You Promised to Be an Idle Son-in-Law, How Could You Become a Land Immortal?

Chapter 582: Chapter 330: Don’t Blame Your Brother for Being Unjust

"I just heard Brother Yi say he isn’t confident about the Annual Examination?"

"Then you need to study harder. Don’t carelessly lose your scholarly rank and make a laughingstock of yourself before the whole world."

Chen Yi paused. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Xiao Wan’er beside him. Guessing Chen Yunfan’s intention, he feigned complete confidence and replied, "It’s just a policy essay."

Xiao Wan’er observed his expression. Seeing no sign of falsehood, she held back her urge to give him any further admonitions.

"Little Sister Qingwu, how about we wait until the dean of the Medical Dao Academy is chosen before heading to Tonglin?"

"Alright..."

They chatted and laughed until they finished lunch.

Holding their umbrellas, Chen Yi and Xiao Wan’er respectively saw off Chen Yunfan and Cui Qingwu, with Lin Zhong and the others following behind. The rain grew heavier, beating against the umbrellas with endless PATTER PATTER sounds that masked everyone’s footsteps. Even their conversation became muffled and hard to hear clearly.

Seeing that Cui Qingwu’s attention was elsewhere, Chen Yunfan turned his head to Chen Yi and gritted his teeth. "Brother Yi, you just had to touch a sore spot and embarrass me!"

"Right back at you," Chen Yi chuckled, keeping his voice down as he glanced at Xiao Wan’er.

"Hmph. Thanks to you, I’ll be going to the Government Office to work this afternoon."

"As you should."

Chen Yunfan snorted and turned to board the carriage. Just before entering the cabin, he looked back and reminded him, "Don’t forget to come with me to welcome Father, Old Four, and Old Liu when they arrive in Shu State."

Chen Yi held up his Oil Paper Umbrella. "Rest assured. Just like when you came to Shu State that day, didn’t I also go outside the North City Gate to welcome you?"

Chen Yunfan hesitated before saying, "Father is coming with great fanfare this time. You... forget it, forget it. I’ll notify you when the time comes."

Chen Yi nodded in agreement, watching him and Cui Qingwu enter the carriage.

Lin Zhong waited for Huan’er and Chun Ying to step inside before sitting directly on the driver’s seat. Gripping the reins, he bid them farewell and drove away. Ning Yu and Niu Mountain, on the other hand, walked back on foot.

Chen Yi waved, watching them leave. Xiao Wan’er did the same.

Chen Yi was just about to take Xiaodie back to Spring Lotus Garden when he heard Xiao Wan’er ask, "Are you not confident about the Annual Examination, Chen Yi?"

He paused his steps. Silently cursing Chen Yunfan for being a blabbermouth, his verbal response was pleasant. "I am fully confident."

Xiao Wan’er smiled. "Then I’m relieved.

"The Annual Examination is different from other matters; you cannot afford to be careless. If you were to lose your scholarly rank, it would inevitably cause some trouble in the future. Let alone outsiders, even the students at your academy would probably..."

Chen Yi quickly agreed. "Don’t worry, don’t worry, I understand. Don’t you know my capabilities, Wan’er?"

Catching the underlying implication of his words, Xiao Wan’er gave him a reproachful look and turned to walk back to the wooden building. It wasn’t that she didn’t know his abilities; she was simply worried that he wouldn’t put in his best effort out of indifference or his easygoing nature.

Watching her walk away, Chen Yi tossed his umbrella to Xiaodie. He leisurely took shelter beneath it and said, "Let’s go back and read."

Standing on her tiptoes to hold the umbrella for him, Xiaodie covered her mouth and giggled. "Mr. Chen, Ms. Xiao is right. The Annual Examination is immensely important. You shouldn’t treat it so casually."

Chen Yi pursed his lips. "Casual or not, it’s just an Annual Examination."

More often than not, talented and capable people who worked hard to improve themselves did not necessarily achieve good results. If hard work always paid off, there wouldn’t be so many unfulfilled ambitions and regrets in the world. Naturally, Chen Yi wouldn’t bother explaining this aloud. He would only curse Chen Yunfan a few more times in his heart for being such a loose-lipped meddler.

Coincidentally, at this very moment, Chen Yunfan was cursing Chen Yi in the exact same manner. While grumbling to himself, he had to deal with Cui Qingwu’s relentless, coaxing verbal attacks.

"Brother Yunfan, you’ve been practicing Martial Arts so diligently lately. It must be very tiring."

"It’s not tiring, not at all..."

"Not tiring? Then why haven’t you been going to work at the Government Office, Brother Yunfan?"

"There are some matters..."

"What matters? Let’s hear them."

"Well, this..."

"Are Ning Yu and Niu Mountain not doing their best? Or is it Chun Ying..."

Seeing a fine layer of sweat suddenly bead on Chun Ying’s forehead, Chen Yunfan held back a laugh and said, "None of them. Ahem... I’ll go to the Government Office to work this afternoon..."

Cui Qingwu wasn’t truly blaming him, either. Upon hearing this, she smiled and nodded. "Brother Yunfan, Uncle Chen is coming to Shu State. It’s best if you put on a good performance for the time being."

"You’re right, Qingwu..."

