Pei Guanli's Advance

Chen Yi gave an order, casting a subtle glance at "Uncle Gui" before adding to Wang Lixing:

"Today, let's go somewhere lively and bustling. Brother Xing, please bring a few capable men."

"Understood."

Wang Lixing accepted the order and left.

Several Armored Soldiers stood guard outside the garden.

Chen Yi led Xiao Wuge into Chunhe Garden, where he saw Xiao Die sitting in the pavilion, staring blankly at the pond. He spoke with a warm smile:

"Xiao Die, take the Young Marquis to change into something plainer. We'll head out of the mansion for a stroll later."

"Ah, ah?"

Xiao Die snapped to attention and replied, then realized, "Son-in-law, has the Second Master lifted your house arrest?"

"The Old Master nodded, so the Second Uncle won't disagree."

"Don't worry, we're not going to South of the City this time."

"That's good." Xiao Die patted her chest and relaxed.

Chen Yi patted Xiao Wuge, signaling him to follow Xiao Die and change clothes first.

Once the two entered the side room, his smile vanished. After scanning the area, he immediately used the Playful Dragon Teases Phoenix Body Movement Technique, stepping lightly as he flipped into Jiaxing Garden.

With his current Ninth Rank, Middle Stage Cultivation Base and Proficient Level Playful Dragon Teases Phoenix Body Movement Technique, he exerted full force, crossing ten zhang and vaulting over the low wall in just three breaths.

After confirming no one was in Jiaxing Garden, Chen Yi went straight to the spot beside the previous pavilion, leaned down, and felt underneath.

Soon, he retrieved a piece of rough-surfaced paper, opened it, and glanced at it.

"Yi-14, Bing-3, Shen-21..."

Four lines of thirty-two sets of numbers—still a cipher requiring a key to decode.

Chen Yi quickly memorized them, then placed the paper back under the pavilion. His figure moved like the wind as he leaped onto the rockery and returned to Chunhe Garden.

Before he could calm the surging Qi in his body, he heard the voices of several Armored Soldiers outside the garden:

"Fourth Brother, rare to see you in the back courtyard. Did Brother Xing call you?"

"Yeah, heard the Young Marquis is leaving the mansion."

"And the Son-in-law and the others. Hope they're not heading to South of the City this time..."

Chen Yi mused that Liu Si'er had arrived quickly.

He wondered if it was because "Uncle Gui" had tipped him off, or if it was the predetermined cycle time.

He felt that hiding the Secret Letter in "someone else's place" like this was somewhat redundant.

Chen Yi stood still for a moment, then turned his head to glance at the direction of the Wooden Tower. Seeing that Xiao Die and Xiao Wuge weren't ready yet, he quietly slipped over to a more distant Wooden Tower.

Tap. Tap-tap.

He knocked twice on the door.

Pei Guanli pulled the door open a crack and stretched out her fair, small hand, palm open.

Chen Yi paused. "...Forgive me, I forgot to prepare your Breakfast."

Earlier, he'd been focused on getting the Old Marquis to lift his house arrest, and then he'd run into Uncle Gui on the way back, completely forgetting about this.

Pei Guanli inside the door pouted, pitifully rubbing her stomach. "Brother-in-law, hungry..."

Chen Yi could only console her a bit, then lowered his voice to instruct: "Do you still remember that Armored Soldier you saw earlier?"

Pei Guanli perked up, forgetting her hunger, and blinked her big eyes with interest. "Brother-in-law, has he made a move again?"

Chen Yi hummed softly. "His name is Liu Si'er. Later, when the Young Marquis and I leave the mansion, he should follow along. Try to go to his quarters and search for me—find out what books, picture books, play scripts, and so on he has. Just write down the names."

Pei Guanli's face lit up with joy. "Good, good."

Chen Yi cautioned, "Don't agree so quickly. It's daytime now, and the Marquis's mansion is heavily guarded. If it's not feasible, pull back. Remember, don't cause a big commotion like last time."

"Also, there's another accomplice of that man hiding in the mansion—the hunchbacked old man you saw earlier. Be careful not to let him find you."

"Got it, got it..."

Seeing this, Chen Yi still felt uneasy and reminded her a couple more times.

Then he told her the approximate location of Liu Si'er's residence and instructed her on what to watch out for before leaving with a composed expression.

Two Secret Letters in succession had thoroughly piqued his interest.

If he didn't figure out those people's identities and intentions, he feared he'd dream about this matter even at night.

