A few days from now would be Fu Jinshu’s birthday. This date was requested by Madam Wen when she took Fu Jinshu away, though in reality, it was just a random date the old man had made up.
Because the wedding held previously to perform a blessing in disguise for Wei Yunchan had been done with the utmost haste and perfunctoriness, both Chief Magistrate Wei and Madam Wen unanimously agreed that Fu Jinshu’s upcoming birthday banquet should be grandly and elaborately celebrated.
By now, the fact that Wei Yunchan had taken a male wife was no longer a secret. Ever since that time Wei Yunchan made Fu Jinshu change back into men’s clothing to meet people outside, the matter had become public knowledge.
Fu Jinshu had not heard a single instance of gossip or idle chatter from others. He knew this was entirely because Wei Yunchan’s “ferocious reputation preceded him.” During his days studying at the private school, he had more or less heard various rumors surrounding Wei Yunchan.
In the eyes of others, Wei Yunchan was likely plagued by illness simply because he was cruel and devoid of human kindness. But in Fu Jinshu’s eyes, those were entirely reasonable tit-for-tats.
If you repay kindness with enmity, how shall you repay kindness? If it were Fu Jinshu, he might have handled things even more ruthlessly than Wei Yunchan.
The invitations sent out this time invited not only the prominent and influential noble households within Yunliang City, but also the lords and relatives of the other five cities.
Fu Jinshu knew there was another reason why Chief Magistrate Wei and Madam Wen were hosting a banquet for all quarters: although Wei Yunchan’s health still could not compare to that of an ordinary, robust man, he was at least able to shatter the rumors that had been running wild a while ago about him [not living past twenty]. They simply wanted to let others see that Wei Yunchan could live the future city lord of Yunliang City was not so easily killed off.
Over the past two days, Madam Wen had been dragging Fu Jinshu along to prepare the garments he would wear for the birthday banquet, sometimes staying out for the entire day. This was simply because the shopkeeper with the best tailoring skills in Yunliang had a rather eccentric temperament. No matter who it was, everyone had to go to the shop in person to be measured for their clothes. No amount of silver offered would ever tempt the shopkeeper to make a house call.
Moreover, this shopkeeper possessed quite a bit of genuine skill. Some powerful and influential families had wanted to coerce the shopkeeper into making a home visit, and the men sent to capture the target had clearly tracked the exact location, yet somehow they could never manage to locate that massive storefront.
Fu Jinshu stood at the entrance of the tailoring shop, his gaze sweeping lightly across the two welcoming errand boys standing in front of the door.
Madam Wen tugged at his hand. “What are you looking at, Jinshu? You haven’t answered Mother yet which style do you like…”
Fu Jinshu withdrew his gaze and casually pointed to one of the clothing patterns unfurled on the parchment in Madam Wen’s hands. The two of them continued walking forward, with one welcoming errand boy bowing as he led the way in front, and the other following closely behind them step by step.
Once they were escorted inside the room, the two errand boys closed the door and left.
“That young master’s gaze was frighteningly intense.”
“Look at you, showing off your cowardice…”
“Then why are you shaking?”
It was Fu Jinshu’s first time learning that making clothes could also be such a tedious and complicated affair. First, measurements had to be taken, stretching from the back of the neck all the way down to the feet; next came selecting the color, and once the color was chosen, they still had to pick the embroidery and hidden floral patterns on the fabric.
“How come we never saw your shopkeeper?” Madam Wen asked casually as she was about to leave.
The errand boy respectfully replied, “Replying to Madam, our shopkeeper went out to purchase fabrics and will return this afternoon.”
Calculating the time, Madam Wen felt a trace of worry. “We have to wear these new clothes the day after tomorrow. Can it really be finished in just a day and a half?”
“Madam, please rest assured. We will certainly not delay your family’s important matters.”
Before boarding the carriage, Fu Jinshu glanced back once more at the tailoring shop, his right hand forming an incantation gesture as he flicked a trace of blue light, fixing it firmly onto the clothing of one of the errand boys.
Fu Jinshu had barely stepped foot back in his room to rest before Wei Yunchan followed right behind him.
“Come over here and help me change.”
Fu Jinshu lay motionless on the bed he was utterly exhausted today and only wanted to sleep right now.
Seeing that his commands had no effect on Fu Jinshu, Wei Yunchan didn’t get angry. He walked over to the bed, looked down condescendingly at Fu Jinshu whose eyelids were already drooping with sleep and felt utterly perplexed. “You went to sleep before the (Hai) hour last night and didn’t get up until the (Si) hour this morning. Where on earth do you get so much sleep?”
Asking that question was completely useless; Fu Jinshu was unable to open his mouth to reply. Wei Yunchan shook his head, went to change into a set of clothes himself, and headed out again.
