Free Web NovelChapter 47: Chapter 47: Arrangements
"You don’t have to go through hell and high water." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Chen Li pondered for a moment, then looked at Liu Yuejin with a solemn expression. "Brother Liu, I wonder if you’ve heard of the Drunken Creek Pavilion that recently opened in the county seat?"
At his words, the expressions of both Liu Yuejin and Liu Wende changed.
Liu Yuejin sighed heavily and said, "To be honest with you, Brother Chen, the woman I knew back then, Ban Xia, was at the Drunken Creek Pavilion in the Commandery City. That place runs deep. Its backers are complicated, and they use insidious tricks that are impossible to guard against. I can only blame myself for being so naive back then, thinking I had found true love."
Chen Li nodded slightly. "I have an impertinent request. If your body is well and it’s convenient, Brother Liu, could you perhaps walk around the vicinity of the Drunken Creek Pavilion from time to time? You don’t need to go deep inside, and certainly don’t take any risks. I just need you to gather some information about what’s happening in the pavilion, paying special attention to any news about the Chief Steward, Chen Zhengping, and the Courtesan, Jing Hong."
"This..."
Liu Yuejin hesitated for a moment before looking up. "Rest assured, Brother Chen. Leave this to me. I used to be a regular at places like the Drunken Creek Pavilion, so gathering some peripheral information won’t be difficult."
"Then I thank you, Brother Liu." Chen Li added, "That place is malevolent and you might be tainted by its sinister aura. Every time you return from gathering information, regardless of whether you’ve found anything, you can come find me in Lingxi. I will help you dispel any sinister energy you’ve been tainted with."
Hearing this, Liu Yuejin’s spirits lifted. He knew well how miraculous Chen Li’s methods were and immediately gave his assurance again. "I, Yuejin, will not fail your trust."
With the matter settled, Chen Li wasted no more time. He went to the martial arts hall to pick up Chen Shouheng, packed a simple bag, and drove the ox-cart straight home.
"Dad, are we just leaving like this?" Chen Shouheng couldn’t help but ask. "What about the Drunken Creek Pavilion, and Chen Zhengping and his people? Are we just going to let it go?"
Chen Li kept his eyes on the road ahead, his voice calm. "Let’s go. The road of the Jianghu is long, and preserving oneself is fundamental. When the time is right, we will settle every score. Not a single one will be missed."
He glanced at his son. "What you’ve been through is a lesson. When we get back, you must not neglect your Martial Arts. Train hard. True power comes from being strong yourself. All schemes and plots are futile in the face of absolute strength."
Chen Shouheng mulled over his father’s words, sitting silently on the ox-cart for the entire journey. frёewebηovel.cѳm
The old ox swayed back and forth, carrying the father and son back to Lingxi.
...
After returning home, Chen Li began to address the shortcomings of his family’s estate.
The granary was no longer large enough.
Raising new draft oxen also required a larger stable.
The Chen family had a vacant plot of over three mu behind their backyard, which was their private land. Chen Li planned to build a new courtyard there specifically for raising livestock. He would then convert the current backyard’s covered sheds into a granary.
In the following days, the Chen Mansion was a hive of activity. Green bricks, lumber, and granite were delivered one after another, and the artisans began to work with a CLANG and a BANG.
Chen Li personally supervised the work.
The cattle and pig pens could just be simple wooden sheds. After all, they weren’t for people. The upper part could be used to store dry straw and silage, with the cattle and pigs raised below.
The granary, however, required careful design. Chen Li planned to rebuild it entirely with brick walls, leaving only a single iron door and a few ventilation openings covered with iron mesh.
The main reason for this design was the severe rat infestation. Every year, a significant portion of their stored grain was ruined by rats, and even keeping several cats didn’t help.
With his eldest son, Shouheng, helping out, Chen Li didn’t have to worry too much.
The busy construction work was finally completed just before the autumn harvest.
September.
It was another year of bountiful harvest.
This year, the yield from the Chen family’s new fields reached six hundred jin per mu.
The yield from the old fields remained stable at around seven hundred jin per mu.
Chen Li was not surprised by this result.
’Without the hybrid rice, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides from my previous life, a yield of eight or nine hundred jin is already approaching the limit.’
This year, Chen Li entrusted all the farm work to his eldest son, Shouheng.
The main reason was that his wife Song Ying’s due date had arrived.
A few days later, the sounds of hurried footsteps and the shouts of a midwife echoed from the backyard of the Chen Mansion.
