You Promised to Be an Idle Son-in-Law, How Could You Become a Land Immortal?-Chapter 58: Speak Your Mind, Argue with Reason
The birthday banquet was set for noon, which was still nine hours away.
It seemed like a long time, but the schedule was already packed with various matters.
It was well past two in the morning.
Xiao Wan’er and Xiao Jinghong brought Xiao Wuge to wait outside Jiaxing Garden.
As the legitimate heirs of the Xiao Family’s main branch, the three of them were required to accompany the Old Marquis to the ancestral hall to honor their ancestors.
Besides them, neither the second branch nor Xiao Xuanshuo, who was from a concubine of the main branch, were qualified to enter.
Naturally, Chen Yi wasn’t qualified either.
But he stood among the Xiao family, perfectly composed and at ease.
One moment, he would glance at Xiao Jinghong, comparing her looks to Xiao Wan’er’s to see who was more beautiful.
The next, he would look at Xiao Xuanshuo, wondering when the man would come to test his Martial Arts.
Most of the time, however, he found himself watching the members of the second branch.
There was no particular reason, other than that the second branch, led by Second Master Xiao Wang, was large and influential; their people were everywhere he looked.
Besides, many members of the second branch were looking back at him, making them impossible to ignore.
This was especially true of the Duchess of Qian, Xiao Qiuyun, whom he had only met twice. She was staring at his face with her alluring eyes as if seeing him for the first time.
Though Chen Yi didn’t understand why, he paid her no mind.
Over the past few days, he had gotten a sense of the Duchess of Qian’s temperament.
She was polite and respectful to her elders, but utterly uncompromising with servants, household staff, and anyone of a lower status than herself.
If that weren’t the case, the Young Crown Prince, Zhang Heng, wouldn’t have been so brutally whipped with a cane the other day.
As this crossed Chen Yi’s mind, he winked at Zhang Heng.
He didn’t know if the boy saw it, but Xiao Qiuyun, who had been staring at him, certainly did. Her eyes flickered, her thoughts unreadable.
Soon, the auspicious time arrived.
Old Marquis Xiao arrived with several distinguished guests: Old Duke Qian, Zhang Xuan; a former Governor, Sun Fu; and three young men of varying builds but similar age.
"Please wait here, everyone. I must go honor the ancestors first."
"Yes."
Chen Yi bowed with the rest of the crowd. As he rose, he saw the Old Marquis pat Xiao Wuge on the shoulder, take his hand, and walk with a slightly stooped back toward the ancestral hall deep in the rear courtyard.
The sisters, Xiao Wan’er and Xiao Jinghong, followed behind them.
Ordinarily, they too would have had to wait outside. However, their father, Xiao Fengchun, had died on the battlefield, and the Young Master, Xiao Wuge, was still too young to have inherited the Marquis Position.
Chen Yi watched them disappear from sight, then retracted his gaze. Just as he was about to casually look around, his eyes met a smiling figure.
It was one of the three young men who had arrived with the Old Marquis.
The man, dressed in a long blue robe, was handsome but deeply tanned. He cupped his fist in his palm and said, "I am Li Changqing, currently the General of the Iron Wall Military Town."
Chen Yi sized him up and returned the salute with a slight bow. "Chen Yi."
He had heard the name before; Li Changqing had likely visited Spring Lotus Garden in the past, but they had never met.
Looking at him now, this Li Changqing certainly had the commanding air of a general.
He could indeed be considered young and promising.
At that, Chen Yi chuckled to himself. ’I’m a young man myself, yet my way of thinking is rather old-fashioned.’
’I call myself tranquil and carefree, but in reality, I’m more like a hermit living in seclusion in the mountains.’
With introductions exchanged, Li Changqing spoke with a smile. "Brother-in-law, my apologies. When you and Jinghong were married, I was occupied with military duties and couldn’t make it back for a celebratory drink."
"I was a little disappointed at first, but then I heard you fled the wedding. I suppose it’s just as well I missed that drink, then."
As he said these two sentences, all eyes in the already quiet rear courtyard turned toward them.
Some wore smirks, some looked thoughtful, and some were openly scornful.
Chen Yi didn’t need to look to know what the people around him were thinking.
He simply looked at Li Changqing calmly, his expression turning a bit more serious, but said nothing in return.
’Oh, so this guy’s here to pick a fight,’ he thought.
Seeing this, Li Changqing kept smiling and said, "Brother-in-law, are you displeased? My apologies, my apologies. As your elder brother, I’ve spent too long in the army and have grown accustomed to speaking my mind. Don’t take offense."
At his words, Chen Yi smiled.
"Brother Changqing is right. Fleeing the wedding was indeed reckless of me."
"How about this? Tomorrow, I will bring my wife to personally offer you our apologies. Would that be acceptable?"
Li Changqing’s smile froze. A cold glint appeared in his narrow eyes, and the bloodthirsty, murderous aura he had acquired on the battlefield intensified.
Seeing this, Chen Yi didn’t stop. He continued to smile and said, "Brother Changqing, are you displeased?"
"It seems my offer wasn’t considerate enough. Very well, how about this? When my wife and I come to apologize, we will also present you with a gift?"
