Chapter 85: Little Red, Have You Come to See Me? (Please Subscribe and Vote)

After practicing for only a short while, Chen Yushu heard someone calling his name. He turned his head and saw that it was Steward Zhou.

“Your father is here,” Steward Zhou called out.

“Alright.” Chen Yushu was taken aback, but quickly nodded in response and hurried down the stairs.

At a glance, he saw his father standing hesitantly at the entrance to the pharmacy.

“Yushu.” The moment Chen Baihe saw his son, his eyes lit up. He stepped forward and patted Yushu’s shoulder, noticing how much the boy had grown. “You’ve gotten taller, and sturdier too… I heard you’ve become the apprentice of your shopkeeper? What’s that about? Last time, your Uncle Chen Ping told me you’d become an apprentice learning to decoct medicine. Oh, and the ten taels of silver you sent with your Uncle Chen Ping—I received them. I haven’t asked you yet, where did you get that money?”

“I’ve indeed become the apprentice of our shopkeeper, learning martial arts under him. This only happened a few days ago, so Uncle Chen Ping wouldn’t know.” Chen Yushu nodded quickly and explained.

Previously, Chen Ping, one of the village hunters, had stopped by to help deliver some winter clothes for his father. That’s when Chen Yushu took the opportunity to send ten taels of silver back home as well.

He sent only ten taels because that was all he had on hand at the time; most of his money had been left at home.

“And the silver? How did you come by it?” Chen Baihe pressed on, clearly concerned.

The Chen family had always lived honestly, and he didn’t want his son getting into any trouble.

“I was lucky last time and caught a rare treasure fish, which I exchanged for some silver with Steward Zhou. You can ask him about it. I didn’t have much on me at the time, so I only sent ten taels. I still have another thirty or forty taels left,” Chen Yushu explained with a smile.

This was the official explanation for his silver, offered to put his father’s mind at ease.

“I see…” Chen Baihe was momentarily stunned, but finally said, “That’s good to hear, that’s good.”

Sensing that it wasn’t appropriate to keep standing at the entrance, Chen Yushu quickly invited his father upstairs. But Chen Baihe waved him off. “I’ll just stand for a bit; I’ll be leaving soon. I came to sell some wild yams, but also to see you. Now that I see you’re doing well, I can rest easy.”

He hesitated, then added, “Oh, by the way, your mother—she’s expecting.”

“Ah?” Chen Yushu was momentarily at a loss for words.

Before his father left, Chen Yushu handed him another fifteen taels of silver. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to give more, but he knew too much would be hard to explain.

He also suggested that his parents move into Jianghuan Town, but Chen Baihe refused outright. Their family had lived in Beijiao Village for generations; how could they just up and leave?

He didn’t dare mention that their ancestral hall was now empty, or that strange “big fish” in the village. Still, he couldn’t help but worry, especially now that his mother was pregnant.

But there was nothing he could do but take things one step at a time.

That afternoon, after lunch, Chen Yushu made his way straight to the Tranquil Academy.

Inside the Wenchang Pavilion, Chen Yushu selected a stack of books and settled into a familiar old spot to read.

He was reading essays by a great scholar named Li Wenshu—strategies for governing the nation and improving the people’s welfare, reforms that included opening schools for all, waiving tuition, co-education for men and women, bringing corrupt gentry to justice, and redistributing land to the people.

Some of these ideas were truly refreshing, with clear arguments and practical proposals. The essay even suggested using a single county as a pilot for these reforms.

But, unfortunately, the text revealed that this proposal had never even reached the emperor’s desk before being dismissed. Soon after, Li Wenshu was demoted and sent home, his official career cut short.

“Do you understand this book?”

After finishing the volume and preparing to select another, Chen Yushu was startled by a sudden voice.

He looked up to see an elderly man, hair gleaming silver, with the age spots and wrinkles of someone well past sixty. Chen Yushu knew that only students or instructors were permitted in the Wenchang Pavilion, and since he was only here as a guest reader, he made sure not to appear arrogant.

“I just understand a little,” he replied modestly.

“Oh? Whose student are you? What is your name?” the old man asked.

“I merely enjoy reading. I come to the academy to borrow books; I am not anyone’s student,” Chen Yushu answered.

“Then tell me: was this essay well-written or not?” the old man pressed.

“It is both good and not good,” Chen Yushu answered honestly.

