At Noon the next day, it was once again time for the Gu family’s monthly assessment. The three individuals training at the Changhong Martial Arts Hall had already arrived at the pavilion to wait.
"Brother Yu, thank you for taking the trouble to handle Chen Yuan’s matter," Gao Mingchang said, his face covered with a wide smile.
Yu Yan smiled faintly. "Rest assured. With me stepping forward, Chen Yuan will show me the proper respect."
Gao Mingchang chuckled in agreement. "Naturally, as long as Chen Yuan hasn’t lost his mind."
"Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother Yu," Cao Yan also said softly.
Yu Yan gave a slight hum of acknowledgment. When Chen Yuan and the others walked into the courtyard, he rose from his seat, dusted off his sleeves, and walked over.
Gao Mingchang watched Yu Yan’s retreating back with a glint in his eyes. When his gaze shifted to Chen Yuan, who was leading the group, a trace of malice surfaced. That collision a month ago had left him uncomfortable for several days. Not only did it affect his cultivation, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
During that time, he had naturally thought about tripping Chen Yuan up to hinder his cultivation progress. After all, the combat power and intelligence Chen Yuan had displayed made him feel somewhat threatened. However, after careful consideration, he abandoned the idea of targeting Chen Yuan directly. Firstly, he was afraid that the Gu family would discover his petty tricks, which would outweigh any gains. More importantly, he had thought of a better method.
This method, naturally, was to leverage his friendship with Yu Yan, since they both trained at the Changhong Martial Arts Hall, and discuss the matter with him. In the end, at the cost of one tael of silver, he enlisted Yu Yan to pressure Chen Yuan and force him to voluntarily withdraw from the competition.
He also dragged Cao Yan into the scheme, making her contribute five maces of silver to Yu Yan. After all, Chen Yuan’s withdrawal from the competition would benefit her as well. If Chen Yuan proved to be highly skilled and defeated her, her sponsorship would be reduced to four taels of silver. Using five maces of silver to avoid the risk of losing one tael of silver was a very worthwhile deal.
As for Gao Mingchang himself, he was confident in taking first place. Even though the one tael of silver reward would be given to Yu Yan, leaving him with his usual five taels, it was still worth it. Securing first place and leaving a good impression on the Gu family held its own intangible value. Suppressing Chen Yuan in the process made it a scheme that killed three birds with one stone.
Both he and Cao Yan felt they had profited.
And what about Yu Yan?
Yu Yan walked up to the four of them and stopped, saying calmly, "Chen Yuan, I have a private matter I’d like to discuss with you."
A private matter? Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow but nodded anyway. "Alright."
As the two walked off to the side, Xue Anping and the others exchanged bewildered glances, not knowing what business Yu Yan, who rarely interacted with them, could possibly have with Chen Yuan.
Beside the swings in the Outer Courtyard, there was no one else around.
"Brother Yu, what did you want to see me about?" Chen Yuan asked impassively.
Yu Yan came to a halt, turning sideways to look at Chen Yuan. He spoke in a flat tone, "Chen Yuan, I will get straight to the point. During your spar with Gao Mingchang and Cao Yan later, I expect you to hold back and throw the match as a favor to me."
To Yu Yan, this was an easy way to make free money. A total of one tael and five maces of silver wasn’t a fortune, but it was enough to buy fifteen bowls of Body-Strengthening Soup. It only took a few words, and it would suppress Chen Yuan while establishing his own prestige. Why wouldn’t he do it?
As for Chen Yuan’s thoughts on the matter, he did not care, nor did he need to. He believed the world was inherently unfair, and the weak simply had to endure it.
Chen Yuan’s expression cooled. "Is Brother Yu suggesting that I intentionally lose to them in the match?"
Yu Yan frowned slightly. "Chen Yuan, do you honestly think someone with a Top-Grade Class D Root Bone like you can compare to those two? I am only saying this for your own good. Accidents happen in the heat of battle; if you actually fight and end up injured, it won’t be something a few taels of silver can fix."
"We won’t know how I compare until we fight," Chen Yuan replied, neither haughty nor humble.
He finally understood why Gao Mingchang hadn’t tried to sabotage him earlier—he had been saving it for this. Gao Mingchang wanted to use Yu Yan’s influence to force him into backing down, but such a petty trick wasn’t enough.
