Chapter 602 - 338: Only Advance, No Retreat

"I hope so..."

Just as Mr. Yue Ming was agonizing over how to pacify the academy students and get them to focus on preparing for the Annual Examination, the sound of footsteps came from outside the door.

Ma Guan’s figure appeared shortly after. He panted, "De-Dean, Mr. Zhuo Ying, the Holy Emperor’s decree has arrived in Shu State."

"Quick, tell us."

"Eunuch Feng, the Chief Eunuch who arrived a few days ago, went to the Governor’s Office first." Ma Guan caught his breath, calmed down, and said, "Lord Yang is temporarily acting as the Governor."

Mr. Yue Ming and Mr. Zhuo Ying exchanged a glance, visible relief washing over their faces.

"Dean, with Elder Yang overseeing the Governor’s Office, the Annual Examination should proceed much more smoothly."

Mr. Yue Ming nodded slightly. "If Ma Shuhan dares to act arbitrarily, I will naturally go and reason with him."

He had previously approached Yang Ye when Ma Shuhan invited him to serve as a deputy examiner; their personal relationship was decent. He then looked at Ma Guan. "Where did Eunuch Feng go after leaving the Governor’s Office?"

Ma Guan shook his head. "Dean, Eunuch Feng is still at the Governor’s Office at this moment."

"Oh?"

"Aside from Lord Yang, another person at the Governor’s Office received a reward from the Holy Emperor. It is the Golden Imperial Top Scholar, Chen Yunfan.

"It’s said that he discovered Commander Zhu Hao’s iron trade with Poshisu Country and handed the evidence of his crimes to Inspector General Tang Zixing.

"There’s also Lv Jiunan..." Ma Guan said with a strange expression. "For some unknown reason, the Holy Emperor’s decree stated that Assistant Governor Chen killed Lv Jiunan."

Mr. Yue Ming naturally had heard of Lv Jiunan’s name. He recalled, "If I remember correctly, rumor has it that Lv Jiunan was killed by ’Dragon Tiger’ Liu Wu." He looked at Mr. Zhuo Ying. "Is that right?"

Mr. Zhuo Ying nodded and pondered for a moment. "Could it be that Chen Yunfan is actually the famous Liu Wu of Shu State?"

"Him?"

"It is somewhat possible..."

What absolute nonsense!

Chen Yunfan, currently at the Governor’s Office, truly couldn’t clear his name even if he had a hundred mouths.

Previously, he only thought that claiming credit with Lv Jiunan’s corpse would earn him Chen Yi’s mockery, but he had forgotten another crucial detail.

"Dragon Tiger" Liu Wu was hidden too deeply!

Now, not only did outsiders suspect he was Liu Wu, but even people inside the Governor’s Office shared the same thought. Li Huai’gu was one of them.

After Feng Erbao and the others left the Governor’s Office to head to the Xiao Family, Li Huai’gu came knocking. He looked Chen Yunfan up and down, cupped his fists, and said, "Pardon my disrespect. I never expected Lord Assistant Governor to possess such profound Martial Arts."

Chen Yunfan rolled his eyes and tossed aside the imperial decree in his hand. "Get lost, get lost... Stop bringing up things I don’t want to hear.

"Anyone with eyes can see that this Assistant Governor couldn’t possibly be that ’Dragon Tiger’. Only idiots would think otherwise."

Li Huai’gu smiled and asked, "Then why did the imperial decree state that you killed Lv Jiunan?"

"I..." Chen Yunfan leaned back in his chair, waving his hand weakly. "Forget it, forget it. Just treat me as that dog-fart Liu Wu."

He couldn’t exactly admit that he had merely picked up Lv Jiunan’s corpse. Saying that wouldn’t just strip him of all dignity; even the Holy Emperor would have to punish him for the crime of deceiving the sovereign.

Seeing this, Li Huai’gu sat down opposite him. He could mostly tell that there was a hidden story behind all this. After thinking for a moment, a hint of confusion appeared on his face. "Logically speaking, since Brother Yunfan achieved such a great merit, the reward should have been much larger."

"Larger?" Chen Yunfan said grumpily. "Brother Huai’gu, do you want the Holy Emperor to confer me the title of Right Minister of the Governor’s Office right now? Or take over Zhu Hao’s vacancy?"

Despite his words, he was also somewhat puzzled.

Previously, when Chen Yi handed Zhu Hao’s criminal evidence to him on behalf of the White Tiger Guard, he thought that merit would allow him to take another step forward. Even if he didn’t skip a grade to reach the Junior Third Grade, he should have at least reached the Senior Fourth Grade.

But the truth was, he only received a few words of praise from the Holy Emperor, along with some gold, silver, and jewels.

After chatting for a few more sentences, Li Huai’gu got up and left.

Chen Yunfan sat quietly in his chair, looking out the window at the bright sun with a complex expression on his face. "Now I don’t even know how Brother Yi is going to mock me..."

Damn it, this was all Lin Zhong’s fault for being a busybody.

...

The Xiao Family.

Inside Spring Lotus Garden.

Chen Yi had naturally heard about the events at the Governor’s Office, as well as the fact that Chen Yunfan took credit for Lv Jiunan’s corpse. He figured it must have been the doing of Lin Zhong, the Chen Family’s Guard Commander.

This was fine, too. Lv Jiunan’s corpse keeping space here was bound to turn into dirt anyway; he might as well use it to give Chen Yunfan some achievements.

