Chapter 508: Disciple (4k)

"Hey hey hey, don't let the ox shit right on the road! Pick it up, pick up the cow dung!"

In front of Tianbo Tower.

The man's pant legs were caked in black mud; seeing the carriage approach, he tugged the old water buffalo to hurry past—but the ox suddenly went berserk, stopping dead, spreading its hind legs, half-squatting, and letting out a pile of dung.

The river office clerks stared dumbfounded, gripping their whips tightly: the Prince of Xu Yue was coming, and someone was shitting on the street?

Liang Qu turned his head at the noise.

"Hurry, hurry, clean it up, clean it up!"

"Yes, yes, yes."

In front of his superior, the clerk dared not lash out; he urged repeatedly, pinching his nose as he ordered the man to clean it all up.

Liang Qu turned away his gaze and stepped inside, Long Long Binglin and Long Yao flanking him on either side, half a step behind.

"This way, my lord."

The manager led the way ahead to the right.

As soon as they entered.

Countless eyes turned toward them.

Nothing else.

Long Long Binglin, seven feet two inches tall—over two meters forty—was too imposing, standing out like a crane among chickens.

In the "empty" periphery of vision, a towering, oppressive "little giant" suddenly appeared; anyone couldn't help but fixate.

Once fixed, their gaze couldn't tear away.

All three were extraordinary.

Liang Qu needed no introduction—his reputation was already famed, his influence soaring.

Yesterday he'd just received the jade token from the Prince of Xu Yue, unique and unparalleled, causing a sensation throughout the entire prefecture.

Considering his status.

Rumors said the river office had ties to the Dragon People, even employed some among them; surely this "giant" was the legendary Dragon Person?

To the right… a Dragon Woman?

A guest gasped: "Dragon Women… are they all this beautiful?"

Skin like soft jade—truly exquisite, like gazing upon a piece of emerald steeped in clear, warm water.

Standing beside him, serene and dignified.

The first floor was overwhelmingly male.

Even though Liang Qu and Long Long Binglin were exceptional, neither drew half the attention of Long Yao.

But since the Dragon Woman followed Liang Qu closely, making their bond obvious, though curious, none dared openly provoke trouble; they stole glances, their hearts aching with envy.

The leading manager stepped aside.

"There are still two quarters of an hour until the auction begins—would my lord care to browse the first floor?"

"Go to the second floor."

The first floor mostly rented out space; the second floor was Tianbo Merchant Association's own, with guaranteed quality.

The manager bowed slightly and continued leading the way.

Liang Qu looked to his companions: "If you see anything you like, don't be shy—take it. I'll pay."

Long Long Binglin and Long Yao nodded in thanks.

They ascended to the second floor.

The clamor of haggling faded significantly; shops were neatly arranged.

"How much for this jade?"

Liang Qu stopped before a jade shop, picking up a white jade stone from a black velvet cloth to inquire its price.

It was a sheep-fat white jade seed stone, unprocessed, still coated with a pale yellow outer crust; slightly larger than the jade token given by the Prince of Xu Yue, slightly inferior in quality—but unless held and compared, the difference was nearly imperceptible.

"Does Lord Liang favor this Tianshan Jade River seed stone? Four thousand two hundred taels of silver." The jade merchant recognized his identity.

"So expensive?"

Long Long Binglin was startled.

For a treasure fish, a precious plant, thousands of taels made sense.

But this was merely a piece of jade—inedible, unusable—why so costly?

"Gold has a price, jade has none. The jade in the Tianshan Jade River only surfaces when, each summer and autumn, melting snow swells into roaring torrents, washing stones from deep mountains into the riverbed.

Only when autumn floods recede and the water clears is it the best season to dive for jade—but the water is bitterly cold, freezing countless divers' legs before one such piece of sheep-fat jade is unearthed. Not expensive at all.

