The Huge Sum That Bought His Freedom

Time slipped by like a white colt flashing past a crack in the wall. In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

The autumn wind in Qinghe County was still bleak, and it had dimmed the gold-lettered signboard of Lin Manor.

The Lin Family had fallen on hard times over the past three years. The Jin Family had squeezed their silk business in the south of the city until it was nearly starved of supplies, while several shops in the north had suffered losses year after year because of poor management.

Master Lin's once plump, round face now sagged with slack flesh. His eye bags were dark, and he spent his days sighing in his study, worrying himself gray over several thousand taels in losses.

Chen Ping stood in a dim corner of the servants' quarters, counting the heavy black cloth bundle for the last time.

Five hundred taels.

That was everything he had worked for over the past three years.

Besides selling medicinal herbs with even greater fervor than before, he had also used his great-uncle Liu Sanjin's connections to take on a number of shady escort jobs under the alias Black Fiend.

Each time, he had risked his neck, earning the money by walking the blade's edge and bathing in blood.

"Five hundred taels, in exchange for my freedom and a ticket to the Imperial Military Examination."

Chen Ping's fingers gently brushed the rough paper of the banknotes. The thick calluses on his fingertips rasped against it.

In Qinghe County, this sum was enough to buy a two-courtyard residence, acquire dozens of mu of fertile land, and live in comfort as a wealthy gentleman.

But to Chen Ping, it was only the first toll on his long road to immortality.

He tied the bundle tightly around his waist and pushed open the door.

Though he still wore a plain blue cloth jacket and trousers, his build was nothing like it had been three years ago.

He was lean, but his muscles were taut as iron. He deliberately hid the restrained vigor in every gesture beneath a slightly hunched back.

Outside the study.

Chen Ping knelt on both knees, his forehead against the cold bluestone floor. His voice was respectful and humble.

"Your servant Chen Ping requests an audience with Master."

A moment later, Master Lin's tired, impatient voice came from inside the study. "Come in."

Chen Ping rose, lowered his head, and shuffled into the study.

The room was filled with the stale smell of ink and damp. Master Lin slumped in a Grand Master Chair, turning two walnuts in his hand that had long since lost their luster.

The Head Steward stood to one side, his slanted, triangular eyes fixed on Chen Ping like a venomous snake.

"You're a servant. Why aren't you on duty in the outer courtyard? What are you doing here?" Master Lin asked without even raising his eyes.

Chen Ping said nothing. He silently untied the black cloth bundle from his waist, held it up in both hands, and approached the desk step by step before setting it down gently.

The bundle fell open.

A thick stack of banknotes and several ingots of pure silver gleamed in the dim light, alluring and deadly.

Master Lin's hand stopped turning the walnuts.

The Head Steward's murky eyes widened, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

The study fell silent.

"This... What is this?"

Master Lin's voice trembled. He leaned forward without thinking, staring intently at the pile of silver.

"Master, it's five hundred taels."

Chen Ping kept his head lowered, his tone calm.

"Your servant begs Master to show mercy, remove him from the household registry, and grant him a Letter of Recommendation so he may sit this year's Imperial Military Examination."

"Five hundred taels?!"

Master Lin sucked in a sharp breath and sprang to his feet. His gaze darted between the silver and Chen Ping, shock quickly giving way to deep suspicion and greed.

"You're a household servant. Where did you get so much money? Did you steal it from the manor's treasury?"

"Master, please see the truth."

Chen Ping was prepared. Unhurriedly, he took a broken piece of a Jade Pendant from his breast.

"My ancestors were wealthy men in the previous dynasty. This is the last memento they passed down. A few days ago, I sold it at the Black Market. Together with what I've saved by scrimping over the past few years, I finally managed to put this sum together."

The story was full of holes, but with five hundred taels of real silver before him, the money was what mattered most.

Master Lin tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, his eyes shifting back and forth.

Five hundred taels would be more than enough to resolve the Lin Family's immediate crisis.

But let a household servant take the Imperial Military Examination?

If the boy passed and prospered, would he hold a grudge against the Lin Family for all the years they had mistreated him?

"Master."

The Head Steward, who had said nothing until now, suddenly leaned close to Master Lin's ear and lowered his voice.

"This boy's origins are suspect. A household servant with a fortune like this has committed a capital crime. In my humble opinion, we should simply..."

