All Hail Cousin Brother

173 Simply Too Scary

The name “Jiujia” had been passed down for a long time. Although the Xie family was a merchant family, their rules were not inferior to that of a scholarly family. There were family rules that did not accept concubines. A man could only divorce his wife and marry another woman.

The entire family was related by blood, so they had a deeper relationship than other families.

Not to mention, Xie Roujia was the only daughter in the Xie family’s three generations. Since she was young, she had been raised by Jin Jiayu. She was willing to marry Xie Roujia into the Yu Residence because the Xie family had been kind to the Yu Residence. In addition, the rules of the Yu Residence were much stricter than many other families. At the very least, no one dared to treat Xie Roujia badly when she entered the Yu Residence.

However, he never expected…

Back when news of Xie Roujia’s death had spread to Quanzhou, the entire Xie family had gone to the capital. If it weren’t for the fact that Yao Yao was still around, the two families would probably have become enemies.

The Xie family had wanted to bring Yao Yao back to Quanzhou but she had invited a respected elder of the Yu family over to talk about it. She had also personally promised that she wouldn’t treat Yao Yao badly. The Xie family couldn’t win against them, so this matter was left unsettled.

Old Madam Yu lowered her eyes and looked up again. She said to Xie Jingliu, “Recently, the imperial court has been busy, and Eldest Master and Second Master can’t leave, so I asked Yao Yao to accompany them and have a good chat.”

Even if Xie Jingliu was a guest, there was no reason for him to trouble his elders to wait at home and personally welcome him.

At the mention of the word “Imperial Court”, Xie Jingliu’s eyes flickered. “They can’t neglect their tasks because of me.”

Old Madam Yu nodded and turned to look at her obedient granddaughter, who was sitting obediently at the side. “It’s rare for your cousin to come here, so don’t just sit here and do nothing. Invite him to the Jade Courtyard and treat him well so that he can talk more.”

This was exactly what Xie Jingliu wanted.

“Thank you, Grandmother.” Yu Youyao was also very happy. She immediately brought her cousin out of An Shou Hall.

As soon as she left, Old Madam Yu instructed a servant to bring over a list of gifts. According to the list, she handed the gifts prepared by the Xie family to everyone.

The Xie Residence had always been very thorough, so naturally, nothing went wrong.

Everyone received a large pile of gifts. Old Madam Yu turned to look at Yang Shuwan and asked, “How’s the preparation for the small banquet at noon?”

Yang Shuwan was holding a gift that Mu Jin and Sang Zhi could not hold. She was a little unhappy, but she still smiled and replied, “Old Madam, don’t worry. I’ve already gotten up to take care of it when it’s morning. It won’t go wrong.”

After everyone in the house had left, Old Madam Yu went to the inner room.

A maidservant came to the living room to sweep the floor. Her sharp eyes noticed a crack on a certain teacup.

The young maidservant was shocked and quickly called Bai Kui over. “Sister Bai Kui, Young Master Zhou’s teacup cracked for some reason.”

Bai Kui took a look at the teacup in his hand and called the people in the tea room over. He said carefully, “… Young Master is one of us, so it’s not rude. You can be more careful in the future. Don’t be careless. Don’t neglect the guests and embarrass the residence.”

The maidservants in the tea room replied in fear and trepidation.

However, they were a little suspicious in their hearts. There was a lot of attention to detail in serving tea. They had all been trained before coming to the tea room to work. Every day, they would carefully check the tea set. For example, a teacup that was missing a corner, mouth, or flaw at the bottom of the cup would not be presentable.

Now that there was an important guest in the residence, she was even more careful.

The teacup was clearly fine. How could it have cracked?

It was really strange.

However, as she thought about it, she also made up her mind to be more careful in the future, in case anything went wrong and this dignified job was gone.

In the inner room, Old Madam Yu said to Nanny Liu, “The Xie family has an ancestral rule that no one in the family is allowed to become an official. However, this Third Young Master of the Xie family has had a talent for studying since he was young. He asked Old Master Xie to send him to the Wu Mountain Academy in Rudong to learn more. However, this Third Young Master is also a capable person. For some reason, he managed to hide it from the family and took the imperial examination. It was only when Xie Jingliu became a High Scholar at the age of 14 that the Xie family finally realized. Old Master Xie personally went to Rudong and used a whip to whip him. After receiving his guarantee, he didn’t continue taking the examination. Otherwise…”

She didn’t finish the sentence.

However, she understood what he meant. Nanny Liu smiled and added, “When I saw this Third Young Master Xie today, I felt that he was carefree and handsome. He’s a rare young talent in the capital.”

Old Madam Yu nodded. “He’s not inferior to Young Master Song. It’s a pity that the Xie family has such family rules. Otherwise, with Third Young Master Xie’s abilities, Young Master Song would probably not be able to surpass Xie Jingliu, even if he was Mr. Xian Yun’s disciple.”

These words did not mean to belittle Song Mingzhao.

However, the two of them were different in age. Xie Jingliu had become famous first. No matter how talented Song Mingzhao was, he was still a step behind. It was not about talent, but age.

This time, Nanny Liu did not say anything.

However, Old Madam Yu frowned. “I originally thought that he was indeed a rare talent, but I’ve never seen him before. I just thought that others were exaggerating. Now that I’ve seen him today, I know that others probably don’t know much about him and actually don’t think much of him. In that case, I’m afraid there’s a deeper reason why the Xie family sent such an accomplished junior to the capital personally.”

In the past, she had only treated it as an ordinary family visit. However, when she saw Xie Jingliu now, she felt that it was not simple.

Nanny Liu lowered her head a little.

“Moreover, the merchant ship of the Xie family this time was eight or nine days later than usual. This has never happened before…” Old Madam Yu pondered for a moment and pinched her prayer beads.

She had not thought much about it before, but now that she had met Xie Jingliu, she felt that it was unusual.

Old Madam Yu wrapped the prayer beads around her wrist and turned to instruct Nanny Liu, “Get someone to inform Eldest Master and Second Master to return early today.”

Zhou Linghuai wheeled himself out of the north courtyard. Chang An followed closely behind, his head lowered to his chest.

Xia Tao ran over smartly. “Young Master, Young Miss said that it’s rare for Third Cousin from Quanzhou to come. She’s a little young and can’t entertain everyone, so she invited Young Master over to accompany her.”

Although he would be accompanying her, it also revealed how close they were. Zhou Linghuai’s pursed lips suddenly relaxed. “Okay!”

Chang An, who was following behind, heaved a sigh of relief.

Earlier in An Shou Hall, when he was standing behind his young master, he could also feel the pressure emanating from his young master. He did not even dare to breathe loudly. Even though he had been practicing martial arts since he was young, he almost couldn’t breathe after holding his breath for a while.

It was simply too scary!

Seeing that her cousin, who had come from Quanzhou, had left happily, he almost crushed the teacup in his hand.

He couldn’t help but sigh!

The newcomers laughed, but the old ones cried.

When Young Miss’s biological cousin arrived from Quanzhou, she seemed to have forgotten about Young Master. No wonder Young Master was angry.