Start from the Martial Arts

The next day.

Fang Xiu got up early, drank two bowls of sweet tofu pudding at a roadside stall, ate four pancakes sprinkled with chopped green onions, replenished sugar and salt, and then went to the county prison.

"Xiao Fang? Why are you here so early?"

Ma Sandao walked out of the small room. He was on duty last night and lived in the county prison. He was a little surprised to see Fang Xiu come to report so early.

"Uncle Ma, I feel much better. Come to work early." Fang Xiu replied.

Most prisoners are given two bowls of porridge per meal, just make sure they don't starve to death.

Those who spend money must be guaranteed three meals a day.

Some people with backgrounds must not only eat enough, but also eat well.

They can even ask the chef of the restaurant to come to the small kitchen of the yamen to cook and then send it over.

"You look much better! Has the cold improved?"

The firelight in the prison was dim, but Ma Sandao noticed that Fang Xiu's face was much rosier, not as pale and bloodless as yesterday, with a short life.

"Last night, my nephew met a wandering Taoist priest who said that I was destined to have a short life and that I should burn more incense to accumulate good karma. Then he prescribed me a dose of medicine. After burning incense and taking the medicine yesterday, I felt much better." Fang Xiu explained.

"Oh? Is there such a thing?" Ma Sandao was stunned.

Most wandering Taoist priests are ignorant liars, but there are also some truly wise people.

Judging from Fang Xiu's appearance, he should have met the latter.

Ma Sandao was happy that Fang Xiu's cold had improved, and he reminded him to be careful and not to take medicine randomly.

"Thank you Uncle Ma for your concern. My nephew will remember it." Fang Xiu nodded.

He could skip the morning check-in and go directly to the county martial arts hall to sign up.

But his cold had not yet recovered, and he became vigorous and energetic just one day later, which was too abnormal.

He planned to wait for ten days or half a month to give people the feeling that his body was slowly getting better.

"By the way, since you're here early, go to cell 13 to deliver food. Remember to be careful to serve the person inside." Ma Sandao patted Fang Xiu's shoulder.

When Fang Xiu heard about cell 13, he instinctively felt disgusted, and some memories emerged in his mind.

The prisoner in cell 13 was the nephew of the county magistrate, named Dou Shouli. He raped a woman in the street in Ping'an Town next door. After being caught, the county magistrate "killed his relatives for the sake of justice" and "beat him with a heavy stick twenty times" in court.

If it were the Qin and Han dynasties in the previous life, such cases would generally be subject to corporal punishment, such as gouging out eyes, chopping off hands and feet. For extremely bad influences like raping a woman in the street, castration would generally be imposed, the tools used in the crime would be confiscated, or the death penalty would be directly imposed.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, attempted rape would be punished with a heavy stick of 100 times. Even if the person was not beaten into a smelly mess, he would be exiled for three thousand miles afterwards.

The current Yan State has a relatively light conviction for such cases, similar to the Tang Dynasty in the previous life. Generally, two to three years of imprisonment is enough, and serious cases are exiled at most. As long as no one is killed, there will be no death penalty.

When Dou Shouli was punished with a cane, the woman said that she was willing, so in the end the county magistrate sentenced Dou Shouli to one month in prison on the grounds of violating morals.

As for the woman, considering her young age and first offense, it was decided not to pursue her.

"Xiao Fang, people in our line of work should not have too much conscience. In this world, good people don't live long! Remember six words, talk less and do more."

Seeing Fang Xiu's expression, Ma Sandao gave a heartfelt admonition.

Even those of them who are jailers look down on prisoners like Dou Shouli the most.

Who doesn't have a female family member?

It's just that he is powerful and is the nephew of the county magistrate.

The so-called official word has two mouths, and everything is justified.

"My nephew has learned from your teachings." Fang Xiu bowed and said, he warned himself that this was not his previous life, he must change his mindset.

......

Cell No. 13 was bright and transparent, the sun could shine in through the window, it was clean and tidy, with all the furniture such as tables, chairs and benches, and a faint incense burning.

According to Dou Shouli's request, Fang Xiu brought the steamed sea bass and drunken wine he ordered from the small kitchen.

The fish was caught from Yunmeng Lake this morning, and the wine was sent from Fengxian Town next door, and a pot was worth ten taels of silver.

Dou Shouli loved wine and fresh fish, and he couldn't do without them for three meals a day.

In addition, there were all kinds of snacks.

He basically only ate a bite of many of them and threw them away.

"Hey, take it! This is a reward from my master."

When Fang Xiu finished delivering the food and was about to leave, Dou Shouli took out a piece of broken silver from his arms and threw it to Fang Xiu.

Fang Xiu reached out to catch it, and estimated based on the size and weight, it was close to one or two taels of silver.

No wonder Ma Sandao asked him to deliver food to Dou Shouli. When so many jailers came back from cell No. 13, they were all smiling.

"Hmm?" Dou Shouli glanced at Fang Xiu who was in a daze.

"Thank you, Lord Dou, for the reward!" Fang Xiu felt a lump in his throat when he held the silver in his hand, but he had to smile. He had no right to refuse.

"Go away!" Dou Shouli waved his hand.

