Free Web NovelChapter 19: Chapter 17: Rootless Duckweed
"You should offer some incense as well."
Shan Wuju moved aside, gesturing for Wei Tu to come forward.
"Yes, Master."
Wei Tu nodded. He took a bundle of incense, lit it from a nearby candle, and made a deep bow. He then knelt on the ground and performed three resounding kowtows.
Once he had done all this, Wei Tu placed the incense into the burner.
Seeing Wei Tu’s respectful and proper conduct, Shan Wuju felt another measure of satisfaction.
...
After the apprenticeship ceremony, it was already late. To avoid any impropriety, Wei Tu bid farewell to Shan Wuju and left the inner courtyard.
「Along the way.」
He encountered several maids.
The maids had clearly heard the news of Wei Tu becoming Shan Wuju’s Disciple. When they saw him, they shed the arrogant attitude they usually reserved for hired hands. Instead, they became humble, stepping aside and offering a curtsy.
One of them, a maid with a full figure, even called Wei Tu "Young Master," her voice so sweet you could wring water from it.
This left Wei Tu in a daze. He didn’t snap out of it until he had exited the second courtyard.
’Young Master?’
’I’m a Young Master now?’
Wei Tu returned to the west room feeling a little light-headed. He kept savoring that "Young Master," a smile periodically breaking out on his face. All his composure from the earlier ceremony was gone.
If anyone had seen him, they might have thought he was in a delirious fit, grinning foolishly to himself.
In the 15th year of Qing’an, he had been sold to the Li Family. Though his masters appreciated him, at the end of the day, he was still just a Horse Groom, leading their horses and holding their stirrups.
But now.
It was the 23rd year of Qing’an.
Not only had he bought back his freedom, but he had also become Shan Wuju’s adopted disciple. It was a huge leap in social status.
Under these circumstances, no matter how level-headed Wei Tu was, it was hard to remain completely unaffected and maintain his usual composure.
’I can’t let my guard down! The servants of the Shan Mansion only respect me because I’m Shan Wuju’s Disciple. This status is like rootless duckweed—it’s not stable at all...’
A quarter of an hour later, Wei Tu climbed off the kang bed, drew a bucket of cool well water, and washed his face. His expression returned to its usual calm.
’I have to write to Xinghua and tell her this wonderful news... Tomorrow, I’ll ask Shan Wuju if I can borrow some paper and a brush to write that letter to Xinghua.’
The west room where he was staying was the hired hands’ quarters. Besides a bed, a table, his clothes, and his bedding, it was bare.
Things like paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones—items used only by the wealthy and by scholars—were completely out of the question.
However, just at that moment—a series of soft footsteps sounded from outside his door.
Having practiced the Health Cultivation Technique for so long, not only had Wei Tu’s strength increased, but his hearing and sight had sharpened as well. He could tell these were not a man’s footsteps.
A moment later, a knock sounded at the door.
"Brother Wei, are you resting yet?" Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family knocked on the door and asked.
’Third Granny?’
Wei Tu was surprised.
In a great house, it wasn’t just the male outsiders and servants who had to be mindful of avoiding impropriety; the women of the inner residence were bound by the same rules.
It was late at night. For Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family to come here to the hired hands’ quarters—leaving a man and woman alone together—was inevitably inappropriate.
But before Wei Tu could dwell on it, her next words dispelled his concerns.
"This west room is too crude. The Master has instructed me to move you to a side room in the second courtyard."
Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family said.
Hearing this, Wei Tu relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.
He quickly dressed, got off the bed, straightened his clothes, and opened the door.
When he opened the door, Wei Tu saw not only Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family but also Deng An, who had just returned from the grain-sunning yard.
Deng An, perhaps afraid of Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family, was standing out from under the eaves, a good ten paces away from her. He watched the scene from a distance, not daring to return to his room to rest.
"Follow me," Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family said with a smile, seeing that Wei Tu had emerged.
「A short while later.」
The two entered the second courtyard, one walking ahead of the other.
As they entered the second courtyard, Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family gave Wei Tu a key and said, "This is the key to the second courtyard’s gate. Keep it safe, don’t lose it."
Wei Tu nodded, hung the key from his waist, and then quickly increased the distance between himself and Mrs. Gao, keeping about five paces away.
To prevent burglaries and illicit affairs within the inner residence, great houses often locked the gates to each courtyard at night, placing a Restriction on movement.
Before long, Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family had led Wei Tu to a side room in the second courtyard and instructed a maid to make the bed and clean the room for him.
"Brother Wei, it is late, so I will take my leave." Standing outside the door, Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family pursed her lips, gave Wei Tu a slightly restrained curtsy, then disappeared down the covered walkway.
’This...’
Wei Tu was taken aback at first. But after a moment of thought, understanding dawned on him.
In the Shan Family, since Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family was always managing internal affairs, he had come to see her as a Lady of the House, on par with Mrs. Li Tong.
Only today did he remember that Mrs. Gao of the Shan Family was merely Shan Wuju’s third wife—a childless and only somewhat favored Concubine.
Her actual status was not high.
But as Shan Wuju’s adopted disciple, his own status in the Shan Family was now effectively equal to hers—perhaps even a notch higher.
Shan Wuju had never explicitly spelled out these differences in status, but the servants and Concubines of the Shan Family understood them perfectly.
’This is what it means to be rootless duckweed, a cloud drifting with the wind.’
Wei Tu reminded himself sharply.
He had realized this earlier in the west room, but the understanding hadn’t been profound. After all, his status had just been elevated, and he was still immersed in his immense joy.
But now, seeing Mrs. Gao—the woman he once saw as a "Lady of the House"—acting so deferentially toward him, he knew it was time to wake up, no matter how muddled he felt.
If his martial arts training failed to meet Shan Wuju’s expectations, or if he failed the upcoming Military Examination, his status as an adopted disciple might not be revoked, but his position in the Shan Family would become precarious.
Once the maid had finished making the bed, Wei Tu finally took a look around his new room.
A wooden bed stood against the east wall, with a printed linen canopy hanging over it. In front of the bed, near the west wall, was a console table holding two long-necked porcelain vases.
Looking further west, he saw a lacquered desk behind a partition curtain. On it sat a stack of old books, a brush washer, and a brush rack.
Wei Tu lifted the cloth curtain and stepped closer. The brush rack held several brushes of various sizes, made from both wolf and goat hair.
Paper, ink, brushes, and an inkstone—nothing was missing.
As for the old books, Wei Tu leafed through them and discovered they were all military treatises rarely seen in bookshops. There was the *Ji Xiao* for training troops, as well as *Taigong’s Book* and the *Yin Talisman Scripture*, which focused on formations and strategy.
’Master is so thoughtful...’
Seeing all this, Wei Tu felt a profound, heartfelt gratitude toward Shan Wuju for accepting him as a Disciple.
If his chances of passing the Military Examination after buying his freedom had been thirty percent...
...then now, with Shan Wuju’s comprehensive guidance, Wei Tu was confident he could raise those odds to over fifty percent, perhaps even sixty or seventy.
Soon.
Wei Tu collected himself, began to grind the inkstick, and set his brush to paper.
In the letter, he shared the wonderful news that he had been accepted as Shan Wuju’s Disciple. He also told Xinghua not to wait for him to return home for the New Year. He had to use every available moment to shore up his weaknesses before the examinations in the second month.
Only then could he be confident in his chances at the Military Examination.
