I was awake fairly early that day, both due to the early nature of when I went to bed, and to the noise. The whole place was abuzz with activity. As I was getting ready, I even heard a small commotion outside my door, which was the first hint that I had already underestimated how grand this trip was going to be done, despite being informed of the changes. I open my door of my bedroom, to find two men standing outside my door, bigger and scarier than anyone I have seen here, which may not be super hard to achieve since I hadn’t seen any actual guards yet, only Zhou Baohu. You may think that Zhou Baohu, one of the highest ranked guards of the Main Branch, if not the highest, would be super bulky and intimidating, but he was more toned and agile than anything. Oh Bao Bao was strong, and if you ever got a look under his shirt, you would see a solid twelve pack, but all his muscles were defined and prominent, but not disturbingly so.

These guys were the very definition of “built like a tank”, each of their arms as thick of the barrel of a tank, towering over anyone at nearly seven feet tall, and would highly doubt if they were anything less than 300 pounds of pure muscle. Then I look down to the ground, seeing a scared servant with a handful of random books, likely for one of the merchants.

“Is something wrong gentlemen?” I ask, raising my eyebrow to seem more concerned than surprised, since I haven’t seen any real abuse of the servants aside from the previous Young Master. The two hulking giants immediately answer, “No Young Master, this servant accidentally walked into us while overburdened by these books, and became unsteady upon recognition of us, tripped and fell” one of the two said.

I glance to the servant, who further explains, that he was scared he made a bad first impression of the guards, I seemingly confused, ask why. The two guards speak up, “we are Zhou Qiang and Zhou Baolei, known among servants, and sometimes Young Masters, as Young Master Crushers”. I start to get a bad feeling about this, at which a third guard walks up, who while not as giant and scary, was clearly their superior.

“Hello Young Master Mingzie, we are the guards sent by the Main Branch to personally guard you on your way to Gungzhou and eventually to the Capital, my name is Zhou Duanlu” he goes on to finish introducing the rest of them. Duanlu is a Senior Guard Captain, while both Qiang and Baolei are Senior Guards. Apparently, a senior guard is a higher-ranking guard, who can guard alone, and under certain conditions, can lead a small contingent of guards temporarily. Meanwhile a guard Captain has a contingent of guards assigned under them. The seniority assigned to a guard Captain indicates they are both higher ranked, like a non-Captain, and likely hassle either much larger contingent assigned under them or is leading senior guards themselves.

“I knew I was getting a small personal bodyguard unit, but such a high-ranking group from the Capital, especially with a pair of ‘Young Master Crushers’, that I did not know” I mention, a knot in my stomach forming at the increased formalities. Duanlu goes on to explain that while I am currently only a Young Master of this side branch, I am expected to pass the JAT easily, where I would become an official Young Master in the Main Branch. I continue to question, “I get that assumption, and that the real test of it all is how well I’ll do and how high I’ll rank my Path up, but you are saying I’ll be ‘a Young Master’, not the Young Master, what does that mean?”

“Well, you see, this village, probably only has a hundred to two hundred Clan members, with half of that not being either servants or guards, whereas a Provincial City is going to have thousands, and the Capital has twenty thousand Clan members. This means you may have compounds in the larger cities that are just for administrative Clan members, or one for just older members of the Clan, making it so that there are multiple Young Masters representing the major fields of the Clan and another one being the official Young Master. But while we are in Gungzhou, you’ll have a unique status as a Young Master. While uncommon, this type of scenario has happened, where a rising Young Master has not yet been formally granted the enhanced prestige of being backed by the Main Branch, but will be given some of the benefits”, Qiang begins to explain. Baolei continues by telling me I will technically be equal to the Young Master of the Gungzhou’s Zhou Branch, but under the assumption I will only enforce that rank equality in matters of administration. The more practical explanation of my rank is I am a “special Young Master” who reports to the Branch Head and its Elders, with limited to no subservience to other Young Masters. He lastly explains the complexity of my status is often a trap meant to ensnare those only wish for the prestige and power, but none of the responsibilities.

When I ask why he would inform me of the potential trap, he simply says it has to do with how I handled the slight mishap with the servant, as well as their unofficial designation as “Young Master Crushers”. “You see, many clans have high ranking guards who are sent along with their Young Masters in routine scenarios, where no real threat is expected, but complications would not be above impossibility. We are the ones who “crush” those obstacles, but more importantly, the lower Young Masters tend to like harassing each other. In the cases where that ‘harassment’ is not more of training opportunities for their Paths, or it moves beyond allowable parameters, we step in and end all hostilities. While our ‘archetype’ garners some attention within our clans, we are liked more among the servant classes”. He goes onto say that while the “servant abusers” are rare within provincial cities and the Capital, with the number of Young Masters between Major and Minor Clans, you still tend to see some in every city. The duo, more than most of their “archetype”, target these abusers and put down their shameful activities. While they may be rougher with these abusers than others, it is still generally allowed by all Clans and are protected, because they help to preserve the face of all Clans.

With their explanations and introductions complete, I ensure I have suitable clothing on to meet the rising formalities and complications that this trip will bring.