Chapter 5 : Chapter 5
Chapter 5. The Path of Martial Training
After the meal, the menial servants went back to work.
Once they finished in this courtyard, they were sent off to other courtyards.
In any case, there was always enough work to keep a person from stopping even for a moment.
By the time the moon hung bright and the stars had grown sparse, and all the martial instructors had settled in for the night,
the menial servants, who normally would already have been preparing to rest, were now all full of excitement as they flocked to the corners behind the room to practice.
The patrolling servants were aware of the situation as well.
After warning them not to disturb the martial instructors’ rest and not to neglect their daily work, they simply ignored them.
Over here, Xu Yuan went alone to a corner and looked at the panel in his mind.
[Name: Xu Yuan]
[Skill: Tai Chi Exercise (Small Success 1%) Stone Platform Stance Art (Beginner 2%)]
[Aptitude: 3 (Above Average)]
In truth, during practice at noon, Xu Yuan had already realized that although he had become familiar with the routines of the stance art, there were still many obscure points he could not fully grasp.
On the other hand, some of the problems that troubled him had never appeared for Li Shan and Sun Rong at all.
That made it immediately clear to him that differences in aptitude were indeed obvious.
Given the same amount of time, other people would face no obstruction at all, and their efficiency would naturally be higher than his.
“So martial training really cannot be separated from talent.”
Xu Yuan hated the pain of facing a problem he could not solve.
He thought it over in silence and decided to try the Tai Chi Exercise again to see which one had the lower early-stage difficulty, so that he could use it to break through the bottleneck of his aptitude first.
Then he straightened his posture like a pine or cypress.
At the same time, all the muscles in his body gradually relaxed without ever becoming lax.
His waist guided his hands, his lower stance remained firmly rooted, and his movements flowed like drifting clouds and kneading rain, holding the core and preserving the circle.
So it went, over and over again.
After a full two hours had passed, Xu Yuan finally lifted his head to look at the panel.
[Name: Xu Yuan]
[Skill: Tai Chi Exercise (Small Success 6%) Stone Platform Stance Art (Beginner 2%)]
[Aptitude: 3 (Above Average)]
“The Tai Chi Exercise really are easier after all, and the efficiency is clearly much higher.”
Xu Yuan’s eyes lit up at once, and he immediately found a path for his martial training.
From now on, every day at the hour of Si, he would continue steadily consolidating the stance art.
At night, he would practice the Tai Chi Exercise and strive to improve his aptitude as soon as possible, so that it could in turn nourish his progress in the stance art.
“That’s what I’ll do!”
Xu Yuan practiced the boxing exercises a while longer.
Only after a layer of hot sweat seeped out over his body did he lift his head and look up into the sky.
The bright moon, round as a silver plate, had already been bitten halfway through by dark clouds, and the clear radiance it cast had dimmed considerably.
Among the menial servants around him, aside from a few who were still gritting their teeth and enduring, most had already gone back inside to rest.
And among them was someone Xu Yuan recognized.
It was Xiao Sheng, the very one who had earlier suffered punishment.
He shared the same dormitory with Xu Yuan, was usually taciturn, and rarely interacted with others, yet at this moment he was still practicing bitterly on his own.
“Forget it. I still have to work early tomorrow morning. Going too far is no good either.”
Xu Yuan shook his head, went over to the water vat, took a cloth and washed it clean, then quickly wiped the grime from his body before returning to the room.
Not long afterward, he sank into deep sleep.
The next day,
the menial servants rose as usual and began bustling about before the morning dew had even dried.
This time, quite a few of them had clearly put some thought into it.
They ladled themselves great full bowls of thin gruel, and even spread the salty diced vegetables over the top until they covered the surface.
Several large bowls went down in a row, and only when they were so bloated it hurt did they put down their chopsticks.
When Fatty Wang saw this, he gave them a fierce scolding.
“You worthless skins, aren’t you afraid of stuffing yourselves to death?”
“You can’t get your hands on fresh peaches, so you fill yourselves up on rotten apricots instead!”
No one paid much attention to him.
Yesterday’s martial practice had drained them too severely, and the empty feeling in their bellies was miserable, so of course they had to eat more in the morning.
After all, aside from thin gruel and pickled vegetables, they had nothing else to eat for breakfast.
But soon, something else happened.
A servant came over to inspect the menial servants’ work.
He wiped his hand beneath the eaves and came away with quite a bit of dust on his fingers.
At once, he burst into curses and flung out a loud slap.
“You idiot, nothing ever went wrong before, so what exactly did you clean this time?”
“If there’s a next time, watch me dock your meals!”
The menial servant, with dark circles under his eyes and a clear handprint stamped across his face, did not dare make a sound.
