Chapter 35 Did your brother-in-law see that?
Upon seeing that the visitor was Liu Si'er, Chen Yi frowned inwardly, but remained outwardly calm as he said:
"Fourth Brother, what urgent matter brings you to Chunhe Garden so late at night?"
Liu Si'er, standing in the shadows on the inner side of the porch, stepped forward upon hearing this, exposing herself to the moonlight, and bowed respectfully in front of him.
"I apologize for my intrusion. I heard footsteps in the garden just now and was worried about the safety of the young master and his son-in-law, so I rushed in. I hope the young master will forgive me."
Chen Yi looked at him calmly, wondering when he had entered Chunhe Garden and whether he had seen Pei Guanli.
"I was cultivating under the cover of night just now, but I didn't expect that Fourth Brother would misunderstand."
Liu Si'er gave an "oh," maintained her bowing posture, looked up at him, sized him up, and then suddenly realized:
"Is the young master worried about the upcoming examination? That makes sense. Second Master, it's really too harsh on you to reach the lower stage of the ninth rank within two months."
Before Chen Yi could respond, Wang Li walked into Chunhe Garden. He had obviously overheard their conversation, glanced at them, and frowned, saying:
"Fourth Brother, this is against the rules."
Liu Si'er readily agreed, and said with a smile, "Please forgive me, son-in-law, and please forgive me, Lixing. I was indeed a bit too hasty."
Wang Lixing patted him on the shoulder and bowed to Chen Yi, saying, "Son-in-law, I failed to stop Fourth Brother. Please forgive me."
Chen Yi suddenly realized that Liu Si'er must have just entered Chunhe Garden and wanted to test him after seeing him.
Thinking it over, Chen Yi smiled and said, "It's alright. Fourth Brother deserves a reward for his concern for the safety of Chunhe Garden. I'll talk to Wu Ge tomorrow and have him ask the old Marquis for permission."
Wang Lixing's expression froze, "This..."
Liu Si'er's heart sank slightly. Even though she hadn't noticed anything unusual about Chen Yi, she was still quite unhappy to hear him treating her like this.
If he hadn't known that Si Li had a scheme against the fledglings, he would have definitely taught them a lesson.
Before the two could speak again, Chen Yi waved his hand and said, "I'm tired, son-in-law. You two should stay outside the door."
Seeing him leisurely enter the wooden building, and a lamp lit up in the study inside, Wang Lixing's expression darkened, and he turned around and pulled Liu Si'er out.
"Fourth Brother, you've crossed the line this time!"
Liu Si'er chuckled twice and said, "Sorry, I misheard you just now. I thought it was that thief who broke into the Marquis's mansion before."
"I didn't think much of it, and I didn't have time to inform you and the third brother before I turned around and went into the garden to check. I was wrong."
Even so, recalling Chen Yi's earlier reply, he asked, "Has the young master been practicing the spear stance training these past few days?"
Wang Lixing, seeing that he didn't seem to be faking it, sighed and said, "Second Master's test is no joke. The young master naturally knows the consequences. When that thief broke in last time, I knew he was secretly cultivating at night."
Liu Si'er clicked his tongue inwardly; it seemed to be true.
He immediately cleared Chen Yi of suspicion.
It makes sense. Chen Yi, this fledgling, is just a weak scholar who has been imprisoned in the Chen family of Jiangnan Prefecture for so long. Even if he has some knowledge, it would be impossible for him to discover him.
After several days of investigation, he was certain that the maid who entered his room had appeared in one of the houses in the backyard.
Since she wasn't in Chunhe Garden, she could only be in Jiaxing Garden next door.
The latter is more likely—perhaps he was caught red-handed when he sent out the secret letter.
Liu Si'er thought to herself, a bitter smile appearing on her face, "What do we do now? The son-in-law is going to sue the old Marquis..."
Wang Lixing glanced at him and said helplessly, "Based on my observations these past few days, the son-in-law is very easy to talk to. Go and apologize to him tomorrow."
