Building a Martial Dao Celestial Family by Laying Low

Chen Shouye didn’t dare to delay. He immediately took his leave of Qian Laibao, spurred his horse into a gallop, and rushed back home to report the matter to his father, Chen Li.

After listening to Chen Shouye’s account, Chen Li’s brows knitted tightly in an instant.

At the side, Zhou Shuwei’s expression changed abruptly. "The Tuo Long Bang? A huge quantity? Could it be... the thirty thousand bolts of silk that were stolen from my family ended up in their hands?"

"It wasn’t them."

Chen Li shook his head.

He knew full well that the Zhou Family’s shipment was currently stored safely in a warehouse in Jiangkou County and had absolutely no connection to the Tuo Long Bang.

But the question was, where did this enormous quantity of silk that had suddenly appeared come from?

’Something is wrong with this.’

If the Zhou Family could have procured such a huge amount of silk so easily back then, how could they have been driven into such a desperate corner?

The Jiangzhou Textile Bureau had just given Zhou Shuwei their final ultimatum, and now, a source of goods large enough to solve the problem had coincidentally appeared on the market?

This was all far too suspicious!

Chen Li’s suspicions were instantly aroused.

After a long silence, he said to Chen Shouye, "Shouye, go see Qian Laibao again. Tell him we’re interested in the goods and ask him to help us contact the Tuo Long Bang to negotiate. Remember, you are not to show your face. Entrust all negotiations to Qian Laibao.

"Make a low initial offer and haggle with them over the price. Stall them for at least a month. After a month, you don’t need to bother with it anymore. During this time, you must not let your guard down. If you sense anything is wrong, pull back immediately. Safety first."

"Yes, Father."

Chen Shouye agreed.

Then, Chen Li summoned Chen Pi and told him to find his brother-in-law, Bai Shixuan, and have him prepare a large ship within three days, to be moored at Zhuoyan Pier.

Zhou Shuwei watched this series of arrangements with utter confusion and couldn’t help but ask, "Uncle Chen, you’re looking for a large ship. What for?"

Chen Li smiled and said, "Didn’t the Jiangzhou Textile Bureau give you a two-month deadline to hand over forty thousand bolts of silk? This ship, naturally, is to deliver that silk to the Textile Bureau."

Zhou Shuwei grew even more confused.

’Could it be that Uncle Chen has already prepared forty thousand bolts of silk?

That’s impossible!’

Chen Li didn’t explain anything to Zhou Shuwei.

He didn’t know if there was a scheme at play, or who was behind it.

But based on the current situation, even if there was a scheme, as long as he could stall the Tuo Long Bang for a day, the schemer’s attention wouldn’t fall on him.

Once the silk was delivered to Jiangzhou, the other party’s plot would most likely fail.

...

Wuzhou was known as the land of "seven parts mountain, two parts water, and one part field." Its landscape was a tapestry of overlapping mountain ranges and crisscrossing streams, with scarce arable land, forcing the common folk to make their living from the mountains and rivers.

「Yan County.」

「Wude County, Hengshan Gully.」

This was a quiet little mountain village tucked deep within the folds of the mountains.

In the village stood a large, five-room house with a blue-tiled roof.

In the courtyard, a persimmon tree grew, its branches thick with leaves.

It was late autumn, and orange-red fruits hung from the branches like countless little lanterns, weighing them down.

Beneath the tree, Elder Zhan sat alone.

He held a soft, ripe persimmon in his hand, carefully peeling back its paper-thin skin to reveal the crystalline, honey-sweet flesh, which he then brought to his lips.

In an instant, an intense sweetness exploded on his taste buds, slid down his throat, and warmed his very heart.

He liked persimmon trees.

They weren’t picky about where they grew, and they could endure barren soil and bitter cold.

With just a patch of earth and a bit of water, they would grow stubbornly, bearing abundant fruit year after year.

This particular tree had been planted by his wife’s own hands, long ago.

Now, his wife had been gone for many years, and he himself had wandered for decades. On this rare return, he found the tree was still just as lush, its branches full of fruit every year, as if it were only yesterday.

