Buying a House, Joining the Army

Once they had actually entered Cloudrise City.

The first thing Li Dao did was settle Jiu'er at an inn. Then he took some things he had brought from the Earl of Anyuan's Residence to a pawnshop and exchanged them for silver.

Afterward, he used part of the money to have the pawnbroker find him a place to live in Cloudrise City.

The whole process moved swiftly and cleanly.

Just half a day later, one of the pawnbroker's assistants led him to a house.

The assistant pointed at the house and said enthusiastically, "Sir, this is the house our proprietor mentioned. It absolutely meets your requirements."

Standing at the entrance, Li Dao gave it a quick look. A residence with two courtyards was more than enough for him and Jiu'er.

He turned to the assistant. "Are you certain this neighborhood is safe?"

Cloudrise City was not like the Imperial Capital.

Under the shadow of the imperial palace, the safety of the Earl of Anyuan's Residence, where he had previously lived, went without saying. It was close to the palace grounds, with soldiers openly patrolling every night and Embroidered Uniform Guards concealed in the shadows.

Petty thieves and criminals did not dare approach that area at all.

But things were different out here.

Especially in Cloudrise City, where people came from every corner of the land, with fish and dragons mingling together. Most travelers only stayed briefly before moving on.

That meant every sort of person could be found here, making safety a primary concern.

If it had been Li Dao alone, he would not have cared.

Any ordinary petty thief who came calling would be a lamb walking into a tiger's jaws.

But Li Dao intended to enlist, meaning Jiu'er would likely be living here alone for long stretches. Naturally, he had to consider her safety.

The assistant replied confidently, "Rest assured. Aside from the military camps, there's nowhere safer in all of Cloudrise City. In a sense, you could even call this the most dangerous place in the city."

Li Dao was rather surprised. "Why do you say that?"

The assistant chuckled. "Sir, do you know what sort of people mostly live here?"

"What sort?"

"They may look like ordinary commoners, but most of them have one thing in common: the men in their families are soldiers."

The assistant pointed at the door opposite. "Take the family across from you, for instance. The wife, children, and elders all live here. They might look easy to bully, but nobody dares provoke them, because the man of the house serves under the Marquis of Suppressing the Far Realm."

"With similar families and menfolk, everyone around here sticks together."

"Nobody has the nerve to make trouble here."

At this point, the assistant lowered his voice. "I've even heard that our city lord suffered a loss here. An older woman cursed him until he was drenched in dog blood, and he didn't dare talk back."

Li Dao understood.

This place was probably similar to the military family compounds of his previous life.

In that case, its safety went without saying.

Besides, since most of the men had enlisted and rarely came home, the residents were mostly women. Jiu'er would not have to worry about being bored here.

He made his decision on the spot. "Then I'll take this house."

The assistant praised him. "You have an excellent eye, sir."

Li Dao casually tossed him a small piece of silver. "Sorry for the trouble, but please get the paperwork done as quickly as possible."

Catching the silver, the assistant said cheerfully, "No trouble at all. I guarantee you'll be able to move in today."

Half an hour later.

With the assistant handling everything, the deed to the house was successfully delivered into Li Dao's hands.

"A reward for you."

Seeing how efficiently the assistant had worked, Li Dao gave him another piece of silver.

The assistant deftly pocketed it and smiled. "You're too kind. It's all part of my job."

"If you need anything in Cloudrise City in the future, just come to me. I guarantee I'll take care of it properly."

Li Dao nodded. "All right."

As a newcomer, having a local to help would make certain things easier to resolve.

"I'll leave you to it, then. I'll be going."

Not long afterward, Li Dao picked Jiu'er up from the inn and brought her to the newly purchased house.

Patting her head, he said softly, "This will be our new home from now on."

A new home?

Jiu'er surveyed the house with curiosity and anticipation.

It was much smaller than their old home. At that thought, she stole a glance at her young master beside her.

Smaller is better. Whatever I do, I can be a little closer to Young Master.

Remembering what Steward Li had once told her, she blushed, secretly delighted.

Li Dao knew little about household matters, so he said, "Jiu'er, go inside and take a look. If there's anything you need, tell me, and I'll have someone prepare it."

"Don't worry, Young Master. Leave everything to me."

