Chapter 96 Xiao Wan'er's Plans
It was almost dusk when Chen Yi, Xiao Die, and Liu Si'er finally returned to the mansion.
The carriage stopped in the front yard, and Liu Si'er asked, seemingly casually, "Young master, are you going to the pharmacy tomorrow? I'd like to ask Lao San to prepare the horse in advance."
Chen Yi waved without turning his head, and led Xiao Die leisurely through the front porch towards Chunhe Garden.
Liu Si'er stared thoughtfully at his back, muttering to herself.
What was this fledgling thinking?
He returned in less than half a day yesterday, which can be said to be preparing a congratulatory gift for the third-ranked scholar.
It's fine for him to go and offer his congratulations today, since the third-ranked scholar is getting married.
He should be free tomorrow, so why hasn't he gone to Jishi Pharmacy yet?
However, it is certain that he could not have known about Project Falcon in advance.
Suppressing his strange feelings, Liu Si'er glanced at the back room and muttered to himself in a louder voice:
"The wedding of this third-ranked scholar is quite a grand affair. The groom will probably have to stay home and refuse visitors tomorrow."
Regardless of whether Uncle Gui heard him or not, he led the carriage toward the stables on the other side.
At this moment, the door to the back room opened a crack, and only one eye could be vaguely seen exposed, seemingly cold and sinister.
A long silence followed.
Squeak.
The door was closed.
...
Chen Yi took Xiao Die back to Chunhe Garden and took a hot bath, feeling refreshed and invigorated.
Xiaodie can also take a bath, but she doesn't have a big enough wooden tub; she uses a small wooden basin instead.
Don't ask Chen Yi how he knew.
After breaking through to the eighth rank in martial arts cultivation, the wondrous use of true essence made his hearing several times stronger than before.
If he wanted to, you could hear a pin drop in the Spring Lotus Garden.
However, he usually uses the Xuanwu Concealing Breath Technique to conceal his cultivation level, and his hearing is maintained at about three or four times stronger than that of an ordinary person.
However, people with excellent hearing cannot stand it when others speak loudly in their ears.
It was incredibly noisy and booming.
This is also the reason why he and Chen Yunfan were so competitive during the day.
After taking a shower, Chen Yi changed into casual clothes and went to the pavilion, listening to the cicadas and frogs chirping and enjoying the summer night breeze.
Every now and then, a few golden carp would jump up and spit a few mouthfuls of water at him.
Chen Yi didn't pay any attention, and instead picked up the bait next to him and threw it into the pool.
This immediately attracted dozens of carp, causing them to thrash about and splash water everywhere.
"You guys are having a good time now, but why don't you ever give me any face normally?"
Chen Yi chuckled and cursed, then sat down and watched the water gradually calm down.
Without realizing it, he thought about what happened at the banquet earlier that day.
Mr. Yue Ming invited him to serve as a teacher at Guiyun Academy, but needless to say, he couldn't accept.
What he cared about was Chen Yunfan's reminder.
He was also thinking about the current situation of the Xiao family, the purpose of Chen Yunfan and Li Huaigu's visit to Shuzhou, and what they might do.
Scattered pieces, but eventually a clearer outline emerged.
Sit quietly for a moment.
Chen Yi let out a long breath and got up to go back to cultivate and rest.
As he approached the wooden building, he paused and looked toward Jiaxingyuan.
I could faintly hear some sounds.
A crackling sound.
"Miss, there are still 1,300 taels of silver in the manor, but we are short 2,400 taels of silver."
"Have you calculated the monthly allowances for each household in the mansion for next month?"
Then came another series of crackling sounds.
"Miss, it will cost at least three thousand taels of silver..."
A moment of silence.
Then they heard Xiao Wan'er say softly with a smile, "Cui'er, if you take the jewelry from my room and pawn it tomorrow, you should be able to raise the money."
"Miss, then you..."
"I spend most of my time at home and don't need those gold, silver and valuables."
"Alright, it's getting late, everyone go and rest."
The sound stopped, and faintly, a soft sigh seemed to drift on the summer breeze.
