A Fierce Brawl

Night fell, a slight chill in the air.

Just after Hai time, the second watch drum sounded within Xiao Manor, and the lights in each courtyard gradually dimmed.

Only the personal guards remained on rotating patrol.

But even they moved slowly, trying not to make a sound, so as not to disturb the main family's rest.

Outside Chunhe Garden.

Two red lanterns hung beneath the porch eaves, a "joy" character on the front and a "Xiao" on the back, swaying gently in the breeze, the candlelight within flickering faintly.

"Brother Xing, did the second son-in-law complete one full stance today?"

"Mm." Wang Lixing deliberately lowered his voice. "One session of Great Spear Stance Cultivation can last an entire shichen. He has talent, but it's a pity he started martial training so late."

The three Armored Soldiers beside him exchanged glances, surprise on their faces.

"Truly a shame. If he'd begun cultivating the martial path early, he'd be both civil and martial by now, worthy of the Second Miss."

"Ge Laosan, watch your tongue!"

Wang Lixing shot a glare at the man who'd spoken. "Is the young lady's marriage something you can casually discuss?"

The man called Ge Laosan quickly begged for forgiveness. "Brother Xing, don't be angry. I just can't stand how he ran away on the wedding day."

"Brother Xing, forgive him. Old San's mouth has no lock."

Hearing the other two Armored Soldiers plead on his behalf, Wang Lixing shook his head. "Don't mention the runaway groom business anymore. Since the Second Miss has made her decision, we follow orders."

"Yes, yes..."

After a moment of silence, Ge Laosan couldn't help but speak again:

"But the son-in-law is a pitiful man too."

"True. He's straightforward and unrestrained, not to mention learned, yet the Chen Family treated him like that."

"That day, when he was brought to the Disciplinary Hall, the Chen Family people just left without even leaving a maidservant or servant behind. You can imagine how he fared in the Chen Family."

"Good thing the Second Miss kept him safe. Otherwise, going by the Second Master's wishes, expelling him from the family would've been the lightest punishment—he might've even gotten a beating..."

Just as Wang Lixing and the others were chatting softly, a faint creak of a door came from the silent Chunhe Garden.

Chen Yi tiptoed out of the side room, glanced around, and quietly made his way toward the western courtyard wall.

He was fully dressed, not bothering with a night suit or mask, so that if discovered, he could use an excuse like "the long night leaves me sleepless."

As for why he was heading to Jiaxing Garden... hearing people fighting out of curiosity and going to watch the excitement—perfectly normal, right?

But thinking that and doing it were two different things; Chen Yi still tried his best not to make a sound.

After all, under someone else's roof, even with a valid reason, he wouldn't escape punishment.

Chen Yi followed the corridor to the entrance of Jiaxing Garden. Seeing the door locked tight, he wasn't surprised.

He looked left and right, spotted a low stone block by the wall, stepped onto it, and craned his neck to peer into Jiaxing Garden.

The vast courtyard was pitch black, hard to make out clearly, save for the dim yellow light from lanterns outside two wooden buildings.

Seeing the garden silent, Chen Yi checked his "Daily Intelligence" again, confirmed the time and place, and then vaulted directly over the wall into the yard.

"Huh."

Chen Yi let out a soft breath. This Great Spear Stance Cultivation was indeed effective; just one session left him feeling much lighter.

Looks like no matter how much he played a part, he couldn't slack on martial cultivation.

"Fortune favors the bold. Let's see what this opportunity is all about."

He found a shadowy corner and crouched down, patiently waiting for the Young Marquis Xiao and the Heir Apparent—whose name he'd never heard—to appear.

He wondered what the fight between Xiao Wuge and Zhang Heng would look like. Probably similar to Yin Tiankuang, right?

Chen Yi didn't wait long. About the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he heard two faint voices not far away.

"...Brother Heir Apparent, you're going too far. By seniority, you should call him brother-in-law."

"I don't want to. He's a runaway groom, and I'm not wrong."

Chen Yi heard the voices coming from the garden behind the nearest wooden building. How was he getting dragged into this?

Forgetting to overthink it, he crept closer.

Sticking to the shadows, he made his way straight into the garden, wanting to see the two people inside.

