You Promised to Be an Idle Son-in-Law, How Could You Become a Land Immortal? Chapter 88 - 89: Husband, You’re Shameless

For the next few days, Shu State seed to grow much calr.

But for those who were paying attention, a strange undercurrent was brewing in the shadows.

News of the Xiao Family’s dicinal herbs being hijacked was spread by the travelers who had been resting at the post station that night.

In an instant, it sparked a great deal of speculation, which could be roughly divided into three categories.

Or rather, in the eyes of three different groups of people, there were three versions of the story they were willing to believe.

Those who road the Jianghu were more focused on the "Sword Madman" Liu Lang heading south and the appearance of Evil Demons from the Illusory Sound Sect.

Thus, they were more inclined to believe that the dicinal herbs the Xiao Family transported from the Northern State contained legendary natural treasures.

The most outlandish rumor was, "That batch of herbs contained a ten-thousand-year-old ginseng, specifically ant to extend the Old Marquis’s life."

No one knew which bastard ca up with such a notion, but their analysis was so vivid and detailed, claiming Old Marquis Xiao had been bedridden for a long ti and was waiting for that ginseng to save his life.

The common folk sneered at this.

"I think they’re like the God of Longevity eating arsenic—they must have a death wish!"

"They didn’t even bother to find out what kind of power the Xiao Family holds before daring to provoke them in Shu State. Just you wait, I bet we’ll be seeing them behind bars soon enough."

In the perception of Shu State’s common folk, the Xiao Family had stood strong in the state for two hundred years. What kind of treasures didn’t they have in their residence?

Just the Immortal Elixirs and Spiritual dicines gifted by the Emperor himself were innurable. How could they possibly be lacking a single ten-thousand-year-old ginseng?

So, they thought those Jianghu People were clearly courting death, and said that these people had forgotten how domineering Marquis Xiao once was.

Many of the elderly loved to talk about this, reminiscing about how, back in the day, Marquis Xiao dominated the battlefields, rarely eting his match, and so on.

But in the official circles of Shu State, these marketplace rumors could only be described with one word: "laughable."

How could the common folk and Jianghu People possibly know that because of this incident, every Governnt Office had turned Shu State upside down?

To say they’d "plowed the earth three feet deep" would not be an exaggeration.

On the afternoon the incident ca to light, the Third Master of the Xiao Family moved right into the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office.

He didn’t go anywhere else, simply summoning Liu Si from ti to ti to ask about the investigation’s progress.

This forced Prefect Liu’s hand, compelling him to order a thorough investigation.

Not only did the officials in the Governnt Offices run their legs off, but the Thousand Households and Hundred Households of the Imprisonnt Departnt were also fully mobilized.

So went to interview the common people, so sought out Shu State’s underworld gangs, and others tried to find information through well-connected Jianghu People.

But they couldn’t even find a shadow of the "Sword Madman" or the Illusory Sound Sect. The batch of dicinal herbs seed to have vanished into thin air along with them.

In this regard, Chen Yi didn’t think the governnt officials were being inefficient.

For him, no results was a result in itself.

’Once you strip away all the layers of fog, only one truth remains—soone local in Shu State helped them.’

He couldn’t think of any other possibility.

However, Chen Yi wasn’t in a hurry. He just waited quietly for the matter to develop.

Every day, aside from casually acquiring an Opportunity or two, he steadfastly remained in the dicine Hall, diagnosing patients alongside the several Physicians.

He had absorbed most of the knowledge from his Minor Achievent dical Dao. His skills in the Four Diagnostics and Acupuncture progressed rapidly, already reaching Skilled Level Perfection.

Whether it was common illnesses, complex and rare diseases, or the properties of various dicinal herbs, he knew them all like the back of his hand.

As for how high his skill level was, he estimated that even if Elder Li and the other three were combined, they wouldn’t asure up to one of his fingers.

Compared to Martial Arts, the gap between each stage of the dical Dao was even greater.

Those who understood, understood. Those who didn’t would remain ignorant of the underlying principles even after practicing and observing.

And what Chen Yi knew best were precisely those "underlying principles."

Therefore, he was already preparing to use the Profound Mysteries of the dical Dao to create so new prescriptions. This would set them apart from the major dicine Halls in Shu State, allowing Hundred Herbs Hall to officially open.

