Chapter 144: Chapter 139: The Young Master Will Laugh Xiaodie to Death, Won’t He?

Without a second thought, before Xiaodie could alert Xiao Wan’er, Xie Tingyun, and the others in Jiaxing Garden, Chen Yi quickly circled around to the back of the wooden building and headed straight for his room.

Just then, Xiaodie, who was by the door, didn’t run directly to Jiaxing Garden. Instead, she went to find Pei Guanli.

Presumably, she wanted to wake her up so they could search together.

While Chen Yi found it slightly amusing, a warmth also spread through his heart.

This must be what it feels like to have someone care for you and worry about you.

It was a warm, comforting feeling.

With that thought, Chen Yi pushed open the window, pretending to have just woken up. "Xiaodie, what’s with all the noise?"

Xiaodie, her hair a mess, stopped in her tracks when she heard his voice and looked back.

"Young Master?"

She looked left and right but couldn’t see Chen Yi, who was hidden in the shadows behind a lantern. The anxious look returned to her face, and her eyes began to well up with tears.

"Young Master, where are you? Please don’t scare me like this."

Chen Yi sighed and tapped the windowsill. "Here, I’m over here."

Hearing his voice, Xiaodie looked up. Only after she could make out Chen Yi’s blurry figure did she finally smile.

But as she smiled, her lips began to tremble, and the tears that had been welling in her eyes streamed down her face.

"Young Master, where were you?"

"I thought... I thought you..."

"Thought I’d run away again, right?"

Chen Yi finished her sentence for her, saying irritably, "It’s pitch-black out. Where would I even go?"

But seeing her wiping away her tears, he could only console her with a smile.

"Don’t just stand there."

"If anyone saw you like this—with your hair all messy, your clothes in disarray, and crying your eyes out—they’d think I did something to you."

With teary eyes, Xiaodie looked up, then glanced down at herself.

Though she was wearing a long-sleeved top, two of the buttons had come undone, revealing a small patch of skin.

One glance was all it took. Forgetting to cry, Xiaodie lowered her head, clutched at her chest, and ran back into the wooden building.

As she ran, she stammered, "Young Master... I... I didn’t mean to."

Her voice, mixed with muffled sobs, was barely audible.

If not for the recent improvement in his Martial Arts Cultivation, Chen Yi likely wouldn’t have heard her at all.

"It’s late. Go back to your room and get some sleep."

Chen Yi offered a few more words of advice, shook his head, and was about to turn away to clean the traces off his body.

Just then, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking toward Jiaxing Garden, he saw Xie Tingyun from the Celestial Sect standing on the wall between Jiaxing Garden and Spring Lotus Garden, sizing up the situation over here.

He paused for a moment, then calmly closed the window.

’Sure enough, having a Martial Arts expert next door is a real pain.’

’The slightest disturbance, and she comes over to investigate.’

’Luckily, I got back in time tonight. Otherwise, my cover would have been blown.’

While Chen Yi was quietly changing his clothes in his room, Xie Tingyun muttered to herself and headed back to Jiaxing Garden.

Shen Huatang, who had also been awakened by the noise, glanced toward Spring Lotus Garden and asked,

"Senior Sister, what happened over at the Young Master’s place?"

"Nothin’s wrong. Dunno what’s gotten into that master and servant. Playin’ hide-and-seek in the house in the middle of the night."

"What’d you say?"

Shen Huatang was so stunned that she lapsed into the Shu State dialect herself.

Xie Tingyun ignored her, yawning as she headed for their building. "You’ve got the second half of the night. I’m going to bed."

...

Shen Huatang watched her go, her mind reeling with confusion.

’The Young Master and Xiaodie... playing hide-and-seek?’

’It’s pitch-black. How could they even find each other?’

It was a good thing Chen Yi didn’t hear the conversation between the two martial sisters; otherwise, he would have insisted they try it for themselves.

He took off his black clothes, used the water in a basin to clean his wound, and after drying himself, changed into a long robe.

He glanced at the blood-stained clothes and put them away with the Five-section Spear for the time being, planning to bury them in the bamboo forest the next morning.

’I’ll have to prepare a few more sets of Night Clothes.’

Chen Yi muttered to himself, then opened the light screen to check his latest gains.

The Opportunity had already arrived earlier, after he’d left Cui Qingwu and her companion. But his injuries had been severe, so he had gone straight to Hundred Herbs Hall without taking a closer look.

[Witnessed the Shu State Imprisonment Department searching for the "murderer" outside the Hui Xian Building in the West Market. Reward: Brocade Spring Saber Technique (Profound Tier), Opportunity +38.]

[Evaluation: Arrived on scene, witnessed events. Slaying the "murderer" disrupted the Hidden Guard’s plot, causing the Imprisonment Department to return empty-handed. Performance: Satisfactory.]

’Satisfactory?’

Chen Yi curled his lip. ’He was finally starting to understand the logic behind these evaluations.’

’It’s not enough to just be a spectator, an audience member, or an eavesdropper. The system wants me to participate in some way.’

’I could interfere, make a name for myself, or even push events forward, whether directly or indirectly.’

’The bottom line is, I can’t just stand by and do nothing.’

