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

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: The Audacity

After some persuasion, Chen Yi still refused, so Li Huai’gu had no choice but to leave the Xiao Mansion with Yun Xiang, looking disappointed.

The two of them sat in the horse-drawn carriage.

Yun Xiang noticed Li Huai’gu was preoccupied and asked softly, ”Mr. Li, are you worried about how you’ll explain this to Mr. Yue Ming?”

Li Huai’gu snapped out of it, shook his head, and said, ”I’m thinking about Brother Qingzhou.”

”Him?” Yun Xiang thought for a moment and said, ”He seems different from anyone I’ve ever met. He’s very... very easygoing.”

Li Huai’gu sighed at her words. ”Yes, Brother Qingzhou is truly one of a kind. He’s easygoing and follows his heart, uninterested in worldly competition, fame, or fortune.”

In his eyes, only a great scholar like his teacher could possess such a disposition.

After all, most people are shackled by fame and fortune. The more talented and learned a person is, the more they tend to care about such things, spending their entire lives toiling and striving.

But Chen Yi showed no sign of having such inclinations.

Especially when he is so young and accomplished, with talent that surpasses most.

”So, Mr. Li, what do you plan to do?”

”First, I’ll return to Guiyun Academy and report to our teacher. I can only hope he won’t be angry.”

「Guiyun Academy」

”He really refused to come?”

In the spacious study, Mr. Yue Ming sat upright at his desk. A hint of anger showed on his face as he spoke in a displeased tone:

”The status of a live-in son-in-law of the Marquis’s Mansion is indeed not one for high society. But since I had already invited him to the poetry gathering, I would naturally have protected him.”

”Besides, I have corresponded with Mr. Ju Yi many times. How could I possibly embarrass his student?”

Seated in a subordinate position, Li Huai’gu shook his head. ”Teacher, I did my best to persuade him, but... but Brother Qingzhou’s attitude was firm.”

”He also said that this year’s imperial examinations would inevitably be brought up at the gathering. And since his older brother, Yunfan, is the top scholar, people would surely compare them.”

Mr. Yue Ming paused upon hearing this, his expression softening. He stroked his beard and said, ”If that’s the case, then I was the one who was being inconsiderate.”

Watching his teacher’s expression, Li Huai’gu thought for a moment before asking, ”Teacher, there is one thing I don’t understand. Why were you so insistent on inviting Brother Qingzhou?”

Then, as if worried Mr. Yue Ming might misunderstand, he continued, ”If it was because of the previous ’abduction of Lady Yun’ incident, I have already clarified things at the Prefectural Yamen. It had nothing to do with Brother Qingzhou; he was acting out of good intentions.”

”Good intentions?” Recalling the incident of ’abducting a common woman,’ Mr. Yue Ming’s old face grew stern.

”Fang Gui, do you truly believe that?”

”Marriages are arranged by one’s parents and a matchmaker. Even if your mother’s methods were a bit extreme, she was only thinking of what’s best for you.”

”You and Lady Yun may seem deeply in love now, but that doesn’t mean your future together will be easy.”

Li Huai’gu nodded in agreement, a bitter smile on his face.

’I understand the logic, but I’m not willing to abandon Lady Yun, and I never will be.’

’It was just as Chen Yi had written on the note he gave me: there are some things you might regret doing, but not doing them will leave you with a lifetime of regret.’

’If I follow my mother’s arrangement and marry a woman of equal social standing or from a wealthy family, I’ll never be happy as long as I live.’

Mr. Yue Ming could naturally see what was on his mind. He waved a hand dismissively, not wanting to dwell on such romantic affairs, and changed the subject.

”The main reason I asked that Chen Yi to come was for a piece of calligraphy.”

”What piece of calligraphy could have captured your attention so, Teacher?”

Li Huai’gu knew that besides his deep scholarship, his teacher was particularly skilled in the Calligraphy Dao. He often gathered with several other instructors from the academy to appraise works of calligraphy.

’For my teacher to value it so highly that he would issue a personal invitation, Brother Qingzhou must have a piece of calligraphy from a famous master in his possession.’

