhang Qing Shi was like marrying a thousand concubines like Mei Hua, and Su Yang felt that Bai Ran Ran’s aptitude was unlikely to be too low either.

Upon careful thought, it seemed quite reasonable.

If the aptitude were grade A, Zhang Qing Shi’s talent, if she devoted herself entirely to the martial dao, she might enter first rank within ten years.

While if it were grade C, reaching seventh rank within ten years would already be excellent!

The gap was like that between an ordinary citizen and a county magistrate, with vastly different achievements and correspondingly different incense values obtained.

Of course, some offspring with poorer aptitude could still provide substantial incense value if they achieved something, such as passing the imperial examinations to become Xiucai or Juren, or earning respect in the commoners’ hearts for treating illnesses and saving lives, or becoming a fair and impartial catcher.

In short, shining on the family crest would allow him to gain incense value.

However, for concubines like Tao Hua and Xi Chun with grade-D aptitude, if they gave birth to offspring who were also grade D, they would no longer provide daily incense value. He did not know whether this panel could offer prescriptions to improve offspring aptitude.

In addition, he had also sorted through the daily prompts from the past few days and noted some new ones.

For example, Daily prompt: After the first offspring is born, it must be carefully nurtured; pregnant offspring will no longer provide incense value to the host.

Daily prompt: In family progress, one can obtain a method to condense incense-value little immortals, condensing the souls of wives and concubines into incense-value little gods to be enshrined in the Sumeru divine position, protecting the offspring, condensing their own incense value, and even summoning wind and rain to bring favorable weather.

Daily prompt: The great Qi national destiny has been extinguished; choose a good master to dwell!

The other three prompts could yield information: once the first child of Tao Hua was born, the incense value during pregnancy would vanish, and incense value would be provided according to the bone of the born child and rewards for the offspring’s achievements.

The second prompt was also something Su Yang had been troubled by for some time: he was an immortal, yet in a hundred years Tao Hua would turn into a handful of yellow soil. He could not accept this no matter what, especially watching one by one obedient and compliant women leave the world.

Whether Tao Hua, Mei Hua, or Xi Chun, he had genuine feelings mixed among them. It was not like the hundreds or thousands of wives and concubines in the family, like Dong E Qing, who remembered none of their names and possessed not the slightest trace of emotion.

He simply did not know when the method to condense the incense-value little god could be obtained; it would likely consume some incense value.

The most important thing was that the condensed incense-value little gods would be like the land gods, temple gods, and city gods of legend, guarding one side of peace, protecting the offspring, and ensuring wind and rain were favorable.

According to his understanding of Da Qian, it was similar to a classical immortal realm, featuring ghost demons that confused examinees, fox demons that loved human hearts, yin ghosts and tiger demons that worked for tigers, and old demons hidden among mortals, most of whom could speak human language.

It was not like the beastly races in previous-life cultivation, as seen in the yellow weasel demons of Yanggu County and the black-furred rat demons attacking the city.

It was merely that this world had no gods.

That was right; even Buddha statues and the righteous gods of the Heavenly Court were absent. In Da Qian territory, only one immortal was believed: the City God.

The third prompt stated that Da Qian was about to fall and would not revive. However, choosing a good master was something he would absolutely not do; there was no need.

He was an immortal. When the chaos subsided in the future, he would pass the imperial examinations, become a jinshi, return to Yanggu County as a county magistrate, manage his family, and slowly develop a great family—it would be far more stable.

If choosing the master went wrong, he might be swept away by a wave of heavenly destiny.

…

Inside the courtyard.

Wang Hanmachao, Zhang Long, and the other family martial arts masters stood before him, awaiting orders.

“Wang Hanmachao and you two are responsible for recruiting bricklayers. The more the better, but they must have experience. No experience at all—none will do. Provide food and lodging, and in addition, half a jin of grain per day!”

“Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, you two are responsible for recruiting carpenters. They must also have experience; do not take on those who fill in the ranks. Provide food and lodging, and in addition, half a jin of grain per day.”

“Dong Lang and Xi Bao, you two are responsible for recruiting laborers and miscellaneous workers. As long as they have strength, that will suffice. Provide food and lodging, and in addition, three liang of grain per day.”

“Nan Xiong and Bei Gou, you two are responsible for recruiting decorators, painters, colorists, carvers, and ink makers. Provide food and lodging, and in addition, one jin of grain per day.”

“Left Worm and Right Rat, you two are responsible for procurement matters. You may command some servants. There are many empty houses in Yanggu County now; explain to the government and bribe them with some silver to pull them down directly.”

Su Yang simply allocated the upcoming work, connecting all thirty or so nearby houses and planning to begin re-planning as soon as possible, completing the family progress.

Most of the houses would not need to be moved, only the walls demolished. Finally, two high walls would be built on the outermost layer—one outer wall and one inner wall!

Usually, the martial arts masters at home could patrol directly between the two walls or raise some fierce dogs between them to guard tamed demon beasts.

The sections planned for the back courtyard would all be flattened and a back garden built. When there was nothing to do, it could be for the maids and wives to enjoy, avoiding boredom that might cause illness.

In the future, when conditions improved, a troupe of opera performers could be raised to set up stages and sing plays.

“Yes, master!”

Each received some grain and silver and set out to find craftsmen. They would likely begin work normally tomorrow. Now that the rebel army was besieging the city, worker wages were extremely low, and he only needed to offer food and lodging to attract countless commoners.

No need to mention adding further rewards.

Su Yang felt that Yanggu County could not last much longer. Once it fell, the grain prices inside the city would gradually recover, but not to the level before the rebel army’s siege—slightly higher, not so absurd. At that time, grain could be transported in from all over.

The six girls in the family—Tao Hua, Mei Hua, Xi Chun, Jin Ping’er, Yin Lian, and Qing Qin—all carried children. Su Yang could only go to the neighboring courtyard to find his mother-in-law and talk, also having not seen the maid beside Xi Liu’s mother-in-law for a long time.