Chapter 50: "Phoenix Nine Cries

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: "Phoenix Nine Cries

With his grand financial plan finally settled, Zeng Anmin’s mood naturally brightened considerably. He could continue his sweet dream of wandering about with falcons and hounds.

"Dachun! Let’s head back!"

"Right away!"

Before leaving, Zeng Anmin could still faintly hear the heated discussion from the private room next door:

"When I reach the mountain’s summit, I become the peak... Sigh, this poem... The determination and confidence to reach the pinnacle reveal such a bold and unbridled spirit..."

"I am in awe."

"Our Liangjiang Commandery is known as the literary capital of Jiangnan, yet there hasn’t been a masterpiece comparable to this in the past five years."

"The words are incredibly simple, but the imagery within the poem is truly admirable."

"Princess Wencheng of the Jiang Country is amazing!"

"..."

Zeng Anmin didn’t linger. Taking Dachun with him, he made his way home without a hitch.

The Governor’s Mansion.

His father hadn’t returned yet. Over the past two days, due to matters concerning Prince Jiang’s Mansion, his father had a pile of affairs to deal with. The sky was gradually darkening.

"Daddy!"

Hu Zi toddled over clumsily, asking for a hug. Every time he saw Zeng Anmin, the boy’s face would light up with the most innocent smile.

"My good boy!" Zeng Anmin laughed heartily as he picked Hu Zi up, reaching out to gently tap his little nose. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet. Mom said we should wait for you to come back before we eat." Hu Zi grinned, revealing a neat row of small teeth.

Uh... Even though he had been getting used to it for a while now, Zeng Anmin still felt a bit offended by this strange form of address.

Not far away, Ms. Lin stood gracefully in the courtyard with a smile on her face. She looked beautiful, her eyes rippling like water, and spoke in a gentle voice. "The Master is busy with official duties and is dining at the Government Office tonight, so we won’t wait for him."

"Uh, I just ate outside. You go ahead and eat with Hu Zi."

"No! I want to eat with Daddy and Mommy!" Before Ms. Lin could speak, Hu Zi grew unhappy. He looked at Zeng Anmin pitifully, tears already welling up in his eyes. His lips trembled slightly as he spoke in a tiny voice, "Other kids have their mom and dad eating with them... I don’t."

Saying that, he turned his tender little face away, holding back his tears without wiping them, bearing the pain in his heart all by himself.

Fine! Zeng Anmin’s mouth twitched. "Alright, alright. Daddy will eat with you."

"Hooray for Daddy!" Hu Zi waved his hands in the air, his face instantly turning excited, and planted a big kiss on Zeng Anmin’s cheek with a loud SMACK.

Zeng Anmin thought, "This kid... he knows how to manipulate people at such a young age. What’s going to happen when he grows up?!" For the first time, he discovered a unique strength in Hu Zi.

Seeing Zeng Anmin and Hu Zi getting along so well, a deeply gratified smile appeared on Ms. Lin’s face. Just as the evening breeze brushed past her high-updo hair, the fluttering strands radiated her unique charm.

"AHEM." Zeng Anmin turned his head away, coughed dryly, and led Hu Zi into the main hall for dinner.

"You should eat some too. You’re on duty at the Government Office all day, and I heard the food there isn’t very tasty," Ms. Lin said, trying her best to fulfill her maternal role. With a pained look on her face, she reached out with her chopsticks and placed a chicken leg into both Zeng Anmin’s and Hu Zi’s bowls. "You’ve lost quite a bit of weight recently."

"Alright, alright, that’s enough, Ms. Lin..." Zeng Anmin hurriedly stopped her.

He had lost weight because he had reached the Entry Grade in Martial Arts, and the Martial Arts Aura consumed a massive amount of his vital blood. Although he was overall thinner than before, all of it had been solidly converted into firm muscle. Furthermore, he had eaten quite a lot with Shen Jun at the Wangxian Pavilion today, so it was hard for him to fit anything else in his stomach now.

"Try to eat less outside food. How can it be as clean as home-cooked meals?" Ms. Lin’s eyes landed on Zeng Anmin’s face. She furrowed her pretty brows slightly, her words carrying a hint of cautious reproach, before her tone subtly shifted. "You should say this more to the Master as well."

"Sure, that’s easy." A smile also appeared on Zeng Anmin’s face.

"Dad, do you want this chicken leg?" Hu Zi picked up the chicken leg from his own bowl and looked at Zeng Anmin with a wide grin.

