Chen Yi’s unexpected late return this time had likely truly worried the people of the Xiao Mansion.

So much so that when he came out after washing up and changing his clothes, Xiao Wan’er couldn’t help but say a few words.

She started by explaining, "When Guanli and Huatang returned tonight, they waited and waited but saw no sign of you, so they came to find me."

Then, she distanced herself from the decision: "I figured you’d be fine, but Wuge was a little worried, so I was the one who sent Huatang and the others to look for you."

Xiao Wuge: ???

Xiao Wan’er ignored his look and continued with a reminder:

"Next time, remember to stick to the main roads. After all, you haven’t been out of the mansion many times, and you’ve always had the mansion’s Personal Guards with you. It’s easy to get lost wandering the streets and alleys at night."

As she reached the end, her tone was tinged with a bit of lingering fear.

"If something had happened to you, how could I have explained it to Second Sister? After all, I was the one who sent you to Hundred Herbs Hall."

Chen Yi agreed to it all, acting obedient and docile.

At a time like this, saying anything else would only displease those who were concerned about him.

The best thing to do was to remain silent and smile.

Before long, Xie Tingyun and Shen Huatang returned. Upon seeing him, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

But upon learning that he had gotten lost in unfamiliar streets and alleys, Xie Tingyun, with her straightforward and carefree personality, said bluntly:

"Young Master-in-law, you’re not familiar with the roads in the Prefecture City. It’s best if you go out less."

Chen Yi smiled and nodded, but his eyes looked toward Xiao Wan’er.

’See? I told you I should just stay in the mansion.’

Xiao Wan’er naturally understood the meaning in his eyes. She gave a rare roll of her eyes and turned her head away, refusing to look at him.

"It’s so late. Let’s eat first."

Chen Yi grinned and immediately picked up his chopsticks, digging into a bowl of rice.

He had been too active tonight and was so hungry his stomach felt like it was stuck to his spine.

Even Xiao Wan’er, Xiao Wuge, Xiaodie, and the others ate more than usual, perhaps due to the emotional rollercoaster they had been on.

Only Pei Guanli, who had long known about Chen Yi’s Martial Arts Cultivation, was completely unfazed.

Earlier, while waiting for Chen Yi to return, she had been the least worried of them all.

After dinner.

The group dispersed.

Xiaodie and Xiao Wuge returned to their rooms to rest.

Chen Yi, meanwhile, took a teapot to the pavilion to enjoy the summer night’s breeze.

Perhaps because it had been a long time since he’d come here this late, the Golden Carp seemed to remember him. They leaped and splashed, their tails flinging water all over him.

"Holding a grudge, are we?"

"Just you wait..."

Chen Yi chuckled and cursed under his breath, his mood finally relaxing completely.

Martial Arts were, in the end, the art of killing.

He had understood this from the moment he began his Cultivation and had long since prepared himself mentally.

Besides, the person he had killed tonight was someone like Liu Jing. He could just consider it ridding the world of a pest.

However, Liu Jing dying in Shu State at this time would likely change the course of some events.

Even if the people from the Imprisonment Department or the Liu Family didn’t trace it back to him, they would still suspect the Xiao Family.

There was no doubt about this.

After all, the Xiao and Liu Families had just had a minor clash.

Although it was merely an initial probe by the Liu Family, and apart from the deaths of Qian Kuan and his men, neither side had suffered significant losses.

But at a time like this, for the Sixth Young Master of the Jing State Liu Family to die in Shu State...

...the development of events would surely exceed the expectations of those in the know.

’The Xiao Family and the Liu Family should have tacitly downplayed this matter...’

Chen Yi watched the Golden Carp in the pond while slurping his tea.

His face was calm, but his mind was already a storm of crashing waves.

On an invisible game board, he picked up and put down white stones from the box, one by one.

The positions of the Heizi shifted unpredictably as he deduced several possibilities.

’The worst-case scenario is that this becomes the fuse that ignites a war between the Xiao and Liu Families.’

’The next worst is that the Xiao Family bows its head slightly, joins forces with the Imprisonment Department, and finds the person who killed Liu Jing—which is me.’

’After that, the Liu Family could accept their loss and proactively retreat, temporarily burying this grudge and waiting for an opportunity to make a comeback.’

’And the best outcome would be for the Xiao and Liu Families to shake hands and make peace...’

However, Chen Yi knew in his heart.

If the Jing State Liu Family wanted to use this as a pretext, then Liu Hong, the Left Envoy of the Shu State Governor’s Office, was the sharpest Blade in their hands.

Although the Jing State Liu Family had previously been dissatisfied with how Liu Hong handled the Linglan Pavilion incident, they were all still Lius at the end of the day.

Whether it was the Lius of Shu State or the Lius of Jing State, if they wanted to deal with the Xiao Family, they had to support each other.

’So, if the Xiao and Liu Families really do go to war in the future, the key will be Liu Hong.’

While labeling Liu Hong with the identity of a "Heizi," Chen Yi recalled what he had recently learned about the political situation in Shu State.

The Shu State Governor’s Office, the Inspectorate Office, and the Capital Commandery each had two envoys.

Nominally, the Left Envoy was the head and the Right Envoy was the subordinate, but their official ranks were the same.

