Five-Year Veteran, Eighth-Rank Black Robe Guard

Zhang Yuan ignored Chen Wu's muddled thoughts and stopped only when they reached the gates of a grand residence with five successive courtyards.

The golden characters "Tang Residence" hung above the entrance. Below them stood stone lions five feet tall on either side, with three tiers of stone steps and two gatekeepers standing guard.

Such grandeur already qualified as a great family in Luyang Prefecture.

Chen Wu was not wearing a Black Robe Guard uniform, while Zhang Yuan wore black robes, carried a signal staff in hand, and had twin blades at his waist.

One glance at that attire told the gatekeepers he was from the Martial Guard Bureau.

"Please report that Zhang Yuan of the Martial Guard Bureau has brought Chen Wu to the Tang Family to apologize."

Standing before the gates, Zhang Yuan spoke in a clear voice.

The two gatekeepers, both around thirty, exchanged a look. One turned and went inside to report, while the other folded his arms at the entrance, his gaze falling on Chen Wu.

"So you're the kid who beat up our Seventh Young Master last night?"

Contempt showed in his eyes as the gatekeeper clicked his tongue. "One against eight—you sure can fight. If you've got the guts, don't chicken out."

"You didn't even bother asking what standing our Tang Family has."

Chen Wu clenched his fists tightly, his facial muscles taut.

Zhang Yuan had brought him here to apologize. He could not cause Zhang Yuan trouble.

Zhang Yuan's expression remained calm. He stood there in silence, gripping the signal staff in one hand.

Finding it dull, the gatekeeper chuckled twice and remained at the entrance with his arms folded.

Before long, a jumble of footsteps sounded within the residence, and a group of bruised, swollen-faced youths rushed to the gates.

"It's him!"

"Didn't they say they were going to lock him up for three to five years?"

"Perfect timing! Break his legs today!"

They shouted fiercely and rolled up their sleeves with great force, yet none of them actually stepped forward.

The beating they had taken last night still hurt.

At the front stood a middle-aged man in a gray-black brocade robe, three wisps of dark beard beneath his chin. His gaze swept over Zhang Yuan and Chen Wu before he said gravely, "Since you've come to apologize, come inside and speak."

It would not look good to make a scene at the gates for others to see.

After all, the Tang Family Disciples had suffered last night.

The people of the great residence headed inward. Zhang Yuan and Chen Wu followed them up the steps and into the residence.

"Heh, how do you think Third Master will deal with those two?"

"Who knows? Maybe he really will break their legs and throw them out."

"Surely not. They're still men from the Martial Guard Bureau."

"So what? Our family's Eldest Master is a seventh-rank official. These Black Skin Dogs have to kowtow whenever they see Eldest Master."

Behind them, the two gatekeepers spoke with anticipation in their voices.

The Tang Family Disciples huddled to one side also looked excited, though their faces hurt again whenever they smiled.

Ahead, the middle-aged man reached the stone steps outside the main hall, then turned and looked towards Zhang Yuan.

"What is your standing in the Martial Guard Bureau, to bring him here to apologize to my Tang Family?"

Zhang Yuan stopped and answered, "A five-year veteran, an Eighth-Rank Black Robe Guard."

That was it?

The middle-aged man ahead was slightly stunned.

The Tang Family Disciples behind him also froze for a moment, then could not help revealing mocking smiles.

"Third Brother, I thought the Martial Guard Bureau was showing our Tang Family respect. Who would have thought they'd only send an Eighth-Rank Black Robe Guard?"

"Exactly. They did not even send a seventh-rank commander. They're clearly looking down on our Tang Family."

"Third Brother, see? The Martial Guard Bureau is no longer that destitute office that once begged the city's families for support. Now they have four or five hundred soldiers and hold high rank and great power."

Several wounded Tang Family Disciples added fuel to the flames.

The facial muscles of the middle-aged man called Third Brother twitched. He no longer entered the main hall, but stood upon the stone steps instead. He stared fixedly at Zhang Yuan for a long while, hands clasped behind his back, then spoke down to him from above. "I am Tang Wenbo, third among the Tang Family's second generation. Outsiders call me Third Master Tang."

Raising a hand to stop Zhang Yuan from returning the greeting with cupped hands, Tang Wenbo could not be bothered with pleasantries. His face was taut as he said, "If you beat someone, you must accept punishment. That is only natural."