Moreover, there was an unexpected bonus—the people of Shu State deducing that Chen Yunfan was "Dragon Tiger" Liu Wu fit perfectly with Chen Yi’s wishes. Previously, he had used his illness from the plague poison to completely clear his own name. Now, with this incident involving Chen Yunfan, he guessed that no one would associate "Liu Wu" with him anymore.

Laughing it off, Chen Yi shifted his attention to the Qingjing Residence in the middle courtyard.

"...Your merits and faults balance out, and you are fined three years of your salary. Respect this!"

"Xiao Yuan thanks the Holy Emperor for his grace."

"Marquis Xiao, the Holy Emperor also asked me to pass a message to you."

"Please speak, Eunuch Feng."

"The Holy Emperor said that from now on, you can only advance and never retreat; otherwise, if chaos erupts in Shu State, you alone will be held responsible."

"Please help me thank the Holy Emperor, Eunuch..."

Hearing this, Chen Yi circulated the Black Tortoise Concealment Technique, drawing in his aura to prevent any leakage. He flipped through the ancient text in his hand, a smile curving his lips.

It was exactly as he had thought.

The current Holy Emperor didn’t reprimand the Old Master too harshly, merely fining him some salary to gloss over the matter. However, that oral decree was rather interesting.

He thought, "The current Holy Emperor’s gaze must have been on Shu State this whole time. He is well aware of the Old Master’s recent actions.

"Instead, the Old Master has become somewhat like a frightened bird, putting all his effort into restoring the Xiao Family’s prestige."

This wasn’t hard to deduce.

If the current Holy Emperor had wanted to use thunderous methods against the Xiao Family, he wouldn’t have let him and Chen Yunfan come to Shu State. He wouldn’t have done it before, and now that the Xiao Family’s situation was improving, he certainly wouldn’t do it now.

He estimated that...

The chessboard in Chen Yi’s mind shifted slightly. Several chess pieces hopped around, and as the game changed, his brows furrowed slightly.

"Chen Yunfan has enough merit on his end, only lacking some seniority. Once the new year passes, the Capital Prefecture will issue a new decree for him," he analyzed. "So... am I next?"

Right now, the chessboard of Shu State was already gaining momentum, at least for Chen Yunfan. If Chen Yi was the Chess Master who laid out the plans, he would definitely push the board simultaneously to reach the endgame. In other words, this "Fledgling" had to accomplish something within the Xiao Family.

"It seems this son-in-law will also have to make a move after the Annual Examination," he pondered.

Chen Yi thought about getting up to stretch his muscles. Just as he was about to tidy up the study, a shout came from outside the courtyard.

"Brother-in-law, I’m back, brother-in-law..."

Following closely were fits of RING RING RING sounds.

Chen Yi looked towards the sound and saw Pei Guanli bouncing and skipping her way over. Her tender white bare feet stepped on the bluestone slabs without leaving a single footprint, and the large bell on her chest bobbed up and down, swaying back and forth.

She first saw Xiaodie sweeping outside the wooden building and chuckled, "Sister Xiaodie, where is my brother-in-law?"

Xiaodie responded and smiled, "The young master is in the study reading. The Annual Examination is tomorrow, don’t you..."

Don’t you what? She couldn’t even finish her sentence.

Pei Guanli bypassed her and headed straight for the study, shouting for her brother-in-law.

Xiaodie scrambled to keep up behind her. "Miss Pei, you, you shouldn’t disturb the young master’s reading."

"It’s fine, it won’t get in the way. I’m just looking for..." As Pei Guanli spoke, she arrived at the study. With one glance, she spotted Chen Yi standing at the desk, and a look of joy couldn’t help but appear on her face. "Brother-in-law! I’m back!"

Pei Guanli kicked off the ground and flew forward.

Chen Yi looked helpless. He calmly stepped sideways to dodge, grabbed her with a clever technique, and said, "I’m not deaf, nor am I blind."

Pei Guanli held his hand and giggled, her eyes filled entirely with his reflection. But after laughing for a bit, she then pouted and grumbled, "You say that, but brother-in-law promised me before that you’d pick me up once you were done with your work. In the end, I waited a long time and didn’t see you come."

Chen Yi signaled for Xiaodie to prepare lunch while casting a sidelong glance at Pei Guanli. "How come I heard that you were in closed-door Cultivation?"

Pei Guanli rolled her eyes twice, her lips curling up naturally. She pulled him and stammered, "It’s all Third Granduncle’s fault. He insisted on teaching me some Witchcraft and Gu Skill, hehe..."

Seeing Xiaodie walk far away, Chen Yi brushed Pei Guanli aside, sat down on a chair, and asked with a smile, "Did your brother and the others go back?"

Pei Guanli leaned against his side, tilted her face up to look at him, and nodded. "Ah Ma sent a letter telling them to return."

"So urgently? Did something happen with the Mountain Race?"

"Not in the tribe. Brother said that the Wu Mountain Mutual Market is about to be completed, so Ah Ma asked him to go back and prepare mountain goods."

Chen Yi realized. Before Xiao Jinghong left, she had mentioned the matter of the Mutual Market; now, it was finally nearing completion. This could be considered one of the few pieces of good news for the Xiao Family recently.

Pei Guanli didn’t think about all that. She chirped continuously, chattering about the things she had heard during her closed-door Cultivation.

"Brother-in-law, did you know that something major is about to happen in the Jianghu?"