Chapter 59 I'm still soft-hearted after all.
It was a farce that left people both laughing and crying.
After calming down, no one said anything about Chen Yi anymore.
In their minds, he was a "low-profile figure," a rare find not only in the Xiao family but throughout the entire Shu Prefecture.
It is indeed something he is capable of doing: verbally clashing with a powerful general.
Even the strict second master Xiao Wang, after learning about Xiao Jinghong's attitude towards Chen Yi, was helpless against his son-in-law.
Let alone other people?
In contrast, Li Changqing was different.
After just a few words, it wasn't hard for everyone to see what he was thinking.
Therefore, at this moment, the eldest and second branches of the Xiao family, as well as those distant relatives and distinguished guests, all looked at Li Changqing with some strange eyes.
If this had happened before Xiao Jinghong got married, it would have been better; one could say he was "deeply in love."
However, Xiao Jinghong is already married, and for Li Changqing to still have such thoughts and openly express them is extremely impolite.
Even if he didn't say it explicitly... that's still against etiquette.
However, no one voiced their thoughts.
Meanwhile, the old Duke Zhang Xuan led Sun Fu to Chen Yi's side and began to chat.
"I said some bad things about your father earlier, are you still holding a grudge against me?"
Chen Yi shook his head and replied with a smile, "Your Excellency, I don't remember."
Zhang Xuan laughed, pointing at him as he said to Sun Fu, "Changming, do you see this? This kid looks exactly like you when you were young."
Sun Fu ignored him and looked Chen Yi up and down, saying, "The poem you wrote earlier was quite good."
"You flatter me, sir."
Chen Yi knew his own limitations. He had a rudimentary understanding of tonal patterns and his lyrics were merely fluent. He thought the lyrics were good only because he was standing on the shoulders of giants and did not deserve praise.
Before Sun Fu could speak, the old king said, "There's no need for excessive praise, I like it very much."
“If it weren’t for Lao Xiao’s disagreement, I would have been willing to accept that poem for ‘a thousand pieces of gold per word’.”
Chen Yi paused, then asked seriously, "Your Excellency, is this true?"
The entire poem has over a hundred characters, and it cost tens of thousands of taels of gold...
He suddenly felt hungry and wanted to eat meat.
The old duke glanced at him a few times and said with a smile, "My birthday is coming up soon. If you are interested, I have plenty of money."
Sun Fu's face darkened. "Qingzhou, since ancient times, scholars have always prioritized learning. Once they are tainted by money, they are no longer pure."
He genuinely thought Chen Yi was a good person.
If a scholar uses his talent to make money, and makes a lot of money at that, it will surely attract a lot of criticism if it gets out.
His reputation will be ruined for the rest of his life.
Chen Yi thought for a moment, then said, "I have learned a lot."
There's really no need to sell poems; otherwise, there will definitely be many more people like the old Duke in the future.
trouble.
Sun Fu smiled and nodded, "That's right."
The old duke, relying on his height and strength, grabbed him by the neck and angrily said, "You old fool, are you doing this on purpose?"
"Let go! What kind of behavior is this...!"
Seeing this, Pang Xuan, standing at the back of the crowd, looked very displeased.
The three military commanders were of similar status and strength, and were known throughout Shu Prefecture as the "Three Heroes".
Now that one of them has embarrassed himself, the other two are naturally ashamed.
"Changqing, what did you promise us before we came?"
"I told you not to act on your emotions, but you wouldn't listen."
"Now look what's happened. Even after all this commotion, that son-in-law is still the same. And what about you?"
Beside him, the burly man chimed in, "Just wait to be punished by General Jinghong."
Li Changqing was speechless for a long time, then nodded with a wry smile: "Brother Pang, please forgive me. I did not think things through this time."
"I never expected him to be so eloquent."
Pang Xuan turned his head to look at him, "That's what you think?"
Seeing that he didn't understand, Pang Xuan gently shook his head, "Have you forgotten the military strategy that the old Marquis once taught you?"
"In every major battle, we must first scout out the enemy's presence. Only in this way can we seize the enemy's weak points and strike them deadly."
Li Changqing asked in bewilderment, "What does this have to do with military strategy?"
The burly man next to him said in a deep voice, "What Brother Xuan means is that you know nothing about the son-in-law and yet you went up to provoke him, which is a bit stupid."
