The Melon-Eating Reached Himself

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

The muscles, bones, skin, and flesh throughout his body seemed to have fused into one, allowing him to freely mobilize every bit of flesh and bone, even infusing Qi force into his skin, flesh, and hair.

Though his Qi was still very weak, with the profundities of the Martial Dao Body at the Minor Accomplishment Realm, he could already arrange a layer of Qi within his flesh for attack or defense.

Even more directly, his force had risen from Five Oxen Strength to Ten Oxen Strength—One Elephant Force.

A single punch carried a full two thousand jin of weight.

Even Pei Guanli, whose Cultivation Base had reached Ninth Rank, Upper Stage, would have to avoid the edge of his full-force Collapsing Mountain Fist.

Otherwise, if that punch landed solidly, Pei Guanli's small frame would suffer heavy injuries even if she did not die.

Before long, the hour of Stake Training came to an end.

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

Naturally, Liu Si'er had not forgotten to find an opportunity to apologize to him.

With a sincere expression and an upright, unyielding air, anyone judging by appearances alone would have taken him for a fiercely loyal personal guard.

Chen Yi offered a few words of reassurance and lightly let the matter pass.

Xiao Wuge, however, said in the manner of a little adult, "Fourth Guard, it is never too late to mend."

Chen Yi nearly burst out laughing.

During the time the Young Marquis had spent with him, not only had his fishing skills improved, but the way he spoke and acted had increasingly taken after Chen Yi.

Those who knew him knew he was only five. Those who did not might have thought him some old monster reincarnated.

Even Xiao Die sometimes could not help laughing when she saw Xiao Wuge's carefree mannerisms.

At that moment, Xiao Die withdrew her gaze with a dejected look and said softly, "Son-in-law, you heard that, didn't you?"

Chen Yi had been thinking about how to find Xiao Qiuyun, the wife of Duke of Gan, and observe how she disciplined Zhang Heng. He casually asked, "Heard what?"

Xiao Die raised her chin and gestured toward several maidservants and servants in the distance. "Them. They're still speaking badly of you, Son-in-law..."

Chen Yi gave an "oh." Not only did he show no reaction, he even flashed those people a smile, frightening them into hurriedly fleeing farther away.

"See that? Anyone who likes gossiping behind people's backs is a paper tiger when standing in front of you."

Xiao Die looked over there, then at Chen Yi, and broke into a grin.

Xiao Wuge secretly glanced at them, silently committing those words to memory. He too grinned from ear to ear.

"Come to think of it, why haven't we seen His Highness the Young Heir Apparent today?"

After turning it over in his mind, Chen Yi could not come up with any good solution and could only call for Zhang Heng directly.

Xiao Wuge looked at him strangely. "Brother-in-law, don't tell me you miss him?"

Who would have thought Chen Yi would nod outright? "That's right. One day apart feels like three autumns. Though His Highness the heir apparent is young and doesn't know any better, he's actually not a bad person."

He uttered a bald-faced lie with his eyes wide open. Not to mention young Xiao Wuge, even Xiao Die, Wang Lixing, and the others who knew his temperament well did not believe him.

Yet Chen Yi nodded as though utterly certain and winked at Xiao Wuge.

"How about we go find him?"

Noon was fast approaching. If he did not find Xiao Qiuyun and Zhang Heng soon, his Daily Intelligence would call him "lazy" again.

Xiao Wuge did not understand his intentions, but he did not refuse. He instructed Ge Laosan to continue accompanying Chen Yi around the Marquis's mansion.

It had to be said, the impact of Chen Yi's earlier "forcibly seized a woman" affair was much greater than he had imagined.

Every time they passed through an archway, they could hear servants and maidservants whispering among themselves.

"The second son-in-law really is something. He failed to mind his own conduct and even dragged down the Marquis's mansion's reputation."

"Exactly. Yesterday, when I went out to buy supplies, the shopkeepers who used to smile at us no longer did. They even spoke in that sarcastic, needling way, saying something about how morals had declined with the times, and the Marquis of Military's residence had produced quite the talent."

"He's harmed people deeply. Why don't Old Master and Second Master do something about it?"

"How could they not? That very day, Second Master wanted to lock him in the Disciplinary Hall and have him caned fifty times. It was only because Old Sir Sun pleaded for him that it was dropped."

"If Master Dongchen and that top scholar were not both serving at the Provincial Administration Office, making it inconvenient to fall out over this matter, the Son-in-law would likely have been punished long ago."

"I wonder what Second Miss will think after she returns to the mansion..."

What would she think?

Chen Yi wanted to know as well.

