Chapter 133 The Perfection of Fist Technique
The city of Shuzhou was shrouded in dark clouds, and night fell earlier than usual.
Before dusk, the sky had already darkened.
Outside the shops on both sides of Kangning Street, lanterns emitting a warm, white glow were lit up.
Some lanterns are plain white, while others have words like "medicine," "book," or "cloth" written on them.
In the end, it can light the way for passersby.
Chen Yi, holding an oil-paper umbrella, walked slowly along the side of the bluestone path so as not to block the passing carriages.
The light rain pattered on the umbrella, making a series of soft, rhythmic sounds.
The sounds of cicadas chirping, train tracks passing by, and the laughter and chatter of pedestrians around them blended together.
Noisy, but full of life.
But none of this reached Chen Yi's ears, and even his eyes became like semi-automatic machines.
Only remind him to turn left or right to go around obstacles when he encounters them while he is traveling.
His entire focus was on Fengchun Tower.
I kept replaying that sound that lasted only three breaths in my mind.
There were voices from Xiao Dongchen, Chen Yunfan, the Cui family girl, and others, as well as from the lobby and the private rooms upstairs.
Most of them are half-sentences or meaningless interjections.
Examples include phrases like "...like Lord Liu..." and "...his wife is like a tiger, unlike Brother Fang's concubine...".
What is that?
Chen Yi subconsciously added a few adjectives, such as "a beauty of unparalleled grace," "radiant," or "charming."
Scattered and pieced together.
Most of the remaining meaningful remarks were not as valuable as the things that the Cui family girl was concerned about regarding Ma Liangcai.
Chen Yi jotted down a few pieces of information that seemed useful, as well as the person who said those words, and then a deduction formed in his mind.
"The hidden guards are discussing important matters, and one of them can only be Xiao Dongchen."
"He must have used this as an excuse to get out of Chen Yunfan's sight and exchange intelligence with another hidden guard."
The time was very short, and no sound could be made, otherwise Chen Yunfan and the Cui family would definitely notice.
"So he may have written down the intelligence content in advance, or he may have simply dipped his pen in water to write, and discussed the matter with others silently."
Based on this deduction, Chen Yi then put himself in Xiao Dongchen's shoes and considered what could be considered "important matters" at this time.
To disrupt the trade between the mountain tribes and the Dingyuan Army?
no.
Burning down the grain depots in three towns?
There is a certain probability.
According to the information he had heard before, Xiao Dongchen should have conspired with Ge Laosan to do this.
What remains are the arrangements for the Provincial Administration Commission and the disputes between the Xiao and Liu families.
Thinking of this, Chen Yi came back to his senses and stopped to rub his temples.
After much thought...
He still insisted on his previous deduction—that Xiao Dongchen should profit from the conflict between the Xiao and Liu families.
Just as he wanted to burn down the three towns and destroy the trade market.
This time, he'll probably resort to the same old tricks, with the aim of stirring up conflict between Xiao and Liu, and completely throwing the Xiao family into chaos.
"Only in this way can he and the second branch of the family he represents achieve their goal of controlling the entire Xiao family."
Working backward from the results and goals, it's not difficult to arrive at this conclusion.
The difficulty is,
What do Xiao Dongchen and his second wife plan to do, or what arrangements does he have for those hidden guards?
Just as Chen Yi was thinking about these things, he heard the sound of horses' hooves and cart tracks behind him, followed by a familiar voice in his ear:
"Son-in-law, why are you standing at the door and not going in?"
Chen Yi glanced back and saw that it was Ge Laosan driving back. Then he looked ahead and noticed that Ge Laosan was already standing outside the Xiao residence.
He smiled and said, "I'm tired from walking, let's take a break."
Just as Ge Laosan was about to speak, he saw Xiao Dongchen lift the curtain in the carriage behind him and say:
"Qingzhou, things are not peaceful in the city lately. It's best not to go out unless absolutely necessary and stay at home."
Chen Yi glanced at him, smiled and nodded: "Thank you for reminding me, Uncle Dongchen. I'll remember it."
Xiao Dongchen gave a nonchalant "hmm," lowered the curtain, and gestured for Ge Laosan to return to his residence.
The carriage entered the Xiao family's residence first.
Chen Yi watched them disappear beyond the screen wall, paused briefly, and then followed them into the house.
Faintly, I could still hear some sounds.
"He has gone to Guiyun Academy now, which must be for his own reasons."
"That's your problem, it has nothing to do with me. Don't forget what you promised me."
"Once I get away, those guys are going out for a stroll tomorrow..."
