The next day.
Wei Tu got up early, slung his luggage over his back, and went to wait outside the County Yamen.
It was nearly noon before several laborers pushed open the County Yamen's main gates.
The County Yamen had its offices in front and residence behind. The front offices had gone unrepaired for years and looked exceedingly dilapidated. Yet after Wei Tu circled past the screen wall, passed through the ceremonial gate, and arrived behind the Admonition Stele Archway, he saw through the courtyard walls a lofty three-story wooden pavilion rising within the inner residence.
The pavilion was exquisitely built, its upturned eaves standing sharp, the chiwen ornaments on its roof ridge faintly raised. Auspicious designs of carp transforming into dragons and flying cranes were inlaid throughout its structure.
Wei Tu stared in astonishment. He had reached the side of the main hall bearing the plaque "Household Affairs Office." Seeing no one around, only a minor official in a black robe inside drafting documents at his desk, too occupied to glance his way, he gathered his courage, rose onto his toes atop the platform foundation, and peered over the courtyard wall.
Stone-paved ground, white walls, black-tiled roofs...
Pavilions, terraces, towers, and halls...
The inner residence's architecture had an utterly different air from that of the front offices.
A true man ought to be like this, Wei Tu thought.
Though the Li Family and Huang Family were both wealthy households, he had been lowly then and had not dared to look too much or too closely. Now that he had redeemed himself and come here, his state of mind was different. Looking upon these antique buildings, he felt neither irritation nor loathing. Instead, appreciation and longing arose within him.
Though his previous life had also distinguished between towering buildings and low civilian dwellings, the difference in status between people had not been so great, and it had not stirred such unusual feelings.
In this life, one's status differed, and so did the houses one lived in. Everything had to conform to ritual propriety; naturally, the feeling was different.
After taking it all in, Wei Tu composed himself, took out his contract of indenture and letter of proof, then lightly knocked on the door of the Household Affairs Office.
"What business do you have?" The black-robed clerk stopped writing, looked up at Wei Tu outside the door, and asked.
Wei Tu kept it brief and explained that he had come to remove himself from the slave registry.
"Removing yourself from the slave registry?" The clerk exclaimed in surprise. He slanted the goat-hair brush in his hand into the brush stand and gave Wei Tu a careful once-over.
Although the Household Affairs Office managed household registration and handled the redemption of servants, ever since he had inherited his father's post and become a clerk, he had never once seen a servant come to the office on his own to remove himself from the slave registry.
"Do you have your contract of indenture? A letter from your master's household?" The clerk's tone became somewhat gentler.
Though he did not know Wei Tu, anyone who could redeem himself and change his registration at such an age was clearly no ordinary person, worthy of greater regard.
"Yes!" Wei Tu did not waste words. He entered the Household Affairs Office, bowed slightly, and presented his contract of indenture and letter to the clerk with both hands.
"Mm... nineteen years old?" The clerk raised his brows slightly.
At first sight, he had assumed Wei Tu was a robust man of thirty. He had not expected him to be a youth not yet twenty.
The clerk memorized Wei Tu's name and native place, then opened the contract and letter, carefully comparing the handwriting and seals against the Household Affairs Office archives.
Once he found no discrepancies, the clerk took out a register whose cover bore the large characters "Commoner Registry" and added Wei Tu's name to its final page.
"Once you enter the commoner registry, you must pay the fixed head tax every year. If you own farmland, you must also pay land tax... In addition, if you do not wish to perform your annual corvée service, you must pay Substitute Service Silver."
The clerk explained each point in turn.
Hearing this,
Wei Tu nodded, indicating that he understood.
Becoming a commoner was only temporary.
So long as he passed this year's martial examination and obtained a degree, he could move from the "commoner registry" into the "martial registry," perhaps even the "official registry."
At that time,
he would no longer need to pay head tax or Substitute Service Silver.
"After three years in the commoner registry, if you have no unpaid head taxes or Substitute Service Silver, and your household owns no farmland, the yamen may, as circumstances permit, grant you permanent allotment land. Remember that."
The clerk gave him a reminder.
"Thank you, sir."
Wei Tu bowed in thanks.
