First Signs!

Over the next few days.

Chen Yi still got up early, then found every excuse to avoid training. Either he felt unwell, was in a bad mood, or had caught a slight chill. It got to the point where even a rough man like Wang Lixing could see through his scheme—the son-in-law wasn't actually troubled; he simply didn't want to practice martial arts.

There was no helping it.

Wang Lixing was, after all, only a personal guard of the Xiao Manor. Even a son-in-law who had married into the family like Chen Yi outranked him in status. Besides, he had to consider the face he showed to others; otherwise, it would be hard to explain things to the Second Miss.

Left with no choice, he truthfully reported Chen Yi's behavior to Xiao Xuanshuo.

"Hmph, if he doesn't want to train, let him be. The Xiao Family hasn't fallen so low as to rely on a son-in-law who once fled from marriage to hold up the roof."

After receiving this reply, Wang Lixing stopped worrying about Chen Yi's stance cultivation. He still woke Chen Yi every day just past the Chou hour, but before the Yin hour even arrived, he would shake his head and sigh as he left Chunhe Garden.

Chen Yi was naturally happy to see this change.

Still, every day after Wang Lixing left.

Chen Yi would continue practicing his stance cultivation for one hour in the bamboo grove. After five days, the Great Spear Stance Cultivation broke through to the Proficient Level, and along with it, his cultivation base broke through from Mortal Body to the Ninth Rank Realm:

Name: Chen Yi Cultivation Base: Ninth Rank · Lower Way of Calligraphy: Great Accomplishment (0/1000) Calligraphy: Wei Qing (Mastery) Martial Dao Body: Minor Accomplishment (0/100) Cultivation Technique: Great Spear Stance Cultivation (Proficient) Opportunities: 7

With the Proficient-level Great Spear Stance Cultivation, every hour he stood in the stance allowed Chen Yi's body to improve from the outside in. Each time he trained, his bones, tendons, skin, and internal organs felt as if they were being hammered countless times, gradually growing stronger.

The most obvious changes were in his strength and the lightness of his body.

Even without testing, just based on his strength, Chen Yi estimated he had already reached One Ox Strength, roughly two hundred jin. According to the mysteries he had comprehended from the "Martial Dao Body," physical strength was measured in "force grades," divided into Ox, Elephant, and Dragon levels.

Each level was harder to reach than the last.

Although Chen Yi had now achieved "One Ox Strength," breaking through to Elephant Strength would require the right cultivation technique, natural talent, and resources like food and medicine—none of which could be lacking.

"Under normal circumstances, training the Great Spear Stance to a high level can reach the Elephant Strength tier. At that point, the focus shifts to cultivating with 'Qi' until the Four Main Meridians are opened."

"But if I raise the 'Martial Dao Body' to Great Accomplishment, I can fill in the gaps in the stance cultivation, just like how reaching the Great Accomplishment Realm in the Way of Calligraphy filled in the flaws of the Wei Qing Font."

Thinking this, Chen Yi glanced at today's intelligence:

[Yellow Grade High Rank: In the central courtyard of Marquis Dingyuan's Xiao residence, inside the flower bed outside the Training Ground, a Hidden Guard is passing a secret message. A trace of opportunity may be obtained.]

[Opportunity +1. Comment: The message has already been sent before anyone arrives. One who seeks ease and comfort will surely face punishment.]

After reading it, Chen Yi curled his lip.

Over the past two months, he had gotten a decent handle on the quirks of the "Daily Intelligence." For the first few dozen days, it called him "lazy," then after his trip to Jiaxing Garden, it labeled him a "lecherous scoundrel," and now that it couldn't belittle him, it had switched to cursing him.

Still, today's intelligence, compared to the usual reports of quarrels, fights, and elopements, actually caught his attention.

"A secret message from a Hidden Guard... seems like a spy hidden within the Xiao Family?"

Chen Yi had never heard of the "Hidden Guard," so he could only speculate based on common sense. Either they were spies sent by neighboring kingdoms of the Wei Dynasty, or they were enemies plotting against the Xiao Family.

Beyond that, combining the memories in his mind with the comment "will surely face punishment," another possibility surfaced in Chen Yi's heart:

"Could it be the same people who used those bizarre methods to make me flee the wedding?"

