You Promised to Be an Idle Son-in-Law, How Could You Become a Land Immortal?

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: If Life Were Only As It Was at First Sight

Xiao Wan’er didn’t unroll the calligraphy scroll any further. Instead, she rolled it back up and placed it in its box.

Mr. Yue Ming saw their actions clearly. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back and snorted softly.

”Miss Wan’er, now you tell this old man, was this scroll truly written by Chen Yi?”

Before Xiao Wan’er could answer, Xiaodie, standing beside her, couldn’t hold back. ”Eldest Miss, the Young Master really did write it! I was right there, and I even saw faint strands of fluorescent light...”

Just then, Xiao Jinghong raised a hand to cut her off. ”That’s enough, Xiaodie. Say no more.”

After Xiaodie resentfully fell silent, she turned to the old man and gave a slight bow. ”As for the origin of this scroll, the Xiao Mansion will provide Mr. Yue Ming with an answer shortly.”

Mr. Yue Ming glanced at her and nodded calmly. ”I shall await the good news.”

With that, he turned and strode away.

A few nearby students bowed to the Xiao Family members before following after him.

Wang Lixing glanced at the two misses’ expressions, then at Xiaodie, who was pouting and on the verge of tears. He hesitated before bowing.

”Eldest Miss, Second Miss, the calligraphy was indeed written by the Young Master.”

Xiao Jinghong looked at him, her eyes shimmering slightly beneath her half-armor. It seemed she hadn’t expected him to speak up at this moment.

After a moment of thought, she said, ”I am aware. We will discuss this back at the mansion.”

Then, Xiao Jinghong ordered Xiaodie to follow and helped Xiao Wan’er back onto the carriage.

Xiaodie followed closely, step for step, and sat on the outer part of the carriage. She kept her head down, not daring to look up.

She didn’t know what she had said wrong just now and couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Just then, Xiao Wan’er set the scroll aside and asked, ”Xiaodie, did you truly watch the Young Master write this?”

”Yes, Eldest Miss. I wouldn’t dare lie.”

The two Xiao sisters exchanged a look. Xiao Wan’er’s playful, reproachful gaze seemed to say, ’Second Sister, you’ve found a good husband.’

But Xiao Jinghong remained somewhat doubtful.

To be precise, she found it hard to believe her elder sister’s saying, ”the calligraphy reflects the person.” Otherwise, how could she explain her husband abducting a woman and visiting brothels?

Thinking of this, Xiao Jinghong asked, ”Xiaodie, tell me everything the Young Master has said and done recently, in full detail.”

”Yes, Second Miss...”

Xiaodie’s eyes flickered over the half-armor on her face before she lowered her head again and began her halting account.

She spoke with great detail, from Chen Yi being confined to copy the family rules, to writing the ”Shu State Ode: Marrying into the Xiao Sect,” to his confinement being lifted and going to South City Yanhua Lane, and finally, to pretending to ”abduct a woman” to help Li Huai’gu and Miss Yun Xiang.

There was only one thing Xiaodie concealed—the poem titled ”Wan God’s Ode.” She didn’t dare even mention it, afraid the Second Miss would punish the Young Master after hearing about it.

After she finished, the carriage was silent for a long while.

Xiao Wan’er reviewed Chen Yi’s actions in her mind. Recalling the night he had climbed the wall to come to Jiaxing Garden, she couldn’t help but smile.

The jade-like beauty of her face, framed by the white fur trim, grew even more radiant, as pure as a blooming lotus.

”Second Sister, your husband’s actions cannot be judged by common sense.”

”Perhaps,” Xiao Jinghong said, temporarily setting aside her reservations.

Compared to the pretentious scholars, celebrities, and the gossip-mongering common folk, Xiaodie’s words clearly carried more weight.

Xiao Wan’er knew her sister had a colder personality, so she didn’t press the matter. Instead, she opened the calligraphy scroll again.

As her slender hands gracefully unrolled it, faint strands of white light appeared one by one over each character on the five-foot-long sheet of Yunsong Paper.

