In the overcast Shu State City, nightfall came a little earlier than usual.

The sky had already grown dim, though it wasn’t yet seven o’clock.

Along both sides of Kangning Street, shops began to light up lanterns, one by one, casting a warm, pearly-white glow.

Some lanterns were plain and white, while others bore characters like "Medicine," "Books," or "Cloth."

In any case, they lit the way for the passing pedestrians.

Chen Yi held an Oil Paper Umbrella, walking unhurriedly along the side of the bluestone road to avoid blocking any passing carriages.

A fine, continuous drizzle tapped against the surface of the umbrella, making a series of faint, pattering sounds.

It mixed with the chirping of cicadas, the rumble of passing carriage wheels, and the sounds of laughter and arguments from the pedestrians all around.

It was noisy, but it was the lively clamor of the mortal world.

But none of it registered in Chen Yi’s ears. Even his eyes seemed to have become semi-automatic, mechanical things.

They only alerted him to turn left or right to bypass obstacles in his path.

His entire mind was still back inside the Fengchun Building.

He replayed the sounds from that brief moment—lasting only three breaths’ time—over and over.

There were the voices of Xiao Dongchen, Chen Yunfan, Miss Cui, and others, as well as sounds from the main hall and the private rooms upstairs.

Most were just half-sentences or meaningless filler words.

Things like "...like Lord Liu, he..." and "...a tigress of a wife, not at all like Brother Fang’s concubine, who is so..."

So... what?

Chen Yi subconsciously filled in a few adjectives: peerlessly beautiful, gentle, or charming.

Fragmented and pieced together.

Of the remaining meaningful words, most were not as valuable as Miss Cui’s focus on Ma Liangcai.

Chen Yi noted down the few pieces of useful information and who had said them, and a deduction formed in his mind.

’The Hidden Guards were discussing important matters. One of them could only be Xiao Dongchen.’

’He must have used an excuse to slip away from Chen Yunfan and the others to exchange intelligence with another Hidden Guard.’

The time was very short, and they couldn’t make any noise, or Chen Yunfan and the people from the Cui Family would have surely noticed.

’So he might have written down the intelligence beforehand, or simply written with water, discussing the matter silently with someone.’

Chen Yi reasoned thus. He then put himself in Xiao Dongchen’s shoes, wondering what could be considered "important matters" at a time like this.

’Sabotaging the Mutual Market between the Mountain Race and the Dingyuan Army?’

’No.’

’Burning the granaries of the Three Towns?’

’There’s a chance.’

But based on the information he’d overheard earlier, Xiao Dongchen should be conspiring with Ge the Third on that matter.

That left the arrangements of the Governor’s Office and the conflict between the Xiao and Liu Families.

At this thought, Chen Yi came back to his senses, stopped, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

He thought it over and over.

He still held to his previous deduction—Xiao Dongchen intended to profit from the conflict between the Xiao and Liu Families.

Just like how he wanted to burn the granaries of the Three Towns to sabotage the construction of the Mutual Market.

This time, he would probably pull the same trick. His goal should be to incite conflict between the Xiao and Liu families and throw the Xiao Family into complete chaos.

’Only this would align with the goal of him and the second branch he represents: to seize control of the entire Xiao Family.’

Working backward from the goal and the likely outcome, it wasn’t hard to reach this conclusion.

The difficult part was,

what did Xiao Dongchen and the second branch plan to do, or what arrangements had he made for those Hidden Guards?

Just as Chen Yi was pondering this, he heard the sound of hooves and wheels from behind, followed by a familiar voice by his ear:

"Young Master, why are you just standing at the gate instead of going in?"

Chen Yi glanced back and saw Ge the Third returning with the carriage. Looking forward again, he finally noticed he was already standing outside the Xiao Mansion gate.

He smiled and said, "I got tired from walking, just resting for a moment."

Ge the Third was about to say more when Xiao Dongchen, inside the carriage behind him, lifted the curtain and said:

"Qingzhou, the city has been unsettled lately. If it’s not important, don’t go out. It’s better to stay in the mansion."

Chen Yi glanced at him and nodded with a smile. "Thank you for the reminder, Uncle Dongchen. I’ll keep it in mind."

Xiao Dongchen gave a noncommittal grunt, lowered the curtain, and gestured for Ge the Third to return to the mansion.

The carriage entered the Xiao Family grounds first.

Chen Yi watched them disappear behind the spirit screen, paused for a moment, and then followed them into the residence.

Faintly, he could still hear snippets of conversation.

"He’s at Guiyun Academy now. He must have his own plans."

"That’s your business, it has nothing to do with me. Don’t forget what you promised me."

"Once I’m free... those people still want to wander around tomorrow..."

The voices were barely audible.

If Chen Yi hadn’t been focusing his attention on the front courtyard, he probably wouldn’t have heard anything.