One had to admit, Wang Ji and Yan Hai were indeed sharp.

After finding a good storefront a few days ago, they imdiately began setting it up, having a signboard made, handling renovations, and so on.

At the sa ti, their division of labor was clear.

Yan Hai was responsible for finding their previous herb-growing farrs and herb rchants to negotiate future prices for dicinal ingredients.

Wang Ji, on the other hand, spent three days visiting every major dicine Hall in Shu State Prefecture City to discuss matters of herb distribution.

It was worth ntioning that the word "distribution" was sothing Chen Yi had told him, with the goal being a "win-win cooperation."

When the common people saw a doctor and filled a prescription, they naturally had to be ticulous about the price.

With Hundred Herbs Hall as a backstop, the major dicine Halls would have a guaranteed inco, rain or shine.

Even if people who thought their prices were too high went to Hundred Herbs Hall to buy dicine, the other halls could still earn a share of the silver coins from Hundred Herbs Hall based on the prescriptions they issued.

It was an easy way to profit, so why wouldn’t they do it?

Because of this, Wang Ji’s negotiations went quite smoothly.

Aside from the five Xiao Family dicine Halls, which he didn’t visit, sixty percent of the other dicine Halls reluctantly signed a contract with him.

Most of them were willing to at least give it a try.

Of course, quite a few people were disdainful of "Hundred Herbs Hall." After all, which family didn’t have a few exclusive prescriptions of their own?

The dicines from those prescriptions were the very foundation of their livelihood.

That evening, as Chen Yi walked out from the back room of the dicine Hall with his newly developed prescriptions, he saw Liu Quan and a few others standing outside the door, pointing at sothing next door.

"What’s all the commotion about?"

"Shopkeeper, co and see! A new shop has opened."

Chen Yi walked over and took a look, unable to help raising an eyebrow.

He saw people coming and going outside Yan Hai’s old Herbal dicine Shop, moving things inside.

There were basket after basket of dicinal herbs, as well as dicine scales, pulse pillows, and other items.

Looking up at the signboard, he saw it read "Linglan Pavilion." It was flanked by a couplet that said sothing like, "A century-old brand, saving lives and curing illnesses."

Chen Yi thought for a mont, then suddenly smiled and instructed Liu Quan, "Go next door and buy so pastries and gifts to send over."

Liu Quan was stunned. He hesitated, "Shopkeeper, this dicine Hall is clearly here to steal our business. You’re... sending them a gift?"

Chen Yi waved his hand. "We’re neighbors. We’ll be seeing each other all the ti, so we can’t neglect proper etiquette."

’He might not know about other things, but this shop was most likely the next Chapter in the "hijacked herbs" incident.’

’What’s ant to co will co. Even if I choose to ignore it, they’ll probably co looking for trouble anyway.’

’It’s better to make a magnanimous gesture.’

After watching for another mont and seeing that the Chief Steward of the new dicine Hall hadn’t appeared, Chen Yi smiled, beckoned for Ge the Third, and took the carriage ho.

Ge the Third, at the front, had already seen the new dicine Hall and found it to be an eyesore. So, as he drove the carriage, he asked through the curtain:

"Young Master, aren’t you angry?"

Chen Yi sat leisurely in the carriage, watching the pedestrians outside the window, and said nonchalantly, "Angry about what?"

"Of course it’s that ’competitors are enemies’! That blasted Linglan Pavilion is clearly picking a fight right on our doorstep."

"You know quite a lot, Ge the Third. After all these days in the East Market, I thought you only had eyes for the girls there."

Ge the Third’s face flushed. The seven-foot-tall man was so embarrassed by Chen Yi’s words that his face turned bright red. "Young Master, I... I’m not married yet. I was just looking, just looking."

With that, he forgot all about being angry at the new dicine Hall.

Chen Yi naturally didn’t give it much thought either.

’We’ll cross that bridge when we co to it.’

However, when he returned ho, he learned that Linglan Pavilion hadn’t just opened next to Jishi dicine Hall.

There were Linglan Pavilion shops next to the other four Xiao Family dicine Halls as well.

Chen Yi couldn’t help but shake his head and let out a long breath. "So they really don’t dare to make a direct move."

