Chapter 3: Heaven Blesses the Meng Family

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Acting on impulse, Meng Jiaoyue willed two small notebooks to appear. She fixed her gaze on her father’s head. The numbers above his head flickered in different colors, appearing respectively in the two notebooks. Then she looked toward her mother, and the numbers above her father vanished, replaced by those above her mother’s head on the notebooks.

Indeed, it was as she suspected. Overjoyed, Meng Jiaoyue longed to write her parents’ names in the books to grant them more good fortune. Unfortunately, she still did not know their names. Her hands were tightly bound, preventing her from taking anything out to write, and besides, inscribing a name required a significant expenditure of spiritual energy.

Meng Jiaoyue sighed. She was still too young, unable even to move her hands freely.

At that moment, her father’s voice echoed in her mind: “My precious daughter, so well-behaved, so intelligent, so beautiful, with skin as fair as mine and Tang Tang’s. When you grow up, you will surely surpass both of us in brilliance and beauty.”

Meng Jiaoyue stared at her father, who hadn’t even opened his mouth or spoken aloud. How then was she hearing his voice?

“Look, my darling daughter is looking at me. Those big eyes are clearer than the serene pool behind Lan Zhi Mountain,” he added.

She realized she was hearing her father’s thoughts. It seemed that being reborn came with many blessings from Heaven. First, she could see the numbers representing fate; now, she could hear people’s thoughts. This life promised to be much better.

The gloom in her heart instantly dissipated.

After the excitement, Meng Jiaoyue pondered why she could hear thoughts. She put away the little notebooks, withdrew her spiritual energy, and listened carefully, but heard nothing from her father. When she summoned her spiritual energy again, she heard his thoughts once more.

“I am so wise. I fell in love with Tang Tang at first sight and pursued her relentlessly until I married her. Look, none of my brothers are as happy as I am—having a beloved wife and daughter, my life is complete.”

Meng Jiaoyue was speechless. So her father was a great romantic and a doting father. That was his definition of completeness? Didn’t he want a son?

She then looked at her mother; the numbers on the little notebook shifted to her mother’s, and she heard her mother’s thoughts as well.

“With Xuan Ge here, I feel at ease. My beautiful and adorable daughter must be well cared for.”

Meng Jiaoyue felt her heart swell with happiness. This lifetime, not only did she have both parents, but she was their treasured gem and beloved.

Yes, quite good indeed. Losing over a hundred boxes of spirit stones and her intricately carved warm jade bed was worth it.

Lin Yuntang was indeed exhausted. If not for wanting to see and hold her daughter, she would have fallen asleep long ago.

“My husband, watch over our daughter. I’m going to rest a bit,” she said, closing her eyes and falling asleep instantly.

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Meng Wenxuan was filled with tenderness, holding his daughter while glancing at his wife asleep on the bed. His heart was completely filled by these two women, one big and one small.

“I am so happy!” he thought.

Meng Jiaoyue withdrew her spiritual energy, feeling weak as a newborn, unable to sustain its use.

At that moment, a heavy atmosphere hung in the Meng family patriarch’s study.

Meng Qingyun, the head of the Meng family and principal of Hanmo Academy, looked at his six sons seated before him.

The eldest son, Meng Wenxi, spoke gravely, “Father, the rumors about dragon energy beneath Lan Zhi Mountain are becoming more and more exaggerated. The imperial court has been eyeing Lan Zhi Mountain for decades. This time, they are determined to seize it.”

Otherwise, why would such rumors about dragon energy beneath Lan Zhi Mountain emerge? If there truly were dragon energy there, the Meng family, having lived here for centuries, would have produced an emperor by now.

The emperor’s intentions were too blatant.

Lan Zhi Mountain was neither large nor tall, but it was the ancestral home where the Meng family had lived for hundreds of years.

Hanmo Academy was situated on the front slope, with the Meng family estate sprawling over the larger part of the mountain behind the academy, arranged gracefully, each courtyard independent and serene.

Even with some fortune energy present, it wouldn’t be enough to attract the interest of a nation’s emperor. What exactly was the emperor’s aim?

The atmosphere in the study was oppressive.

“Master,” came the steward’s voice from outside the study, tinged with excitement. Without waiting for permission, the steward pushed the door open.

Meng Qingyun looked up at Meng Zeqiu, the steward.

Zeqiu was a family-born retainer who had served him since childhood. Decades of service had made him extremely disciplined. For him to lose control and barge into the study without waiting was unusual.

Meng Qingyun frowned. “Zeqiu, what is it?”

Zeqiu snapped back to himself, quickly replying, “Master, my apologies for the breach of etiquette. It’s wonderful news.”

Meng Qingyun and his six sons frowned. The emperor had already shamelessly set his sights on Lan Zhi Mountain, and the Meng family was in dire straits. Where could there be any joyous news?

But they knew well that Meng Zeqiu was a man of unflappable composure. What kind of good news could stir him so?

Meng Wenxi asked, “Uncle Qiu, what joyous news?”

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“Master, Eldest Uncle, the wife of the Seventh Young Master has given birth,” Meng Zeqiu said, rubbing his hands with barely contained excitement.

Meng Qingyun’s frown deepened. Was it appropriate for a steward to be so unsettled over the birth of his daughter-in-law’s child?

Suddenly, he stood up, enlightened. “Is it a girl?”

Meng Zeqiu nodded repeatedly. “Yes, a baby girl.”

The six uncles exchanged stunned looks. The Meng family had not had a baby girl born in centuries. All their brothers had borne sons in a row. Yet the Seventh Young Master’s wife had given birth to a daughter?

“This is indeed joyous news. Heaven bless the Meng family,” the patriarch laughed heartily, dispelling the previous gloom.

When his laughter ceased, Meng Qingyun picked up a brush and wrote swiftly. After finishing, he said to his eldest son, “Wenxi, post the announcement immediately.”

The father himself composing the announcement?

Meng Wenxi glanced at the notice. It announced the Meng family’s joyous birth of a daughter, named Jiaoyue. To celebrate the arrival of a girl, and to accumulate merit and blessings for her, all students at Hanmo Academy would be exempt from tuition for one year. On the day Meng Jiaoyue reached adulthood, the Meng family would gift the deed to Lan Zhi Mountain to the imperial court, and the academy would be handed over to the court, so that the land and academy might serve a greater purpose.

This gesture was solely to pray for the Meng girl’s lifelong peace, happiness, and health.

“Father?” Meng Wenxi looked at his father in shock.

Once this announcement was posted, rumors of dragon energy beneath Lan Zhi Mountain would cease. Whether or not the world believed it no longer mattered, for the Meng family had already ceded Lan Zhi Mountain to the imperial court.

The emperor could no longer act against them, at least for now. This could temporarily ease the current predicament, allowing the Meng family to hold Lan Zhi Mountain for sixteen more years.

After all, openly possessing the land was far better than seizing it covertly and damaging the royal reputation.

However, this strategy only delayed the problem; it did not solve it. Sixteen years later, the issue would resurface, more difficult to resolve.

The emperor was no fool—he would understand the Meng family’s intentions were to buy time.

Though unwilling now to act against the Meng family, sixteen years hence, he would show no mercy.

At that time, it was likely…