Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Meanwhile, over on the other side, a servant from the Gu household spotted a bunch of stuff being delivered and immediately ran off to tell Gu Zhangyuan and the others.

When Gu Tinghe heard the news, he figured the stuff being delivered was the Gu family's treasure. He threw on some clothes and hurried out.

Gu Zhangyuan was one step behind him. By the time he got there with his nanny, Gu Tinghe was already messing with the calligraphy and paintings inside.

Gu Tinghe stared at the scroll in his hand with a look of disgust and was about to chuck it on the ground.

Seeing this, the nanny quickly rushed over and snapped, "Stop! These are the Eldest Young Master's personal things. Young Master, you'd better be more careful."

As she spoke, she snatched the item back and carefully put it back in the box.

"Now that the Gu family's fallen this far, how can everything be his? Some of it should naturally be mine," Gu Tinghe said, grabbing a box of jewelry and hugging it to his chest.

Everything that could be placed in Gu Zhangyuan's secret chamber was something he cherished. Even if he wasn't big on wearing jewelry, he didn't want to give these pieces away.

Just as Gu Zhangyuan was about to put a stop to his nonsense, he heard Gu Tinghe say, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Big Brother, I'm your own flesh and blood! You've got so much nice stuff now—surely you can spare a little for me? You're being way too stingy, not at all like a big brother should be."

Gu Zhangyuan shot back, "I'm not your real brother. When the Gu family was in trouble before, you didn't want to claim me as your brother. Now that you want something from me, suddenly I'm your big brother again."

With that, Gu Zhangyuan shot a glance at a nearby servant. The servant got the hint and immediately went to snatch the jewelry box back.

Back in the day, before the Gu family's downfall, Gu Zhangyuan had been pretty generous. Whether his younger siblings asked for stuff or servants begged for favors, he'd always say yes.

It was exactly because of his kind nature and generosity that he was so well-liked around the Gu household.

But times had changed. Now that the Gu family had fallen this far, there'd be plenty of times ahead when money would be tight.

Their food and drink now depended on Xie Licheng's handouts.

Gu Zhangyuan could let Xie Licheng take care of him, but he couldn't let Xie Licheng take care of the whole Gu family.

So now he wanted to sort through these valuables and figure out a way to trade them for food once they moved somewhere else.

Besides, Gu Tinghe had always been disrespectful to his big brother, and had even tried to push Gu Zhangyuan out as a scapegoat during the crisis. Given how things were between them now, it was no surprise Gu Zhangyuan didn't want to hand over his jewelry.

When the servant snatched the jewelry box, he accidentally shoved Gu Tinghe.

Furious at being shoved, Gu Tinghe spun around and smacked Wan Liu, who was trailing behind him.

"Are you stupid or blind? Can't you see they're hitting me? Hurry up and help me get my stuff back!"

Wan Liu, after getting slapped twice, said with a pitiful look, "Young Master, those things are the Eldest Young Master's. If he doesn't want to give them to you, then..."

Before he could finish, Gu Tinghe, his eyes red with rage, raised his whip to strike him.

Seeing this, Gu Zhangyuan frowned and said, "Gu Tinghe, quit making a scene. Do you have any idea what's going on outside right now? And you still have the nerve to throw your little rich-boy tantrum?"

He'd been raising a fuss to go out today precisely to see what was going on outside.

After seeing it with his own eyes, he finally understood just how bad things really were.

If the Great Zhou really fell into total chaos, it'd be really hard for them to get out.

And this was Xie Licheng's turf. He knew Xie Licheng would treat him well.

But he could only guarantee Xie Licheng would be good to him—he couldn't guarantee the same for anyone else.

From what he'd learned about Xie Licheng over these past few days, the man was nowhere near as easygoing as he seemed on the surface.

Once you crossed his bottom line, even Gu Zhangyuan couldn't change his mind.

Gu Tinghe was truly spoiled rotten, acting so high and mighty in someone else's territory.

"I can handle my own servant—do I need your permission?" Gu Tinghe said, deliberately cracking his whip at Wan Liu.

Gu Zhangyuan stepped forward and made a grab for the whip.

He felt he had to teach Gu Tinghe a lesson today, or else the kid might end up getting himself killed down the road.

Gu Tinghe was getting riled up too. As they fought over the whip, he tried to lash Gu Zhangyuan with it.

As luck would have it, that was exactly when Xie Licheng walked in.

