Why He Practiced Martial Arts

Lu Zhen had barely left when a heavy snort rang out from the moon gate in the Gu Family's rear courtyard.

"Hmph!"

The voice was full-bodied, carrying the authority of someone long accustomed to giving orders.

The smile on Gu Yanzhi's face instantly froze, and he instinctively hunched his shoulders.

A middle-aged man in a moon-white satin changshan, rolling a pair of lion-head walnuts in his hand, strode into the Training Ground with a dark expression.

It was none other than the current head of the Gu Family, the man at the helm of the Tongjiang Chamber of Commerce, and Gu Yanzhi's father—Gu Wanshan.

"My lord..." Seeing him, several guard instructors immediately held their breath and bowed their heads respectfully.

Gu Yanzhi could only steel himself and go to meet him. He gave an awkward laugh. "Father, what brings you to the rear courtyard?"

"If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known what you've been up to here!"

The walnuts in Gu Wanshan's hand creaked as he rolled them. His shrewd eyes swept coldly over the weapon racks on the Training Ground, his tone thick with exasperation.

"You don't look at the account books or attend to business every day. You're simply wasting your time!"

Gu Yanzhi tried to explain. "Father, the world is in turmoil. You need martial skills to protect yourself..."

"Absurd!"

Gu Wanshan cut him off without mercy, pointing at the flagstones beneath their feet as he scolded him sternly:

"Protect yourself? Does the Gu Family keep all those rifles and guards for nothing?"

"Open your eyes and look at the scale of our Tongjiang Chamber of Commerce's business! Half the cargo ships on the river fly the Gu Family's flag! Every day, Silver Dollars pour from the docks into our banks like rushing water!

"Even the foreign compradors in the concessions treat me with respect and offer me cigars!"

Gu Wanshan stepped forward, fixing his son with a piercing stare.

"In this Ten-Mile Foreign Field, money is the highest law!"

"As long as we have real gold and silver, what kind of martial artist couldn't we recruit?"

"Do you really think those masters who spend ten or twenty years training in martial arts schools are too noble to be bought?

"If we offer enough, Bright Force Martial Masters and Dark Force Grandmasters might take some effort to hire. But those brawny Lianli brutes would line up to serve as guards and Guest Elders for the Gu Family!

"You sweat and suffer, training your body to build up all that brute strength—what's that going to earn you? The profits from a few ships?!"

Gu Wanshan looked at his only son, who gave him such a headache, his brows knotted into a tight frown. His hand paused as he rolled the walnuts, and a note of weary frustration crept into his voice.

"When you were little, you were the most well-behaved child. You spent all day shut in your study, reading. Whether it was the Four Books and Five Classics or foreign languages and mathematics, you picked everything up at once. I'd hoped you would take over the chamber of commerce and become a scholar-merchant who could plan everything from behind the scenes."

At that, Gu Wanshan let out a heavy sigh, his gaze sweeping over the weapon racks around them. "But who could have guessed that once you grew up, you'd become obsessed with this crude business of fighting and killing! You spend every day in this courtyard hardening your body. You're neglecting your proper work!"

The autumn wind swept over the flagstones of the Training Ground. Gu Yanzhi put away his usual carefree smile.

He slowly tightened his grip on the folding fan in his hand, straightened his back, and met his father's sharp gaze. His voice was low, yet rang with conviction.

"Father."

"Do you know why I do this?"

Gu Wanshan raised an eyebrow. He had been about to scold him again, but when his eyes met his son's—clear and resolute—the fire in his chest briefly ebbed.

A father knew his son best. Seeing this rare show of seriousness, he found himself growing curious instead.

Gu Wanshan snorted and swept his sleeves back, folding his hands behind him. "Fine. Let's hear it."

Gu Yanzhi lifted his head.

"When I was little, in the study..."

"Most of what I read wasn't about business. It was history."

"The books told me what our land had once been like. It had been a time of Han greatness and Tang prosperity!"

