"The circumstances left me no choice when I expelled them," Zhao Wencai murmured. He was an old fox and wasn't about to surrender without a fight. Instead, he began making excuses for himself. "The Martial Child Academy has strict rules forbidding private fights. Zhang He got into a dispute with another martial child and started a brawl in the dormitory. He even broke one of his fellow students' arms. That was a serious violation of academy rules. To set things right, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and expel him from the Martial Child Academy."
As Zhao Wencai spoke, he put on an expression of profound anguish. He made it seem as though Zhang He and the others had been driven out of the Martial Child Academy entirely because Zhang He had broken the rules. Even if Zhao Wencai had wanted to protect a promising student, he had supposedly been powerless to do so.
Prince Qu's expression softened a little. If that was what had happened, expelling Zhang He and the others was not entirely unreasonable.
Fatty Tang, however, wasn't about to let Zhao Wencai off the hook. He sneered. "Dean Zhao, why don't you mention that the martial child whose arm was broken was your own nephew? And that your nephew was the one who started the trouble?"
Hearing Fatty Tang, Prince Qu immediately understood what he meant. Zhao Wencai hadn't expelled Zhang He and the others simply because Zhang He had broken academy rules and injured another martial child.
"What exactly happened?" Prince Qu fixed Zhao Wencai with a cold stare. He hated being deceived more than anything.
Zhao Wencai felt his back turn damp with sweat. He was just about to answer Prince Qu when Fatty Tang spoke first.
"Your Highness, this is what happened..." Fatty Tang recounted the entire incident in detail, from beginning to end. Naturally, in his telling, Zhao Feng became a despicable villain who relied on his authority to bully commoner martial children.
"Zhao Feng started it, and Zhang He had no choice but to fight back. The Martial Child Academy has rules against fighting in private. We all knew that, and we wouldn't have complained even if we were expelled for it. But Zhao Feng, the one who provoked the fight, wasn't expelled. Only we were. We refuse to accept that!" Fatty Tang added when he finished.
He glanced at Zhao Wencai, who stood beside him. The dean who was usually so arrogant and overbearing now bent his back humbly, drenched in sweat.
As Fatty Tang spoke, Zhao Wencai's mind went blank, and his vision darkened. His Highness hated evil and injustice. Now that he knew the truth, he would surely show Zhao Wencai no mercy!
"You never investigated the facts or cared about fairness and justice. You favored your own nephew and oppressed the other martial children!"
"Dean Zhao, have you forgotten the duties of an academy dean? You swore an oath before taking office, didn't you? Have you forgotten that, too?"
"A place where the nation cultivates talent has become your personal kingdom, where you throw your weight around! How dare you!"
Prince Qu's face darkened as he berated Zhao Wencai. At last, the sight of Zhao Wencai's cringing figure only made his anger burn hotter. He swept a hand through the air and said coldly, "You have no right to remain dean. Go home, reflect on your actions, and await punishment!"
Zhao Wencai's face crumpled. He opened his mouth, hoping to defend himself, but when he saw the murderous look in Prince Qu's eyes, he shuddered. He knew that His Highness was already showing him great mercy by not killing him today!
"Get out!" Prince Qu roared.
"I'm going, I'm going right now." Zhao Wencai hurried away.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for standing up for us. I also want to thank you on behalf of all the martial children in Mengyin City who have suffered unfair treatment at the Martial Child Academy," Zhang He said sincerely.
Today, he had dealt with Zhao Wencai and avenged himself. In a sense, he had also removed a poisonous weed from the ranks of Mengyin City's martial children. The bad atmosphere at the city's Martial Child Academy had largely been caused by Zhao Wencai's negligence.
Prince Qu waved a hand. "There's no need to thank me. This kind of blight should have been driven out of the Martial Child Academy long ago. What happened shows that there are still flaws in how the academies below are supervised. We should take this as a warning."
Hearing Prince Qu say this, Zhang He felt a surge of respect for him. His words showed just how seriously he took the education of martial children. In short, he was a man who got things done.
Prince Qu suddenly fixed Zhang He with an inscrutable smile. "There is one thing I still can't understand. From what you said, when Tang Risong and Wang Dachui were expelled from the Martial Child Academy, neither of them had reached the Skin Tempering Realm, correct? Yet in just one month, they reached the True Qi Seed realm. That progress is astonishing, to say the least."
Prince Qu's eyes glittered as he watched Zhang He's face, not letting the slightest change in his expression escape him. He was trying to read the truth there.
Zhang He couldn't help but feel a jolt of alarm. Damn it, who would've thought he'd noticed that?
"Actually, I'm an apothecary too. I know how to improve the Body Tempering Liquid," Zhang He said vaguely. The Ten-Perfect Dominant Qi he had concocted was indeed a kind of Body Tempering Liquid. It was just many times more potent than the Body Tempering Liquid used by the Martial Child Academy!