But due to the angle, he only saw two elongated shadows cast by the lamplight, though their voices grew clearer:

"You, you... are you asking for a beating?"

"Beat me? Xiao Wuge, you can't beat me. If we really fight, I'm afraid I'll make you cry." One voice, slightly childish, said smugly:

"How about you join me in shouting, 'Runaway groom, runaway groom,' haha..."

"You—you still say that!"

Another voice, indignant, shouted, followed by a flurry of clashing sounds.

"Dare to throw a punch? You really think that just because this is the Marquis's mansion, I won't rough you up?"

"You... shut up..."

Chen Yi watched the two tangled shadows, a strange expression flickering across his face.

This didn't look like the work of a master at all—the fighting was completely without form or technique.

Taking advantage of the gap in their scuffle, he quietly shifted position, just enough to get a clear view of the two Martial Way...

"Martial Way children?"

He saw two children, no taller than his waist, around four or five years old, locked together by the neck and wrestling on the ground.

One moment he was on top, the next the other was, rolling back and forth across the dirt.

Mixed in were a few muttered phrases, roughly along the lines of "I told you to talk, huh? Still dare? You hit my face?" and such.

Chen Yi stared blankly at them, the image of a "Martial Way master" he'd conjured in his mind crumbling to dust.

"So this is what they call a big fight to decide who's better?"

If this "Daily Intelligence" wasn't just "Today's Gossip," he'd eat his own name backwards.

The commotion soon drew others from Jiaxing Garden, and two maidservants rushed over in panic.

"Young Marquis, Young Heir Apparent, please stop fighting."

But the two unruly children showed no sign of stopping.

The maidservants didn't dare step in, and one of them ran back out again.

Chen Yi's sense of anticipation shattered completely, and he wanted to leave, but seeing the panel still unmoving, he knew the "opportunity" hadn't come yet, so he had no choice but to stay crouched in the corner and watch.

Just then, a voice came from inside the door:

"Wuge, Heng'er, both of you stop right now!"

The tone was soft and soothing, as tender and sweet as the women of Jiangnan Prefecture.

A name popped into Chen Yi's mind—Xiao Wan'er?

Soon, a woman strode over quickly, draped in a large cloak, her skin sparkling white like snow, her bearing extraordinary. She stepped forward to separate the Young Marquis and the Young Heir Apparent, who were still locked in their scuffle.

"Tell me, why were you fighting?"

Xiao Wuge stood to the side, head drooping.

But the other, a battered and bruised Young Heir Apparent named Zhang Heng, glared at him and said, "Sis, Wuge hit me first. He said he was going to kill me."

Xiao Wan'er, her back to Chen Yi, looked at Xiao Wuge. "Is that true?"

"Eldest Sister, I..."

"Yes or no?"

"Yes..."

Hearing this, Xiao Wan'er immediately waved at the maidservant. "Take Heng'er back to his room first. Attend to him and let him rest."

A smile immediately spread across Zhang Heng's small face. He shot a glance at Xiao Wuge before following the maidservant out of the garden.

That smugness was so blatant that even Chen Yi found it hard to stomach. He muttered to himself that this kid was a lost cause.

As the saying goes, "Three years old sees the man." If he was already this full of bad intentions as a child, he wouldn't amount to anything good when he grew up.

[Witnessed the beginning of the grudge between Young Marquis Xiao Wuge and Heir Apparent Zhang Heng, and comprehended the essence of their fist and foot techniques from the fight. Reward: Profound Tier Fist Technique—Collapse Mountain, Opportunity +12.]

[Comment: You arrived, heard the voices, saw the scene, but your sneaking presence was too strong—a man of base nature.]

Just then, as two lines of illusory text drifted past, Chen Yi paid no attention to the fist technique memory that had suddenly appeared in his mind, focusing only on the end of the comment.

Forget the earlier "lazy" remark, but this time it was "base."

He had risked being discovered to come here and watch a couple of kids brawling. Even if he wasn't heroic and extraordinary, he couldn't be called "base," could he?

This was too much!

After barely calming his emotions, Chen Yi was about to stand up when he felt a chill at the back of his neck.

Then a cold voice sounded in his ear:

"Don't move."