Poyang County Martial Administration Office.
Located in the central area of Poyang County, the tallest pavilion Lin Chen had seen earlier at the city gate was situated within the Martial Administration Office.
From this alone, one could tell how much importance the Liang Dynasty placed on martial arts.
The Martial Administration Office was not as easy to enter as a martial hall. Even after Yu Yongnian reported his identity, they still had to wait.
"Wait here."
The gatekeeper glanced at Yu Yongnian a few times, his attitude indifferent, before entering through the main gate.
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the gatekeeper returned, now with a smile on his face and a noticeably warmer attitude.
"Instructor Yu, please follow me."
The gatekeeper personally led Yu Yongnian and Lin Chen into the Martial Administration Office, finally stopping before a courtyard.
"Inspector Lord is inside. Instructor Yu, please go in."
After seeing them to the entrance, the gatekeeper left. Yu Yongnian said to Lin Chen, "Wait outside."
Lin Chen: …
…
…
Inside the courtyard, Shu Suwan was brewing tea. Seeing Yu Yongnian enter, she smiled and said, "Junior Brother, what brings you here today? This tea still needs a bit more time. It's top-grade new Wuyi tea."
"Senior Sister, this time I've come to lodge a complaint with the Martial Administration Office."
"A complaint?"
Although Shu Suwan knew that her junior brother would never come to the Martial Administration Office without a reason, hearing this still left her feeling a bit aggrieved. "Couldn't Junior Brother come visit Senior Sister just for once, without any business?"
Yu Yongnian fell silent. Shu Suwan withdrew the aggrieved look. "Just joking with you. What is it that Junior Brother is complaining about?"
"Martial Hall disciple Lin Chen, as the first person from the Kaohe Town Martial Hall to cultivate essence energy, is being denied an Aperture-Opening Pill slot by all the major martial halls. This is clearly a violation of the rules."
Surprise appeared on Shu Suwan's face. "The Lin Chen Junior Brother is talking about—is he the student who wanted to work while studying martial arts back then?"
"Yes. Senior Sister, you also know Lin Chen's family background—a fisherman's son. He cultivated essence energy with only twenty taels of silver. That is extraordinary martial talent. Such a genius deserves an Aperture-Opening Pill."
"Only twenty taels?"
"Less, not more," Yu Yongnian said firmly. "Could it be that Senior Sister doesn't believe me either?"
"Of course I believe Junior Brother's words." Shu Suwan shook her head slightly. "But my believing you is useless. The martial halls won't believe it. Junior Brother should calm down and put yourself in their position. If you were a martial hall instructor, would you believe this?"
"There… there's a chance I wouldn't."
Yu Yongnian's temperament would not allow him to lie outright. If he were a recruitment instructor at a martial hall, he too would be doubtful.
"Even if the martial halls don't believe it, historically, even when the number of students cultivating essence energy exceeded eighty, there has never been a case where the top-ranked martial hall student failed to get a slot."
Hearing the dissatisfaction in her junior brother's words, Shu Suwan could only explain, "There is no explicit rule from the Martial Administration Office stating that the top-ranked martial hall student must be given an Aperture-Opening Pill slot. In past years, when the number exceeded eighty, giving the top-ranked student a slot was more about demonstrating unity and fairness."
Shu Suwan knew that her junior brother's thinking was somewhat lacking in certain areas. In past years, even if the number of students exceeded eighty, the martial halls still had to give each town's martial hall at least one slot. This was to demonstrate the Martial Administration Office's—and the court's—equal treatment of town residents.
Since one slot had to be given, it was naturally given to the first-ranked student.
The first-ranked student usually represented better family background and greater potential.
But this time, an exception occurred. Who could have imagined that Lin Chen, a fisherman's son, would take first place at the martial hall? In such circumstances, the martial halls would naturally want to give the slot to other students from Kaohe Town with better family backgrounds.
As long as they gave Kaohe Town one slot, it would be enough to answer to the Martial Administration Office.
"I know what you want to say—that Lin Chen is a fisherman's son yet took first place, so shouldn't the martial halls consider that point? Even if the expenditure records were falsified, if he could falsify them once, he could continue doing so later, which would still indicate that Lin Chen has money to continue on the martial path."