That was why he'd deliberately hinted a few things to Wang Lixing earlier—his intention was to get Liu Si'er transferred away, allowing Pei Guanli to conduct a search.

Thinking this over, Chen Yi stood outside the Wooden Tower. "If it works, it works. If not, I'll find another chance next time."

Once Xiao Wuge and Xiao Die had changed into their Casual Clothes, Chen Yi led them out.

"Brother-in-law, don't we need to call Brother Heir Apparent?"

"If you want to, I don't mind."

"Hehe, not thinking about it, not one bit..."

Not long after.

Chunhe Garden was eerily quiet.

Pei Guanli carefully pulled open the wooden door. With a creak, she glanced around, a hint of slyness spreading across her face.

She was right to come to Xiao Manor, and right to follow her brother-in-law.

Not only did he teach her how to break through to the next realm, point out flaws in her techniques, but he also took her along to catch spies inside the Marquis's Mansion.

Hehe, interesting, interesting. Sister Jinghong's husband was far more interesting than those people in the Tribe.

"Big brother, you should let brother-in-law be Sister Jinghong's husband. You? You're way off."

Thinking this, Pei Guanli tiptoed out.

Bright sunlight fell on her, revealing that she had already changed into a maidservant's outfit from the Marquis's Mansion.

A tight green short jacket, a horse-face skirt below, embroidered cloth shoes on her feet, and a pair of buns on her head—she was the spitting image of a pretty little maid.

Confirming no one was around, Pei Guanli stretched lazily and headed toward the spot Chen Yi had pointed out earlier.

But just as she reached the entrance, she ran straight into Zhang Heng, who came rushing over excitedly.

Zhang Heng swept a glance at her, paid no mind, and dashed into Chunhe Garden, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Runaway groom! Brother Wu Ge! This heir is here! Come out and greet me..."

Pei Guanli pursed her full lips. Without waiting for him to realize the garden was empty, she slipped away in a flash.

Along the way, she walked without the slightest hint of nervousness.

Apart from occasionally letting her eyes wander, whenever she ran into maids or servants in the manor, she would even exchange a few polite words in a proper manner.

Even when the burly Armored Soldiers looked her way, she met them with a bright, open smile.

Some of the younger, hot-blooded soldiers were so charmed by her smile that they stared blankly at her retreating figure.

"Which courtyard is that maid from?"

"Probably not the main branch. Maybe one of the second branch's masters' courtyards. I heard someone say last time that Master Chen has a child outside."

"You mean she... that figure, that face. What a shame."

"Don't think about it. We might be Marquis's Mansion Guards, but marriage still comes down to family background. A girl like Yingqiao'er? She wouldn't look twice at us."

"True..."

It wasn't that these soldiers couldn't sense something off about Pei Guanli.

For one, the manor had a constant flow of people. Aside from the gatekeepers and the Third Steward, no one could remember every face.

For another, in broad daylight, the soldiers naturally let their guard down—same principle as darkness under the lamp.

No one would ever imagine someone daring to throw on a maid's outfit and stroll boldly through the Marquis's Mansion. Even Chen Yi couldn't have guessed Pei Guanli had this much nerve.

She truly lived up to his own description of her as a "reckless little girl"—full of that wild, brash energy.

In any case, Pei Guanli met no obstacles along the way. She made it smoothly to a side room beside the front courtyard stables.

"One, two, three... seven, eight. So many rooms. Which one is Liu Si'er's?"

Pei Guanli looked left and right—they all seemed the same. She tilted her head, thought for a moment, and a clever grin spread across her face.

Then, cupping her hands around her mouth like she used to when singing mountain songs in the hills, she called out in a crisp voice:

"Anyone home?"

"Who's there?"

"A girl? A girl's here?"

A single stone stirred a thousand ripples. Two stable hands walked out to look, and upon seeing a pretty maid, they fidgeted and tugged at their sweat-stained shirts.

"Miss, who are you looking for?"

"Which room does Fourth Brother live in? The son-in-law and the Young Marquis left the manor and forgot something. They said Fourth Brother has it in his room. I came to check."

"The one at the very end... forget it, I'll take you there. It's dirty and messy around the stables. Wouldn't want to dirty your clothes."

Pei Guanli smiled and thanked them, then followed them to Liu Si'er's room.

After sending them off, she patted her full chest, muttering under her breath about how scared she was, how terrifying, and that her brother-in-law would have to make it up to her.

But girl, when you say things like that, could you at least not be grinning so happily?