“Deputy Sect Master, this lowly one is the steward here. You may simply call me Old Deng.” The old steward looked at Feng Jiu’er, grinning broadly.

He turned his head to glance at the two maidservants beside him and continued, “Deputy Sect Master, these are Xing’er and Yue’er, your two personal maidservants.”

“From now on, whatever matters arise, the Deputy Sect Master need only command the two of them.”

“Good.” Feng Jiu’er nodded. “Our household will be growing in number; these coming days will trouble all of you.”

“No trouble at all.” The old steward smiled and shook his head. “Deputy Sect Master, you must be busy — we won’t disturb you further. If there’s anything, just give the order.”

“Very well, you may all go for now. If there’s anything, I’ll call for you.” Feng Jiu’er waved a hand.

“Understood.” The old steward glanced once more at the two beside him, then turned and led the rest away.

The two maidservants poured tea for Feng Jiu’er, Xiao Yingtao, and Jian Yi respectively, then withdrew to the side.

“Yue’er, did you finish preparing the pastries I had you make this morning?” Xiao Yingtao looked at the maidservant nearby and asked.

“Replying to Miss Xiao, yes, everything is ready,” Yue’er said softly, bowing her head. “Shall I bring them in now?”

“Yes, bring them now.” Xiao Yingtao nodded. “The Deputy Sect Master has just arrived and must be hungry too.”

“Understood.” Yue’er bowed and turned to leave.

Xiao Yingtao looked at the other maidservant and waved a hand. “Xing’er, you keep watch outside. If anything comes up, I’ll call you.”

“Understood.” Xing’er bowed and also left the hall.

Withdrawing her gaze, Xiao Yingtao looked at the map in Feng Jiu’er’s hands, and Feng Jiu’er said flatly, “I’m not hungry. After we entered the city, Jian Yi bought me something to eat.”

“You’re not hungry, but I am.” Xiao Yingtao looked at Feng Jiu’er, smiling until her eyes nearly disappeared.

“Jiu’er, you wouldn’t know this, but the rose cakes from the cities around here are quite famous.”

“I asked Old Deng, and he said our kitchen staff knows how to make this pastry, so I had them make some. Once the fresh rose cakes arrive, you’ll probably get hungry.”

Feng Jiu’er paid Xiao Yingtao no mind and continued carefully studying the information Yu Jingfeng had given her.

After a while, she let out a soft sigh and shook her head.

“An ordinary person really couldn’t serve under the Ninth Imperial Uncle. I imagine the lords of every city have no idea Longying only has this many people.”

“We have no shortage of residences and shops, just few people. Still, growing from a few dozen brothers to over a thousand in such a short time is no easy feat.”

“Over a thousand people?” Xiao Yingtao leaned in. “I only looked at the locations just now, not the numbers.”

“I thought we only had under a thousand people across all our residences and shops — could they all be constantly moving around?”

“That’s exactly why I say our brothers are no ordinary people.” Feng Jiu’er picked up the map, pressing her lips together, and nodded with satisfaction.

“As for the deficit before, I believe we’ll be able to earn it back soon enough.”

“According to the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s plan, as long as Father is in the Feng Clan territory, we won’t be leaving this place anytime soon.”

“If possible, I hope to win back everything that rightfully belongs to Father!”

“Jiu’er, just set your mind at ease.” Xiao Yingtao patted Feng Jiu’er’s shoulder gently. “Since the Prince started preparing so long ago, this is only a matter of time.”

“By the way, Jiu’er, now that we’ve just arrived, shall we walk around the house?”

Xiao Yingtao stood up and stretched.

“Just as you said, things have to be done one step at a time. Let’s treat this as relaxing a little.”

“Oh, right.” Xiao Yingtao turned back to look at Feng Jiu’er. “I heard there’s a place behind us for drying medicinal herbs, with lots of brothers out there sunning the herbs.”

“Jiu’er, want to go take a look?”

Xiao Yingtao didn’t think too much of it — she just hoped Feng Jiu’er could feel a bit more at ease. She knew very well that ever since learning of the Night Prince’s disappearance, Jiu’er hadn’t been sleeping well.

Regardless, everyone had now safely arrived in the Feng Clan territory — that alone was a good start.

“Alright.” Feng Jiu’er stood up and tucked the map into her sleeve. “In that case, have Xing’er and the others bring the pastries to the back courtyard.”

“Whatever good things there are, bring them all over — let’s reward our brothers.”

“Will do.” Xiao Yingtao nodded excitedly. “Our brothers from the original Tianji Hall are even more excited than you are.”

“The moment they hear there are good medicinal herbs nearby, they get all worked up. They haven’t had access to herbs in so long, they’re itching for it.”

“Let’s go.” Xiao Yingtao glanced back, raising an eyebrow.

Feng Jiu’er raised her arms, took a deep breath, and followed after her.

The Longying residence was not small, and this was only one residence in a single city across the entire territory.

In front stood three buildings; behind them, a row of wooden houses, neat and orderly.

The front courtyard, the buildings, and the back courtyard together took up no small amount of space — the back courtyard especially was very large, built specifically for sunning medicinal herbs.

No wonder Longying, despite its small numbers, could establish a foothold in so many places across the country.

Having money truly helped — with deep pockets, even if it was just an empty shell, no one dared bully you, as long as the surface appearances were kept up and no one realized it was hollow inside.

From what Yu Jingfeng had said, Longying’s losses these past months hadn’t been too severe — which was truly remarkable.

Everyone the Ninth Imperial Uncle had left behind was talented! Then again, if they weren’t talented, they wouldn’t have caught his eye in the first place.

Led by the steward, Feng Jiu’er, Xiao Yingtao, and Jian Yi walked into the back courtyard.

In the back courtyard, many of the brothers were busy at work.

“Miss Jiu’er.”

“Miss Jiu’er.”

Seeing Feng Jiu’er, everyone turned and greeted her.

Feng Jiu’er smiled at everyone and nodded. “You’ve all worked hard.”

“Not at all.”

“How could it be hard?”

Many of the brothers shook their heads in response.

One brother, carrying a basket, came up to Feng Jiu’er. “Miss Jiu’er, look at this — these herbs here aren’t any worse than the ones back in Bei Mu Kingdom.”

Feng Jiu’er bent down, grabbed a handful of herbs from the basket, examined them, sniffed them, and nodded with satisfaction.

“Indeed, not bad at all. Where are these herbs usually obtained from?”

The brother holding the basket turned to look at another brother.

A brother holding a small notebook for record-keeping stepped forward.

“Miss Jiu’er, our herbs are generally sourced from nearby.”

“You could say our residences and shops are all chosen near places rich in medicinal herbs.”

“As long as there’s a valuable mountain nearby, convenient transportation, and a dense population, that’s our ideal location to set up.”

“Take this place, for example, Miss Jiu’er, you can see for yourself.” The brother turned to look at the mountains outside the back courtyard.

“Miss Jiu’er, our herbs are all gathered from these mountains. A while back, the brothers even started planting medicinal herbs on the mountainsides.”

“To avoid any interference, we leased three mountains rich in herbs, with a five-year lease — for these five years, no outsiders can come up to cause trouble.”