When the Melon-Eating Reached Me

The benefit of reaching the Ninth Rank, Upper Stage was that Chen Yi's control over his body, Qi, and force had increased considerably.

His entire body's muscles, bones, and skin felt as if they had merged into one, allowing him to freely mobilize every inch of flesh and bone, and even infuse his Qi into his skin, flesh, and hair.

Although his Qi was still very weak, by leveraging the mystery of the Martial Dao Body's Minor Accomplishment realm, he could now arrange a layer of Qi within his flesh for attack or defense.

At the same time, the more intuitive change was in his force, which had directly risen from Five Oxen Strength to Ten Oxen Strength, equivalent to One Elephant Force.

A single punch carried a weight of two thousand jin.

Even Pei Guanli, whose cultivation base had reached Ninth Rank, Upper Stage, would have to avoid his full-force Collapsing Mountain Fist.

Otherwise, if the punch landed squarely, given Pei Guanli's slender frame, she would either die or be severely injured.

Soon, an hour of stake training ended.

After breakfast, accompanied by Xiao Die, Xiao Wuge, Wang Lixing, and others, Chen Yi left Chunhe Garden to wander around.

During this time, Liu Si'er naturally didn't forget to find an opportunity to apologize to him.

With a sincere, upright expression, judging by appearance alone, anyone would think he was a loyal personal guard.

Chen Yi said a few words of comfort and lightly brushed the matter aside.

Xiao Wuge, however, chimed in like a little adult, "Guard Four, it is never too late to mend."

Chen Yi almost burst out laughing.

During the time the Young Marquis had followed him, not only had his fishing skills improved, but his speech and actions increasingly mirrored Chen Yi's style.

Those who knew him understood he was only five years old; those who didn't might think he was some old demon reincarnated.

Even Xiao Die sometimes couldn't help but laugh when she saw Xiao Wuge's casual mannerisms.

Just then, Xiao Die withdrew her gaze with a dejected expression and said softly, "Brother-in-law, did you hear that?"

Chen Yi was thinking about how to find Lady Xiao Qiuyun, the wife of the Duke of Gan, to observe how she taught Zhang Heng a lesson, and asked absently, "Hear what?"

Xiao Die tilted her chin, nodding toward a few maidservants and servants not far away. "Them. They're still badmouthing you, Brother-in-law..."

Chen Yi let out an "oh," and instead of reacting at all, even flashed them a smile, scaring them into scurrying away.

"See that? Anyone who likes to gossip behind your back is just a paper tiger when facing you."

Xiao Die looked from them to Chen Yi, grinning.

Xiao Wuge quietly watched them, silently memorizing the line, and grinned as well.

"Speaking of which, why haven't I seen the Young Heir Apparent today?"

After racking his brains without coming up with a good plan, Chen Yi could only cut straight to the point.

Xiao Wuge gave him a strange look. "Brother-in-law, you're not missing him, are you?"

To his surprise, Chen Yi nodded directly. "That's right. A day apart feels like three autumns. Though the Young Heir Apparent is young and naive, he's not a bad person."

He was blatantly lying, and not only did the young Xiao Wuge not believe it, but Xiao Die, Wang Lixing, and others who knew his temperament well were even more skeptical.

Yet Chen Yi nodded with great certainty and winked at Xiao Wuge.

"How about we go find him?"

Seeing that noon was approaching, if he didn't go find Xiao Qiuyun and Zhang Heng soon, his Daily Intelligence would once again comment "Lazy."

Xiao Wuge didn't know his intention but didn't refuse, instructing Ge Laosan to continue following Chen Yi as they roamed the Marquis's mansion.

To be fair, the impact of Chen Yi's earlier "Forcibly Seized a Woman" incident was far greater than he had imagined.

Every time they passed through a doorway, they could hear servants and maids whispering:

"That second son-in-law really has no regard for propriety. He's dragging the Marquis's mansion's reputation down with him."

"Exactly. Yesterday when I went out shopping, the shopkeepers who used to smile at us didn't even crack a grin. They even made snide remarks about how times had changed and the Marquis of Military's mansion had produced a 'talent.'"

"What a disaster. Why don't the Old Master and the Second Master do something?"

"How could they not? On that very day, the Second Master wanted to lock him in the Disciplinary Hall and give him fifty lashes. It was only because Old Sir Sun interceded that they stopped."

"If it weren't for Master Dongchen and that Third Place Scholar both serving in the Provincial Administration Office, and the awkwardness of making a big deal out of this, they'd have already punished the son-in-law."

"I wonder what the Second Miss will think when she returns..."

What would she think?

Chen Yi wanted to know too.

If his wife, Lady Xiao Jinghong, returned from inspecting the Three Towns and learned that her husband had earned the title of "the most shameless live-in son-in-law in history," how would she react?

Thinking about it, he was quite looking forward to it.

