Immortal Dao Fruits, Cards to Help Me

Chapter 106: They've been discovered!
(First, I apologize. There was a mistake in the previous chapter. It was supposed to be the Jia family's large estate. I made a blunder and wrote it as the Cao family's estate, which led me straight to Cao Xueqin. It has been corrected. Please be aware.)

At the foot of Yubi Peak in Wulong Mountain, a vast expanse of farmland under the jurisdiction of the Rongguo Mansion of the Great Shun Dynasty is connected by crisscrossing paths, and is as large as several natural villages combined!

The head of the village was surnamed Wu and named Wu Jinzhong.

The Wu family was originally a poor family in Liaodong, so poor that they could barely make ends meet.

As a result, he was caught up in the great Shun dynasty's invasion of Liaodong and became a personal guard for the two generals of the Jia family. This led to the Wu family later becoming the head of the Jia family's estate in Liaodong.

When the Shun dynasty entered Liaodong, Liaodong had not yet been incorporated into the Shun territory. This area was inhabited by werewolves, boar people, various other ethnic groups, and humans.

There was a regime here before, which was later called Dong Pak to distinguish it from the Xi Pak that still exists today.

The Kingdom of Nadongxia was a fairly standard slave-owning state, and its ruler was called the King of Ten Thousand Slaves, who was said to have some kind of supernatural ability, such as being able to transform into a dragon.

However, by then, the Kingdom of Nadong had already been destroyed for several decades, and Liaodong was in chaos, with only spheres of influence and no unified country.

Then, seeing that things were not going well, the false emperor of the Great Shun Dynasty led his men from Yanjing to Liaodong.

Then, the four kings, eight dukes, and twelve marquises, the meritorious officials of the Great Shun Dynasty, led by the two dukes of Ning and Rong, led their troops into Liaodong.

As mentioned before, the Great Shun Dynasty faced annihilation twice.

On both occasions when he was favored by Heaven, wise rulers turned the tide and restored order.

Therefore, the Great Shun Dynasty had three generations of nobles!
The first generation were founding heroes, but that was too far back, almost six hundred years ago.

The vast majority were destroyed by wind and rain, and although a few remain, they no longer use the title of "founding nobles".

Come to think of it, it makes sense; as the saying goes, "a new emperor brings a new court."

The Great Shun Dynasty underwent two major changes, so the plaque for the founding heroes became somewhat worthless, even glaring.

The second generation of nobles, known as the Twenty-Two Meritorious Officials of the Restoration, lived three hundred years ago.

There are now 16 companies left, most of which are not well-known.

Finally, there were the three meritorious officials of the Great Shun Dynasty a hundred years ago: four kings, eight dukes, and twelve marquises.

These meritorious officials who contributed to the restoration of the Three Kingdoms can be roughly divided into two groups: one group consists of northern nobles centered around Yanjing (Beijing), and the other group consists of southern nobles centered around Nanjing (Nanjing), the secondary capital.

Most of these families are still around today, either serving in the Nine Border Army or holding significant influence in the imperial court.

Of course, some are located along the southeast coast.

The influence of the two dukes, Ning and Rong, was also significant among the noble families of Sanxing.

After all, those four noble titles were all conferred by their own branches of the royal family, and they all shared the surname Fang.

Of the eight dukes, his family owned two!
They were once considered the elite among the three prominent noble families.

Their greatest influence lies in the nine key border towns, in the vast area from Liaodong to Datong.

Just as Cao Bianjiao said, in the second generation of the Jia family's Ning and Rong mansions, some members even joined the army and made a name for themselves.

However, by the third generation, they had completely abandoned the path of generals and soldiers.

Then he chose the wrong side in the "officialdom," and then he became somewhat depressed.

As the saying goes, "when people leave, tea grows cold," and in the past twenty years, almost a generation has passed, the Jia family's influence in the Nine Border Regions has declined sharply.

Furthermore, no one considered them to be part of the generals of the Great Shun Dynasty.

However, Chen Xiuxian had a different opinion on this matter.

Was it voluntary for the Jia family to abandon their status as a military family and try to enter officialdom?

