By the time he had recovered to his normal state, there was only one maid left by his side. Jason Allen asked her to bring a basin of hot water, wrung out a hot towel, and applied it to the stiff parts of his face. As he slowly cleared his thoughts, he then told her to go and invite his father over.

When Mr. Allen's beloved son was in a stupor, he had been extremely anxious, his lips covered in fever blisters from worry and agitation. He still had to manage his business, yet barely slept two hours a day. Now that his beloved son had finally awakened and was recovering, he naturally couldn't resist his own exhaustion and had fallen asleep. Even so, as soon as he heard that his son suddenly had urgent business, he rushed over in haste. His sleep-deprived eyes were bloodshot, a clear sign of his deep paternal love.

Jason Allen glanced apologetically at his old father, but there was something extremely urgent, concerning the lives of the entire family, so it had to be dealt with first.

At this moment, for some reason, he felt hungry again. To put his father at ease, he picked up the large bowl of rice beside him, poured chicken soup over it, added some vegetables, and ate in big mouthfuls. While chewing, he mumbled unclearly:

“Dad, my illness should be fine now. It was just that I got drunk and caught a chill.”

Seeing his son shoveling rice and meat into his mouth, Mr. Allen was naturally even more relieved. His round face beamed as he said:

“As long as you’re fine, that’s good. Eat more and nourish your body. Your illness at the beginning of the year was too severe, your body probably hasn’t recovered yet, and you’re still too weak.”

Jason Allen nodded, took a couple more bites, and said seriously:

“Dad, I’ve obtained the qualification of tongsheng, so I’ll probably be going out to study soon. But this year, many academies seem to be very strict in assessing tongsheng who come to study—well, it’s like recruiting a son-in-law, the father-in-law definitely wouldn’t want a sickly son-in-law… The academies surely won’t bother to investigate how many times I’ve been ill, but what about others? For example, other tongsheng who might be squeezed out by me?”

In front of Jason Allen, Mr. Allen was a doting father, but his other identity was that of a great grain merchant who had started his business with the last seven strings of cash from selling the family’s final three mu of irrigated land, revived the declining family business, and expanded the grain trade across two prefectures, eight counties, and even into other countries!

At Jason Allen’s words, his expression immediately turned serious. He called the old steward at once to instruct the servants: the serious illness from years ago could not be concealed, but this time, the story of “drunkenness” and “catching a chill” must be firmly established!

Every servant in the residence would have their monthly allowance doubled, but if anyone dared to gossip about the young master’s recent “drunkenness and catching a chill,” they would be beaten to death on the spot!

As for the three doctors who came to treat him, each would receive twenty taels of hush money. These three doctors were all locals with deep roots, families spanning several generations, and were also household retainers of the Lin family. The money was delivered by Henry Thompson, the head guard of the grain transport team—rumored to have dozens of lives on his hands—so of course, they agreed without hesitation.

The deeper meaning behind Jason Allen’s actions was, of course, not about the academies’ admissions at all; that was just an excuse. After absorbing the demonic star fate of fellow yao-ming Frank Easton, he naturally gained some of that guy’s memory fragments, and thus learned of Frank Easton’s escape and the disaster it brought. With the Five Virtues Academy having lost such an outstanding student, they would most likely come to investigate.

But this was Nanzheng!

More importantly, the identity of Frank Easton as a yao-ming was also a huge taboo for him personally!

------------

Chapter 11: Inventory (Thanks to Alliance Leader Yin Qingyue for the support)

Therefore, even the Five Virtues Academy, which could move unhindered throughout Central Tang, could only act in secret if they wanted to find him. Frank Easton had no idea of his identity, so as long as he went out to study as expected, he wouldn’t arouse anyone’s suspicion.

Thus, the only possible remaining point of suspicion was this: his three days of unconsciousness! If someone with an agenda connected Frank Easton’s incident with his own coma, that would be disastrous.

Fortunately, the The Allen Family was the local power in Hechang City, and was about to become a true force to be reckoned with. Smoothing over this matter would be all too easy.

After handling this, Jason Allen felt a huge weight lifted from his mind. He relaxed, drank the ginseng soup his mother had sent over via a maid in one gulp, and impatiently waved for the servant attending him to leave so he could catch up on sleep.

***

Sunlight streamed through the window lattice, warmly shining on Jason Allen’s face. Thinking back to that night’s desperate, frenzied struggle, and then seeing this bright sunlight, he truly felt as if a lifetime had passed.

In this era, whenever someone fell ill, doctors would repeatedly warn to “avoid wind,” strictly forbid “catching cold,” and further “avoid certain foods.” So Jason Allen hadn’t properly cleaned himself for several days, and his body reeked of a sour, musty odor.

He wasn’t so particular, so he used the hot water nearby to thoroughly wash himself.

After doing all the things a normal person should do, Jason Allen once again froze in front of the washbasin. Large droplets of water slipped through his fingers, shattering the reflection in the basin, but there were always gaps between his fingers where light leaked through. As the water gradually stilled, it reflected a haggard face—and a head full of gray hair.