"Ladies and gentlemen, please forgive me for not seeing you off personally."
"Lord Chen, no need to stand on ceremony."
Carriages rolled away from Zhuque Street, where the Marquis of Wu'an's residence stood, leaving tracks in the snowy ground.
Chen Taiping, after seeing off the last group of guests, turned to the man standing beside him and gave a wry smile. "I've truly made a fool of myself before Your Grace."
The Northern border king, Du Qing, who had stayed behind intentionally, stood in plain blue robes. With his refined, scholarly appearance—fair-skinned and beardless—he gave off an elegant aura.
"Just children playing around," Du Qing concluded with a smile, brushing off the chaotic events of the ceremony. "However, your Chen Yi may find life more challenging in the days to come. Even if your wife says nothing, Zhou Tiance won't be so easy to deal with."
"The old man?" Chen Taiping frowned. "Would he really hold a grudge against a child?"
"That old fox is on the brink of death, yet he entrusted his only daughter to you. Do you really not understand his intentions?"
"This…" Chen Taiping hesitated.
Du Qing left it at that, casting a glance at the snow-filled sky before stepping out from beneath the marquis' gate.
"The path of martial arts is like rowing against the current. That little one, Chen Yi, is quite promising!"
Hearing the Northern border King's departing words from afar, Chen Taiping's expression grew serious, and he bowed respectfully toward Du Qing's fading figure.
At first, the statement seemed casual, but upon reflection, Chen Taiping understood that the border King didn't wish for Chen Yi to be punished.
Digging a bit deeper... Could it be that the king harbored some discontent toward Zhou Tiance?
In the central hall of the inner courtyard, the atmosphere was tense.
Ten or so tables were arranged in a circle, still adorned with untouched refreshments and wine. Only the cloud-patterned crane rug in the middle was now bare—no trace of the symbolic grabbing ceremony objects remained.
The entire Chen family sat quietly around the tables, save for the two children, Chen Yi and Chen Yuan. Their expressions varied—some remained calm, others were visibly annoyed, a few indifferent, and some wore amused smiles.
Among them, Xia Wanwan's expression was the most complex. She lowered her head, seeming resigned to whatever was to come.
Sitting beside Xia Wanwan, Zhou Wanyi remained the picture of serenity, as though the disrupted grabbing ceremony was of no consequence to her.
Thud!
The old madam of the Chen family tapped her gold-inlaid sandalwood cane against the jade-tiled floor, her voice firm and unwavering:
"Enough with the lowered heads. Let's hear what everyone has to say."
Xia Wanwan trembled slightly. Clenching her teeth, she stood up and said, "Grandmother, if anyone should be punished, it's me. I failed to teach Yi'er properly, and I—"
"Your matter can wait," the old madam interrupted curtly. "What I want to know is how we intend to compensate for Yuan'er's failure to select a grabbing ceremony item!"
Xia Wanwan was stunned, momentarily at a loss. It wasn't about punishing her and Chen Yi after all?
Xia Wanwan hesitated for a moment before reluctantly sitting back down.
"Mother," Chen Taiping spoke, "the effectiveness of the ceremony items varies for each person. When I was a child, I only chose the seal, yet it didn't hinder my martial progress."
"Yes, these ceremonies are subject to fate. Luck plays an unpredictable role in such things," another elder added.
"I disagree," one of the family members interjected. "Yuan'er, as the eldest legitimate son, cannot lag too far behind in martial skills. Why don't we reopen the ancestral shrine and let the spirits of our ancestors decide?"
"That's impossible!" someone immediately objected. "The ancestral spirits are frail. Each time the shrine is opened, it takes them a long period to recover. How can we summon them again so soon?"
"Zhou Family..."
The elders exchanged uneasy glances. The mention of the Zhou family's ancestral hall carried significant weight, and even the most outspoken among them hesitated.
The old matriarch's eyes narrowed slightly. "Seeking blessings from the Zhou family's ancestors is not a small matter. Are you certain your father will agree to this?"
"Grandmother, please rest assured," Zhou Wanyi replied with a calm demeanor. "Even if the family rules are strict, my father will not refuse when it concerns his only grandson."
The room grew even quieter. No one dared object, though some shifted uncomfortably.
Chen Taiping frowned but chose not to intervene. He knew how deeply the Zhou family valued traditions, and forcing their hand was no simple matter. If Zhou Tiance, the head of the Zhou family, got involved, things could become complicated.
The old lady drummed her fingers on the cane, her gaze flicking between the faces around the room. "If the Zhou family's ancestral hall is to be opened, then so be it," she said at last. "But this must not be repeated in the Chen family again."
Everyone nodded in agreement, sensing the finality in her tone.
For a noble house like the Chen family, relying on another family's ancestral blessings—especially the Zhou family—was nothing short of a humiliation. It suggested that the Chen family's own lineage lacked the strength or fortune to bestow proper blessings upon its descendants.
Xia Wanwan sat silently, her emotions in turmoil. Although this outcome relieved her from immediate punishment, it was a mixed victory at best. Resorting to the Zhou family's ancestral hall for blessings might further strain relations within the Chen family.
Zhou Wanyi remained composed, her face betraying neither joy nor regret. She understood the weight of her decision and the subtle insult it carried, but she seemed indifferent to how the Chen family perceived it.