Seeing her junior brother about to speak, Shu Suwan smiled slightly. "Junior Brother, you're too close to the matter to see clearly."
"Please enlighten me, Senior Sister." Yu Yongnian frowned. That was indeed what he had been about to say, but he didn't know where his thinking had gone astray.
"In the eyes of the martial halls, the silver expenditure records reported by the martial hall for Lin Chen's training must be fake. Then they will consider why it was falsified, and what the purpose of the falsification was."
"The purpose of the falsification?"
Yu Yongnian pondered. After a long while, he seemed to realize something and gave a bitter smile. "So the martial halls suspect that I fabricated the records to obtain a top-grade evaluation in the instructor assessment. And since I personally brought Lin Chen to the martial halls, in their eyes this only confirms that I fabricated everything."
"Junior Brother, there's no need to be like this. Senior Sister believes you. If Junior Brother wanted to return to the county city, why would you need to go through such trouble? As long as you nodded, Senior Sister would take care of it for you."
Shu Suwan's words carried deeper meaning, but unfortunately Yu Yongnian didn't catch it.
"It's useless that Senior Sister believes me. The martial halls won't. In that case, there's only one last step."
Yu Yongnian said in a deep voice, "Senior Sister, Lin Chen comes from Linhu Village. Back then, that Jiang Juren still had some ties to Linhu Village and specifically instructed that if any juniors from the village showed talent in martial arts, they could write to inform him. If Lin Chen writes a letter to Jiang Juren about this matter, and Jiang Juren becomes angry, the Martial Administration Office may not be able to explain itself. I stopped Lin Chen first and came to inform Senior Sister to avoid causing trouble for you."
Shu Suwan blinked lightly. How could she not understand her junior brother? What he was implying was clear—if the Martial Administration Office didn't resolve this, he would take Lin Chen to Jiang Juren.
"Junior Brother, are you using Jiang Juren to threaten Senior Sister?"
"I wouldn't dare."
"You still say you wouldn't dare. Aren't you clearly saying that if Lin Chen isn't given an Aperture-Opening Pill slot, you'll let him write to Jiang Juren and say that the Martial Administration Office and the martial halls are discriminating against him?" Shu Suwan scolded.
"If Lin Chen wants to write a letter, I can't stop him. I'm just an instructor, not Lin Chen's elder."
"Pfft!"
Hearing her junior brother say one thing while meaning another, Shu Suwan finally couldn't hold back her laughter.
"Junior Brother, don't rush. This year's situation with martial hall students is different from previous years. There are inner details you don't yet know."
"The number of students cultivating essence energy exceeded the limit. This has happened before. I still believe that Lin Chen deserves this slot," Yu Yongnian said firmly.
"It's not just that the number exceeded eighty, but also because Lord Su has major plans for the martial halls this year."
Seeing her junior brother's puzzled expression, Shu Suwan explained, "Poyang County has ranked last in the prefectural competition for four consecutive years. The newly appointed Lord Su wants to change the situation. He has already issued directives to all major martial halls that the new batch of students will undergo evaluations every three months, and the results will determine how much resources the Martial Administration Office allocates to each martial hall. Under these circumstances, the martial halls will naturally want to reserve the Aperture-Opening Pills for students with potential."
Yu Yongnian was surprised. He truly hadn't known about such inner workings.
With the newly appointed Martial Administration Office Lord Su setting such rules, the martial halls naturally hoped their students would rank higher in the evaluations. The resources allocated by the Martial Administration Office were something that the martial hall instructors and hall masters cared deeply about.
When their own interests were at stake, it was no wonder they were unwilling to give Lin Chen an Aperture-Opening Pill slot.
"Senior Sister, Lin Chen's path has not been easy. You heard it yourself back then. This child even set aside his dignity for the sake of martial arts. If someone like him loses an Aperture-Opening Pill slot simply because of his poor family background, I don't even know how to face him."
Yu Yongnian looked at his senior sister, his eyes filled with entreaty.
