Stepping on the demon door, the witch becomes the strongest.

Chapter 568 Mother-in-law receives guests, father-in-law stays overnight

Yan Yu and Chen Lingyun took a plane to Hongqiao Airport.

The reason for not flying on a sword was naturally because Jianghai Prefecture was too densely populated. Your sword flashed by in the morning, and it was trending on the search results in the afternoon... Chen Lingyun wasn't the type to enjoy the limelight. If it were a demonic woman from the Demon Sect, she would probably be eager for the entire prefecture to come and greet her.

On the way, Chen Lingyun played with her iPad for a while, then felt a little sleepy (after all, it was time for a nap), so she rested her head on Yan Yu's shoulder and fell asleep.

Yan Yu didn't understand why she had to sleep on his side when the chairs in the first-class cabin could be folded down to serve as beds. However, this woman did have a similar habit in her previous life, and her reason was that "boyfriends and girlfriends always stick together." So he put the chair down for her, covered her with a blanket, and then sat down on her chair.

Enough of the past life! In this life, I like quietness, no women please.

After the plane began to land, Chen Lingyun woke up. She didn't say anything about Yan Yu's behavior, but just continued to play with her iPad as if nothing had happened.

The two then arrived at the airport, where a driver was already waiting outside and took them in.

Chen Lingyun lived in a mountain villa. According to unwritten rules, the governor should have lived in a government compound with dedicated security, but Chen's mother was used to a large staff and a large scale. If she really lived in the compound, the families of the neighboring officials would have to see her servants following her every day... Chen Tianming was a little overwhelmed.

From the perspective of keeping a low profile, it is of course more appropriate to live in a large villa with no neighbors.

In his previous life, Yan Yu had visited the Chen family several times, but later felt uncomfortable staying there and stopped coming. It was said that his father-in-law often slept in the governor's residence under the pretext of "working overtime," which showed that apart from Chen Lingyun, not many people could get used to living with Chen's mother.

The car stopped at the gate of the villa. The two got out of the car, and Chen Lingyun took Yan Yu's arm, as if she was a young wife taking her husband back to her parents' home, sweet and affectionate.

"Don't hug me so hard." Yan Yu whispered, "Your ribs are digging into me."

"You're so angry!" Chen Lingyun scolded angrily, "This is home, not outside, don't joke around!"

There was an aunt standing at the door. Seeing the two people coming from a distance, she immediately turned around, opened the door, and called out:
"Miss, a guest is here!"

Yan Yu saw the aunt opening the door for the two of them and sighed inwardly.

Chen's mother was accompanied by a large number of aunts, and there were many different rules. For example, when a guest came to visit, there had to be at least four aunts:
The first one is responsible for "welcoming the guests", that is, standing at the door to open the door for the guests and then shouting to inform the host to show their attention to the guests' visit;
The second person is responsible for "shoe removal", helping guests take off their shoes and put on slippers, and then disinfecting and fumigating the shoes. Even if a guest has smelly feet, the shoes will not smell at all when they return.

The third person is responsible for "bringing the basin" to the hallway, where there is warm water at a suitable temperature for guests to wash their hands and disinfect them.

The fourth one is responsible for "cleaning the face". She takes a freshly opened clean towel, wets it in the basin, wrings it out, and hands it to the customer to wipe their face. If the customer brings a child, this auntie also has to help wipe the child's face.

If it is very cold outside in late autumn or winter, there will be a fifth aunt present to help guests take off their heavy coats.

This is the entire entry process, called "washing away the dust".

Why is it so complicated? According to Chen's mother, this set of rules was handed down by her husband's ancestors, dating back to the mid-Ming Dynasty. His ancestors separated from Jinling and moved to Jianghai to settle down. From then on, their descendants became the largest local landlords, so there are many different customs and practices.

It was just that Yan Yu speculated maliciously that Chen's mother had only started her own business and became rich during his father's generation, and the generations before her were said to be poor weavers... Perhaps Chen's mother subconsciously felt that her family background was not as good as Chen Tianming's, so she had to insist on all kinds of pomp and ceremony and rules to appear "a person who knows manners."

As the saying goes, "pursue what you lack." You see, Old Taishan himself doesn't care about these things at all. When he is busy at work in the Governor's Office, he just asks his secretary to buy a loaf of bread downstairs for lunch. He is so casual about it.

The two entered the room and sat down on the sofa in the hallway. The boot-removing aunt helped Chen Lingyun take off her shoes first, but Yan Yu, who had lived two lives, still disliked these red tapes, so he simply took off his shoes himself and changed into the slippers next to him.

Chen's mother had already heard the news and came downstairs. She took a towel from the cleaning lady, wrung it dry herself and handed it over.

Yan Yu naturally pretended to be flattered, took the towel from Chen's mother, turned around and wiped Chen Lingyun's face.

To be honest, Chen Lingyun's face is exquisite and perfect. I don't know what expensive skin care products she uses every day to maintain it, but you can't see any trace of dust on it.

