The sixteenth day of the first lunar month.
The Lantern Festival was over, and it was time to get back to work.
Lin Yan also headed to Tang Mansion. His New Year holiday was over, and he had to resume his post at Tang Mansion.
"Lin Yan, you're here!"
In the courtyard of Tang Mansion, Zheng Xun waved to Lin Yan. "I've got good news for you. Your monthly stipend is going up."
"Going up?"
Lin Yan was a little surprised. The stipend Tang Family paid, combined with the discount on medicinal herbs, was already the highest in the whole city. They were actually raising it even more.
Could Tang Family really have so much money they didn't know what to do with it, and be buying a good reputation?
"The eldest young lady is in charge of Tang Mansion now. In recent days, she's dismissed quite a few martial artists who held honorary posts..."
Zheng Xun lowered his voice and explained the situation to Lin Yan. A glimmer flickered in Lin Yan's eyes now and then as he listened.
Tang Family's eldest young lady had a completely different way of doing things from the head of Tang Family.
As for the martial artists who took honorary posts, the head of Tang Family wouldn't dismiss them once they'd been hired unless they made a mistake. They could keep working until their vitality and blood declined. It was practically an iron rice bowl.
But after Tang Family's eldest young lady took power, she changed the rules. Martial artists holding honorary posts with Tang Family no longer had iron rice bowls.
First-stage Skin Polishing martial artists who failed to break through within three years would be dismissed.
Second-stage Skin Polishing martial artists who failed to break through within eight years would be dismissed.
As for third-stage Skin Polishing martial artists... there was no time limit. They could keep their honorary posts at Tang Family as long as they were willing.
From Zheng Xun's explanation, Lin Yan quickly figured out the purpose behind Tang Family's eldest young lady's new rules.
She was dismissing martial artists who had no room left to advance in martial arts and keeping those who still had ambitions in the martial path and might break through to the next realm.
It seemed Tang Family wanted martial artists with potential, not those who had already given up on making progress.
"Under the new rules the eldest young lady set, your monthly stipend, Lin Yan, will rise from thirty taels to fifty. After two years, it'll drop to forty, and after four years, it'll return to the current thirty."
Hearing Zheng Xun, Lin Yan's mouth twitched. Tang Family's eldest young lady was forcing the martial artists with honorary posts to train desperately and hurry up with their breakthroughs.
He even maliciously wondered whether Tang Family's medicinal herbs were selling poorly, and the eldest young lady was using this method to encourage martial artists with honorary posts to buy more martial arts supplements.
If they wanted to keep their higher stipends, they had to break through. To break through faster, they had to spend more money on qi-and-blood tonics and pills.
"Whatever the reason, Tang Family raising my stipend is a good thing for me."
Lin Yan had already made up his mind. Tang Family was paying the stipend in real silver, and he also got a discount on medicinal herbs. If he wanted to achieve anything in martial arts, these expenses were unavoidable anyway.
The two chatted idly for a while. Then the steward they'd met before came out of the house and approached Lin Yan.
"Master Lin, I assume you've heard about the new rules for honorary martial artists at the estate."
"Brother Zheng told me."
"Since you've advanced to second-stage Skin Polishing, Master Lin, if you choose to join our Tang Family caravan as a guard, your monthly pay can go up by another twenty taels."
"No, thank you. I'll keep watch over the herb fields."
Lin Yan refused outright. Being a guard paid well, but it came with risks. With the Martial Dao Tree, all he wanted was to train in peace and quiet.
The steward looked astonished at Lin Yan's answer. He'd thought Lin Yan would definitely choose to join the guard team.
To advance from first-stage to second-stage Skin Polishing in such a short time, Lin Yan must have spent all the money he had, given his family's circumstances. And Lin Yan was so young; he surely had ambitions in martial arts. He wouldn't pass up the chance to earn more money.
"Since Master Lin has made his decision, you'll be in charge of the herb fields from now on."
The steward was silent for a few breaths before speaking. Then he didn't say much more and left.