Before long, Ge Laosan hurried over with a strange expression and reported, "Young Marquis, Son-in-law, the Young Heir Apparent is kneeling in Qingjing Residence."

Chen Yi's eyes lit up.

Xiao Wuge's eyes lit up even more. Without waiting for Chen Yi to speak, he immediately decided to head to Qingjing Residence to pay respects to his grandfather.

But just a few steps in, he turned back and asked, "Brother-in-law, are you still coming?"

"Coming, of course I'm coming."

Chen Yi knew what Xiao Wuge was thinking—he was probably worried that the Old Master and the others would give him a hard time over what had happened before.

He, however, wasn't worried at all.

At least from what he'd observed over this period, aside from Xiao Wang, who ran the Disciplinary Hall, and Second Uncle Xiao Xuanshuo, everyone else in the Marquis's mansion had treated him fairly well.

Whether it was because of Xiao Jinghong, or because they simply didn't take him seriously enough to bother, or both.

Either way, on the surface, none of the Xiao family's powerholders had been overly harsh with him.

In a moment.

They arrived at Qingjing Residence. Xiao Die, Wang Lixing, and the others were waiting outside the courtyard gate. Chen Yi followed Xiao Wuge inside.

Before they even rounded the screen wall, they heard the Young Heir Apparent Zhang Heng crying inside.

"I was wrong, Mother, I won't dare again, boohoo... I, I saw that cup was small and delicate yesterday, so I took it to Chunhe Garden, and then that Fleeing Marriage... second brother-in-law bumped into me, and it shattered."

Huh? Gossip landing on his own head?

Chen Yi froze, then realized what was happening and found it both funny and exasperating. That kid sure knew how to shift blame and frame someone.

When had he ever seen any cup, and when had he ever broken one?

Thinking this, Chen Yi stopped walking and grabbed Xiao Wuge, who was about to rush in and explain. He raised a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.

Something this interesting—if he barged in and cleared things up, wouldn't it end too quickly?

He might as well take this chance to see what the Xiao family's powerholders really thought of him.

Just then, Second Master Xiao Wang spoke: "Heng'er, is what you said true?"

Zhang Heng sobbed as he replied, "Grandfather, your grandson wouldn't dare lie. It really was him, boohoo..."

Hearing this, the Duke of Gan looked troubled and said, "Whether it's true or not, just call Chen Yi over and ask."

"What do you think, Heng'er?"

Zhang Heng's crying faltered. He couldn't quite keep it up.

"Grandfather, I, I'm telling the truth..."

Seeing this, the others knew exactly what he was up to.

Old Marquis Xiao, seated at the head, looked displeased. He set his teacup down on the table and said flatly:

"A cup is broken, so be it. Qiuyun, take Heng'er back."

Xiao Qiuyun, however, acted against her usual nature. She shook her head and said, "Uncle, the fault lies with Heng'er. As his mother, it's only right that I punish him."

With that, she picked up a rattan switch, walked up to Zhang Heng, and struck him hard.

Suddenly, Qingjing Residence was no longer quiet. The cries and screams were deafening.

Chen Yi craned his neck to look, peering from a distance into the main hall, carefully studying the expressions of the people inside.

A moment later.

[Witnessed Xiao Qiuyun disciplining her son—because Zhang Heng broke a cup that His Majesty had bestowed upon Xiao Yuan, Xiao Qiuyun struck him ruthlessly. Reward: Fortune +8.]

[Judgment: Arrived, heard the commotion, saw the scene, but the sneaky demeanor was too strong—a naturally furtive sort.]

Seeing this, Chen Yi had a good grasp of the situation. He patted Xiao Wuge and turned to walk back out.

"Brother-in-law, aren't we going in?"

"I've already had my fun. Why go in?"

"Huh?"

"Aren't you satisfied?"

The two exchanged a look and snickered.

After the laughter faded, Chen Yi's brow furrowed inwardly.

Setting aside Zhang Heng's exposed lie, just from the reactions of those few people, it wasn't hard to see—that old bastard Xiao Wang was itching to get something on him.

And Xiao Qiuyun...

That woman had a ruthless heart. The way she lashed Zhang Heng just now, each strike landing without the slightest mercy.

"Even if Zhang Heng deserved a beating for breaking the cup His Majesty bestowed on the Old Marquis, hitting him that hard—it's hard to say she wasn't putting on a show."

Thinking this, Chen Yi headed back to Chunhe Garden. From a distance, he spotted an Armored Soldier standing at the garden gate.

"Your subordinate Yan Hong greets the Young Marquis and the second son-in-law."

Before Chen Yi could speak, Xiao Wuge said with surprise, "I remember you. You're Second Sister's personal attendant."

"Correct, Young Marquis."

After Yan Hong bowed, he raised his head, looked at the two of them, and said respectfully:

"The Second Miss is on her way back to the mansion. She ordered me to deliver the Birthday Gifts for the Old Marquis to you in advance, son-in-law."