Mr. Yue Ming said wistfully, ”I don’t know where Chen Yi found a piece written by such a grandmaster of calligraphy. The characters themselves seemed to bloom with splendor.”

Li Huai’gu’s interest was piqued. ”A self-manifesting Mental Realm? There aren’t many masters in the Great Wei Dynasty capable of such calligraphy.”

As Mr. Yue Ming recalled the piece of calligraphy he had only glimpsed, a trace of fervor appeared in his cloudy eyes.

”That wasn’t just any calligraphy. It was a brand-new style, one clearly distinct from Wei Qing’s Style.”

Li Huai’gu was dumbfounded. ”A new style? A new style of calligraphy with a self-manifesting Mental Realm?”

It was no wonder he was so shocked. If this were true, it would be enough to shake the entire Great Wei Dynasty.

You must understand that in the two hundred years since the founding of Great Wei, it wasn’t that no one had tried to innovate and create new calligraphic styles, but none had ever reached the maturity of Wei Qingzi.

Forget a new style with a self-manifesting Mental Realm; even a new piece of calligraphy that could catch the eye of the grandmasters was exceedingly rare.

Mr. Yue Ming was well aware of this and sighed. ”But for such a priceless treasure to be in Chen Yi’s hands... It’s an absolute waste.”

”And what infuriates me the most is that his maid actually argued with me, insisting that the calligraphy was from Chen Yi’s own hand.”

”Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!”

Li Huai’gu couldn’t help but chuckle. He’d never expected his teacher, who was normally so stern and serious, to get into a huff with a maid. It just went to show how much he adored that piece of calligraphy.

At the same time, however, a thread of doubt formed in his mind.

Although he hadn’t spent much time with Chen Yi, he could tell he wasn’t the type to make baseless claims.

Suddenly, an idea struck Li Huai’gu. He quickly took something from an inner pocket of his robe, unfolded it, and glanced at it.

The longer he looked, the stranger his expression became, until finally, even his hands began to tremble slightly.

Mr. Yue Ming noticed his unusual reaction. ”Fang Gui, is something wrong?”

”Yes, Teacher. No... It’s this.”

Li Huai’gu was struggling to explain. Forgetting the proper etiquette between teacher and student, he strode forward and placed the piece of paper in his hand before him.

”Teacher, please, look at this calligraphy.”

Mr. Yue Ming glanced at the palm-sized piece of Yunsong Paper, which had torn edges, and his brow furrowed.

However, out of trust for Li Huai’gu, he held back his comments, took the paper to examine it carefully, and muttered aloud:

”Pluck the blossoms when they are ripe for picking; wait not ’til they are gone and only an empty...”

Before he could finish reciting the line, Mr. Yue Ming shot to his feet. A mixture of shock and delight filled his face as he stared at the characters on the paper, his eyes darting up, down, left, and right, clearly tracing the strokes of each character one by one.

After a long moment.

Mr. Yue Ming smacked his lips and let out a sigh of deep satisfaction.

”Excellent characters. This must have been written by the same person who created the piece I saw earlier.”

With that, he looked at Li Huai’gu and asked, ”Fang Gui, whose writing is this?”

His suspicion confirmed, Li Huai’gu said, unable to hide his excitement, ”Teacher, this was written by Brother Qingzhou just a short while ago!”

”Truly?”

”I would not dare deceive you, Teacher.”

Mr. Yue Ming stared at him for a long moment before finally looking away. He slowly sat back down, his gaze fixed on the script in his hands.

”It seems I was mistaken. I misunderstood that maid.”

”And Chen Yi... Looking back, that old codger Ju Yi really has a sharp eye. He saw from the very beginning that his calligraphy possessed Spiritual Qi.”

Li Huai’gu tried to console him. ”Teacher, you needn’t dwell on it. After all, Brother Qingzhou only recently arrived in Shu State, and his actions don’t follow common sense, so...”

Mr. Yue Ming raised a hand to cut him off. ”A mistake is a mistake. Whether I was biased by my preconceptions or too stubbornly attached to convention, the fault is ultimately mine.”