"I'll take my leave." Fang Xiu's forehead muscles twitched slightly, and he lowered his head and left the cell, closing the door.

"I hope you don't fall into my hands..."

Fang Xiu clenched the silver in his hand.

This piece of silver can allow him to eat meat every meal for the next month.

However, if there is a chance, he doesn't mind sending Dou Shouli, a scum, on his way.

......

For the next half month, under Ma Sandao's arrangement, Fang Xiu kept delivering food to Dou Shouli.

Seeing that many jailers showed dissatisfaction, Fang Xiu took the initiative to give up delivering food.

Although there was no reward every day, in half a month, Fang Xiu also received a reward of eight taels of silver from Dou Shouli, which was half more than the reward for poisoning Zhao Daqiang.

Two taels of silver were received yesterday evening.

The sea bass yesterday morning was not fresh enough. Dou Shouli only took a bite and then became furious. He directly swept the dish and fish to Fang Xiu.

In the evening, because the fish was cooked to his liking, he rewarded Fang Xiu and the chef again.

......

Afternoon.

Fang Xiu left early.

Because he took the initiative to give up the good job of delivering food to Dou Shouli, a jailer agreed to help him watch the night, so he didn't have to come at night.

"It's time."

After half a month of consideration, Fang Xiu took the silver and decided to go to Sanjue Martial Arts Hall.

Qingshi County is adjacent to Yunmeng Lake in the east and Tianze Prefecture City in the north. It is a large county in the nearby Tianze Prefecture. There are seven martial arts halls in the city.

Sanjue Martial Arts School is located in Yonghefang, the westernmost part of the outer city, and is far away from Shiqiaofang, where Fang Xiu lives.

If he still had the same physique as before, he would probably be exhausted after walking such a long distance in the cold winter, but now he is just sweating slightly.

Fang Xiu entered Yonghefang and just walked to the entrance of the street where Sanjue Martial Arts School was located, and heard a shrill scream.

"Ah! Spare my life!"

"Beat! Beat this ignorant bastard hard for me!"

Three strong men caught a ragged boy and punched and kicked him. The boy was beaten to the ground and cried and begged.

Fang Xiu noticed that the boy had been holding a small bamboo fish basket in his arms.

When the strong man snatched the fish basket away, the boy struggled hard until he was kicked in the heart and let go.

Fang Xiu couldn't bear it, but he didn't plan to get out, so he walked straight to Sanjue Martial Arts School in the middle of the street.

Judging from the clothes of the three strong men, they are obviously members of the Money Gang, not ordinary scoundrels.

"Help...Help...Wow!" The boy saw a pair of white gang black straight boots in his sight, thinking that it was an official, and subconsciously called for help, but was kicked unconscious by the strong man.

"It turned out to be Brother Fang. This kid got the care of our Money Gang, but he caught the red blood carp and wanted to sell it to the martial arts hall privately. We are following the rules."

The strong man smiled when he saw that the person coming was Fang Xiu, and he bowed to Fang Xiu and explained.

If other officials were present, they would have to pay a fee for beating people in the street.

However, Fang Xiu was just an ordinary jailer, so they didn't take him seriously and just did a good job on the surface.

"Yeah." Fang Xiu nodded and glanced at the fainted boy.

The reason why the Money Gang can run rampant in Qingshi County is mainly because of the relationship in the government.

Red blood carp is a great supplement for warriors, and a palm-sized red blood carp can be sold for seven or eight taels of silver.

When fishermen catch red blood carp, they must send it to the fish market according to the rules, and are not allowed to sell it privately.

A red blood carp worth seven or eight taels of silver is sent to the fish market, but after being exploited by the Money Gang, the fishermen may not even get three taels of silver.

This young man obviously wants to take a chance and sell the red blood carp to the martial artist of the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall.

As long as he becomes a disciple of the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall, with this background, the Money Gang will not dare to cause trouble openly.

If he breaks through the level and becomes a formal warrior, the Money Gang will only make friends with him.

Unfortunately, there have been several precedents before.

Nowadays, the Money Gang will arrange some spies near each martial arts hall in the county. If they encounter fishermen who sell fish to martial arts halls privately, they will be beaten directly.

The martial arts hall will not care if the fishermen do not enter the gate of the martial arts hall.

"Alas..." Fang Xiu sighed, walked to the gate of Sanjue Martial Arts School, and climbed the steps.

Outside the closed red painted gate of the martial arts school, stood two warriors with strong bodies and bright eyes.

Seeing Fang Xiu wearing a black servant's uniform, the two did not show any strange color. The one on the left asked in a deep voice: "Are you here to sign up?"

"I am Fang Xiu, and I come to Sanjue Martial Arts School to learn from you."

Fang Xiu bowed and said that facing a warrior who had broken through the barrier, even the head of the police working in the county government had to be careful.

As he said, Fang Xiu took out a purse from his arms, opened the purse, and showed a few pieces of silver inside.

"The money is enough, come in with me!"

The warrior who spoke nodded, and the other warrior pushed open the red painted gate and made way.

Fang Xiu felt a little nervous inexplicably, but more excited.

The door to the new world was opening to him.