Chapter 81 - 79: Harsh Reprimand
Chapter 81: Chapter 79: Harsh Reprimand
The first snow of his third year in this world came a bit later than usual.
On this day, Fang Yue packed his belongings, ready to return to his village.
However, before he left, he first had to go to the Government Office to collect this year’s benefits for a Martial Scholar.
By special decree of the imperial court, a Martial Scholar received ten taels of silver and a dose of Bone Forging Secret Medicine each month.
It was said that while the Bone Forging Secret Medicine distributed by the court wasn’t specifically tailored for any particular Cultivation Technique,
...no one knew what ingredients it contained, but its effects were several tenths better than other Secret Medicines of the same grade from the major families and Martial Arts Halls.
You could collect half a year’s worth at a time.
Fang Yue didn’t know when he would next be able to come to Xiahe County Town, so of course, he had to collect his six-month share before anything else.
A stick of incense’s time later.
Fang Yue arrived at the treasury of the County Magistrate’s Office.
The treasury was set up like a pawnshop, with officials working behind a high counter.
People who came to do business could only speak to the officials behind the counter by tilting their heads up.
Perhaps because very few people usually came, the officials here were quite idle.
When Fang Yue arrived, the clerk on duty was slumped over the counter, dozing off.
’Right,’ he thought. ’It really doesn’t matter where you are.’
’A job at the Government Office is still the most comfortable. If this were a real pawnshop outside, would the Shopkeeper just let his clerk doze off in broad daylight?’
’Forgetting everything else, wouldn’t they be afraid of things getting stolen from the shop?’
But this was the Government Office; they didn’t have to worry about someone coming to steal from them.
Of course, judging by the looks of it, no one was managing things like sleeping on the job, either.
"Ahem."
Fang Yue coughed deliberately.
"Who’s there? What do you want? We’re not open for business today! If you need something, come back tomorrow!"
The sleeping clerk didn’t even lift his head, his dissatisfied muttering ringing out.
’Well, well,’
Fang Yue heard this and instantly felt like he’d been transported back to his previous life.
He remembered a time he went to a bank to open an account, and the teller had the exact same attitude.
They were about to close and wouldn’t handle any more business, telling Fang Yue to come back the next day.
He never thought that even in a different world, he’d still encounter this sort of thing.
BANG! BANG!
This time, Fang Yue knocked directly on the counter. The dull sound jolted the sleeping clerk awake.
He was a middle-aged clerk, clearly an old hand at slacking off in the Government Office.
At this moment, the clerk looked at Fang Yue, his face full of impatience and displeasure.
"Whose family servant are you? How can you be so ignorant of the rules? Don’t you know we don’t handle business before noon!"
"Go on home. If you have business, come back tomorrow."
The clerk sized Fang Yue up and down, directly assuming he was some family’s servant, running an errand for his master.
’Hmph.’
’So what if he’s a servant from a great family? He’s still just a servant.’
’No matter how prestigious his master is, this is the Government Office. Any servant who comes here has to know the rules.’
"Oh, but if you’re in a hurry, it’s not like I can’t make an exception. It’s just that, well, this... this will cost you extra."
Before Fang Yue could speak, the clerk was already rubbing his hands together, smiling slyly, clearly asking for a bribe.
His movements were practiced and brazen; this clearly wasn’t the first time he’d done something like this.
Seeing Fang Yue’s silence, the clerk assumed he had agreed and immediately continued.
"So, tell me, what’s your business?"
’Different tasks require different amounts of silver coins.’
’Of course, the price is entirely up to the mood of the clerk on duty that day. It’s called discretionary authority, flexible pricing.’
"I’ve come to collect the monthly silver and the half-year supply of Bone Forging Secret Medicine for a Martial Scholar," Fang Yue said, naturally unaware of the schemes at play.
However, he was a Martial Scholar, a status that was countless times higher than these clerks.
"Ah, so you’re here to collect the Secret Medicine for your master, eh? What a coincidence, we only have three doses left. I wonder if there are any spares in the Treasury..."
The clerk’s face had already changed to a smile. ’So he’s a servant from some Martial Scholar’s household.’
’This is great.’
’Looks like I’ll be able to squeeze a good bit of silver coins out of this today.’
’If you couldn’t take kickbacks and skim a little off the top, who would be willing to pay a fortune to work in this dead-end department?’
’In any case, Martial Scholars never come to the Government Office themselves to collect their silver coins and Secret Medicine. Their household servants are, at the end of the day, still low-class people.’
’Taking the opportunity to make some silver coins is nothing.’
’Martial Scholars are all concerned with face; no one would usually come looking for trouble with us over a few taels of silver.’
’Of course, for those truly powerful Martial Scholars, we clerks in the treasury would never dare make things difficult for their family’s servants.’
’We only extort from those Martial Scholars who aren’t so powerful.’
’A classic case of treating people differently based on their status.’
"Hmph. I’ve never heard of such a rule at the Government Office."
Fang Yue’s brow furrowed slightly, his expression turning serious.
’Unbelievable. He became a Martial Scholar precisely to live a better life.’
’To avoid being bullied in this ancient society. And yet, just coming to collect the benefits he was entitled to...’
’...he was being deliberately obstructed by a clerk in the treasury of the County Magistrate’s Office.’
"No such rule? Who knows the rules better, you or me? If you’re not paying, then don’t disturb my pleasant dreams here. Hurry up and go home, and come back tomorrow."
Hearing Fang Yue’s words, the clerk almost laughed in anger.
’A mere servant, a commoner, daring to talk to me about rules.’
’Here, *I* am the rules.’