Yan Yu pinched her chin, and she showed an extremely sweet smile, with an expression of great enjoyment. However, when Chen's mother saw it, she suddenly felt a little sad.

Alas, my daughter has grown up, and it’s time to hand her over to my son-in-law.

After wiping Chen Lingyun's face, the cleaning lady quickly took the towel, washed it dry, wrung it out, and handed it to Yan Yu.

After finishing everything, the two of them went to the living room and sat down.

Yan Yu was already prepared to deal with Chen's mother, when suddenly an aunt came and said that Chen Tianming was waiting for him upstairs.

He got up and left alone, leaving the living room to the mother and daughter to reminisce about the past.

In the study on the second floor, Chen Tianming was still standing with his hands behind his back, looking out the window.

This was also Old Taishan's habit: pretending to be profound. Chen Lingyun had inherited this habit perfectly, for example, the fake smile she wore all the time was designed to make it difficult for others to understand her true intentions.

"Sit down." Chen Tianming said, "There's tea on the table."

Yan Yu didn't even touch the teacup. Seeing an opened file bag on the table, he took it out and looked through it. Since Lao Taishan put it here and opened it specifically, it was obvious that he wanted to show it to me.

Seeing that he took it without asking, Chen Tianming didn't say anything, but just raised his eyebrows.

The information talks about the situation in India... To be precise, India no longer exists today, having been replaced by various large and small spiritual sects.

In other places abroad, such as the North and South, there are often many low-level extraordinary people, led by high-level extraordinary people, forming gangs of various sizes.

But the Indian subcontinent has its own special situation. Before the revival of spiritual energy, they already had numerous spiritual sects as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges. The folk extraordinary people born on this basis did not regard the most powerful high-level extraordinary people as the core leaders, but continued to use the original spiritual sects as the organizational bond.

The three most powerful sects are Vishnu, Shaivism, and Sakthism. Each of these sects can be further divided into various sub-sects. For example, Shaivism can be divided into the Satirika Shaivism, the Vedic Shaivism, and the Tolika Shaivism. Even many Indian ascetics cannot remember all the "sister sects" of their own sect, demonstrating its "infinite subdivision" and "decentralization."

This situation of numerous factions has led to the ascetics as a whole being more "inward-looking than outward-looking". Everyone is more inclined to fight against nearby heretics rather than running abroad to harm neighboring countries.

It was not until April this year that the Privy Council's Military Intelligence Department received intelligence that a powerful ascetic named "Isna" had appeared and was trying to unify all Shiva sects.

No one knows Ishana's real name. Because it appears in Indian mythology, many Shaivite ascetics claim he is "the incarnation of Lord Shiva," likely reflecting his intentions. He sought out the leaders of Shaivite sects and offered two conditions upon meeting them: either a verbal or physical confrontation.

Literary duels involved eloquent debates, where the opponent refuted the other side's doctrines. Physical duels involved physical fights, where any method was used, and the loser submitted. By the end of May, Ishana had subdued one-third of the Shiva sect, attracting the attention of the Lu Kingdom Privy Council.

In the long run, allowing this Ishana to unify all the Shaivite ascetics would undoubtedly do more harm than good to the Lu Kingdom. Due to the inherent nature of Indian Buddhism, 100 out of 99 ascetics tend to retreat into seclusion and ignore external affairs. However, if these 100 ascetics were subjugated by an authoritarian leader, their subsequent actions would depend entirely on the leader's wishes.

At present, Yishena has not revealed his attitude towards the Lu Kingdom, so based on the intelligence, it is not certain whether he is the second "Witch King of the South" or the second "Queen of the North".

However, Yan Yu knew from his experience in his previous life that Yishena was quite hostile to the State of Lu, so he could be considered a prophet.

"What do you think?" Chen Tianming finally asked when he saw him put the documents away.

"I suggest decapitation." Yan Yu made a downward cutting gesture. "No matter if they are good or bad, as long as they are dead, they can no longer threaten us."

"Yeah." Chen Tianming did not comment on this, but just expressed his understanding.

Yan Yu didn't care about this. He knew very well that whether to behead Isena in the end was not something that Lao Taishan could decide alone.

For someone at Old Taishan's level, decisions are primarily based on whether they align with their own interests. Take Chen Tianming himself, for example. If the Yishena forces rise, they'll threaten the Pingxi Army's territory, while Old Taishan's staunchest ally is the Zhendong Army... While many people might not like to hear this, someone who wholeheartedly considers the collective good won't be able to hold Chen Tianming's position.

Yan Yu didn't bother to emphasize the threat posed by Yishena; he didn't believe Chen Tianming couldn't see it. But even from Yan Yu's own perspective, if Yishena threatened the Pingxi Army's territory, the pressure on the Fire Phoenix Team would naturally increase significantly, giving him the opportunity to intervene and perhaps even resolve Zhou Hongyu's concerns.