The second he came back, he saw Gu Tinghe raising his whip to hit Gu Zhangyuan.

Without a second thought, he strode over and kicked the guy away.

Xie Licheng was no ordinary man—that one kick nearly crippled Gu Tinghe.

He went flying back hard, barely managing to prop himself up off the ground, then covered his mouth and spat out blood.

Gu Tinghe probably hadn't expected to get hurt that bad. He sat there in a daze for a second, then burst into loud sobs from the pain.

He screamed, "Father! Father! Go get my father! I'm dying... You dog of a servant! You actually dared to hit me! You dared! I'll kill you, I'll kill you..."

Everyone around was completely stunned. They just couldn't wrap their heads around this young master's thinking.

What kind of world was this now? And Master Xie was such a terrifyingly capable man.

If it weren't for him saving them, they'd probably all be dead by now.

Instead of keeping his head down and behaving, this fool actually dared to lay a hand on the Eldest Young Master? Didn't he know whose turf this was?

Seeing that Gu Tinghe still had the energy to curse, Xie Licheng started walking toward him.

But just then, the elderly and injured First Master of the Gu family showed up.

Seeing the man had come in person, Xie Licheng had no choice but to put away his dagger.

After all, this man was Xie Licheng's father-in-law, so he had to show him a certain level of respect.

The moment the First Master saw the state Gu Tinghe was in, his heart ached with sympathy.

But then he thought about the situation outside, and he had to harden his heart completely.

To be fair, the reason Gu Zhangyuan had insisted on going out today was because the First Master had urged him to.

Sure, Lingzhou City had fallen into chaos when they left.

But at that time, only Lingzhou was in turmoil. With so many people, he felt that unless they were truly at their wit's end, they shouldn't live like parasites, mooching off others for the rest of their lives.

He'd figured that if other places weren't in chaos, they might still have a shot at getting out.

They see things differently from Xie Licheng; they have no idea what this place really is.

They don't know that more areas will be unlocked here in the future, thinking it's just a small village.

The Gu family aren't ordinary farmers; they're used to living like royalty and aren't used to being under someone else's thumb.

So unless they're completely backed into a corner, they still really want to get out of here.

Gu Zhangyuan went out today and found Lingzhou in total chaos.

It's been two days, and no troops have come from the capital, which means the Great Zhou has truly fallen apart.

With the Great Zhou in total disarray, it means that anywhere they go from now on will be dangerous, and they'll probably have to depend on Xie Licheng to survive.

So now they have to treat Xie Licheng with more respect and definitely can't treat him like a servant like they used to.

The moment Gu Tinghe saw the elder master, he started crying and screaming, begging him to get revenge for him.

But the elder master walked over and slapped him, which nearly drove Gu Tinghe, already hurt, out of his mind.

He asked, in total disbelief, "Father, Father, why did you hit me?! I'm your own son! This man, this worthless slave..."

The elder master bellowed, "Shut up! How the hell did I raise such a brat?! He's the one who saved our whole family! Is this how you treat the man who saved your life?!"

Gu Tinghe screamed, refusing to listen or accept that even a lowly servant here was more respected than him.

Deep down, he knew he shouldn't be crossing Xie Licheng right now.

But he just couldn't get used to it—just three days ago, he was the Gu family's honored young master.

He could hit anyone he wanted, even push around that wretch Gu Yangxue.

But why, after such a sudden turn of fortune, had he become the lowest of the low?

Not only could Gu Yangxue put him in his place, but now even a servant could.

Gu Tinghe couldn't wrap his head around it. He struggled to his feet and stumbled toward the river.

He wanted to threaten to kill himself to force his father to admit he wasn't wrong.

But to his surprise, even as he got close to the riverbank, no one behind him called out to stop him.

Gu Tinghe stopped mid-step, then turned back, sobbing, "Father, I was wrong! Ting'er was wrong! I'll never do it again!"

The elder master said, "Come back and apologize to Master Xie properly."

Gu Tinghe really didn't want to apologize, but under his father's cold stare, he eventually came over and did it.

Xie Licheng watched him walk up, crying with tears and snot all over his face as he apologized.

He sighed and said, "You should be thankful you've got a good father, or you wouldn't have made it this far."

Hearing this, the elder master was scared stiff. He quickly stepped forward and grabbed Xie Licheng's hand.

"It's my fault for not raising him right. A father's failure to teach his son is his own fault. All his problems are because I spoiled him. I'm sorry."

