Everyone took their seats, and Zhao Feng was about to exchange a few pleasantries and introduce those young masters from prestigious families, as they were his greatest support in vying for the throne in the future.
However, Yuhua seemed uninterested and interrupted, saying, "I only need to know about the water veins."
The young master from the prestigious family who had stood up to introduce himself was suddenly embarrassed, unable to continue, his face unable to conceal his discomfort, and the atmosphere turned silent.
Gu Wen was drinking tea, sip by sip, hoping that Tianzui would show some movement to save his precarious "assets."
Unfortunately, the fine tea leaves in the Wang Mansion were of no use.
It seemed that the Zhao family had not reached the point of having divine elixirs for daily use.
Zhao Feng cleared his throat and said, "Gu Wen, come forward to answer the fairy's question."
Gu Wen stood up, walked to the center of the hall, bowed to Zhao Feng and Yuhua on the main seat.
For some reason, he felt that the latter's eyes hidden behind the light veil seemed to brighten a bit.
Perhaps she had not exposed anything yet, but she must have noticed some clues.
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why a goddess-like existence beyond imperial power would be interested in him.
He had intentionally or unintentionally avoided her.
Yuhua asked, "Gu Wen, how many wells are there in the city?"
"A total of 1,631, including dried-up wells, there are over 2,000. Some wells have been sealed and filled, so the total number is unknown."
Gu Wen replied.
He had not forgotten about the water veins and had been investigating in his spare time these days.
"Are there different types of well water?"
"Most of them are bitter water, with turbid and astringent quality, needing to settle overnight before consumption. There are over 200 clear water wells, crystal clear and tasteless, suitable for direct consumption. The least common sweet water wells number less than eighty, with a sweet taste, favored by nobles and aristocrats."
"Take me to see the sweet water well, the best in the city."
Before Yuhua could rise, Gu Wen continued, "I have already had the best well water from Bianjing sent to the Wang Mansion. It was just retrieved this morning."
"More than an hour, the spiritual energy dissipates, and no clues can be seen."
Yuhua shook her head, revealing some information that Gu Wen was very interested in.
Was the sweet water well in Bianjing City a spiritual spring?
Suppressing her doubts, he replied, "There are also those within an hour. I was afraid that the fairy would have special requirements, so I specifically instructed the water house attendant to make a trip every half hour. I'm not sure if the half-hour intervals are to the fairy's liking."
"And it is now noon, the busiest time in Bianjing, with carts and pedestrians congested, and the journey on foot is quite far. It may take more than an hour for a round trip."
Yuhua was speechless.
Was this the efficiency of mortals? She had thought of everything, even things she couldn't think of, had been taken care of.
Looking at the confident young man below, a hint of frustration dissipated.
The way the Gu family handled things was reassuring, much better than Zhao Feng, who seemed like he had been kicked by the guardian beast of the Sanqing Sect.
"So, it's all up to you to arrange."
She nodded lightly in response, no longer speaking.
Seeing this scene, the host Zhao Feng also felt a sense of face, smiling, "Gu Wen has done a great job, rewarding five hundred taels."
Five hundred taels could feed an ordinary person for a lifetime, but for Zhao Feng, it was just a casual reward.
The young masters from the surrounding prestigious families also saw no issue with it.
To win a smile from a beauty, it was worth spending a fortune.
The essence of troubled times was essentially the rich getting richer, leading to the exacerbation of all social contradictions, mainly through mergers and exploitation.
Wealth never appeared out of thin air.
So, for Gu Wen to stay here, power was the most advanced form of plunder.
With a deposit of eight thousand taels, adding five hundred taels made it eight thousand five hundred taels.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Gu Wen accepted the banknotes from the eunuch Feng Xiang, calculating that five hundred taels could buy twenty medicinal fruits, roughly equivalent to half a year's worth of Tianzui.
Assuming that each of the five viscera spirits needed two years of Tianzui for complete perfection, a total of ten Tianzui was required to break through to the third level.
Eight thousand five hundred taels equaled eight and a half Tianzui, still lacking one and a half Tianzui to break through to the third level.
The first level could make his breath continuous and inexhaustible, with physical recovery faster than consumption.
The second level could fully restore his weak body, with senses sharp enough to hear and locate sounds.
But all this had not reached the point where he could be pursued by the Great Gan and still stand undefeated.
He hoped that the third level would give him some self-defense capabilities.
If not, then the fourth level, continuing to lurk until the ninth level!
Cultivation was difficult, but not particularly so, with plenty of opportunities in Bianjing.
Gu Wen exhaled slightly, feeling excited in his heart, bowing and saying, "I'll go see if the well water has arrived."
