Moreover, the Immortal Sect had already reached a decision internally, and the benefits for Daqian had been delivered; could they really go back on their word now?
The greater good must be prioritized.
"..." Yu Hua, the immortal, fell silent for a moment before saying, "Summon the descendant of the Gu family, I must confirm it in person."
"Fetch Gu Wen."
Zhao Feng instructed the eunuch beside him with great confidence; what grounds did a household slave have to defy him? Besides, he believed in Gu Wen's loyalty; after training him for so long, he couldn't possibly dare to say no.
This was, of course, a matter of course.
-----------------
Half an incense stick's time later, footsteps approached from afar; Gu Wen hurried in.
Gu Wen hurriedly crossed the threshold of the study, met with two piercing gazes, and his own gaze immediately fixed on the white-clad goddess in the room.
It wasn't that Gu Wen was moved by her appearance, but her plain white attire was glaringly conspicuous in this splendidly ornate royal mansion; one could tell at a glance that she was an Immortal.
Setting other things aside, how could Zhao Feng, that effeminate lord, compare to a true woman's beauty?
The white-clad woman slightly lifted her head, her eyes behind the gauze veil like stars in the sky. She looked directly at Gu Wen, her voice clear as a bell.
"What is your name?"
Gu Wen was taken aback, but his good psychological quality didn't let him linger on the woman whose face he couldn't even see for long. Bowing his head, he respectfully answered, "I am a commoner, illiterate, my surname is Gu, first name Wen."
His words then ceased, and the atmosphere fell into a strange silence, the starry eyes behind the veil making Gu Wen's skin crawl.
Yu Hua, the immortal, fell into silence. As she regarded the man before her, a mere commoner, she wondered if it was truly a benediction to reclaim his fate for him.
Although it was decreed 3,000 years ago that the progeny of the Gu family was to be her Guardian, times had changed, and he clearly did not match up to Zhao Feng. And could she really reclaim it? What should she do with him after reclaiming it?
The power of the Zhao family was not something that a commoner could withstand.
It was evident that even her own sect wouldn't support her.
Should the greater good be prioritized, then?
Yu Hua, the immortal, asked, "Three thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Gu family had a karmic bond with my Three Pure Sect. Would you like to hear about it?"
Gu Wen's eyes sparkled slightly. Even now, he couldn't help but nod and say, "I humbly ask the Immortal to enlighten me."
"If the progeny of the Gu family shows promise, they will be led onto the path of immortality; otherwise, they will be granted a lifetime of wealth and honor," Yu Hua, the immortal, spoke softly, and upon saying these words, she began to regret them. The young man before her lifted his head for the first time, his dark eyes bright and piercing.
He didn't look like a typical commoner, nor like an ignorant, indifferent one.
He surely realized that the chance for immortality was more important than wealth and honor.
Thus, she couldn't make the decision for him...
At that moment, Zhao Feng interjected, "I have already discussed this with Gu Wen, he has volunteered to relinquish it to me, as Lord Emperor can attest."
He pronounced the last words "Lord Emperor" with emphasis.
Yu Hua, the immortal, furrowed her brow, wanting to say more, but the Daoist charm exuding from the silk scroll had already made the decision for her.
Such matters were not within her control.
Yu Hua ceased to meet his gaze, and, pretending to be indifferent, she began to read from the silk scroll with her head lowered.
"The descendant of the Gu family, unaware of advancement, reduced to a street beggar, trading the karmic bond of his ancestors, shall be stripped of his fate of immortality to be given to the ninth son of the Zhao family."
"The ninth son of the Zhao family, who assumes that fate, must repay its cause."
After speaking, Yu Hua, the immortal, glanced at Zhao Feng, who was composed and leisurely sipping tea, wearing a warm and cultured smile, and said, "Zhao Feng will diligently abide by the decree, and will choose a day to petition his father the Emperor to bestow a title upon him."
"That is well."
She turned her head to look at Gu Wen, who stood in shock; then, the light in his eyes shattered like embers scattering.
Gu Wen could only utter in a low voice, "Gu Wen obeys the command."
A hungry man has no place to talk about advancement; if given another choice, Gu Wen would still sell, even if Zhao Feng hadn't forcefully taken it. Over the years, Gu Wen had seen too many people starve or freeze to death, and he had seen too many high-ranking nobles reveling in jade towers.
Beggars, refugees, wandering peasants... The world's homeless were never at fault.
The blame lay with the land-grabbing gentry, with Emperor Daqian who incessantly commissioned the construction of Daoist palaces, with the insatiable levies and miscellaneous taxes, with the scholar-officials, with the royal family...
However, what the Immortal Sect viewed as good or evil, as worthy or unworthy, was clearly different from his view. Just as the commoners knew that no matter how hard they toiled in the fields, taxes could not be met, yet they still continued to sow year after year.
People must live all the same.
Enduring until death, or seizing the opportunity to soar with the wind when it arises.
Aigh—
Yu Hua, the immortal, heaved a silent sigh of regret, resenting internally that although the wrongdoing was committed by the elders within her sect, why was it she who had to impose blame upon him?
He faced the adversity so calmly, without any trace of subservience or arrogance; had he been vilely cursing her, perhaps she could have felt justified.
Rising from her seat and approaching Gu Wen, she took out a jade bottle from her sleeve, tipped out a red pill, and said, "This is the Spirit Pill prepared by our sect to protect my life; swallowing it can grant you a century of life and is thereby a form of recompense for you."
Gu Wen looked at the red pill, a faint pain in his brow as if eating it would take away something of great importance.
Is that the fate of immortality?
But what of it, just like when he knew the family heirloom was important, didn't he still have to turn it over dutifully?
Yu Hua, the immortal, gently said, "I will not harm you; if you do not eat it, you might not live past the age of thirty."
Gu Wen's body was frail, and his constitution was extremely weak, all because his chance for a better fate had been stolen. It was as if grafting a tree: Gu Wen was the root, nourishing Zhao Feng's Dao Fruit.
Having lost his destiny, he should then lead a peaceful life.
Zhao Feng frowned slightly, but it was not his place to say more. If cutting off the karmic bond meant losing Gu Wen as the "root" that nurtured his Qi Fortune, it could be accepted.
Perhaps this was for the best; acting openly and aboveboard was always better than thievery. Besides, this Yu Hua, the immortal, must be from the Yuqing Sect, a sect most fixated on rigid principles; unless absolutely necessary, it was best not to argue with them.