It was a good thing it was him. Anyone else, even if they had heard it, probably wouldn’t have thought much of it.

’Those two are a Hidden Guard and a Silver Banner Officer, and they’re not even trying to be discreet while discussing secret matters?’

He had his thoughts, but Chen Yi was also well aware that they didn’t give a second glance to a "frail scholar" like him.

’I’m sure the looks on their faces will be priceless when they find out my Martial Arts are not to be trifled with someday.’

Chen Yi snorted to himself and headed straight back to Spring Lotus Garden.

The three of them—Xiaodie, Pei Guanli, and Xiao Wuge—were in the pavilion and hurried over to greet him when they saw him.

"Young Master, you’re back late again today."

"Brother-in-law, I’ve been waiting for you for so long the food’s gotten cold."

Xiaodie’s tone was plaintive, but it was easy to hear the worry in her voice.

Pei Guanli, on the other hand, rubbed her stomach with genuine grievance. She had clearly been hungry for a long time.

Xiao Wuge was his usual cheerful self, asking with a grin, "Brother-in-law, did everything go smoothly at Guiyun Academy?"

Chen Yi entered the pavilion, closed his Oil Paper Umbrella, and said with a smile, "It went well enough. In a few days, I’ll be going to the academy to teach calligraphy."

He then placed the iced sticky rice cakes on the stone table. "I knew you’d be waiting for me, so I got two servings of iced sticky rice cakes to-go from the Fengchun Building."

Hearing there was something good to eat, Xiaodie’s face instantly lit up with a smile. She eagerly unwrapped the package, and then...

She first placed a rice cake in Xiao Wuge’s bowl, followed by Chen Yi’s and Pei Guanli’s.

When it was her turn, her big eyes looked toward Chen Yi.

As if asking, ’Can I have some, too?’

How could Chen Yi not know what she was thinking? He picked up a piece with his chopsticks and placed it in her bowl. "Go on, try it."

"Thank you, Young Master."

With food and drink, chatter and laughter, the atmosphere grew warm and cozy again.

Nearby, Xiao Wan’er heard their voices and breathed a sigh of relief, though she couldn’t help but mutter to herself that Chen Yi had let her warnings go in one ear and out the other.

’But since he came back so late, things at Guiyun Academy must have gone smoothly, right?’

...

After dinner, Chen Yi returned to his room. After a short rest, he summoned the luminous screen and took a look.

[Opportunity: 135]

’I can still raise one more Dao to Great Success...’

Currently, his Calligraphy Dao, Medical Dao, Martial Arts Body, and Step were at the Great Success Realm. His Martial Arts Fist, Martial Arts Spear, and Chess Dao were at the Minor Success Realm.

After a moment of thought, Chen Yi used his Opportunity to raise his Martial Arts Fist to the Great Success Realm. Profound Mysteries immediately flooded his mind.

He currently lacked a weapon that was easy to carry. To be safe, upgrading his Fist Dao was the least likely to be discovered.

It wouldn’t be too late to upgrade his Spear Dao once he had enough Opportunity.

’My Chess Dao is sufficient for now. Later, I’ll need to find time to master the Zither and Painting to avoid anyone discovering my weaknesses.’

With that in mind, Chen Yi wasn’t in a hurry to comprehend the Profound Mysteries of the Fist Dao. He sat cross-legged on his bed and continued his Cultivation of the >.

Not until the hour of Zi, when a bright light appeared before his eyes, did he slowly cease his cultivation.

When he saw the contents of the luminous screen clearly, he couldn’t help but let out a soft "Huh?"

[Daily Intel · Profound-rank Middle Grade: At the hour of Xu, the Shu State Imprisonment Department will discover a trace of Liu Jing’s killer outside the Hui Xian Building in the West Market and will apprehend the culprit. A small amount of Opportunity can be obtained.]

Chen Yi frowned as he read the message. ’...Outside the Hui Xian Building, huh? Is the Imprisonment Department really that competent?’

That day, he had been "invited" away by Liu Jing’s men from an alley entrance right outside the Hui Xian Building.

He thought his work had been flawless, and with two consecutive days of rain, he never expected the Imprisonment Department to trace him there.

But then, Chen Yi realized something was wrong.

’Apprehend the culprit outside the Hui Xian Building?’

’Under normal circumstances, I should be at home tomorrow evening during the hour of Xu. How could I possibly end up there?’

After a moment of contemplation.

Chen Yi couldn’t help but curse inwardly. ’Damn it, don’t tell me someone is going to pose as the killer?’

Connecting this to the important matters Xiao Dongchen and the other Hidden Guards were discussing, he instantly had a bold guess.

He feared that "culprit" was going to be framed as someone acting under the Xiao Family’s orders.

Or perhaps, he was a member of the Xiao Family himself.

’If that’s the case... I have to go take a look, no matter what.’