The Ming Dynasty's henchmen, working from nine to five

Chapter 4, let's get a bit more intense.

"Does Your Excellency have any further instructions?"

Shen Lang cupped his hands in a respectful gesture: "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

The grey-feathered parrot, its neck stiff, kept squawking nearby:

"I refuse to believe that a person can be bullied by a dog!"

"Get off work immediately!!"

"Pfft~"

Chu Hongye smiled and winked: "Your bird is nice, let me borrow it to play with sometime~"

Zhang Xian was silent for a few seconds, then waved his hand weakly: "Let's go, let's go."

"See you tomorrow, sir!"

Shen Lang clasped his hands in a fist salute and swaggered out of the training ground amidst a crowd of complicated gazes.

......

[Check-in successful. Eight hours worked today. Skill point +1]

[You have curbed the arrogance of the unscrupulous boss and upheld your legitimate rights. Skill points +5]

[You lodged a strong protest and successfully got your overtime pay back. Skill points +5]

"Check your skills!"

A virtual panel slowly unfolded in front of Shen Lang.

[Black Mist Blade Technique: LV10 (Reached the current position's limit)]

[Bison Fist: LV10 (Reached the current position's limit)]

[Jianghu Qi Cultivation Skill: LV10 (Reached the current position's limit)]

[Case Investigation: LV10 (Reached the current position's limit)]

[Torture and forced confession: LV10 (reached the current position's limit)]

......

[Remaining skill points: 336]

Three years ago, when Shen Lang first became a disaster victim, he followed the main group and ended up in Lin'an County.

Qin's eldest sister-in-law was a kind-hearted woman. Feeling sorry for him losing his home at such a young age, she helped him re-register his household and then found him a menial job at the county government office.

On my first day on duty at the yamen, the external credit card arrived.

"Clock in to work on time, leave on time, refuse internal conflicts, assert your rights, and dare to say no to unscrupulous bosses..."

"Complete the task of reorganizing the workplace, gain skill points, and improve your workplace skills..."

Shen Lang immediately sensed something was wrong. It seemed there was something wrong with the version of the cheat, treating him like a corporate slave.

However, after trying it out, I found that although the suspension was a bit shaky, it was still usable.

"Torture to extract confessions, arrest and solving cases, knife skills, internal martial arts... so these are all considered workplace skills?"

"Upgrade with just one click, no accumulation required, no bottlenecks—it couldn't be more awesome!"

"Add more, add more, fill it all up!"

As a result, Shen Lang's strength began to improve by leaps and bounds, and he quickly transformed from a fragile college student who was afraid of dying while climbing stairs into a martial arts master who could leap over walls and rooftops!

Shen Lang proved with his own experience what it means to be "as long as your performance is good enough, you're practically the boss's father!"

The county magistrate was impressed by his outstanding professional skills and promoted him ahead of schedule.

In less than a year, he became a top-notch constable.

I clock in for work every day, complete tasks, and upgrade my skills. Life is carefree and enjoyable.

Until one day, he received a system notification—

[The level of the Black Mist Blade Technique has reached the current rank cap and cannot be improved further.]

Only then did Shen Lang realize that there was a limit to skill points, and that to continuously become stronger, one had to keep getting promoted.

But here's the problem: in this small government office in Lin'an County, his position has basically reached its limit, and if he wants to get promoted, he can only change platforms.

Shen Lang made his decision in less than a minute—

He craves power; he wants to keep getting stronger!

He wants to go the furthest and reach the highest level on the path of martial arts!

There was no hope of getting promoted through normal channels. Making him start from scratch to study the Four Books and Five Classics for the imperial examinations was worse than killing him. So, they had to find another way.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard opens a preparatory camp every three years to recruit new members.

As long as the government recommends someone, everyone can participate in the selection process. For Shen Lang, this is the best way out.

So, Shen Lang waited for the preparatory camp to open while accumulating skill points.

In three years, he upgraded most of those "workplace skills" to the maximum level.

