Reborn Divine Doctor: The Abandoned Girl's Legend
Chapter 143 - 13 Encountering Injustice

Chapter 143: Chapter 13 Encountering Injustice

There are ancient studies for literature; for martial arts, there is Hongwu Hall—a reference to the very Hongwu Hall of Daxia.

Ye Lingyue, having received a reminder from Lan Cai’er, had come to understand the most basic knowledge about Hongwu Hall, knowing that it, too, was a place where only the strong prevail.

The next day, she awoke early. Wanting to familiarize herself with Xia Capital as quickly as possible, Ye Lingyue set out for Hongwu Hall alone.

When she reached the street in front of the entrance to Hongwu Hall, a youth around fifteen or sixteen years old was ahead of her, walking along.

He was reciting something under his breath, as if going over a martial arts mnemonic, and his hands were moving as though he were writing or drawing in the air.

Judging by the direction in which he was heading, he was likely also on his way to Hongwu Hall.

Just as Ye Lingyue was about to approach and inquire, she saw a flustered servant boy dash out from a side alley.

The boy ran headlong into the youth.

With a cry of "Ouch," the servant boy fell to the ground first.

The youth, engrossed in the cultivation mnemonic, was jolted back to reality.

"Are you alright?" Upon seeing that he had collided with someone, the youth was quite embarrassed and hastily helped up the servant boy.

"What’s wrong with you, walking without looking?" The servant boy, after bumping into someone, reversed the blame and began scolding, and as he did so, he surreptitiously slipped a purse into the youth’s pocket while he was caught off-guard.

The entire affair was executed with swift movements, making it evident that the servant boy had done this sort of thing before.

The youth who had been bumped remained unaware, and after the servant boy huffed away, the youth scratched his head and awkwardly entered Hongwu Hall.

After finishing the deed, the servant boy thought he had gone completely undetected and quickly hid himself in a secluded side alley.

There in the alley stood several well-dressed young masters and misses, chatting and laughing.

"Young Master, the object has been placed," the servant boy, completely shedding his earlier impudent demeanor, fawned over the group of noble young men and women with a full smile.

"Well done. This is your reward silver," said a fair-faced young noble, casually tossing a tael of silver to him, while the young misses behind him all broke into laughter.

After everyone left the alley and entered Hongwu Hall,

Ye Lingyue emerged from hiding, her eyes revealing a trace of clear understanding, and she, too, made her way toward Hongwu Hall.

Hongwu Hall was an imperial martial arts academy established by a former Emperor Xia to promote Daxia Martial Arts. Everyone from the children of marquises and the Princely Heir to the progeny of Fifth-grade officials had to train there for half a day every day, except on holidays or during funerals and marriages, no exceptions.

It was adjacent to Xia Imperial Palace and consisted of a row of impressive earthen-brown structures.

After presenting her entry notice at Hongwu Hall, Ye Lingyue was led to the training grounds of the hall.

The sun had just risen above the walls of the hall, and inside, small groups of people had already started gathering.

Most of them knew each other and were sharing their cultivation experiences from the previous few days.

This being Ye Lingyue’s first visit, she didn’t recognize anyone.

Her gaze darted around until she spotted the youth she had seen earlier on the street, reciting martial arts techniques.

"This senior, I’m the newcomer who just arrived today, Ye Lingyue from the General Mansion." Ye Lingyue walked up behind the young man and patted his shoulder.

As he turned around, Ye Lingyue executed her Flower Pinching Jade Shattering Hand. A small coin purse appeared in her hand, and with a thought, Ye Lingyue tossed the small purse into Hong Meng Heaven.

A purse containing a thousand silver notes?

It seems that the Hongwu Hall is indeed a filthy place that devours people without spitting out their bones, just as Lan Cai’er said.

Seeing that the one who spoke was a woman, the young man’s face turned red again.

He opened his rather likable round face, which was tan with a hint of redness, and looked like a honest person.

"You’re the new junior sister? My name is Liu Cheng, I’ve only come to Hongwu Hall two or three months ago myself, and I’m not very familiar with this place either, but if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can always ask me."

Ye Lingyue had only been in Xia Capital for a few days, but she’d generally grasped the introduction customs here where people, first thing they say, are mostly ’my ancestor is so-and-so’, and second thing, nine out of ten, is ’my cultivation is such-and-such’.

But this one called Liu Cheng seemed quite straightforward, very polite when he spoke.

Only after asking did Ye Lingyue learn that his father was a Secretary Recorder, a fifth-grade official.

Ye Lingyue casually struck up a conversation with Liu Cheng, and after a while, another girl named Feng Xue arrived. She was the daughter of a governor, had been in Hongwu Hall for more than half a year and had the highest seniority and cultivation among them.

Ye Lingyue had only broken through to the Postnatal Small Success not long ago, Liu Cheng was at Body Refining Ninth Layer, and Feng Xue had reached Postnatal Great Success.

"So you’re the second daughter recently recognized by the Invincible General Mansion. You are quite affable, not like those other children of third-grade officials and nobility," Feng Xue said, chatting more with Ling Yue after getting acquainted.

Turns out, although Hongwu Hall was a place for practicing martial arts, on regular days it was divided into those who belonged to useless sects.

Here, apart from strength, what mattered was power.

Taking the third-grade as an example: children of fourth and fifth-grade officials were considered low-level martial students; children of second and third-grade officials were intermediate martial students; and children of first-grade or those with noble titles were high-level martial students.

In Hongwu Hall, there’s a saying: high-level martial students walk with their heads up, intermediate ones walk with heads lowered, and low-level martial students have to crawl.

Lan Yingwu was a third-grade official, but he had the title of Invincible General personally conferred by Emperor Xia, and in terms of seniority and hierarchy, Ye Lingyue was considered at least an intermediate martial student.

Therefore, the fact she was willing to talk to Feng Xue and Liu Cheng surprised them both.

"It’s unexpected that the Hongwu Hall right under the Emperor’s feet would sort seniority and hierarchy in such a trivial manner," Ye Lingyue commented disdainfully.

"Ling Yue, keep your voice down. Actually, this way of ranking seniority does have its reasons. Those children of second and third-grade officials or nobility are all protected by their families or the cultivation of their elders. Their martial arts cultivation is much stronger than ours. Like the top twenty spots of the Daxia Imperial Competition every year, they are all monopolized by high-level martial students," Liu Cheng did not expect Ye Lingyue to be so bold as to directly criticize the rules of Hongwu Hall, and he quickly looked around carefully to make sure no one had heard before heaving a sigh of relief.

Liu Cheng’s father was a fifth-grade civil servant, and he himself had a somewhat pedantic air.

"Liu Cheng, what you said isn’t correct. Ling Yue’s elder sister, Eldest Miss Lan, isn’t she the one who ranked tenth in the Imperial Examination. You men always tend to think we women are inferior to you," Feng Xue could not help but protest, waving her fist as she spoke.

"That’s true, I almost forgot. Eldest Miss Lan is indeed formidable, and she was once a legendary figure in Hongwu Hall, always being the idol of Feng Xue," Liu Cheng seemed a bit afraid of Feng Xue; he immediately cowered when she acted tough.

The three were in the midst of their chat.

"Well, well, who do we have here? Isn’t this the waste from Taishi Mansion? You’re quite the lucky fellow early in the morning, embraced on both sides,"

Several young masters and misses approached from behind Ye Lingyue, Feng Xue, and Liu Cheng.

Upon seeing those people, Feng Xue and Liu Cheng, who had been chatting on the side, both showed different expressions; Feng Xue looked indignant, while Liu Cheng appeared somewhat apprehensive.