From a slave to the Great Qian Martial Saint

After Gu Chengze's funeral, the Marquis's mansion remained as usual, except that the second branch of the family became increasingly deserted.

"Manager Chen!"

Outside the second gate, two servants were whispering to each other. When they saw Chen Shi coming, they were startled and quickly shut up.

Chen Shi glanced at the two men, said nothing, and stepped inside.

Gu Chengze was originally adopted from the first wife's family to continue the family line for the second wife's family. Now that he has suddenly died, he has not only left no children, but has also added a widow to the second wife's family.

The servants in the mansion were gossiping privately, saying that the second wife's family had been possessed by an evil spirit.

Chen Shi had heard some of this, but people can talk, and he couldn't shut them all up. Besides, he was in charge of purchasing medicinal herbs, not the general manager, so these matters weren't within his scope of responsibility.

In short, just pretend you didn't hear or see anything.

He went straight to Xiao Fengxiao's courtyard, where two maids were feeding cats by the wall. When they saw Chen Shi enter, they stood up to greet him, then squatted down to continue feeding the cats.

The people in the courtyard had become accustomed to Chen Shi coming and going.

Without prior notice, they went directly into Xiao Fengxiao's room.

In the inner room, on the couch, Xiao Fengxiao, wearing a bright red coat but no outer garment, sat opposite Yun'er. In the dead of winter, with a quilt covering his legs, he was embroidering a pair of pillowcases.

"This fuss about embroidering is so annoying!"

Xiao Fengxiao suddenly threw the pillowcase aside, looking impatient.

"Let me see what it is that is embroidered, that is making Second Madam so upset."

As Chen Shi walked over, he picked it up and almost burst out laughing.

The crooked stitches somehow managed to turn a pair of mandarin ducks into plump quails.

Putting aside the traditional virtues of obedience to fathers and daughters, Xiao Fengxiao was truly incompetent when it came to needlework alone.

"My Yun'er embroiders better."

Immediately afterwards, Chen Shi turned to look at Yun'er.

Yun'er embroidered a white crane, its wings outstretched as if about to leap above the water, lifelike in its form.

"I'll give it to you once it's finished embroidering."

Yun'er looked up at Chen Shi, her face beaming with a smile as gentle as a spring breeze.

"Pah! Shameless!"

Xiao Fengxiao spat lightly, then turned to Chen Shi and said sarcastically.

"What wind blew Mr. Chen here today? He's quite a rare guest."

"You know I was sick for half a month and just got back."

Chen Shi looked at Xiao Fengxiao and gave her a knowing look.

"Hmph, all set."

Xiao Fengxiao gave a soft snort, then asked a question.

She knew that Chen Shi was faking illness to actually solve the problem of bestiality.

"The problem is temporarily resolved."

Chen Shi nodded, but let out a soft sigh.

Xiao Fengxiao frowned slightly, saying that "temporarily" meant that the problem was not yet completely solved.

"What are you two doing, playing mind games with me?"

Just as Xiao Fengxiao was about to ask another question, Yun'er suddenly spoke up.

The two looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh, finding it rather boring.

Yun'er didn't even look up as she continued embroidering the white crane, shifting her body slightly to make room for Chen Shi.

"It's awful cold, come up and sit down."

"it is good."

Chen Shi didn't stand on ceremony and took off his shoes to sit on the couch.

Yun'er pulled half of the blanket over Chen Shi's legs and covered them with it. As the old saying goes, as long as your legs aren't cold, your body won't be cold.

"It's so warm."

Feeling warm and comforted by Yun'er's kindness, Chen Shi couldn't help but smile and snuggled closer to her.

The two stood side by side, which made Xiao Fengxiao feel a pang of jealousy. She dug her fingernails into the half-embroidered pillowcase.

But then, Xiao Fengxiao suddenly smiled.

"Um?"

Chen Shi, who was looking down at Yun'er's embroidery, suddenly paused and looked up at Xiao Fengxiao.

They sat facing each other, not far apart, with their two blankets piled together.