Xie Licheng couldn't let his father-in-law grovel, so he smiled and said, "This is the last time. Don't let him out to cause trouble again."

"Of course, of course."

Xie Licheng's gaze landed on the young attendant named Wan Liu, noticing the fresh scars on his face and body. He said to the elder master, "In times like these, it's better for the young master to learn to fend for himself."

The elder master was sharp and caught Xie Licheng's meaning right away.

He glanced at Wan Liu and said, "From now on, you'll be serving Xiao Xue."

Wan Liu was stunned for a second, then quickly knelt and thanked Xie Licheng. "Thank you, Master Xie, thank you, Master. I'll take good care of the young lady."

Wan Liu never imagined he'd get to switch masters one day.

All the servants in the Gu household knew the young master had a nasty temper, and few were willing to serve him.

Wan Liu was originally a low-ranking slave with no say in who his master was, so after being picked by Gu Tinghe, he lived in constant fear every day.

To be honest, when the Gu family fell into chaos, there was a moment when he felt glad.

He wanted to escape in the chaos, so he wouldn't have to put up with the young master's torment anymore.

But... his luck was bad. He hadn't gotten far before some bandits caught him.

If Master Xie hadn't happened to pass by, he'd be dead by now.

His life was tough. After being rescued, he was sent back to the young master's side.

His life went back to what it was before—still dark with no light at the end of the tunnel.

Getting beaten and scolded—he was long used to it.

Getting hit today was his own fault too; he never learned to please his master and always spoke blunt truths.

So when the young master hit him again, he didn't feel particularly upset.

He was truly used to it, so it didn't hurt much anymore.

But what he didn't expect was that Master Xie would help him at this moment.

Wan Liu remembered that not long ago, he had also helped Master Xie once, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

Everyone says good deeds go unrewarded, but... he had spoken up for him, and now wasn't he being rewarded?

...

Afterward, the elder master quickly led Gu Tinghe away.

Watching his father and younger brother walk off into the distance, Gu Zhangyuan couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

He said a bit sheepishly, "I've caused you trouble again today."

Xie Licheng replied casually, "No, he's just a tiny ant to me. Why would I get angry at an ant?"

Xie Licheng truly didn't care about Gu Tinghe. If he hadn't come causing trouble, he would have forgotten about him.

Xie Licheng: "Do you plan to live with me from now on, or with your family?"

Gu Zhangyuan said, "You're my husband, so of course I'll live with you."

Gu Zhangyuan said this without any hesitation; he naturally wanted to live with Xie Licheng.

It's just that Xie Licheng was always too busy, and he had many things to do on his end, so the two never had the chance to live together.

Xie Licheng: "If you want to live with me on the farm, I'll send your things over there. If you think the farm is too big and you'd be scared staying there alone, you can also stay with your family."

Gu Zhangyuan: "So you're not gonna be staying here lately?"

Xie Licheng nodded at this, "I'll probably be busy out there for a while. I still have a lot of things to do."

Like finding the Gu family's secret room, settling scores with that prefect, and... grabbing stuff from the main character's gong, among other things.

With that in mind, he'd likely spend most of his time outside and really didn't have much time to spend with Gu Zhangyuan.

"Then I'll go stay with my family for now. No one else can get onto your farm, and I'd be scared being there all by myself."

Even though Xie Licheng had said there was no one on the farm, he'd still be scared alone.

Because to him, this place was totally foreign.

Only once he got used to it over time would he stop being scared.

Xie Licheng: "Alright then. I'll leave the Gu family's stuff in Peach Blossom Village. Just make sure the servants keep an eye on this place."

With that, Xie Licheng prepared to head out again, then thought of the physician's family.

Xie Licheng: "Once that old geezer's done treating everyone here, ask them when they wanna head out of the city. I'll make time to get them out of there."

Gu Zhangyuan replied, "A lot of people in the village are hurt, so they can't leave for a while. You don't need to worry about them for the time being. Once everyone here's feeling better, I'll have a proper talk with them. Once we've got a set time, I'll let you know."

"Mm, I'll leave this place in your hands."

Seeing he was about to leave, Gu Zhangyuan quickly grabbed his hand.

Gu Zhangyuan asked, "Can we grow crops in the village? The outside world's already in total chaos, so we probably won't be able to go out for a while. I was thinking—since there are so many people in the village, why don't we all work together to clear some farmland? That way we can grow our own food and support ourselves."