After leaving the County Yamen,
Wei Tu did not linger in the county seat. After eating a flatbread Xinghua had made yesterday, he followed the crowd out of the city.
For safety's sake, Wei Tu did not act arrogantly by traveling day and night without rest. Instead, he found an inn midway to rest his feet, only continuing his journey the next day.
After walking for another half day on the second day,
Wei Tu rounded a hillock and finally spotted, near the river below the slope, a village bearing the name "Danjia Village."
After asking the villagers for directions, Wei Tu arrived at the only blue-brick residence in Danjia Village with three hitching posts still standing outside it.
"Li Yaozu? How strange." Martial Graduate Dan sat atop the stone mill before the house. His face was lean and refined, his features long and narrow. He wore a brownish-purple summer robe of finished silk cotton, with a brass water pipe tucked at his waist.
After reading the letter, Martial Graduate Dan shook the ash from his water pipe's bowl. He told Wei Tu, "Come in," then walked into the residence with his hands clasped behind his back.
The Dan Residence was a three-courtyard compound. Several fine horses were kept in the first courtyard, and when they saw Martial Graduate Dan enter, each stretched out its neck and neighed loudly.
Upon reaching the main hall of the second courtyard, Martial Graduate Dan sat down and said, "I'll take you on as a long-term laborer. As for teaching you Martial Arts Techniques, that depends on my mood—and whether you have the makings for it."
"Also, after you take the martial examination and obtain a degree, you must pay me yearly respects and bring gifts at every festival. Can you do that?"
Martial Graduate Dan asked.
"If I succeed, Master Dan will be my benefactor and teacher. It is only right for a disciple to honor his master." After pondering briefly, Wei Tu gave this somewhat diplomatic reply.
"Very good."
Martial Graduate Dan did not refute him. A faint smile appeared on his face.
"There are stone locks for building strength outside, as well as heavy bows. Try them all, and let's see whether you truly have the makings."
Martial Graduate Dan pointed outside.
Wei Tu nodded and walked out.
When he had entered earlier, he had already noticed the arrangements in Martial Graduate Dan's second courtyard. All eighteen types of weapons were present, along with bronze human figures and wooden training dummies.
Shortly afterward, Wei Tu reached the corner of the courtyard, tensed his right arm, and lifted a stone lock marked "three hundred jin."
After more than a year of practice, his Health Cultivation Technique had progressed further. Though it had not yet reached great mastery, it had surpassed minor mastery by a considerable margin.
His strength had also risen from two hundred jin in one arm to three hundred jin.
"Your Spiritual Roots are not bad." Martial Graduate Dan nodded slightly, a trace of satisfaction appearing in his eyes.
Martial arts had always placed great importance on Spiritual Roots.
Without adequate Spiritual Roots, no matter how one trained, it would be difficult to even enter the gate.
In Martial Graduate Dan's eyes, being able to lift a three-hundred-jin stone lock with one arm meant Wei Tu was one of those ordinary people blessed with exceptional talent.
However,
when it came time to draw a heavy bow, Wei Tu shook his head and honestly admitted that his archery skills were lacking.
"Your archery is poor?" Martial Graduate Dan frowned. In the martial examination, strength alone was far from enough to earn a degree.
Still, Martial Graduate Dan did not take it too much to heart. If Wei Tu could not make it this year, he could simply take the examination again next time.
Archery skills could be practiced further.
After all, Wei Tu was still young.
"What Martial Arts Techniques or Saber Techniques have you learned?" Martial Graduate Dan pondered for a moment and asked.
The Martial Arts Techniques he meant were not flowery fists and embroidered kicks, but proper inherited fist-and-foot techniques, with various forms of Stance Training. They were the foundation of external martial arts.
These Martial Arts Techniques could be practiced for a lifetime.
Most of the various Saber Techniques passed down among martial masters were also derived from these Martial Arts Techniques.
"Only... the Turtle Breath Qi Cultivation Technique."
Wei Tu answered truthfully.
"The Turtle Breath Qi Cultivation Technique? That Health Cultivation Technique? What kind of nonsense is that?"
Martial Graduate Dan had clearly heard of the Turtle Breath Qi Cultivation Technique's reputation, and his words swiftly revealed his disdain for this health cultivation method.
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