Dawn broke after a long night. Smoke was already curling from the kitchen chimney; the pot of white porridge was simmering, and the medicinal brew was boiling.
In the courtyard, Chu Mu gripped his Long Saber, practicing his forms one move at a time. Once his body was slightly warm, he decisively stopped, relaxed for a moment, and then stepped into the kitchen.
A bowl of white porridge, a plate of pickled vegetables, and a few steamed buns Chu Mu had made himself.
Of course, the meal wouldn't be complete without a large bowl of bitter medicinal soup.
After finishing breakfast, Chu Mu picked up the cloth bag containing his ink, brush, paper, and inkstone… and left… for school.
If Chu Mu remembered correctly, the body's original owner was seventeen years old. Starting one's education at seventeen… he wasn't sure if that counted as being a late bloomer.
Chu Mu wasn't sure, but he certainly felt a deep sense of shame.
At the private school, although there were many students around his age, they were all scholars who had been studying for years, preparing for the imperial examinations.
The ones just starting their education were mostly a group of six or seven-year-old children. Even the older ones were barely over ten.
Although the original owner's body was frail, for a seventeen-year-old to be sitting among a group of children, reading the same books and learning the same characters…
The scene was jarring, and the shame was intense…
The day… was very long…
At dusk, amidst the chirping and chattering of children, Chu Mu slowly walked out of the private school's gates.
He stopped, turned back, and looked at the plaque hanging under the eaves. Chu Mu could now recognize the two words written there.
The teacher's surname was Chang, and this was his residence, so the plaque naturally read "Chang Mansion."
'I've miscalculated.'
One day into his schooling, studying alongside children… the feeling was truly beyond words.
He had already sunk twenty silver into it. If he backed out now, that twenty silver would truly be gone for nothing.
Fortunately, today was just to get a feel for the private school. After he received his post at the Inspection Office, he would just come to study in his spare time after his shifts. That way, he could avoid the embarrassment of being in the same class as the children.
Otherwise, Chu Mu would have seriously considered finding a different way to learn.
'I'll just have to learn slowly.'
Chu Mu sighed softly. Learning to read and write from scratch was no easy task.
A glance at the Light Curtain Panel improved his mood considerably. After a full day focused on his studies, his Spiritual Radiance Value had shot up by nearly twenty percent. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before his Spiritual Radiance Value reached the one hundred percent limit.
'Still, I need a proper plan.'
He tightened his grip on the bag of writing supplies, thinking to himself, 'Spiritual Radiance Value is hard to come by. Using Spiritual Radiance to boost what I'm learning now is a bit of a waste.'
Lost in thought, Chu Mu started walking, heading slowly toward his own home under the sunset's afterglow.
"Move! Hurry up!"
"Stop dawdling! Any slower and you won't get to eat!"
Just as he stepped out of the alley, faint shouts reached Chu Mu's ears. He looked up instinctively and saw a procession at the end of the street. Several Inspectors on tall horses cleared a path, while others on foot escorted a group of dozens of commoners in mismatched clothes. The shouts were clearly coming from the escorting Inspectors.
The sight instantly triggered a memory in Chu Mu's mind. His expression changed slightly as he silently stepped aside, watching the massive procession pass before him.
Such a scene was not unfamiliar to Chu Mu. Or more accurately, it wasn't unfamiliar to the body's original owner.
Conscripting Forced Labor was an essential part of how ancient dynasties operated.
The scene before him was clearly another conscription for Forced Labor in Qinghe County.
In Nanshan Town, it was even more common. The mines were state-owned, so all the miners were conscripts from the county's Forced Labor drafts, rotated out every six months. It couldn't be more routine.
In his memory, the original owner's father had also died because of Forced Labor.
It seemed the commandery had conscripted one thousand laborers from Qinghe County to repair the riverbanks, and the original owner's father was one of the men assigned to escort them.
It was supposed to be a routine assignment, but who could have known he would never return?
It wasn't just the original owner's father. The one thousand laborers and all the other Inspectors escorting them also vanished without a trace.
The news from the commandery was that a sudden flood had caused tens of thousands of casualties. Because the Qinghe County laborers' work site was downstream, there were no survivors.
Of course, that was just the official notice from the commandery. No one knew the true details. Just as no one knew why the Inspectors, who were only supposed to escort the laborers, would have all rushed to the construction site in the first place.
After all, the Qinghe County Inspectors were only responsible for escorting the laborers to the commandery. According to standard procedure, Qinghe County had no further involvement after that. Only when the term of labor was over would the commandery notify the county, which would then send Inspectors to bring the laborers back.
The whole affair… was clearly suspicious…
Chu Mu glanced at the departing procession of laborers and shook his head to himself. Over a thousand lives, all of them strong, able-bodied young men. In this era, every single one of them was the pillar of a family.
For over a thousand lives to be lost so silently… for Qinghe County, this was obviously no small matter.
For the Inspectors who died in the line of duty, the County Magistrate's Office provided a hefty pension, as well as the consolation of letting a son take over his father's post, as in his case.
But what about those one thousand laborers?
Did they all receive proper compensation and consolation?
From what the original owner remembered about the County Magistrate's Office, it was highly unlikely.
To be conscripting more Forced Labor now, at such a critical time…
After a moment of thought, Chu Mu shook his head, forcibly suppressing these stray thoughts. For now, these matters had very little to do with him, a person from another world. There was no need to go looking for trouble.
'It probably won't be very peaceful from now on, though…'
Chu Mu scanned the still-bustling market, pursed his lips, and silently started walking. All alone, he headed slowly in the direction of home.
"Brother Mu!"
He had only taken a few steps when a voice made him stop again. Turning his head, he saw a youth with an inexperienced face, dressed in Inspection Armor, jogging toward him.
As usual, once he saw the face clearly, a dusty memory surfaced in his mind.
"Xu Yuan?"
Chu Mu said, a little uncertain.
"Brother Mu, what are you up to?"
In contrast to Chu Mu's awkwardness, the youth was much more at ease. He trotted over to Chu Mu's side and, with a familiar air, glanced at the bag in Chu Mu's hands.
"It's just writing supplies. Nothing to see."
Chu Mu smiled as memory and reality finally merged.
Xu Yuan, like the original owner of his body, was also a person with a bitter fate.
His mother had also died young, and his father had been an Inspector. Then, his father had also died in the line of duty while escorting laborers.
His father and the original Chu Mu's father had been sworn brothers, and their families were extremely close. They had even been reassigned to Nanshan Town together. Because of this, the original Chu Mu and Xu Yuan were naturally very good friends.