He had Lan Fen brought to a separate room. Although they were finally speaking she still clearly had her guard up around him. The sheer confusion on the servants as they led her away spoke volumes of what was typically expected of him. There was no way he’d force Lan Fen to sleep in his room though.

Plus he needed some privacy.

Received Hundredfold: Pure Spirit Water

He focused on the words and they disappeared with a cup appearing in his hand. It was of much finer porcelain than what he had handed Lan Fen. The water itself looked like liquid crystal and a refreshing scent wafted out from it.

Down the hatch then.

A cool pleasant sensation emanated from his stomach and he could practically trace the feeling as it spread through his veins and left the energy in his body stronger and purer than before. Chen Haoran ran through some simple exercises to work out the new feeling.

It was rather obvious how his power worked now. Give stuff, get it back a hundred times better. If being connected was as important as he thought then Lan Fen was probably the only one his power would work on. Still, this opened up a whole world of opportunities if he played it right.

He needed to speak with Lan Fen again.

———

There was an office in the manor that seemed seldom used by the Young Master even before he transmigrated over. It was small and functional but it lacked the flashy decorations and casual luxury his sin cave of a bedroom had. A solid desk and chairs made of oak, a few purely decorative bookshelves made of the same. It was perfect.

Lan Fen sat straight-backed while he took a seat behind the desk. He didn’t know where she got the green peony-printed dress she changed into but she had at least ditched the veil.

“Before we start I’d like to show my sincerity,” Chen Haoran said. He pulled out a sack and two books and presented them to Lan Fen. She carefully leaned over and he saw shock spread across her as she read the book's titles.

“Yellow River Refinement and the Stone Carving Sword?” she whispered.

“Oh good, you know what they are.”

“These are techniques at the Profound level!” she said.

“I literally do not know what that means.” He found them underneath his mattress along with the silver so he assumed they were important. They had something to do with the power running through his body that much he was sure.

“You-” Lan Fen hesitated, looking between him and his gifts. “What are you aiming for?”

“I know you don’t trust me but we’re both in a position where we can only work together,” he said. Well, so he hoped. Even without the benefit of the Gifting power Lan Fen was the only potential ally he had in this situation. “I have no memories of being Chen Haoran, how he acts, who he knows, or anything about the world period.”

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“So you say,” she said.

“So I say,” he agreed.

“In any case, it’s only a matter of time before people realize I’m not the same person,” He didn’t have an exact grasp on the norms of this world yet but he was reasonably sure possession still rated highly on the ‘burn it with fire scale. “I need someone who can teach me what I don’t know and ask the questions I can’t, you fit both of those roles perfectly.” Plus he could point to her as the reason for his personality change.

“What is this then?” Lan Fen said, pointing to his gifts.

His future.

“My sincerity, in return for your cooperation you’ll have the full material support I can give for whatever it is you want.” That it would pay off for him a hundred times more of course went unsaid. Lan Fen waited for him to speak more but he had said his piece. While he knew she had some sort of accident that put her in this situation he wasn’t dumb enough to mention it first and he didn’t know enough about her to make any guesses besides.

“What if I told you I wanted revenge on the Lan Family then?”

“Of course, you’ll have my full support,” Chen Haoran promised. While he didn’t know how strong the Lan family was compared to what he could bring to bear he didn’t have much of a choice. In any case, the benefits he’d gain from supplying her vendetta far outweighed the risks in his book. “I didn’t like Lan Bitch either when I met her.”

Lan Fen laughed. It was full and deep and as she carried on laughing he began to suspect it wasn’t just the nickname she was laughing at. This might’ve been the first she’s laughed at all in a long time.

“What is that?” she huffed, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Well, I didn’t know the name of that girl you came in with at the shrine but I knew she was Lan and I knew she was a bitch so…”

Lan Fen gradually lost the hard-won smile and turned serious. He felt a little sad to see it go honestly. She slumped into the chair and rested her head against her fist, golden eyes roaming the grain of the wooden floor like a general at rest. It looked very natural for her.

“It’s an accurate name, Lan Yao was born with thorns,” she said and he filed the name away. “I ignored her because I was always strong enough to grab her stem regardless.” Her eyes narrowed, a predator's gaze. “A mistake.”

“Will these techniques be able to help you?” He wished she would just hurry up and accept them. Lan Fen idly considered him before looking at the books.

“I am a Metal Attribute,” she said as if that answered everything.

“Still don’t know what that means.” Lan Fen looked flummoxed before understanding.

“It’s the affinity of my Spirit Root. These techniques are of the Water Element which has a positive interaction with Metal among the Five Elements.” She never stopped staring at him as she explained. “I can make use of it.”

“That’s good then.” She’d be more likely to accept something useful to her after all.

“These are Profound level techniques you know,” Lan Fan said, bewildered. “Even I only had a Mortal level cultivation technique.”

“Are they that valuable?” he said.

“There are four ranks to techniques: Mortal, Profound, Earth, and Heaven, the higher they are the more difficult it is to acquire them but the benefits they provide are immense,” she said. “My Lan family has two techniques at the Profound level but as they were Wood aspected I could not cultivate them.” There was no way Lan Fen wasn’t someone important in the Lan Family, that they couldn’t get her a suitable method to practice showed how difficult it was. “The other families should be the same.”

“Well it’s fine, take them.” Seriously take them, take everything, please. “When I promised you my full support I meant it, whatever you need I’ll get it for you.”

Lan Fen closed her eyes and didn’t say anything. Chen Haoran was crossing his fingers under his desk, hoping that he got through to her.

“Fine,” she said. She stood up and grabbed the books and silver.

Received Hundred-Fold: Earth Rank Yellow Dragon River Refinement

Received Hundred-Fold: Earth Rank Canyon Carving Sword

Received Hundred-Fold: Two Hundred Gold Taels

“Do not regret anything,” Lan Fen said. She bared her teeth in a rather threatening smile.

“Oh don’t worry,” Chen Haoran said. Feeling his own blinding smile build as he saw the rewards.

“I won’t.”