"Go ahead." Zhao Feng waved his hand, then added to show his appreciation, "In the future, don't refer to yourself as 'small.' That's a servant's title. You are now the Grand Gan's Gu Wen."
With these words, the gazes of the people around him subtly changed, even those young masters from prestigious families began to size up Gu Wen.
They were not foolish; they were all representatives of major families, the future heads of their households.
Zhao Feng was intentionally promoting Gu Wen's position within the mansion.
Gu Wen showed an extremely surprised expression, then bowed and thanked Zhao Feng before leaving.
When he stepped out of the hall and no one could see his face anymore, all emotions disappeared from his face.
With a breeze lifting his hair, his deep black eyes revealed a hint of disdain.
The extravagance and laughter behind him were nothing but a dream.
When the military pay of the border troops was completely swallowed up by officials along the way, when the city guards needed to rely on bandits to buy and sell and open the city for looting, when the local militia in the countryside completely turned to banditry for survival.
When all the military machinery that maintained order in the Great Gan was completely paralyzed, that was when it would fall.
And according to what Gu Wen knew, most of these had already been achieved, so it would happen soon.
This was not something that extraordinary power could solve.
Contradictions were never straightforward rebellions unless the Zhao family could kill everyone.
Only Yuhua quietly watched all this.
From the black silhouette in her mind, she saw the golden horses and iron men, the impending chaos, and the certainty of a commoner's conviction in troubled times.
But now the Great Gan had an emperor who was a Dao Sovereign, a true immortal-level powerhouse.
She increasingly felt that Gu Wen was special.
Outside the Wang Mansion.
Gu Wen scooped a spoonful of well water into his mouth.
It was cool and sweet, but his fate did not react.
However, the true qi in his body became active, perhaps this was what was called spiritual energy, which explained why so many wealthy individuals were drawn to the "sweet water well."
If it weren't for Zhao Feng being a prince, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold such a good thing in his hands.
It seemed that there were many things in Bianjing that he didn't know about, ordinary things that might have some kind of mystical aspect to them.
And these major families monopolized knowledge, even after guarding the well for three years, Gu Wen had only become a waterman leader.
Without a method of cultivation, he couldn't make use of it even if he racked his brains.
However, Tianzui was not spiritual energy and was of little use to him.
"Carry it inside."
He instructed two water attendants to carry the wooden barrel, about half a person's height, into the Wang Mansion.
As they passed a relatively high step, one of them stepped wrong, causing the entire barrel to tilt.
Gu Wen quickly reached out and steadied it with a slight lift, feeling a sense of ease in lifting the heavy barrel.
Although he didn't lift it completely, just supporting it for a moment, a barrel of water weighed a hundred catties.
Gu Wen felt a lightness in lifting it.
The two water attendants were sweating profusely due to the mistake, apologizing repeatedly, but they didn't notice the extraordinary strength.
"Continue on."
Gu Wen didn't dwell on it, letting the water attendants proceed, while he clenched his fist, recalling the feeling just now.
Cultivation hadn't made him fly or teleport, but its benefits were clearly felt in his body.
This natural strengthening was somewhat imperceptible, catching him off guard.
He would have to be more careful in the future.
Inside the hall, as the two water attendants brought the water barrel in, the lively chatter quieted down.
As the water attendants left, all eyes turned to Gu Wen, and he began to serve the water from inside to the others, transferring the attention away from him.
Yuhua dipped her finger in the water, causing a slight ripple in the bowl, pondering for a moment.
Due to the hat she wore, others couldn't see her changing expression, and Gu Wen, who had just started cultivation, couldn't discern what she was doing through the subtle movements.
Maintaining composure was a high level of cultivation.
Concealing one's face had an even greater effect, denying others the opportunity to observe and analyze, but not everyone could do it.
Yuhua asked, "Gu Wen, where is this well located?"
"At the Longqiao Water House, Longquan Well," Gu Wen replied.
The best well naturally had to be directly controlled by the Wang Mansion.
Zhao Feng, who was nearby, didn't miss the chance to chime in, saying, "Longqiao was originally famous for this well, and the dishes made with Longquan water have a unique flavor. I discovered the extraordinary nature of Longquan, established the water house, and created this heavenly place on earth in Bianjing."
However, this was a story Gu Wen had fabricated years ago, the first successful marketing case in the Great Gan.
Moreover, Longqiao itself was a very prosperous commercial street, only becoming the first under his guidance.
The unique taste used for cooking was naturally not present, and while Longquan water was indeed good to drink, once mixed with oil and salt, who knew what it tasted like.
Gu Wen smirked, but he didn't expose Zhao Feng.