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

The more he thought about it, the more he looked forward to it.

Before long, Ge Laosan hurried over and reported with a strange expression, "Young Marquis, Son-in-law, His Highness the heir apparent is kneeling at Qingjing Residence."

Chen Yi's eyes lit up.

Xiao Wuge's eyes shone even brighter. Before Chen Yi could say anything, he immediately decided to head for Qingjing Residence to pay respects to Grandfather.

But after taking only a few steps, he turned back and asked, "Are you coming too, brother-in-law?"

"I am. Of course I am."

Chen Yi understood Xiao Wuge's thoughts. He was probably worried that Old Master and the others would lecture Chen Yi over the earlier matter.

But Chen Yi was not worried in the slightest.

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

He did not know whether it was because of Xiao Jinghong, because they simply had not taken him seriously, or both.

In any case, on the surface, the Xiao Family's several people in power were not overly harsh toward him.

It won't take a moment.

The group arrived at Qingjing Residence. Xiao Die, Wang Lixing, and the others remained outside the courtyard gate while Chen Yi followed Xiao Wuge inside.

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

"I was wrong, Mother! I'll never dare again, sob... I, I saw that cup was small and delicate yesterday, so I took it to Chunhe Garden. Then that fleeing-marriage... Second Brother-in-law touched it, and it broke."

Huh? The melon-eating had reached his own head?

Chen Yi froze, then could not help feeling both amused and exasperated. This brat was truly skilled at wronging others and dumping the blame.

When had he ever seen any cup? And when had he ever broken one?

With that thought, Chen Yi stopped walking and pulled back Xiao Wuge, who was about to rush in and explain. He raised a finger in a gesture for silence.

Something this interesting—if he rushed in to explain it all, would it not end far too quickly?

It was the perfect chance to see what sort of dispositions the Xiao Family's people in power had toward him.

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

Zhang Heng cried as he answered, "Grandfather, your grandson would not dare lie. It really was him, sob..."

Hearing this, Duke of Gan rubbed his head in distress. "Whether it was or not, we can simply summon Chen Yi and ask."

"What do you say, Heng'er?"

Zhang Heng's crying stalled, and he seemed unable to keep crying.

"Grandfather, I... every word I said is true..."

Seeing this, how could the others not understand his little scheme?

Old Marquis Xiao, seated in the place of honor, did not look too pleased. He set the teacup in his hand on the table and said flatly,

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

Yet Xiao Qiuyun acted entirely out of character and shook her head. "Eldest Uncle, Heng'er is at fault in this matter. As his mother, I should punish him."

With that, she took a rattan switch, walked up to Zhang Heng, and lashed him fiercely.

At once, Qingjing Residence was no longer quiet. His cries shook the ears like thunder.

Chen Yi poked his head out to look. From afar, he saw the scene in the main hall and carefully studied the expressions of the people inside.

A moment later.

[Witnessed Xiao Qiuyun teaching her son—because Zhang Heng broke the cup His Majesty had bestowed upon Xiao Yuan, Xiao Qiuyun dealt out a ruthless punishment. Reward: Fortune +8.]

[Assessment: Present in person, heard the sounds, saw the scene, but the sneaking was far too blatant. A naturally wretched fellow.]

Seeing this, Chen Yi understood. He patted Xiao Wuge and turned to walk outside.

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

"It was already satisfying enough. Why go in?"

"Huh?"

"You weren't satisfied?"

The two exchanged a look and chuckled.

Once the laughter faded, however, Chen Yi frowned inwardly.

Setting aside Zhang Heng's exposed lie, the reactions of those people alone made one thing clear—Xiao Wang, that old fellow, was itching to seize on his weakness.

And Xiao Qiuyun...

That woman had quite a ruthless heart. Each lash she had dealt Zhang Heng just now had shown not the slightest mercy.

"Zhang Heng certainly deserved punishment for breaking the cup His Majesty had bestowed on Old Marquis, but she struck so heavily. It is hard to say she was not putting on a performance."

With that thought, Chen Yi turned back toward Chunhe Garden. From a distance, he spotted an armored soldier standing at the garden entrance.

"This subordinate, Yan Hong, pays respects to the Young Marquis and the second son-in-law."

Before Chen Yi could speak, Xiao Wuge said in surprise, "I remember you. You're one of my second sister's personal attendants."

"In reply to the Young Marquis, that is correct."

After Yan Hong bowed, he raised his head to look at them and said respectfully,

"Second Miss is on her way back to the mansion. She ordered this subordinate to deliver the birthday gifts she prepared for Old Marquis to the Son-in-law first."