Jiu'er looked confident. Back at the Earl of Anyuan's Residence, Steward Li had managed part of the household affairs, while she had handled the rest. Something this small could not have been easier for her.

Three days passed quickly.

During that time, Li Dao got to witness Jiu'er's housekeeping abilities.

In just three short days, she had put the entire house in perfect order.

From a flower or an ornament to furniture and decorations, she sorted everything out herself.

All he needed to do was run a few errands each day.

And to make sure someone would be able to lend Jiu'er a hand in the future.

Li Dao also took her to visit their neighbors over those few days.

At first, when the neighbors learned that Li Dao and Jiu'er had just moved in, they remained wary of the two strangers.

But once they learned that Li Dao intended to enlist, their attitudes softened. With Jiu'er's knack for treating everyone like an old friend, they soon became familiar with one another.

In short, everything went smoothly.

Early in the morning, three days later.

After quickly washing up, Li Dao walked out of his room and called toward the room next door, "Jiu'er, I'm heading out."

"Wait, Young Master!"

Footsteps sounded in the adjoining room, and Jiu'er soon ran out.

Seeing that Li Dao was already neatly dressed, Jiu'er pouted. "Young Master, why didn't you wait for me to help you wash up?"

"I have hands and feet. I can do it myself. Besides, you're busy all day long. There's no need."

"I'm not tired. Serving you makes me happy."

Li Dao could not help smiling. "How about this, then? Find a few maids to help you. That way, you'll have more time to look after me."

"Absolutely not!"

Jiu'er instinctively raised her voice in protest.

But she quickly realized something was wrong with her response. Blushing, she hurriedly added, "It's not that I object to you hiring new maids, Young Master. We've only just arrived, and we're still unfamiliar with everything. It would be better to wait a while before doing something like that."

"Is that so?"

"Mm-hmm."

Jiu'er nodded repeatedly.

Li Dao smiled faintly. "All right, then. We'll wait a while."

Jiu'er instinctively let out a long breath of relief.

Suddenly realizing that she might have overreacted, she hastily looked up, only to see her young master's half-smiling expression. Her face immediately reddened.

She could not help muttering inwardly, I finally have Young Master all to myself. I'm not helping him find any maids. If he wants them, he can find them himself.

With her young master's standards, finding a maid would not be easy.

Li Dao checked the time and decided it was about right. "All right, I'm heading out. Stay home and be good."

"Mm. Remember to come back early for dinner, Young Master."

"I will."

Pushing open the door, Li Dao stepped into the alley.

He walked forward and soon reached a crossroads, where he saw four or five older women sitting outside a house, chatting.

At the sight, Li Dao took a deep breath before boldly continuing forward.

The sound of his footsteps soon drew their attention.

Their eyes lit up when they saw him.

"Well, if it isn't our new neighbor, Little Li. Heading out?"

One of the women spoke.

"Yes. I heard the Marquis of Suppressing the Far Realm is recruiting today, so I'm going to try."

Li Dao replied.

Another woman beside her said excitedly, "Then you'd better give it your best shot! The benefits are excellent if you become one of his soldiers."

A third woman added proudly, "Of course they are. My son serves under the Marquis of Suppressing the Far Realm. He even has a rank and commands five men."

She then looked at Li Dao. "Little Li, if you get into his army, I'll tell that rascal of mine to look after you in camp."

Li Dao said, "Thank you in advance, Auntie Liu."

"I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I'll be going, aunties."

Without lingering another millisecond, Li Dao vanished down the alley in the blink of an eye, as though raging floods and savage beasts were chasing him.

The women were left stunned.

Only after a moment did they recover.

One of them could not help muttering, "Little Li runs so fast. I was going to introduce him to my second uncle's granddaughter."

"Your second uncle's granddaughter? The one who weighs three hundred jin? I'd forget it if I were you. Little Li might die of fright when he sees her..."

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to. You're only saying that because you want to introduce your daughter to him. With that face of hers, even ghosts would shake their heads."

"Say that again, Sun!"

"Hah, you old gossip. You think you can stop me from talking?"

"You shameless hussy! Haven't seen you for a few days, and you've grown bold. I'll claw those shriveled things of yours to pieces today!"