Wei Yunchan was already past nineteen years old. The rumors outside claiming that he only started learning to read and recognize characters at age ten were naturally false. In reality, the reason Chief Magistrate Wei attached such great importance to this sickly son aside from his deep, devoted love for Madam Wen and extending that affection to her child was more importantly because Wei Yunchan possessed natural intelligence, meticulous thoughts, and a photographic memory.
Because of his poor health, Wei Yunchan indeed did not attend the private school; instead, tutors were hired to come to the residence to instruct him. He began his education at age three, could recognize ten thousand characters by age five, and whatever he learned, no matter how much time passed, he would never forget it. By age ten, he was already able to draw inferences from a single instance and comprehend things by analogy; he not only understood obscure and difficult military formations from strategy books, but could also take their best points while discarding their flaws, researching and developing an entirely new set of tactics.
So what if he couldn’t practice martial arts? An overlord destined to unify the realm might lack supreme martial prowess, but he must undoubtedly possess an exceptionally brilliant mind.
Chief Magistrate Wei had always firmly believed that his son possessed the momentum of a hidden dragon soaring from the abyss, waiting only for his nirvana.
Unfortunately, at the age of eleven, Wei Yunchan’s illness mysteriously worsened, torturing him until he was nearly unrecognizable.
Now, with the arrival of Fu Jinshu, Wei Yunchan’s health was recovering, so Chief Magistrate Wei secretly arranged for a tutor to teach him the arts of statecraft and governance starting early this month. However, at the beginning of the month, Wei Yunchan proposed that he also wanted to find a martial arts instructor to study under. Chief Magistrate Wei was worried his body wouldn’t be able to handle the physical load and hesitated, but in the end, he was talked into it by Wei Yunchan.
Even if his martial arts skills didn’t turn out top-notch, it would still serve to strengthen his body.
Studying literature in the morning and practicing martial arts in the afternoon, Wei Yunchan initially didn’t even have the strength to lift a sword, so his martial arts instructor had him stand in horse stances to build his foundational skills.
Returning every day, Wei Yunchan looked as though he had just been drenched in water his clothes thoroughly soaked through—though his complexion showed signs of improvement.
Returning to the room after finishing the evening meal, Fu Jinshu finally woke up fully, sitting up on the bed and stretching lazily, exposing a patch of fair, soft belly.
Wei Yunchan placed the food box he was carrying onto the table. “Get down and eat, you lazy pig.”
Accustomed to being scolded by him, Fu Jinshu felt no pain or irritation. Feeling hungry in his stomach, he climbed out of bed barefoot. Wei Yunchan scolded him again in a cold voice, “Fool, put your shoes on.”
Clearly, his cold face had no effect on Fu Jinshu whatsoever. Fu Jinshu had only food on his mind, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t open the food box, so he could only seek help from the only living person in the room.
Wei Yunchan had already witnessed his stupidity and incompetence. The fellow had been attending school for so long, yet not only had his chicken-scratch handwriting shown zero improvement, but whenever Wei Yunchan tested him on reciting and transcribing poetry, the guy would just open his wide eyes and try to win favor through fawning—which in reality meant he simply couldn’t write it. It was bad enough that his studies were an absolute mess, but his basic life skills were also extremely poor.
Truly, he was jade on the outside and rotting straw on the inside, possessing nothing more than a pleasing face.
Yet no matter how terrible he was, Fu Jinshu was still Wei Yunchan’s nominal primary spouse on paper. Though in Wei Yunchan’s eyes, it felt more like acquiring a younger brother with no blood relation.
And even stupider than those two blood-related younger brothers in the side courtyard.
With a cold face, Wei Yunchan helped Fu Jinshu open the food box. As a result, the moment he turned his head back, this fellow just sat there holding his chopsticks and staring straight at him—the meaning was crystal clear: he still had to bother him to take all the dishes out of the food box one by one.
“If you’re not going to eat, starve then.” Wei Yunchan turned and walked away, too lazy to keep pampering him.
Fu Jinshu watched his coldly departing back and sat there quietly for a short moment before Wei Yunchan came back again.
His complexion was extremely poor, and his tone exceptionally fierce: “You are not allowed to miss dinner tomorrow.”
While speaking, he pulled out the dishes and set them on the table for him.
Fu Jinshu nodded, putting on an obedient front while giving Wei Yunchan neither a single glance nor a grateful smile, his entire focus fixed solely on the delicious food on the table.
For over a dozen years, Wei Yunchan had never been treated with such disrespect. If it were anyone else, they would have been killed by him countless times over. Yet the person before him happened to be his “life-saving panacea.” Forget killing him; even shouting at him would earn him a whole day of nagging from his esteemed mother.
It was utterly bizarre! And extremely stifling!
By the time Fu Jinshu had eaten and drunk to his heart’s content, rinsed his mouth, washed his face, and climbed back into bed, Wei Yunchan was already nearly asleep. Seeing him slip under the covers, Wei Yunchan lifted his eyelids and offered some sarcastic mockery: “You can still sleep? You might as well just turn into a fat pig.”
That little lump of flesh had already been sleeping for several hours straight.