The sound was so low it was barely audible.
If Chen Yi hadn't been focused on the front yard, he probably wouldn't have heard any of this.
It's fortunate that it was him; if it were anyone else, even if they heard it, they probably wouldn't have thought much of it.
"These two hidden guards are actually Silver Flag officers, and they don't even bother to hide their secret meetings?"
Despite his thoughts, Chen Yi was well aware that they didn't take him seriously, considering him a weak and scholarly man.
I'm sure their expressions will be quite interesting when they discover they're actually quite skilled in martial arts.
Chen Yi snorted to himself and went straight back to Chunhe Garden.
Xiao Die, Pei Guanli, and Xiao Wuge, who were in the pavilion, all came over to greet him when they saw him.
"Son-in-law, you're late again today."
"Brother-in-law, people have been waiting for you so long that their food has gotten cold."
Xiaodie's tone was melancholic, but her worry was also evident.
Pei Guanli rubbed her stomach, looking genuinely resentful, clearly having been hungry for a long time.
Xiao Wuge, as usual, asked with a grin, "Brother-in-law, did the trip to Guiyun Academy go smoothly?"
Chen Yi arrived at the pavilion, put away his oil-paper umbrella, and said with a smile, "It went fairly smoothly. I'll be going to the academy to teach people how to write in a few days."
Then he placed the iced glutinous rice cakes on the stone table, saying, "Knowing you would wait for me to come back, I went to Fengchunlou to get two servings of iced glutinous rice cakes."
Xiaodie's face lit up with a smile at the mention of delicious food. She eagerly untied the package, and then...
She first placed the first piece of shaved ice in Xiao Wuge's bowl, followed by Chen Yi and Pei Guanli's.
When it was her turn, her big eyes looked at Chen Yi.
It's as if it's asking, "Can I eat this too?"
Chen Yi knew exactly what she was thinking, so he picked up a piece and put it in her bowl, saying, "Try it."
"Thank you, son-in-law."
With food and drink to eat and drink, and laughter and conversation filling the air, the atmosphere became warm and cozy again.
Hearing the sound, Xiao Wan'er, who was nearby, breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help but mutter to herself that Chen Yi had ignored her instructions.
But he came back so late, things must have gone smoothly at Guiyun Academy, right?
...
We've had dinner.
Chen Yi returned to his room, rested briefly, and then summoned the light screen to take a look.
[Chance: 135]
"It can also be upgraded to the Great Perfection..."
Currently, those who have reached the Great Completion level include calligraphy, medicine, martial arts body and footwork, while those who have reached the Lesser Completion level include martial arts fist, martial arts spear, and chess.
After a moment's thought.
Chen Yi then used the opportunity to elevate his martial arts fist to the Great Perfection realm, and profound mysteries immediately surfaced in his mind.
Now he lacks a portable weapon, and to be on the safe side, improving his martial arts skills is the least likely to be discovered.
It's not too late for him to improve his marksmanship once he gets enough opportunities.
"The chess skills are sufficient for now. I need to find time to complete the zither and painting skills later, so as not to let others discover my flaws."
Chen Yi thought to himself, and instead of rushing to comprehend the profound mysteries of boxing, he sat cross-legged on the bed and continued to cultivate the Four Symbols Technique.
He only slowly finished his practice when light appeared before his eyes at midnight.
After seeing the contents of the screen, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
[Daily Intelligence - Mid-Rank Profound: At 7 PM, the Shu Prefecture Criminal Investigation Department located the murderer of Liu Jing outside the Huixian Tower in the West Market and apprehended the killer. A small amount of good fortune may be obtained.]
Chen Yi frowned as he looked at the contents of the document. "...Outside Huixian Tower? Is the Criminal Investigation Department really that capable?"
He was invited over by someone sent by Liu Jing at the alley entrance outside Huixianlou that day.
He thought he had done everything perfectly, and with two days of rain, he never expected that the Criminal Investigation Department would still find him there.
However, Chen Yi immediately realized that something was wrong.
"Catch the murderer outside Huixian Tower?"
“Normally, I should be at home tomorrow night around 7 PM, how could I possibly be going there?”
He pondered for a moment.
Chen Yi couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Damn it, could someone be pretending to be the murderer?"
Thinking of Xiao Dongchen and the other hidden guards discussing important matters, he suddenly had a bold guess.
—The "murderer" is probably going to pretend to be acting under the orders of the Xiao family.
Or perhaps, he is a member of the Xiao family.
"If that's the case... I have to go and take a look."
(End of this chapter)
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