In the dim bedroom,
The bedframe within the crimson gauze curtains creaked, making the red curtain cloth occasionally lift at one corner and reveal pale, tender little feet swaying back and forth.
Behind the curtains, the swaying movements of the graceful woman suddenly stopped.
Then,
She bent down her slender waist!
"Madam, spare me, please stop!"
The youth's pleading voice came to an abrupt halt.
Ershui City, Loach Street.
Beneath a great willow tree, whenever Wang Sheng recalled that memory, his back and kidneys ached.
The original owner of this body had actually been drained dry and tortured to death by that woman.
Wang Sheng had stumbled into outrageous luck and only then managed to transmigrate here.
After the transmigrated Wang Sheng took over this body, it regained its vitality, just as it had been before being squeezed dry.
However,
Even after coming back from the dead, Wang Sheng still could not escape that woman's seduction.
Wang Sheng's current status was lowly. His parents were servants of the Li family.
That woman was Master Li's fourth concubine, deeply favored by him.
If this affair were exposed, Wang Sheng would most likely be stuffed into a pig cage and drowned.
And even if it never came to light, if this entanglement continued, Wang Sheng would still be doomed to die.
That woman was fucking addicted to riding him!
And she had plenty of other addictions too!
"Damn it, what's the difference between eating that stuff and drinking milk?"
"Not even a hundred men could withstand being squeezed dry like this!"
Wang Sheng cursed inwardly. The moment he thought of it, his kidneys started aching. He had to break out of this situation as soon as possible.
Running away from home directly was the worst possible option. In this ancient society, unfamiliar in every way, a handsome youth like him would surely meet a miserable end if he went too far alone.
"Alas! There's war in the north, so the court raises taxes. The county magistrate celebrates his birthday, so the yamen raises taxes. Now even a temple fair comes with a Bodhisattva tax!"
"My parents fish for an entire month, and after paying the taxes, they cannot even afford enough food. A few days ago, my mother caught a cold and needed medicine. My father cannot fish much by himself either. How are we supposed to live like this?"
Beneath the willow tree, a youth named Heidan sat beside Wang Sheng, his face filled with grief and indignation as he spoke.
"Hmph, I think this Great Jing Dynasty will collapse sooner or later!"
The youth named Yumu was so frightened that he hurriedly covered Heidan's mouth. "Are you tired of living? If the constables hear you, you're finished."
Watching these childhood friends, still so young yet already wearing faces full of sorrow, Wang Sheng fell silent. The class hierarchy of this era was outrageously rigid.
To ordinary people, a few words from officials were scarcely any different from an imperial edict.
Exorbitant taxes, collusion between officials and merchants, local gentry and scholars joining forces—they formed one cold iron net after another, tightly locking down and suppressing all the common people at the bottom, never allowing them to turn their lives around. They could only burn everything they had to support the pleasures of a small handful of people.
For impoverished commoners to rise above their station was harder than climbing to heaven.
Even finding a job to support oneself or learning a trade came with countless difficulties. It required money, status, and treating one's master as even dearer than one's own parents, serving him attentively—and even then, one might not learn anything.
The common people at the bottom spent their entire lives rushing about just to fill their bellies, unable to see even a shred of hope in life. In the end, all that remained was numb indifference.
However, Wang Sheng had another path to take.
[Heaven Rewards Diligence: What is learned will surely be mastered.]
This was the golden finger he had received upon transmigrating.
Simply put, the more sweat he shed, the greater the success he would gain.
For any skill or craft, as long as he studied diligently, there would be no obstacles whatsoever.
Wang Sheng had originally planned to study and earn official rank through the civil examinations, but he soon discovered that martial arts in this world possessed extraordinary power. Even the martial civil service examinations were more important than the literary ones.
Therefore, he wanted to practice martial arts. Only through martial arts could he fully unleash the power of the golden finger he had brought with him through transmigration.
"Alas, we've grown up too. What paths do you all have ahead of you?"
Yumu let out a heavy sigh and asked.
"My family wants to send me to Zhao Manor to serve the young lady as a maid."
He Erya, her hair braided into several small plaits, spoke quietly, seeming somewhat ashamed.
"Though I'd be a maid, when the young lady marries in the future, I'd go with her as part of her dowry. Maybe I could even become a concubine!"
He Erya added, as though trying not to lose face before her friends.
"My father plans to have me apprentice under a pig castrator."
