Chapter 40: An Unyielding Heart, Leaving a Note Behind

Making up one's mind to run away from home was no easy task for Lu Wu.

People are naturally inclined towards comfort and ease, especially since Lu Wu had lived an exceptionally comfortable life ever since childhood. He had been waited on hand and foot, sleeping to his heart's content, while his cultivation realm skyrocketed by leaps and bounds. How wonderful it would be if such a life could continue forever!

Just the thought of venturing outside and potentially facing a harsh environment of sleeping in the open and enduring sleepless nights made Lu Wu feel utterly uncomfortable all over.

However, staying here was simply no longer tolerable.

As for other people, anyone who dared to displease Lu Wu could simply be eliminated on the spot. If daytime was inconvenient, what prevented it from happening at night?

Where else did the armor, weapons, and martial arts cultivation resources of the five maidservants come from?

Yet, Lu Jinhe and his three mothers were, after all, his biological parents in this lifetime. They had raised him since childhood and tolerated all his childish caprices, enabling Lu Wu to achieve what he had today.

Although Eldest Mother Lady Chang might harbor a trace of selfishness, when he expressed a desire to learn to read, she successively invited three tutors to guide him in his early literacy and learning. When he said he wanted to practice martial arts, she also assigned experienced estate retainers to instruct him carefully, and even equipped him with five maidservants to attend to his daily needs. They had certainly never treated him unjustly.

As for later on, when Lu Wu felt that continuing those studies was useless and drove away all those teachers in a fit of anger, that was a separate matter. It could not be said that Eldest Mother had failed to fulfill her duties.

Besides, when eldest brother Lu Song and second brother Lu柏 were young, let alone five maidservants, they didn't even have a single maidservant before turning sixteen. They were entirely served by a group of rough, heavy-handed men, under the high-sounding pretext of focusing solely on their studies and avoiding distractions.

Of course, in the eyes of others, there was practically no difference between the maidservants by Lu Wu's side and those rough, heavy-handed men.

This time, giving his old man the cold shoulder and stubbornly running back to Wutong Manor to slack off was already pushing things to the limit. He couldn't possibly fall out with his parents over such a minor matter of avoiding work.

Yet Lu Wu was already annoyed by the endless round of social pleasantries over the past few days. Remembering that he had to report to the Golden Guard in a couple of days and act like someone's grandson made him feel even more stifled inside.

Well, actually, everyone from the King of Wu down to the Commander of the Golden Guard had long since discussed it and prepared themselves mentally. As long as this grand master could simply show up to lend his name and deter petty villains, it didn't matter how much he slacked off—except Lu Wu had no idea about this.

These accumulated events were like heavy bundles piled one by one onto a camel's back, until today, when Ke Lie came running over to announce that the Empress Dowager actually intended to arrange a marriage for him. That finally became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Lu Wu could easily imagine that the moment the Empress Dowager informed his father Lu Jinhe and his three mothers about the imperial decree of marriage, they would undoubtedly be overjoyed and welcome it with open arms and legs.

Even if the four of them had to take turns staying awake without sleeping, they would keep a strict watch on him to prevent him from causing any trouble.

In the eyes of outsiders, this was already the pinnacle of favor and honor; one could say the royal family of Wu had done everything possible.

Yet, to Lu Wu, regardless of any reasoning, even if it was supposedly for his own good, the moment anyone attempted to distort his will, it brought him displeasure.

It didn't matter if others felt aggrieved, but Lu Wu could not suffer any grievance.

One must know that to forge a supreme Golden Elixir, one's mind and soul must be completely focused and unswerving, without a shred of compromise.

With a single fraction of compromised will, the Golden Elixir would bear a corresponding flaw, failing to fully represent a cultivator's true spirit.

A flawed Golden Elixir makes the Nascent Soul nearly impossible to achieve, a predicament even Lu Wu coulderself find no way around.

This was precisely why cultivators, before forging their Golden Elixirs, usually sealed their own powers and ventured into the mortal world to temper their minds and experience the myriad flavors of human life.