He pointed at Chen Wu and said in a deep voice, "You beat Tang Family Disciples. Do you admit it?"

Chen Wu took a deep breath and shouted loudly, "I was the one who beat them!"

The Tang Family Disciples at the side rolled up their sleeves again, cursing under their breaths, but still did not dare come close.

Tang Wenbo raised a hand to stop the commotion, then shifted his gaze to Zhang Yuan.

"My Tang Family is a great clan of the prefectural city. We will not lower ourselves to quibble with a mere Black Robe Guard."

"But there are some things—the Tang Family's honor cannot be lost."

Looking at Zhang Yuan, Tang Wenbo said coolly, "Can you make decisions for him?"

"Since I came with him, I naturally can make this decision." Zhang Yuan gripped the signal staff, his posture straight as he spoke in a clear voice.

"I brought him here to apologize. Whatever demands Third Master Tang has, feel free to state them."

Chen Wu lowered his head without speaking.

The Tang Family Disciples beside them all wore excited, triumphant expressions.

Tang Wenbo's gaze swept across Chen Wu. He said coldly, "The Tang Family's demand is simple. We will not send you to prison. Kneel outside the Tang Family gates for one day, then leave at sunset."

"Young people rely on a little Martial Cultivation and dare act recklessly. My Tang Family will discipline you on behalf of the Martial Guard Bureau and your elders—"

"You wish—" Chen Wu's furious shout cut Tang Wenbo off.

His fists clenched tight, blood and qi seemed to surge through Chen Wu's body.

He could come to the Tang Family with Zhang Yuan to apologize, but he would never kneel!

A faint cold smile appeared at the corner of Tang Wenbo's mouth as he looked at Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan had just said he could make decisions for Chen Wu.

"Change the demand. He will not kneel."

Zhang Yuan's expression was calm, but his words carried an unyielding firmness that allowed no negotiation.

"His father died for the country. Your Tang Family is not qualified to discipline him in his father's place."

"As for disciplining him on behalf of the Martial Guard Bureau, your Tang Family is even less qualified."

Tang Wenbo's expression turned completely cold.

The Tang Family Disciples beside him no longer egged things on.

There was no need.

Was this any attitude for an apology?

These two had not come with any sincere intention of apologizing at all.

Several of them rubbed their fists and palms together, waiting only for Tang Wenbo's command.

Two quicker-witted ones had already gestured for the guards in the courtyard to gather by the doors of the main hall.

"Heh, good, good." Tang Wenbo sneered. His face was full of cold disdain as he looked at Zhang Yuan. "Then strip him of the Black Robe Guard uniform and pay one hundred taels of Silver Ingots for medicine."

"These are the Tang Family's demands. If you cannot meet them, the Tang Family will send him to spend the New Year in the prefectural prison."

Stripping off the black robes meant being expelled from the Martial Guard Bureau.

The descendants of great clans might disdain the monthly pay of one tael and five mace of silver, but ordinary Martial Guard families depended on that pay to feed an entire household.

Strip away the black robes, and the whole family would starve.

As for one hundred taels of Silver Ingots in medical fees, that was even more impossible to produce.

A Ninth-rank Black Robe Guard could not save up one hundred taels of Silver Ingots in an entire lifetime.

Tang Wenbo's two demands were both meant to drive Chen Wu into a dead end.

How could a mere Black Robe Guard dare show disrespect to the Tang Family?

He intended to seize Zhang Yuan and Chen Wu by the throat, forcing Chen Wu to choose to kneel outside the gates.

What Martial Guard Bureau elite? What martyr who died for the country? Before the Tang Family, all of them had to obediently bend the knee.

"Fine."

Zhang Yuan's answer stunned everyone in the courtyard.

Fine—what did that mean?

He agreed?

He agreed to such harsh terms?

Tang Wenbo's outstretched hand froze in midair.

The Tang Family Disciples all looked bewildered.

Even Chen Wu was at a loss.

He could not agree to either condition. How could Zhang Yuan agree?

Zhang Yuan reached into his pocket, took out a folded roll of paper, and unfolded it.

"This is the Martial Guard Bureau's Dismissal Letter for Chen Wu, ordering him to complete his handover within three days."

"In accordance with your Tang Family's demand, the Martial Guard Bureau has stripped him of his Black Robe Guard uniform."

A Dismissal Letter!

They had truly expelled Chen Wu from the Martial Guard Bureau?

Even the Martial Guard Bureau would agree to such a condition?