Chapter 66: Luxury

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

Once the two had left the gate, Wu Yongfeng spoke up.

Xu Yang did not know what the Liu family signified, but he knew it perfectly well.

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 Magistrate's house, he could not possibly marry into it.

Moreover, even if he agreed to marry into the family, he feared he would not be marrying a true young lady, but rather one born of a concubine or from a side branch.

Marrying into a family was already undignified enough; if he were to marry a concubine's daughter, how much status could he 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 clean; everyone was in high spirits, with no beggars everywhere and no one covered in patches.

Here, everything was joyful and harmonious.

"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 a Qi Gathering martial artist would find it hard to live here.

The Liu family's residence was built with extreme grandeur; the gatehouse 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 man's head, sat on either side, and four burly men with long swords at their waists stood guard, their temperament fierce and their gazes sharp—one look and you could tell they had trained.

"We won't have to guard the main gate in the future, will we?" Xu Yang was somewhat uncertain.

"Probably not. No matter how arrogant the Liu family is, they wouldn't have a Qi Gathering martial artist 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 Martial Arts Hall, introduced by Senior Brother Sun Tao 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 the other, and one of them immediately stepped forward to take the letter, saying: "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 the 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."

Barring any accidents, these two young men before them should become the Liu family's retainer martial artists, so the remaining three explained to Xu Yang and his companion that it wasn't that they were intentionally being negligent, but that the Liu family's rules were as such.

"My lords, please follow me."

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

On the 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, the two talents from Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall. I am Liu Yong, the internal affairs steward of the Liu family."

Xu Yang had thought that for such a major matter as recruiting retainer martial artists, the Liu family would at least send a true head of the family; he had not expected that only an internal affairs steward would come.

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

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

"Please, sit!"

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 marrying into the family, but he did not; instead, he spoke of the monthly stipend.

"I presume you both learned about the monthly stipend from Senior Brother Sun Tao, but I must state it nonetheless."

"For general retainer martial artists, the Liu family provides a monthly stipend of five taels, but if you perform meritorious service while on duty, there will be rewards, and during festivals, there will be holiday money."

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

As for what you are required to do, it is actually not much. Most of the time, you will live in the residence and be responsible for the security of the estate; sometimes, you will be required to accompany the young masters and the master when they go out to serve as guards…"

Liu Yong said quite a lot, and the latter part was basically brainwashing—nothing more than needing to be loyal to the Liu family, loyal to the young masters and the master, and that even if you die, you cannot let anything happen to them.

Don't be afraid if you are injured or killed; the Liu family will take responsibility.

Of course, he also mentioned some benefits: the Liu family has many industries, and many things that cannot be bought outside can be purchased by them within the Liu family.

Finally, Liu Yong said solemnly: "If you two have no questions, then the matter is settled."

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

Xu Yang had repaid Zhou Shunchang's money and still had seven or eight taels of silver on him, but after this month, Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall would require the apprenticeship fee again; if he had no further income, he wouldn't even be able to pay the apprenticeship fee.

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 courtyard. Along the way, they met many people, but they were basically all maids and servants; they did not see a single true member of the Liu family.

"There are many female relatives 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 martial arts arena at Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall, with all kinds of training equipment like swords, spears, staffs, and clubs.

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

"Steward Liu, have new people arrived?" A middle-aged man in the lead cupped his hands toward Liu Yong.

Apart from him, the remaining four were all youths the same age as Xu Yang, looking to be about seventeen or eighteen.

Liu Yong smiled and pointed at Xu Yang and Wu Yongfeng, saying: "These two are Xu Yang and Wu Yongfeng. I'll trouble you to show them the ropes, 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: a Qi Gathering Major Success expert, just one step away from Marrow Cleansing. He was the leader of these retainers, and 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, with two waist tokens on top.

This was the uniform for Liu family 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 credentials for entering and leaving the Liu family in the future.

Liu Yong soon departed!

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, and they couldn't even afford one more person. ===== CHAPTER 67 =====