“What’s good about it, and what isn’t?” the elder inquired, puzzled.

“The intention is good. But the timing is off; the situation is misjudged. Even if this essay had reached the emperor, it would never have been implemented.”

“And why is that?”

“Because opening education to all, letting everyone read—this only benefits the common people, not those in power.”

“Only benefits the people, not the officials?” The old man was stunned. As a scholar, he understood well that in every era, the upper classes controlled resources. Education was an opportunity reserved for the children of officials, noble clans, wealthy farmers, and merchants. Though ordinary people could study, the costs—fees for teachers, loss of labor—were a heavy burden. If everyone could attend for free, the first to suffer would be the privileged, and the struggle for power would only become fiercer. No one at the top would want that.

After speaking, Chen Yushu ignored the old man, picked up another book, and continued reading. His words seemed to have left the old man speechless and motionless for a long while, until a middle-aged instructor entered and greeted him.

“Teacher, is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing, nothing…” The old man shook his head, then walked over to Chen Yushu. “Would you like to become a student at our academy? If you do, I’d be happy to recommend you for admission.”

“I do not wish to,” Chen Yushu replied, shaking his head.

“You don’t? Since you love reading, why not join the school? With teachers to guide you, wouldn’t it be better? And perhaps in the future, you might earn official honors,” the old man said anxiously.

“I can read and study here all the same. Why join a school?” For Chen Yushu, reading was not about future achievements, but about improving his own skills.

The old man’s persistent presence was starting to irritate him. He said, “Sir, you’re disturbing my reading.”

The old man was taken aback, as if he couldn’t believe his own ears. The middle-aged scholar beside him grew angry and was about to step forward, but the old man stopped him.

“Let him read, then.”

They finally left him in peace.

Chen Yushu knew the old man was probably someone important, likely a senior instructor or respected scholar.

But he came to the academy simply to improve his reading skills and deepen his meditative state, not to sit in a classroom with other students.

When he returned home, dusk had already fallen.

After completing his daily practice of stance work and the King of Medicine’s Strength-Locking Technique, he went straight to his study.

After days of practice, he finally felt confident enough to attempt the last talisman from the Sunlight Talisman manual.

The Thunder Summoning Talisman.

This talisman had nineteen separate rune structures. Even with his current level of meditation, it had taken him two or three days of hard work to gain a measure of confidence.

Now, it was time to put his efforts to the test.

Chen Yushu laid out the talisman paper, pressed it down with the Soul-Severing Ruler, then picked up his brush and dipped it in special ink.

In the next moment, he entered deep meditation and began anew.

One rune, two runes…

After days of practice, he was already adept with all nineteen rune structures. What remained was the final step: merging these nineteen runes seamlessly, linking beginning to end, and fusing them into a single talisman.

This was no easy task; it required a thorough understanding of both the rune structures and the talisman as a whole.

Fortunately, Chen Yushu possessed great patience. Even when he failed, he quickly made adjustments and tried again and again.

While he set about drawing the talisman, outside the study, Xiaoyin was playing by herself.

She knew well that the study was her brother Yushu’s workspace, and that there were many unsettling energies within. As a rule, she never entered that room, nor did she dare to.

Suddenly, a cold wind swept through, and the temperature seemed to plunge several degrees in an instant.

Xiaoyin looked toward the door and caught sight of a small head peeking over the courtyard wall.

It was the head of a little girl, her eyes tinged with red. From outside the door, one could see her entire form was suffused with a crimson hue.

“Xiaohong! Are you here to play with me?” Xiaoyin called out with a delighted laugh, hopping and skipping over.

The red-eyed girl broke into a smile as well, and the two little girls ran off together, laughing as they went.

At last—it was done!

With the final stroke, Chen Yushu exhaled in deep relief.

At the same time, he felt the surrounding energy stir violently, a peculiar force drawn as if by an unseen hand, rushing into the talisman on the desk.

He picked up the completed talisman; thin as paper, yet unexpectedly heavy in the hand.

This was because it now held a powerful charge of talismanic energy.

“The Thunder Summoning Talisman… This is surely the most powerful talisman I’ve mastered so far,” Chen Yushu thought, well aware of the potency of thunder magic.

He gazed at the talisman with satisfaction.

One could never have too many of these. After finishing one, he immediately set about drawing more.

Soon he had produced a second, a third… by the time he reached the fifth, he finally stopped.