The Governors were both Junior Second Grade, in charge of a prefecture’s civil administration and taxation, with the Revenue Department and the Household Registration Bureau under them.

This system was designed to allow the Left and Right Envoys to counterbalance each other.

However, in the current Shu State Governor’s Office, the Right Envoy, Yang Ye, was old and about to retire to his hometown, giving him the air of someone who no longer cared for political affairs.

Therefore, Liu Hong, who was in his prime, effectively reigned supreme in the Governor’s Office.

’I must put some pressure on Liu Hong.’

’Otherwise, with no one in Shu State to check his power, he poses too great a threat to the Xiao Family.’

After a moment of thought, Chen Yi placed the most crucial white stone on the board.

It was—the Right Envoy of the Shu State Governor’s Office, Yang Ye!

An old man on the brink of retirement, originally completely unrelated to this affair, was about to become the key piece that would determine the outcome of the conflict between the Xiao and Liu Families.

With a rough plan in mind.

Chen Yi put down the teapot, let out a long breath, and stood up to look at the night sky.

He saw a thick bank of dark clouds appear beneath the once-bright full moon.

Immediately after, raindrops began to fall—PATTER, PATTER—on the pavilion roof.

Chen Yi raised an eyebrow slightly. ’It seems heaven is on my side.’

Under the cover of the rain, the aura in that courtyard, along with any tracks he left after coming from Hundred Herbs Hall, would all be washed away.

If this wasn’t the will of heaven, what was?

After standing silently for a moment.

Chen Yi put away the teacup and returned to the wooden building to rest, a few thoughts surfacing in his mind:

’Getting Yang Ye to side with the Xiao Family will be difficult, but not impossible.’

’I’m afraid I’ll have to spend some time getting closer to Li Huai’gu.’

There was no other way. To move Yang Ye, this chess piece, going through Li Huai’gu was the most direct method.

After all, his wife was Yang Ye’s adopted daughter.

However, the fastest way to influence Li Huai’gu was through his teacher—Mr. Yue Ming of Guiyun Academy.

At this thought, Chen Yi couldn’t help but grimace as if he had a toothache.

After going around in circles, he seemed to have returned to the one question he had been avoiding for the past two days—

whether or not to accept the Instructor position at Guiyun Academy.

’It seems I don’t have a choice in the matter anymore.’

...

Just after 3 a.m.

The sky above Shu State Prefecture City boomed with continuous thunder, and flashes of lightning illuminated the night, one after another.

But in the torrential downpour, a pedestrian’s vision was still blurred and obscured by the curtain of rain.

In a residence about five li from the Dingyuan Marquis’s Mansion.

A group of more than a dozen Imprisonment Officers, wearing Raincoats, long Blades hanging from their waists, and rain boots on their feet, were busy working in the downpour.

"Damn it all! This rain could’ve come earlier or later, but it just had to pour nonstop at a time like this."

A slender Imprisonment Officer walked through the courtyard, reminding his colleagues to carefully avoid the central area.

"Everyone, pay attention! Don’t mess up the footprints."

"It’s already a mess. If you all keep trampling all over the place, how the hell am I supposed to investigate this case?"

The surrounding men cursed back good-naturedly and didn’t cause any more trouble.

Instead, they hurried into the main hall and cupped their hands in a salute to a woman inside who had taken off her Raincoat and was dressed in red brocade.

"Lord Hundred Households, your subordinate has already questioned the surrounding residents. None of them saw any suspicious individuals pass by last night."

"Only one person heard a disturbance from this direction, but because they were too far away, they thought it was just someone arguing."

The woman in red grunted in acknowledgment. Her gaze remained on the five corpses in the hall as she circulated her True Essence to probe the surrounding fluctuations in Spiritual Qi.

But too much time had passed, and she found nothing.

However, the corpses themselves offered some clues. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"The killer was decisive, and every blow was fatal. His Cultivation and Technique are clearly far superior to these people’s."

"Middle Three Grades, or... at least Upper Seventh Grade."

"Additionally, he is skilled in Palm Technique and Body Technique, and possesses great Power."

"He should be a tall, sturdy person with powerful muscles and bones. The Pile Skill he practices must be of a high grade."

The woman in red had someone record her findings, then she went up to the top-floor study.

She glanced past the two sickly old men and looked at Liu Jing lying on the floor, letting out a soft "Huh?"

She squatted down to observe him closely for a moment, then felt Liu Jing’s neck, her brow furrowing slightly.

"The killer had a grudge against this man."

Hearing this, a nearby Imprisonment Officer asked in confusion, "Lord Hundred Households Fang, how did you determine that he had a grudge against these people?"

The woman in red stood up, her eyes scanning the surroundings as she spoke:

"The killer crushed his throat first before killing the others. He clearly wanted him to live for a few moments longer."

She paused, then looked at the Imprisonment Officer and said grimly, "And being alive at that moment would only have been more painful."

The Imprisonment Officer’s face lit with understanding, and he immediately began to flatter her, "As expected of Hundred Households Fang, renowned throughout the Shu State Imprisonment Department."

"Just tell us what to do."

The woman in red pondered for a moment. "First, investigate the identities of these people."

"Judging from their clothing and the decor here, they must have some background."