Free Web NovelChapter 11: Chapter 9: Pushed to the Brink
Spring passed and autumn came.
In the blink of an eye,
another year went by.
During the spring planting season of the 23rd year of Qing’an, Mrs. Li Tong finally relented and leased three mu of riverbank land outside Qingshan County to Wei Tu and his wife.
However, when it came to the rent, Mrs. Li Tong didn’t budge an inch. Just like the other tenant farmers, they had to hand over sixty percent of the Grain harvested from the fields.
Fortunately, the Li Family’s rent included the land tax collected by the Government Office. This was unlike other wealthy landowners, who made their tenants pay the land tax themselves.
In other words,
after cultivating the three mu of land and paying the sixty-percent rent, the remaining forty percent was all theirs.
Furthermore, while growing wheat, they could also plant some soybeans in the gaps between the sprouts.
This provided another source of income.
Half a month before the wheat ripened, the Master, Li Yaozu, took his Servant, Wei Tu, with him to the Prefecture City to pay the gift for his eldest son, Li Xingye, at the Prefecture Academy.
"The instructors at the Prefecture School are real bastards. The wheat won’t be ripe for another ten days or so, yet they insist on collecting the gift now. It’s obvious they just want to squeeze a little more silver out of us..."
On the road, Li Yaozu rode on horseback, led by Wei Tu toward the Prefecture City. As they went, he kept looking back at the mule cart transporting the Grain, complaining that this year’s gift was being paid too early, causing him to needlessly lose silver coins.
Wei Tu remained silent, quietly listening to Li Yaozu’s sighs and muttering.
Every year,
before the harvest,
and after the harvest,
the price of Grain was completely different.
It seemed like they were paying the same gift, but because the market price of Grain fluctuated, the Prefecture Academy used this timing to buy low and sell high, making a considerable profit.
Wei Tu had heard Li Yaozu complain about these dirty tricks of the Prefecture School at least eight or ten times; he knew the whole story by heart.
’In another half month, after the Grain is harvested, I’ll have saved up the money I need. The only thing left will be to convince Li Yaozu and Mrs. Li Tong to let me buy back my indenture contract,’ Wei Tu thought to himself.
Things were going mostly according to plan. After more than a year of scrimping and saving, the money he had was nearly enough for the ten taels of redemption silver.
Now, all he needed was to persuade Li Yaozu and Mrs. Li Tong to agree to his redemption, return his indenture contract, and write a letter of proof.
However—
Just as Wei Tu was pondering how to bring up buying back his contract, Li Yaozu, who had just finished complaining about the Prefecture School instructors, suddenly spoke to him.
"Wei Tu, you’re powerfully built and quite strong. Why don’t you go stay with Xingye and serve as his servant?"
"Protect him."
"As his father, that would put my mind at ease."
Li Yaozu pulled the reins tight, forcing Wei Tu to halt. He then looked down on him from his horse, stroking the goatee under his chin as a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
"The Young Master already has people serving him. If I go, I’ll just be taking someone’s place. It wouldn’t be good to disrupt his studies," Wei Tu said, pausing for a moment before offering a suitable excuse.
"In a little over half a year, it will be time for the county’s preliminary exam."
Wei Tu added.
The county’s Literary Examination and Military Examination were about half a month apart, with the literary one first and the military one second. Thus, he was perfectly clear on the timing of the preliminary exams.
"You’re right. We can’t interfere with Xingye’s studies." Li Yaozu hesitated for a moment, then nodded heavily and didn’t bring the matter up again.
However, although Li Yaozu didn’t mention it again, Wei Tu committed it to memory.
’Li Yaozu wants to send me away during the busy autumn harvest. What is he planning?’
On the way back to the Li Mansion in Qingshan County after paying the gift, Wei Tu kept pondering the reason behind it.
Master Li Yaozu was not an easy man to deal with; this was the consensus among all the servants of the Li Mansion.
This, in turn, was a testament to Li Yaozu’s shrewdness. He was not one to be easily fooled.
