Xiao Wan'er didn't continue unfolding the calligraphy copybook, instead rolling it back up and putting it into the box.
Mr. Yue Ming saw their actions clearly, stood with his hands behind his back, and chuckled softly,
"Miss Wan'er, tell me this old man now: is this copybook truly written by Chen Yi?"
Before Xiao Wan'er could answer, Xiao Die at her side couldn't hold back anymore. "Eldest Miss, this was truly written by the son-in-law. Xiao Die was right there at the time, and Xiao Die even saw wisps of shimmering light..."
At this, Xiao Jinghong raised a hand to interrupt her. "Alright, Xiao Die, no need to say more."
Waiting for Xiao Die to shut her mouth resentfully, she looked toward the old man, bowed slightly, and said, "As for the origin of this copybook, the Xiao Family will naturally give Mr. Yue Ming an answer later."
Mr. Yue Ming glanced at her and nodded calmly. "I await the good news."
With that, he turned, strode away, and vanished.
Several nearby scholars bowed to the Xiao family and the others before following after him.
Wang Lixing looked at the expressions of the two misses, then glanced at Xiao Die, who was pouting and on the verge of tears. He hesitated, bowed, and said,
"Eldest Miss, Second Miss, these characters were indeed written by the son-in-law."
Xiao Jinghong looked at him. The eyes beneath her half armor showed a trace of glistening clarity, as if she hadn't expected him to speak up at this moment.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "I already know about this matter. We'll talk when we return to the manor."
Then, Xiao Jinghong instructed Xiao Die to keep up, and supported Xiao Wan'er back onto the carriage.
Xiao Die followed closely, step by step, sitting on the outer edge of the carriage wagon and keeping her head lowered, not daring to raise it to look again.
She didn't know which words she'd said wrong just now, and inevitably felt somewhat apprehensive in her heart.
At this time, Xiao Wan'er put the copybook to the side and asked, "Xiao Die, did you really watch brother-in-law write these characters with your own eyes?"
"Yes, Eldest Miss. Xiao Die wouldn't dare lie."
The two Xiao sisters exchanged a glance. Xiao Wan'er's expression-both pleased and petulant-seemed to say that Second Sister had found a good husband.
Yet Xiao Jinghong still held a fair bit of doubt.
To be precise, she found it hard to believe her eldest sister's saying that "the writing reveals the man"; otherwise, how could she explain her husband's acts of forcibly seizing a woman and visiting brothels?
At this thought, Xiao Jinghong asked, "Xiao Die, tell me everything the son-in-law has said and done during this period, step by step."
"Yes, Second Miss..."
Xiao Die's gaze swept across the half armor on her face, and she lowered her head again, recounting in a halting, broken manner.
She told it with extreme detail: from Chen Yi being grounded and made to copy family rules, to writing that poem "Shuzhou Chant: Marrying into the Xiao Family", to having his grounding lifted and going to Yanhuaxiang south of the city, and finally to the matter of pretending to "forcibly seize a woman" to help Li Huaigu and Miss Yunxiang.
There was only one thing Xiao Die concealed-the poem titled Graceful Spirit Ode. She didn't even dare mention it, terrified that Second Sister would punish the son-in-law upon hearing it.
When she finished speaking, silence hung inside the carriage for a long while.
Xiao Wan'er turned Chen Yi's actions over in her mind, recalled the night Chen Yi had scaled the wall to come to Jiaxing Garden, and couldn't help smiling.
That jade-like face, set off by white fluff, grew even more radiant, pure as a blossoming lotus flower.
"Second Sister, what your husband has done cannot be judged by ordinary reason."
"Perhaps." Xiao Jinghong temporarily laid aside the thorn in her heart.
Compared to those affected, refined scholars and the gossiping commonfolk, Xiao Die's words clearly carried much more weight.
Knowing her cold disposition, Xiao Wan'er didn't say more, opening the calligraphy copybook once again instead.
As her delicate hands unfolded it lightly, they saw every character on the five-foot-long piece of Yunsong Paper emit a wisp of pearly-white glow.
Yet very soon, the luster on the copybook faded, leaving only characters that flickered with a faint, flowing light.