The Head Steward made a slicing motion across his throat, a murderous glint in his eyes.

Chen Ping's ears twitched.

After being tempered day and night by the Longevity of Pine and Crane, his five senses had long surpassed those of ordinary people. The whisper, faint as a mosquito's buzz, still reached his ears word for word.

The well-fed are blind to the world, and greedy beyond measure.

Chen Ping sneered inwardly, but kept his deferential expression. Only his lowered eyelids lifted slightly, revealing a keen glint.

He slowly straightened his back, no longer looking like a hunchbacked servant.

"Master. Head Steward."

"Your servant knows his place is lowly, but these five hundred taels are the price of my life. If they can't buy it..."

Chen Ping paused and casually rested his right hand beside a blue-and-white porcelain teacup on the desk.

It was Master Lin's favorite Ru Kiln Teacup.

"Crack."

Chen Ping's palm did not exert any force. It did not even touch the teacup, merely hovering three inches above it.

Yet the hard porcelain cup was struck by an invisible hammer. Spiderweb cracks instantly spread across it, and with a clatter, it crumbled into a heap of fine powder on the desktop.

He had sent his inner energy outward, shattering an object from a distance!

It was a feat only achievable after one's internal martial arts had reached a certain level!

Master Lin's pupils contracted. He dropped back into the Grand Master Chair, his face deathly pale.

The Head Steward's unfinished slander caught in his throat. He stared in terror at the porcelain dust on the desk, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

If that palm had just landed on someone's crown...

The air in the study froze.

Chen Ping withdrew his hand and lowered his head again, resuming his deferential posture. What had just happened seemed like an illusion.

"Your servant only wants a future and has no ulterior motives. If I pass the examination, I will always remember the Lin Family's kindness."

It was both a way out and a final warning.

Would they destroy each other, or get what they each wanted?

Master Lin was, after all, a businessman. Once the initial terror passed, his mind raced.

This boy was so skilled in martial arts that if they tried to keep him here, Lin Manor might be awash in blood by nightfall.

But if he showed some kindness, took the silver, and made a good connection, he might come out ahead.

"Ahem..."

Master Lin cleared his throat twice, forcing down his terror and plastering on a smile.

"Chen Ping, I watched you grow up. Since you have such an ambition, how could I... how could I refuse to help you achieve it?"

He quickly spread out a sheet of rice paper and began to write.

A Manumission Document and a Letter of Recommendation.

He finished both in one go.

As he stamped them with the Lin Family's bright red seal, Master Lin's hand still trembled.

"However..."

When Master Lin handed the documents over, he held one corner fast.

"You did come from the Lin Family. If you pass the Imperial Military Examination, you must register under the Lin Family's name and protect the Lin Family for ten years. If the Lin Family runs into trouble during those ten years, you must not stand by and do nothing."

"Agreed."

Chen Ping answered without hesitation.

Ten years?

In these turbulent times, who knew whether the Lin Family would even last that long?

He took the two thin sheets of paper. They felt weightless in his hands, yet heavy as a thousand jun.

He left the five hundred taels on the desk, turned around, and strode out of the study.

The moment he pushed open the door, the midday sun broke through the clouds and fell on his face without restraint.

It was a little dazzling, yet so warm that it made him want to cry.

He raised a hand to shade his eyes and watched the golden light filter through his fingers. For a moment, everything felt unreal.

Even after crossing into this world, even with his Golden Finger in hand, it was only now, holding the Manumission Document, that he truly felt like a living person—not someone's property or slave.

"I'm free."

Chen Ping murmured softly.

He did not hurry to leave. Instead, he turned to look toward the inner courtyard.

There stood an Embroidery Tower. Inside it lived a foolish woman who was still making shoe soles for him day and night, saving up a few taels of silver to buy his freedom.

"Sister Yun, wait for me."

Chen Ping gripped the Letter of Recommendation tightly, his knuckles turning white.

He was not strong enough yet. He still could not take her away.

The Imperial Military Examination was only the first step.

When he returned with honors, clad in an official's robe, he would arrive in a sedan carried by eight bearers and take her as his wife in a proper wedding.

With his simple bundle on his back, Chen Ping took one last, lingering look at the weathered plaque of Lin Manor.

The words "Lin Manor" looked somewhat rotten in the sunlight.

He turned away without looking back and set off toward the Imperial Military Examination's Training Ground outside the city.