The benefit of having a cultivation base that reached the Ninth Rank, Upper Stage, was that Chen Yi's control over his body, qi, and physical force had greatly increased.
His tendons, bones, and skin felt as though they had fused into one, able to smoothly mobilize every inch of skin, flesh, and bone, and he could channel physical qi into his skin, flesh, and even his hair.
Though his qi was still very weak, with the aid of the profundity of the Minor Accomplishment Realm of the martial dao body, he could already lay down a layer of qi within his skin and flesh to use for attack or defense.
At the same time, more intuitively, his physical force had directly risen from Five Oxen Strength to Ten Oxen Strength, which was equal to One Elephant Force.
With a single punch smashed downward, it carried a full two thousand catties of weight.
Even Pei Guanli, whose cultivation base had reached the Ninth Rank, Upper Stage, would have to avoid his edge when he executed the Collapsing Mountain Fist with his full strength.
Otherwise, if a punch landed squarely, given Pei Guanli's petite frame, she would not die without sustaining heavy injuries.
Soon, the one hour of stake training ended.
After partaking in breakfast, Chen Yi walked out of Chunhe Garden to stroll around leisurely, accompanied by Xiao Die, Xiao Wuge, Wang Lixing, and others.
During this time, Liu Si'er naturally did not forget to find an opportunity to offer an apology to him.
With a sincere and upright expression, viewed solely from his appearance, anyone would have thought he was a loyal and devoted personal guard.
Chen Yi offered a couple of words of comfort, then lightly brushed the matter aside.
Xiao Wuge, however, spoke like a little adult, "Fourth Guard, it is never too late to mend."
It almost made Chen Yi laugh out loud.
During the period the young marquis had been following him, not only had his fishing skills grown, but his speech and actions increasingly carried Chen Yi's demeanor.
Those who knew better were aware he was only five years old; those who did not would have thought he was some old monster reincarnated.
Even Xiao Die sometimes could not help wanting to laugh when she saw Xiao Wuge's casual air in every gesture.
At this moment, Xiao Die withdrew her gaze with a dejected expression and said in a low voice, "Son-in-law, you heard them, right?"
Chen Yi was wondering how he should go about finding Duchess of Qian, Lady Xiao Jinghong, to observe how she disciplined Zhang Heng, and asked casually, "Heard what?"
Xiao Die lifted her chin and poked out her lips toward a few maidservants and servants not far away: "Them, they are still speaking ill of the son-in-law..."
Chen Yi let out an "oh," and far from having any reaction, he even flashed a smile at those few people, scaring them so badly they hurried off into the distance.
"Did you see? Anyone who likes to gossip behind your back is a paper tiger when they are right in front of you."
Xiao Die looked over there, then looked at Chen Yi, and grinned.
Xiao Wuge secretly glanced at them, silently committing this phrase to memory, and likewise grinned broadly.
"Speaking of which, how is it that we haven't seen His Highness the Young Heir Apparent today?"
After turning it over in his mind every which way, Chen Yi could not think of any good method, so he simply decided to name him directly.
Xiao Wuge peered at him strangely, "Brother-in-law, you couldn't be missing him, could you?"
Who would have thought Chen Yi would nod directly: "That's right, to not see someone for a day is like three autumns. Although the Heir Apparent Your Highness is young and ignorant, he's actually not a bad person."
He spoke a falsehood with his eyes wide open; let alone the young Xiao Wuge not believing it, Xiao Die, Wang Lixing, and the others who knew his disposition intimately believed it even less.
Yet Chen Yi nodded with an air of absolute certainty, blinked at Xiao Wuge, and said:
"Why don't we go look for him?"
Seeing that midday was approaching, if he didn't go find Xiao Qiuyun and Zhang Heng soon, his daily intelligence would once again evaluate him with the word "indolent."
Xiao Wuge did not know his intent, but he did not refuse either, and gave Ge Laosan the instruction to continue following Chen Yi as they strolled around inside the marquis's mansion.
Truth be told, the impact of Chen Yi's previous act of "forcibly seized a woman" was far greater than he had imagined.
Every time they passed through a doorway, they could hear a few servants and maidservants whispering among themselves there:
"The second son-in-law really is something; he pays no attention to his own reputation, yet he also drags the marquis's mansion's good name down with him."
"That's right. Yesterday when I went out marketing, the shopkeepers who originally used to smile at us didn't smile anymore, and even said sourly that public morals were degenerating and the martial marquis's mansion had produced quite a character."
"He's truly harming people left and right. Why aren't the old master, the second master, and the others doing anything about it?"
"How could they not? The very second day the second master wanted to lock him in the disciplinary hall and give him fifty strokes of the heavy staff, and it was only because Old Sir Sun put in a good word that they stopped."
"If it weren't for the fact that Master Dongchen and that third place scholar are both at the Provincial Administration Office and it wouldn't do to make things bitter over this, they probably would have hauled the son-in-law in for questioning and punishment long ago."
"I wonder what the second miss will think when she returns to the mansion..."
What would she think?
Chen Yi also wanted to know.
If his wife, Xiao Jinghong, after returning from inspecting the Three Towns, learned that her husband had acquired the moniker of the "most shameless matrilocal son-in-law in history," how would she react?
Just thinking about it, he was quite looking forward to it.
Before long, Ge Laosan ran over at a brisk pace and replied with a strange look on his face, "Young Marquis, son-in-law, the Heir Apparent Your Highness is currently kneeling in Qingjing Residence."