Before long, a string of curses and scuffling sounds rang through the alley.

Within moments, the neighbors emerged one after another, following the scent of a spectacle.

Nobody stepped in to stop them. They clearly seemed accustomed to this, and some had even brought out stools in advance, ready to enjoy the show.

Meanwhile.

Having escaped the women's sight, Li Dao let out a long breath of relief.

There was nothing wrong with the people here. They were simply far too enthusiastic toward him.

Especially after learning that he was single and Jiu'er was merely his maid, these women would stop him for a chat almost every time they met. In short, they were constantly trying to find him a match.

He would rather face an army a million strong than these women's mouths.

Only after reaching the main street did his heart gradually settle.

Next, he would head to the north of Cloudrise City to take a look.

An incense stick's worth of time later.

Li Dao arrived in the northern part of the city.

Compared with the prosperity of the south, the north was noticeably poorer.

The reason was that numerous military camps were stationed here, making it a strictly controlled area.

As he drew closer to the northern gate, Li Dao noticed that there were no longer any women among the passersby. Everyone was male.

Soon, near the gate, he spotted a very long queue.

Beside it, he saw a wooden board bearing three large characters.

"Recruitment Office"

"This should be the place."

Li Dao looked around and found that everyone nearby was heading toward the queue.

If not for the Marquis of Suppressing the North, there probably would not have been so many people volunteering to enlist.

Following the crowd, he joined the queue.

Standing among them, Li Dao was particularly conspicuous, entirely because of his face.

Perhaps they were all wondering why someone so handsome would choose to become a soldier.

The queue inched forward.

After an unknown length of time, there was finally some activity up ahead.

Not far away, numerous chevaux-de-frise separated a camp from the outside.

At a gap between the barriers, several soldiers maintained order, while another man stood beside them with a register, recording each person's identity.

"Next. Name and household registration."

"Um, officer, my name is Li..."

"All right. Next."

"..."

Just like that, it soon became Li Dao's turn.

"Next. You..."

When the clerk raised his head and saw the newcomer's face clearly, he froze for a moment, but quickly recovered.

"Name and household registration."

"Sir, my name is Li Dao. My household registration is commoner status."

The Great Qian Dynasty's household registration system was the same as that of ancient times in his previous life.

It was divided into five ranks: noble, commoner, merchant, slave, and finally, outcast.

The first three encompassed scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Slaves were attached to those first three, while outcasts stood apart. Most terrifyingly, outcast status was hereditary: once one generation became outcasts, their descendants remained outcasts for generation after generation, unable to change it themselves. It generally applied to criminals.

Li Dao had once held first-class noble status. Now, after passing through the Death Row Camp and regaining his household registration, he was fortunate enough merely to retain commoner status.

Only those belonging to the scholar, farmer, artisan, or merchant classes were eligible to enlist. The two classes below them were not.

"All right, go in. Next."

The registrar entered Li Dao's name in the register, then spoke.

"Thank you, sir."

Li Dao passed the soldiers maintaining order and followed the previous applicant into the military camp.

Before long, a whole group came into view.

Those who had already registered were gathered together, with several men in officers' uniforms standing nearby.

Li Dao had barely joined the group when he heard someone speak.

"Fifty is enough. Now, all of you follow me. Anyone who falls behind won't even get to take the assessment. You'll be eliminated outright."

An officer stepped forward, delivered those words, then turned without hesitation and headed deeper into the camp.

Seeing the group standing motionless in a daze, one of the other officers reminded them, "What are you waiting for? Do you all want to be eliminated?"

Only then did the people lined up hurry after him, with Li Dao among them.

Li Dao also noticed that the later arrivals continued lining up just as they had.

It seemed that every fifty people formed a batch for the enlistment assessment.

Led by the officer, Li Dao's group of fifty soon arrived in front of a tent.

A sign stood to one side of the tent.

A single large character was written on it.

"Medicine"

The officer stopped at the tent entrance and turned around. "Do any of you fifty have any physical impairments? If you do, step out and get lost now, so you don't waste everyone's time."

After a moment, seeing that everyone remained silent, the officer nodded. "If no one does, that settles it. Wait outside while I go in and take a look."

With that, he left the bewildered group behind and ducked into the tent.