Although Chen Li was not a first-time father, as he waited outside the door listening to his wife’s suppressed cries of pain, his palms still grew slightly damp with sweat.
It wasn’t Song Ying’s first child, but she hadn’t given birth in many years, and her pelvic bones had begun to close up again.
Unlike her second birth, which took only an hour and a half, this time it took more than half a day before a loud, clear baby’s cry finally broke the tense atmosphere.
"The baby’s here! It’s here! Congratulations, Master, and congratulations, Madam! It’s a young master!"
The midwife came out with a beaming smile, holding the swaddled baby to announce the good news.
The tension in Chen Li’s nerves instantly vanished, and a smile spread across his face.
He strode forward and carefully took the swaddled infant.
The newborn’s skin was rosy. Its eyes were closed, its little fists clenched tight, radiating a vigorous life force.
Chen Li held him and thought for a moment before asking his wife, "Let’s call him Shoujing. What do you think?"
Song Ying was weak after childbirth. Lying in bed, she silently repeated the name a few times, then smiled radiantly. "Whatever my husband decides is fine."
Joy seemed to be contagious.
Before Shoujing was even a month old, the baby in Liu Yun’s belly seemed unable to wait, kicking wildly.
It was Liu Yun’s first time giving birth, so it was more difficult.
Even though she had been taking supplements to build her strength in the last stage of her pregnancy, the delivery still took nearly six hours.
At dusk, along with a faint cry, the midwife announced the happy news: "Congratulations, Master! It’s a precious daughter. Mother and daughter are both safe."
Liu Yun leaned against the couch, her face pale and a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
As a concubine, only by giving birth to a son could she truly secure her position in the Chen Family.
Chen Li, on the other hand, held no preference for sons over daughters. He looked at the pink, perfectly-formed baby girl in the swaddling clothes and was exceptionally fond of her.
What made him even happier was that the system in his mind, for once, actually chimed with a notification.
[Congratulations, Host. You now have 5 children, taking a solid step toward the growth and prosperity of your family. Reward Issued: Prajna Glaze Heart Sutra of the Self-Viewing.]
Chen Li pondered for a moment and said, "Let’s call her Shouyi. May she live a life of peace and happiness."
Liu Yun replied softly, "Thank you, Master, for granting her a name."
After holding his daughter for a while, Chen Li went to the study alone. He sat cross-legged on a rush mat, his Heart Spirit sinking into his sea of consciousness.
He retrieved the Prajna Glaze Heart Sutra of the Self-Viewing from the system.
Chen Li studied it carefully and was slightly moved.
This Heart Sutra was not an Inner Power Heart Method, but a Spirit Refining Skill for tempering one’s spirit and condensing one’s Divine Sense.
After breaking through to the Spirit Realm, one’s Divine Sense would gradually condense and merge with their Inner Qi. However, it would be very weak. One had to reach the fourth gate, the Divine Hall, to open the Spiritual Secret Collection, condense the Divine Sense, and achieve a preliminary form of Divine Sense Projection.
But this Prajna Glaze Heart Sutra of the Self-Viewing used a Visualization Skill to allow one to condense and solidify their Heart Spirit early, without needing to open the Divine Hall. Not only would it make one impervious to external evils, it would also allow one to perceive the subtleties of their own body and observe the qi flow of external objects. At its deepest level of Cultivation, one could even use Buddhist Thought to intimidate and convert evil spirits.
’A Spirit Refining Skill!’
Chen Li’s eyes narrowed slightly. He immediately followed the scripture’s instructions, formed a Meditation Seal with his hands, and attempted the visualization.
He visualized himself as a deity, sitting above his Dantian Qi Sea.
He guided a breath of Innate Qi, letting it rise slowly along his Central Meridian. When it reached the point between his eyebrows, it transformed into a cool, gentle Moon Dew, which then slowly dripped down onto his visualized body.
A brilliant light shone from within, a treasured radiance projecting outward, illuminating every bone in his body. It washed away all distracting thoughts, delusions, and evil notions, like pure glazed water that could not be stained by dust.
At first, his Heart Spirit was in turmoil, and the visualized form was blurry and unstable.
Chen Li was neither hasty nor impatient, trying again and again.
Gradually, a blurry, illusory figure appeared in his Dantian.
Although progress was slow, Chen Li could feel his Heart Spirit, through repeated visualization and the dripping of the Moon Dew, causing that illusory figure to gradually become more condensed, as if turning into a real person.
After a long time, Chen Li slowly opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile.