But this tactic of simply opening another dicine hall right next to the Xiao Family’s was a bit petty.

Without absolute strength, so what if they managed to shut down all the Xiao Family dicine Halls?

But while Chen Yi wasn’t worried, Xiao Wan’er was growing anxious.

For the past few days, there had been no news from the family or the Governnt Office.

Seeing the hope of recovering the dicinal herbs dwindle, she had already begun contacting their previous herb rchants to purchase a batch of herbs for the ergency.

Now, hearing about Linglan Pavilion so suddenly caught her completely off guard.

However, she couldn’t confide in anyone about this. Even in front of Shen Huatang, she maintained a calm and composed expression.

She probably intended to resolve this crisis all by herself.

Xiao Wan’er sat alone in the pavilion, her expression lancholic.

"If only Second Sister were ho."

...

「Deep in the Wung Mountains, late at night.」

Bamboo buildings were built one after another along the mountainside.

A brazier was lit in front of each bamboo building. In the firelight, the mountain village was dotted with points of light and didn’t seem dark at all.

Moreover, at an hour when everyone should have been asleep, a large bonfire blazed in the open space in the middle of the village, where hundreds of people in unique tribal attire sang and danced.

"The mountains turn, the waters turn, brother and sister sit in a boat, hey..."

The singing was loud, clear, and festive.

Faintly, the crisp sound of Bells also echoed through the mountains.

DING-A-LING, DING-A-LING.

"Big Sis, Big Sis, hurry up and sing! The brothers are getting impatient."

Pei Guanli saw a few young n across the way singing folk songs to tease her, so she raised her hand and threw out two packets of poison powder.

This scared the young n into scrambling away, causing the girls to burst out laughing.

"Don’t run! Weren’t you looking for Sister Guanli?"

"It’s just a few packets of poison powder! It won’t kill you."

Pei Guanli blinked. "Actually, it can kill you."

The girls’ laughter stopped. A mont later, soone started it, and they all surrounded Pei Guanli, pretending to hit her.

"Are you crazy? Using Poison like that?"

"I was wrong, I was wrong..."

After roughhousing for a while.

Pei Guanli finally managed to break free from her clansn’s pulling and tugging. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, her round face flushed red in the firelight.

She scanned her surroundings, found Xiao Jinghong sitting quietly on the roof of a nearby bamboo building, and skipped over to her.

"Sister Jinghong, what have you been looking at up here for so long?"

"Let see?" Pei Guanli leaned her head over curiously, looking at what was in her hand.

She didn’t see anything else, but she did see the signature at the end.

Pei Guanli’s eyes widened, and she imdiately reached out to snatch... well, take it.

THWAP.

Xiao Jinghong reached out and pressed a hand against her face, blocking her view.

"It’s a letter from brother-in-law! Let see, Sister Jinghong, waah..."

Xiao Jinghong pinched her mouth shut, forcing her into silence, and said calmly:

"Tomorrow, have Granny Shan arrange for our people. We’re setting out to select a site."

Pei Guanli whimpered and struggled but couldn’t break free. She sulked and refused to speak.

’I’ll just glare you to death, see if I don’t.’

Xiao Jinghong glanced at her, then released her hand and started to walk away. "Don’t forget."

Pei Guanli swung a Punch towards her back, muttering, "I’ll forget, I’ll definitely forget."

Once Xiao Jinghong was far enough away, she raised her voice: "I’ve already forgotten!"

"Hm?"

Hearing the sound, Pei Guanli shrank back and hastily ran away.

Hearing her, a smile tugged at the corners of Xiao Jinghong’s lips.

But when she looked down at the two letters in her hand, the smile on her face grew wider, though her bright eyes held a trace of shyness.

"My dear husband, you’re so shaless."

Compared to the poem Chen Yi had written, she paid little mind to her eldest sister’s reminder.

"’You ask when I’ll return, but no date is set...’ Actually, there is one."

"’I’ll be back as soon as I’m done here.’"

PS: I’ve hit my limit. Only four Chapters today.

I might have had coffee plus strong tea, and my whole body feels awful. My pitiful life is more important, so I’m out.

I’ll learn my lesson and make it up tomorrow.