Su Manor.

When Li Shiyan woke up, it was already evening, and the sky was gradually darkening.

He rolled around on the bed twice, greedily savoring the comfort of this bed. He really wanted to stay here and never leave!

But seeing that there was no one in the room, he quickly flipped over, got out of bed, and went outside.

A young manservant was waiting outside the door. Seeing him wake up, he smiled and said, “Young Master, you’re finally awake. You’ve been sleeping all afternoon.”

He stretched out a big lazy stretch, yawned again, and without any regard for his image, reached under his armpit to scratch a few times while asking, “Where is Ziluo?”

“The young master is in the study!”

“When did he go there?”

“After you fell asleep, Young Master, he went.”

“Then I’ll go find him.”

Li Shiyan planned to go over, but was stopped by the manservant, who said, “The young master instructed that if you woke up, I should escort you back to the manor.”

He waved his hand dismissively: “Go back to what manor? I’m going to find Ziluo to chat.”

Naturally, the manservant couldn’t stop him!

He strode toward the study with large steps.

At this moment, Su Ziluo was inside practicing calligraphy.

“Ziluo!” His voice was heard before his person was seen.

Then Li Shiyan’s figure came bounding in from outside, interrupting Su Ziluo’s leisurely and elegant mood completely!

He put down his brush, picked up the piece of calligraphy he had just finished writing from in front of him, and fanned it a few times to help the ink dry faster, while saying, “It’s already so late, why don’t you hurry back? Don’t treat my place as your refuge.” Li Shiyan, like a shameless rogue, walked to his desk, snatched the piece of calligraphy from his hand, held it up to look at it, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he said, “After not seeing you for a while, your calligraphy has become even more beautiful. If I could write like this, my father would be overjoyed.”

“I’ve wanted to teach you several times, but you weren’t willing to learn.”

“I can’t learn it!” Li Shiyan shrugged, returned the calligraphy to him, and said, “You also know I’m not cut out for studying. Being able to write characters is already quite good. How can I expect to write them well? If I could write well, my father wouldn’t keep such a tight rein on me like this.”

“You truly are unteachable!”

“Your words are really fresh.”

“…” Su Ziluo felt utterly helpless.

Li Shiyan then began wandering around his study. Although there were many books inside, there were also many interesting objects.

He noticed that one bookshelf wasn’t displaying books at all, but was neatly arranged with all sorts of miscellaneous items, such as wooden boxes, fans, bows and arrows, inkstones, exquisite incense burners, wooden combs, bracelets…

He took a fancy to one box and immediately took it down from the shelf, curiously asking, “What new and interesting thing is this?”

Just as he was about to open it—

Su Ziluo’s eyes suddenly turned stern, and he called out, “Don’t open it.”

Unfortunately, Li Shiyan’s hands were faster. The box had already been opened by him. The instant it opened, several silver needles shot out from inside the box. Fortunately, his reaction was quick—he immediately threw the box out the door, but one silver needle still pierced into his arm.

“Ah!”

He furrowed his brow in pain.

He quickly examined the wound on his arm. The silver needle hadn’t completely penetrated. He hurriedly pulled it out while saying to Su Ziluo, “You’re trying to murder me!”

Su Ziluo pushed his wheelchair around from behind the desk to his side, asking worriedly, “Let me see, is the injury deep?”

Li Shiyan thrust his arm toward him, pretending to be pitiful as he said, “Take a good look—it’s bleeding. You tell me if it’s deep or not!”

It was indeed bleeding, but it wasn’t a serious injury.

Seeing that he was completely fine, Su Ziluo said sternly, “Who told you to touch things randomly? I already told you not to open it.”

“I… I was just curious!”

“Curiosity will kill you sooner or later.” “What a vicious thing to say.” Li Shiyan pointed at the bookshelf full of miscellaneous items and said, “Who told you to make such attractive things? I just couldn’t help wanting to look. In all of Qujiang, the mechanical devices you create are the best—from large-scale formations to something as small as a folding fan, once they pass through your hands, they all become deadly weapons.”

Su Ziluo had a pair of skillful hands capable of creating all manner of intricate mechanical weapons.

The wheelchair he sat in was also made by his own hands, filled with countless hidden mechanisms.

“Fortunately, the mechanism in that box wasn’t completely set up yet. Otherwise, your arm wouldn’t just be bleeding this little bit—it would already be crippled!”

“Then I should thank you even more.” Su Ziluo sighed: “Alright, it’s already so late. You should hurry back, lest the Marquis worry.” After speaking, he added another instruction, “Oh right, I’ve already had someone tell the Marquis that you were here seeking scholarly instruction. When the time comes, don’t let anything slip.”

Li Shiyan’s face immediately lit up with joy: “As expected, Ziluo, you’re still the best.”

But Su Ziluo warned him: “However, you remember this—this is the first time and also the last time. My place is not your refuge.” “Got it!” Li Shiyan suddenly rolled his eyes and said, “Oh right, Ziluo, that fan with the mechanism you gave me a few years ago—I broke it while playing with it. You also know that I usually like to cause trouble, and offending people is a common occurrence. If I didn’t have that fan you made to protect myself, I’d definitely suffer losses. With my three-legged cat kung fu, I wouldn’t dare compete with others, so…”

His meaning was crystal clear!

Su Ziluo had no way to deal with him and said, “You go back first. When I have time, I’ll make you a new one.”

“Excellent!”

Li Shiyan was delighted and no longer continued to disturb him, lifting his rear end and leaving!

Watching his retreating figure, Su Ziluo wanted to say something but stopped himself…

After leaving Su Manor, Li Shiyan didn’t have anyone escort him. He directly mounted his horse and returned to the manor. When he arrived at the Marquis Manor, he naturally didn’t dare to use the main entrance. Instead, he quietly went to the back door, where Xiao Luzi had been waiting for a long time.

Upon hearing three rhythmic knocks on the door, Xiao Luzi knew it was the Young Master and quickly opened the door.

“Young Master, you’ve finally returned!”

Li Shiyan quietly slipped inside, looked around, and asked, “No one knows, right?”

“No one knows.”

“Let’s go quickly!”

His legs seemed motorized as he rushed quickly toward his own courtyard. Only after entering did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He couldn’t help but hum a little tune…

But when he pushed open the door to his room and saw the Marquis of Kangding sitting inside, he immediately panicked, his face filled with alarm.

“Father!” This call came out soft and weak.

The Marquis of Kangding’s expression was stern, sitting upright with proper posture, his severe eyes staring coldly at him.

“So you still know to come back!”

“Father, I…”

“Kneel down!” The Marquis of Kangding shouted angrily.

Even though Li Shiyan was reluctant in every way, he still obediently knelt down.

Xiao Luzi outside also knelt down, keeping his head lowered as much as possible, knowing that he would definitely suffer later!

The Marquis of Kangding glared at his stubbornly wayward son with an expression of disappointment and frustration. After smoothing out the knot of anger in his chest for quite a while, he finally said, “I already told you yesterday that Minister Zhu would be bringing his daughter over today, and I told you to stay properly at the manor. You just had to run out and make your old father lose face!”