The colorful curtains were red, purple, and blue, all embroidered with the character "Longevity" in gold thread. The characters, big and small, in various scripts, pressed densely together, as if they had gathered all the blessings in the world and hung them in this hall.
On the rosewood stand in the corner stood a red coral tree, as tall as a man, with twisted branches and a deep crimson hue. Yue Fuguang saw the congratulatory message and signature on it and recognized it as a gift from Luo Xue.
She felt something was missing, and now she realized it was because she hadn't seen He Qisha's close friend Luo Xue.
"Lord He, why isn't Lady Luo here?" Given their friendship, Luo Xue should not have missed He Qisha's birthday celebration.
"To be honest with you, Lady Official, I moved up my birthday banquet by a few days. Lady Luo happened to be busy these two days and couldn't make it."
They were old friends and often thought about things in the same way. He Qisha wanted to celebrate his birthday early so he could go meet the Grand Preceptor, and Luo Xue had the same idea. She was already on her way, little knowing that the Grand Preceptor had never been with the procession but had instead come to him.
He Qisha inwardly felt sorry for his friend.
Just as everyone took their seats, maids and servants began bringing dishes to the tables.
Since the weather was hot, the first dishes served were various chilled fruits: purple plums, red strawberries, golden loquats, and pink cherries.
Yue Fuguang silently lamented that it wasn't yet watermelon season; otherwise, a mouthful of chilled watermelon would have been wonderfully refreshing.
While nibbling on the fruit, she remembered to continue the topic. "Little Zhu, what was that about drinking causing trouble that you mentioned earlier?"
If she couldn't have watermelon, at least she could enjoy the gossip about others—that would also whet her appetite.
[Master, look at the round man in the dark blue merchant's robe at the table next to you.]
"Round man"—was that really a way to describe someone?
Yue Fuguang followed the System's words and looked toward the secondary seating area below the main table. Besides their main table, the two tables closest to it were filled with guests who had close ties with He Qisha.
Those two tables had both men and women, and there were two men in dark blue merchant's robes, but only one of them was round.
This man appeared to be about the same age as He Qisha, around forty-something.
However, he clearly hadn't taken as good care of himself as He Qisha had, showing all the signs of middle-aged spread.
His belly, in particular, though not as large as He Qisha's eldest daughter-in-law Tian Yurou's seven-month pregnant belly, looked like she was three or four months along.
In this era, where overweight people were rare, this man, who weighed nearly two hundred pounds, took up two seats all by himself—his fatness was impossible to miss.
Not only was he fat, but he was also short; given his build, was he even five foot five?
Yue Fuguang remembered that he had sat at the very end of the Sword Intent Hall earlier, and even then, she couldn't help but notice him. At the time, he kept wiping sweat; as expected, fat people really didn't handle heat well.
"What's up with him? Did his round figure all come from drinking?"
[This man has always been the type to gain weight easily—just drinking water makes him bigger. Not only can he not control his appetite, but he also treats alcohol like water.
Because of this problem, look at him and He Qisha—both around the same age, but He Qisha is about to become a grandfather and is still a handsome middle-aged man.]
Calling him a handsome middle-aged man made He Qisha quickly shift his hand away from the meat dish and reach for a green vegetable platter.
He could only get better!
[Master, this man is named Feng Shuitu. After struggling for years, he only managed to have two daughters and one son—three children. The oldest is twelve, the youngest five.
Master, look at the children's table. The three siblings dressed in the fanciest clothes are Feng's children.]
Yue Fuguang glanced at those three children. They wore gold and silver, and their clothes were made of fine fabric, embroidered with patterns of wealth and blessings using gold and silver threads.
Yet, these three children were clearly much more thin and frail than their peers at the same table, or even at the other tables.
"So these three siblings are so skinny? Given how they're dressed, Feng Shuitu doesn't seem like someone who would starve his children." The treatment of both boys and girls seemed about equal.
[This is all because of Feng Shuitu's drinking. His excessive alcohol consumption didn't just affect his ability to have children; even the children he ended up having were born with weaker constitutions.]
He Heng, whose wife was already pregnant and who planned to have at least two more children, held his wine cup and didn't know whether to drink it or not.
Several other men at the tables who had few children silently exchanged glances and replaced their wine with water. They nodded to each other, agreeing that when toasting later, they would use tea instead of wine and shame no one.
[But they were lucky today, Master, because you happened to send down rain from the sky. The life force you mixed into the rainwater benefits the bodies of these mortals.
If Feng Shuitu hadn't braved the rain with his three children to welcome you back then, they would have missed out on this good fortune.]
Yue Fuguang hadn't even reached the level of immortality, so the wood elemental energy in the rainwater was purchased from the System Shop. That brief shower was the only one to have that ingredient—it was enough to nourish everything. She certainly wasn't going to waste it on a continuous downpour.
There was no rainwater falling outside now; if the three children of the Feng family had stayed hidden in their room, they would indeed have missed it.
Those who had braved the rain to welcome Yue Fuguang at the main courtyard all had excited expressions. They said, how could they not have noticed that the dark ailments of the Lord Grand Mentor’s body had improved so much? At first, they thought it was an illusion brought on by sheer joy.
Now, hearing this, it turned out to be because they had been rained on!
The food and wine were already laid out. The crowd hurriedly took a few bites of the dishes and then began taking turns toasting Yue Fuguang. Of course, Yue Fuguang drank fruit juice, while the others drank a bright red wine.
However, Yue Fuguang was a bit disappointed with today’s system gossip. Just this? It wasn’t even as interesting as the appetizers in front of her.
Before Yue Fuguang could complain, the system continued. 【But the fact that Feng Shuitu’s children are few in number and poor in quality are all small matters.】
“This is still a small matter?” One had to understand the deep obsession of ancient people with having many children and grandchildren, continuing the family line, and ensuring incense offerings after death. Those who have never truly lived in ancient times or understand the customs of that era simply wouldn’t grasp it.
Let’s set aside other things for now. Did she not owe her own extraordinary powers, even now, to the incense offerings of the common people?
After learning that in this world there truly is an underworld with reincarnation, she no longer mocked others’ pursuits. She also realized that for ancient people, matters of children were grave issues—nothing like the system’s dismissal as small matters.
“So tell me, what counts as a big matter?”
【Master, look at Feng Shuitu’s two daughters and one son. His two daughters are twelve and ten years old; in a few years, they will marry into other families.】
【As for his five-year-old son, he is physically the weakest of the three children, not destined for a long life. A Taoist once gave Feng Baoyu a prophecy, asserting that he would not live past eighteen.】
“Not live past eighteen? But I sense his body is being repaired. He can live just fine to thirty-eight.”
However, living to seventy or eighty would be difficult—poor foundational health is a hard flaw.
【Master, the Feng clan will not let Feng Baoyu live past eighteen. In fact, not even eight will be easy.】