But soon, the glow on the scroll faded, leaving only characters that seemed to shimmer with a faint, flowing light.

Xiao Wan’er stared, her gaze frozen.

It was as if the horizontal and vertical strokes possessed a strange power, making it impossible for her to look away.

She wasn’t the only one; Xiao Jinghong, beside her, was the same.

However, unlike Xiao Wan’er, who did not practice Martial Arts, what Xiao Jinghong saw in the scroll was not merely text, but faint, ethereal strands of a Mental Realm.

In a daze, a figure seemed to appear before her eyes, clad in a long robe, strolling through mountain fields.

The figure was tall and slender, his long hair coiled in a bun. A gentle smile always graced his handsome face as he unhurriedly admired the surrounding scenery.

”Brother-in-law’s calligraphy is truly unconventional. No, I should say his calligraphy has already formed a style of its own.”

After a long moment, Xiao Wan’er said with admiration, ”No wonder Mr. Yue Ming spoke as he did earlier. The significance of this scroll is likely...”

It was likely something that would make countless famous calligraphers in the Great Wei Dynasty flock to it.

Just like Mr. Yue Ming today, who had disregarded his status and decorum to argue with a maid from the Marquis’s Mansion.

Xiao Jinghong returned to her senses and nodded. ”It should be so.”

Xiao Wan’er gave her that same playful, chiding look. ”Second Sister, are you unhappy?”

”Eldest Sister, you’re overthinking it.”

Xiao Jinghong turned her head to look out the carriage window, the figure she had just seen in the calligraphy scroll lingering in her mind. A strange curiosity grew within her.

In fact, before the wedding, she had secretly gone to Fengchun Building to catch a glimpse of Chen Yi.

At the time, she had only thought her husband was like any other scholar, with a strong scholarly air, but also a hint of resentment and gloom.

He was completely different from the ”husband” she was now hearing about from others.

Therefore, Xiao Jinghong was extremely curious about what had happened to Chen Yi during her absence from the Marquis’s Mansion.

’He couldn’t have been replaced by an impostor, could he?’

「A short while later.」

Shen Huatang drove the carriage through the main gates of the Xiao Family estate, followed by another identical carriage and Wang Lixing’s group.

Ge the Third watched from a distance as the carriage crossed the central courtyard and headed straight for the rear courtyard. He muttered, ”Looking at the way our two misses are acting, I get the feeling the Young Master is done for this time.”

SLAP.

Wang Lixing couldn’t help but slap him, glaring. ”Have you got a death wish? How dare you say that?”

Ge the Third was about to speak when understanding dawned on his face. He quickly put his hands together and begged for forgiveness. ”My apologies, Brother Xing. The misses have been away from the mansion for a while. I forgot.”

He had indeed forgotten.

It wasn’t so bad with the Eldest Miss, Xiao Wan’er, who had no Martial Arts training.

But the Second Miss, Xiao Jinghong, was a Fourth Grade Realm Cultivator. Her Martial Arts had long since transcended the mundane. She could hear what others could not, see what others could not, and could even step on the clouds and soar into the sky.

An expert of her caliber could hear what he said behind her back, even if she wasn’t paying attention to him.

Liu Si’er glanced at the two of them and said in a low voice, ”In any case, with the Second Miss back, everyone in the mansion will be a little more disciplined.”

’Damn it, the one who needs to be disciplined the most is that Fledgling!’

...

As the two misses of the Xiao Family returned to the mansion, news spread to every residence within the Marquis’s Mansion.

「In Qingjing Residence.」

When the Old Marquis received the message from a servant, he was playing chess with Duke Qian and others. A hint of joy appeared on his face upon hearing the news.

”Jinghong has returned to the mansion. I won’t be able to accompany you two for much longer.”

Zhang Xuan curled his lip slightly. ”You shameless old coot. You really lucked out, having a prodigy like Jinghong emerge from your Xiao Family.”

Sun Fu nodded. ”Crude words, but not wrong. It is indeed so.”

The Old Marquis didn’t get angry. After a moment of amusement, a trace of melancholy appeared on his face.