As Xiao Wan'er gazed at them, her eyes instantly fixed.
It was as though those horizontal and vertical strokes possessed a strange, uncanny power, making it impossible for her to tear her gaze away for even a fraction.
Not just her; Xiao Jinghong at her side was the same.
Only, unlike Xiao Wan'er who did not practice the martial path, Xiao Jinghong did not see mere writing on this copybook, but wisps of ethereal and leisurely artistic conception.
In a trance, a figure in a long robe walking leisurely through mountain fields and valleys seemed to appear before her eyes.
That figure possessed a slender physique, long hair tied into a topknot at the back of his head, and a gentle smile always on his handsome face, taking in the surrounding beauty without any rush or panic.
"Brother-in-law's handwriting is truly unconventional. No, I should say his handwriting has already formed a school of its own."
After a long time, Xiao Wan'er praised, "No wonder Mr. Yue Ming spoke that way earlier. The significance of this copybook is likely..."
Likely enough to make countless calligraphy masters of the Great Wei Dynasty flock to it like ducks.
Just like Mr. Yue Ming today, who disregarded his status and dignity to argue with a maid of the Marquis's mansion.
Recovering her senses, Xiao Jinghong nodded and said, "It should be."
Xiao Wan'er looked at her with a look that was both pleased and petulant. "Is Second Sister unhappy?"
"Eldest Sister thinks too much."
Xiao Jinghong turned her head to look out the carriage window, the figure she had just seen on the copybook still lingering in her mind, and a trace of curiosity inexplicably sprouted in her heart.
In truth, before her marriage, she had secretly run over to Fengchun Tower to take a look at Chen Yi.
At the time, she had only felt that her husband was just like other Confucian scholars and students, carrying a heavy air of books, along with a trace of resentment and a gloomy temperament.
It was entirely different from the "husband" she heard about from others now.
Consequently, Xiao Jinghong was extremely curious about what had happened to Chen Yi during the period she had left the Marquis's mansion.
Could he really have been "swapped with a substitute" by someone?
Not long after.
Shen Huatang drove the carriage into the Xiao family gates, followed by another carriage of the same model, as well as Wang Lixing and the others.
From afar, Ge Laosan watched the carriage pass through the middle courtyard and head straight for the back courtyard, muttering, "Judging by the stance of our two misses, how come I feel the son-in-law is completely doomed this time?"
Smack.
Wang Lixing couldn't help giving him a slap, glared at him, and said, "Have you got a death wish, daring to say such a thing?"
Just as Ge Laosan was about to speak, sudden realization dawned on his face, and he hurriedly pressed his palms together to beg for mercy. "Brother Xing, please forgive me. The miss hasn't been in the manor for all this time, so I forgot."
He truly had forgotten.
It would have been fine if Eldest Miss Xiao Wan'er had no martial cultivation to rely upon.
Yet Second Miss Xiao Jinghong was a Fourth Rank Realm cultivator, and her martial cultivation had long since transcended the mortal realm and grown refined. She could hear sounds others couldn't hear, see things others couldn't see, and step into the clouds on rushing wind.
Such an expert, even without paying him special attention, could hear what he said behind people's backs.
Liu Si'er looked at the two of them and said in a low voice, "At any rate, with Second Miss back, everyone in the manor can settle down a bit."
Damn it, the one who needed to settle down the most was that fledgling!
Following the return of the two Xiao misses to the manor, all the residences throughout the entire Marquis's mansion received the news.
Inside Qingjing Residence.
When the old marquis received the servants' report, he was playing chess with the Duke of Qianguo and the others, and a trace of joy crossed his face upon hearing it.
"Jinghong has returned to the manor. Shortly, this old man won't keep the two of you company any longer."
Zhang Xuan curled his lip slightly. "Old scoundrel, you're shameless enough, and you've stumbled into dumb luck letting your Xiao Family produce a freak of nature like Jinghong."
Sun Fu nodded. "The phrasing is rough, but the logic is sound. That's indeed the case."
The old marquis didn't grow annoyed either. After enjoying the moment, a measure of desolate emotion showed on his face.
"If their parents hadn't both died on the battlefield, why would my Xiao Family need to make Jinghong step up to take the lead?"
