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

The Xiao Family had benefited, receiving three hundred thousand taels of silver.

The Three Towns suffered few losses; only Iron Wall Town lost some grain due to Li Changqing’s negligence.

Liu Wen and Black Tooth were dead.

Xiao Dongchen had taken his own life.

The second branch of the Xiao Family had fled to Guangyue Prefecture...

Not only had the Xiao Family been largely unaffected, but they had also profited greatly.

But this outcome astonished Elder Master Xiao even more. ’He did all of this by himself!’

Even counting ”Sword Madman” Liu Lang, it was at most the work of one and a half people.

’How is that possible?’

Even if one man’s schemes were inhumanly clever, how could he have predicted everyone’s reactions? How could he have played all sides? How could he have set so many traps for others?

And it wasn’t as if Liu Wen, Xiao Dongchen, or Black Tooth were fools.

How could they have been so utterly defeated?

It was like two Go players of equal skill facing off. Winning by half a point at the end would be the absolute limit.

But a result of winning by three, four... or even more than ten points could only mean one thing.

The victor’s skill was simply on a completely different level.

Only then would the loser be so thoroughly crushed.

As Elder Master Xiao considered all this, he waved his hand. ”Chen... Young friend Yu, please, have a seat.”

He had finally switched from calling him ”Young Hero” to ”Young Friend.”

Chen Yi relaxed slightly, realizing he had passed the first test of the day. He sat down as instructed.

Silence fell for a moment.

The Elder Master chuckled. ”Young friend, you have done so much for my Xiao Family. Logically, I should trust you.”

”But I have two questions, and I hope you will answer them truthfully.”

The moment he finished speaking, the Elder Master’s posture straightened, and a hint of seriousness crossed his old, wrinkled face.

”What is your reason for helping my Xiao Family?”

”And why are you targeting the Jing State Liu Family?”

’Here it comes.’

Chen Yi had known all along that Elder Master Xiao wouldn’t be so easily fooled.

His backstory seemed plausible, but it couldn’t withstand real scrutiny. A wandering ”master” was hardly a sufficient explanation.

The same went for his motives.

Especially killing Liu Wen and luring Xiao Dongchen into his trap.

Chen Yi’s mind raced. He smiled calmly and said, ”Actually, you and I share a certain connection.”

”Oh? And what connection might that be?”

”Years ago, I was saved by my master on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, just before the Marquis crushed the Poshisu Country.”

”I had originally planned to seek revenge against the Poshisu Country after completing my training, but I later learned they had already fallen to the Marquis’s blade.”

”That is why, upon returning to Great Wei, I made Shu State my first stop. I simply wanted to express my gratitude.”

Chen Yi had prepared this story long in advance.

It had many holes, but it was the most persuasive story he could come up with.

This was especially true given his identity as ”Liu Wu.”

A young man with a deep-seated blood feud returns after completing his training, only to find his enemies already dead. Naturally, he would feel a sense of goodwill toward the person who had, in effect, avenged him.

And as it happened, he possessed considerable skills of his own.

But Chen Yi knew this alone wasn’t enough. He continued, ”Secondly, three years ago, I traveled with my master to the lands of the Barbarian Race.”

”While there, I was shown a kindness by someone.”

Elder Master Xiao, with an expression that said, ’Let’s see how you’ll spin this,’ asked with a smile, ”And who was this person who showed you kindness, young friend? Surely not a member of the Barbarian Race?”

”Those barbarians would love nothing more than to eliminate me. They certainly wouldn’t let you return to Great Wei to help my Xiao Family.”

Chen Yi smiled at his words and calmly uttered a name: ”She said her name was Fu Wanqing.”

The moment he spoke, Elder Master Xiao, who had been smiling, shot to his feet, staring at Chen Yi with a mixture of anger, shock, and disbelief.

”You bastard, do you know what you are saying?!”

Even Xiao Jing, standing to the side, was stunned and stared blankly at Chen Yi.

”Sir, you can’t make such wild claims! General Fu, the ’Dragon Spear,’ was surrounded and killed by the Barbarian Grandmaster Wen Kela five years ago. How... how could she be in their lands?”

Seeing their reactions, Chen Yi knew he had achieved his objective.

He said unhurriedly, ”General Fu Wanqing is indeed still alive. Right now, she is with the Black Bear Tribe of the Barbarian Race.”

”Moreover, she is being treated as a guest of honor by Left King Mu Hage, responsible for teaching several of the princes about Great Wei.”

”Impossible!”

”Even if Wanqing weren’t dead, she would never take orders from the Barbarian Race!”

”She... she would never... she would never... COUGH, COUGH...”

Elder Master Xiao was so furious he couldn’t finish his rebuke. His face flushed red as he hunched over, racked by coughs.

Xiao Jing ignored everything else and rushed forward to pat his back. ”Marquis, please calm yourself! Your health is what’s important.”

”COUGH, COUGH... I... I don’t believe you...”

”Marquis, I’ll summon a Physician for you at once.”

”No, no...”

Seeing the situation, Chen Yi rose and took two steps forward. ”Commander Xiao, allow me to take a look.”

Xiao Jing blocked his path, instantly on guard. ”What do you think you’re doing?”

Chen Yi chuckled, nonplussed. As he activated his Qi Observation Skill to examine the Elder Master’s condition, he retrieved the case of silver needles from his robes.

Xiao Jing froze. ”You...”

He had forgotten that Chen Yu, the owner of Hundred Herbs Hall, was also a Medical Saint Hand.

Just then, the Elder Master waved a hand, gesturing for him to move aside. He looked at Chen Yi and said through his coughs:

”If he wanted to harm me, he wouldn’t need to resort to such means.”

After a brief silence, Xiao Jing stepped aside and bowed. ”Thank you. It was I who was rude.”

”No matter.”

After speaking, Chen Yi observed the Qi Mechanism within the Elder Master’s body, his brow furrowing slightly.

The Elder Master’s physical condition was much worse now than it had been just a few days prior.

His body, already frail from an accumulation of old injuries, now had new blockages and ruptures.

It was one disaster piled on top of another.

”Elder Master, you haven’t been resting well these past few days, have you?”

Xiao Jing looked ashamed. ”Lately, with the grain issue at Iron Wall Town, and the matters concerning Poshisu Country and the Barbarian Race, the Marquis hasn’t had a single peaceful night’s sleep.”

The Old Marquis gave a weak wave of his hand, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Chen Yi with a smile.