Chapter 1: The Fallen Scion

Chen Guanlou dug three feet into the ground at home, unearthed ten taels of silver, and prepared a gift.

The money wasn't much, so the gift had to be substantial; the bigger it was, the more face it carried. He prepared two air-dried chickens, two air-dried ducks, and fearing the recipient might look down on them, he added two slabs of soy-sauce meat and a sealed packet of silver before heading to the back alley of the Marquis Pingjiang's residence to find Steward Liu.

Arriving at the Liu residence—he, what a grand mansion, a two-courtyard estate. A mere steward of the Marquis's residence living in a grand mansion that only masters could afford; it was incredible.

The Marquis's residence was truly wealthy!

He stepped up three stairs, grabbed the copper ring on the main gate, and knocked three times.

Before long, the side gate next to the main entrance opened. A young gatekeeper poked his head out to look at him. Seeing he was a stranger and dressed poorly, the gatekeeper's eyes immediately shot up to the top of his head.

Chen Guanlou hurried forward, wearing a smile. "Could you please report to Steward Liu? I am Chen Guanlou from the East Alley next door, the son of Chen Chengzong."

Having said that, he pulled a few copper coins from his pocket and, with somewhat clumsy technique, stuffed them into the young gatekeeper's hand.

Ten copper coins—Chen Guanlou's heart ached. Fortunately, it didn't show on his face; his hands didn't tremble, and he maintained an appearance of being quite generous.

The gatekeeper took the money, and his attitude changed instantly, revealing a smiling face. "Wait here."

As soon as the words fell, with a *slap*, the side gate closed.

Chen Guanlou:...

He could only stand before the gate, waiting patiently.

The Marquis Pingjiang's residence bore the surname Chen, and Chen Guanlou also bore the surname Chen; they were descended from the same ancestor. It was just a pity that Chen Guanlou was born too late and missed the good times. By the generation of Chen Guanlou's father, they were already five generations removed from the Marquis's main branch. In the past, during ancestral rites, they could still meet with the main family, but now they weren't even qualified to attend. The Marquis's residence had long since ceased to recognize these relatives who were five generations removed.

Calling them relatives was just being polite.

As a descendant of the first-generation Marquis Pingjiang, he was now not even as good as a servant in the Marquis's residence. When trouble arose, he still had to beg the Marquis's steward, carefully preparing gifts for fear that the other party would look down on him and refuse to help.

Chen Guanlou's family had already fallen into decline back in his grandfather's generation, becoming a destitute household. With no other choice, they took up a lowly trade, securing a position in the Heavenly Prison.

This job was good; it was passed from father to son, son to grandson—a proper hereditary system, a shift-replacement system, an iron rice bowl that couldn't be more iron, and the safety was guaranteed. As long as one didn't mind that this profession was lowly and looked down upon, one could work until old age and death.

If one died midway, that was just bad luck.

Chen Guanlou's father belonged to those with bad luck. When Chen Guanlou was ten, he died in the line of duty. The following year, his mother fell ill from grief and passed away too. He was raised by his elder sister. His elder sister married a few years ago, and bringing him, a burden, along, she secretly endured quite a bit of resentment from her in-laws.

Now, Chen Guanlou was eighteen, the age to take over his father's position. A grown man couldn't keep eating at his sister's and brother-in-law's house forever; he had to stand on his own feet as soon as possible.

For the first eighteen years of his life, Chen Guanlou lived in a daze. Influenced by the social mores of the time and the words of others, he had stubbornly resisted inheriting his father's profession, repeatedly calling it a lowly trade. His eldest sister had cried many times in secret because of this.

It wasn't until two months ago that he suddenly awakened to the wisdom of his past life and remembered the things from his previous existence. In that past life, he had lived in the modern era, where the concept of "lowly" or "noble" didn't exist. It was a secure "iron rice bowl" job—only a fool would refuse it.

More importantly, when he awakened to his past wisdom, the Xiao Changsheng Dao Fruit in his sea of consciousness also revived. He had attained longevity—the ability to live forever, though not the ability to be immortal.