Xie Licheng had been so busy lately that he'd totally forgotten about this. Hearing Gu Zhangyuan bring it up, he didn't rush off again.

Xie Licheng said to him, "Get everyone to gather around. I'll hand out the village's farmland to everyone."

Xie Licheng was a player, so in this world he could buy farmland and seeds.

The farmland he bought could go not just on his farm, but in the village too.

In his past life, Xie Licheng had saved up a good number of gold coins, so he figured he'd take this chance to hand out farmland to everyone.

Gu Zhangyuan immediately had someone go round everyone up, and soon everyone gathered in front of the village shop.

Only Xie Licheng could use this shop, so he was the only one who could buy the farmland and seeds inside.

To farm in the portable world, you had to own farmland, and farmland had to be bought with gold coins from the right shop.

Getting gold coins was simple—you just exchanged stuff at the shop.

You could trade valuables, or grain, clothes, and other stuff.

In his past life, Xie Licheng had stashed away over a thousand gold coins, which should be enough to buy farmland for everybody.

Before he saved the Gu family, Xie Licheng's portable world had 52 people in total.

Now, with the Gu family and the old doctor's family added, his portable world had 89 people.

Xie Licheng bought 100 plots outright—10 gold coins each, so 1000 for 100 plots, which basically wiped out all the gold coins he had.

Since their population was still small, Xie Licheng still had gold coins to buy farmland for them.

Once the population grew bigger later on, they'd have to spend their own money to buy farmland.

Other people couldn't buy farmland directly, but they could trade valuables with Xie Licheng.

Like giving Xie Licheng silver, and he'd convert it into gold coins—that way they could buy farmland too.

Once everyone had shown up, Xie Licheng spoke to the group, "I know you're all wondering where this place is, and you've probably been feeling uneasy these past few days. Since I'm handing out farmland right now, I'll take this chance to explain things properly."

With that, Xie Licheng just grabbed a chair and sat down. That way he could explain to everyone while recovering his stamina at the same time.

Xie Licheng: "This place is my portable world—though calling it my personal portable world isn't quite right either. This is actually its own separate world. Even if something happens to me later, even if I die, this place won't vanish. You can all live here in peace. This place won't just be as big as one village. Later on, you'll need to help me take over other places, and our territory should just keep getting bigger and bigger."

A villager quickly asked, "Take over other places? But we're all just the old, the weak, women, and kids. Can we really be of any help to you, Benefactor? And... taking over other people's territory—does that mean killing and burning stuff? Would we have to be like those outlaws out there? I... I really couldn't bring myself to do something like that."

Xie Licheng glanced at him. He remembered him—it was that young guy.

Xie Licheng: "No. Most of the people in my portable world aren't real humans. They're all fake people—not real, living humans. Once you see them, you'll all get it. As for how we'll take over places, you don't need to worry about that. I'll handle that myself.

Also, there'll be a lot of wild beasts roaming the mountains of Peach Blossom Village. These beasts are just like those fake people I mentioned. They respawn once a day. Respawn means—if you kill them today, they'll show up again tomorrow. No matter how many times you kill them, they'll still come back the next day. If you don't hunt them for a long time, they'll start breeding with each other. But if the babies die, they won't respawn the next day."

Because Xie Licheng had dropped so much info today, a lot of people couldn't keep up.

Like those villagers who didn't have much schooling—they were now just staring blankly, totally lost. It was obvious they hadn't understood a single word Xie Licheng said.

But it didn't matter if they didn't get it; Gu Zhangyuan and the others could still understand.

Later on, they could go ask Young Master Gu. Young Master Gu was smart and had a really gentle personality—he'd definitely be willing to explain things to them bit by bit.

Gu Zhangyuan asked, "So you're saying even if I send people up the mountain to hunt on a big scale later, we won't kill off all the prey?"

Xie Licheng nodded, then continued slowly, "As for what's going on outside—it's already total chaos out there. I took the Eldest Young Master out to look around today, so you can go ask him about it yourselves. As for whether you can go back out later—yeah, you can. Like the old doctor's family—once they've finished treating everyone here, I'll make time to get them out of the city. Since they know the secret of this place, to keep them from causing me trouble later, when I send them out, I'll wipe their memories of me and the portable world. Once those memories are wiped, my portable world can never take them back in. That means even if I run into them again later and they need me to save them, I won't be able to take them in."