If Yishena was beheaded in advance, the threat to the border would certainly be resolved invisibly, but this would mean that Zhou Hongyu would not be able to withstand the pressure, and there would be no reason for him to seek psychological treatment from her. Her desperate character might kill her at any time, which would definitely be an irreparable loss to the State of Lu.

Thinking about it this way, it's acceptable not to behead Isena in advance! Wahahahahahahaha...

Seeing that Yan Yu did not insist on his own opinion and tried to persuade him, Chen Tianming's expression softened and he explained:

"India is now in disarray. If we send troops to attack Ishena, there's a risk of reigniting their nationalism and spurring them to unite."

Yan Yu nodded repeatedly. This was true, but it was also true that if Yishena grew up, it would be even more troublesome to deal with him.

The word "official" can open his mouth and say anything either right or wrong, and both are reasonable. Anyway, you don't know what he is thinking, and Yan Yu is too lazy to delve into it.

"How many days do you plan to stay this time?" Chen Tianming continued to ask, indicating that the previous topic had come to an end.

"About half a day." Yan Yu replied, "Now is the critical moment to break through to the palace level. I still have to practice breathing and refining Qi in the secret realm at night."

"Hmm." Chen Tianming asked, "How long do you think it will take to reach the mansion level?"

Yan Yu immediately realized that this was what Old Taishan really wanted to ask, but asking directly seemed too utilitarian, as if he only cared about his son-in-law's cultivation strength, so he laid the groundwork in advance and deliberately asked him how many days he wanted to stay here - what is the focus of us cultivators during this period? Others may not know, but how could you not know?
When I say I want to practice, he can pretend to ask and inquire about my progress!

Fortunately, I knew you in my previous life, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to see through your rhetoric!

Yan Yu sneered in his heart, but said:
"It should be this week. Li Zhaojiang will probably be able to advance in two or three days. I don't think I'll have a chance of making the top five."

"It doesn't matter." Chen Tianming said calmly, "As long as you can be promoted to Huafu as soon as possible, the order and ranking are not important. We are not competing in the Olympics."

Although he said it didn't matter, Yan Yu knew him very well and immediately guessed that he did have this idea, but after being pointed out by him, he immediately pretended not to care.

Haha, Old Taishan! No matter how cunning you are, you couldn't have guessed that I'd dealt with you so many times in my past life and understood your thinking so well, right? Hahahahahahahaha!
He saw that his father-in-law was very proud, and Chen Tianming was also quite satisfied with his son-in-law. He thought that this son-in-law was indeed a smart man, and his daughter probably wouldn't be bullied when she was with him.

Chen Tianming understood his daughter Chen Lingyun's personality very well. He knew that she was extremely intelligent and was most afraid of being bored. Even if you were the number one cultivator in Lu Country, if you couldn't match her in IQ, and she could easily see through your thinking patterns and manipulate you without being able to resist, she would probably get bored of you and lose interest in you soon.

It’s better to be smart, because only smart people can last long.

Chen Tianming admired him more and more and continued to say to him:

"I'm not obsessed with ranking, and I naturally don't mind missing a day or two of training. You can stay a few more days. Her mother also wants to talk to you more."

Yan Yu had no objection to this. In his previous life, Chen's mother was also someone he had dealt with closely. From being disliked for not being a cultivator at first to finally getting tacit approval to be with Chen Lingyun, he had put in so much effort! Now that he was playing the second round, he knew her personality like the back of his hand. How could he still be a little uneasy?

It's so funny, look how easily I can handle her!

Yan Yu said goodbye and left the study. Chen Tianming continued to look out the window until the housekeeper came over and reported to him in a low voice:
"Madam plans to let the two of them stay in the same room tonight."

Chen Tianming frowned slightly. It wasn't that he couldn't understand Chen's mother's intentions; she simply wanted the two of them to get married as soon as possible so that her daughter could take the throne.

Yan Yu is indeed worthy of being won over, but he is too smart and clever, and I am afraid that he will see through Chen's mother's intentions in an instant, which may backfire.

However, if I stop my wife's arrangements now, I will have to explain to her why she can't do this, and there is even the risk of her mistaking me for not liking my son-in-law, which is also very troublesome.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Tianming laughed again.

No matter what the situation is, with his daughter's high emotional intelligence, she should be able to handle it smoothly, so that Yan Yu will not really have any grudges in his heart.

"Just do as she says." Chen Tianming ordered.

The butler left after receiving the order, with some plans in mind.

Since the master was willing to let the two of them stay in the same room, it meant that he did not regard the guest as his daughter's boyfriend, but rather treated him as his future son-in-law.

In that case, we also need to prepare things for the night. We can't just find out at the last minute that we don't have an umbrella and have to ask someone to buy one... That would ruin the girl's mood, which is really not acceptable.

As a housekeeper, you should prepare everything before your master even notices!

(End of this chapter)