"Alright, alright. Don't say gloomy things on a joyous day."
"That girl Jinghong can hold the line for ten years at most. Once Wu Ge returns from Jinling, your Xiao Family will still be that same Xiao Family."
"I hope so."
At the same time, outside Chunhe Garden.
Xiao Jinghong and Xiao Wan'er arrived outside the garden together. Behind them, Shen Huatang and a young woman wearing a silver half-armor each carried luggage in their hands.
Farther behind were Xiao Die, Wang Lixing, and the others.
Xiao Die looked toward Chunhe Garden, faintly heard the son-in-law's laughing and talking inside, and stammered, "Miss, should I go notify the son-in-law?"
Xiao Jinghong waved a hand to signal there was no need, further signaling them to halt and keep quiet.
Then she and Xiao Wan'er walked into Chunhe Garden together, and the sounds beside their ears instantly grew clear.
"The greatest ever... um, brother-in-law, you've been fishing with this for nearly a month now, and not a single one has come up."
Young Heir Apparent Zhang Heng's tone still held disdain, but compared to before today, his attitude had clearly improved.
"Brother Heir Apparent, you don't understand. Brother-in-law said, this is called 'Jiang Taigong fishing, willing to bite the hook.' It's not that brother-in-law can't catch them, but that brother-in-law doesn't want to catch them."
Listening to Xiao Wuge's childish, piping voice, Xiao Wan'er held back a cough and blinked at Xiao Jinghong.
Immediately afterward, they looked toward the figure squatting by the pond, digging up dirt with a small trowel, and heard him say:
"The child is teachable. Wu Ge, your scholarship is enough to thrash the heir apparent."
"Really?"
"Impossible! This heir apparent has scholarship too!"
"For example, Your Highness the Heir Apparent?" Chen Yi said teasingly. "It wouldn't be learning how to lie, getting caught out by your elders, and then taking a ferocious whipping, would it?"
With that, he and Xiao Wuge both laughed, making Zhang Heng squawk and shout in pure exasperation.
"It's a good thing too. Your mother sent you to Chunhe Garden, so from now on you'll..."
As he spoke, Chen Yi pinched the earthworm he had dug out of the dirt. "Look, so big!"
He was just about to show off to the two little fellows when he caught sight of Xiao Jinghong-wearing her half-armor mask-and the smiling Xiao Wan'er not far away, and couldn't help freezing in place.
Upon seeing the arrivals, Xiao Wuge let out a cheer, ran over, and called out affectionately, "Eldest Sister, Second Sister, you're finally back!"
Zhang Heng, as if meeting his nemesis and being stared at by Xiao Jinghong, quieted down. "Eldest cousin, second cousin."
Chen Yi quietly looked them over, and abruptly raised a hand with a smile to greet them, "Wife, Eldest Sister."
Xiao Jinghong saw that he was only smiling gently, and that figure and appearance gradually overlapped with the figure she had previously seen in the Calligraphy Copybook, and her heart inevitably felt somewhat dazed.
The originally illusory and blurred image gradually condensed into a real man holding a wriggling earthworm in his hand, yet he still remained gentle and casual.
At this moment, Chen Yi was likewise looking at Xiao Jinghong.
Although there was the Half Armor Mask blocking the view, it was not difficult for him to see that Xiao Jinghong's appearance was extraordinary, especially since those eyes bore a close resemblance to Xiao Wan'er's.
However, what drew Chen Yi's attention even more was her temperament, that proud and independent temperament, as cold and clear as a Banished Immortal.
The two gazed at each other for a long while.
Xiao Jinghong recovered her senses first, turning her head away with a hint of discomfort: "Husband, I have just returned to the estate, I'll go change my clothes first."
Xiao Wan'er noticed her gaze and immediately smiled ambiguously, causing her turning pace to quicken by a few fractions.
Chen Yi watched her back, her figure and appearance already clearly imprinted in his mind, and smiled knowingly.
If life could always be as beautiful as first encounter, even a Banished Immortal would descend to the mortal dust.
Wife, she truly possesses the beauty of a startled swan taking flight...
Before you continue