Yi Xun and his grandson

That same day, at the Yi Family residence in Cloud Pattern Town.

This residence was nothing like the mud walls and thatched roofs of Three Trees Village.

Blue bricks paved the ground, carved wooden windows adorned the rooms, and two pots of lucky bamboo stood in the courtyard.

It was not necessarily elegant, but it knew how to tell people one thing.

My family has money.

In the main hall, Yi Xun sat in a Grand Tutor Chair, wearing a silk jacket, his beard neatly combed, rolling two glossy walnuts in his hand.

He was getting on in years, too, but he looked far more respectable than the old farmers of Three Trees Village.

He ate well and lived in warmth; even his wrinkles bore traces of a pampered life.

A young man stood before him.

Seventeen or eighteen, tall and straight, with arrogance in his eyes, a new saber at his waist, and well-tailored clothes, he radiated an air of "I'm not in the same league as ordinary people" simply by standing there.

He was none other than Yi Xun's treasured grandson, Yi Zhanzhi.

"Grandfather." Yi Zhanzhi lifted his chin, unable to suppress the smugness in his voice. "The master of the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall has agreed to take me as his Personal Disciple."

At those words, the walnuts stopped moving in Yi Xun's hand.

"Really?"

"Of course."

Yi Zhanzhi puffed out his chest and said proudly, "I've already broken through to the qi-blood second level. The master said that with my natural aptitude, reaching the sinew tempering realm before twenty is no empty promise, provided I have enough resources."

Overjoyed, Yi Xun slapped the armrest and rose to his feet. "Good! Good! Truly the qilin prodigy of our Yi Family! Our family is finally going to climb another rung!"

Several servants outside the hall hastened to join in the praise.

"The young master truly has exceptional talent."

"A Personal Disciple! That's nothing an ordinary apprentice can compare to."

Listening to them, Yi Zhanzhi grew more reserved in expression, but the buoyant pride in his eyes could not be contained.

A genius ought to have people singing his praises. Without them, how was it any different from wearing splendid robes through the night?

These servants had served him before, all right. They knew exactly how to behave.

Yi Xun smiled so broadly that his beard curled upward. "Taking a master is a major occasion. We must prepare a gift. The Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall has a reputation in the county town. We can't look shabby."

Yi Zhanzhi, who had been standing all this time, had been waiting for those very words. He looked at Yi Xun and named the gift required for his apprenticeship. "The master requires five hundred taels as the apprenticeship gift."

Clack.

At his grandson's words, one of the walnuts dropped from Yi Xun's hand and rolled to a table leg.

"Five hundred taels?"

His voice shot up in shock. "Zhan Zhi, are you sure you heard correctly?"

Yi Zhanzhi frowned, somewhat disgusted by his grandfather's fuss. "Grandfather, the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall isn't one of those little establishments in town. Five hundred taels isn't much for the master to accept a Personal Disciple."

The joy on Yi Xun's face was snuffed out, leaving only the pain of parting with money.

Five hundred taels.

Not fifty.

The Yi Family had built up some wealth through its shops over the years, but silver did not fall from the sky.

Using it for ordinary business turnover was one thing. Pulling out five hundred taels at once would make even the bookkeeper weep.

"Normally, the family could scrape it together."

Yi Xun bent down to retrieve the walnut and wiped it clean, his tone hesitant. "But the shops have been expanding lately, and we have an opening in Yunlin County that might connect us with the Wang family in the Inner City. Funds are tied up in merchandise, and greasing palms takes silver, too. At this juncture, we truly can't produce that much ready cash."

At Yi Xun's words, the arrogance on Yi Zhanzhi's face collapsed. He said resentfully, "Grandfather, opportunity waits for no one."

Just then, the curtain to a side room lifted, and a woman stepped out.

In her thirties, she wore an apricot-colored silk dress and a gold hairpin in her bun. Her eyes were shrewd, and though she walked unhurriedly, every movement carried the authority of the woman who ran the household.

She was Yi Zhanzhi's mother, Song Yi.

"Father, this is money we cannot save."

The moment Song Yi spoke, she made her position firm.