Chen Yi looked at it for a moment before calmly continuing to walk back to the room.
"A troublesome summer."
...
The next day, the weather was fine.
Chen Yi indeed did not go to Jishi Pharmacy.
After finishing his cultivation early in the morning, he set up a chessboard in the pavilion.
Sometimes he plays black, sometimes he plays white.
Following the newly acquired "Thousand-Hand Chess Manual" from yesterday, he laid out some chess pieces on the chessboard.
The initial chess shapes were very simple, mostly arranged on the edges and corners, forming shapes such as "long, upright, and pointed".
About half an hour later, he finally understood some of the rules, such as the star positions on the chessboard and the liberties.
[Successfully mastered the art of Go; Level: Beginner]
[Chess Way: Beginner 0/1 (Points can be added)]
Without hesitation, Chen Yi advanced his chess skills to the minor mastery level, and the profound mysteries of chess surged into his mind.
He looked at the chessboard in front of him, and suddenly all the previously unclear points became clear.
It has rules, it has chess-like shapes, and it is as numerous as the stars in the sky.
In a game of chess, black and white are separated only by the chessboard; that's roughly how it is.
Chen Yi closed his eyes to rest for a moment, then began to place his pieces on the chessboard with great interest.
As one becomes more and more familiar with the game of Go, even the actions of capturing and placing stones have a certain graceful rhythm.
However, to outsiders, no difference was noticeable.
In Xiaodie's eyes, whether her son-in-law was playing chess, writing calligraphy, or fishing, his every move was always so casual.
Even his temper was mostly calm and composed.
As for Xiao Wuge, he was busy asking Xiao Die to tell him about the interesting things that happened at Li Huaigu's wedding banquet yesterday, and he didn't pay any attention to Chen Yi.
Xiaodie naturally wouldn't refuse, and she recounted the story with great emotion.
When she spoke of Mr. Yue Ming inviting Chen Yi to join Guiyun Academy, her tone became somewhat proud, as if she were honored.
When she talked about people talking badly about Chen Yi behind his back, she pouted and said angrily that those people were the "talented but immoral people" that her son-in-law had mentioned.
When she talked about the poem and calligraphy again, she smiled again and vividly described the reactions of the students, officials and elders.
Although some of it was exaggerated, Xiao Wuge could only feel envy when he heard it, and he kept saying that he wanted to go to the banquet next time.
Chen Yi readily agreed, as it wasn't a big deal to begin with.
Xiao Wuge felt better, but he still felt something was missing. He looked around, smiled, and got up to run towards Jiaxing Garden.
"Brother-in-law, I'm going to find my eldest sister."
Chen Yi casually told her to slow down, then asked Xiao Die to boil water and make tea before sitting down at the stone table to continue studying the chess score.
For him, learning Go is not a pastime, but a way to steal moments of leisure from his busy schedule.
It should be noted that he practices his skills every day without fail, and never neglects his martial arts training.
Therefore, he doesn't have much free time each day.
It was nearing noon.
Chen Yi thought Xiao Wuge would have dinner at Jiaxingyuan before returning, but just as Chen Yi was about to have dinner with Xiao Die, he came running over with a displeased look on his face.
"Brother-in-law, those people are absolutely despicable!"
The word "bastard" rarely appears in Xiao Wuge's mouth.
Chen Yi asked curiously, "Sit down and tell me what's the matter?"
Xiao Wuge said indignantly, "Just now I overheard my eldest sister's conversation with the butler."
"They said the original supplier of medicinal herbs refused to buy them from us, and that someone else offered a high price to buy them."
"But the butler said that the medicine merchant's herbs were so plentiful that they almost filled the warehouse."
"Brother-in-law, isn't he infuriating? It's not like we're not paying him, so why isn't he supplying us?"
After listening, Chen Yi pondered for a moment, then asked Xiao Die to get him a bowl and chopsticks, and said with a smile:
"It's nothing serious, don't take it to heart."
"Besides, your sister is here at home, so I'm sure things will work out eventually."
(End of this chapter)
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