Chapter 3: Calling an Ancient Netizen
By the time Chen Bai returned to the Tingwei Office, it was almost evening.
As soon as he entered the residence, he noticed something strange. “Why is it so deserted? I can’t even see a single servant.”
Because of what had happened to him, the Tingwei Office had indeed become quieter, but it should not have been to this extent.
When he reached his own courtyard, he finally understood why.
Everyone in the Tingwei Office, from top to bottom, was waiting at the entrance of his courtyard.
Chen Bai thought to himself, this was bad. The commotion he had caused on the street today had probably already spread throughout all of Shangjing. How could the Tingwei Office not have received the news?
The person at the front was none other than Chen Shouye, the Tingwei of Great Qian, one of the Nine Ministers. His face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, and he held a family punishment rod in his hand.
The moment he saw Chen Bai, Chen Shouye’s anger surged upward. With one furious roar, he set the deathly silent Tingwei Office ablaze.
“You unfilial son, you still dare come back? Someone who didn’t know better would think you had brought glory to our family! What great honor you have now, huh? You still have the face to go out onto the street and cause such a huge scene!”
Now, in court, he spoke and acted with extreme caution, afraid that if his voice was even a little too loud, others would remember his existence. Though it was no use—those soft knives kept stabbing into him one after another.
But his son was even better. He showed not the slightest reflection and even made things worse, as if he wished everyone to know that the old Chen family had produced a morally corrupt cut-sleeve who had brought chaos upon the imperial family, and who had even personally gone out onto the street to buy… buy that filthy storybook.
The coffin boards of their ancestors probably could not hold them down anymore.
“I have to beat you to death today, you wretch. I’ll just pretend I never had a bastard son like you.”
Chen Shouye was truly furious. If an ordinary person committed such a thing, they would probably wish to shut themselves away for life and never see anyone again. But his son? He acted as if nothing had happened and strutted openly onto the street.
He lifted the rod and was about to strike Chen Bai.
But before the rod could come down, a noblewoman beside Chen Shouye rushed forward and clung tightly to his arm.
“My lord, are you trying to beat him to death? Bai is covered in wounds right now. How could he withstand that rod?”
She cried and sobbed.
Behind them, Chen Xiaobu was also so frightened that he burst into tears with a loud wail, his mouth wide open as if he were the one being beaten.
Chen Bai was actually a little unused to the current situation. He merely stood there and said nothing.
In his previous life, he had been an orphan and had never experienced such complicated human emotions.
Chen Shouye’s anger, Madam Ronghua—his mother in this life—desperately stopping him, and the earth-shaking cries of his younger brother Chen Xiaobu all fell into his eyes.
After all, he had taken over this body. He owed a debt of human feeling that could never be fully repaid. In this era, he also had his own identity now. It was not something he could simply cast aside just because he wanted to.
The Tingwei Office was brightly lit, and the uproar continued until the middle of the night. Chen Tingwei’s roaring and Madam Ronghua’s crying could probably be heard clearly even from far outside the Tingwei Office.
The entire Tingwei Office was in chaos.
Since Chen Bai had caused such a big commotion on the street today, the Tingwei Office had to show everyone an attitude no matter what.
In the end, Chen Shouye’s rod still did not come down. Madam Ronghua refused to let go of his arm no matter what and protected Chen Bai in front of her.
Chen Bai felt that indulgent love.
By the time everything ended, the moon was already high in the sky.
Chen Bai was locked inside his deserted courtyard.
The moment he entered the courtyard, Chen Bai sensed the change. All the trees in the courtyard had been cut down.
Chen Bai: “…”
Chen Tingwei had probably guessed how he had secretly slipped out.
Not only that, even the flowers in the flower beds had been pulled out cleanly. This was purely venting anger.
By the moonlight, he looked at the bare courtyard. Someone who did not know better would think this place had been abandoned for many years.
“What a life.”
Chen Bai returned to his bedroom, sighed emotionally, applied medicine to his back, and went straight to sleep without even eating. After making trouble for half the night, he was tired too.
The next day, Chen Bai ate the coarse vegetables and plain rice that had been delivered. He looked toward the courtyard entrance. The two rough-work old women who had originally been guarding it were gone, replaced by two burly men who looked frightening just standing there.
Now he truly could not leave this place.
In fact, his current situation was not much different from being imprisoned. The only difference was that this courtyard was so big that, in modern times, he would not be able to afford it even after earning money for several lifetimes.
It was cold, quiet, and dead. Because all the flowers in the flower beds had been pulled out, even the bees no longer came to his courtyard.
The only thing worth feeling comforted by was that he could still scroll through his phone. Otherwise, he really might end up developing psychological problems from being stuck here.
He also did not have to worry about his phone running out of battery. His phone was a self-charging model with a built-in renewable energy reaction chamber. As long as it was not smashed, it would have no problem lasting a lifetime.
He took advantage of this time to resign from his original workplace and tell the friends he knew that he had gone on vacation.
He did not have many friends, but he could not let them worry.
After doing all this, he even dragged his good friend Tang Shen into a few rounds of games. His luck was not bad, and his rank rose by several stars.
That at least helped him pass these boring days. But he had no idea when such days would come to an end.
On the fourth day, Chen Bai was eating the coarse vegetables and plain rice that had been delivered.
At that moment, Chen Xiaobu, his head covered in grass bits, slipped in.
“How did you get in?” Chen Bai asked. Chen Xiaobu was now not allowed anywhere near his courtyard. They had truly achieved the goal of letting him fend for himself.
Chen Xiaobu scratched the grass bits on his head. “Brother, I found a dog hole in your courtyard. I secretly crawled in through the dog hole.”