Now, the moment of harvest has finally arrived.

As the saying goes, now is the time to accumulate knowledge and experience, and soar to new heights!

......

After leaving the training ground, Shen Lang found a nearby tavern to stay in.

I found a seat by the window, ordered a plate of braised pork and half a pot of liquor, and ate while waiting for Qin Erniu to return.

The two agreed to go for a stroll around Yujing City that evening.

Since we've come all this way, we should definitely make the most of our time to experience the local culture and customs of Kyoto.

I've heard there's a nice place called Jiaofangsi in Huanghuafang, inside the city. It has wine and food, and beautiful girls who can sing and dance. I might as well go and give it a try.

But after waiting and waiting, Qin Erniu finally appeared, covered in bruises and staggering, when the third watch gong sounded.

"What happened to you, you look like this? Did the adults make things difficult for you?"

"No, the procedures went very smoothly." Qin Erniu winced in pain.

"I volunteered to stay and participate in the prison endurance test with everyone else."

"Damn it, I was beaten all night, and I finally made it to the honey trap, but they just called it off! Ugh, I fell for it!"

Shen Lang was speechless, then took out some wound medicine and tossed it to him.

The grey-feathered parrot whistled a rascal's tune, mimicking a storyteller's tone:

"Qin Lao Er, alone, attempted to storm the bottomless pit, but the valiant female warriors attacked from all sides and captured the one-eyed dragon alive!"

*Smack!*

"The chicken flies away, and the eggs are smashed!"

"Gaga, gaga gaga~~"

"You mad bird, go somewhere else and go crazy!"

Qin Erniu chased the parrot away and said, "Brother, this beating wasn't for nothing. I've found out what tomorrow's investigation will entail!"

"First comes physical stamina, the same as in previous years: a long march carrying heavy loads. Then comes mounted archery, which is a rather demanding requirement!"

"Those who can hit a stationary target at a distance of 100 paces with a hit rate of over 90% are qualified; those who can hit a moving target on horseback with a hit rate of over 80% are qualified."

"I heard from them that this was changed at the last minute, probably because there were more candidates this year, so the requirements were also raised."

"We rarely practice these things back in the countryside, are you sure you can do it?"

Qin Erniu looked worried. He had been tormented to the point of near death that night. His desire to try the honey trap was a pretense; his real purpose was to gather information.

He was happy to earn money without having to be castrated, but he couldn't live with himself if it ruined Shen Lang's future.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do; he could only do these insignificant little things.

"A temporary change to the selection criteria?"

Last year's passing standard for mounted archery assessment was: 70% accuracy in foot archery and 60% accuracy in mounted archery.

Compared to the previous year, this year's difficulty is at least twice as high.

Shen Lang seemed to be deep in thought. He figured that he had been too high-profile today, and someone was unhappy with him and wanted to give him a hard time.

Is that feasible?

Certainly not.

Shen Lang opened the skill bar and found the two skills: archery and horsemanship.

Both of them were LV7. According to the standards of previous years, LV7 skills would have been enough for him to win first place. So, based on the principle of not wasting resources, he did not max out the skills directly.

But now, plans can't keep up with changes.

"Max out riding and archery skills!"

You have spent 12 skill points to upgrade your riding skill to LV10 (the current job's maximum).

You have spent 12 skill points to upgrade your archery skill to LV10 (the current job's maximum).

A vast amount of experience and skills flooded into Shen Lang's mind, and after a short period of contemplation, he mastered them perfectly.

At the same time, he felt his arm swell up and his arm strength had increased significantly.

Shen Lang patted Qin Erniu on the shoulder and said, "Thank you, Erniu, this news is very important."

"That's good."

Qin Erniu chuckled and scratched his head: "I'll go again tomorrow and find out the specific requirements for the remaining items as well!"

"There's no need to go to such lengths."

Shen Lang upgraded the remaining items to the maximum level.

"Let's go straight for the intensity tomorrow!"