If so, they really were persistent ghosts.

Chen Yi had originally thought he would be safe staying in the Xiao Family, since on the day of the wedding, he had met with misfortune on the road from the inn to the Marquis's mansion. Now it seemed that even within the Xiao Family, there were people with ill intentions hiding.

But what Chen Yi was even more curious about was who exactly he had gotten in the way of, that they would cling to him so relentlessly.

A love rival who admired Xiao Jinghong?

Probably not. The Xiao Family clearly wanted a son-in-law who married into the family; anyone with any real capability would never agree to that.

An enemy nation, like the Barbarian Tribe or the Buddhist Kingdom in the Western Regions?

That shouldn't be targeting him either. He was just a small fry. Even killing him would only bring a little shame to the Xiao Family, nothing more than a scratch.

After thinking it over and over, the only possibility was—people within the Wei Dynasty who coveted the Xiao Family's position.

"If their scheme had succeeded earlier, I would have escaped the marriage and left no corpse to prove anything—the Xiao family's reputation would have been utterly ruined."

"And 'reputation' is useless in a war between two nations; the only place it matters is the Great Wei court."

"Countless histories have taught me that those civil officials' favorite trick is to 'make a mountain out of a molehill'—they can drill a big hole through even a sesame-sized crack."

"Hidden Guard... could be the death warriors raised by some family."

Thinking this, Chen Yi threaded the bait onto the hook, casually cast it into the pond, and a trace of fierceness flickered across his face.

"I've kept such a low profile, and they still won't let go—that's going too far."

This time, since he hadn't even lifted his house arrest, he'd let it slide. But if he saw a similar secret letter again, he'd go and probe the depths no matter what.

"Son-in-law, Son-in-law, a letter for you—Second Miss has written."

Just then, Xiao Die ran back from outside with a joyful face and placed the letter on the table.

Chen Yi set his crude fishing rod aside, wiped his hands, walked over, picked up the letter, and glanced at it. "Two letters?"

Xiao Die nodded. "There's another one from Jiangnan Prefecture, looks like it's from your family..."

Before she could finish, Xiao Die covered her mouth with both hands.

She knew how the Chen family treated the son-in-law and worried that saying too much would upset him.

Chen Yi hummed in acknowledgment, tore open the letter from Jiangnan Prefecture directly, scanned it, and furrowed his brow slightly.

The signature on this letter was unmistakably his father Chen Xuanji's lawful wife, also his nominal "mother," the First Madam of the Chen family, Cui Yu.

[My son Chen Yi: In today's letter, your mother has only two things to say.

First, your elder brother Yun Fan has achieved the Zhuangyuan and will soon take up an official post in Shuzhou. When he does, he should visit you at the Xiao residence.

Second, your father recently sent a letter from the Buddhist Kingdom, ordering you to behave yourself in the Xiao family. Of course, your mother also hopes you can settle down peacefully in the Xiao family—there's no need to mention the imperial examinations again.

After all, the Xiao family is not the Chen family...]

After reading it, Chen Yi's brow furrowed even tighter. "Cui Yu?"

The letter's content seemed like casual family talk, but from start to finish, it reeked of an inexplicable, condescending arrogance.

But he was already a son-in-law married into the Xiao family—did she have to keep biting down so hard?

Just to send a letter to disgust him.

"If the original body had seen this letter, he'd probably have been furious enough to die from Cui Yu's words."

"Good thing it's me. I won't bother with you. From now on, we'd better never cross paths again."

Chen Yi then opened the second letter and read it, his furrowed brow relaxing.

[Jinghong has learned of my husband's recent behavior at home. The punishment for the earlier escape from marriage is hereby rescinded.

Also, Jinghong still has some military duties to attend to, so the return date is uncertain.

Do not worry.]

A smile bloomed on Chen Yi's face. He looked at Xiao Die, who was eager to peek but obediently stayed put, and said:

"Your son-in-law is officially released from house arrest starting today!"

Everything is measured by comparison.

Compared to the First Madam of the Chen family's sarcastic tone, Lady Xiao Jinghong's words were far more even and respectful.

He wondered what military duties she was referring to—he hadn't heard of any recent battles. Probably just inspection and training exercises.