Chen Bai: “…”
At any rate, he was still the young master of the Tingwei Office. How had he ended up crawling through a dog hole?
But it was good that someone had come to talk to him.
Chen Bai picked up a piece of saliva chicken and stuffed it into Chen Xiaobu’s mouth. “Here, try this chicken marinated with spices.”
He was injured right now. How could he only eat coarse vegetables and plain rice? His wounds would take even longer to heal. Besides, the food delivered to him was truly hard to swallow, so each time, he ordered takeout with his phone and added something extra for himself.
Chen Xiaobu had only chewed a few times when his eyes lit up. “Why is it so delicious? Brother, I can taste all thirty-two spices.”
Chen Bai: “…”
Then you truly have a divine mouth.
Chen Xiaobu took the chopsticks himself and kept stuffing food into his mouth. “It’s too delicious.”
Chen Bai said, “Don’t let anyone find out.”
Chen Xiaobu patted his chest. “Don’t worry. Your little brother is very clever.”
His mother had said that his brother could only eat coarse tea and plain rice right now. If anyone found out that his brother had delicious food here, it would be searched out and taken away.
Chen Bai thought for a moment. These past few days, he had completely lost contact with the outside world. He knew nothing about what was happening outside.
He could not help asking, “How is that guest retainer in Crown Prince Jiao’s residence—the one you mentioned last time who paints very realistic pictures?”
Chen Xiaobu chewed the chicken in his little mouth. “Brother, let me tell you, Crown Prince Jiao has been so embarrassed lately.”
“Didn’t he keep bragging a few days ago about how amazing the painter he recruited was? He practically praised him to the heavens. Everywhere he went, he showed him off, making all of Shangjing know that his residence had gained the number one painter under heaven. But now, the entire Crown Prince’s Residence doesn’t mention this matter anymore. Whoever brings it up, they get anxious with them.”
“Prince Zheng got a painting called Bees Humming Among Flowers from who-knows-where, and right when Crown Prince Jiao was most pleased with himself, he directly outshone him.”
Chen Bai thought to himself, Crown Prince Jiao had bragged too much and probably could not end things properly. Prince Zheng was quite good at seizing the right moment.
For someone like Crown Prince Jiao, who loved showing off so much, his expression at the time must have been wonderful when he was struck by that muffled blow.
“Now all the young masters and young ladies in Shangjing are rushing to Prince Zheng’s place to view the painting. The Crown Prince’s Residence has long gone silent.”
“Everyone is guessing who the Mountain Lord who made that divine painting is, but Prince Zheng keeps his mouth shut and refuses to say. He’s making it very mysterious.”
“Brother, let me tell you, that painting is divine. It’s like real flowers were placed inside the paper.”
Chen Bai smiled. “You went to see it?”
Chen Xiaobu’s little head drooped. “I heard it from my classmate.”
Now, aside from going to school, he had to stay at home. He did not want to go out either. The moment he left the house, people would point at him and whisper.
Although Chen Xiaobu was still young, he was already studying in the elementary class at Shangjing Academy.
“Brother, Prince Zheng is going to establish his own residence. But everyone is waiting to laugh at him.”
“When a prince establishes a residence, he has to recruit guest retainers and strategists. I heard Prince Zheng sent people to persuade a group of students from Shangjing Academy, but they all refused. Not a single person agreed.”
“Those students are all waiting until they complete their studies so they can offer their services to the Crown Prince’s Residence.”
Qi Zheng had only just returned to Shangjing. He indeed lacked foundation. In addition, his mother’s clan were merchants. How could those proud scholars possibly look up to him?
On the day he established his residence, if he could not recruit any guest retainers or strategists, he would lose a great deal of face.
Chen Bai listened quietly. This had nothing to do with him anyway.
“Aiya, Brother, why does my little mouth keep eating and eating? I can’t stop at all.”
Chen Xiaobu had nearly eaten half of the chicken by himself.
Chen Bai almost laughed because of this little clever spirit.
When Chen Xiaobu left, he still could not help saying, “Brother, I’m your real little brother. If there’s something this delicious in the future, you have to save some for your little brother.”
“Also, Mother said the court’s punishment for Brother will come in the next few days.”
Chen Bai froze for a moment. He had almost forgotten. The ten lashes he had received had merely been something someone had done in a “fit of rage.” Although he had been beaten half to death, it did not count as the court’s official punishment.
Bringing chaos upon the imperial family and corrupting public morals—these crimes were not minor.
Add to that the fact that, while bearing guilt, he had gone out onto the street to “buy” banned books. The punishment would probably be heavier.
After Chen Xiaobu left, Chen Bai returned to his room with a frown.
No matter what, he had to save himself. If he simply waited for the court’s punishment to come down, who knew what would happen?
Chen Bai took out his phone and looked at the profile picture whose name he had already changed to “Qi Zheng.”
With his current crime, even the Tingwei Office had no say in the matter. He could only seek another way.
And the only person he could contact outside right now was this person. Furthermore, given this person’s identity, he could indeed help.
But getting this person to help him would not be easy either.
Chen Bai glanced at the special effects settings that had been preserved perfectly, then tapped video call.
…
Qi Zheng frowned as he looked at the stone slab in his hand.
There was a demon living inside it. It was impossible for him not to be on guard.
But he also wanted to figure out whether that painting was related to this demon, and what the purpose of sending that painting had been.
Therefore, over the past two days, he had poked this stone slab with his finger quite a lot. Unfortunately, it had been like throwing stones into the sea—there had been no response at all.
Just then, two icons, one red and one green, appeared on the stone slab again.