"Though it stinks a little, at least I'll have enough to eat, and every now and then I can get a taste of meat. It'll definitely be much better than now."
Heidan lowered his head and spoke in a rather quiet voice.
Once someone became a pig castrator, from birth to death, the fishy stench could never be washed from his body. Even his own family would despise the smell.
"Shengzi, what about you?"
Yumu looked toward Wang Sheng.
"I want to learn martial arts!"
Wang Sheng said.
"Poor scholars, rich martial artists! How dare you dream of learning martial arts? We were born with the fate of the poor. Shengzi, even if you go to the Li family and become a servant, we won't laugh at you. We'll still be friends!"
Yumu shook his head, reached out, and patted Wang Sheng on the shoulder as he spoke with a sigh.
"You still want to practice martial arts? How much money does your family have that you dare think of it? Haven't you seen Old Liu's family, the ones who sold coarse cloth? They sold their entire shop to support their son's martial training, spent over a hundred taels, and still failed. It ended with their family ruined and scattered."
He Erya spoke carelessly.
She did not believe Wang Sheng could make anything of himself through martial arts. Since she was becoming a maid, she naturally wanted Wang Sheng to become a servant too, so she could feel more balanced inside.
"Wang Sheng, you should just follow your parents into Li Manor and become a servant. Stop indulging in wild fantasies about practicing martial arts!"
Heidan was jealous inside, but he spoke with a smile.
Wang Sheng did not argue with them, because it was true: in this era, the path of martial arts was even more difficult than the civil examinations. Even ordinary wealthy households might not be able to sustain it.
And his family could not even scrape together a few taels of silver.
"Yumu, what about you?"
Wang Sheng looked toward Yumu.
"My family spent fifteen taels of silver and pulled strings through my maternal uncle. They plan to send me to the yamen as a gray-clothed runner!"
Yumu tried his best to remain calm before his friends, but his eyes and brows brimmed with anticipation.
Though gray-clothed runners were the lowest-ranking yamen runners and their wages were pitifully small,
They still had that thin layer of official skin. They were far better off than common folk and even held a tiny bit of power.
"Brother Mu, you're going to become an official! Brother Mu, you're amazing!"
He Erya's eyes lit up when she heard this. She seemed even more excited than Yumu himself and immediately became much warmer toward him.
"Brother Mu, you must look after us in the future!"
Heidan had always been proud and hot-tempered, but at this moment, he lowered his head and called Yumu brother, with a hint of trying to draw closer.
"Alas! What's so amazing about it? My family emptied everything they had just to send me in. For the next few years, we'll be poor as church mice!"
"And stop calling me Brother Mu. It sounds awful!"
Yumu first mentioned that his family was poor to prevent these companions from borrowing money from him, then disdainfully discarded the name Brother Mu that had followed him for more than ten years.
Yumu's parents both carried large sacks and bundles for a living. After selling their strength for over a decade, their backs had already bent though they were only in their early thirties. Still, they had finally scraped together enough money to send him into the yamen as a gray-clothed runner.
He Erya's parents—one worked as a waiter, while the other had been sickly for years.
Heidan's parents were fishermen. Their bodies reeked of fish, and they had to endure the heavy taxes imposed by officials and gangs, even water bandits. They could not eat fish more than a few times a month.
Wang Sheng's parents were servants of Li Manor.
All in all, the four of them and their parents were impoverished commoners at the very bottom of ancient society, unable even to guarantee food and clothing. One misstep could bankrupt the whole family.
Yet among all occupations, servants were ultimately beneath everyone else. Unless one became something like a steward, ordinary servants could not even guarantee their freedom or their lives, making them naturally worse off than ordinary commoners.
If a master killed a servant, he only needed to pay some compensation. But if he killed a commoner, the punishment would be far harsher, far exceeding that for killing a servant.
The four chatted for a while longer before going their separate ways.
Two days later.
Li Manor.
Inside a small side room.
"What? You want to practice martial arts? Take a look at yourself! Your face is the only thing that looks decent. You're skinny as a hemp stalk, and you still want to practice martial arts? Get the hell out. Tomorrow, you're fucking coming with me to find Steward Li and sign a contract selling yourself!"
"I've been a servant for decades. You'd better learn from me. I'll teach you how to be a slave!"
Father Wang was drunk. Seeing that his son would not obey, he became so angry that he cursed and shouted.
"I'm not asking you. I'm informing you. I'm already a disciple of the martial academy!"
Wang Sheng said coldly.
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