Li Huai’gu pressed his lips together, not daring to say anything more.

Silence fell for a long moment.

Li Huai’gu ventured, ”Teacher, how about I go to Brother Qingzhou and ask for a piece of his calligraphy?”

”You?”

Mr. Yue Ming shook his head. ”No. Since this matter began with me, I will be the one to resolve it.”

”Then the poetry gathering...”

”It will be held as planned. We’ll just consider it my welcome-home reception for you.”

”I am indebted to you, Teacher.”

Not long after, Li Huai’gu exited Guiyun Academy. Seeing Yun Xiang waiting for him under a tree not far away, he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

Yun Xiang asked, surprised, ”Mr. Li, did Mr. Yue Ming scold you?”

Li Huai’gu shook his head. ”Not my teacher. It was Brother Qingzhou.”

”The master blamed him?”

”Blame him? No. From now on, not only will my teacher not blame him, he might even personally visit his home to request an audience...”

...

Chen Yi, of course, had no idea just how shameless the ”shameless old man” he’d been thinking of could be.

After declining the invitation to the Guiyun Academy’s poetry gathering, his life went on as usual.

Besides being a shut-in who never left his study, he would occasionally take Xiaodie out to wander around the mansion, joining in on the liveliness to gain some Opportunities.

If anything important came up at other times, Xiaodie or Su Zhenyue would come find him.

’If there was nothing... It’s best if nothing ever happens.’

With the two young ladies of the Xiao Mansion having returned, Xiao Wuge had moved back to Jiaxing Garden, and Zhang Heng was determined never to visit again. And yet, Spring Lotus Garden had somehow become even more boisterous than before.

These past few days, Chen Yi had accompanied his wife, Xiao Jinghong, to meet so many people. Between all the polite chatter and maintaining a gentle, respectful, and humble demeanor, his whole body was about to go stiff.

The Generals from military backgrounds weren’t so bad. At worst, they’d look down on him, mutter ”looks like a stiff breeze could knock him over,” and leave it at that.

But the young masters and ladies from the Noble Families and Clans spoke in such convoluted, roundabout ways that it made his skin crawl.

Thankfully, Xiao Jinghong remained perfectly calm through it all.

’The more capable one is, the more work one does. I’ll just let my wife handle them.’

Chen Yi lay on his reclining chair, flipping through the *Essentials of the Four Examinations* and comparing it to the *Medical Canon* in his mind.

Just then, Xiaodie pushed open the door to the main hall and led Liu Si’er inside.

”Brother Si, the Young Master is just inside.”

Liu Si’er clasped his fist in a salute before walking into the study. ”Young Master.”

Chen Yi put down his medical book at the sound of his voice. He looked Liu Si’er up and down and asked with a smile, ”Something the matter, Brother Si?”

’It’s been a while since I’ve seen Liu Si’er,’ he thought. ’With Xiao Jinghong back in the mansion, I suppose this ”Hidden Guard” of mine doesn’t dare approach Spring Lotus Garden.’

’As for the ”another person will be responsible” mentioned in the secret letter, my recent observations haven’t yielded any clues. I can only lie low and bide my time for now.’

”Someone just left a calling card for you at the gatehouse, Young Master. I brought it over on my way.”

Liu Si’er nonchalantly placed the red-lacquered card on the desk and bowed. ”Young Master, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave.”

Chen Yi grunted in acknowledgment and watched him leave before picking up the calling card to read it.

[My dear brother Qingzhou, it has been several months. Your elder brother misses you dearly.

Whenever I think of you traveling a thousand miles to marry into the Xiao Family, my heart aches. I worry you aren’t eating or sleeping well there.

It so happens that I have become the top scholar in the recent examinations and have been appointed by the Holy Emperor to a post at the Shu State Governor’s Office. I hope to speak with you tomorrow morning on the official road in the North City. —Chen Yunfan.]

After reading it, Chen Yi raised an eyebrow. ”My elder brother, Chen Yunfan?”

’Asking me to welcome him tomorrow? Hah. The nerve.’