If my lord finds a skilled jade carver to shape it into something he loves, wears it daily, and finds joy in it, such contentment cannot be bought with any amount of silver." The merchant bowed deeply. "Master Sun is a jewelry expert—perhaps he could add a word?"

The manager raised his hand in greeting: "Master Wang has a five-year contract with our Tianbo Merchant Association—this is indeed a fair price."

Liang Qu rubbed the jade, never doubting Tianbo Merchant Association's reputation.

"Wrap it up!"

The merchant turned to fetch a wooden box.

Liang Qu raised his hand to stop him.

"Are you a jade carver?"

The merchant nodded: "My lord wishes for carving? I humbly suggest such fine material need not be rushed—take it home, let it warm slowly, think carefully about the design, or else, once carved, regret will be hard to undo."

"No regret." Liang Qu reached into his robe and pulled out a palm-sized sheep-fat jade token. "Make one just like this."

The merchant took the token, recalling yesterday's rumors, secretly startled: "My lord, this…"

"Make me an identical one." Liang Qu didn't hesitate. "Yesterday, when I received the token to announce the honor, my mistress adored it—but she couldn't keep it for herself, so I thought to make an identical one to keep beside her as a keepsake. How long will it take?"

The merchant suspected it was an excuse but asked no further, studying it carefully.

"My lord is here for the auction?"

"Yes."

"Twenty taels. Ready after the auction."

The token's shape wasn't complex: square with rounded corners, a "Xu Yue" character on the front, auspicious cloud patterns on the back.

The merchant used red lacquer to stamp the front, back, and sides, confirmed dimensions, cleaned it, returned it, then took the jade seed stone worth over four thousand taels to begin carving.

The mistress was merely an excuse; carving an identical token might prove useful someday.

The Prince of Xu Yue's strike required blood qi to activate.

Zhang Xu had said plainly: after one use, the token would crack.

But with a forgery, as long as no one had seen Liang Qu use the real one, the Prince of Xu Yue's strike would forever "exist"!

"Found anything you like? Don't be shy."

Long Long Binglin and Long Yao shook their heads.

Though Tianbo Merchant Association intrigued the Dragon People, its attractions weren't strong enough—their tree-built homes and underwater dwellings were hardly rare.

Upon receiving their refusal, Liang Qu ascended to the third floor.

"Yi Qi…"

Scanning the private room numbers, Liang Qu walked inside.

Today he brought Long Long Binglin and Long Yao not as bodyguards or for show, but because the River Office had arranged a private room exclusively for the Dragon People.

The Dragon People were wealthy—they'd brought many treasures when leaving Long Gong—but little silver on hand.

Hence he brought them along today.

The entire third floor looked slightly different from last time; the central private room on the second level had been entirely renovated.

From outside, it appeared at least a hundred square meters; as one passed the doorway, a faint incense scent drifted out.

No need to say—it was the prime spot, reserved for the Prince of Xu Yue.

The manager opened the door.

"Lord Liang, Brother Long Binglin, Sister Long Eying!"

Inside, Long Long Zijian and Long Zihé were greedily munching watermelon; seeing the three enter, they dropped their rinds and rose to greet them.

Long Long Binglin was surprised: "You're here too?"

Long Long Zijian scratched his head and grinned: "Ziping and Zheping work at the River Office and went to Jiangling County to survey waterways. There weren't many Dragon People nearby, so I brought Zihé along for the fun."

Long Long Binglin sighed helplessly.

After brief greetings and settling the Dragon People, Liang Qu headed to his master's Yi San private room.

He pushed open the door.

Xu Xu Yue smacked his thigh: "Ah, the main character's here!"

"Liang Ashui, you touched the pillar and walked off without a word—yesterday you nearly killed me and Brother Hu!" Seeing Liang Qu, Xiang Xiang Zhangsong couldn't help but vent.

Liang Qu was baffled by their reactions.

"I touched the pillar… how could that tire you two?"

Hu Qi rubbed his temples.

