Chapter 17 The Heroine?
The heavy rain subsided slightly the following day.
The light drizzle made the entire Xiao residence feel much fresher.
As the birthday of the old Marquis Xiao approached, the servants and maids of the Marquis's mansion began to busy themselves in various courtyards.
Even if it rains, they still have to prepare for the grand celebration of the birthday in advance.
At least the "double happiness" lanterns that were hung during Chen Yi and Xiao Jinghong's wedding should be replaced first.
Before long, lanterns with the character "寿" (longevity) were hung under the eaves of the two wooden buildings in Chunhe Garden.
Because they were worried about the rain getting it wet, the servants also covered it with a tarpaulin, saying that it could be removed before the birthday celebration.
There were other arrangements, but Chen Yi ignored them and left them entirely to Xiao Die.
At this moment, he was pondering what kind of birthday poem to write for the old Marquis, and even asked Xiao Wuge about the old Marquis's deeds.
"Grandfather is very capable."
With shining eyes, Xiao Wuge recounted Xiao Yuan's several battles that thwarted the barbarian tribes, such as leading three thousand Xuanjia Iron Cavalry to slay the barbarian national teacher twenty years ago.
For example, when the Kingdom of Vaishsa rebelled fifteen years ago, Xiao Yuan led his army to quell the rebellion, massacring twenty cities of all sizes. To this day, his name is still known in the Kingdom of Vaishsa.
For example, six years ago, the barbarian Left King Muhag gathered an army of 200,000 and besieged Mengshui Pass. Xiao Yuan commanded from the pass and spent a year defeating them.
However, Xiao Wuge couldn't help but feel a little down when he said this.
"My father, mother, and several uncles and aunts all died in that great battle..."
Chen Yi patted his head and comforted him, "The deceased are gone. Living well is the greatest filial piety you can show them."
The Xiao family is indeed not thriving now. Needless to say, the main branch is now only occupied by the old Marquis Xiao and the crippled Xiao Xuanshuo, apart from Xiao Jinghong, Xiao Wan'er, and Xiao Wuge.
There were quite a few other illegitimate children, such as Xiao Wang, the brother of the old Marquis Xiao. As the second branch of the Xiao family, he had a large family with three sons alone.
Chen Yi had his doubts about this, but later he learned that the second branch of the family had pursued a career in civil service, and most of them served in the Shu Prefecture.
The highest-ranking official is Xiao Wang's eldest son, Xiao Dongchen, who is currently the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shu Prefecture, a fourth-rank official, in charge of all taxes in Shu Prefecture, and has considerable power.
Of course, the most special one is Xiao Wang's daughter, Xiao Qiuyun, who married the youngest son of the Duke of Gan, and is the biological mother of the young heir Zhang Heng.
It can be said that they have risen to prominence and become a phoenix.
This time, Xiao Qiuyun brought Zhang Heng back to her parents' home, along with the old Duke, ostensibly to celebrate the old Marquis Xiao's birthday, but in reality, it was all about showing off.
To put it nicely, it's called "refined elegance cultivates character"; to put it bluntly, it's called "pretentious arrogance."
Chen Yi's recent opportunities, two out of three, were related to this person, which broadened his horizons.
After a moment, Xiao Wuge smiled again: "Brother-in-law, I'm going to Jinling next year and will stay there for ten years. Can you come with me?"
"Why go there? Isn't it good to stay in Shu Prefecture?"
Although Chen Yi wanted to experience the prosperity of Jiangnan Prefecture and Jinling, he knew that going there would inevitably involve dealing with the Chen family, so it was better to stay in Shu Prefecture for peace and quiet.
Xiao Wuge smiled and said, "According to the regulations of the Great Wei, if I want to inherit the title of Marquis, I need to stay in Jinling for ten years to study courses such as etiquette, laws, and classics."
“But I think my brother-in-law can be my teacher, so I don’t need so many other people to teach me.”
Chen Yi frowned inwardly. Study? This must be from when he was a hostage.
However, upon closer examination, it is not unreasonable—the hereditary succession of the Marquis of Wu, with the heir being a hostage in childhood to receive etiquette and regulations, is entirely beneficial to the royal family.
"I can't be your teacher."
"Doesn't my brother-in-law want to go to Nanjing?"
“I don’t want to, and besides,” Chen Yi glanced sideways at the few lively carp in the fish basket beside him, “you’re too dull-witted, I can’t teach you.”
"ah?"