"There's no other way..."
Inside the wooden building.
Chen Yi leaned against the window, gazing at the tranquil garden outside.
Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the trees and fell upon him, swaying in the wind and casting a fleeting shadow upon him.
In the silence, he pondered silently.
Liu Si'er must have followed Pei Guanli's trail to the backyard that day. It seems necessary to remind Pei Guanli to be careful later.
Although the Marquis's mansion wouldn't do anything to Pei Guanli because of Xiao Jinghong's connection, it's hard to say what Liu Si'er might do.
Chen Yi then thought about the contents of the secret letter, and his mind began to wander.
"What exactly do these 'hidden guards' think of me?"
"Liu Si'er and Uncle Gui, these 'hidden guards' on the periphery, should be unaware of this, after all, they have been in the Marquis's mansion for so many years, and the time when I came here does not match up."
"Perhaps the 'hidden guard' mentioned in the secret letter who replaced Liu Si'er knows something."
Thinking of this, Chen Yi stood in the side room, his feet interlacing, seemingly slow but actually fast, circling in place.
As his Meteor Butterfly Steps became more and more proficient, his figure gradually blurred, forming a ghostly shadow in the darkness.
“To replace Liu Si’er, to replace… that person will inevitably be frequently seen near Chunhe Garden, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find him.”
...
The next morning, Chen Yi dressed neatly and followed Wang Lixing to the Purple Bamboo Forest.
As he stretched his arms and legs, he asked, "That petty thief from before hasn't been caught yet, has he?"
When Wang Lixing saw that he had brought it up, he explained, "To be honest, son-in-law, apart from the personal guards on duty, everyone else in the Marquis's mansion is secretly investigating."
"That's why Fourth Brother was so nervous when he heard the noise last night. I hope you will forgive him this time."
Chen Yi chuckled and said, "Brother Xing, I understand the principle of expediency in times of crisis, so I naturally won't blame Fourth Brother."
"However, things can only happen once, so next time something like this happens, Brother Xing should stop it."
Wang Lixing felt relieved and quickly agreed.
Fortunately, it was the son-in-law who was here. If it were the second young lady, the fourth brother would probably be in serious trouble.
"That's all for today, Brother Xing, please feel free to do as you please."
Wang Lixing opened his mouth, looked at Chen Yi who had stopped acting, and said in a low voice, "Young master, how about I show you my stance training?"
Chen Yi waved his hands repeatedly, "No need. With you here, I feel uncomfortable, and the effect of my cultivation will be greatly reduced."
"..."
After Wang Lixing left Chunhe Garden, Chen Yi did not rush to cultivate, but quietly went to the wooden building to find Pei Guanli.
Ding, ding ding.
After a slight knock on the door, Pei Guanli, seemingly still half asleep, ran over.
Her hair was loose, and she still wore the string of bells around her neck. She opened the door wearing only her undergarments and said in a coquettish and languid voice, "Brother-in-law, it's not even dawn yet..."
Chen Yi glanced at it, didn't look at it much, and stuffed the written note into the doorway, whispering a reminder: "Remember to burn it after you've read it."
After saying that, he returned to the bamboo grove.
Pei Guanli closed the door, rubbed her sore eyes, and read the contents of the note in the dim light. Her little tiger teeth immediately showed.
"Fine, I haven't even come to find you yet, and you're already making a fuss about it."
"Once your brother-in-law has finished spying on you, I'll make sure Sister Jinghong destroys you."
Pei Guanli muttered a few words, and only after destroying the note to cover up the evidence did she realize the chill on her body and glanced down at it.
"ah!"
Pei Guanli crossed her arms, and two blushes appeared on her face.
Did your brother-in-law see it?
My brother-in-law must have seen it.
Pei Guanli's face burned, and she hurriedly ran back to her room, jumped onto Xiao Jinghong's bed, and buried herself in the quilt.
Now she was completely awake and couldn't fall back asleep.
(End of this chapter)
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