Not far away, Zhou Qingyi had her sleeves rolled up, washing rice by the well.

The former young lady of a Noble Family was still a bit clumsy performing such a coarse chore, but she no longer looked as flustered as she had at the beginning.

Meanwhile, Qian Shitong was silently swinging an axe nearby, chopping dried firewood into uniform lengths and stacking them neatly.

After the drastic change in her family’s fortunes and her life-or-death escape, three months of this mountain life had stripped away Zhou Qingyi’s pampered nature, replacing it with a quiet composure.

Although she still needed Qian Shitong’s help with many tasks, she was at least trying hard to adapt to this self-reliant life, one so completely different from her past.

Elder Zhan savored this rare moment of tranquility.

There were no flashing blades or shadowy schemes, only the mountain wind, the scent of persimmons, and the smoke from cooking fires.

’Perhaps I’m really getting old.’

He gazed at the persimmon tree, his eyes distant.

’If my wife and child hadn’t fallen victim to my enemies’ cruel hands all those years ago, I would probably be surrounded by children and grandchildren now, enjoying the bliss of family life.’

The moment of peace didn’t last long.

Elder Zhan’s expression suddenly changed, his previously relaxed body tensing in an instant.

In his Divine Sense, he perceived eight powerful auras approaching rapidly from a distance.

He put down the persimmon and stood up.

In just a moment, eight figures appeared.

The one in the lead was none other than the eldest sister of the Eight Generals of Wind Gate, Shi Yuheng.

She appeared to be in her forties, dressed in a dark purple palace-style gown with a sheer robe of the same color over it. She had a full, curvaceous figure.

Her hair was swept up in a high coiffure, held in place by a single, simple ebony hairpin. She wore no other ornaments, yet she possessed an air of authority that commanded respect without anger.

Shi Yuheng’s gaze swept across the courtyard before finally resting on Elder Zhan. She gave a slight nod and said, "Elder Zhan, I trust you’ve been well. May I ask if your injuries have fully healed?"

Elder Zhan frowned and asked, "Why have you come today?"

A worried look appeared on Shi Yuheng’s face. "The three-month period is up. The poison in our bodies is beginning to act up. We must ask you, Elder Zhan, to take us to find *that person* for the antidote as soon as possible."

The person she spoke of was, of course, Chen Li.

The poison Chen Li had forced the Eight Generals of Wind Gate to take required them to consume an antidote once every three months.

After they were sent to Wuzhou, Chen Li had told them to heal their wounds first and had arranged to have them find him within three months.

Elder Zhan nodded and said to Zhou Qingyi, "Miss, you can stay here without worry. If the trouble in Liyang subsides, I will naturally return for you."

Zhou Qingyi nodded lightly. "Don’t worry, Grandpa Zhan. Qingyi will take good care of herself."

With the arrangements made, Elder Zhan said no more.

He quickly packed his belongings and said to the Eight Generals of Wind Gate, "Let’s go."

...

The carriage rumbled over the familiar village road and slowly came to a stop at the entrance to Lingxi Village.

Chen Shouheng gazed at his homeland before him, an indescribable, dreamlike feeling welling up in his heart.

The closer one gets to home, the more timid one feels. Returning now, it felt as if he had weathered the vicissitudes of life.

A cry of surprise came from the edge of a field path. "Eld... Eldest Young Master? Is that you, back home?!"

Chen Shouheng looked toward the voice and saw one of his family’s farmhands holding a bundle of mulberry leaves, staring at him with wide eyes.

Before Chen Shouheng could respond, the farmhand’s face flushed with excitement. He cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed toward the village, "Mr. Jieyuan! Mr. Jieyuan is back!"

"Quick, let’s go see Mr. Jieyuan!"

The children playing by the field path were stunned for a moment, then took off at a full sprint toward the village to spread the news.

As soon as he entered the village, his neighbors from Lingxi surrounded him and his carriage so tightly they couldn’t move.

They all chattered congratulations at once, each wanting to get closer to bask in the good fortune of this "Jieyuan descended from Mars."