"Wait! The fish's on the hook! Hurry..."
It's strange, really.
Chen Yi has been making his fishing rod for more than ten days now, but he hasn't caught a single fish.
It's unclear whether he's just incompatible with the "golden carp" in the pond or simply has bad luck, but every time the fish floats, they always manage to escape due to various unexpected events.
That's fine.
The key point is that Xiao Wuge catches fish every day, with the least number he catches being five, which really makes him lose face.
A peaceful day.
Chen Yi did the same as usual today. In the early morning, he practiced standing meditation with Wang Lixing. After breakfast, he picked up a pen to practice calligraphy. Then he spent the rest of the time fishing and drinking tea.
He waited until dawn, then quietly slipped out of the room and practiced the spear stance, the Mountain Collapse Fist, and the Dragon and Phoenix Playing Steps in the bamboo forest.
While standing in the stance, Chen Yi checked the progress of each path.
Name: Chen Yi
Cultivation level: Ninth Rank, Middle
Calligraphy: Dacheng (0/1000)
Calligraphy: Wei Qing (proficient), Running Script (skilled)
Martial Arts - Body: Minor Success (0/100)
Skill: Spear Stance Technique [Mysterious Rank] (Proficient)
Martial Arts - Fist: Minor Success (0/100)
Fist Technique: Mountain Collapse [Mystic Rank] (Proficient)
Martial Arts - Step: Minor Success (0/100)
Movement Technique: Dragon Playing with Phoenix [Yellow Steps] (Beginner's Guide)
Opportunity: 7
"After reaching the middle stage of the ninth rank, one's strength increases rapidly."
When he was at the lowest level of the ninth rank, Chen Yi's physical body could only exert the strength of one ox, but now he has the strength of five oxen, a fivefold increase.
Although he had no knowledge of the progress of other cultivators, based on the profound guidance of [Martial Arts Body], he guessed that other people who practiced [Great Spear Stance Technique] should directly break through to the middle stage of the ninth rank after reaching the strength of an ox.
However, he did not rush to break through. Instead, he continued to hone his physical body through stance training until he could not progress any further before attempting a breakthrough, thus building a solid foundation.
"That's good too. Others use their full strength, while I only need to use 20%."
"If one cultivates the Great Spear Stance Technique to the proficiency level or even the perfection level in the future, one can reach the peak of 'Elephant Power' and have a punch that weighs ten thousand catties."
Thinking of this, Chen Yi calmed his mind and silently felt the vibrations in his muscles, bones, skin, and internal organs. He guided the trace of energy generated from the tempering of flesh and blood into his dantian and gradually expanded his dantian sea of qi.
Once you reach the middle stage of the ninth rank, you'll need to rely on your internal energy to break through to the next level.
First, one must open up the dantian (lower abdomen) and wait until it contains enough qi before proceeding to the next step: opening the four main meridians of the hands, feet, and limbs to reach the ninth grade, upper level, and perfect state.
However, the whole process was extremely slow, and even with the profound guidance of "Martial Arts Body" on Chen Yi's part, it was still a long and arduous process.
An hour passed quickly.
After resting for a while, Chen Yi scanned the surroundings and, seeing that there was nothing unusual, assumed a fighting stance and began practicing the Bengyue Fist slowly and powerfully.
The entire set of boxing techniques consists of nine moves and thirty-six variations.
In addition to being powerful and heavy, it also emphasizes offense over defense, with every punch and kick aimed at vital points, and the footwork is straightforward.
Therefore, after completing the five sets of boxing techniques, Chen Yi's food, which he had just replenished, was completely used up again, leaving his stomach empty.
"I need to ask Xiaodie to bring more food tomorrow, otherwise if I continue training, I'll really become weak, just like Wang Lixing said."
Chen Yi muttered to himself, then circled around a few purple bamboos to continue practicing the [Dragon Playing with Phoenix] movement technique.
Just then, a clear and melodious voice suddenly rang in his ears:
"Chen Yi?"
Chen Yi's expression hardened slightly, and he kept moving away, scanning his surroundings.
"who?"
"So it's you, Chen Yi, the son-in-law of the Xiao family and husband of Xiao Jinghong, right?"
The voice was elusive, wandering through the bamboo grove, interspersed with tinkling sounds.
Chen Yi looked around but still found nothing. "May I ask what business this... lady has with me?"
"A female knight-errant? Hehehe... That's right, that's right, I am a female knight-errant."
(End of this chapter)
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