When it came to Xiao Wan’er brewing the medicinal soup, Xiaodie was also a bit confused.

She remembered that when she rushed to Jiaxing Garden as Chen Yi had instructed, Xiao Wan’er was chatting and laughing with a stately and elegantly dressed lady.

Upon learning that Chen Yi had returned, the lady even suggested going to see him.

But when Xiaodie said, "The Young Master is ill," before the lady could say anything, Xiao Wan’er stood up and asked a couple of questions.

"What illness?"

"I think... a cold?"

"Cui’er, Juan’er, go brew some medicinal soup for the Young Master."

At the time, Xiaodie had intended to explain further, but seeing that Xiao Wan’er had already ordered Cui’er to brew the soup and that the lady was still present, she swallowed her words.

And that’s what led to the current situation—

Chen Yi sat in the living room, clutching his stomach, a "pained" look on his face.

Seeing this, Xiao Wan’er quickly brought over the medicinal soup and said, "This is freshly brewed ginger tea. It’s the best for driving out the cold. Drink it while it’s hot."

Chen Yi opened his mouth, wanting to explain that he was just hungry.

But faced with Xiao Wan’er’s earnest gaze and the trace of worry on her gentle, beautiful face, he could only pinch his nose and drink the soup down.

’Great.’

He hadn’t had a single bite of dinner, and his stomach was already half-full.

Before he could speak, Xiao Wan’er had Cui’er bring food and place it on the dining table. "I had them make congee especially for you."

"Since you’re sick, you should eat something light."

"..."

Again, meeting that concerned gaze, Chen Yi could only glare at Xiaodie before picking up his bowl with a smile.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been that hungry.

The kind of ravenous hunger where your mind is filled with nothing but pork, beef, lamb, or maybe roasted meat, stewed meat, and the like.

In any case, it certainly wouldn’t be plain congee and vegetables.

As he ate, Xiao Wan’er sat beside him, talking about the afternoon’s events in the mansion, peppering the conversation with soft-spoken reminders.

Things like, "Eat slowly," "Be careful of catching a cold in the rain," and "Take care of your health."

Chen Yi gave a wry smile to himself and decided not to explain. He’d just treat it as a beautiful misunderstanding.

After a bit of chatter, just as Xiao Wan’er was about to get up and leave, she suddenly remembered something and asked:

"Have you finished the letter for Second Sister?"

"Shu State has entered its rainy season recently. I wonder how Second Sister is doing over there."

Chen Yi paused and shook his head. "Not yet. I’ll write it later."

An understanding expression appeared on Xiao Wan’er’s face. "You must not have had a free moment with so much going on at the academy during the day."

"But there’s no rush. Just give it to me tomorrow morning."

Chen Yi nodded, stood up to see her out of the wooden building, and watched as she walked gracefully away under the umbrella held by Cui’er.

After Xiao Wan’er entered Jiaxing Garden, the smile on Chen Yi’s face faded. He turned to look at the timidly shrinking Xiaodie and said irritably:

"Go get your Young Master some more food."

"Huh?"

Xiaodie snapped out of it, quickly answered "Yes," and ran out of Spring Lotus Garden, heading straight for the rear kitchen.

’Thank goodness, thank goodness. The Young Master didn’t blame me.’

There was no way he could blame her.

After eating some more leftovers and rice, Chen Yi patted his seventy-percent-full stomach and let out a long breath.

"Finally, some meat."

Seeing this, Xiaodie also breathed a sigh of relief and said sheepishly, "Young Master, I know I was wrong."

Chen Yi glanced at her and shook his head. "I wasn’t clear enough."

Whether it was a white lie or playing along with the act, it had ultimately achieved his goal: turning away all visitors.

After a bit more small talk, Chen Yi told Xiaodie to clean up and get some rest, while he himself took the medicine packets to the study.

After a brief rest, he sat down at his desk and wrote a letter to Xiao Jinghong.

This time, it was certainly no *Three Thoughts on a Summer Night*.

It was a proper letter.

[Jinghong, may this letter find you well.

Your husband has accepted Mr. Yue Ming’s invitation to become an Instructor at Guiyun Academy. All is well...]

He wrote several hundred characters fluently.

In less than a quarter of an hour, he finished writing, sealed it in an envelope, and set it aside to give to Xiao Wan’er tomorrow.

Chen Yi looked out the window.

Seeing that the rain still hadn’t stopped, he estimated there were still four hours before the Hidden Guard’s important discussion at the tailor shop.

He didn’t linger, instead taking out a mortar, pestle, medicinal scale, and other tools, and began to meticulously grind the herbs.

The Immortal Drunk he’d made before was too potent. This time, he planned to reduce its strength while retaining its ability to penetrate True Essence defenses.

After concocting four new vials of Immortal Drunk, he moved on to creating another new medicine.

It was a powder that could make a person’s body go limp and weak.

Its potency was much less than Immortal Drunk, but its advantage was that it was colorless and odorless, making it more convenient to use.

He named it "Qingfeng Drunk."

After busying himself for over an hour, Chen Yi finally finished his work.

After tidying up the study, he took a few vials of the powder back to his room, changed into black clothes, disguised himself, and secured his five-section Long Spear. Everything was ready.

Chen Yi let out a soft breath, stretched his limbs, and quietly left Spring Lotus Garden.

It was now deep into the night, and with the heavy rain and strong wind, there weren’t many people lingering on the streets.

The occasional carriage or pedestrian he encountered also hurried past.

To avoid attracting attention, Chen Yi didn’t take the main road this time. Instead, he took a familiar route through dark, deep alleys to the outskirts of the West Market.