Chen Taiping stood still for a moment, his brow furrowed. He knew this solution would raise eyebrows and possibly stir resentment among the elders, but there was little he could do to stop it now.
"Let it be," he whispered under his breath, before turning and walking out of the hall.
Left alone with her thoughts, Xia Wanwan glanced at her son, Chen Yi, who sat innocently on the floor, completely unaware of the storm brewing around him. She gently stroked his head, her heart heavy with worry.
"Will things truly end here?" she murmured, as doubt gnawed at her mind.
She looked at Zhou Wanyi, who was still sitting calmly, and said apologetically, "It's all my fault for not disciplining him well, which caused the incident during Yuan'er's grabbing ceremony."
Zhou Wanyi shook her head and said, "Uncle Er is right; it's fate and timing. We shouldn't blame Yi'er."
"However, after you return, Sister Wanwan, you still need to discipline him more and make sure Yi'er doesn't behave like this again."
"I definitely won't!"
Not far outside the door, Chen Taiping understood the outcome of the discussion inside.
He had originally planned to feign a reprimand of Xia Wanwan to ease the tension between the two women.
As for Chen Yi, Chen Taiping did not plan to punish him; he regarded his performance during the grabbing ceremony as mere childish antics. After all, regardless of legitimacy, both of his sons were his descendants, and the fact that one of them had obtained the jade sword as a ceremony object was a good thing.
At this moment, he was more concerned about "Chen Yuan receiving the blessing from the Zhou family's ancestral spirits."
Recalling the earlier remarks from the Northern border King, Chen Taiping couldn't help but feel a bit strange.
"I am legally married; why does it feel like I've become a son-in-law with a reversed position?"
In the right wing of the courtyard, Chen Yi was still unaware of the events happening in the main hall.
At that moment, he lay on the bed, striking a pose like an adult—his small hands resting under his head and his legs crossed.
Even if he knew the outcome, he wouldn't regret it.
With the reversal mission at hand, he and Chen Yuan were bound to face off sooner or later.
Since it was better to act sooner than later, he could avenge the humiliation of being drugged while also completing his reversal task.
Both goals could be achieved simultaneously.
"Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, do not bully those who are poor in middle age."
"If I were a poor youth, I'd end up like Xiao Yan."
Muttering to himself, Chen Yi got up and glanced at the nurse guarding the door before opening the panel to claim his reward.
[Entry-Level Swordsmanship: Combines the fundamental sword techniques of the world, integrating technique and method, allowing for the initial formation of sword energy.]
Basic Volume of Xuanjing Sword Technique, Basic Volume of Tianyuan Sword Technique...
Footwork, postures, cuts, thrusts, and sweeps—some light and agile, others heavy and powerful...
Sets of basic sword techniques flashed like illusions in Chen Yi's mind, each one dissected and finally formed into a single character: "sword."
After a long while, Chen Yi shook his slightly dazed head.
"This is entry-level swordsmanship?"
With so many sets of basic sword techniques, even with high talent, it would take at least thirty thousand days and nights to practice them all.
Now, however, he only needed to complete one reverse mission.
"Too strong!"
Chen Yi looked at the information displayed on the light panel, feeling secretly delighted.
[Name: Chen Yi]
[Age: 30]
[Cultivation: None]
[Talent: Late Bloomer — The older the bone age, the faster the cultivation speed.]
[Swordsmanship: Entry Level — Solid foundation, can form sword energy.]
[Reverse Points: 0/100]
Sword energy?
Chen Yi's heart stirred as he grasped the jade sword that hung from his wrist, which had been used during the grabbing ceremony. A sense of inexplicable familiarity washed over him, prompting him to instinctively flick his wrist.
A thrust!
Shing!
Suddenly, a short blade of green energy erupted from the palm-sized jade sword.
Chen Yi stared at the weak sword energy in front of him, momentarily speechless.
"Sword energy stretching a mere centimeter—shorter than... well, it's definitely not as long as I am."
In less than three seconds, the sword energy vanished without a trace.
"Tsk, the duration isn't great either," Chen Yi muttered as he gazed at the dimming jade sword. He understood that this blade of sword energy was not fueled by his own strength.
Instead, it was a blessing from the Chen family's ancestral spirits that the jade sword inherently possessed.
If it were up to him, he would barely manage half a second before running out of energy.
"Martial arts cultivation, the foundation of qi and strength."
As Chen Yi's excitement gradually subsided, he realized that to truly harness the swordsmanship within him, he still had a long way to go.
However, at the very least, he now had a means of self-defense.
Next time that woman dared to drug him, he would definitely swing his sword to… protect himself!
"Yi'er."
Just then, Xia Wanwan pushed the door open and entered, looking at him with a complex expression.
"Eep, eep!"
Unaware of his birth mother's thoughts, Chen Yi immediately switched to an innocent and adorable expression, stretching out his hands in a "give me a hug" gesture.
"Why are you acting like this?"
Oh no!
Chen Yi's heart sank as he saw Xia Wanwan, eyes filled with tears, pressing him down onto the bed and smacking him on the backside with a feather duster.
She knew that while the grabbing ceremony had come to an end, she couldn't act as if nothing had happened.
Otherwise, what would happen to them as mother and son...
"Waaahhh!"
What good is having an entry-level sword technique?
He couldn't even withstand a feather duster!
(End of this chapter)