However, the prerequisite for entering the martial examinations was first shedding his slave status in Qingmu County.
But casting off slave status was often no easy matter.
First, one needed enough Redemption Silver to buy back one's contract from the master's household.
Second, one had to take the master's letter and the contract to the yamen's registration office to complete the deregistration procedures.
The yamen would not obstruct something as beneficial as gaining more taxpaying citizens under its jurisdiction. The true difficulty lay only in dealing with the master's household that held the contract.
"After all these years of eating and drinking at the Li Residence, and learning the craft of horse breeding, buying back my contract would cost at least ten taels of silver at market price..."
At this thought, Wei Tu's expression darkened.
He had struggled his way up from an ordinary tenant farmer to the Li Residence's stableman. His treatment in the Li Residence had improved by a great deal: he received wages, ate meat, and held some standing before his masters.
The master's household had even arranged his marriage for him...
If he did not redeem himself, all of this would be good.
But redemption...
Everything he had eaten, drunk, and used before would have to be paid back.
His status as a stableman would also raise the value of his contract.
Besides that...
Skilled workers were golden lumps.
When the yamen conscripted commoners for labor service, he, as a stableman, could fill in for the household and spare them a large sum of Substitute Service Silver.
Under such circumstances, even if he saved up the ten taels needed for redemption, the Li Residence would not easily let him go. What was more, Master Li was a "sharp man."
Stingy, a skinflayer.
When ordering the servants to light lamps, he allowed only a single wick, terrified of wasting his own oil.
"When Father sold me back then, he only got five qian of silver and two dou of wheat."
Wei Tu sighed inwardly.
In merely six years, his worth had multiplied twentyfold—something hard to imagine.
Still, during years of famine, life was worth nothing. That he had been able to sell himself and survive was, at the time, a blessing as well.
"How much money do we still have..." That night, when Xinghua returned to their room, Wei Tu asked about the private savings she had in hand.
Although the two of them were already married, by custom, the private savings Xinghua had saved before were all part of her dowry. Without Xinghua's consent, he, her husband, could not touch even a single cent.
"What are you asking that for?" Xinghua's face showed a trace of wariness.
The private savings she had accumulated from working in the Li Residence over the years were the foundation upon which she stood and lived.
Even though Wei Tu was her man, without a proper reason, she would not take out a single coin.
"I... plan to leave the register and take the martial examinations. I'm still far short on money..." Wei Tu did not hesitate and told her his plans.
Now that he and Xinghua were married, they were each other's closest people, relying on one another for survival.
Though using Xinghua's dowry made him feel somewhat uncomfortable, this matter of leaving the register concerned his future. Naturally, the sooner, the better.
He would not put on airs over it.
What he owed Xinghua today, he could repay a hundredfold, a thousandfold tomorrow.
Husband and wife shared hardship together and enjoyed blessings together.
"Leave the register? Wei, what possessed you? Have you gone mad?" Hearing Wei Tu's words, Xinghua sprang to her feet with a shudder. Her face was full of lingering fear as she lowered her voice and scolded, "Where could you find such good work after leaving the Li Residence? After autumn this year, I'll sound out the senior madam again. Maybe we'll be able to rent farmland this year..."
"Once we rent land, our days will improve. We'll be able to move out of this main hall too."
After muttering a few more words, tears slid from Xinghua's eyes, and she gently wiped them away with her handkerchief.
She had thought she had married a steady, dependable man and that life held hope. Now it seemed that Wei Tu was "restless" to the bone.
Martial examinations?
Were martial examinations something servants could take?
Those who came out of the martial examinations were people ordinary folk had to bow to, calling them "Martial Arts Master."
"Look." Seeing Xinghua like this, Wei Tu did not go forward to comfort her. Instead, he walked out of the main hall, lifted the two-hundred-jin stone lock from the corner of the courtyard, and carried it back inside.
Before Xinghua, he put on a demonstration with it.
Facts were the best proof.
He had the capital to take the martial examinations!
"This isn't fake, is it?" Xinghua wiped away her tears with her handkerchief, walked to Wei Tu's side, and tried to lift the stone lock.
Very quickly, disbelief appeared on her face. Her eyes were brighter and more crystalline than the lamplight in the room.
The two-hundred-jin stone lock was so heavy that she could not even lift it, yet her man was capable of swinging it about.
She was no frail woman whose shoulders could bear no load and whose hands could lift nothing.
Xinghua stepped closer and touched Wei Tu's chest. Through his summer clothes, she quickly felt the hard, bulging muscles of his chest and the pair of solid arms as thick as roof beams.
"Wei, do you really intend to take the martial examinations?" Xinghua was beginning to believe Wei Tu's words.
At that moment, she was not only hoping the next generation would succeed in their studies; she was also hoping her own man would rise above the crowd in this generation.
"As long as I train my archery well, taking the martial examinations and earning the title of Martial Scholar should not be much of a problem." Though Wei Tu was not entirely certain himself, he still gave Xinghua his word.
There was still more than a year before Qing Feng Prefecture's martial examination assessment. In that year and more, his physique would certainly become stronger than it was now.
Besides, once he was no longer a slave, many things would be easier to do. Even if the modern things in his mind could not earn him great wealth, earning a few small sums would be more than manageable.
Now that he possessed strength surpassing ordinary men, he could also protect the property that was rightfully his.
He would not need to fear petty thieves casting covetous eyes upon it.
"My private savings... amount to three taels and seven qian. This is the wages I've saved over all these years, along with the usual rewards from the residence..." After hesitating for a moment, Xinghua took her private savings from the redwood chest in the corner of the room, placed them on the bed, and counted them once.
She had entered the Li Residence two years before Wei Tu, and she had been a maid, so she usually received more rewards. Not to mention that after becoming the Li Residence's cook, skimming off a little here and there made for a decent income.
Of course, she was timid and did not dare embezzle large amounts. She only dared to pocket small amounts from bargaining when buying vegetables and meat.
The master's households generally knew that servants coveted money. So long as they did not go too far, they would not pry too deeply into it.
Otherwise, with Madam Li's shrewdness, Xinghua could not have remained the cook for so long.
"I only have a little over one tael on hand. Adding the money Father gave me, it comes to about three taels."
"We're still short by three taels and three qian from ten taels..."
Wei Tu calculated the money the two of them had together and said.
"Three taels and three... If we can persuade First Mistress this year and rent three or four mu of land, after deducting the rent, we could make five or six qian."
"I'll borrow some from Chun Lan, Cai Xia, and the others. Adding our future wages, the gap should not be too large."
"If that truly doesn't work..."
Xinghua gritted her teeth, entertaining the thought of using her position to embezzle a large sum.
"That won't do." Wei Tu saw through Xinghua's intentions and stopped her in time.
Skimming small amounts from bargaining was operating within what the rules tolerated. Even if Madam Li knew, she would turn a blind eye.
But if Xinghua entertained crooked thoughts, passed off inferior goods as superior ones, or tampered with the scales, Madam Li would not be so easy to deal with.
Even if she beat Xinghua to death, the yamen would not investigate too deeply; a fine would settle the matter.
"If you make it, I'd even become a brothel girl..." Seeing the worry on Wei Tu's face, Xinghua was moved. As though making a solemn vow, she uttered those words.
"Pah, pah, pah."
"You mustn't say such things."
"What do you take your man for?"
Wei Tu frowned and rebuked her.
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