Adding to the Foundation

Zhou Family Courtyard

Zhou Dashan and his two sons sat on a wooden couch, watching a dozen or so children playing in the courtyard with joyful expressions.

These children were all of the Zhou family's fourth generation. Among them, Zhou Changhe had the most offspring. Although his eldest son, Zhou Chengqian, was growing older and studying at the academy at the foot of the mountain alongside Zhou Bai, there were still four sons and three daughters here. His was the most flourishing branch of the Zhou family.

This was an inevitable development. Now that Zhou Changhe managed the household and governed the populace, he naturally had to form alliances through marriage to better secure his rule. This had brought his number of wives and concubines to five.

Among these children sat a boy who resembled a porcelain doll, brimming with Spiritual Qi and unlike the other mischievous, restless youths.

That was Zhou Ping's eldest grandson, Zhou Chengyuan, one of the future pillars of the Zhou family.

In a corner of the courtyard, the girls gathered together. Among them was a timid, introverted child with deep brown eyes-Zhou Changxi's orphaned daughter, Zhou Qianling.

Since their numbers were sparse, Zhou Ping naturally arranged for all these children to live on the mountain, only sending them down to study when they grew older. After all, living and breathing in a place rich with Spiritual Qi would nourish their bodies. Besides, with four mountain peaks, there was more than enough room.

Zhou Dashan's cloudy eyes swept the surroundings, filled with comforted joy. The older and more withered one became, the more one wished to be surrounded by children and grandchildren, enjoying simple peace. But when his gaze fell upon Zhou Qianling, a trace of sorrow surfaced in his eyes.

He could not help but think of his prematurely deceased grandson, Changxi, and his eyes immediately brimmed with tears.

"Hong'er, take me to see Changxi tomorrow."

Beside him, Zhou Hong had been smiling in contentment. Hearing his father's words, he fell into a sorrowful silence, finally responding in a muffled voice.

"Mm."

Changxi's death had cast a tremendous shadow over the entire Zhou family. Even though they tried their utmost to avoid the subject, whenever it was brought up, it still evoked a piercing grief.

A figure walked in through the doorway, causing Zhou Chengyuan and two other children's eyes to light up. They shuffled their little feet closer. But the man did not linger, walking straight to Zhou Ping and leaving the three children utterly crestfallen.

"Father, a letter from cousin."

The newcomer was Zhou Minghu, holding a crisp new envelope in his hand.

Zhou Hong and Zhou Dashan did not react much. Ever since Changhe, Minghu, and the others had taken over managing the household, the elders had stopped concerning themselves with affairs, content to stay on the mountain and enjoy their twilight years.

Zhou Ping took the envelope and began to read. Only then did Zhou Minghu step forward to pick up Zhou Chengyuan, ushering the other two children close as well, taking care not to show too much favoritism.

When Zhou Ping finished reading, a look of elation spread across his face.

"Good, good, good!"

"Big Brother, Chang'an has gone to the prefectural city to take the provincial examination."

Zhou Hong blanked for a moment, then burst into joyous laughter.

Two years ago, Zhou Chang'an had passed three consecutive examinations to become a Xiucai. Now, he was taking the provincial examinations. As long as he became a Provincial Graduate, the Zhou family's strength could easily secure him a position in the Qingshui County yamen.

After all, except for the seventh-rank Magistrate and above-which required a Metropolitan Graduate-all other vital official posts, such as County Commandant and County Vice, were filled by Provincial Graduates.

Although their family had become a cultivator clan, only a sparse handful could actually cultivate. The vast majority of the clan members were still mortals. If someone held an official position in the imperial court, it would bring immense benefits to the family. At the very least, they would be well-informed and no longer blind to worldly affairs.

When the time came, cultivators would shelter the family, serving as the clan's foundation. The brilliant would become officials, nourishing the family in return; the shrewd would engage in commerce, expanding the family's enterprise; the honest and simple would tend the fields and follow the rules...

Letting the capable fulfill their duties and the mediocre adhere to the norm-only in this way could a clan truly prosper and flourish.

Zhou Ping continued, "Changhe also writes that the mountain stronghold harboring Wu Siliu and his men has been wiped out. The murderers who killed Changxi are being escorted to the county yamen, though they failed to catch Wu Siliu."

Over these past three years, the Zhou family had never abandoned their pursuit of vengeance for Zhou Changxi.

But Ma Datou and his cohorts were hiding in the northern mountains. They were not only difficult to track down, but the journey was also incredibly far. Since Zhou Ping could not leave Baixi Mountain without authorization, he contacted Zhu Zhen and donated three hundred Dan of grain to fund a bandit suppression campaign.

