Being a Late Bloomer in the Cultivation World

’I hope Master and Brother Yanguo don’t bring it up. It would put me in a difficult position.’

Wei Tu shook his head, burying the worry deep in his heart.

Once Shan Wuju was gone,

regardless of any betrothal or marriage, he would still look after the descendants of the Shan Family and give them his support.

He didn’t want his daughter’s lifelong happiness to be decided by his need to repay a debt of gratitude, leaving her with a fate she could never fight.

"That’s simple." Xinghua walked over to the cradle, gently pinched Yanyan’s soft cheek, and smiled. "Just post a notice outside saying that out of deep love for your daughter, you will not arrange her marriage before she comes of age."

"When the Shan Family sees the notice, they’ll be afraid of upsetting you and will be hesitant to bring it up."

"Besides, it was only Xiaofang who came to test the waters. It’s not as if your master, his wife, or Brother Yanguo have asked you directly yet."

"That’s a good idea." Wei Tu nodded.

As an Eighth Grade official, plenty of people wanted to curry favor with him and arrange marriages, so posting such a notice was perfectly reasonable.

It wouldn’t make the Shan Family feel specifically targeted.

With their serious discussion concluded,

Xinghua’s cheeks flushed as she blew out the candle and pulled Wei Tu onto the bed. "Brother Wei, I went to the apothecary a few days ago for some Pregnancy Medicine. This year, we’ll definitely be able to conceive again..."

After giving birth to Wei Yan, she had allowed her body to recover for a year before getting pregnant again. But sadly, she had suffered a miscarriage with that pregnancy.

Only in April of this year had her body fully recovered, allowing her to try to conceive again.

’This time, it has to be a boy.’

’I can’t let Wei Tu’s family line die out.’

After they made love, Xinghua arched her back, raising her pelvis as a thought formed in her mind.

’After Wei Tu married me, he never took a concubine. From start to finish, I have been his one and only Main Wife.’

’I’m already over thirty. If I don’t give birth to a son in the next few years, then as I get older, I might not have a smooth delivery even if I do get pregnant.’

She was well aware of the dangers for an older mother.

Just as Xinghua had predicted,

after the notice was posted at the Wei Mansion, neither Xiaofang nor anyone from the Shan Mansion approached her or Wei Tu again to discuss arranging a childhood betrothal for Wei Yan.

...

「Two months later.」

Thanks to Wei Tu’s diligent efforts, Xinghua finally got her wish and became pregnant with her fourth child.

This time, Xinghua had more experience. To ensure a stable pregnancy, she spent some silver coins to rent a small courtyard near a clinic and moved in.

During this time, Wei Tu also expended a portion of his Inner Strength to help Xinghua regulate her health, striving to get her body into peak condition for the birth.

Ten months she carried the child.

When the time came, she went into labor.

The moment she saw the child had been born, Xinghua, though utterly Exhausted, clung tightly to Wei Tu and wept with joy.

"Brother Wei, it’s a boy!" After saying these words, Xinghua passed out in the delivery room.

It was not uncommon for a new mother to faint after delivery.

It happened from time to time.

After checking on Xinghua and seeing that she was in no danger, Wei Tu finally turned his gaze to the baby boy held in the midwife’s arms.

’His organs are sound, his breathing is steady... It seems this child... will be able to grow up healthy. He won’t die young...’

Wei Tu let out a sigh.

Xinghua’s first child had been born with an Innately weak constitution. If he hadn’t forced himself to transfer his Inner Strength to the baby...

That child likely wouldn’t have survived for even three days, let alone make it to nearly a month old before passing away.

Although this fourth child had an ordinary Constitution and still faced the risk of an early death, Wei Tu was confident that with his methods, he could ensure the boy grew up healthy, so long as he didn’t contract a major plague.

Soon,

this "eldest son" of Wei Tu, or Wei the Second of the Wei Family, celebrated his one-month and one-year banquets.

At his one-year banquet,

Wei the Second underwent the traditional ’zhuazhou’ ritual and grabbed a small goat-hair calligraphy brush.