Or, could there be some kind of force majeure event?
After all, the Jia family has countless protégés and former officials in the nine border regions, wielding immense influence. And this influence is passed down through generations; what will the emperor think?
Could it be that the Jia family gave up their status as a military family in exchange for something else?
Something went wrong; the army was surrendered, and the goods hadn't been exchanged yet.
Okay, that's all nonsense.

It was an idea that Chen Xiuxian came up with while brainstorming during a tea break.

Yes, he's drinking tea right now.

...Around noon, they were surveying the terrain on a high ground not far from Jade Pen Peak when they were discovered by the sentries of Jia Family Manor. Then, fifty or sixty trained farmers with various weapons surrounded them.

You know what, Chen Xiuxian and Cao Bianjiao were both careless at the time. They didn't think much of it and were still thinking about how to find the pseudo-emperor's treasure on Jade Pen Peak.

It was the two ghostly officials from the City God Temple who were sensitive to the crowd and discovered that someone was trying to sneak up on them.

Then, a group of seven or eight people were surrounded by fifty or sixty people from the other side.

The one leading the group was called Wu Jinzhong. He was dressed quite well, wearing a dog-skin hat. Although he didn't look like Qian Dashanren, who was clearly from a wealthy family, he had a much more imposing presence.

He acted as if he had powerful backers, displaying an arrogant and haughty attitude!
Even a seventh-rank official is only allowed in front of the prime minister's gate!

As one of the Rongguo Mansion's representatives in Liaodong, he manages several hundred people on his estate here. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a local tyrant in a small area.

Even if you don't respect the monk, you should respect the Buddha. It's really not good for ordinary people to offend him.

However, Wu Jinzhong is no fool to have reached this position.

This is the brutal Liaodong region, after all; it has no place for fools.
At first, he thought some clueless new "gangsters" or "bandits" had come to scout out the wealthy estate and were planning to cause trouble.

But once people gathered around, they realized something was wrong.

Let me put it this way, no bandit beard could grow to be "this good-looking"!

With a face like that, there's no way he could become a bandit!

What he saw was Chen Xiuxian.

Cao Bianjiao, standing beside him, was clad in armor and looked like an elite soldier.

This is definitely not a bandit wearing fine armor. Judging from his aura, this person must be a vanguard general in the army!
Wu Jinzhong was quite knowledgeable, having seen those elite soldiers.

Cao Bianjiao's aura was even more imposing than that of the guerrilla general he had ever seen, and the four men behind him were clearly elite soldiers. These were not bandits to be compared to!

There's also a jailer, nothing special about that. They have six or seven more on their estate!

There was also an old man, with shifty eyes, who looked like a poor and starving fortune teller.

As for the remaining three, well... I can't quite make out them.

Why would someone wear a straw hat in the dead of winter?!
The other two behind them were wearing hoods, which only revealed the skin tone around their chins, and their skin looked a bit off.

It was either deathly pale or a ghastly blue.

They stood there like two withered trees, motionless and lifeless.

Wu Jinzhong's heart skipped a beat, thinking: Could we have run into some trouble today?!

Although the Rongguo Mansion held considerable prestige in Liaodong, there were some things that didn't depend on personal connections.

Every year, three to five people die in the village.
Natural disasters, man-made calamities, and evil spirits—all of them can be deadly.

This estate has been established for almost a hundred years and has undergone many renovations.

But they have also experienced several major disasters, with dozens of people dying!
Wu Jinzhong dared not show off anymore. He quickly forced a smile and waved for his servants to put away the crude weapon.

"What are you doing? Put your weapons away. If people knew we were farmers from Wulong Mountain Farm, they'd think you were going to become bandits in the mountains!"

He pretended to curse a few times.

The villagers under his command didn't understand much either, so they could only look at each other and put down their knives, spears, and clubs.

They really had some training. After all, most of them were descendants of soldiers from the past, and Liaodong was not a peaceful place.

But this Wuzhuang leader was all high and mighty before, saying he wouldn't let a single one go, but now you've chickened out?

Ignoring all that, Wu Jinzhong cupped his hands in greeting to Chen Xiuxian, who appeared to be the leader: "Young master, I am Wu, the village head of Heishan Village. I manage some properties in Liaodong for the Rongguo Mansion. May I ask what brings you here?"

Not long after, Chen Xiuxian and his group were invited to the manor for tea.

(End of this chapter)