The old doctor's family happened to be there too. The old doctor couldn't make heads or tails of any of it.

His son, though, actually understood. He said, sounding a bit unsure, "You... you really know immortal arts?"

Being able to erase memories—and only the memories of him and this weird place—if he wasn't some kind of immortal, even ghosts wouldn't buy it.

Xie Licheng really couldn't explain this one easily—like systems, transmigrating into a novel, golden fingers, and stuff like that.

Explaining all that together would be way too much work, and Xie Licheng couldn't explain it all in one go, so he just didn't bother.

Xie Licheng: "Don't worry about what it actually is. It won't hurt you anyway—it just makes you forget me and this place."

Xiao Rui quickly said, "Xiao Rui isn't leaving. Xiao Rui said she'd follow the Benefactor for her whole life."

Xie Licheng couldn't help smiling at that, "A lifetime is too long. You're still just a young girl. That's how you feel now, but you might not feel that way later. I'm telling everyone this now not because I'm trying to force you to stay. I'm saying this to tell you—if any of you want to leave, that's fine too. But when you leave, your memories have to be wiped."

A servant from the Gu family asked, "Then... what if we don't want to leave, but just want to go out and see what's going on outside, or want to go out and look for our families?"

"I can take you out to take a look around. But if you dare to lie to me—like if I take you out and you deliberately try to run off in the chaos—I'll kill you without a second thought. In the future, more and more people are gonna be in here. Saving you was a favor I did for you—it doesn't mean I owe you anything. I'm not gonna stop you from leaving either, so don't try to pull one over on me."

A young man quickly said, "We were saved by the Benefactor. We all remember the kindness you've shown us, and we'd never do anything to betray you. I don't wanna leave either. I don't have any family left. As long as the Benefactor doesn't kick me out, I'm willing to stay here forever."

Xie Licheng wasn't saying all this to get them to swear loyalty to him.

It was just to help them understand what was going on here, and also to let anyone who wanted to leave know that leaving was actually possible.

So that they wouldn't be too afraid of him to say anything, and then end up bottling things up until it caused problems.

The reason Xie Licheng dared to tell them everything so openly and plainly was mainly because he was the only player in this world.

What did being the only player mean?

It meant that only he could gain attribute points through leveling up, and then use those points to keep growing stronger without limit.

Even if someone in the portable world tried to harm him, Xie Licheng wouldn't have to worry about what they could do to him.

For one thing, no one could ever be stronger than Xie Licheng.

Secondly, Xie Licheng had a population management function that let him name all the humans who came in. Once named, everyone in this world would have an ID floating above their head.

These IDs were usually green, but if someone felt hostile toward Xie Licheng, the only player, their ID would flash a glaring red.

Xie Licheng had only discovered this recently.

It happened while he was handling Gu Tinghe's situation—Gu Tinghe had a brief flash of murderous intent toward him.

Probably because Gu Tinghe was scared of him, his red name later went back to green.

It was exactly because of this discovery that Xie Licheng had gotten so bold afterward, bold enough to tell them everything.

Xie Licheng didn't tell them everything, though—like the fact that he could level up, how special his farm was, or the fact that he could see the IDs above their heads.

By deliberately keeping that from them, he could later spot who had ill intentions. Before they could even make a move on him, Xie Licheng would naturally deal with them first.

"Alright, the main reason I called everyone here is to divide up the farmland. Right now, with so few of us here, I can still help you buy some fields. But once the population grows, I won't be able to help buy any more. To be fair, everyone gets one plot of land—men, women, young, or old, it doesn't matter."

When Xie Licheng finished, both the people he'd rescued earlier and the Gu family members were all stunned.

A maidservant asked, "Can we... can us servants get land too?"

A male slave also asked, "And would our land belong to the Gu family, or to us?"

Xie Licheng glanced at him. "It's yours. Whether you want to farm it yourselves or rent it out, that's up to you."

An attendant couldn't help but ask, "Then... if I've got land, does that mean I don't have to be a servant for the Gu family anymore?"

Xie Licheng looked at Gu Zhangyuan, then replied, "A lot of you were sold into the Gu family. If you don't want to keep serving them, you can earn the money yourselves and buy back your freedom."

If these people kept serving the Gu family, the Gu family probably couldn't support them all anyway.

Better to take this chance to set free the ones who wanted their freedom.

