It took a couple of weeks before the injuries were well enough for him to move around and even then he’d spent the first part of that doing some light rehabilitation.

When he was finally well enough to move unaided, he headed out to find the estates Steward, flanked by his two guards. The courtyard that belonged to their Young Master was just a small part of the more massive Grand Ren Estate.

Old Wan had been the steward of the Ren Manor estate for nearly seventy years.

As a youth, he had followed the old Patriarch into battle during the war-torn glory days of the Grand General, and now he waged war on a different front. He commanded the army of servants and maids that conducted the day to day running of the estate.

He did it with particular pride and distinction.

Of late, however, he had been troubled. The matter of the Young Master had hit the Lord and the Patriarch both hard and it was clear the atmosphere was weighing heavily on the serving staff. A dark cloud covered the Estate.

You could see the maids moving around as if walking on eggshells.

So he was wholly unprepared when the Young Master in question appeared in front of him followed by two of his Black Tiger guard.

“Young Lord, how can this Old Wan be of assistance to you.”

“Steward Wan. I require these herbs, the sooner, the better. Use my allowance as you see fit but try not to use it all as it is only the start of the month and there’ll be many long days till the start of the next.”

The old steward merely raised an eyebrow as he accepted the list of ingredients from the Young Lord.

However, inside, he was shocked. In all the time he had watched the young Master grow up, he could not recall any instance of him taking an interest in such things. Neither could he remember ever being referred to as ‘Steward Wan’.

As the keeper of the young Master's purse, he was more used to being derided as ‘Old Wan’ or even slandered as ‘Devil Wan’.

Deep down he felt strangely happy at hearing the Young Lord call him Steward Wan, did this mean the incident had forced the debauchee to turn over a new leaf?

He could only hope.

He was aware that recently the young Lord had taken to consulting with several of the cities doctors as well as studying some of the medical books from the Estates own library.

Scanning over the list of things while nodding thoughtfully at several items.

Indeed nothing on this list was unheard of or altogether rare or uncommon, but the volume of the ingredients required may prove a problem.

“Young Lord should be at ease. Our stores contain most of these items you seek and the rest are easy enough to procure in the city. I shall have a few runners sent to the alchemists, pill vendors and herb farmers immediately.”

Ren Yao watched the old man bow before returning to his room.

By mid-afternoon the space in his outer courtyard was densely packed with barrels and boxes of various herbs. Although all of low quality, their quantity was shocking.

The Young Lord sat in a high backed wicker chair just inside the open doors to the private dwelling, watching as one menacing guard after another carried in the next batch of pretty blooming flowers.

The scents coming from his yard had attracted not just birds and bees but also scores of maids, who took deep breaths as they purposely made passes of the yard. They could feel the calming effect of the heady scents healing their souls.

In his previous life, he was feared as the Venomous Butterfly.

Naturally, such a title wasn’t obtained easily, and his knowledge of poisons also extended to an understanding of alchemy and pill concocting. Given his previous life span, how could it not?

He wouldn’t claim the recipes he knew were world-shaking, there were, after all, people who devoted their entire beings to the pursuit of the Dao of Alchemy and how could his hobbyist knowledge compare to their lifetime of study.

But he did admit to having some modest skill in the area.

The majority of the plants he’d gathered here had uses in other alchemy recipes as stabilisers and fillers that’s why they could procure such quantities at such short notice.

The rest were merely cheap, inexpensive low-level ingredients.

He stared out across the outer courtyard that had been transformed into a floral garden and gave a contented sigh. He truly appreciated things of beauty, no matter how fleeting or ethereal.

“My Lord, this is the last of them.”

A guard appeared in front of him to report the progress.

Seeing the large sweaty man block his beautiful scene completely broke the atmosphere he had been basking in a moment before. He wrinkled his brow in a frown but gave a curt nod and said nothing.

He rose from the chair and descended into the flower garden, running his hands through the fresh blooms and dewy buds he wandered in their midst for a short while.

He raised his hand, and at his signal, the shirtless muscle heads of his Black Tiger guard carried in several large wooden basins. The first set of plants were tossed unceremoniously into the awaiting pool before being mercilessly crushed under the sole of the fierce warriors.

Men more used to crushing skulls now stomped flowers underfoot.

The juices of these pitiful plants were collected in another bucket as it was forced from the vats by oppressive march.

In a separate room of his courtyard, there was a deep pool carved into the floor. The elegant bathing area that was solely for his private use. Shaped like a lotus flower, it sank into the floor almost two meters.

There was a thick ledge around the lower third used for sitting, the backrest of which had an intricate mosaic of archaic beasts and a set of small steps at each end for entering or exiting the bath.

They sealed the hole in the bottom before the first bucket of the crushed extract tipped unceremoniously into the awaiting ornate stone bath.

Ren Yao watched over the liquid sloshing out of the bucket with a pleasant smile.

What he was getting ready to bathe in was a very simple concoction that was usually used by women during pregnancy. It was an essential extract that had the properties of stabilising and nurturing the Yuan Qi of new-borns.

Of course, they would never use it in such volumes as he was about to.

It was generally made into an easy to swallow pill or mild tonic and taken by the expectant mother as soon as she was about to give birth.

For a man, this kind of concoction would be utterly useless.

Of course, that would be if they were to use it in the standard prescribed method.

He spent a while overseeing the progress of the flower pressing. After a few hours they’d plundered the flower garden, and the pleasant aroma morphed into a strange acrid smell that permeated the clothing and lingered strongly.

In the stone bath, a dark purple liquid had utterly filled it.

Every so often large bubbles formed on its surface before bursting maliciously and releasing an overpowering stench. Even the usually stoic guards, who wouldn’t flinch even after killing a thousand people, baulked at the smell and had to be withdrawn.

Ren Yao approached the foul purple pool, a glimmer of fresh balm under his nose.

He disrobed in one fluid motion and even before his clothes had piled on the floor, had taken his first few purposeful strides into the putrid bog.