"For Zhan Zhi to catch the eye of the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall's master, blue smoke must be rising from the Yi Family's ancestral graves. Five hundred taels sounds like a lot, but spent on Zhan Zhi, it's an investment."

Yi Xun frowned at his daughter-in-law's words and said with some displeasure, "I never said I wouldn't pay. But you know the family's circumstances. We simply can't free up the money right now."

Song Yi walked into the hall, seeming to think of something, and softened her tone. "Father, doesn't the family still have relatives?"

A puzzled look crossed Yi Xun's face. "Relatives? What relative of mine could produce such a large sum of silver?"

A shrewd gleam appeared in Song Yi's eyes. "Don't you have an elder brother in Three Trees Village? I heard he still has a few mu of farmland and an old house. Sell those, and surely we could scrape together a few dozen taels."

Yi Xun's expression changed at once. His eyes filled with astonishment as he asked, "You mean Yi Yang?"

"Exactly."

Song Yi spoke as though it were nothing. "A rundown country courtyard and a few mu of poor farmland won't grow gold if he keeps them. We can simply bring the old man and that girl here. There are two empty rooms beside the stables in our back courtyard. Tidy them up, and people can live there."

Yi Xun's grip tightened around the walnuts. "Beside the stables?"

Song Yi acted as though she had not heard his displeasure. "Father, don't take offense at how it sounds. Bringing them to town is surely better than letting them suffer in the village. Once they're here, they can help tend the horses and sweep the courtyard, and someone will see to their food and clothing. Aren't we bringing them here to enjoy a better life?"

Yi Xun's lips moved. He and Yi Yang had not been in contact for years.

But whatever else had happened, Yi Yang was still his own elder brother. Their parents had favored Yi Xun back then, leading the brothers to cut off contact for the rest of their lives.

Now they wanted to drag him out of the village, make him live beside the stables, and sell his house and land.

If word of this got out, it would look disgraceful.

Seeing Yi Xun waver, Yi Zhanzhi stepped forward and tried earnestly to persuade him for the sake of his own future. "Grandfather."

He lowered his voice, adding a note of pleading. "If I fail to become his disciple, all the Yi Family's hopes over these years will come to nothing. However many shops we own, they're still only shops. Without a martial artist to uphold our standing, we won't be able to protect our silver, no matter how much we earn."

Those words struck Yi Xun right in his weak spot.

Yi Xun had risen in the world through martial training in his youth. He understood that truth all too well.

Song Yi struck while the iron was hot, whispering persuasion into his ear. "Father, if Zhan Zhi establishes himself at the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall, he can take the military examinations, move into the county town, and marry a daughter of an established family. Then our Yi Family will no longer be mere small merchants in Cloud Pattern Town."

She softened her voice, making the prospect deeply tempting. "When that happens, you'll be able to live in the Inner City yourself, with people carrying you in a sedan chair whenever you go out. Who would dare bring up those sordid old affairs then?"

At the words "Inner City," Yi Xun's eyelids twitched.

The Inner City.

How many people in town dreamed of squeezing their way into that place? Song Yi continued, "Spending money on Zhan Zhi is putting it where the blade meets the edge. Leaving it tied up in an old country house will only make the weeds grow fatter."

Yi Zhanzhi lowered his head as well. "Grandfather, please help me this once."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Yi Xun looked down at the walnuts in his palm.

Their surfaces had been polished bright by years of handling, every ridge and groove steeped in an oily sheen worn into them by time.

Only after a long while did he raise his head.

"Steward."

The middle-aged steward outside hurried in.

"Master."

Yi Xun closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again.

"Prepare the carriage. We're going to Three Trees Village."

The Yi residence's steward asked, "Shouldn't we invite Master Yi Yang here instead?"

After a long silence, Yi Xun said, "For something like this, we had better go ourselves."

Song Yi lowered her head to straighten her cuffs, a satisfied smile appearing at her lips, as though she considered her persuasion a resounding success.

Yi Zhanzhi raised his head again, the arrogance of a genius returning to his eyes.

As the steward withdrew, a breeze swept past the lucky bamboo outside, its leaves rustling softly.

The carriage and horses were soon ready.

The wheels rolled over the bluestone road, heading toward Three Trees Village.