The Great Xia Dynasty was founded on martial arts and held them in the highest esteem. People were tested for martial pulses when they were young. Those who possessed an innate martial pulse could practice martial arts. Once one achieved minor success in martial arts, they were promoted to a First-Rank warrior, followed by Second-Rank, Third-Rank... all the way up to a Ninth-Rank warrior. Above the Ninth Rank, it was said there were Grandmasters, and beyond Grandmasters, it was too mysterious for the common folk to know.

Becoming a warrior meant gaining status and position; one's circumstances would be far superior to those of an ordinary person. Because of this, the world was filled with violence. Without some basic self-defense skills, one could be killed by others at any moment.

Chen Guanlou did not have a martial pulse, but he was certainly not resigned to his fate. He even possessed the longevity that the old Emperor sought so desperately but could never attain. As someone awakened to past wisdom, he could be called a chosen one; there was no reason he couldn't practice martial arts and become a warrior.

It was too late to study Confucianism and enter the Jixia Academy to become a scholar-warrior. He lacked the talent, and even more so, the money. Studying cost money—a lot of money.

In this world, was there any place where one could learn all the martial arts of the world without spending a penny?

After thinking it over, only the Heavenly Prison came to mind. The people locked up inside were all talented individuals; every one of them spoke well and was incredibly interesting.

Therefore, he had to inherit his father's position and go to work in the Heavenly Prison.

Two months ago, he had submitted an application to take over the position, but it had vanished like a stone in the ocean, without even an echo. A few days ago, his brother-in-law, unable to resist his eldest sister's pleas, pulled some strings for him, only to discover that the vacancy left by his father had long since been bought by someone else. Every position was filled, and there was no place to put him now. The implication from that side was that he should be sensible and look for another job.

Chen Guanlou was furious!

To think they could make him give up the Heavenly Prison job and the chance to become a warrior with just a single sentence—in his dreams.

Therefore, he thought of the Marquis Pingjiang's mansion. They were all descendants of the same ancestor; now that he was in trouble, it was only right to ask the Marquis's mansion for help.

The masters of the Marquis's mansion would certainly look down on a down-and-out person like him; he wouldn't even get a chance to meet them. He wouldn't waste that energy or money, so he decisively settled for the next best thing and went through the connections of Liu Guanshi.

Liu Guanshi was the second steward of the Marquis's mansion. As the saying goes, "a gatekeeper of a Prime Minister is a Seventh-Rank official," and a steward of a dignified Marquis's mansion was an imposing figure. A mere vacancy in the Heavenly Prison was just a matter of a single word for him.

For the sake of that word, Chen Guanlou was willing to humble himself and act like a spineless coward. As long as he could get into the Heavenly Prison, anything would do. In his past life, he had been a corporate worker and had long since been tempered; he had a thick skin, even if he lacked dignity. Making money—it wasn't shameful!

In this day and age, no matter what you do, money is hard to earn and life is hard to swallow.

He had already prepared himself to be humiliated and lose face, and was ready to deal with the most awkward situations!

He didn't wait long before the side door opened again, and it was the same young gatekeeper: "The Lady invites you in."

"Many thanks, young brother!"

Chen Guanlou let out a long sigh of relief and finally stepped into the Liu residence. Hearing the gatekeeper address Liu Guanshi's wife as "Lady," he couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration. What airs—the wife of a steward dared to call herself "Lady." On second thought, Liu Guanshi seemed to be a Second-Rank warrior; it wasn't too excessive for the wife of a Second-Rank warrior to be called "Lady"—it was only right.

Entering the Liu residence, passing through the ceremonial gate and the corridors, his eyes lit up: rockeries, rare flowers, and trees—it was incredibly opulent.

What a steward of a Marquis's mansion; Chen Guanlou envied this comfortable life from the bottom of his heart. It was much better than his own down-and-out existence.

No wonder some of the good-for-nothing descendants of the Marquis's mansion addressed Liu Guanshi as "Master Liu" or "Grandpa Liu." A servant was riding on the heads of the master's descendants, lording it over them; if the Chen family ancestors knew, one wondered if their coffins would be flipped over.