Zhu Zhen naturally agreed with delight. After all, suppressing bandits was his official duty, and executing it well meant a solid political achievement.

However, the great disaster had only recently passed, and the entirety of Nanyang Prefecture was impoverished. Suppressing bandits required the yamen to have coin and provisions. With someone delivering a pillow just as he felt sleepy, he was naturally completely satisfied.

Furthermore, the Zhou family was honest and kept to their place. Even when they first claimed their territory, they were not insatiably greedy like the cultivator clans from other counties. They had also never uttered a single word of complaint when the imperial court drove Demon Beasts into their borders.

Zhu Zhen was highly pleased with such a dutiful cultivator clan. They were not like the Huang clan to the east, whose wings had grown full and who had seized the position of County Commandant, increasingly putting them at odds with him.

Why hadn't Lin Ruohe sought aid from the Huang clan back then? It was not just because the Huang clan looked down on him, but also because he did not dare. If he had sought out the Huang clan, in Zhu Zhen's eyes, that would have been an act of surrender to the opposition.

The County Commandant was already a man of the Huang clan. If the County Registrar also submitted to the Huang clan, wouldn't the County Vice be next?

If things continued like that, Qingshui County would eventually become the Huang clan's personal fiefdom. This was extremely detrimental to Zhu Zhen, so he naturally had to suppress the Huang clan. If Lin Ruohe had dared to approach the Huang clan, let alone his child's life, he might not have even kept his official post.

Now that the Zhou family was rising, they might serve perfectly to check the Huang clan. Suppressing bandits was the same wherever he went, so why not do a convenient favor and wipe out Ma Datou's gang in the north first? He could even line his own pockets with a substantial sum along the way.

Over these three years, Zhu Zhen swept through the bandit troubles in the north several times in succession, bringing ruin to countless small bandit groups in the process.

Ma Datou's gang had been slaughtered by the government troops, reduced from over a hundred men to a mere handful of stragglers, barely clinging to life in the deep mountains and old forests.

As for the original bandit leader, Ma Datou, he had been beheaded and dismembered over a year ago. His severed head had been delivered to the Zhou family as an offering to console Changxi's spirit in heaven.

"Ah, how did Wu Siliu slip away again?" Zhou Hong cursed angrily.

Zhou Ping comforted him, "His wanted poster has been spread throughout Qingshui County. As long as he dares to show his face, he absolutely will not escape."

"Uncle, set your mind at ease. Your nephew will definitely avenge my cousin," Zhou Minghu said from the side.

"I am fine. Thank you, Minghu."

Zhou Hong's complexion gradually smoothed. He was simply furious that they hadn't caught Wu Siliu. If he ever caught that man, he would butcher him slice by slice with his own hands to avenge Changxi.

"Father, the Li Family Mercantile has sold off most of the grain and mountain goods. But because we unloaded them in haste, the prefectural merchants forced the price down significantly. We only received two hundred and seventy-two taels of gold in return."

Zhou Ping sighed softly. Although over two hundred taels of gold was a vast sum to mortals, if they exchanged it upward for Spirit Stones, the market rate would be thirteen or fourteen to one. At most, they could trade for twenty-one Spirit Stones. It was simply too meager.

He pondered for a moment before saying, "Go and harvest all the Spirit Grass and Spirit Fruits from the four peaks. Then, sort through all the Demon Beast materials in the storehouse."

"Your son will see to it immediately," Zhou Minghu acknowledged, turning to leave the courtyard.

Zhou Ping gazed at the children in the courtyard, falling into silent thought.

Over these three years, thanks to the Purple Gold Vine, the Spiritual Qi on Ming Peak had grown noticeably denser. This allowed the Zhou family to expand their cultivated Spirit Fields to eight Mu and five Fen, and even their yields had improved.

Even after deducting the various miscellaneous consumptions, they had managed to accumulate over five thousand two hundred Jin of spirit rice in three years. Add to that the materials harvested from the slaughtered Demon Beasts, as well as the Spirit Fruits and Spirit Grass cultivated on the four peaks...

Zhou Ping calculated silently. After paying the imperial court's tribute, their remaining surplus should amount to roughly forty merit points.

He planned to use the opportunity of paying the tribute to purchase a few techniques or talismans from the Immortals' Directorate to bolster his family cultivators' life-preserving means. If possible, he wanted even more to buy a low-grade inheritance of the Hundred Arts, thereby adding to the family's foundational heritage.

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