"Yesterday you pulled out a jade token—suddenly you've become famous! The number of apprentices coming to the martial school skyrocketed! Hu and I did nothing all day but manage the new recruits.

By evening we counted: one hundred thirty-six new students! The school couldn't hold them all—and even after dinner, more kept arriving!

Including today, we now have two hundred sixteen new apprentices! Over half are outsiders; today they took half a day off for the auction, but I bet more are still lining up to sign up."

Xiang Xiang Zhangsong grinned: "Brother, guess what the first question they ask when signing up is?"

Liang Qu feigned ignorance: "I can't guess."

"Ha." Xiang Xiang Zhangsong cleared his throat, adopting a theatrical tone: "Excuse me, is this the Yang Shi martial school that taught Liang Liang Ashui?"

Xu Xu Yue laughed heartily.

Liang Qu scratched his cheek.

The arrival of the Prince of Xu Yue was a rare grand event in Pingyang Prefecture; moreover, the villagers of Yixing Town, by their own accord, had given his master a powerful promotional boost.

It wasn't limited to Pingyang City and its neighboring towns, but extended even to nearby large counties.

Even if separated by county boundaries, though the distance was considerable, those who could afford it could still stay at martial academies; three months away from home was no big deal.

"How will you arrange the extra apprentices?"

"What else can we do? Master consulted Master Pang, arranged some to move over, and those who absolutely couldn't be housed will be queued for next month."

Our academy will keep expanding. Master has summoned a large group of craftsmen to build two more mu of long row houses and a third training ground.

Don't you have a fellow townsman named Lin Lin Songbao?

He's now a Second Gate martial cultivator, just like Li Li Libo and Chen Jie, shuttling between the River Office and the academy.

"Then I'll go back and discuss it with the head of our town's academy—probably can find space for some." Liang Qu said.

There are three martial academies in Yixing Town; they must have plenty of empty rooms.

Better to earn lodging fees than leave them empty. The three academy heads won't likely refuse.

"Alright." Hu Qi didn't refuse.

Speaking of recruiting for the academy, Liang Qu remembered something.

"Brother, what progress have you made on that project I mentioned—cooperating with the academy?"

The Prince of Xu Yue's arrival was an unexpected situation; no one had foreseen this.

Many great clans entered Pingyang Prefecture, and both senior brothers had been worried about how our academy could compete with other "job-placement" academies.

My suggestion was to first partner with Shanghu Academy—to teach literacy and temporarily boost our competitiveness, stabilizing our growth.

Later, once our farming project takes off, we can add "job assignments" as a complete strategy.

Illicit money grows daily; legitimate money dies daily.

Beautiful women often sleep beside fools.

The academies under great families are essentially for "screening."

It's like the common folk paying their own money for "employee training."

There isn't even a proper teacher inside—just senior apprentices who've trained a few months, mentoring newcomers in utter chaos.

They select a few who show promise and assign them jobs; those who train wrong or go off-track are simply ignored.

The teaching quality is far worse than a normal academy.

But the allure of guaranteed job placement makes them more attractive than academies that only teach.

Xiang Xiang Zhangsong said: "Director Zhao agreed—just pay the instructors their normal monthly salary. It was simpler than expected; probably because of your pinyin system."

"Honestly, this tactic works well. Before the Prince of Xu Yue arrived, our academy drew far more students than usual, especially those who couldn't afford high fees."

"Have any academies copied it?"

"Yes—Liu's and Li's academies both copied it," Xiang Xiang Zhangsong listed them off. "But theirs don't work as well. Shanghu Academy only cooperates with us; all others were rejected. Teachers going there represent only themselves, not the academy. None of the academy's books or scrolls may be borrowed."

"We should thank Director Zhao someday."

"Indeed."

"Indeed what?"

"Cao Shixiong Lu! Senior Sister Zhuo!"

Several more senior brothers and sisters entered the room; the private booth grew even livelier.