"I won’t eat it. You go ahead."

Zeng Anmin thought, "What a filial child." A trace of warmth surfaced in his heart, and he wanted to reach out and pat Hu Zi’s head.

"Okay!" Hu Zi’s smile deepened as he reached out with his chopsticks and snatched the chicken leg right out of Zeng Anmin’s bowl.

What the...? Zeng Anmin thought, "Good boy! This child is far too scheming; he absolutely cannot be kept around!"

"Don’t snatch food from your dad," Ms. Lin chided Hu Zi.

"Oh." Hu Zi’s eyes darted around. He made a show of picking up a chicken leg from his bowl, looked at Ms. Lin’s bowl, and asked, "Mom, is that chicken leg enough for you?"

"Yes, it’s enough." Ms. Lin had no intention of spoiling Hu Zi. A smile graced her gentle face as she extended her chopsticks to block her bowl.

"Hehe, as long as it’s enough." Hu Zi laughed again. He stood up and scraped the entire remaining plate of chicken legs on the table into his own bowl.

Ms. Lin’s delicate face first froze in shock, then showed a look of helplessness.

"HAHAHA!" Zeng Anmin was so amused that he burst out laughing.

"This child..." Ms. Lin couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile.

That night.

Zeng Anmin returned to his room. Lying on his bed, he willed himself into the Purple Mansion Space. The phantom of the Dragon Inspection Map still stretched across the very center like a curtain in the sky. On the left was a massive cloud of cyan aura, formed after his Confucian Dao advanced to the Sixth Grade. The cyan aura radiated brilliant colors and hung down in thousands of strands, looking dignified and majestic without losing its mild and gentle nature.

To the right of the Dragon Inspection Map phantom was a Short-handled Hand Axe swirling with a mysterious aura. The axe handle was about two feet long, and the blade was a foot wide. Dense inscribed patterns intertwined to cover the entire body of the axe.

The moment Zeng Anmin’s figure appeared in his Sea of Consciousness, the axe began to flash with light, as if welcoming the arrival of its master. Zeng Anmin could feel a sense of intimacy emanating from the axe. In this world, one of the criteria for something to be considered a Divine Artifact was that it possessed sentience.

However, Zeng Anmin had another purpose for entering his Sea of Consciousness this time. He slowly walked behind the phantom of the Dragon Inspection Map. Without hesitation, he reached out and wrote on the map:

[North: Hehe, we haven’t spoken in days. How is everyone doing?]

He waited quietly for a moment. Before long, the group members gradually came online. The first to speak was Huang.

[Huang: Not good, not good. The Barbaric Secret Realm is approaching, and my dad beats me up every day.]

Zeng Anmin hadn’t expected Huang to be the first one to reply.

[North: Oh? Why is your dad beating you?]

[Huang: He says he’s helping me improve my combat experience.]

Uh... Fatherly love was like a mountain... crumbling and earth-shattering. Zeng Anmin was speechless. After hesitating for a long time, he sighed and wrote back:

[North: I suppose that counts as your father’s unique brand of paternal love.]

[Huang: I’m used to it. He’s the one beating me now, but once I accumulate enough strength and become powerful, I’m definitely going to give him a brutal thrashing.]

Well then! What an incredibly filial son!

Finally, as they chatted, Nan came online.

[Nan: Um, North, I’m really sorry. I accidentally exposed that poem of yours due to some reasons...]

Right from the start, Nan began to apologize. It was just that she seemed like an honest girl, so why did her words carry a hint of feigned innocence? Zeng Anmin curled his lips. If she used it to show off, then she used it to show off. What was this about "exposing" it? So, Zeng Anmin felt it was necessary to test the waters one more time.

[North: I never expected Her Royal Highness the Princess to be a lover of poetry as well.]

Nan was silent for a moment before sending a message:

[Nan: To show my apology, just tell me whatever you want. As long as I can do it, I will definitely help you.]

She didn’t deny her identity. It seemed he was right! Zeng Anmin’s eyes lit up slightly. Princess Wencheng, the most favored princess of the Great Jiang Dynasty, definitely possessed a lot of good stuff! A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he slowly wrote:

[North: I have a friend who recently encountered a minor bottleneck in his Martial Arts. If Your Highness could bring out the Jiang Country’s royal ultimate technique, "Phoenix Nine Cries," I’m sure he would be extremely happy.]

[Nan: ????]