In that instant, the physician, Lin Sha, and the two young maidservants were all stunned.
They truly never expected Du Youqian to say such a thing.
However, the unfamiliar Innate Grandmaster, with his plain features and relatively friendly expression, didn't seem too surprised. He chuckled and said, "Previously, Liu Yuan reported that there was a young man of heaven-sent genius with superb medical skills, a truly rare talent. I was still a bit skeptical."
"After reviewing your file and discovering you were the new top-ranked Scholar, I was only about thirty percent convinced. It only proved that you were good at your studies, but being good at studies doesn't necessarily make you a true talent."
"But now, I don't have the slightest doubt. With such foresight and pragmatism, you are clearly not someone who will remain obscure. You are destined to soar to the heavens one day."
"I am Yang Wenwan, the Governor of Three States. From now on, follow me and just call me Brother Yang. I won't treat you as a subordinate. You'll be my good brother! A brother to Yang!"
Du Youqian couldn't help but sigh in deep admiration.
'This Innate Grandmaster might be a bit ugly.'
'But he has so much charisma!'
'He's too good at winning people over!'
He had heard some stories about Yang Wenwan before.
It was said that Yang Wenwan once had a beloved concubine named Moon Princess, who was devastatingly beautiful and peerlessly elegant.
One day, Yang Wenwan held a banquet and ordered his beloved concubine to perform a dance.
An important advisor under his command fell in love with this Moon Princess at first sight.
But knowing this unrequited love was hopeless, he could only grieve in secret, drowning his sorrows in alcohol after work every day, hoping only to meet the beauty in his dreams.
Later, when Yang Wenwan learned of this, not only did he not blame the advisor, but he generously provided a dowry and married Moon Princess to the lucky man.
After that, who didn't praise Yang Wenwan as a remarkable hero of immense righteousness?
Du Youqian thought to himself, 'If I hadn't lived for three lifetimes, if I weren't so astute and widely experienced, Yang Wenwan's speech would probably have won me over completely.'
'Governor of Three States... what kind of official was that?'
'He has total authority over Beichang, Dongchang, and Hanyang States, holding both military and political power in his grasp.'
'A Senior Second Grade high official, with an honorary title of Senior First Grade.'
'What's more, Yang Wenwan was also ennobled as a marquis for his merits.'
'To put it simply, this Yang Wenwan ranked in the top ten of the Han Kingdom's political scene.'
'The post of Governor was not a permanent one; the other states of the Han Kingdom did not have Governors.'
'However, these Three States were located on the border between the Han Kingdom and the northern Jin Kingdom. They were a strategic choke point, an absolutely critical position for the Han Kingdom, requiring someone with the ability, skill, and prestige to command respect and keep the region stable.'
Yang Wenwan's reputation was, without a doubt, impeccable.
He had studied under a Great Scholar, became famous throughout the world as a youth, and took charge of a region just after his coming-of-age ceremony. The local commoners praised him as a "Clear Sky" for his righteousness. His stellar resume could fill a five-thousand-word thesis.
Now, he was just fifty years old, still in the prime of his life.
However, rumors had always painted Yang Wenwan as a mere Scholar, someone too weak to even truss a chicken.
Even the more fantastical legends only claimed that Yang Wenwan's words were law, that he could command Divine Soldiers and generals, and that his immense, righteous aura was worth a million-man army.
But no one had ever said that Yang Wenwan was a Martial Arts Innate Grandmaster!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
When he first started following Yang Wenwan, Du Youqian was, of course, completely unwilling.
'Isn't this a waste of my Cultivation time!'
But the circumstances were beyond his control. If he didn't want to die a sudden, violent death, he had to know when to yield.
As the saying goes, "At seventy, one can follow one's heart's desires without overstepping the bounds."
Du Youqian had lived for more than three seventy-year spans, so he naturally understood how to go with the flow.
He showed not a shred of arrogance, let alone put on the airs of a Cultivator.
Whatever Governor Yang—no, Brother Yang—asked him to do, he did, never shirking his duties.
In short, he just had to keep Yang Wenwan satisfied.