Chen Yi's eyes lit up.
Xiao Wuge's eyes lit up even brighter, and without waiting for Chen Yi to speak, he immediately decided to head to Qingjing Residence to pay his respects to his grandfather.
Yet having only taken a few steps, he turned back and asked, "Brother-in-law, are you still going?"
"Going, of course I am going."
Chen Yi knew Xiao Wuge's thoughts; he was likely worried that because of the previous affair, the old master and the others would give him a dressing-down.
Still, he was not worried in the least.
At least from his observations during this period, aside from Xiao Wang, who managed the disciplinary hall, and Second Uncle Xiao Xuanshuo, everyone else in the marquis's mansion treated him with a fair degree of care.
He did not know whether it was on account of Xiao Jinghong, or because they simply didn't pay much mind to him, or perhaps both.
In any case, on the surface, the several powerholders of the Xiao family basically did not subject him to excessive harshness.
Before long.
The group arrived at Qingjing Residence. Xiao Die, Wang Lixing, and the others kept watch outside the courtyard gates, while Chen Yi followed Xiao Wuge inside.
Before they had even rounded the spirit wall, the sound of Young Heir Apparent Zhang Heng crying came from within.
"I was wrong, Mother, I'll never dare do it again, wuwu... I, I saw that cup was dainty yesterday and took it with me to Chunhe Garden, and as a result, that runaway-marriage... second brother-in-law touched it, and it broke."
Hm? Eating melons and the melon ended up being his own?
Chen Yi was startled, and upon reacting, he could not help finding it both funny and exasperating; this kid was truly talented at shifting the blame by wronging others.
When had he ever laid eyes on any cup, and when had he ever broken one?
Thinking this, Chen Yi halted his steps and also held back Xiao Wuge, who was about to charge over to explain, raising a finger to make a hush gesture.
With such an interesting matter going on, if he rushed over and offered a flurry of explanations, wouldn't it all end prematurely?
He could just use this opportunity to see what kind of disposition the several powerholders of the Xiao family held toward him.
Right at that moment, Second Master Xiao Wang spoke: "Heng'er, is what you said true?"
Zhang Heng cried as he answered, "Grandfather, this grandson wouldn't dare lie. It really was him, wuwu..."
Hearing him speak thus, the Duke of Qianguo wore a thoroughly headache-induced expression and said, "Whether it's true or not, we'll know the moment we invite Chen Yi over to ask."
"What do you say, Heng'er?"
Zhang Heng's crying paused, and he found it somewhat difficult to keep crying.
"Grandfather, I, I speak every word truthfully..."
Seeing this situation, how could the rest of them fail to see through his little scheming thoughts.
Old Marquis Xiao, who sat in the upper seat, wore a rather unsightly expression. He placed the teacup in his hand onto the table and said indifferently:
"A single cup broken is broken. Qiuyun, take Heng'er back."
Xiao Qiuyun, however, acted contrary to her usual demeanor, shaking her head as she said, "Elder Uncle, the fault in this matter lies with Heng'er, and as his mother, it is only right that I discipline him."
With that, she took up a rattan switch, walked up before Zhang Heng, and struck him fiercely.
Instantly, the entire Qingjing Residence ceased to be quiet, and the sound of crying and shouting was deafening.
Chen Yi peered in, seeing the situation inside the main room from afar, and carefully observed the expressions of the several people.
A moment later.
[Witnessed Xiao Qiuyun disciplining her son-because Zhang Heng shattered a cup bestowed upon Xiao Yuan by His Majesty, Xiao Qiuyun dealt a ruthless hand. Reward: Fortune +8.]
[Evaluation: The person arrived, the voice was heard, the scene was witnessed, but the stealth-guilt was far too strong; truly a person of wretched and furtive nature.]
Seeing this, Chen Yi had a clear grasp of the situation in his heart, patted Xiao Wuge, and turned to walk outward.
"Brother-in-law, are we not going in?"
"She's already had her satisfaction, why go in."
"Ah?"
"You aren't satisfied?"
The two looked at each other and chuckled away.
Once they finished chuckling, however, a frown crept into Chen Yi's heart.
Putting aside the fact that Zhang Heng's lie had been exposed, merely looking at the reactions of those few people just now, it was not difficult to tell-that old fellow Xiao Wang was just dying to get a grip on his weak spots.
And then there was Xiao Qiuyun...
That woman had a rather ruthless heart; those whip strikes landing on Zhang Heng just now had been executed without holding back in the slightest.
"Even though Zhang Heng deserved a beating for smashing the cup the emperor bestowed upon the old marquis, hitting him this heavily makes it hard to say she didn't have an element of performance in it."
With this thought, Chen Yi made his way back toward Chunhe Garden, and from afar caught sight of an armoured soldier standing at the garden entrance.
"This subordinate Yan Hong has met the Young Marquis and the second son-in-law."
Before Chen Yi could speak, Xiao Wuge uttered an "oh?": "I remember you. You're the personal attendant under Second Sister."
"Replying to the Young Marquis, indeed I am."
After saluting, Yan Hong raised his head to look at the two of them, and spoke respectfully:
"The Second Miss is currently on her way back to the mansion, and has ordered this subordinate to come ahead of time to deliver the birthday gift intended for the Old Marquis into the son-in-law's hands."
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