"Last time there were over a hundred auction items; this time there are three hundred—more than doubled! Do you think we might hit a million?"

"Probably. With the Prince of Xu Yue and a Grand Master here, there must be better items."

"Do you think the Prince of Xu Yue will bid?"

Unlikely... When the Prince of Xu Yue acts, who would dare raise the price? The merchants' list was surely shown to him in advance—he chooses exactly what he wants outright. Otherwise, competing with us would be too undignified.

"Don't dare speculate."

"What time is it? Why hasn't it started yet?"

Xu Xu Yue pushed open the window and gazed toward Pingyang City.

The bustling noise of packed carts and horses rose from the streets; the wide avenue was crowded with one small square after another.

Dignitaries in fine robes rode in carriages, emerging from the far end of the road.

High officials—the River Office Director, the Demon-Hunting Bureau Commander, Prefect Magistrate Jian—had arrived early. None went upstairs; they respectfully waited in the first-floor hall.

Yang Dong and Yu Dun stood among them.

Master, Second Brother stands in the hall; the other disciples can't sit upstairs eating and drinking, so we must go down to welcome the Prince of Xu Yue.

Pure hard labor.

No need to chatter—we stood in perfect formation.

Oddly, I haven't seen Su Guishan.

Liang Qu peered around.

Since the Prince of Xu Yue arrived in Pingyang, Su Guishan hasn't shown up in the west wing. Wu Wu Cangshou vanished too, but the little turtles in the pond remain untouched.

I wonder if Su Guishan, now posted elsewhere, will ever come back to live here…

The third day since Uncle was gone.

I miss him.

"Your Majesty!"

Lost in thought, Liang Qu suddenly heard the cry—but was blocked in the center.

Heads surged around him; he couldn't see ahead, yet followed step by step, bowing deeply.

"Has anyone who received the jade token today come forward?"

At these words,

Everyone turned their heads, scanning the crowd—and their gazes instantly locked onto Liang Qu in the back row.

Instantly, they moved in perfect unison, stepping back to form a clear human corridor, letting the Prince of Xu Yue see the jade token holder with perfect clarity.

Liang Qu: "..."

The Eye-Perception Technique sensed a unique gaze.

Unlike any before—it carried no discernible emotion, yet felt like tangible weight pressing upon his shoulders and back.

No time to think. Liang Qu lowered his head and stepped forward quickly, clasping his hands in salute.

"Official Liang Qu, pays homage to Your Majesty!"

"No need for such formalities," the Prince of Xu Yue raised his hand slightly, his gaze sweeping the crowd. "Time grows late—everyone upstairs. You, come with me."

With that,

the Prince of Xu Yue ascended the stairs, Zhu Zhu Bingcan ahead, pulling up his robe hem to lead the way.

Why does this feel like being called into the principal's office?

Liang Qu puzzled, but dared not pause a moment, following swiftly behind the Prince of Xu Yue amid the envious, jealous, and resentful stares of the other jade token holders.

"Ladies and gentlemen…"

"The first item today…"

From a bronze incense burner, thin wisps of smoke rose straight upward.

Outside the private booth, Zhu Zhu Bingcan's opening remarks were clearly audible.

The Prince of Xu Yue sat upon a Luo Han bed, leaning against an icy jade cushion, while Zhang Xu bowed low to hand him a bound volume.

After flipping through two pages, the Prince of Xu Yue closed the volume and placed it beneath his hand.

"For the final trial of the martial examination, I assumed no one could pass—I never intended to make it known to you all."

But the world is vast, and extraordinary talents, odd geniuses, do exist.

When you boarded the boat that day, you carried the scent of Bai Yuan. I didn't bother to investigate.

Knowing my route and whereabouts was likely Su Guishan's doing.

Since you passed the martial trial, surpassing all others, I won't question the methods you used. I only ask one thing:

Will you become my direct disciple?