Helpless, Chen Shouheng clasped his hands and bowed in all directions, thanking his many relatives and neighbors. "Thank you all for your kindness. Shouheng was merely fortunate, all thanks to everyone’s daily support."

In the end, it was the Chen Family servants, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, who managed to push through the crowd and rescue Chen Shouheng from the enthusiastic encirclement, escorting him toward home.

The moment he stepped through the familiar courtyard gate, he saw a slender figure standing there, craning her neck in anticipation.

When Zhou Shuwei saw him, her beautiful eyes instantly filled with tears, and her voice choked with emotion. "Shouheng... congratulations."

"Yes, I’m back."

A warm current surged through Chen Shouheng’s heart, and he couldn’t help but step forward and gently pull her into his arms.

Zhou Shuwei’s pretty face instantly flushed as red as rouge. She hurriedly struggled out of his embrace and whispered shyly, "People are watching..."

Catching sight of the servants covering their mouths and snickering out of the corner of her eye, the blush spread all the way to the tips of her ears.

Chen Shouheng chuckled, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard as he asked, "Where are Father and Mother? And Shouye and the others?"

Zhou Shuwei composed herself and replied, "Uncle Chen went to the Zhuoyan Collection early this morning. Ever since the news of you passing the exam arrived, Grandma has been saying she wants to go back to her maiden home to pay respects to her ancestors. Auntie and little sister Shouyue took her there yesterday. Brother Shouye went to the county seat to discuss matters with Brother Qian Laibao."

Chen Shouheng was surprised. "Father went to the pier? And Shouye went to find Brother Qian? What for?"

Zhou Shuwei lowered her voice and explained in detail how her family had been given a final ultimatum by the Jiangzhou Textile Bureau: deliver forty thousand bolts of silk within two months.

"The Textile Bureau? Why are they still hounding us about this?"

Chen Shouheng’s brow furrowed. "This is suspicious."

Zhou Shuwei nodded. "Uncle Chen said the same thing. He fears there’s a scheme involved."

Chen Shouheng nodded. "Father is meticulous in his actions; I’m sure he has made proper arrangements. You don’t need to worry."

The two returned to their room and began to speak intimately.

Zhou Shuwei asked about the details of the Martial Provincial Examination.

Chen Shouheng then explained the contents of the three levels of the examination to her in detail.

When she heard that Chen Shouheng had only "enlightened" one person during the Second Level yet still received a rating of "Grade A-Middle," Zhou Shuwei couldn’t help but ask in surprise, "Shouheng, how did you think of the idea that enlightening just one person would actually earn you a high score?"

Chen Shouheng shook his head with a wry smile. "I didn’t know about that scoring rule at all. I was only thinking about passing, so I focused all my effort on enlightening one person. I never imagined that Academic Administrator Lu would rate my enlightenment effort as ’A-Middle’ because of it. Thinking back on it now, winning the rank of Jieyuan was really a bit of luck."

"If your heart wasn’t true and you hadn’t been looking for shortcuts, how could you have hit the mark by accident?"

Zhou Shuwei smiled, her eyes filled with love as she looked at Chen Shouheng.

In the evening, Chen Li returned from the Zhuoyan Collection.

Seeing Shouheng, he nodded and said with approval, "You’re back. You did well on the exam."

For once, Chen Shouheng was modest. "It was just a stroke of luck."

"Don’t get complacent because of this. Ascend to the Divine Hall as soon as possible."

Chen Li nodded. ’Over the years, my eldest son has matured quite a bit. If this had happened when he was younger, he would have had a hard time hiding his arrogance. Still, I can’t help but remind him.’

"Yes, Father."

Chen Shouheng nodded in agreement.

He turned, went back to his room, and brought out a heavy little box. Inside, a layer of gold leaves was neatly arranged.

"Father, this is three thousand taels of gold. Master Zhang Luyan of Guangye Hall returned it to me."

As he spoke, he took out a cowhide-bound journal and handed it to Chen Li. "And this journal on Divine Intent."

"Oh?"

Chen Li took them, a flash of surprise in his eyes. "What does he mean by this?"