Just past Si Hour, Chen Yi saw golden light flash before his eyes:
[Fortune +6.] [Evaluation: Chen Yunfan defeated Cui Qingwu with overwhelming strength.] [The person had arrived, yet no sound was heard, no scene was seen. To let fortune fall from heaven without taking it was the way of an indolent soul.]
Just as expected, Chen Yunfan had won with ease.
Having learned the result, Chen Yi did not keep watching. He chatted with Xiao Wan'er while lifting the curtain to look outside the carriage.
Marquis Dingyuan's Xiao Family fief lay fifty li southeast of Shu Prefecture City.
It was called Tonglin, a small town under the Prefectural City's jurisdiction.
It had six villages, along with the town near the Prefectural City at the foot of the mountains.
It seemed small, but in truth, those villages and towns, as well as several surrounding mountain peaks, all belonged to the Xiao Family fief.
Within an area of roughly two hundred li, more than two thousand households lived there.
In the original wording of the Imperial Edict issued by the Wei Emperor at the founding of Great Wei—three thousand taxable households.
At that moment, the carriage had just turned off the official road and was traveling down a forest path.
The crisp clatter of hooves became a duller thudding, and the carriage began to sway.
The dirt road beneath the wheels was clearly uneven.
Without waiting for instructions, Shen Huatang tugged the reins and slowed the carriage.
Fortunately, neither Chen Yi nor Xiao Wan'er was the fussy sort. As the carriage rocked along, they occasionally exchanged a few jokes.
Watching the scenery outside, a faint smile appeared on Xiao Wan'er's slightly pale face.
"This place has changed so much."
With one hand lifting the carriage window curtain, she used