"When my wife returned from inspecting the Three Towns, she brought back some local specialties, including a few from your Iron Wall Military Town. I’m sure those gifts would be worthy of your esteemed eye, brother."
"Oh, but it seems Brother Changqing is still not satisfied. Why don’t you suggest a solution, then? I can discuss it with my wife later."
He had previously wondered why Xiao Jinghong, despite her excellent figure and features, didn’t have any suitors, even if she did wear a faceplate. ’So, it turns out she does have one,’ he mused, ’and he’s a Grand General in the Dingyuan Army, no less.’
Unfortunately for Li Changqing, as long as things didn’t get physical, Chen Yi had ten thousand ways to break the general’s composure.
"You certainly have a sharp tongue, but—"
"Changqing!"
Before he could finish, another of the young men standing not far behind him cut in. "Today is the Marquis’s birthday banquet! Don’t make a spectacle of yourself!"
Beside him, another man, burly and powerfully built, added in a booming voice, "If General Jinghong were to hear of this, you would be punished."
At these words, Li Changqing’s smile vanished. He stared at Chen Yi and nodded, though his words were still sharp.
"If you ever dare to pull something like fleeing the wedding again, don’t blame me for what happens next."
Chen Yi smiled and shook his head, then turned away from him and said dismissively,
"Then I won’t trouble you to worry about it, Brother Changqing."
CRACK. CRACK.
Li Changqing’s fists clenched, and his teeth ground together with an audible crack. His eyes were practically shooting fire.
Seeing this, the other two young generals had no choice but to step forward and pull him back, one on each side.
The slender general in white, the first to intervene, cupped his fist toward Chen Yi from a distance.
"Brother Qingzhou, my apologies. Changqing was being reckless just now."
"Pang Xuan—"
Before Li Changqing could finish, the general named Pang Xuan snapped, "Shut up! Haven’t you made enough of a fool of yourself?"
Chen Yi glanced over with a smile and a nod.
This Pang Xuan was the Garrison Commander of the Cang Lang Military Town. It seemed his Cultivation was the highest among the three commanders.
But for a general, strength was secondary. What truly mattered were strategy and courage.
From the looks of it, Li Changqing’s strategy was average, and as for his courage... well, one could say he had a lot of nerve.
He actually dared to stir up trouble on an occasion like this.
Then another thought occurred to Chen Yi. ’Oh, he doesn’t actually think I’m afraid of him, does he?’
’He probably does.’
’In that case, he must be a fool.’
Just then, Xiao Wang of the second branch finally spoke up. "Alright, that’s enough. Quiet down, lest you disturb the ancestors of my Xiao Family."
Pang Xuan cupped his fist in apology toward him and led Li Changqing back into the crowd.
And with that, the farce came to an end.
Chen Yi complained to himself. ’This old goat from the second branch is so biased. Why didn’t he say anything about disturbing the ancestors when this all started?’
’As I thought, the live-in son-in-law of the Marquis’s Mansion isn’t exactly popular around here.’
’Then again, a few of the things I’ve done were indeed against the rules of propriety.’
’Oh well. As long as they don’t follow Li Changqing’s example and come looking for trouble, I’ll be fine.’
Chen Yi stood tall, completely unaffected by the incident.
In contrast, Li Changqing was seething. Even in the dim light, his face was visible, dark and flushed bright red with anger.
The others exchanged glances, most of them shaking their heads and sighing.
In their eyes, this son-in-law was an utter fool. He could have just endured it and let it pass, yet he had dared to offend one of the Old Marquis’s most trusted subordinates.
But a few others, on the contrary, found themselves admiring Chen Yi all the more for it.
The Old Duke whispered to the man beside him, "Changming, did you see that? I told you his earlier jabs were intentional, didn’t I?"
Sun Fu was unconcerned. "A scholar cultivates an air of righteousness. It’s only natural that he speaks his mind when he has something to say, and argues with reason when he is right."
"Besides, he has already been punished for fleeing the wedding. For others to keep harping on the matter is hardly the conduct of a gentleman."
The Old Duke was left speechless. He didn’t need to look to know the impact of that statement.
A single sentence had made most of the people present visibly uncomfortable.
Only Chen Yi laughed. He turned to Sun Fu and Old Duke Zhang Xuan, bowing with a smile.
"This student thanks you for your instruction, Mr. Sun the Elder."
Seeing his expression, Sun Fu paused for a moment before shaking his head with a wry smile. "If Ju Yi saw you speaking like that, he’d surely box your ears."
He had only meant to speak up for justice and say something fair.
But Chen Yi’s response had twisted it into an "instruction."
Beside them, Old Duke Zhang Xuan looked from side to side and laughed. "It really takes a scholar to curse someone so thoroughly without using a single foul word."
At this, the expressions of those who already looked displeased soured even further.
Of the three who had spoken, two held distinguished statuses, while the third, despite his lower station, was clearly not someone to be trifled with.
If anyone dared to retort, they would likely end up in a mess just like Li Changqing.
Chen Yi glanced at the crowd, his smile growing even more benign.
’Since someone doesn’t want me to keep a low profile today, I might as well let loose.’
’I just hope those who can’t stand the sight of me can be a bit more magnanimous and open-minded about it.’
’After all, words are just words. If they get so angry they ruin their own health, they can’t come trying to pin the blame on me.’