A small foot slipped under Xiao Fengxiao's blanket and went straight into Chen Shi's blanket.

With a flick of her toes, she removed the silk stockings, and her five crystal-clear toes began to tickle Chen Shi's legs.

Chen Shi smiled, pretending to cover his hand, then reached his hand under the blanket, grabbed the playful little foot, and played with it carefully.

"Giggle~!"

Xiao Fengxiao was ticklish, and let out a string of sweet, bell-like laughs.

"Huh? What are you laughing at all of a sudden?"

Yun'er looked up at Xiao Fengxiao and asked in confusion.

"Nothing, I just suddenly remembered a joke."

Xiao Fengxiao waved her hand, glanced at Chen Shi with half-hearted affection in her eyes, and groped her way up with her small feet.

"By the way, what brings you here all of a sudden?"

While teasing and playing with him, Xiao Fengxiao asked a question.

"Oh, I've come to ask about the selection of the head steward."

Chen Shi then remembered, and his face turned serious.

The vast Jing'an Marquis's mansion had nearly a thousand servants, and the daily affairs were extremely complicated. How could Jin Bingren and Zhou Bingzhi possibly manage it all?

Therefore, the promotion of the new chief steward is now a matter of utmost urgency.

It's already the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month, and the end of the year is approaching. It's estimated that the selection will begin after the New Year.

That means there are still about two weeks left.

Chen Shi successfully handled Gu Chengze's funeral, thus passing the initial test, and is therefore among the candidates for promotion.

As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." The purpose of this trip is to find out about the situation of other competitors.

"Your opponent this time is indeed a bit troublesome."

Whether Chen Shi could become the steward was also very important to Xiao Fengxiao. She had found out the details in the past few days, and her expression became serious.

"Including you, there are a total of six people vying for this managerial position."

"That's not a lot."

Chen Shi nodded. After all, this was the position of chief steward, and he had originally thought there would be at least a dozen people in it.

"But none of them are easy to deal with! One is a member of the Gu family clan, one is a retainer whom the Third Master has won over with a lot of money, one is a retired general from the battlefield, and the other two are retainers who have been in the mansion for many years."

Xiao Fengxiao gave a soft snort, her eyes fixed on Chen Shi.

"This is indeed a bit troublesome."

Just hearing the identities of these five people made Chen Shi frown and feel a headache coming on.

He was either a person with connections or a powerful outsider; compared to them, he was simply a pitiful little lamb.

Immediately afterwards, Xiao Fengxiao told Chen Shi about the specific circumstances of these five people.

"Oh, right, all five of them are already at the sixth rank of cultivation!"

Finally, Xiao Fengxiao added one more sentence.

Chen Shi, who was already feeling uncertain, felt even more uneasy upon hearing these words.

There are nine ranks of martial artists, and each rank is like an insurmountable chasm. Even if he claims to be invincible among his peers, he still cannot defeat a rank six with only the mid-stage cultivation of rank seven.

In terms of force alone, he had already lost.

"I'm going back now."

I originally wanted to play with them a little longer, but I really wasn't in the mood right now.

Chen Shi said something, got up, and left.

Watching Chen Shi leave, Yun'er looked at Xiao Fengxiao and asked a question.

"Is there no way to help him?"

"If I could help, I would have done so already."

Xiao Fengxiao sighed, looking helpless as well.

The selection of the head steward is a matter of great importance. Not to mention her, even if the madam intervened, there would be no way to change it.

After leaving Xiao Fengxiao's courtyard, Chen Shi frowned, pondering a way to deal with the situation.

Bang bang!

Just when I was feeling anxious, my body felt like it was being pounded with drums, and my heart was inexplicably pounding.

Chen Shi stood there stunned for a moment, then a look of joy appeared on his lips.

Kim Byung-in was right; this feeling is something that can only be understood intuitively and cannot be described in words.

Just now, he successfully condensed the withered wood divine body!

"In that case, there's still a chance!"

Chen Shi took a deep breath, his expression somber.

Although he has not yet broken through to the sixth rank, he already possesses a divine body, so he still has the strength to fight those five people!