He could understand a bootlicker eager to show off.
'This fool doesn't even know what his subordinates have made up.
It seems that bootlickers have brains that connect directly to their rectum, only good for excrement.'
Yuhua heard the vulgar words but didn't show anger.
Instead, she couldn't help but smile.
The way Gu's descendant cursed people was quite amusing, with a few words she hadn't heard before, but it didn't hinder her understanding.
She said to Zhao Feng, "The spiritual spring is wise, you should drink more."
Hiss!
Is the fairy... is she showing concern for me?
Zhao Feng widened his eyes in disbelief, then his cheeks quickly flushed with joy, unable to conceal his excitement as he said, "I dare not disobey the fairy's words. From now on, the meals will definitely be cooked with Longquan water, and only Longquan water will be drunk."
"Gu Wen, it's up to you to arrange it now. I need to be able to drink Longquan water within an hour at all times."
"Understood."
Gu Wen nodded, inwardly marveling at the extravagance and wastefulness.
If the Zhao family didn't perish, who would?
It would take half an hour for the water house to deliver water from the city to the Wang Mansion, and even with a carriage, it would take a stick of incense to travel smoothly.
If it was just Zhao Feng, it would be simple, with a carriage making a trip every day.
But to drink Longquan water within an hour at all times, he would need to arrange for twelve groups of people to deliver it continuously.
Food, lodging, overtime pay, bribes to officials along the way... over the course of a month, three thousand taels wouldn't be enough.
Yuhua furrowed her eyebrows slightly, having heard Gu Wen's thoughts on extravagance and the three thousand taels in expenses, she was already thinking of saying something to stop it.
The Zhao family's money didn't matter to her, and she wasn't interested in how much Zhao Feng wasted, she just didn't want to create unnecessary karma.
Entering the world wasn't about saving people, but it shouldn't harm them either.
Suddenly, Gu Wen's thoughts came through again, and it was a kind of jubilant emotion.
'But the more extravagant he is, the more kickbacks I get, and I can provide more work for the people.
If I handle all the business in the world, millions of hungry people will be reduced.'
Gu Wen found it amusing that he had brought his capitalist methods from his previous life and somehow felt like a great philanthropist in the Great Gan.
Even the most cunning merchant had more humanity than a scholar-official.
He was just self-deprecating, but to Yuhua's ears, it was surprising, with a few more glimmers of amazement in her starry eyes.
'Even the Zhao family's extravagance can turn into a good thing?'
She didn't understand the rules of how the mundane world operated, making it hard to imagine how Zhao Feng's extravagance could benefit the people, but she was curious.
With that thought, Yuhua could only think about it, as Gu Wen seemed to have a deep guard against her, afraid that getting too close would scare him away.
On instinct, Gu's descendant might actually run away; this guy was a bit like an eel, and she needed to find a way to catch him.
Yuhua spoke again, saying, "Longquan should be the head of Bianjing's water veins, containing mysteries within. Manage it well and report any incidents to me."
"Understood."
Gu Wen responded, then retreated to his seat, becoming a transparent figure, but this time, people around him started to strike up conversations with him, showing him attention before he even received a title.
The illusory title brought endless power.
After the Grain Rain, the Great Gan had entered the spring planting season, and the court began issuing orders to urge the various counties to sow seeds, as the foundation of a nation lay in agriculture.
The massive machine known as the Great Gan began to operate, with each decree causing numerous decaying parts to emit cracking sounds, some barely functioning, while others had completely collapsed due to another round of harsh governance, leading to one uprising after another.
The frontlines of the border were tense, while the officials in the rear were eating their fill.
One of the eleven counties of the Great Gan, Zezhou County, was renowned for its abundant lakes and fertile land, known as the largest grain-producing region of the Great Gan.
The setting sun over the long river, spreading for a thousand miles, the fertile plains nurtured by the three rivers and one river.
Countless Hu riders galloped in the distance, their reflections cast by the distant river and a dim setting sun, with hoofprints trailing behind them, and a city burning fiercely in the background, the beacon smoke connecting dusk to the earth.
An old man bent over, using his last bit of strength to plant seedlings, then collapsed into the field, his nostrils invaded by the fertile soil, his breath gradually stopping without any struggle, just like that, straightened up and planted in the field.
That seedling was the only green one in the thousand acres, with the rest being white bones.
On this fertile farmland of the Great Gan, the spring seedlings had not been planted.
When the news reached Bianjing, entered the imperial palace, and reached the emperor dressed in Daoist robes, it only elicited a response.
"I want to refine elixirs, achieve Dao, and become an immortal."
Many books are now hard to find, so cherish what you have.