However, he had long ago formulated a detailed plan. The moment Yang Wenwan lowered his guard would be the moment of his escape.
As long as he could escape to Five Wishes Mountain and find that Monkey, what could Yang Wenwan possibly do to him, even if he had Three Heads and Six Arms?
Before he knew it, half a year had passed. During this time, Yang Wenwan had indeed fulfilled his promise.
He treated Du Youqian with the warmth one would show a brother, without putting on airs or ever using a commanding tone.
Whatever Du Youqian requested, he would do his best to provide.
And for the things Du Youqian didn't ask for, he would think ahead and provide them anyway.
Beautiful women, fine wine, gourmet food, luxurious residences—none of it was an issue. Du Youqian could have anything he desired.
Yang Wenwan even secretly promoted the father of Du Youqian's current body to a position in the Governor's Mansion, making Master Qiu feel that he had finally met an enlightened master and could realize his ambitions. Yang Wenwan also personally acted as a matchmaker for Qiu Yuanqing's younger sister, arranging for her to marry into a prominent and wealthy family. For now, at least, she was so happy she couldn't see straight.
With such multi-pronged tactics, if Du Youqian were an ordinary person, he probably would have been overwhelmed with gratitude by now, willing to die for Yang Wenwan.
「In the middle of the night.」
Du Youqian wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking with delight at the few Elixirs that had just come out of the furnace.
They were refined using the Water Pill Technique with ingredients from the Mortal World, yet their effects barely reached the level of a Tier One Middle Grade Elixir. They could perform a Purification of Essence and Marrow for a Martial Artist, strengthening their constitution. Repeated use could even slightly improve one's innate talent and aptitude.
The reason Du Youqian hadn't immediately planned his escape over the past six months was twofold. On one hand, he was naturally worried he wouldn't be able to get away and would only anger Yang Wenwan. On the other hand, it was because he had made great gains in his Alchemy.
It wasn't that his Alchemy skill level had broken through.
Rather, through the process of forcibly refining Elixirs with common mortal ingredients, his understanding of medicinal properties, pharmacology, and his control over the refinement heat had all improved by leaps and bounds.
Although he hadn't managed to raise his Alchemy from Tier Two Middle Grade to Tier Two Upper Grade, his foundation had undoubtedly become much more solid.
In the future, with this accumulated experience, he might even achieve consecutive breakthroughs after mastering a new High Tier Pill Formula.
This feeling of constant progress was the key reason Du Youqian wasn't considering leaving for the time being.
"I heard Yang Wenwan gifted you two more beautiful maids yesterday. I went to have a look, and they are indeed so lovely it makes one's heart ache. When are you planning to take them into your chambers?"
Hearing a voice suddenly come from the rafters in the dead of night would have scared anyone else half to death.
But Du Youqian didn't even raise his head, his tone flat. "He's sent me more than a dozen women over the past six months. Have you seen me lay a single finger on any of them?"
"That's what I find so strange. Why don't you touch them? I remember you used to be so full of vigor. Could it be that now..." From the rafters, a black-clad figure dangled upside down, a lovely face appearing inverted before Du Youqian's nose.
Just like Spider-Man with Gwen.
Her straight, black hair, which flowed like a waterfall, didn't seem beautiful at this moment. Instead, in the dim light of the dead of night, it gave off an inexplicably creepy vibe.
Du Youqian smiled. "Why should I touch them?"
"Aren't you tired of me? With so many girls prettier than me showing up, isn't that just what you wanted?"
Du Youqian shook his head. "My being tired of you wasn't because I wanted a new woman. It's because my heart no longer covets love and romance; it holds only the Great Dao. A beauty or a skeleton—in my eyes, there is no difference."
"No one just has a sudden enlightenment like that." Lin Sha's tone was tinged with resentment, mixed with a girlish pout.
Du Youqian said, "A person like me is already peerless in this world."
Lin Sha fell silent.
Objectively speaking, Du Youqian's words were truly shameless.
But she couldn't be objective.
Her heart had long since been given to Du Youqian.
To her, Du Youqian truly was peerless in this world.