Li Changqing's face darkened, and he glared at him: "Ma Kui, you son of a bitch..."
A burly man named Ma Kui slapped him on the back, saying, "Don't curse, you can't beat me."
Seeing this, Pang Xuan shook his head: "Changqing, what you said may be rough, but it makes sense. You really did something stupid this time."
"Today is the old Marquis's birthday. Your behavior is disrespectful to the Marquis."
“I didn’t…”
Before Li Changqing could speak, Pang Xuan interrupted, "To put it bluntly, it wouldn't be an exaggeration for General Jinghong to bring you to justice."
Li Changqing knew he was right, but since things had come to this, he could only sigh and say, "I will go and explain to Jinghong later."
Pang Xuan said seriously, "It is General Jinghong, Changqing. Do not forget your identity."
"..."
It wasn't until nearly 9 AM that the old Marquis and the others returned.
He glanced around, his slightly cloudy eyes lingering for a moment on Chen Yi and Li Changqing, before speaking:
"I've kept you all waiting. Please come with me to the central courtyard and take your seats."
After saying that, he took Xiao Wuge's hand and walked ahead.
Xiao Wan'er then gave Shen Huatang a few instructions and followed the old Marquis away.
Just as everyone was about to set off to follow, Xiao Jinghong walked up to Pang Xuan and the other two, and said in a cold tone:
"Go back and receive one hundred lashes."
It goes without saying who they're referring to.
Li Changqing paused for a moment, then bowed and said, "This humble general will obey General Jinghong's orders!"
"If this happens again, you will be court-martialed."
"yes!"
Seeing this scene, Chen Yi couldn't help but feel a warmth in his heart.
At least there was someone standing by his side in this world—his wife, Xiao Jinghong.
This inevitably reminded him of the words he vaguely heard when he first came into this world:
"Now that he has become my husband, I shall make all the decisions."
Looking back now, it does seem to match up with Xiao Jinghong at this time.
At this moment, Xiao Jinghong turned to look at him, a slight smile appearing on her lightly made-up face:
"My lord, we will be greeting the guests later. You will come with me."
Chen Yi smiled and nodded, bid farewell to the old Duke and Mr. Sun Fu, and then followed Xiao Jinghong to his side.
After the two of them left side by side, the rest of the group followed.
The old Duke and Sun Fu exchanged a glance, both of them quite surprised, as they hadn't expected Xiao Jinghong to value Chen Yi so highly.
"I was right before. Old Xiao has received a brilliant help and his luck is still pretty good."
"Chen Yi's luck is pretty good."
Seeing that most people had left, Pang Xuan patted Li Changqing on the shoulder and sighed, "Let's go. A hundred lashes are better than losing your head."
Ma Kui nodded, a serious expression on his face: "The old Marquis must have heard it too."
Li Changqing remained silent, following the two towards the central courtyard, his mind still preoccupied with the scene that had just unfolded.
Why is he so highly regarded by Jinghong?
...
Chen Yi was also thinking about this problem.
He could roughly guess what Xiao Jinghong was thinking.
The two now have a completely innocent relationship, treat each other with respect, and appear to be husband and wife as one in public, which is perfectly reasonable.
Xiao Jinghong seemed to see through his thoughts and calmly said, "Husband, don't overthink it."
Chen Yi nodded with a gentle smile, "Madam, the way you were giving orders just now was very... impressive."
"Fan'er?"
Xiao Jinghong did not understand the meaning of this word.
Although it seemed strange, I knew he was praising me, and I felt a little awkward.
Chen Yi turned his head to look at her and couldn't help but find her expression amusing.
Noticing his gaze, Xiao Jinghong quickened her pace, saying, "It's almost 11:00 AM, the guests are about to arrive."
To be honest, he looked somewhat like he was fleeing in panic.
Chen Yi smiled as he watched her retreating figure, refraining from making any further jokes, fearing that his wife might actually become angry.
His current physique is no match for a punch from a fourth-grade expert.
However, inexplicably.
His initial feeling of detachment had faded considerably, replaced by a greater sense of belonging to the place.
Chen Yi recalled his earlier thought—if his wife forced him to do something, he would run away.
Looking back now, as long as those things aren't too excessive, he can try to accept them.
"Sigh, I'm still too soft-hearted."
(End of this chapter)
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