Chapter 144 - 90: Regent of Southern Chu

Chapter 144: Chapter 90: Regent of Southern Chu

"Young Master, today’s breakfast is ready. It cost a total of twelve taels and six mace of silver. A Blood Nourishing Pill has been dissolved into the soup, supplemented with Qingtang Flower, perilla root..."

Qingdai’s voice, melodious as an oriole’s, rang in Zheng Jun’s ears.

Hearing this, Zheng Jun slowly withdrew from his meditative state. He stared blankly at the steaming bowl of shredded meat noodles Qingdai had brought him. He thought, "Over twelve taels for a single bowl of noodles?"

Zheng Jun’s mouth twitched slightly, but he still feigned an attitude of treating money like dirt. "Just set it down," he said calmly. "There’s no need to report the prices to me in the future."

"Yes, sir." Qingdai respectfully set down the bowl of noodles and skillfully retreated, no longer disturbing him.

Zheng Jun fully opened his eyes and began to meticulously savor the noodle soup. He wouldn’t spare a single drop of broth. After all, this was all silver.

Ever since Qingdai had arrived at the Zheng Mansion, Zheng Jun’s cultivation progress had indeed begun to accelerate. For instance, his three daily meals were all medicinal dishes, and every night, he took a medicinal bath. The expenses were enormous. There were certainly noticeable effects, but logically speaking, the cost-effectiveness wasn’t actually that high. However, both the medicinal meals and the medicinal baths truly yielded miraculous results.

For the current Zheng Jun, directly consuming a Blood Nourishing Pill no longer had any effect. It was much like drinking a regular beverage—he could feel a slight simmering sensation, but it provided no actual benefit. Yet, if the Blood Nourishing Pill was dissolved into a medicinal meal and supplemented with several herbs, it could actually increase Zheng Jun’s Qi and Blood!

This was something he hadn’t anticipated. Moreover, doing things this way didn’t interfere with his consumption of Pills!

In the past, after taking a highly effective Pill, he needed to rest for at least a day before he could take a second one. He needed that day to slowly absorb the residual medicinal efficacy. Medicinal meals and medicinal baths, however, had no such restrictions. After all, the medicinal strength wasn’t too potent to begin with. Less than a two-hour period after ingestion or bathing, it would be completely digested, requiring no extra effort whatsoever.

According to Qingdai, the Direct Lineage members of prominent clans had medicinal baths and meals every day just like this, and the resources they used were even better. Zheng Jun’s current situation was actually a ’bankrupt version’ of the treatment an Eldest Son received.

Even though the cost-effectiveness was low, Zheng Jun still had to go through with it, even if it meant spending nearly one thousand taels of silver over these dozen or so days. After all, Old Thief Yuan Yi of the Vast Sea Sect could come knocking at any time. He naturally had to be cautious, using all available resources and doing his utmost to improve his own strength.

"PHEW."

After polishing off every last bite of the medicinal noodle soup, Zheng Jun delicately wiped his mouth with a silk handkerchief. He stood up and headed outside, ready to practice his Saber Technique.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw the maidservant, Bai Zhi, standing respectfully by the door. She was somewhat strenuously holding Zheng Jun’s Beirong Saber. Seeing him come out, she quickly handed it over. Zheng Jun took the Beirong Saber, stepped straight into the courtyard, and began striking the wooden dummy to practice his Martial Arts.

Two days had passed since his conversation with Cai Xun, his dear brother from another mother. Since that day, his brother had taken a leave of absence and gone to the Commandery city to purchase Condensing Gang Powder for Zheng Jun, and had yet to return.

Zheng Jun was filled with emotion regarding this. He never expected that he would become the very type of person he used to despise the most.

He had become a rich man. He was waited on hand and foot, and he even had seven beautiful young maids cleaning his house for him. This kind of lifestyle was indeed decadent and worthy of fierce condemnation, but it was absolutely phenomenal—it just cost a bit too much silver.

"I still need to make more money!"

After practicing Martial Arts for an entire morning, Zheng Jun became even more resolute in his desire to earn money. Therefore, under the attentive service of Banxia and Forsythia, he changed into his Official Robe and marched out the door to clock in for work.

Inside the Military Department, the soldiers had also begun their morning drills bright and early. Every one of them was executing the Wave-Treading Blade Technique.

At this point, there was basically nothing left for Zheng Jun to do. The Decurions of the various squads and the Crew Leaders of the respective crews naturally led the drills themselves. All Zheng Jun had to do was sit inside the military tent and secretly cultivate.

That’s right—Zheng Jun’s work on duty was no different from being at home. It was just changing locations to cultivate. There was no news of the Black Mountain Thieves, so it naturally wasn’t time to march up the mountain to suppress the bandits. The wealthy landlords were also behaving themselves now; the Tongzhou Association would naturally squeeze their silver from them, leaving him with no other duties.

As for mobilizing the troops, the only option was to use the excuse of suppressing bandits to go to other counties and earn some silver. However, that was a bit too flashy. If he caught the attention of the higher-ups in the Commandery, it would be bad. After all, he currently still had a formidable Outer Gang enemy in True Man Yuan Yi. It wasn’t wise to be so ostentatious and provoke other foes.

He would wait until he resolved the immediate problem before going to other counties to earn silver.

"PHEW."

Zheng Jun calmed his mind and cultivated inside the Military Department for the entire morning.

Around noon, Zheng Jun exited the main gates of the Military Department, intending to return to his mansion for a meal. The moment he stepped out, he saw a fellow dressed as a tavern boy approaching him.

The boy offered an obsequious smile and said, "Third Master Zheng! This morning, a guest claiming his surname is Chu said he has urgent business with you. If you have the time, you can go to Shengdong Village for a chat."

In front of the Military Department, the guards on duty saw the servant boy daring to strike up a conversation. Just as they were about to step forward and intervene, Zheng Jun stopped them.

"Surname Chu?"

Zheng Jun thought to himself, "Is this someone from Southern Chu?"

After all, to his knowledge, neither his enemies nor his friends had the surname Chu. The only connection he had to the word ’Chu’ was the illegal, anti-Court rebel organization he had secretly joined: the Southern Chu regime.

However, he also needed to exercise some caution.

"What if this is a trap set by the Vast Sea Sect?" he wondered.

Though he figured it shouldn’t be the Vast Sea Sect, as they had no idea his collusion with Southern Chu went this deep.