Chapter 49: The Fashionably Late Madam Han

Looking at the desolate and absent-minded young gentleman, Du Yuan did not say much more. He merely shook his head and uttered:

"Then you have no one else to blame."

With that, Du Yuan smiled and waved to the last few villagers, saying:

"Come, come, everyone, let us continue."

Casting a cautious glance at the somewhat disheveled young nobleman of the Han family beside them, the villagers then turned their expectant gazes back to the Daoist priest who was distributing the precious tiles.

Although dazed, bewildered, and at a loss for what to do, such a bizarre scene naturally still caught the attention of the young gentleman.

He simply could not comprehend why these rustic villagers were waiting in line to receive broken, worthless tiles.

Was this some kind of checkout method?

Just as he was about to step forward to inquire,

he suddenly heard the thunderous sound of numerous horses approaching from behind. Turning his head, he saw a great billow of dust rising along the official highway above.

Judging by the looks of it, there were close to a hundred people.

This sudden development caused the villagers to instinctively pause, and they all craned their necks to look toward the official road.

They all had a premonition that this troop of horsemen might also be heading straight for this place.

Sure enough, before long, a large contingent of men bearing the Han family banner rushed over with the speed of lightning and wind.

At a single glance, the young gentleman spotted his grandfather and his clan uncle among the crowd.

His heart tightened. Before he even had time to figure out how to account for this to his grandfather,

he caught sight of his leading clan uncle's expression changing drastically the moment he saw him, hastily turning his head to look at the grandfather.

And when the clan uncle discovered that the grandfather's expression was also terrifyingly gloomy,

the look on his face instantly turned complicated beyond description—a look the young gentleman had never seen before and could not possibly put into words.

What was mixed into that expression? Was it belated remorse—regretting that he had been too cautious? Or a trace of relief—rejoicing that the Han family had ultimately not been beaten to the punch by someone else? Or perhaps a surging wave of shock and anger—angry and shocked that the members of the Han family had already become so alienated and disloyal to this extent?

The young gentleman felt that his discernment was still too shallow; like looking at flowers through fog, he could not distinguish the true meaning within.

Only a single thought remained exceptionally clear in his mind: today would likely become a moment the current Han family would never forget for the rest of their lives.

Before his chaotic thoughts could settle, he saw his clan uncle leading several core figures of the Han family walking forward with heavy steps.

Upon approaching, his clan uncle made a deep, sweeping bow to Du Yuan, his voice carrying a labored composure:

"With the Daoist master above, Han Cheng, the Assistant Administrator of Qingzhou, has come with all the members of the Han clan to pay our respects!"

Du Yuan looked at them and smiled:

"You've finally arrived?"

Han Cheng smiled bitterly:

"Daoist master, we have arrived!"

Just as the head of the second branch had asserted, he had also believed it.

After all, that was his own daughter; how could he not believe it?

It was simply that he felt the matter was of grave importance and every single detail had to be thoroughly sorted out. Otherwise, he feared a single careless step could plunge them into eternal damnation.

At the same time, to prevent other collateral branches from seizing the opportunity first, he had specially mobilized trusted aides to seal off the city in advance.

His intention was to drag everything out into the open. That way, if it were false, he would have safeguarded the safety of the Han family foundation. If it were true, the lion's share would still belong to his main branch.

This should not have been wrong; this ought to have been a foolproof plan.

Yet, just like everyone else, they had all used the method they thought best for themselves, only to end up with a bitter fruit where no one succeeded, and all could only miss the opportunity completely.

Glancing at his uncle, whose expression was equally unsightly, Han Cheng cast an incomparably complex look at the villagers who had seized the opportunity first.

He should have thought of it earlier. How could such a fortuitous opportunity simply wait idly for the Han family...

It was his own arrogance and self-conceit, falsely believing everything was under his control.

It wasn't until after interrogating people for an entire night, finally feeling that there were no flaws left, and going to the ancestral hall to look for his daughter—only to find their great-grandfather's ancestral tablet shattered into pieces—that he truly felt a lingering fear in his heart.

At this thought, his back, which had inexplicably taken a blow just last night, began to ache dully.

