Chapter 143 “Injustice on the Road”

Now that Ling Yue became reminded of this fact, it’s simple to understand that no matter the branding of an institution or place, the law of the jungle still applies regardless.

Next morning.

Waking up early, she heads off alone for the Grand Martial Hall due to her need to understand this city. As she came up to the street outside the institution, the first person she encountered turns out to be a teenager slowly walking ahead of her. His head plastered to the book he’s holding as he repeatedly recited the content.

Based on the trajectory this teen was heading in, Ling Yue figured the boy also attended the Grand Martial Hall like herself. Wanting to make some inquiries from the boy, her attention was suddenly pulled away by a nervous looking servant that dashed out of an alleyway.

“Aaahhhh”, the servant blindly bumps into the teenager and falls to the ground first, knocking the boy out of his immersive state.

“Are you alright?” Believing he’s the one who bumped into the servant, the teenager hurries to help the guy up from the ground.

“What’s the matter with you, how can you not look when walking?” Instead of apologizing after initiating the contact, the servant began to scold the boy. Using the teen’s divided attention, the servant then secretly stuffed a coin purse into his target’s pocket.

This happened extremely fast, meaning the suspicious servant had done this many times before.

Remaining oblivious to the fact that he’s being set up, the teen continues to scratch his head in confusion even after the fact that the man had walked away.

Believing none had noticed his handiwork, the suspicious servant promptly dodged into a secluded alleyway down the road. Waiting there already were several young lords and ladies.

“Young master, I’ve done as you instructed and placed the thing in his pocket.” Changing his outrageous appearance from earlier, the servant now talked and walked like a dog as he attempted to flatter the young man.

“Very good, this is your compensation.” The one leading here was a young man with a set of perfectly white teeth. When he threw the silver coins out to the servant, the ladies behind him all giggled at the sight.

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With that finished, the group then headed out of the alleyway and entered the Grand Martial Hall’s doorway.

Unbeknownst to this group though, Ling Yue had tagged the servant in secret the entire time. Coming out of hiding, a spark of light took hold in Ling Yue’s eye as she headed for the building in question.

The Grand Martial Hall was an institution founded by the previous king of Da Xia in order to honor the spirit of a martialist. Standing adjacent to the palace itself, the base of operation for this school comprised mainly of a dozen magnificent buildings of earthly appearance. Whether it be princes or princesses’, all must attend on a daily basis as long as their parents were of fifth rank or higher in the court. The only exception being holidays or burial reception inside the family.

After taking out her notice of acceptance to the reception, Ling Yue was then led to the main activity yard where there’s already a decent number of people gathered for the morning. Based on their talkative attitude towards each other, it’s clear they are well acquainted unlike Ling Yue who knew none here.

Flicking her eyes back and forth, Ling Yue’s gaze eventually fell upon the teenager who was immersed in the book from earlier.

“This senior, I’m a newcomer who just came today. My name is Ye Ling Yue of General Lan’s house.” From behind, she pats the teenager on the shoulder to get his attention.

Taking advantage of the opening when he turns around, Ling Yue activates her Jade Flower Hand technique and transports the coin purse hiding inside the boy’s pocket into her dimensional space.

A coin purse with a thousand-silver bank note? It seems this Grand Martial Hall is exactly like sister says, a den of backstabbing wolves.

All things considered, this teen had the typical honest and simple-minded persona nailed with that roundish face and untainted eyes. Blushing, he replied: “You are a new junior sister? My name is Liu Cheng. Like you, I only arrived here three months ago. But if you got anything you don’t understand then feel free to come ask me.”

It’s already been a few days since Ling Yue arrived at this city, therefore she had roughly grasped onto the rules of introduction without breaking norm. Mostly one would shoot out their background and ancestry before dealing out their cultivation level, the typical method to show off where one stands in the ladder.

However, this Liu Cheng was an honest character and remains polite during his entire introduction. After a little prying, most of his background were laid out in front of Ling Yue. Apparently, Liu Cheng’s father held a position as the chief secretarial historian in court, a fifth rank official.

Chatting up this Liu Cheng, it didn’t take long for another girl to join the two. Going by the name of Feng Xue, this girl was the daughter of a military commander whom recently moved to the capital six months ago. Among the three, Feng Xue’s cultivation and age was the oldest here, giving her a big sister role.

“So you are General Lan’s second daughter who he recently recognized. Your demeanor is very kind, unlike those other young lords and ladies around us.” Coming off on good terms, both girls hit it off easily.

Though the Grand Martial Hall was a place of cultivation and learning, it seems it still can’t avoid the misfortune of class division among its students. This mainly had to do with their parent’s authority and power.

Those that hailed from a family holding a fifth or fourth rank are called lower class students while the third and second rank children are called middle class students. As for the students who hailed from a family with a first rank official, they are the highest here and are called upper class students.

There’s a commonly used saying going around here in this school. The upper-class students will walk with their heads high and the middle-class students with their heads low. As for the lower-class students, they are only qualified to crawl on the floor.

Lan Ying Wu may only be a third rank military official, but due to his title as the “Invincible general of Da Xia” personally bestowed by the king himself, his seniority wouldn’t lose out to a second rank in any way when compared. Considering this fact, Ling Yue can be said to be only one step away from being an upper-class student. Therefore, it came as a very big surprise when she actively started a conversation with them.

“To think the Grand Martial Hall too would have this silly classification system.” After listening to their explanation, she showed an obvious disdain for the system.

“Ling Yue, speak quietly. The truth is this sort of classification system has its reasoning. Those of the second or third rank families tended to have wealthy backgrounds or influential figures hanging over their heads, giving way to better resources for training. This can be seen in the annual royal competition where the top contenders are always monopolized by the upper-class students.” Liu Cheng never expected Ling Yue to be so courageous to spout something so bold in public. Checking their surroundings in haste, the boy was relieved to find none in the area had noticed the outburst from his new friend.

Since his father was of common birth and held a low rank in the court, Liu Cheng’s personality tended to sway towards the bottom of the barrel.

“Liu Cheng, your words aren’t right. Did you forget her sister is Lan Caier who took tenth place in the royal competition? Men, humph, always looking down at us women and thinking we are inferior.” Unconvinced, Feng Xue waves her fist at the boy in defiance.

“That’s right! I almost forgot your sister is also very powerful. She’s a legend you know? Take Feng Xue here, she’s been idolizing your sister ever since that incident.” Liu Cheng appears to be afraid of Feng Xue and started to stammer hard when the girl got physical.

“Ohh, who do we have here, isn’t it the garbage from the senior secretary’s home? Aren’t you the lucky one, holding two girls with each arm.” Just as the trio was enjoying their conversation, a ridiculing voice from an unwanted individual interrupted them.

From behind, several youngsters walked in on them.

Towards these newcomers, the reaction between Liu Cheng and Feng Xue varied greatly. The boy obviously appeared to be afraid of the group while the girl went on the offensive.