If he could think of how changing Attendants would affect Young Master Li Xingye’s studies, could Li Yaozu have possibly overlooked it?
Impossible!
Back at the Li Mansion,
Wei Tu found Caixia, one of the head maids, and told her about his confusion, asking for her opinion.
Caixia had entered the Li Mansion in the same group of servants as he had, and they had always been on good terms.
The news that Mrs. Li Tong had graciously permitted his marriage to Xinghua had also been relayed by Caixia through Chunlan.
"The way I see it, the Master might have his eyes on Sister Xinghua..."
Caixia pulled Wei Tu to a corner of the corridor, found a spot where no one could see them, and whispered her assessment.
"The Mistress has been unhappy lately. A few nights ago, I heard her arguing with the Master. She said he’s been involved with the wives of those tenant farmers..."
"If the Master sends you away, there will be no one to manage the land you’re renting. Sister Xinghua will be completely at his mercy."
Caixia said, word by word.
’What a sinister plot...’
After hearing Caixia’s words, Wei Tu’s expression darkened instantly. He wished he could have Li Yaozu drawn and quartered, to suffer death by a thousand cuts, right then and there.
Before,
he had heard that some tenant farmers, in order to rent good land from wealthy landowners, would offer up their wives to sleep with them.
But he never imagined that the seemingly "kind" Li Mansion was also rife with such schemes.
Sending him to be the Young Master’s Attendant was probably not Li Yaozu’s true intention. The real goal was to use this matter to force him into submission and offer up Xinghua.
If he didn’t submit,
the Grain he had worked hard to grow for a year would be left to rot in the fields.
If he didn’t submit,
there would be no chance of renting such good land again next year.
As for why Li Yaozu hadn’t directly forced Xinghua to submit before she was married, he could guess the general reasons.
First, Mrs. Li Tong ran a strict household and was quite jealous. She forbade Li Yaozu from taking concubines or laying a hand on the maids around them.
Even Caixia, a head maid who had long been designated as a bed-chamber maid, was still a virgin.
Second, it was a matter of family reputation. Rumors couldn’t be allowed to spread within the Li Mansion that the great Master Li Yaozu enjoyed dallying with the maids; it would ruin their good name.
Li Yaozu himself didn’t want that to happen either.
Third,
if he dallied with a maid,
the question of whether or not to grant her official status would be a difficult one.
But forcing a tenant farmer’s wife to submit came with no such future troubles.
Country bumpkins had no feudal moral code that "death is a small matter, but losing one’s virtue is a great one." As long as the affair remained secret, it could be easily swept under the rug.
A moment later, Wei Tu slowly unclenched his fist. "I understand," he said, bowing to Caixia. "Thanks, Caixia."
"It’s no big deal," Caixia said with a smile. "When the Mistress punished me before, Sister Xinghua secretly brought me food. I’ve always remembered that kindness."
...
Back in the main hall,
after feeding the half-grown black horse, Wei Tu went through his Health Cultivation Technique several times to warm up his body.
’With my current martial prowess, securing a title in the Military Examination might not be a sure thing, but it’s not far off. If I go straight to Mrs. Li Tong and talk about my redemption, given her intelligence, she probably won’t stop me,’ Wei Tu mused.
A shallow pond cannot raise a True Dragon.
He believed Mrs. Li Tong would understand the future troubles that could arise from keeping a rebellious Martial Artist in the household.
’But if that doesn’t work... If Mrs. Li Tong proves to be unwise...’
A vicious glint appeared in Wei Tu’s eyes.
With a blade in hand, killing intent naturally arises.
With his current strength, slaughtering the entire Li Mansion would not be difficult.
Of course, he remembered the debt he owed the Li Mansion for saving his life, so he wouldn’t go that far. However, he was prepared to escape the Li Mansion and become a bandit, a Blademan of the mountains.
He was sick of being so submissive.
There were two paths.
Either buy his freedom and take the Military Examination, or become a bandit—a Blademan!
