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

Thinking it over, Chen Yunfan finally realized that besides himself, Chen Yi was indeed the only one suitable to marry into the Xiao family as a live-in son-in-law. It was just that the price to pay was simply too great. At this thought, Chen Yunfan’s previous righteous indignation inexplicably gave way to a hint of schadenfreude.

”Brother Yi has now achieved success in the Martial Arts, Medical Dao, and Calligraphy Dao. If Father learns of this... With his temperament, ahem... Even if he knows he was wrong, he probably won’t admit it.”

No one knew a father better than his son. Chen Yunfan understood Chen Xuanji fairly well and knew that he was a man who would never bow his head. But Chen Yunfan couldn’t help laughing anyway.

”My dad might just double down on his mistakes, but Second Uncle won’t. Neither will Second Grandpa, Fourth Great-Uncle, or the others. My dad is going to have a massive headache soon, haha...”

As he laughed, Chen Yunfan recalled the rumors he had heard about Chen Yi when he first arrived in Shu State, and his smile faded slightly.

”To dare scheme against us brothers... Even our own flesh-and-blood father can’t get away with it!”

The following day.

The rain had cleared, leaving behind a bright sky. However, the atmosphere within the Prefecture City was rather heavy. It was as if after a night of chaos, everyone had become weighed down by their own worries, their voices softening as they conversed.

”The grain prices in the East and West Markets have gone up again! Overnight, they skyrocketed to fifteen taels of silver per stone. Is... is this an attempt to starve us commoners to death?”

”Did something happen?”

”I heard... I heard something happened on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road.”

”The vanguard of the Peacock King Banner’s army appeared on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road. Many merchant caravans fell victim to them.”

”And I also heard that ’Jackal’ Du Cang kidnapped Eldest Miss Xiao last night to force the Old Marquis to serve the Peacock King Banner.”

”Does that mean... are we really going to war?”

”If not, how would those grain shops dare to hike up their prices on the spot?”

”GASP... Heavens above...”

As the news spread, an atmosphere of panic began to permeate the Shu State Prefecture City. They couldn’t be blamed for their fear. The great war from five years ago was still fresh in many people’s memories, especially for the elderly. They still remembered how severely Shu State lacked grain during the Barbarian Race’s invasion. Although the streets hadn’t been littered with the starved dead, many families had been forced to sell their children just for a few mouthfuls of food.

Therefore, as soon as the sky began to lighten, long lines formed outside the grain shops in the East and West Markets. Those Noble Families who had initially thought about taking advantage of the situation to sell grain also reined in their greed, sealing their granaries in preparation for unforeseen contingencies. Even the Xiao family was no exception.

However, when Elder Master Xiao handed down the orders, the expression on his face was extremely complicated. In his heart, he cursed Chen Yu half to death. He could understand Chen Yu’s intention behind using such a scheme to deal with the Ji State Trading Company, but he could not accept that it implicated the common people. Let alone lasting for days; even just a single day of this would cause the commoners to suffer immensely. At the very least, they would lose a fair bit of silver.

However, after pondering for a moment, Elder Master Xiao’s furrowed brows relaxed. ”Perhaps this old man misjudged him... So that’s how it is.”

He suddenly recalled that ”Chen Yu” had previously mentioned needing him to step forward and resolve a matter. Wasn’t right now the exact time for him to do so?

”Damn it all, what a clever brat. If this old man hadn’t caught on, wouldn’t he have died laughing at me?”

Having figured it out, Elder Master Xiao summoned the Third Steward, Lu Guan, and instructed him, ”Deliver a visiting card to the Governor’s Office on my behalf. Tell Liu Hong that I have an important matter to discuss with him.”

Since he knew that the army outside the pass was fake, he naturally couldn’t let those grain shops run amok like this. The Governor’s Office would either have to step forward and order the grain shops to lower their prices, or open the official granaries to stabilize the market. Regardless, they couldn’t let those grain shops have it easy.

After Lu Guan left, Elder Master Xiao stood up and stretched his limbs, allowing his True Essence to flow along with his movements. The surrounding sounds then transmitted to him with crystal clarity. The bustling of numerous guests coming and going in the front courtyard, the shouts of Xiao Wuge practicing Martial Arts in the middle courtyard’s Martial Arts Arena, and the backyard...

Elder Master Xiao revealed a smile. ”That girl Jinghong, it seems she actually took my words to heart...”