After the steward had gone, Zheng Xun looked utterly baffled. "Lin Yan, are you stupid? What's so great about staying over in Qingtian Town? Joining the guard team pays more, and with Tang Family's name behind you, nobody would dare rob you. You'd only have to spend a few days each month accompanying the caravan on a trip."
He'd been signaling to Lin Yan the whole time, but Lin Yan had acted as if he hadn't seen a thing.
"If we really run into bandits who don't know what's good for them, that'd be a perfect chance to practice. A martial artist who's never seen real combat is incomplete. You can't be training just to keep fit, can you?"
Lin Yan shook his head. "My situation's different from yours. My family's ordinary. I train so my family can live a better life, not to fight and kill. I just want to keep training in peace."
"Peace?" Zheng Xun curled his lip. "A lot of martial artists deliberately seek life-or-death battles to break through the Skin Polishing bottleneck, hoping for that opportunity to advance. You've lost your ambition."
Lin Yan fell silent. Zheng Xun gave a quiet snort. "What, have I left you speechless?"
"It's not that I'm speechless. I just find it hard to believe you're the one talking about 'ambition.'"
Zheng Xun: ...
The main hall of Tang Family.
Tang Tang listened to the steward's report, her lovely brows drawing together slightly. "I thought that since Lin Yan managed to reach second-stage Skin Polishing in such a short time, he must be someone with a strong drive to advance in martial arts. I didn't expect him to lose sight of his original purpose as soon as he broke through. I'm afraid he'll have trouble reaching third-stage Skin Polishing."
"Eldest young lady, Lin Yan comes from an ordinary family. Reaching second-stage Skin Polishing has already changed his life. It's understandable that he wants stability. Not every martial artist pursues third-stage Skin Polishing or even higher realms."
On his way back, the steward had thought it over and understood.
For a martial artist from Lin Yan's background, reaching second-stage Skin Polishing already put him ahead of many people. He hadn't lost himself or sunk into a life of wine and women, which was already good.
If he trained steadily, even if he couldn't break through himself, he could still raise the next generation.
Tang Tang didn't continue the topic. There were two or three martial artists with honorary posts at Tang Family who had advanced to second-stage Skin Polishing in such a short time, not to mention the outstanding martial artists from Tang Family itself. Lin Yan wasn't particularly exceptional among them.
After leaving Tang Family, Lin Yan headed toward the martial arts hall. He was going to Qingtian Town tomorrow, so he wanted to buy some more Muscle-Washing Secret Medicine from the hall.
A street away from the martial arts hall, Lin Yan stopped and looked ahead.
Not far in front of him, a Patrol Bureau officer and two constables were blocking someone. Lin Yan recognized the person being stopped: Junior Brother Zhuang from the martial arts hall.
Seeing this, Lin Yan hurried over.
"Junior Brother Zhuang, what's going on?"
Zhuang Zheng's eyes lit up when he saw Lin Yan. "Senior Brother Lin, you're just in time. The Patrol Bureau is accusing me of murder without any evidence and wants to arrest me and take me back to the bureau."
The Patrol Bureau officer frowned when he saw Lin Yan, then explained, "Several months ago, a resident reported that someone in his family had been murdered. According to our investigation, the deceased, Zhao Chuan, had a dispute with Zhuang Zheng over money he owed. So we're taking Zhuang Zheng to the Patrol Bureau for questioning. If we confirm he wasn't the culprit, we'll release him."
Zhao Chuan?
Lin Yan froze. Wasn't that the very first person he'd killed?
He remembered Zhao Chuan quite well. The man had been his first investor in martial arts.
So the Zhuang Zheng listed in that booklet he'd found on Zhao Chuan and Zhang Dahai—the one who'd borrowed fifty taels—really was Junior Brother Zhuang.
Well, well. Back then, he'd thought that killing Zhao Chuan and Zhang Dahai had done Zhuang Zheng a favor. Turns out, he'd done Junior Brother Zhuang a favor.
All the better. The wealth hadn't gone to outsiders.
"Senior Brother Lin, I had no dispute with Zhao Chuan. I did borrow money from him at first, but I paid him back after selling my family's house. And I never saw Zhao Chuan again after that, let alone had any reason to kill him."
