Chapter 35

His meaning was very clear: the Liu family was also gambling, gambling that Xu Yang was not lucky but truly had talent not inferior to Lu Ren's, letting Xu Yang see the reality clearly.

"Marrying into the family is not shameful. If you have achievements in martial arts in the future, whether to set up your own portal is just a matter of your word."

Xu Yang shook his head: "Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother, but I am still unwilling to marry into the family, and I don't want to get married for the time being."

Seeing this, Sun Tao didn't persuade him anymore and said: "If you don't want to marry, the Liu family is only willing to give five taels of silver per month to hire you as a general guest, and the same goes for you, Junior Brother Wu.

Recently, only the Liu family needs people. If you are unwilling, you can only wait."

Although there are few martial artists, there are not things for you to do everywhere, otherwise there wouldn't be people like Li Sanhe going outside the city to scrape the poor people.

Wu Yongfeng gathered Qi about half a month earlier than Xu Yang, and he still hadn't found anything to do.

Wu Yongfeng agreed directly. If he missed the Liu family, he didn't know how long he would have to wait.

Five taels is five taels, which is better than sitting and eating away his savings.

Although general guests are usually ten taels, it is also based on the premise of marriage.

Xu Yang is unwilling to marry, and his talent is too poor, so no family looks up to him, and he doesn't even have the opportunity to marry.

Xu Yang hesitated and said: "Senior Brother Sun, the Liu family won't hold a grudge against me because of this, right?"

Sun Tao showed an amused expression and said: "Don't think too much. To the Liu family, this is like a business that didn't go through. When they recruit people, anyone with better talent will try to marry first. You are not an exception."

Xu Yang heard this and also agreed to be a guest for the Liu family.

"I will write a letter, and you two can go to the Liu family to report in a while."

Sun Tao left and came back in a while with a letter to give to the two.

The two took the letter and left quickly.

"Truly stupid. The Liu family being able to look up to him is already his ancestors smoking from the grave, and he is still unwilling."

Jiang Ping heard that Xu Yang actually refused to marry into the Liu family and couldn't help but feel amused.

Many people want to be a son-in-law of the Liu family but don't have the qualifications.

"People have their own aspirations, so there is no need to force it."

Sun Tao looked at Lu Ren with a smile: "The Huang family should have made the same request to you, Junior Brother Lu."

Lu Ren nodded: "I only want to marry, but if they want me to marry into the family, the Huang family is still a bit short."

“Junior Brother Xu, you really should have agreed. Being a live-in son-in-law for the Liu family is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Once the two of them stepped out the door, Wu Yongfeng spoke up.

Xu Yang did not know what the Liu family represented, but Wu Yongfeng knew it clearly.

Compared to the Liu family, the Huang family was truly not in the same league.

The Huang family was only in the Inner City, but the Liu family was a major clan of the Inner City.

“The Inner City?”

Xu Yang’s gaze sharpened. He had lived this long and had never entered the Inner City; he only knew that the Inner City was the true gathering place for the powerful and wealthy of Qingyuan County, where every inch of land was worth an inch of gold.

However, he had no regrets. Even if it were the County Magistrate’s house, he could not possibly marry into it as a live-in son-in-law.

Moreover, even if he had agreed to be a live-in son-in-law, he feared he would not be marrying a true young lady of the house, but rather one born of a concubine or from a side branch.

Being a live-in son-in-law was already undignified enough; if he were to marry a concubine’s daughter on top of that, how much status could he possibly have in the Liu family?

Following Wu Yongfeng through the streets and alleys, Xu Yang entered the Inner City for the first time. What he saw before him felt as if he had arrived in another world.

The wide streets were swept spotlessly clean, everyone looked spirited and vigorous, and there were no beggars everywhere, nor were there people covered in patches.

Everything here was harmonious and peaceful.

“This is where people should live!” Xu Yang sighed.

“If one day I could bring my family to the Inner City, I would die content.” Wu Yongfeng secretly clenched his fists.

In a place like the Inner City, even Qi-Gathering martial artists found it difficult to live here.

The Liu family’s residence was built with extreme grandeur; the gatehouse alone was over two zhang wide, with a main gate and side gates, and the courtyard walls stretched for dozens of meters.

Two stone lions, taller than a person’s head, sat on either side. Four burly men with long sabers at their waists stood guard on both sides, their temperament fierce and their gazes sharp; one could tell at a glance they had trained.

“We aren’t going to be guarding the main gate from now on, are we?” Xu Yang was somewhat uncertain.

“Probably not. No matter how arrogant the Liu family is, they wouldn’t have Qi-Gathering martial artists guard the gate. These few must be those who failed to gather Qi.”

Wu Yongfeng stepped forward, took out Sun Tao’s letter, and cupped his hands: “Brothers, we two are disciples of the Weiyuan Hall. Introduced by Senior Brother Sun Tao, we have come to apply as retainer martial artists. Please help us pass the word; this is our letter of introduction.”

The four guards looked at Xu Yang and his companion. One of them immediately stepped forward to take the letter and said: “Please wait a moment, I will go in and report.”