However, just as he was about to emerge from the alley outside the Hui Xian Building, his eyes flickered, and with a quick turn, he slipped back into the alley, hiding in the shadows.

A moment later, a cold voice rang out, "That night, Sun Erhu’s death was too strange. I don’t believe the person who killed Liu Jing was a Wan Family Guard."

"Even if he was, it wasn’t the work of one person. He must have had at least two accomplices."

Then, another young man’s voice spoke, "Hundred Households Fang, the department has already closed this case."

"Even if you have your suspicions, it will be difficult to overturn the verdict. Why bother..."

"Hmph! Even if the Lord Prefect has already announced the verdict, I will find the culprit who injured us that night!"

Just from their voices, Chen Yi knew it was Fang Hongxiu and her group of four from the Imprisonment Department.

He grimaced to himself.

’I can’t believe knocking out Fang Hongxiu that night would make her pursue this so relentlessly.’

Fortunately, the case of the Wan Family Guard killing Liu Jing was closed, which had eased the tensions between the Xiao and Liu Families.

Otherwise, if it had dragged on for a few more days, there was no guarantee the Imprisonment Department wouldn’t have discovered something.

Once he was sure Fang Hongxiu and her group had walked away, Chen Yi quickly cut through the curtain of rain and entered the somewhat deserted West Market.

Who would have thought that just as he rounded the corner past Hundred Herbs Hall, he would see a few familiar figures in a corner.

It was none other than the tall and short Jianghu People he had seen in the West Market that day.

But the last person was a surprise—the Maid named Huan’er who was always by Cui Qingwu’s side.

But now it was too late to avoid them. He could only pull his bamboo hat lower and walk hurriedly past a few taverns and inns, just like the other pedestrians passing by.

The tall, thin man and the short, stout man over there naturally saw him but clearly didn’t recognize him.

The stout man was heard saying, "Brother Yu, it’s been so many days and there’s still no sign of that person. Could the Young Master’s guess be wrong?"

The tall, thin man withdrew his gaze from Chen Yi and said flatly, "The Young Master is never wrong."

Huan’er, standing nearby, glanced at the two men. "This was a joint deduction by my Young Miss and your Young Master. It can’t possibly be wrong."

"Oh."

"But besides knowing his build, we don’t even know what he looks like. Are we sure we can find him by waiting here?"

"Just do as the Young Master instructed. Don’t ask so many questions."

As he spoke, the tall, thin man paused, stood up, and looked deeper into the West Market, a contemplative look on his face.

"You’ve reminded me, though. The build matches."

"What’s up?"

"Did you find something?"

"The man in black with the bamboo hat who just passed by has a build that’s extremely similar to his."

Hearing this, Huan’er scanned the area. "Where?"

Without waiting for an answer, the tall, thin Ning Yu had already stepped into the rain, chasing in the direction where Chen Yi had disappeared.

Seeing this, the two behind him quickly followed.

"Once we find him, I’ll show him what’s what."

"Miss Huan’er, you should still be careful. His Spear Dao has already reached Minor Success. His strength shouldn’t be underestimated."

"Minor Success in Spear Dao? He’s clearly reached Great Success in Fist Dao, with his Fist Intent already manifested."

"Huh?"

Hiding not far from the tailor shop, Chen Yi saw the three of them hurry past and faintly overheard their conversation, causing him to frown.

’Chen Yunfan and Cui Qingwu are really relentless.’

’To find me, they actually had people wait here in the West Market, hoping I’d just show up.’

’Was all this really necessary?’

Chen Yi cursed to himself. As the trio moved farther away, he quickly relocated.

He moved to the spot he had scouted earlier in the day—the flying eaves of the residence to the side and rear of the tailor shop.

It was about five zhang away. While he couldn’t see inside the tailor shop from there, he could hear sounds from it.

Moreover, the height gave him a perfect bird’s-eye view of the tailor shop’s surroundings.

It was an excellent position.

After waiting quietly for a moment and seeing Ning Yu’s group hurry back to their previous spot, Chen Yi let out a small sigh of relief.

’No wonder this intelligence is rated Earth Level. A dangerous place like this, with people watching from all sides—of course the rank would have to be higher.’

The thought of the Imprisonment Department, as well as Chen Yunfan’s and Cui Qingwu’s people, all circling the West Market from now on gave Chen Yi a bit of a headache.

’This is too difficult.’

’I’ll have to come up with a more thorough plan for the future.’

Otherwise, if those people found him, it would inevitably lead to complications.

He waited like this for about another hour or so.

The number of pedestrians inside and outside the West Market dwindled, and most of the shops on the street had closed for the night.

Many of the lanterns hanging by the doorways had been extinguished, making the entire West Market much dimmer.

Even Ning Yu’s group, who had been waiting at the entrance to the West Market, had gone silent, having apparently left.

Seeing this, Chen Yi didn’t relax his guard. Instead, he became even more vigilant, his eyes fixed on the area around the tailor shop and his ears perked.

Circulating his True Essence, he simultaneously used the Four Symbols Skill and the Black Tortoise Concealment Technique, slightly enhancing his five senses.

But at this moment, aside from the faint sound of a drunkard’s laughing curses and the PITTER-PATTER of the rain, he heard no noise at all from the tailor shop.

It wasn’t until four more lanterns at a nearby shop were extinguished that the sound of footsteps approached from the distance.

Chen Yi’s heart skipped a beat. He carefully concealed himself, blending into the shadows beneath the flying eaves.

Soon, he saw two figures in black, one tall and one short, appear outside the tailor shop.

One of them was none other than Ge the Third, an Armored Warrior from the Xiao Mansion.

And the other person...