Chapter 6 “Entering the martial hall”

The implication from this confrontation was quite large. In a fit of rage, the family head Ye Gu ordered Wang Gui, both father and son, to be expelled from the household.

As for Ye Huang Cheng and his son, because of poor discipline, they were fined twenty hits by the rod and a month of self-reflection in their own home. As for the Ye Qing’s broken arm, it was pushed aside and forgotten.

In the eyes of the mother and daughter pair, such punishment was obviously not enough.

With a dark face, Ye Huang Yu was about to leave with her daughter when a sudden voice stopped her.

“Wait.” Ye Gu hollered at his daughter in a stern voice.

Then coming up to the pair, his face still taut, but there’s clearly a hint of hesitation in those eyes of his.

Tugging at her mother’s hand, Ye Ling Yue can tell this easy to come by grandfather of hers was the typical type of person with a tough mouth but a soft heart.

“Ling Yue is already thirteen this year. Starting tomorrow, have her go to the family martial hall to learn martial art.” Ye Gu gave a glance to his granddaughter.

In the ancestral hall, Ye Qing and his father were stunned by the outcome.

This sentence from Ye Gu was meant for everyone else inside the ancestral hall. His meaning was simple: he’s finally willing to recognize Ye Ling Yue’s identity as a true member of the family.

With this little commotion, everyone in the Ye family now knows that Ling Yue was no longer a retarded girl like before.

And with the recovered allowance on the northern manor, the living conditions of the three women have improved somewhat.

But Rome wasn’t built in a day, so in the end, the relationship between Ye Huang Yu and her father remains the same without much improvement.

When next morning came around, Ling Yue’s cousin (older sister) Ye Yin Shuang appeared outside the northern manor.

“Little sister Ling Yue, grandfather tasked me to bring you over to the martial hall today.” Ye Yin Shuang was the daughter of Ling Yue’s second uncle. With her reddish dark skin, those roundish eyes of hers gave off the impression of someone with a very good temperament.

Just like that, the two girls left the house together.

Yin Shuang was also very curious about Ling Yue. According to the words from the adults, she only heard about third aunt’s daughter being retarded, but shockingly, this retarded girl suddenly became smart again out of nowhere.

With today’s meeting, she found that Ling Yue was not only very beautiful, but also very friendly. Therefore, Yin Shuang immediately took a great liking to this newfound sister of hers with one glance.

Note: in chinese culture, it’s very common to call a younger/older cousin sister or brother.

It also helped greatly that the two were of similar age so it didn’t take long for them to begin conversing.

The Ye martial hall was located in the southern part of Autumn Maple Town and was made up of several tile-roofed buildings and a large field.

After twenty generations of development in Autumn Maple Town, the Ye household – branch families included – can be regarded as one of the largest clan in this administrative area after five hundred years of settlement.

Once inside, what came into view were seventy to eighty kids standing in rows outside in the field, each separated accordingly to their age: six to eight, nine to twelve, thirteen to fifteen, and sixteen and up.

Since Ling Yue didn’t know a single soul in this place, their entrance quickly caught the eyes of the many sweaty children’s exercising in the morning.

“Big sister Yin Shuang, who’s this good looking sister?” Yin Shuang was a daughter of the main branch so her newfound friend quickly brought over a crowd of curious kids.

“She’s a little sister of the main house, Ye Ling Yue.” She begins introducing Ling Yue.

But as soon as everyone heard this name, they all dodged away like they just saw something fowl and dirty.

“What’s going on?” Ling Yue asks.

“It’s all because of Ye Qing. Due to being confined inside his home, he vowed to pay you back once he’s out. But don’t worry, personal fights aren’t allowed in the martial hall. Besides, I’ll be protecting you when we come and go.” Yin Shuang shows her fist and puts on a big sister attitude. Like Ye Qing, she’s at the third level of the constitution domain so there’s no reason for her to be afraid.

“Ye Qing’s strength is very strong?” Ling Yue understands that by offending that father and son pair, they will never let it slide without retribution.

“What ability does he have? All he can do is rely on his powerful connections to intimidate others.” She wanted to say more but was interrupted by the entering trainer.

Without much choice, the two can only stop their conversation and begin practicing like the rest.

Compared to the brutal training of her mother, these insignificant exercises required by the martial hall was nothing.

Using merely one morning, Ling Yue easily manages to catch up to the other kids and in many cases, surpass them. As the day drew to a close, Ling Yue didn’t follow Yin Shaung home; instead, she made an excuse to wonder off alone just so she can secretly run off to the town market.

The market of Autumn Maple Town was located in the busiest street of this place and sold all manners of goods: herbs, weapons, everyday commodity, nothing was left out.

The northern manor may have restored their monthly allowance, but the miniscule amount was merely enough to support the threes daily necessities. As for Ling Yue’s pocket money, it only amounted to a pitiful number of twenty copper coins.

This may have been a significant number for the former retarded girl, but for the newly reborn Ye Ling Yue that’s about to break into the third level of the constitution domain, this was far from enough.

In additional to hard training, she also needs a certain amount of medicine to help support her.

But she only has the vitality condensing grass; as such, she wanted to come into town with hopes of finding other suitable herbs to raise her strength.

Moreover, there’s another wish that’s been nagging at her heart: she wants to find a cure for her mother’s chronic injury, maybe an elixir.

She must let her mother reclaim her former glory as a genius!

For that goal, she needs money, lots and lots of money!