On one hand, it'd earn them a good reputation; on the other, it'd lighten the Gu family's load.

Besides, the Gu family didn't have many people left now, so they didn't need that many servants to wait on them.

Gu Zhangyuan didn't say anything when he heard Xie Licheng's words, because they really didn't need that many servants.

The Gu family now had only four masters, and everyone else was a servant—thirty servants in total.

The portable world wasn't Lingzhou—there were no Gu family estates, fields, or shops.

Supporting over thirty servants was indeed a heavy burden for him.

Gu Zhangyuan said to them, "You don't have to pay the full price for your contracts. As long as each of you gives a hundred catties of grain, the Gu family will set you free right away."

Since Gu Tinghe had been locked up, nobody in the Gu family was opposing Gu Zhangyuan anymore.

One of the Gu family's maidservants timidly stepped forward.

She said, "Eldest Young Master, I... when I was brought in, I had my own savings. Is this enough to buy back my contract?"

Gu Zhangyuan saw how eager she was to leave and didn't stop her, even though her money wasn't quite enough.

After taking the money, Gu Zhangyuan said, "It's enough. From now on, you're no longer a Gu family servant."

The maidservant burst into tears of joy, quickly thanking Gu Zhangyuan over and over, and then thanking Xie Licheng too.

She felt that if it weren't for Xie Licheng's suggestion, the young master wouldn't have let her go so easily, so she was deeply grateful to him.

Now that she had no family here, once she bought back her freedom, she wouldn't have to worry about being sold by her family again.

She could have her own land, and with Xie Licheng here keeping watch, no thugs would steal her fields. She really liked it here.

After handling the maidservant's situation, Xie Licheng started handing out the fields to everyone.

Xie Licheng said to them, "My world's a bit special. Land you reclaim yourselves will have really low crop yields. Only fields I buy through the shop can grow high-yield grain. I've bought 100 plots of land. Follow me to the south of the village, and I'll put all the fields there."

With that, Xie Licheng headed south of Peach Blossom Village, toward a big stretch of wasteland near the main road out of the village.

When Xie Licheng brought everyone over, he took the fields out of his inventory and placed them.

Each plot was one mu. He numbered them from east to west.

Then, as people came to claim their fields, he wrote their names next to the numbers, and the land was theirs.

The numbers were made in duplicate—Xie Licheng kept one copy, and each person got one to keep.

Plot No. 1 went to Xiao Rui—she was always eager about everything.

Seeing that even a ten-year-old girl like Xiao Rui could get land, everyone immediately lined up to claim their own.

After that, the record-keeping was handed over to Gu Zhangyuan and Gu Yangxue. They were both literate and knew how to keep accounts, so Xie Licheng could take it a bit easier.

Plot No. 2 went to Gu Zhangyuan, No. 3 to Gu Yangxue, No. 4 to the Gu family's First Master, No. 5...

After that, whether man, woman, gē'er, or elderly, everyone got land from Xie Licheng.

Probably thinking it'd be dumb to turn down free land, somewhat to Xie Licheng's surprise, even the old physician's family came to claim some.

They weren't leaving anytime soon, and since Xie Licheng said they could leave whenever they wanted, they figured they might as well stay and claim a plot to farm.

Whether they stayed or left later, having land would put their minds at ease.

Also, the outside world was in chaos now, and their family had both old folks and little kids.

Even if they managed to get out of the city, there was no guarantee they'd survive.

The old physician figured it was better to stay for now and see how things played out.

In the end, out of 100 plots, 89 were handed out, leaving 11 left.

Xie Licheng figured Gu Zhangyuan was his husband, so he just gave all the remaining 11 plots to him.

Xie Licheng's farmstead already had a few plots of land, and he didn't even have time to tend those, so the remaining fields would just sit idle in his hands.

Now that Gu Zhangyuan had married him, Xie Licheng had to treat Gu Zhangyuan differently from everyone else.

If others had one field and Gu Zhangyuan also had just one, then there wouldn't be much distinction between them.

Without that distinction, why would Gu Zhangyuan agree to marry him?

When Xie Licheng registered all 11 remaining fields under Gu Zhangyuan's name, everyone, from the First Master of the Gu Family to Wet Nurse Yuan Qiao, couldn't help but feel genuine joy for Gu Zhangyuan.

Gu Zhangyuan's husband knew how to take care of him, so they didn't have to worry about him getting mistreated anymore.