This wasn't meant as a frivolous game in the mortal realm, but rather to discover the flaws in their own hearts, mend them one by one, and only then dare to begin condensing the Golden Elixir.

Therefore, Lu Wu had to leave. Otherwise, continuing to endure such stifling conditions would gradually erode the bonds of familial affection. Once those suppressed emotions erupted, the consequences might be too grim to contemplate.

Lu Wu had made up his mind. However, watching the five maidservants engage in an increasingly enthusiastic discussion about packing more and more items to bring along, he couldn't help but wonder:

Was taking these five maidservants along on his escape a mistaken decision?

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Two days later, the Lu Estate.

"Doctor Lu, Lord Chief Imperial Clandestine will only have half a day of leisure three days from now. Please do lead young Doctor Lu to the Clan Affairs Office to select his enfeoffment fiefdom so as not to miss the opportunity."

Cai Li set down his teacup, brushed his robes across the table, and smoothly slipped the deed of a house from the table into his sleeve.

"Master Cai, I am a man of shallow insight. I wonder if there are any specific intricacies to selecting this fiefdom? Could you possibly offer me some guidance?" Lu Jinhe asked with a smile.

"Well, since we have nothing else to do, I can chat with Brother Lu a bit more. However, Brother Lu must not spread this outside." Cai Li casually cast a sideways glance downward, spotting the title deed for a property within Songjing City, and instantly found this nouveau riche doctor much more pleasing to the eye.

Although Songjing City was vast, its area was ultimately limited. Furthermore, the King of Wu had previously launched a massive relocation of wealthy households to Songjing to boost the population—it was during that time that the Lu family was forcibly moved here, otherwise it might not have been Lu Jinhe's turn to become the head of the Lu family.

After decades of development, the impoverished could no longer maintain a foothold and had no choice but to sell their homes and move outside the city.

There were no destitute people left within Songjing City; any piece of real estate, no matter how remote the corner, started at a minimum of a thousand silver liang.

"Ever since that disastrous defeat thirty years ago, the State of Wu was forced to relocate its capital and eke out a peaceful existence south of the Lan River. Fiefdoms have become extremely scarce ever since, and the prime locations are long gone. Nowadays, large tracts of enfeoffed land are only available in the newly conquered territories near the southern border."

"However, these places vary widely in quality. The good lands yield three harvests a year and produce all sorts of spices and fruits;"

"The poor regions border mountainous terrain, where unruly hill tribes frequently descend to pillage. In some areas, seven or eight officials have died within a single year. Doctor Lu must exercise the utmost caution when selecting a fiefdom."

Cai Li poured a little tea onto the table, drew a rough makeshift map with his finger, and pointed around to leak some inside information to Lu Jinhe.

As the two of them were fully absorbed in speaking and listening, someone suddenly rushed in frantically: "Master, this is bad!"

"What do you mean, 'this is bad, master'? What kind of behavior is this?" Lu Jinhe rebuked sternly.

Nowadays, the Lu family was a household of scholar-officials, and their visitors were individuals of high status. For this servant to be so flustered and crude truly brought shame upon the Lu family's reputation.

"Young Master has run away!" Hu Cheng blurted out anxiously.

"Fifth Child merely went back to Wutong Manor to recuperate. What do you mean by 'run away'?" Lu Jinhe became even more irritated.

With outsiders present, did this Hu Cheng have no sense of decorum at all? Perhaps he should be removed from his post as estate manager; he was simply making a disgrace of him, Doctor Lu.

"No, he really ran away! He even left a letter for you." Hu Cheng hurriedly presented the letter he was holding.

Lu Jinhe merely glanced at it, and the world went black before his eyes. For a moment, unable to steady himself, he collapsed back into his chair.

The letter was just a sheet of paper, inscribed with: "Family matters are too vexing, and I dislike going to work. Your son wishes to wander the realm to broaden his horizons. The fiefdom may be disposed of at Father's discretion. —Your son, Lu Wu, leaves this note."

(Note: Service rotation in the Golden Guard was also referred to as "going to work." The phrase "dislike going to work" here refers to his aversion to standing guard in the royal palace, which is not the same meaning as modern people using the term "going to work.")