An eighth-rank military officer.
This was his current official position.
It was a rank he had climbed step by step over the past thirty years, through a combination of seniority and military merit.
Yet Wei Tu, at the age of just over twenty, had already reached the pinnacle of his career.
How could County Lieutenant Xu not feel a profound sense of emotion and envy?
Last year, after suppressing the rebellion in Siyang Town, Xu had even thought about taking Wei Tu as one of his trusted confidants.
However,
Times change.
Wei Tu’s current official rank was equal to his own, but his prospects were far grander. In the bureaucracy, generally speaking, his status would be lower than that of a young official of the same rank like Wei Tu.
The two chatted for a while.
Then, County Lieutenant Xu suddenly shifted the topic to the Li residence.
"I am broadly aware of your connection to the Li family, Brother Wei."
"Regarding matters involving your benefactor, though I would rather not... speak of it to your face..."
"But considering your future, as a colleague, I feel I must say a few words."
County Lieutenant Xu looked at Wei Tu and spoke after weighing his words carefully.
"The Li residence?"
Wei Tu was slightly surprised by the question.
Ever since he had left the Li residence with Xinghua, his connection to them had been severed. Aside from sending the necessary seasonal gifts every year as a gesture of not forgetting old kindnesses, he had not dealt with anyone from the Li family.
"Has something happened to the Li residence?" Wei Tu pressed.
"The Li residence is fine," Xu shook his head. "However, some of the brothers under our command encountered several swordsmen during a recent bandit suppression who were once tenant farmers for the Li family."
He stopped there.
He did not say anything more.
Qingfeng Prefecture had not suffered any disasters in recent years, enjoying over ten consecutive years of bountiful harvests; the common people had not yet reached the point of starvation.
For tenant farmers of the Li family to be driven to become swordsmen and then descend into banditry—and not just one or two people at that...
County Lieutenant Xu believed Wei Tu could understand the implications.
"Thank you for informing me, Brother Xu."
After a few breaths, Wei Tu regained his composure and cupped his hands in thanks to County Lieutenant Xu.
He understood the underlying meaning of Xu's words.
County Lieutenant Xu was advising him to sever ties with the Li family as soon as possible, so that their affairs would not entangle him or tarnish his reputation.
"The Li family has been kind to me. Once I have repaid their kindness, I will have no further connection to them," Wei Tu said after a moment of thought.
Repaying the Li family's kindness did not mean that borrowing ten taels of silver and returning ten taels would end the matter.
The Li family did not lack such small sums of money; what they sought was the social debt incurred during the process of "borrowing."
When the time came for the Li family to ask him to repay that social debt...
Only then would he no longer owe them.
Just now, when County Lieutenant Xu spoke tactfully about the Li family, besides advising him to sever ties to avoid self-sabotage...
He was also subtly asking whether Wei Tu intended to treat the Li family "differently."
The matter of a few tenant farmers becoming bandit swordsmen was not worth mentioning to someone of Xu's standing as the second-in-command of Qingshan County.
"I see," County Lieutenant Xu nodded, a sharp glint appearing in his eyes.
He smiled and said, "If the opportunity arises, I shall help you with this favor and repay that debt for you."
By helping Wei Tu repay the Li family's debt, Wei Tu would, in turn, owe him a favor. However, unlike the debt to the Li family, the favor Wei Tu owed him would not be a heavy one.
—This was merely mutual assistance between two military officers of the same rank.
...
After leaving the Xu residence, Wei Tu went to the Wei residence to see Wei Fei one last time to say his farewells.
However,
Upon learning of Wei Tu's appointment, Wei Fei did not offer congratulations. Instead, his face darkened, and he said with considerable resentment, "Third Brother, you've struck it rich, going off to the prefectural capital to be an eighth-rank Garrison Commander and rising to high office..."
"Now I'm the only one left behind in the county town, stuck as a minor official."
"How is this what brothers do!"
Hearing this, Wei Tu shook his head with a bitter smile.
He knew that Wei Fei only spoke this way because they were close. If it were a stranger, such as County Lieutenant Xu, he would have rehearsed his words several times in his mind before speaking.
Therefore, he did not take Wei Fei's resentment to heart; on the contrary, he felt a slight sense of happiness.
Wei Tu offered a few words of comfort, promising that whenever he was free, he would bring their fourth brother, Fu Zhizhou, back to the county town to drink with him.
At this, Wei Fei's face instantly brightened. He laughed heartily and cupped his hands to congratulate Wei Tu.
"But... Third Brother, if you come back to the county town to drink with me, you don't necessarily... have to bring Fu Zhizhou along..."
"Just the two of us is fine," Wei Fei said, waving his hand.
Among the four brothers, he had never been on good terms with Kou Liang and Fu Zhizhou. Now that Kou Liang was in a similar situation to his own, he felt no animosity toward him.
But—
It was different when facing Fu Zhizhou, who had always been "above" him.
Especially... once Wei Tu went to the prefectural capital and began working with Fu Zhizhou... there was the possibility that Wei Tu might grow distant from a fallen brother like himself.
With these various factors intertwined, Wei Fei naturally did not want Wei Tu to bring Fu Zhizhou to Qingshan County to meet and drink with him.
Hearing this, Wei Tu initially wanted to persuade Wei Fei to accept Fu Zhizhou.
But after thinking it over, he swallowed his words, smiled, and nodded to Wei Fei, signaling his agreement.
—If he truly tried to force Wei Fei and Fu Zhizhou to "make peace," his persuasion would not only be useless but would instead cause his friend Wei Fei to feel "disheartened."
Doing was always more effective than saying.
...
Half a month later.
Wei Tu took Xinghua and left Qingshan County, moving into a newly purchased villa in the prefectural capital.
This villa was worth thirteen taels of silver, more than double the price of his small courtyard in the county town.
Having made a fortune a year ago, Wei Tu had more than enough to afford it.
Subsequently,
Wei Tu took up his post as the "West Gate Garrison Commander" of the Qingfeng Prefecture capital.
...
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye,
Five years went by, reaching the thirty-second year of Qing'an.
Every year on the thirteenth of June, the four of them would meet at the Xuanhe Tower as agreed to discuss their progress in practicing the immortal cultivation techniques.
Unfortunately, without exception, all four had failed to master the techniques; not a single one had achieved entry into the *Five Elements Spirit-Nurturing Body*.
Aside from Wei Tu, the other three had all, quite coincidentally, begun to feel a sense of frustration regarding their cultivation.
After all, how many five-year periods does one have in a lifetime?
However,
In July of that year, Fu Zhizhou achieved an unexpected breakthrough.
While Fu Zhizhou had not mastered the immortal technique, he had successfully sensed "Qi." Internal Qi had been born within his meridians, and he had entered the Realm of Qi Sensing.
That year, Fu Zhizhou was twenty-six years old.
Ten days later,
Fu Zhizhou sent a messenger to invite the three of them to meet in Private Room No. 3 of the Heaven Grade at Xuanhe Tower.
He stated that his attainment of Qi Sensing was related not only to the experience Wei Tu had shared but also to the nature of the immortal technique itself.
On the day he sensed the internal Qi, he had not been practicing martial arts forms or stances, but had instead been concentrating intensely on practicing the *Five Elements Spirit-Nurturing Body*.
"I suspect that Xie Qing possessed that immortal technique not because he intended to master it, but because he wanted to use it as a means to find Qi and enter the Realm of Qi Sensing..."
Fu Zhizhou made a logical deduction.
(End of Chapter)