A flicker of surprise crossed Prince Qu's face, but he pressed on. "Is that all? Can an improved Body Tempering Liquid really help someone condense a True Qi Seed in such a short time?"
Feeling Prince Qu's burning gaze on him, Zhang He couldn't help giving a wry smile. He knew what Prince Qu was after. He also knew that if he didn't give him something, Prince Qu wouldn't let the matter rest.
But Zhang He knew a thing or two about driving a hard bargain.
"Your Highness, preparing this Body Tempering Liquid isn't easy. If it weren't for my two good brothers, I wouldn't have gone to such lengths. Mass-producing it is simply impossible," Zhang He said. "Besides, you know how precious a formula is to an apothecary."
Zhang He was right. Any apothecary valued a formula more than life itself. Selling pills was one thing, but showing someone a formula was another matter entirely. What was more, preparing the Ten-Perfect Dominant Qi required poisonous ingredients. A slight mistake in the process could turn it into a deadly poison.
Prince Qu knew Zhang He had a point, but he wasn't about to give up. His eyes shifted as he said, "I've already seen the effects of this improved Body Tempering Liquid in your two brothers. Let's put it this way: if you had enough time, what's the most you could make in a year?"
At those words, Zhang He knew His Highness had his eye on him. If he didn't make some kind of offer, there would be no easy way out of this today.
"The herbs needed to make this improved Body Tempering Liquid are only available in summer. So even with enough time and a plentiful supply of herbs, I could make only a hundred or so doses at most," Zhang He said with an earnest expression. Inwardly, he thought, Forget a hundred doses—even a thousand would be no trouble. Of course, he wasn't about to say that. He knew Prince Qu would bargain with him.
Sure enough, Prince Qu's eyes lit up. He coaxed, "Zhang He, a hundred doses is too few. If you can make two hundred, I can offer you another great benefit. What do you say?"
Zhang He's heart stirred. "What benefit?"
"Have you ever heard of the Iron Certificate of Merit?" Prince Qu asked, watching Zhang He with an unhurried air. His manner suggested he had no doubt Zhang He would accept.
"The Iron Certificate of Merit?" The city lord standing nearby was stunned. The benefit His Highness had just promised was far too generous. Even among the most distinguished nobles and members of the royal family, few possessed an Iron Certificate of Merit!
Zhang He was stunned as well. He knew what the Iron Certificate of Merit was: a golden ticket exempting its holder from death. As long as the holder was a citizen of the Western Chu Kingdom, for three generations their crimes could be pardoned, except for the unforgivable offense of treason, which would bring extermination of the entire clan. Even after those three generations, the certificate could still exempt the family from taxes and grant them certain privileges.
For a family, possessing an Iron Certificate of Merit was an immense honor. It also meant that the Western Chu royal house stood behind them. Who would dare provoke them?
But the Iron Certificate of Merit was a matter of great importance. Since the founding of the Western Chu Kingdom, only a handful of its founding heroes had ever received one.
Even as Zhang He stared in shock, he couldn't help feeling suspicious. "Your Highness, this isn't something to joke about. The Body Tempering Liquid is precious, but an Iron Certificate of Merit is just too..."
"Don't worry. I always keep my word! If you can do it, I can secure an Iron Certificate of Merit for you!" Prince Qu said confidently. The current members of the royal family had access to countless spiritual pills and medicines, yet their cultivation still left much to be desired. Despite their superior resources, royal heirs often fell behind outsiders as they advanced. How could the royal house bear such a loss of face? With that improved Body Tempering Liquid, their strength would surely rise by leaps and bounds. It would bring honor to the royal house, and stronger royal heirs would have a better chance of entering the True Martial Academy to study further!
If many royal heirs entered the True Martial Academy, the royal house's rule over the Western Chu Kingdom would become all the more secure. For that alone, an Iron Certificate of Merit was nothing. He could even grant Zhang He the title of prince, despite his lack of royal blood!
The city lord was overwhelmed with excitement. He stared at Zhang He as if he were a steaming bun. Seeing that Zhang He still hadn't answered, he wanted to leap over and accept on his behalf.
"Do I have to provide two hundred doses of the Body Tempering Liquid every year?" Zhang He asked Prince Qu.
"That's right. You'll provide two hundred doses each year. If you make more, I'll have the first right to buy them. How does that sound?" Prince Qu nodded.
"I have to admit, that's very tempting." Zhang He let out a long breath. With benefits this great, he'd have been a fool to refuse.
"Good. I'll do my best. Two hundred doses of the Body Tempering Liquid!" Zhang He agreed, secretly delighted. Summer hadn't ended yet, so making the Ten-Perfect Dominant Qi wouldn't be difficult. The Iron Certificate of Merit! He couldn't believe he'd had such luck today!
If you wanted to get ahead, the best thing you could do was tie yourself to the royal house!
Before you continue