Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

The matter of the Zhou Family was settled.

But Chen Li did not return to Lingxi immediately.

The reason was simple: when he went to collect the ten master weavers who held the core techniques for Floating Light and Shadow, he encountered unexpected resistance.

With Elder Zhan personally vouching for him and a handwritten letter from Zhou Shuwei, the weavers naturally believed that Chen Li’s identity and Zhou Shuwei’s arrangements were genuine.

But when they heard they would have to leave the bustling Commandery City where they had lived for half their lives and move to some unheard-of backwater, their previously respectful and compliant faces immediately showed reluctance and anxiety.

However, heaven never seals off all paths.

Just when Chen Li thought the matter would be impossible to resolve, a turning point quietly emerged.

It started with the grandson of one of the masters, a woman surnamed Dong, who wanted to go to a martial arts hall to study.

But he was met with dissuasion from his family.

His family wanted to send him to study literature instead.

After all, the saying "the poor pursue literature, the rich pursue martial arts" wasn’t just empty words.

The wages of these ten master weavers were much higher than those of ordinary weavers, but their basic annual salary was only sixty taels.

Even with their share of the profits from selling Floating Light and Shadow, they made no more than two or three hundred silver taels a year.

This money had to support their entire families. How could they have any extra silver to support a grandson’s martial arts training?

Seeing this, a plan immediately formed in Chen Li’s mind.

He made two promises to Master Dong on the spot.

First, if she was willing to move to Lingxi, the Chen Family would sponsor her grandson’s martial arts training free of charge. All expenses, from Medicinal Cuisine to the teaching of Cultivation Techniques, would be covered by the Chen Family until he reached Qi Realm Perfection.

Second, the annual salary of all the master weavers would be doubled from the original sixty taels, and they would still receive their share of the profits from Floating Light and Shadow.

As soon as he said this, Master Dong was stunned. Seeing the hopeful look in her grandson’s eyes, her initial resistance vanished into thin air.

After discussing it with her family, she no longer hesitated and readily agreed to bring her household with him.

Chen Li then summoned the other nine masters and made them the same promises.

After weighing their options, the nine also gradually relented, stating their willingness to follow Chen Li to Lingxi.

Back in Lingxi, Chen Li became even busier.

The ten families of the weavers needed to be settled. The sudden addition of sixty or seventy people made the originally spacious Chen Family Mansion and its side courtyards feel crowded.

Expanding their living quarters was now imperative, but building new houses from scratch would take too long.

So, Chen Li turned his attention to the few vacant residences owned by the Wang Family at the other end of Lingxi.

Aside from Wang Shihui’s residence, which had been burned to the ground in a great fire, leaving only a patch of scorched earth, the residences of Wang Shizhang and Wang Shiming, though long uninhabited and somewhat dilapidated, still had their main structures intact. They would be usable after some minor repairs.

Chen Li quickly invited the patriarch and several elders of the Wang Family clan and got straight to the point, stating his intention to purchase the properties.

The price he offered was very fair, even slightly above the market rate.

He valued the three properties at two thousand taels of silver.

However, the other party did not immediately agree.

After years of famine and turmoil, the Wang Family clansmen had far less faith in gold and silver than in grain, which could fill their stomachs and reliably hold its value.

After consulting with the clan elders, the Wang Family patriarch surprisingly proposed a barter deal.

They didn’t want silver. They wanted grain—one thousand stone of it in exchange.

At that time, although the price of grain in Jingshan had dropped slightly due to shipments from the Commerce Association, it was still around two taels and five maces of silver per stone. A thousand stone of grain was equivalent to nearly two thousand five hundred taels of silver, far exceeding the market price.

Chen Li was displeased.

However, looking around Lingxi, there were no other suitable plots of land.

Despite back-and-forth negotiations, the Wang Family patriarch wouldn’t budge, stubbornly insisting on grain.

Though annoyed, Chen Li didn’t want to waste more energy on such a small matter. "Nine hundred stone. That’s the highest I’ll go. If not, I’ll find another way."

The Wang Family patriarch and the elders looked at each other. They certainly wanted more grain, but they didn’t dare offend the Chen Family too much.

Besides, those properties were just sitting vacant. It was better to trade them for tangible grain.

The men conferred in low voices, weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, and finally agreed to the deal for nine hundred stone of grain.

After signing the contract and completing the deed transfer at the County Magistrate’s Office, Chen Li immediately hired artisans and laborers to clean and repair the two old residences.

Besides repairing the houses, Chen Li also began to work on another matter.

Developing the family’s martial strength.

This idea was not a sudden impulse.

He had had this thought ever since Shouye brought back the Eight-direction Saber Technique and the Eight Directions Pile Skill.

Later, as the family’s enterprises expanded, he felt an acute shortage of capable hands.

The only people in the family he could truly rely on were himself and his two sons.

As for the likes of Linglong, Bai San, and Shu Qi, they were fine for killing and arson, but Chen Li couldn’t count on them at all to manage the family business.

However, the matter had wide-ranging implications and had never been implemented.

Mainly, two core problems remained unsolved.

First, who would teach?

At the time, the only ones in the Chen Family who could teach were Chen Li, Shouheng, and Shouye. But Chen Li was already stretched thin between his own cultivation and managing the family’s affairs.

Shouheng and Shouye also had their own paths to walk. It simply wasn’t worth it for them to spend years of effort on basic instruction.

Second, Chen Li was most worried about the principle that a small kindness earns gratitude, while a large one breeds resentment.

The Chen Family had many clansmen, but almost none could afford the silver to have their descendants practice martial arts.

If he rashly started a clan school, his own household would inevitably have to fund it.

Although he had obtained those eight hundred thousand taels of tax silver, giving his family more fluid capital, they could support it for a long time. But if his household paid for everything, the clansmen would grow dependent and take it for granted. If the support ever faltered in the future, it would easily breed resentment and turn into a disaster.