’Otherwise, not only would the rewards be smaller, but I’d also get a "lazy" or "slothful" evaluation.’

’Conversely, depending on my actions, I could earn extra Opportunity rewards.’

’Take this time, for example. Compared to the previous Profound-rank Middle Grade event—the marriage of Li Huai’gu and Yun Xiang—the amount of Opportunity Points awarded was completely different.’

As he thought about this, Chen Yi considered the *Brocade Spring Saber Technique* in his mind but decided to set it aside for now.

His Martial Arts already encompassed four aspects: Body, Step, Punch, and Spear. Learning a Saber Technique on top of that was possible, but it wouldn’t provide a major boost to his power.

It would be better to focus all his efforts on raising his Cultivation first.

If he had been in the Sixth Grade Realm tonight, Cui Qingwu would have been no match for him, even without using Immortal Drunk.

But the thought of Cui Qingwu sparked his curiosity again.

’I really can’t think of any reason why she would become a Hidden Guard.’

’Could it be that, like Xiao Dongchen, she also wants to take control of the Cui Family?’

’I wonder if Chen Yunfan knows about this. Then again... he’s probably still in the dark.’

Chen Yi shook his head, pushing the thoughts aside.

He then sat cross-legged on his bed, preparing to practice the Four Symbols Skill.

Just then, shortly after midnight—

[Daily Intel - Yellow-level Lower Grade: At the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), a Cultured Courtesan will fall into the water outside Spring Rain Building in Yanhua Lane.]

He gave it a passing glance.

Chen Yi immediately began circulating his True Essence, cultivating with the Four Symbols Skill.

A Yellow-level Lower Grade event wasn’t worth running out in the middle of the night to spectate.

Especially not one in South City’s Yanhua Lane.

Besides, Xiaodie was still downstairs, agonizing over her earlier state of undress.

He could faintly hear her tossing and turning under her covers.

"What do I do? The Young Master is going to laugh his head off at me, isn’t he?"

"He will, he totally will..."

...

「Xiao Family Estate, Central Courtyard. Qingjing Residence.」

Inside the tranquil residence, lanterns cast a lonely red glow, illuminating the main hall.

The Old Master of the Xiao Family sat impeccably dressed in a Grandmaster’s Chair.

Both hands rested on a yellow pearwood cane, and his slightly clouded eyes stared calmly at the moonlight outside.

Faintly visible in the shadows, a figure dressed in black leaned against a nearby pillar.

After a long silence,

the Old Master spoke. "Tonight’s events were likely not the work of the Liu Family."

The figure in the shadows sounded surprised. "Marquis, if not the Liu Family, then who could it be?"

"Another of the Noble Families and Clans in Shu State? Most of those with that kind of power are waiting to see how the Liu Family reacts."

"Even the Tang Family... because of that incident three years ago, Tang Zixing now just keeps to his Inspectorate Office and stays out of any other conflicts."

"Or the Xie Family?"

"But Xie Ying is in the same boat as our Xiao Family. Whether or not he can hold on to his position as Commander-in-Chief depends entirely on..."

Before he could finish, the Old Master tapped his cane on the floor.

The voice cut off instantly.

The Old Master glanced at him. "Regardless of who it is, their goal is to provoke a dispute between the Xiao and Liu Families."

The man in black hesitated. "Then what about Liu Jing’s death? Was that part of it?"

The Old Master paused. "Whether it was or not is no longer important."

"Liu Hong has already dispatched an Advisor from the Governor’s Office to the Three Towns to collect the summer grain tax. That is his way of declaring his position." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The Old Master coughed, then continued, "His actions are understandable, all things considered."

"As a member of a branch of the Liu Family, he has to show some consideration for the main family’s stance."

The man in black understood this. After a moment’s thought, he asked cautiously, "Marquis, how do you intend to respond? Shall I..."

The Old Master knew what he was implying and raised a hand to cut him off. "It hasn’t come to that."

The man in black sullenly fell silent.

After a moment of thought,

the Old Master used his cane to push himself to his feet and gave an order. "We must give the Liu Family a way to back down gracefully."

"Find someone unimportant, someone with no connection to the Xiao Family, to take the fall for now."

The man in black seemed to let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Also, have your men keep an eye on the person from the Cui Family."

"For Cui Qingwu to appear in Shu State at such a critical juncture... it can’t possibly be just for that boy from the Chen Family."

"Cui Mao is now the ’Minister of Heaven,’ head of the Nine Ministers. He controls the Ministry of Personnel and has followers across the realm. He is not a man to be underestimated."

"There are often hidden depths to his thoughts and intentions. We cannot afford a single misstep."

The man in black nodded. "I’ll arrange for the Hidden Guard to watch her closely."

He was about to leave when he paused and asked, "Marquis, what about the person who helped me tonight? Should I investigate them?"

The Old Master turned and walked toward a side room, waving his hand wearily. "Yes, an investigation would be good."

"The Xiao Family is in a precarious position. For someone in Shu State to risk helping us... that’s not something to be taken lightly."

"Once you find them, just take note of who it is. After this all blows over, the Xiao Family will be sure to reward them handsomely."

"Yes, Marquis!"