"Wherever the Han banners pointed, their might held sway across the realm. The iron cavalry of Great Tang made the four barbarians submit! The myriad nations came to pay tribute, and when foreign peoples set foot on our land, they had to bow their heads and behave!"

"Back then, Huaxia stood tall, with its head held high and its dignity intact!"

At that, Gu Yanzhi abruptly turned around.

"Now look at the world we live in!"

"Look what it's become!"

"The rivers are ruled by the great ships and heavy guns of the Western powers, and foreign flags fly over the concessions! This magnificent land has become meat on the chopping block, there for outsiders to carve up as they please!"

"Above, warlords divide the court and wage years of war for their own selfish desires, leaving the land in ruin and its people in misery. Below, nobles kneel and beg to surrender, signing one traitorous agreement after another!

"Our countrymen are sold like pigs, while foreign opium drains the life from their bodies! Refugees roam like dogs, corpses litter the land, and human lives are worth less than blades of grass!"

"Foreigners walk the streets of this Ten-Mile Foreign Field, and even the police dare not raise their eyes to look at them. The country is no longer a country. Where is there any dignity left?!"

Gu Yanzhi drew a deep breath. His chest heaved, and his usually handsome face flushed red with emotion.

"Why has it come to this?"

"At root, it's because our fists aren't hard enough! Our martial strength is too weak!"

"The foreigners forced open our gates with their great ships and heavy guns. No matter how quickly we work our abacuses, can we stop bullets from foreign guns? Can we buy the respect of the great powers? No!"

Gu Yanzhi met his father's sharp gaze without backing down.

"Father, you've always asked why I would abandon the fine family business you've built, why I insist on enduring hardship and practicing martial arts."

"Today, I'll tell you plainly—"

"I practice martial arts for the rise of China!"

When he finished, Gu Yanzhi said no more.

He turned and strode out of the Training Ground.

Gu Wanshan stood where he was, watching his son's retreating figure as he strode away, trembling with anger.

The walnuts in his hand snapped tight with a crack. He stamped his foot and roared:

"You little bastard! You dare defy me!"

As he fumed, a voluptuous figure entered through the moon gate.

She was the favored Third Concubine of the Gu household. She wore a fitted qipao with braided trim, her waist swaying like a water snake, and held the hand of a young master who had just turned two and was babbling as he learned to speak.

Seeing Gu Wanshan's anger, the Third Concubine's eyes darted around, and she hurried over.

She took out a fragrant silk handkerchief and, as she soothed his chest, spoke in a coy, submissive voice:

"Oh, my lord, please don't get so angry. Take care not to hurt yourself."

"The eldest young master really is something. All he knows is how to swing swords and brandish spears. How could he understand how hard you work to manage this family business? Don't be angry with Yanzhi. He's stubborn. Once he suffers a little out there, he'll naturally understand your good intentions..."

Those words usually soothed him, but today they grated on Gu Wanshan's ears.

"Be quiet!"

Gu Wanshan swept her hand away and rebuked her in a low voice. "A woman with long hair and short sense—what do you know?"

The sudden burst of anger made the Third Concubine flinch. Her eyes instantly reddened, and she stood frozen with the handkerchief in her hand, not daring to breathe too loudly.

Gu Wanshan paid her no further attention. He bent down and took the babbling little boy's hand.

Then he raised his head again, his gaze turning toward the gate.

Gu Yanzhi had long since disappeared at the end of the corridor, but the anger had quietly faded from Gu Wanshan's dark face.

He rubbed his rough palm over his younger son's soft little hand and murmured:

"That's my boy."

Then he lowered his head and looked at the little boy, who barely came up to his thigh.

"Did you see what your big brother was like?"

"When you grow up, be like him too, understand?"

The little boy only sucked on his finger, tilting his head back to babble and blow spit bubbles at Gu Wanshan.

Looking at his son's adorable little face, Gu Wanshan couldn't help stroking his chin and laughing heartily.

"Heh... hahahahaha!"