Yu Yan’s frown deepened as he said in a low voice, "Chen Yuan, are you saying you refuse to do me this favor? You should know that even if you successfully break through the gates, you will still be working under me in the future. Why make an enemy of me now? I advise you to obediently take your four taels of silver every month. It’s better for all of us."
Chen Yuan’s sheer lack of tact was already making him quite displeased.
Chen Yuan remained entirely unmoved. "Brother Yu, this isn’t just a matter of a paltry few taels of silver. If I lose, wouldn’t that make me inferior to Gao Mingchang and Cao Yan in the eyes of Steward Mr. Gu?"
Yu Yan’s face grew cold. "Are you saying that for you to hold back and put on a little show, you also expect to be compensated?"
Chen Yuan shook his head, smiling faintly. "I never said I wanted compensation. However, taking such a massive loss is simply unacceptable to me."
Yu Yan laughed out of sheer anger. Chen Yuan clearly wanted a bribe but made it sound so high and mighty. However, to avoid blowing the matter out of proportion and affecting his own status within the Gu family, he made one final concession and held up five fingers.
Chen Yuan’s eyes lit up. Five taels of silver? That wasn’t entirely out of the question.
Then he heard Yu Yan speak.
"I will give you five maces of silver, and we’ll both take a step back. Taking home four taels and five maces of silver a month is already an excellent deal for you. I can tell you right now that Gao Mingchang and Cao Yan will be getting the exact same amount next month."
Chen Yuan almost laughed aloud. Who was Yu Yan trying to dismiss with a mere five maces of silver? He immediately replied, "Brother Yu, since you clearly don’t respect me, let’s just let our skills speak for themselves in the ring."
Although his usual principle was to lay low and play it safe, and he knew full well that this would inevitably offend Yu Yan and bring him trouble, the choice was obvious when weighing that against the loss of one tael and five maces of silver, along with the potential benefits of earning the Gu family’s favor.
Yu Yan’s expression turned thoroughly dark as he spat coldly, "Chen Yuan, very well! You’ve got backbone! You’ve repeatedly disrespected me. I would love to see if you can still survive in the Gu family after offending me!"
He was completely enraged by Chen Yuan. How dare someone with a Top-Grade Class D Root Bone oppose him? Did their last sparring session give the fool a false sense of confidence? Did he think that just because he could fight Gao Mingchang to a draw, he was worthy of challenging him? One must know, he was already a Skin Gate Martial Artist, and comprehending Manifest Force was just around the corner. If the Gu family had to choose between the two of them, the result would be self-evident.
Chen Yuan and Yu Yan returned to the pavilion one after the other.
Chen Yuan’s expression was as placid as ever, but Yu Yan’s face was visibly dark, making it obvious that their conversation had ended unpleasantly.
Gao Mingchang pulled Yu Yan aside to whisper a few words. Upon learning that Chen Yuan had chosen to do things the hard way and openly defy Yu Yan, he wasn’t disappointed that his plan had fallen through. Instead, he was even more thrilled.
With these actions, Chen Yuan had thoroughly offended Yu Yan—the person the Gu family valued most, who possessed the greatest talent and the fastest progress. He would absolutely suffer Yu Yan’s retaliation in the days to come. This was far more serious than Chen Yuan simply coming in last during the spar. Coming in last would, at worst, mean a slight reduction in his funding. But given the current situation, as long as Yu Yan ruthlessly pressed the issue, there was a real possibility that Chen Yuan could be expelled from the Gu family.
Gao Mingchang offered a few symbolic words of comfort, casually fanning the flames of Yu Yan’s anger in the process, before looking over at the perfectly calm Chen Yuan, his heart blooming with joy.
He marveled at Chen Yuan’s foolishness. Yu Yan had been willing to compensate him with five maces of silver, yet he didn’t know when to quit while he was ahead? Did Chen Yuan truly believe he was guaranteed first place? He, Gao Mingchang, was no pushover! If he could strike Chen Yuan down now, the boy would never have the chance to turn his life around.
Sun Chengjie noticed that something was amiss. Looking at Chen Yuan with some concern, he asked in a low voice, "Brother Chen, did you provoke Yu Yan? This isn’t good. It’s best not to strain your relationship with him."
"Don’t worry about it," Chen Yuan said calmly.
It was already strained beyond repair, he added in his mind.
A short while later, Gu Ye and Huang Yan arrived at the pavilion. After exchanging a few pleasantries and reiterating the arrangements from last month’s assessment, they went straight into the drawing of lots!