He silently stepped forward and carefully wiped away the dust.
He had practiced too long the night before, and after lying down for only a short while, he had already had to get up and work.
His body was truly exhausted, and he had carelessly overlooked one spot.
But the servant was still not done.
He turned and coldly lectured all the menial servants.
“I don’t care how you practice martial arts at night, but during the day your work had better be done properly. Otherwise, watch your hides!”
Everyone’s heart tightened.
Their hands moved even faster, and the few menial servants who had also stayed up through most of the night widened their eyes, terrified of missing anything.
Xu Yuan, however, could see it clearly.
If it were not because the menial servants were currently practicing martial arts and still had one possible chance to change their fate,
this servant would never have let the matter end with just a single slap.
When all was said and done, menial servants had neither human rights nor dignity.
They were nothing more than cheap property within the great estate.
Even the servants one rank above them could handle them however they pleased.
Not until the hour of Si (9:00 AM)
did Feng Xiao arrive in the rear courtyard on time and teach the menial servants about the meridians, the acupoints, and the first of the Eight Meridians, the Ren Meridian.
Then he led everyone through one full round of the stance art, briefly answered a few questions, told them to practice on their own, and strolled away.
The others learned in a half-understood haze and still harbored some resentment over it.
But after speaking with Li Shan, Xu Yuan understood the matter clearly.
The martial instructors’ monthly pay was divided into two parts.
One was a base salary, while the other was performance pay.
Teaching the students in the front courtyard and teaching the menial servants in the rear courtyard both only earned them a fixed monthly salary.
Only if someone managed to break through to the First Meridian would they receive additional rewards.
And in their eyes, the menial servants were obviously far less likely to break through than the martial students.
Since they were still willing not to hold anything back and to teach properly according to their duty, that was already not bad.
As for any extra personal coaching?
They could forget it.
In the courtyard,
the three of them gathered together once more to practice.
And during their conversation, Xu Yuan finally asked a question that had troubled him for quite some time.
“Brother Xu, are you asking why, when there are so many maids in the side courtyard, only a few of us came here?”
Sun Rong’s voice was crisp and clear.
Yet when she heard the question, her smile turned somewhat complicated.
“What you don’t know is that maids and menial servants are a little different. Because of their position and their gender, maids have an easier time becoming familiar with the noble people in the inner court, so their rate of promotion is somewhat faster.”
“For example, Instructor Feng signed a contract with the Shangyang family, so he belongs to the Shangyang family now. He is at the Second Meridian, so he counts as a two-striped retainer.”
“As for the maids, sometimes all they need is to catch the eye of a noble master once, and they can become second-rank maids. Although their status is still slightly lower, the benefits they receive are not few, so...”
By the time she reached this point, Xu Yuan understood.
He had previously found it strange that, despite this being a chance to change one’s fate, only a few maids had come.
So that was the reason.
Because they often served the Shangyang family members in the inner court, if they did their work well and occasionally offered a few thoughtful words, they might be promoted directly.
Naturally, they had no need to come here and suffer through martial training.
Put bluntly, the two sides were pursuing entirely different paths of advancement.
“Then Sister Sun is quite a strong-willed person after all.”
Li Shan gave her cheerful praise.
Sun Rong shot him an annoyed glance.
“That is only natural. In all things, having ability of one’s own gives more confidence than anything else.”
“I’m not as generous as Brother Li, casually scattering away such a precious opportunity for nothing.”
“Uh...”
Li Shan froze.
He felt that her words seemed to carry barbs and hidden jabs, and just as he was about to defend himself, several menial servants suddenly ran over to ask him for guidance.
Unable to refuse them, he could only go over and carefully point out what mistakes they had made in their movements.
Seeing this, Sun Rong shook her head, but said nothing more about him.
Instead, she turned back to Xu Yuan with a smile.
“Brother Xu, let’s keep practicing together.”
Xu Yuan nodded.
Some things only needed to be said once as a reminder.
There was no need to force himself into other people’s cause and effect.
At times like this, the only thing to do was respect fate.
Time passed quickly amid the tedious practice.
By the time the hour of Si ended,
Xu Yuan noticed that the menial servants who had stuffed themselves with several bowls of thin gruel that morning now looked pale.
They were all clenching their thighs as they ran back and forth to the latrine several times.
The sight made the others laugh despite themselves, mocking them for barely practicing martial arts at all before spending all their time opening the floodgates and draining water instead.
At this, Xu Yuan could only shake his head helplessly.
That morning gruel had only had a few grains of rice in it to begin with.
No matter how much they drank, once they relieved themselves, it would all come right back out again.
What use was it?