"Well, if it isn’t Fang Wuju? What brings you to the Government Office?" Just then, a surprised and pleased voice rang out.
Fang Yue turned and saw the official who had been in charge of the competition assessment a few days ago walking over.
"Heh, I was just about to collect my Secret Medicine and head back to my hometown to recover from my injuries."
This was the person who had given him a lot of extra rest time that day. Fang Yue had naturally noticed it, especially during the match with Huang Ziyu, when the official had delayed things by the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
Fang Yue naturally had a deep impression of this man.
"Zhang Jiu, hurry up and get things done for Fang Wuju. What are you standing there for? Get a move on! If you delay Fang Wuju’s business, I’ll hold you responsible."
The examining official turned and scolded the treasury clerk.
’Even the County Magistrate places great importance on this Fang Yue now. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have hinted for me to give Fang Yue some special consideration.’
’This Fang Yue has a significant background; he can’t be offended.’
The treasury clerk’s face had now turned deathly pale.
Even with snowflakes drifting outside, sweat was still beading on his forehead.
Offending the servant of a Martial Scholar and offending a Martial Scholar himself were two completely different things.
And offending a common Martial Scholar versus offending one who was currently in favor were vastly different as well.
Seeing his immediate supervisor’s attitude, how could this junior official not know that Fang Yue was no ordinary person?
"Yes, yes, of course! Fang Wuju, please wait a moment. Please, take a seat, have some tea. I’ll go get it for you right now."
Wiping his sweat, Zhang Jiu quickly showed his supervisor and Fang Yue to their seats and brewed a pot of tea for them.
"Did you just offend Fang Wuju?"
"Hurry up and apologize to Fang Wuju! He is a magnanimous man; maybe he’ll forgive you this time!"
This examining official was also a shrewd judge of character. Seeing Zhang Jiu’s attitude, he knew the man must have just given Fang Yue a hard time.
If it had been another Martial Scholar, the kind with no real future, he would at most avoid offending them, but he wouldn’t scold his own subordinate for the sake of one.
Although a Martial Scholar was eligible to be appointed as an official, who knew how long it would take for a position to open up and for them to actually be assigned.
"Fang Wuju, I have offended you just now. Please forgive me."
Zhang Jiu quickly clasped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute, bowed deeply, and apologized to Fang Yue.
Fang Yue said nothing. He just held his teacup and blew gently on the surface. The clink of porcelain was exceptionally loud.
At this moment, silence was more eloquent than words.
Zhang Jiu felt that Fang Yue was still angry with him and wasn’t going to let him off the hook.
Just as he was about to fall to his knees in terror to beg for forgiveness...
"No blame for the ignorant. I still have things to do, so Clerk Zhang, please hurry and get me the monthly silver and the Secret Medicine. Attending to official business is what’s important," Fang Yue finally said.
’Although this Zhang Jiu is a petty man, there’s no need to make a mortal enemy of him.’
’Just teaching him a small lesson is enough.’
Indeed, upon receiving Fang Yue’s pardon,
Zhang Jiu felt as if he’d received a great amnesty. Weeping with gratitude, he went into the storeroom to retrieve the Martial Scholar’s benefits for Fang Yue.
As for Fang Yue and the examining official, they chatted warmly, exchanged names, and could be said to have truly gotten to know each other through this incident.
"Mr. Wang, there’s no need to see me out. I still have important matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave now."
An incense stick’s time later, Fang Yue had finished the procedures for collecting his Martial Scholar benefits and bid farewell to Mr. Wang, the examining official, before leaving.
Afterward, Fang Yue went to the boxing hall.
Now that he was a Martial Scholar, his treatment at the boxing hall was completely different.
The news had spread long ago. How would the Gatekeeper dare to give him trouble this time?
Seeing Fang Yue approaching from a distance, he opened the side gate.
Don’t be mistaken, even though this man was of the same generation as Fang Yue’s master, his Martial Arts were lacking, he had no official rank, and he was just a gatekeeper for the Martial Arts Hall.
A status like that was nothing compared to Fang Yue’s now.
Naturally, he didn’t dare to be neglectful again.
Inside the Martial Arts Hall, Hall Master Zheng was not present, but Chen Tong met with Fang Yue.
"Nephew Yue, you did very well this time. You even gave an old fellow like me a shock."
"I originally thought you were just going to get a feel for the Martial Examination, but I never expected you to pass it in one go!"
Chen Tong was also a bit wistful. In their entire White Tiger Boxing Hall, there were actually only five Martial Scholars now.
And that was including Fang Yue, the newly promoted Martial Scholar.
Originally, no one in the Martial Arts Hall was optimistic about Fang Yue’s chances this time because he was still too young.
A mere twenty years old.
Moreover, he had only just started Bone Forging before the exam, maybe about two months ago.
’At that level, how far could he have possibly progressed through the Bone Forging Pass?’
’He probably wouldn’t even have made it through the preliminary competition.’
Unexpectedly, Fang Yue had actually succeeded in the end, passing the exam to become a Martial Scholar.
And he had even defeated Huang Ziyu during the competition.
Thinking of the Huang Family, Chen Tong couldn’t help but sneer.
’This time, we must seize this opportunity to deal with the Huang Family properly.’
"Martial Uncle, you praise me too highly. I was just lucky that the topic on the Military Strategy assessment was one I happened to know."
Fang Yue smiled faintly. Luck had indeed played a considerable part in his success.
After all, if his Military Strategy score hadn’t been high enough, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to secure ninth place that day.
In the end, this Military Examination might have really just been an educational experience, just as everyone expected.