”If not for their parents dying on the battlefield, why would my Xiao Family need Jinghong to take the lead?”

”Alright, alright. Don’t say such depressing things on a happy day.”

”That girl Jinghong can hold on for another ten years at most. When Wuge returns from Jinling, your Xiao Family will still be the Xiao Family.”

”I hope so.”

「Meanwhile, outside Spring Lotus Garden.」

Xiao Jinghong and Xiao Wan’er arrived outside the garden, followed by Shen Huatang and a young woman wearing a Silver Half Armor, each carrying luggage.

Xiaodie, Wang Lixing, and the others were also behind them.

Xiaodie glanced at Spring Lotus Garden. Faintly hearing the Young Master’s cheerful laughter from inside, she stammered, ”Miss, should I go inform the Young Master?”

Xiao Jinghong waved her hand, signaling that it wasn’t necessary. She further gestured for them to halt and be silent.

Then, she and Xiao Wan’er walked into Spring Lotus Garden together, and the sounds immediately became clearer.

”The most... uh... Brother-in-law, you’ve been fishing for almost a month and haven’t caught a single one.”

The Young Crown Prince, Zhang Heng, still had a disdainful tone, but his attitude had clearly improved compared to before.

”Brother Heir, you don’t understand. Brother-in-law said this is called ’Jiang Taigong fishing—the willing take the bait.’ It’s not that he can’t catch any, it’s that he doesn’t want to.”

Hearing Xiao Wuge’s childish voice, Xiao Wan’er stifled a cough and winked at Xiao Jinghong.

They then looked toward the figure squatting by the pond, digging in the dirt with a small shovel, and heard him say:

”The boy is teachable! Wuge, your knowledge is enough to utterly demolish the Crown Prince.”

”Really?”

”Impossible! I, this Crown Prince, have knowledge too!”

”For example, Young Master?” Chen Yi said mischievously. ”It couldn’t be learning how to lie, getting exposed by your elders, and then getting a sound whipping, could it?”

After he spoke, he and Xiao Wuge both started laughing, which made Zhang Heng cry out in frustration.

”It’s a good thing, though. Your mother sent you to Spring Lotus Garden, so from now on, you...”

As he spoke, Chen Yi pinched the earthworm he had just dug out of the soil. ”Look, it’s so big!”

He was just about to show off to the two little ones when he saw Xiao Jinghong wearing her half-armor mask and a smiling Xiao Wan’er not far away. He couldn’t help but freeze.

Seeing the newcomers, Xiao Wuge cheered and ran over, calling out affectionately, ”Eldest Sister, Second Sister, you’re finally back!”

Zhang Heng, as if he’d met his nemesis, quieted down after one look from Xiao Jinghong. ”Eldest Cousin, Second Cousin.”

Chen Yi quietly studied them, then suddenly smiled and raised a hand in greeting. ”Wife, Eldest Sister.”

Seeing his gentle smile, Xiao Jinghong found his figure and appearance gradually overlapping with the image she had seen in the calligraphy scroll, and her mind drifted for a moment.

The once illusory and hazy image slowly solidified into the real man holding a wriggling earthworm in his hand, yet he still seemed just as gentle and carefree.

At this moment, Chen Yi was also looking at Xiao Jinghong.

Despite the half-armor mask, he could easily tell that Xiao Jinghong’s features were extraordinary, especially her eyes, which were strikingly similar to Xiao Wan’er’s.

But what caught Chen Yi’s attention even more was her aura—that proud and independent air, as cool and aloof as a banished immortal.

The two of them gazed at each other for a long moment.

Xiao Jinghong was the first to come to her senses. She turned her head away, slightly uncomfortable. ”Husband, I’ve just returned to the mansion. I’m going to change my clothes first.”

Xiao Wan’er noticed her expression and immediately gave a knowing smile, which made Xiao Jinghong quicken her pace as she turned to leave.

Chen Yi watched her retreating back, her figure and appearance now clearly etched in his mind, and smiled to himself.

’If only life could always be like the first time we meet.’

’My wife... she truly does have the beauty of a startling swan...’