Therefore, although the idea existed, it had been shelved, and he hadn’t dared to act on it rashly.

Now, however, the time was gradually becoming ripe.

Liu Zongying was a Tributor retained for five thousand taels a year. Since they had hired him, they couldn’t let him sit idle.

Of course, he didn’t extend the scope to all Chen Family clansmen.

The first batch to be taught Martial Arts, besides one descendant of suitable age and decent aptitude from each of the ten master weavers’ families, would be the children of stewards and servants who had worked for his family for more than ten years.

A total of thirty-three people were selected.

Of course, it was not unconditional. These thirty-three individuals had to sign long-term labor contracts with the Chen Family.

Before the Blood Refining Realm, they could receive one free portion of Blood-Strengthening Powder each month to help them build their foundation.

After reaching the Blood Refining Realm, all cultivation resources would have to be exchanged for contribution points earned by serving the Chen Family.

As for the other clansmen, Chen Li had no intention of opening that door for now.

...

「In the third month, the spring sun was warm and gentle.」

The mulberry forests in the fields were a fresh shade of green.

Inside the newly expanded silkworm house, it was pleasantly warm, and the air was filled with the fresh fragrance of mulberry leaves.

Snow-white cocoons densely dotted the cocooning frames.

Women worked nimbly, plucking the full, firm cocoons one by one and placing them into baskets.

Because the other forty-seven hundred acres of land had only been planted last September, the Mulberry Seedlings were still young.

This year, the scale of spring silkworm cultivation had not expanded; in fact, it had been reduced.

The main reason was that many mulberry branches had been pruned last year to cultivate new seedlings.

When everything was finally weighed, they had only harvested ninety thousand pounds of fresh cocoons.

Chen Li was too busy with the house expansion and martial arts training to get away, so he sent a servant to the county town to find Shouye and put him in charge of selling the cocoons.

Chen Shouye had also heard about the changes in the Zhou Family from his father.

Therefore, he didn’t send the cocoons directly to the Commandery City as they had last year.

Instead, he first sent Zhao Gui, who had escorted the cocoons to the Commandery City with Chen Li last year, to gather information.

Soon, Zhao Gui returned with news.

The Zhou Family Textile Workshop had, in the short span of a month, already changed hands.

The steward there was no longer named Zhou. He heard the owner behind the scenes had been replaced by the Sun Family.

Chen Shouye understood. It would be futile to transport the cocoons to the Commandery City now.

He immediately prepared to find a buyer within Jingshan County.

However, the local purchase price was only eighty cents per pound, far lower than the one mace of silver per pound the Zhou Family had paid in previous years.

So, Chen Shouye sent someone home to inform his father.

Chen Li’s reply was to let him act as he saw fit; selling at a low price was acceptable.

With his father’s approval, Chen Shouye went to several silk shops in Jingshan County Town that purchased cocoons to inquire.

But what happened next made his heart sink.

"Young Master Chen, my sincerest apologies. Our shop has already purchased enough raw silk for the year. The warehouses are full. You should try asking somewhere else."

The shopkeeper of the first shop was all smiles and spoke politely, but his words were a refusal. He was completely unwilling to talk further with Chen Shouye, not even glancing at the samples he had brought.

Chen Shouye fell silent and moved on to the second shop.

"Ah, it’s Second Young Master Chen! A rare guest, a rare guest."

By now, the fact that the Chen Family had two Spirit Realm masters was known to everyone in Jingshan. No one dared to offend them.

The owner of the second shop came out to greet him personally, but he was still wringing his hands with a troubled expression. "Second Young Master, to be honest with you, our shop is tight on silver this year, and our cash flow is a bit strained. We simply can’t take on such a large batch of cocoons. I’d hate to hold up your business. Please forgive us. I must ask you to inquire at another shop."

Facing one rejection after another, Chen Shouye was confused, but it became increasingly clear to him that this was no coincidence. Something was definitely going on.

It wasn’t until he walked into Qian’s Silk Shop in the west market that Qian Laibao, lounging behind the counter, recognized him at a glance.

"Hey, Shouye, it’s you!"

Qian Laibao was from the Tiger Subduing Martial Arts Hall and was Chen Shouheng’s senior brother. He had also participated in the County Examination with Chen Shouheng back in the day.

He had failed to pass that year and completely gave up on the idea of the Martial Examination.

But he couldn’t withstand his family’s pressure and went to take it again the following year. Unfortunately, he failed again.

The repeated failures left his family quite disappointed in him, so they had him take over the family business early.

Chen Shouye was taken aback, not recognizing the other man.

"Hey, it’s me! From the Tiger Subduing Martial Arts Hall, Qian Laibao!" Seeing that Chen Shouye didn’t recognize him, the man wasn’t annoyed and quickly reminded him, "I even gave you a piece of jade as a gift when you got married."

After a moment of thought, Chen Shouye finally remembered having met him a couple of times. He immediately clasped his hands in a salute. "Brother Qian, please forgive me."

Qian Laibao waved his hand, indicating he didn’t mind, and then asked, "What brings you to my humble shop today? Looking to buy some clothes for your wife?"

Chen Shouye shook his head. "I’m looking for a market for my family’s spring cocoons."

Hearing this, the smile on Qian Laibao’s face faltered slightly. He invited Chen Shouye into the back room for tea.

After a shop assistant served the tea, Qian Laibao looked left and right, then lowered his voice. "Shouye, we’re not strangers, so I’ll be direct with you. Right now, your family’s cocoons... you probably won’t be able to sell them in Jingshan County, or even in the neighboring counties."

Chen Shouye’s gaze sharpened. "Please enlighten me, Brother Qian."