Seeing this, Wei Tu named Wei the Second "Wei Xiuwen," hoping his son would achieve great things in scholarly pursuits.

But just half a month after Wei Xiuwen’s ’zhuazhou’ ceremony, tragic news reached the Wei Mansion and came to Wei Tu’s ears.

"My father is dying." The messenger was Shan Yanggong, his face etched with grief and his clothes covered in dust from his journey.

"Just a few days ago, he was still drinking wine and eating meat—three bowls of rice in one sitting. But yesterday at noon, his voice suddenly grew hoarse, and his complexion turned ashen..."

Upon hearing this,

Wei Tu asked no more questions. He immediately strode out the door, went to the stables in the front courtyard, mounted his horse, and galloped toward Sanyuan Town with all possible speed.

Just before he left,

he instructed Xinghua, who had rushed over at the news, to find Fu Zhizhou and ask him to request a leave of absence on his behalf from the Governor’s Office.

He was the West Gate Guard Captain for the Prefecture City. Although the position was cushy, he could not abandon his post without special permission.

To do so without leave

would bring unimaginable consequences.

...

「Half a day later.」

Wei Tu arrived at the Shan Mansion in Sanyuan Town.

"Where’s my master?"

Outside the gate to the second courtyard, Wei Tu saw Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family pacing back and forth, her face a mask of anxiety. His brow furrowed as if he’d realized something, and he quickly called out his question.

’Logically,’ he thought, ’as a concubine who has been with Shan Wuju for nearly twenty years, she would never leave his side while he was on his deathbed.’

’Once Shan Wuju dies,

Shan Yanggong or Shan Fang might, out of some lingering sentiment, allow Mrs. Gao to stay and have a meal. If they showed no mercy, they would send her straight back to her maiden family.’

’So for Mrs. Gao, the only sensible thing to do is to attend to Shan Wuju by his deathbed while he’s still alive and try to secure some benefit for herself.’

’It’s highly unlikely she would be waiting out here.’

"The young lady is back."

"She... she and her Martial Artist husband blocked the door to the master’s room and threw me out..."

Seeing that it was Wei Tu asking, Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family lowered her head, bit her lip, and explained.

"I see."

Wei Tu nodded, his confusion clearing at once.

’Given Shan Fang’s fierce and domineering nature, it was perfectly normal for her to pull something like this in the Shan Mansion.’

Just then, Wei Tu also noticed the faint mark of a slap on Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family’s right cheek.

She had done a good job of concealing the mark with face powder.

Wei Tu guessed the slap had come from the hand of Shan Fang, the fierce young lady of the Shan Family.

"Come with me," Wei Tu said to Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family over his shoulder as he strode toward the master’s room.

Normally, as an outsider, he had no business interfering in the Shan Family’s private matters.

But not interfering didn’t mean he could simply ignore Shan Fang’s domineering behavior, to the point of denying Mrs. Gao the right to even enter the room.

For over a decade, he had seen with his own eyes how meticulously Mrs. Gao had cared for Shan Wuju.

He knew of Shan Wuju’s affection for her.

"Thank you." Hearing Wei Tu’s words, a flicker of joy crossed Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family’s grief-stricken face. She dropped back, gave Wei Tu a small bow, and then followed closely behind him.

Soon,

Wei Tu led Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family across the courtyard into the third yard, stopping before the door to Shan Wuju’s room.

"Are you... blocking the door to keep me out?" Wei Tu stood before Shan Fang’s husband, Qiao Tai. He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the large, well-dressed man as his expression grew colder.

The big man said nothing, continuing to block the wooden door to the room.

CRACK!

The air split with the sound.

Wei Tu snorted. Holding nothing back, he drew the horsewhip from his waist and lashed it viciously toward the big man.

When it came to Shan Fang, he wouldn’t make the scene too ugly, given his relationship with Shan Wuju.

But he felt no need to show any mercy to this live-in son-in-law of the Shan Family.