From a slave to the Great Qian Martial Saint

"You're just letting him go back like that?"

"Or what? Should we kill him now?"

"Well, that's definitely not a good idea. What I mean is, shouldn't we teach him a lesson?"

"I think you need to be taught a lesson, shut up!"

Feng Lin glared at Gu Chenglie, his face darkening.

How dare a mere servant refuse him? He truly has no sense of mortality!

However, we cannot kill Chen Shi right now, since that person said we must get Xiao Fengxiao.

"So that's how it is..."

On his way home, Chen Shi recalled what Feng Lin had said, and everything finally became clear.

Gu Chengze went to great lengths to get Xiao Fengxiao under his control, which was true, but it wasn't just about 'taking charge'. He wanted to use Xiao Fengxiao as a pledge of loyalty to join Feng Lin's group!

This explains why Gu Chengze secretly returned from the border and suddenly had a fifth-rank grandmaster under his command; it must have been arranged by "them".

As for who these "they" are...

It must have been some powerful figures in the imperial court, otherwise Feng Lin wouldn't have dared to make such a boast, promising Chen Shi a meteoric rise to power and even the chance to marry a noblewoman.

It was not uncommon for powerful officials in the court to form factions.

Although Gu Chengze was the eldest son of the Marquis's family, he was never valued and wanted to join "them" in order to rise above others. That was why he was willing to offer up Xiao Fengxiao!

But he ultimately failed and met a violent end.

And all of this seems to have been transferred to Chen Shi.

"strangeness."

Thinking about this, Chen Shi was puzzled again: why did Feng Lin want to win him over?

Although he accepted Gu Chengze's woman, just as Gu Chenglie said, he was ultimately just a servant. Even as the steward of the Jing'an Marquis's mansion, the little power he held was meaningless to "them".

"Sigh~!"

After pondering for a while, Chen Shi couldn't help but sigh.

The tree may wish to be still, but the wind will not cease; one wave subsides only for another to rise.

Why is it so hard to live a peaceful life?

However, at present, Feng Lin is only showing an intention to win him over, and does not have much hostility.

As for whether things will change later, or even if he is killed, Chen Shi simply decided not to think about it too much for now and would deal with it later.

After all, the other party is the dignified Marquis of Dingyuan. What use is it for him to think too much now? What preparations can he make? It will only add to his troubles.

"Using women as a pledge of allegiance, I don't know which pervert came up with that idea."

Chen Shi smiled again, and couldn't help but think of Gu Chenglie.

It seems that Gu Chenglie has already joined "them".

In other words, Gu Chenglie has already pledged his allegiance.

Although he had never met her, Chen Shi had heard that Gu Chenglie's wife was a gentle and charming lady from a prominent family. Such a noble woman was being used by her husband as a gift to please other men, as lowly as a prostitute in a brothel.

Chen Shi shook his head secretly again. This Marquis's mansion seemed magnificent and prosperous, but the filth and corruption behind the scenes were far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

However, this had nothing to do with him, and Chen Shi didn't bother to think about it.

When he got home, Cui Nong was still waiting for him.

After a brief chat, it was already quite late, so they told Cui Nong to go back to her room and sleep.

Chen Shi arrived at the courtyard and began practicing the Elephant King Stance.

Covering the earth with imprints, shaking Kunlun, swirling the stars, traversing the eight wastelands...

He performed all nine stances of the Elephant King three times in a row before stopping.

He exhaled a long breath and a smile appeared on his face.

"It really worked!"

Although it was still the same moves, seemingly without any change, Chen Shi could feel that his Elephant King Stance skill had indeed improved significantly compared to before.

In other words, Zhe Liu was right; dual cultivation can indeed accelerate the progress of Elephant King Stance cultivation!

Overjoyed, Chen Shi practiced the Elephant King Stance twice more. Only when the night was deep and dark did he return to his room to rest.

Cui Nong was already fast asleep on the bed. She had been waiting for him, but she was so tired that she fell asleep without realizing it.

Chen Shi tucked the quilt around Cui Nong and sat cross-legged on the bed, still trying to enter a meditative state instead of sleeping.

Overnight, it left no trace.

The next morning, Chen Shi arrived at the Marquis's residence by carriage, as usual.

He was in charge of approving funds, issuing receipts, and handling all the affairs of his position as the general manager. The rest of his time was spent cultivating the Elephant King Stake and searching for clues about the Chilong Cave formation diagram.

Still no.

Chen Shi tossed the book aside and sighed softly.

I've read through several books from the library, but I still have no clue about the array diagram.

Moreover, there has been no word from Li Qinghan's side so far.

The secrecy of this array is probably far greater than expected.

It's already February, and the opening of the Chilong Cave in December is the final deadline, with only ten months left.

If he can't produce the array diagram by then, Chilong probably won't let him and Gu Hanying off easily.

"There are other options..."

Sitting in his seat, Chen Shi slowly tapped his fingers on the table, pondering other ways to find the array diagram.

In fact, Chen Shi already had several methods in mind.

But it's either unrealistic or too radical and risky; it's best not to use it unless you're desperate.

At night, Chen Shi, fully disguised, returned to the Zhiyi Divination Hall, not as Chi Xie, nor as the Eighty-One Saint, but as an ordinary "customer".

Offer 10,000 taels of silver to the Fufeng Society to find clues about the Chilong Cave Formation!

If you can find the formation diagram and give it to him directly, the reward is 30,000 taels of silver.

A task worth tens of thousands of taels of silver is considered a major client for the Fufeng Society. Ke Buxia carefully noted it down and promised to immediately arrange for the Feng Department to search for it.

As the saying goes, a new emperor brings a new court. After the altar leader changed, Ke Buxia lost the new altar leader's trust, so this place no longer leads to the altar leader's secret chamber, but has become an ordinary base for collecting missions.

"I don't know if it will work."

As Chen Shi left the Zhiyi Guaguan (a divination hall), he let out a soft sigh.

Although the Fufeng Society is known for its omnipresence, it is not omniscient. He was not sure if they could find the array diagram.

In short, whether there are dates or not, we'll try our best.

We should try anything, no matter how small.

Chen Shi continued as usual.

While managing his household affairs, he secretly searched for clues about the array diagram.

"Get out of the way! You stinking beggar! Do you even know whose vehicle this is, daring to ram it like that!"

In the evening, Chen Shi took a car home.

Halfway there, the carriage jolted slightly, and then we heard the guards outside shouting at us.

Peeking through the curtains, I saw two raggedly dressed vagrants huddled together by the roadside, shivering.

More refugees.

Since the beginning of February, many refugees have flocked to Yongqiu City.

From February to May, it is the lean season when food is scarce. Some poor families have no surplus food and can only wander to other places and beg for a living.

In fact, this is the case every year.

However, there seem to be more this year, and the timing is also earlier.

Chen Shi did know something about this.

According to Zhuangzi, last year there was first a drought and then a locust plague, which reduced the harvest by 60% to 70%. So, just after winter, many families ran out of food.

In Yongqiu City today, many wealthy families have opened soup kitchens to help these refugees.

But relying solely on soup kitchens cannot ultimately solve any major problems.

Moreover, I've heard that the number of refugees outside is increasing.

The imperial court seemed to have no reaction to this, and the Jing'an Marquis's mansion continued its extravagant and decadent lifestyle as always, without even building a soup kitchen.

Everyone has their own destiny.

Chen Shi drew the curtains and closed his eyes to stop thinking about it.

He was just a servant, barely making ends meet, so how could he have the leisure to care about others?