Having said that, without waiting for Wu Yongfeng to speak, he turned and walked in through a side gate.

“The main family has many rules; outsiders are not allowed to enter without permission. Please wait a moment, my lords, there should be a result soon.”

If there were no surprises, these two young men before them would likely become the Liu family’s retainer martial artists, so the remaining three began to explain to Xu Yang and Wu Yongfeng that it wasn’t that they were intentionally being negligent, but that the Liu family’s rules were just like that.

“Please follow me, my lords.”

The two waited for a while before the guard who had left returned, leading them inside. They soon arrived at a side hall.

On a chair in the center, a middle-aged man was drinking tea, with a man who looked several years older than him standing behind him.

Seeing Xu Yang and Wu Yongfeng appear, the man drinking tea put down his cup and stood up, letting out a hearty laugh: “Welcome, you two talents from the Weiyuan Hall. I am Liu Yong, the steward of the Liu family’s internal affairs.”

Xu Yang had thought that for a major matter like hiring retainer martial artists, the Liu family would at least send a true head of the family; he hadn’t expected that only an internal affairs steward would come.

He did not know if they were looked down upon, or if such matters were merely trivial trifles to the Liu family.

“Greetings, Steward Liu!” The two cupped their hands in unison.

“Please, take a seat!”

After Liu Yong invited them to sit, he called out: “Someone, bring tea!”

After sitting back down, Liu Yong looked at the two: “I wonder which of you is Xu Yang, and which is Wu Yongfeng?”

Xu Yang and Wu Yongfeng stood up again and identified themselves.

Xu Yang had thought Liu Yong would mention the matter of becoming a live-in son-in-law, but he did not; instead, he spoke of the monthly stipend.

“I assume you both learned about the monthly stipend from Brother Sun Tao, but I must still state it.”

“For ordinary retainer martial artists, the Liu family provides a monthly stipend of five silver taels. However, if you perform meritorious service while on duty, there will also be reward money, and during festivals, there will be holiday bonuses.

Of course, as your cultivation base improves, the stipend will change accordingly.

As for what you need to do, it is actually not much. Most of the time, you will live in the residence and be responsible for its security. Sometimes, you will need to accompany the young masters or the Master when they go out to serve as guards…”

Liu Yong said quite a bit, and the latter part was basically brainwashing—nothing more than being loyal to the Liu family, loyal to the young masters and the Master, and that even if you die, you cannot let them come to harm.

Don’t be afraid of death or injury; the Liu family will take responsibility.

Of course, he also mentioned some benefits: the Liu family had many industries, and many things that could not be bought outside could be bought within the Liu family.

Finally, Liu Yong said sternly: “If you two have no questions, then the matter is settled.”

Naturally, the two had no questions; they had come here to sell their lives.

Xu Yang had paid back the money to Zhou Shunchang and still had seven or eight silver taels on him, but after this month, the Weiyuan Hall would require the apprenticeship fee again. If he had no income, he wouldn’t even be able to pay that.

Liu Yong stood up: “Please follow me, I will take you to the Retainer Courtyard.”

The two followed Liu Yong deep into the Liu family’s grounds. They met many people along the way, but they were basically all maids and servants; they did not see a single true member of the Liu family.

“There are many female family members in the residence. If you have nothing to do in the future, try to stay in the Retainer Courtyard.”

Along the way, Liu Yong mentioned quite a few of the Liu residence’s rules.

The two responded in agreement and soon arrived at a courtyard.

This courtyard was very large, somewhat like the Weiyuan Hall’s martial arts arena, with all kinds of training equipment like sabers, spears, staffs, and clubs.

Several burly men were standing in the courtyard practicing stances. Seeing Liu Yong appear, they hurriedly stopped their stance training and gathered around.

“Steward Liu, are these the new recruits?” A middle-aged man in the lead cupped his hands toward Liu Yong.

Apart from him, the remaining four were all youths like Xu Yang, looking to be about seventeen or eighteen years old.

Liu Yong smiled and pointed at Xu Yang and Wu Yongfeng, saying: “These two are Xu Yang and Wu Yongfeng. Please take care of them, Brother Zhang.”

The man addressed as Brother Zhang shook his head: “This is my duty.”

Brother Zhang’s name was Zhang Bo. Liu Yong had introduced him on the way: he was a powerhouse at the Great Completion of Qi-Gathering, just one step away from Marrow Cleansing, and was the leader of these few retainers. They would need to follow Zhang Bo’s orders in the future.

At this moment, the man who had been standing behind Liu Yong walked over, carrying several sets of clothes, on which were two waist tokens.

This was the uniform for the Liu family’s retainers. From now on, whenever they were in the Liu family, Xu Yang and Wu Yongfeng would need to wear these clothes, and the waist tokens were their proof for entering and leaving the Liu family.

Liu Yong soon left!

Zhang Bo then took Xu Yang and Wu Yongfeng, assigned them rooms, and told them to change into the clothes.

“Truly luxurious!” Xu Yang exclaimed.

The Huang family and the Liu family were indeed not in the same league. The Huang family could only afford to support Lu Ren; they couldn’t afford one more person.