Confined to his chambers to copy the hundred-character family rules a thousand times, Chen Yi utilizes his Daily Intelligence system to passively gather Opportunity points from local household gossip. He systematically invests these points into his Calligraphy Dao, upgrading his mastery of the Wei Qing script to unprecedented heights. His naive maid, Xiaodie, watches in utter awe as his chicken-scratch handwriting miraculously transforms into the elegant, spirited strokes of a seasoned master, completely dispelling any suspicion of his identity. When his finished pages are delivered to the brilliant but sickly Eldest Miss, Xiao Wan'er, she is deeply struck by the profound spiritual qi and tranquil acceptance radiating from his brushwork. Recognizing his literary genius and touched by his apparent repentance, she writes to his wife, General Xiao Jinghong, requesting that his house arrest be lifted. As the heavy doors of his room finally swing open, Chen Yi steps out into the lush Spring Lotus Garden, only to find that his freedom comes with a hilarious caveat, the old family patriarch has ordered that all male members of the household, including lazy live-in sons-in-law, must undergo rigorous martial arts training. He is introduced to the formidable Big Spear Pile Skill, a secret body-tempering technique of the Xiao clan. To avoid being drafted into the army as a front-line soldier, Chen Yi puts on a brilliant act of utter weakness and incompetence, coughing and faltering during his training sessions with the armored guard, Wang Lixing, who quickly despairs of the scholar's lazy nature. Yet, the moment he is left alone in the secluded purple bamboo forest under the cover of night, Chen Yi secretly channels his gathered points to upgrade his physical vessel, forging a solid foundation of power that defies his fragile scholarly facade. Just as he begins to settle into this comfortable rhythm of fake training and real progress, his system triggers a mysterious alert pointing to an imminent clash of high-status figures in the adjacent courtyard, forcing him to plan a stealthy midnight excursion.

Driven by a high-grade system prompt, Chen Yi nimbly scales the wall separating his quarters from the forbidden Jiaxing Garden under the cover of darkness. Expecting to witness a legendary clash between martial powerhouses, he crouches in the shadows only to discover a hilarious spectacle where the young heir, Xiao Wuge, and the spoiled Crown Prince, Zhang Heng, are rolling on the ground in a childish, chaotic fistfight over the nickname of the runaway groom. Despite the lack of grand technique, the system rewards his stealthy observation with a powerful Profound-rank fist technique, the Mountain Shattering Fist. However, before he can slip away, he is cornered by the cold blade of Shen Huatang, the personal guard of Xiao Wan'er. Brought before the elegant Eldest Miss, Chen Yi cleverly defuses the situation by defending the young heir's actions, instantly earning Xiao Wuge's eternal gratitude and Xiao Wan'er's deep admiration. Rather than punishing him for trespassing, Xiao Wan'er mistakes his laid-back demeanor for profound scholarly wisdom and assigns the young heir to study under him, hoping the boy will learn his serene way of handling conflict before being sent to the capital as a political hostage. Inspired by this encounter, Chen Yi returns to his study and composes a breathtaking poem, the Wan God's Ode, dedicated to Xiao Wan'er's ethereal beauty. He accidentally infuses his newly born martial qi into the ink, elevating his calligraphy to the mastery level and creating a piece of divine art. The simple-minded Xiaodie finds the poem and, terrified of a scandalous affair between her master and the Eldest Miss, frantically hides the manuscript at the bottom of the pile, completely unaware that a much larger political storm is already brewing on the horizon as powerful forces begin to monitor the Duke's estate, threatening to shatter their peaceful sanctuary and drag Chen Yi directly into the center of a deadly royal power struggle.

The peace of the Spring Lotus Garden is shattered when Chen Yi's system alerts him to a spy network operating within the Duke's estate. Sneaking back into Jiaxing Garden at midnight, he witnesses Liu Si'er, a trusted carriage driver, hiding a coded message beneath the pavilion rockery. Chen Yi intercepts the letter, discovering that the mysterious Hidden Guards are actively monitoring his movements and plotting against the Xiao family. In a stroke of petty genius, he writes a vulgar curse on the secret dispatch before returning it to its hiding spot, successfully throwing the entire spy network into utter disarray and forcing them to suspect their own ranks. However, his stealth operation is interrupted by Pei Guanli, a mischievous tribal girl who has infiltrated the mansion to play a trick on her sworn sister, Xiao Jinghong. When she attacks him, Chen Yi easily subdues her using his secret martial arts, exposing his hidden strength to her. Terrified of being exposed to his wife, Chen Yi strikes a deal with the cheeky tribal girl, he promises to guide her cultivation in exchange for her silence and her collection of high-grade tribal sedatives. Pei Guanli agrees, becoming his eyes and ears within the estate and successfully identifying the elderly servant Uncle Gui as another high-level spy. Armed with this crucial intelligence and a bottle of potent knock-out poison, Chen Yi prepares to navigate the treacherous waters of the upcoming birthday banquet, knowing that his peaceful days are numbered as his half-brother, the arrogant Imperial Top Scholar Chen Yunfan, arrives in Shu State with his own hidden agenda, ready to clash with his supposedly useless sibling in a battle of wits and literary supremacy, while the shadow of a massive imperial conspiracy begins to descend upon the unsuspecting household.

As Old Marquis Xiao Yuan's landmark birthday celebration arrives, Chen Yi prepares a magnificent tribute poem, the Song of the Water Melody, which he writes in a bold, rugged style that infuses his remaining martial qi directly into the paper. When the young heir, Xiao Wuge, proudly recites the poem before the gathered assembly of legendary generals and imperial scholars, the entire hall is struck dumb by its raw, heroic spirit and epic military imagery. The poem immediately goes viral throughout the province, immortalizing the Old Marquis's achievements and transforming the runaway groom into a celebrated literary legend overnight. This sudden surge of fame catches the attention of the imperial court, prompting the Emperor of Great Wei to dispatch a high-ranking eunuch with a special verbal edict that grants Chen Yi direct permission to participate in the prestigious imperial examinations. While the rest of the family celebrates this monumental honor, Chen Yi is utterly horrified by the prospect of becoming a busy government official, desperately wishing to remain an idle, pampered son-in-law. To make matters worse, his masterful calligraphy piece is stolen and replaced with a cheap imitation by a desperate shop owner, leading to a tense confrontation with the renowned scholar Mr. Yue Ming, who demands to know the true origin of the work. As General Xiao Jinghong returns to the mansion and uncovers the truth, she is forced to view her supposedly useless husband in a dazzling new light, setting the stage for a dramatic shift in their relationship as they prepare to face the looming threat of the Hidden Guards together, even as the mysterious forces in the capital prepare to unleash their ultimate plot against the Duke's lineage, leaving Chen Yi with no choice but to quietly accelerate his secret training to protect his hard-won sanctuary from the gathering storm.