Seeing Lin Yan fall silent, Zhuang Zheng hurried to defend himself, his expression aggrieved.
"When did you pay him back?" the Patrol Bureau officer pressed.
"On the ninth day of the fifth month. I'd already sold the house by then and had the money."
"Were there any witnesses?"
"Zhao Chuan found out I'd sold the house and came to demand the money. There wasn't a witness."
Zhuang Zheng answered quickly, but the Patrol Bureau officer's brow furrowed. Without a witness, he couldn't tell whether the story was true.
Lin Yan's eyes narrowed slightly. Junior Brother Zhuang was lying. Zhao Chuan had already been buried by Lin Yan on the ninth day of the fifth month. What, had the dead man come back from the grave to collect the money?
"Senior Brother Lin, Junior Brother Zhuang, what are you doing here?"
A voice came from not far away. Zhao Linyuan appeared and walked toward them.
The Patrol Bureau officer's expression shifted when he saw Zhao Linyuan. He'd seen Zhao Linyuan representing Yang Family Martial Arts Hall in the lantern contest during the Lantern Festival yesterday. This man was a genius disciple of Yang Family Martial Arts Hall.
"Junior Brother Zhao, the Patrol Bureau suspects Junior Brother Zhuang may be connected to a murder case. I happened to run into them."
"Oh? Does the Patrol Bureau have any evidence?"
Zhao Linyuan didn't even look at the officer. When he saw Lin Yan shake his head, his expression turned cold. "Since when can the Patrol Bureau arrest disciples of Yang Family Martial Arts Hall without evidence? I'll have to ask Senior Brother Hao about this."
"Please calm down, Young Master Zhao. We're not arresting him. We're just asking Zhuang Zheng to come to the Patrol Bureau and assist with the investigation."
"If you have questions, ask them here and now. If you want to take him to the Patrol Bureau, then show us the evidence." Zhao Linyuan showed the officer no courtesy at all, even though the man was a second-stage Skin Polishing martial artist.
Liang Kang's expression darkened, but he didn't have much confidence when facing Zhao Linyuan. Though Zhao Linyuan, like him, was only a second-stage Skin Polishing martial artist, he had been training for a much shorter time. Zhao Linyuan would certainly reach third-stage Skin Polishing within three years.
Making an enemy of a third-stage Skin Polishing martial artist wasn't wise.
Most importantly, Zhuang Zheng was only a suspect. He wasn't necessarily the one who had killed Zhao Chuan.
Though Zhao Chuan hadn't reached first-stage Skin Polishing, he'd still trained in Stance Technique for some time. When he disappeared, Zhuang Zheng hadn't yet joined the martial arts hall. He shouldn't have been a match for Zhao Chuan.
The reason Liang Kang had investigated the case was that Zhao Chuan worked for him, secretly lending money at exorbitant interest. Zhao Chuan's disappearance had cost him dozens of taels, and he wanted to get the money back. After investigating, he'd discovered that Zhao Chuan had once lent Zhuang Zheng a sum.
He didn't suspect Zhuang Zheng of being the killer. He suspected Zhuang Zheng hadn't repaid the money and wanted to take him to the Patrol Bureau to scare him into admitting it.
Unfortunately, now that Zhao Linyuan had stepped in, he'd lost his chance.
"I'll take my leave."
Liang Kang left with his two subordinates. Lin Yan's eyes narrowed again. It was obvious this Patrol Bureau officer had an unusual connection to Zhao Chuan. If the opportunity arose...
On the other side, Zhuang Zheng watched Liang Kang's departing figure, lost in thought.
"Senior Brother Lin, Junior Brother Zhuang, if you're heading to the martial arts hall, let's go together."
Zhao Linyuan didn't take the matter to heart. His master had devoted himself to training him, so he naturally had to defend the martial arts hall's honor.
Forget whether the Patrol Bureau had evidence or not—even if it did, if they wanted to take someone away, they'd have to go through the martial arts hall and get his master's approval.