Chapter 141 “Grand Martial Hall”
Ling Yue originally intended to seek out Lan Caier after she returns home to inquire about that General Goldsword character, but when she went to look, there were no sign of the big girl. As such, Ling Yue figured her sister must be out again to organize the opening of the Drunken Immortal.
It’s unavoidable that she would feel a tad bittersweet about not achieving her objective, nevertheless, she can’t do anything about it at the moment.
Just as she’s ready to head back to her quarters, the personal maid of her god mother arrived with a message. Her presence was needed in front of the madam.
“Ling Yue, how come you are the same as Caier, always missing during the day.” Madam Lan asks this with a moping expression
It’s already a great misfortunate that her own daughter took on the personality of her husband, a martial art fanatic and a runaway, but now her god daughter too likes to stay outside! This wasn’t in her plan at all! When she took Ling Yue in, the madam had dreamt every night that for once, she will have a good and respectable daughter to spend some quality lady time with her inside their home. But now… she can’t even catch the girl’s shadow in the morning before the person in question disappears.
“Mother, I went out today to register at the alchemist association. Oh yes, I also bought some fresh fruits home for you to taste.” As a clever one, Ling Yue masterfully brings out a basket of produce from within her Red Mist Sky.
Ever since she moved in with the Lan family she would occasionally bring out some fruits and vegetables to please the rest of the family. Her efforts paid off and did wonders in raising the pickiness among the trio’s tongue pallet.
As items injected with a blast of spirit energy, not only does the flavor and texture exceed that of a ordinary ingredient, it will also benefit those who don’t have any cultivation under their skin. Take the madam for example. In recent days, the middle-aged woman looked absolutely stunning under the nourishment of Ling Yue’s food.
“What a caring child, but first put the basket down and come over. The new dresses I prepared for you arrived today. Try them on and let me have a look to see if it fits your style.” Madam Lan was beaming with delight as she ordered the maids to bring over the new clothes.
With keen eyesight, this lady of the house had long noticed Ling Yue’s style differed greatly from her elder daughter’s taste. Unlike Caier who have no qualms about wearing complex and brightly styled clothes, Ling Yue was the type that fell into the simple yet elegant category. Therefore, the madam deliberately went out to order some new clothes that retained a simple appearance without looking low in standing.
Looking over the collection, the first dress to catch her fancy turns out to be the one made of North Qing’s finest material: cloud silk. It’s a long dress with a silvery strap attached to the waist as its belt. On it, a embroidery of a cloud gave the whole piece a style truly tailored for Ling Yue’s personality.
With the dress on and matched with Ling Yue’s long black hair, even without makeup, her slim ladylike features left no doubt she’s a daughter of a fine household.
Repeatedly nodding her head, Madam Lan appears to be very satisfied with this and decides to add a finishing touch by stitching on a flowery brocade to the skirt area.
Aside from this dress, Ling Yue also noticed that there were a few other style of clothes for her. Mainly those tight robes used for practicing martial art and the loose styled ones for a alchemist. Apparently the madam left no stones unturned.
“Mother, I’m always either at the alchemist association or at home training, why do I need to dress so neatly for?” Unlike the Ye family, the general’s place had a lot more rules to follow, making it difficult for Ling Yue to get accustomed to the new environment.
“Ling Yue, it just so happens I wanted to discuss the matter with you. Now that you are in the capital, it’s imperative that you follow the rules of this city. Your father is a third rank military officer. According to the law of Da Xia, any court official above the fifth rank must send their children, regardless of sex, to the Grand Martial Hall for training until they are eighteen years of age.” One of the main reason for the new clothes had to do with her entry into the school system.
The Lan couple had long wanted to inform Ling Yue of the matter, but due to the distractions in the past few days, things kept going over their heads until a letter of notice arrived at their doorstep from the martial hall.
“If that is the case then I will go to the Grand Martial Hall tomorrow,” she nods, agreeing to the plan. When she first arrived at the capital, Lan Caier had already divulged some neat pieces of information pertaining to this institution.
In a country where martial art prevails and alchemists reign supreme, the very existence of the Grand Martial Hall was in all intent purposes meant to counteract the ever growing influence of the Alchemist Association.
Martial Students, that’s what they called the people whom attends this school. After the students graduate, it’s quite likely the individual would directly join the military, thus bolstering the kingdom’s strength in the process. A win-win circumstance for the royal family and the student since this tantamounted to a form of fast tracking their career.
As for the most excellent students of their generation, these gifted individuals also have a chance to participate in the royal competition of the kingdom. The number one being granted a royal title like Lan Caier who also went through this route, but unlike the first place, she caught the fancy of the Queen Dowager.
This translation is only hosted on: https://bcat00.wordpress.com/
Once out of her god mother’s quarter, a glimmer of light flashed through Ling Yue’s eye.
Grand Martial Hall… all eighteen or younger must attend. This meant the stage for my meeting of those half siblings and the members of the Hong House is set.
Thinking of everything she went through to get to this point, Ling Yue’s mind started to look forward to tomorrows arrival.
Returning to her quarter, a commotion inside her dimensional space caught her attention. In haste, she transfers herself inside to investigate.
Fruits and vegetables everywhere, this once somewhat barren landscape was now full of life and energy. A paradise. Even if she don’t do anything at this point, just the harvesting of the produces here would net her tens of thousands of silver per day.
As to the reasoning for her entry, it’s Little Squeak who had been spending the last month brooding the egg in seclusion. When there’s suddenly movement under his belly, the little fella started to cry out in excitement, thus alerting Ling Yue to the situation.
Like the fur ball, Big Yellow was also running around in circles with excitement in his voice.
Crack~Crack~
Slowly but surely, the signs of the little phoenix breaking out of the shell became evident following every crack.
The Phoenix egg is about to hatch?
Popping her eyes in astonishment, Ling Yue almost couldn’t believe what she’s seeing. Never in her wildest dream did she expect the little fur ball to pull the stunt off.
Well, this was great news for everyone indeed, especially for the little phoenix who went through life and death before it’s even born.
And no doubt about it, the one happiest here had to be Little Squeak.
Squeak~
Mistress promised before. If the one to come out is a female then I get to keep her as my wifey in the future!
As the cracks grew larger and larger, the shell as a whole eventually broke in half at the middle.
Chirp~Chirp~
From within the shaky egg, a pair of small golden eyes peered out from the opening.
Holding their breathes in, both human and animals waited in anticipation.
POOFFFF~
Shattering apart, a tiny thing came forward from within the egg shells.
Watching its appearance, both Ling Yue and Big Yellow were shocked silly.
As for Little Squeak who held the greatest hope among the three present, let’s just say he didn’t take things so well after getting a clear picture.
Sprawled on his back, he went limp with his legs up and tongue out.