Feeling helpless, Chen Yunfan alighted alone when the carriage passed by the Governor’s Office and watched Lin Zhong drive away.

He thought, "Brother Yi, oh, Brother Yi, just you wait!"

Grimacing with a headache, Chen Yunfan smoothed out his clothes and walked into the Governor’s Office. When the government officials at the entrance saw him, they looked slightly peculiar, but they were quick to salute. "Lord Chen."

Chen Yunfan nodded and made his way to the inner hall, sitting down in his relatively spacious Assistant Governor’s office.

In the adjacent room, Li Huai’gu heard the noise and looked up. Once he realized who it was, he let out a sigh of relief. He rubbed his aching shoulders, stared at the mountain of ledgers on his desk, and muttered, "He’s finally here."

Instantly re-energized, Li Huai’gu scooped up a stack of ledgers from his desk and practically jogged into Chen Yunfan’s office.

THUD.

Exactly thirty ledgers were spread out in front of Chen Yunfan.

"I’ll leave these to you, Brother Yunfan."

Staring at the pile of administrative affairs, Chen Yunfan’s eye twitched. "Brother Huai’gu, these..."

Guessing what he was about to say, Li Huai’gu interrupted, "When you weren’t at the Government Office before, Lord Yang ordered me to handle things in your stead. Now that you’re back, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of these matters."

"This many?" Chen Yunfan flipped through them briefly. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened as he pointed to one of the ledgers near the bottom. "The Annual Examination? Isn’t this Lord Liu’s..."

He caught himself, realizing that something truly must have happened to Liu Hong.

Assuming he was still in the dark, Li Huai’gu made a shushing gesture and pointed toward the deep end of the corridor outside the door. "Starting the day before yesterday, Lord Liu has been staying behind closed doors. At present, all matters are being handled by Lord Yang. Furthermore..."

A short while later, after getting up to speed on the Government Office’s current situation, Chen Yunfan realized that Chun Ying’s report yesterday had been rather conservative. Not only was Liu Hong no longer involving himself in the Government Office’s affairs, but his temperament seemed to have changed completely.

It was as if... he was waiting to die.

Chen Yunfan recalled the recent events: the grain stores, the Five Poison Sect, the Mountain Race, the disaster refugees, the plague... and Chen Yi.

He wondered, "Did Brother Yi find some leverage against Liu Hong?"

It was highly likely. Liu Hong and the Jing State Liu Family backing him had been continuously targeting the Xiao family, so it was only natural for Brother Yi to take action against him. However, based on his understanding of Liu Hong, the man shouldn’t just be sitting idly by as a sitting duck in such a situation.

Unless...

Thinking of certain rumors he had once heard, Chen Yunfan frowned inwardly. Aside from the Jing State Liu Family and Consort Liu, Liu Hong had another massive backer behind him. It was just that even with the combined power of the Chen family and the White-robed Minister, they hadn’t been able to uncover that person’s identity.

He thought, "Someone capable of making Liu Hong concede defeat and lie low... The Nine Ministers, or..."

A few figures surfaced in Chen Yunfan’s mind, giving him some vague suspicions. Naturally, he wouldn’t share these thoughts with Li Huai’gu. He simply accepted the administrative tasks and began reviewing them with a bitter expression.

"Settling the refugees cost one million stones of money and grain..."

"Providing relief to the Three Counties of Guang’an cost..."

"The merchants rumored to have died on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road have returned... Hmm?"

Chen Yunfan looked thoughtfully at the ledger in his hands, his gaze involuntarily turning toward the direction of the Xiao family’s residence. Previously, when rumors spread that people flying the Peacock King Banner had arrived at the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, he had genuinely thought King Landu was that audacious.

Looking at it now... the truly audacious one was his Brother Yi.

At this thought, a complex expression appeared on Chen Yunfan’s face.

"It seems Brother Yi already considers himself a part of the Xiao family," he thought. "Who knows if Father coming to Shu State will be a good thing or a bad thing... Mother, the family made a mistake with those arrangements..."

Shortly before 9:00 PM.

Chen Yi quietly left the Xiao family’s residence and headed straight for the West Market. Using the rain as cover, he hid his tracks along the way and soon slipped into the residence behind the tailor shop.

Compared to his previous visits, however, he was much more cautious this time. There was no other reason; along the way, he had detected the auras of no fewer than four Upper Three Grades Martial Arts experts. This was far more than before.

He thought, "It seems the news of the duel between Immortal Bai and that person has already spread. I wonder if that man leaked it himself or if it was someone else."

Recalling the Swordsman he had seen that night and the words he had spoken, Chen Yi gave a slight purse of his lips.

"So much for ’having the qualifications to come watch the battle,’" he continued thinking. "Now that the news has spread and so many Jianghu People have gathered, I highly doubt you’ll actually drive them away when the time comes."

Even as he thought this, Chen Yi didn’t genuinely believe the man was incapable of doing so. He figured that even without lifting a finger, that man could probably dissuade numerous unqualified Wandering Martial Artists from watching with just a single sentence. With these thoughts in mind, Chen Yi concealed his aura and silenced his breathing, focusing intently on any sounds coming from the tailor shop.

Not long after, the General’s voice drifted over from that direction.

"The Pavilion Master has ordered us to immediately move out and capture Liu Hong’s accomplices..."