Rootless Duckweed

"You should offer a handful of incense too."

Martial Graduate Dan stepped aside, gesturing for Wei Tu to come forward.

"Yes, Master."

Wei Tu nodded, took a handful of incense, lit it on the candles, bowed, and then knelt on the ground, kowtowing three times.

After finishing, Wei Tu finally placed the handful of incense in his hand into the censer.

Seeing Wei Tu's polite demeanor, Martial Graduate Dan felt even more satisfied.

After the disciple ceremony, it was already late. To avoid suspicion, Wei Tu asked Martial Graduate Dan for leave and departed the inner courtyard.

Along the way.

He encountered several maidservants.

These maidservants had clearly already heard the news of Wei Tu becoming Martial Graduate Dan's disciple. When they saw Wei Tu, they dropped their previous arrogant demeanor towards long-term laborers and became humble, stepping aside and curtsying.

One of the well-built maidservants even called Wei Tu "Young Master," her voice so sweet it could melt.

This left Wei Tu feeling dazed. It wasn't until he was out of the second courtyard that he came back to his senses.

"Young Master?"

"I'm a Young Master now?"

Wei Tu returned to the West Room in a daze. He repeatedly savored the word "Young Master," a smile appearing on his face from time to time, a stark contrast to his composure during the disciple ceremony.

If anyone had seen him, they might have thought Wei Tu had gone mad, constantly grinning foolishly.

In Year 15 of Qing'an, he had been sold to the Li Family. Although appreciated by his masters, he was ultimately just a groom leading horses.

Now.

In Year 23 of Qing'an.

He had not only redeemed his deed of indenture but had also become Martial Graduate Dan's disciple, a significant leap in social status.

Given this.

Even with Wei Tu's steady temperament, it was difficult to remain completely unfazed, neither proud nor dejected.

"I can't slack off! The reason the servants at the Dan Residence respect me is because I am Martial Graduate Dan's disciple. This status is like rootless duckweed, unstable..."

Half an hour later, Wei Tu got off the bed, drew a bucket of cool well water, and washed his face. His expression regained its usual calmness.

"I must write about this happy occasion to Xinghua..."

"Tomorrow, I'll ask Martial Graduate Dan to borrow some paper and ink to write a letter to Xinghua."

Wei Tu thought to himself.

The West Room where he stayed was the long-term laborers' quarters. Besides the bed, table, clothes, and bedding, there were no other sundries.

Let alone the paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones that only wealthy families and scholars could afford.

However.

Just then—

The sound of light footsteps came from outside the West Room door.

Having practiced the Health Cultivation Technique for so long, Wei Tu's strength had increased, and even his hearing and eyesight had improved. He could tell from the footsteps that they were not made by a man.

Next.

A knock sounded on the door.

"Brother Wei, have you rested?" Madam Shan knocked and asked.

"Is that Third Mistress?"

Wei Tu was surprised.

In prominent families, not only outer males and servants had to avoid impropriety, but female family members did too.

It was already late at night, and Madam Shan coming to the long-term laborers' quarters with a man alone was inevitably awkward.

However, before Wei Tu could think further, Madam Shan's next words dispelled his concerns.

"This West Room is too simple. My husband ordered me to take you to a side room in the second courtyard."

Madam Shan said.

Hearing this.

Wei Tu felt relieved and let out a sigh of relief.

He then put on his clothes, got out of bed, tidied himself up, and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Wei Tu saw that not only Madam Shan was standing outside, but also Deng An, who had just returned from the threshing ground.

Deng An, perhaps intimidated by Madam Shan, stood outside the eaves, about ten paces away from Madam Shan, watching the situation from afar, not daring to return to his room to rest.

"Follow me," Madam Shan said with a smile when she saw Wei Tu emerge.

A moment later.

The two entered the second courtyard, one after the other.

As they entered the second courtyard, Madam Shan handed Wei Tu a key and said, "This is the key to the second courtyard gate. Keep it safe and don't lose it."

Wei Tu nodded. After hanging the key on his waist, he quickly put some distance between himself and Madam Shan, maintaining a distance of five paces.

Prominent families often locked the gates of each courtyard at night to prevent unauthorized entry and affairs within the inner chambers, restricting movement within the courtyards.

Not long after.

Madam Shan led Wei Tu to a side room in the second courtyard and had a maidservant tidy up the bedding and clean the room for him.

"Brother Wei, it's late, I'll be going now." Madam Shan stood outside the door, pursed her lips, gave Wei Tu a slightly reserved, shallow bow, and disappeared down the corridor.

"This..."

Seeing this, Wei Tu was first taken aback. Then, after a moment of thought, he felt a sense of understanding.

In the Shan household, because Madam Shan had always managed internal affairs, he had regarded her as the mistress of the house, on par with Madam Li.

But it was only today that he remembered that Madam Shan was merely the third wife of Martial Graduate Dan, and without children of her own, she was just a favored concubine.

Her actual status was not high.

And he, having become Martial Graduate Dan's disciple, was actually on equal footing with Madam Shan in the Dan household, even surpassing her slightly.

Although Martial Graduate Dan had not explicitly stated these differences in status, the servants and concubines of the Dan household understood them clearly.

"This is the duckweed on a floating root, the clouds driven by the wind."

Wei Tu silently warned himself.

Previously, when he was in the West Room, he had grasped this point, but not deeply. After all, he had just had his status elevated and was still immersed in immense joy.

Seeing the former "madam" of the house bowing and scraping to him now, even if he were more foolish, he should have woken up.

Once his martial arts cultivation progress fell short of Martial Graduate Dan's expectations, or if he failed the martial arts examination this year, his status as a disciple, while not revoked, would become uncertain in the Dan household.

After the maidservant had finished arranging the bedding, Wei Tu began to examine his new room.

Against the east wall stood a wooden bed, with a printed summer cloth canopy hanging over it. In front of the bed, towards the west, was a half-table, on which sat two long-necked porcelain vases.

Looking further west, beyond a curtain, was a lacquered wooden desk, upon which lay a stack of old books and a brush washer stand.

Wei Tu lifted the cloth curtain and stepped closer. On the brush stand were several writing brushes of varying sizes, including both wolf hair and goat hair brushes.

The four treasures of the study—paper, ink, brushes, and inkstone—were all present.

As for the old books, Wei Tu flipped through them a few times and found that they were military books rarely seen in bookshops. There was "Ji Jiao," which dealt with troop training, and "Duke Tai's Book" and "Yin Fu Jing," which focused on formations and strategy.

"Master is truly thoughtful..."

Seeing all this, Wei Tu felt a heartfelt gratitude towards Martial Graduate Dan, who had taken him as a disciple.

If his chances of success in the martial arts examination after redeeming himself were thirty percent.

Then, with Martial Graduate Dan's comprehensive guidance, Wei Tu was confident he could raise that to over fifty percent, even sixty or seventy percent.

Soon.

Wei Tu composed himself, began to grind ink, and picked up his brush to write a letter.

In the letter, he shared the good news with Xinghua that he had been accepted as a disciple by Martial Graduate Dan. He also told Xinghua not to wait for him to come home for the New Year, as he needed to seize the time and make up for all his shortcomings before the examination in February.

Only then would he have the confidence to participate in the martial arts examination.

Thank you for the 100 starting coins reward from "Ascending Power."

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