There was a trace of grievance in Shu Suwan's gaze. "Junior Brother, you've come to me in person—do you think I'd really stand by and do nothing?"
Junior Brother, you don't understand Senior Sister.
"Many thanks, Senior Sister." Yu Yongnian felt delighted and immediately responded.
"Don't thank me yet. I do have an idea, but whether it will work is still uncertain." Shu Suwan waved her hand, then asked curiously, "Junior Brother cares so much about Lin Chen. Have you taken him as a personal disciple?"
Instructors and students naturally had a master-disciple relationship, but it was not a solid one. Many instructors would privately take particularly talented and promising students as disciples—only then did it count as a true master-disciple relationship.
"With less than twenty taels to cultivate essence energy, isn't that worth caring about?" Yu Yongnian didn't hide his true thoughts from his senior sister. "I've never thought about taking Lin Chen as a disciple."
"Why not?" Shu Suwan was puzzled. Her junior brother cared so much and thought so highly of Lin Chen—it would be logical to take him as a disciple.
"I'm just an ordinary instructor. How much help could I give Lin Chen even if I took him as a disciple? If a village or town student manages to carve out a path in martial arts, they will inevitably catch the eye of major figures. The weight of one's first benefactor is not light."
When Yu Yongnian said this, Shu Suwan was visibly moved. "Lin Chen is truly fortunate across three lifetimes to have encountered Junior Brother."
The path of martial arts required enormous expenditure.
Many martial arts geniuses who rose to prominence came from large families. Those martial powerhouses, wary of the backgrounds of such geniuses, would not take them as disciples.
But if a village youth carved out a name on the martial path—
Clean. No background. No lineage.
Such disciples were the most favored by martial powerhouses, and once taken in, they would be cultivated as true inheritors.
"It's not really three lifetimes of fortune. I just think that a determined young man who can set aside his dignity should not be let down."
Even now, Yu Yongnian clearly remembered Lin Chen coming to his courtyard on his own initiative, asking to work while studying martial arts.
Without firm conviction in martial arts, how could a youth think of such an approach and say such words?
He could imagine that on the night of the family division, Lin Chen must have tossed and turned in bed all night, finally coming up with this method. Even before stepping into his courtyard, he must have hesitated again and again before mustering the courage to come in and speak those words about working while studying.
"Senior Sister has a plan now. Stay here for a while. I'll go handle this matter."
"On Lin Chen's behalf, I thank Senior Sister." Yu Yongnian said with a smile.
"I've never seen you care this much about your own affairs, yet you're so agitated over a student's matter."
There was a certain implication in Shu Suwan's words, but Yu Yongnian failed to catch it.
Shu Suwan left the courtyard and saw Lin Chen standing outside the gate. She stopped her steps.
"Martial Hall student Lin Chen of Kaohe Town greets my lord."
Seeing a graceful woman walk out of the courtyard, Lin Chen froze for a moment. Reacting, he immediately bowed. In his heart, he was guessing her identity.
Her bearing was extraordinary. Could she be Inspector Shu of the Martial Administration Office?
If that were the case, then the relationship between Instructor Yu and this Inspector Shu…
A spark of gossip flared in Lin Chen's heart. During his more than ten months at the martial hall, he had seen the families of Instructor Liu and Instructor Chen, but he had never seen Instructor Yu's family.
"Your Instructor Yu is about to fall out with me over your matter. If I don't give you an Aperture-Opening Pill slot, he'll take you straight to Raozhou Prefecture to lodge a complaint with Lord Jiang."
Shu Suwan's expression was serious, her emotions unreadable. Lin Chen hesitated for a moment, unsure whether this was true, but still replied, "Instructor Yu's care for this disciple is etched deeply in my heart."
"A master really does produce disciples of the same temperament. Enough—go inside and accompany your Instructor Yu in drinking tea."
Though her words sounded like a rebuke, Shu Suwan was quite satisfied with Lin Chen's response.
He hadn't changed his words just to curry favor.
If Lin Chen had answered "I wouldn't dare," she would instead have felt uneasy, as that would mean her junior brother had misjudged him.