The ancestors had given a warning, his daughter had given a warning, so why, how...

Suppressing the bitter taste in his heart, Han Cheng took a deep breath, bowed deeply to Du Yuan, and pleaded:

"I beg the Daoist master to bestow a method of remedy! All of us in the Han family will forever remember the grace of this day!"

"No rush, no rush. Come, come, this one is yours!"

Han Cheng instinctively assumed the Daoist master was about to hand him something. He looked up in pleasant surprise, only to see the Daoist master handing a broken roof tile, with only the lower half remaining, to a burly peasant.

What is this?!

Just as the same doubt that the young gentleman had felt surfaced in his mind, Han Cheng watched as the peasant happily cradled the tile fragment and bowed deeply to the Daoist master.

Then, he hurriedly knelt before the mountain deity's temple and kowtowed heavily three times to the statue of the mountain deity, making loud thumping sounds.

The next moment, a scene that caused all the Han family members present to change color in utter astonishment occurred—that clearly incomplete, half-broken tile fragment actually mended itself autonomously, restoring itself to its original state!

And because there were those among them who were destined for smooth official careers and brimming with literary aura, they even clearly caught sight of a layer of warm, mellow, yellowish aura of fortune hovering around the restored tile!

Though it was just a fleeting glance before disappearing in a hurry, it was already more than enough.

It was real!

This truly was the miraculous method of an immortal!

Just as someone in the crowd was rubbing their eyes in disbelief, another villager happily accepted a tile.

This time, the tile's appearance was completely undamaged, looking entirely whole.

Therefore, the astonishing sight of "restoring to its original state" did not repeat itself, but the warm, mellow, yellowish aura contained within it was not the least bit diminished.

Even Han Yi, the renowned great scholar far and wide in Qingzhou and the current head of the second branch of the Han family, let out an involuntary cry of shock:

"This, this, this!"

Han Cheng hurriedly pulled over an elderly man who seemed to be the leader of the villagers and asked:

"Old sir, I am Han Cheng, the Assistant Administrator of Qingzhou. May I ask what kind of treasure this, this is?"

Just as Han Cheng dared not question the Daoist master who had slain demons from afar, the old village chief dared not show the slightest negligence in the face of such a noble figure.

"Ah, Lord Assistant Administrator! This is a piece of the old temple roof tile that the Daoist master interceded with the mountain deity for on our behalf, and which the mountain deity graciously allowed to be distributed to us! It is in gratitude for us dismantling our own house tiles to contribute to the renovation of the mountain deity's temple!"

The old village chief's explanation was not very detailed, but were aristocratic scions ever dull-witted people?

Han Cheng understood in an instant and blurted out:

"Could this be the roof tiles from the temple?!"

"Yes, yes, yes," the old village chief nodded repeatedly, "These are precisely the old roof tiles that were replaced when we renovated the temple."

As soon as these words were spoken, all members of the Han family drew in sharp breaths of cold air.

Then, they cast gazes of intense envy toward the tiles in the villagers' hands.

Old temple tiles—leaving aside the fact that they were inherently miraculous, this even represented the blessing and protection of the mountain deity.

If one could only beg for a single piece to place on their own rooftop...

Even as exalted a noble of the Han family and Assistant Administrator of Qingzhou as Han Cheng was, he still found himself utterly unable to tear his gaze away from these precious tiles.

This was the first time in his entire life that he had laid eyes on a genuine, real-life miraculous artifact!

Swallowing hard with a strained movement of his throat, he asked:

"Has it been said what kind of miraculous properties this treasure possesses?"

"Uh, the Daoist master said that this treasure can be placed atop a family's dwelling to ward off evil, avert disasters, and accumulate blessings and virtues!"

Upon hearing these words, Han Cheng felt his heart leap violently.

He had heard and seen treasures that could ward off evil, avert disasters, and accumulate blessings and virtues countless times, but he had never paid them any mind before because everyone knew those words were just meant to be heard and could never be taken seriously.

Even for those things that everyone knew were just empty talk, they still treated them with utmost seriousness and guarded them carefully.

Yet the one before him now was the genuine article!