“Are you trying to deceive Yuanzhu?”
Hua Nanzhi was deeply disappointed. “Yuanzhu has a gentle temperament, but Shen Yanhuai is not someone to be trifled with. Do you think everyone in the Shen family is as soft as Yuanzhu?”
“I am not deceiving Yuanzhu.”
His relationship with Wansu was innocent. Now, he was merely forced by circumstances. Once Yuanzhu entered the household, he would explain everything clearly.
“Mother, please help me…”
Hua Nanzhi looked at Xie Xuchuan’s weary face and turned away in anger.
Only when the room fell into a chilling silence did she mimic Shen Yuanzhu’s tone and say, “Have Shen Yanhuai come to the Xie family to speak with your grandmother. If she agrees to this matter, I have no objections.”
These words filled Xie Xuchuan with utter despair.
“Are you also forcing me, Mother?”
“It is you who are forcing me.”
The voices of the mother and son in the room grew increasingly sharp. Wei Hu covered his mouth, his eyes gleaming.
He casually tossed aside the broom, hunched over, and ran out of Xuanji Courtyard.
When he returned to Nine-Color Residence, Xie Qi was sitting at the desk. The robe he had worn earlier to Yujin Hall had already been removed, leaving him in only a thin white inner garment.
The inner garment was as light as cicada wings, faintly revealing the refined, lean, and powerful curves of his waist and abdomen.
He held a book in his hand, his slender, well-defined fingers gently tapping the spine. His expression showed a hint of impatience.
“Master.”
Wei Hu rushed in, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he slapped his thigh.
“Big news, something major has happened.”
Xie Qi raised an eyebrow, a look of disdain in his eyes.
“It really is big news!”
Wei Hu smacked his lips. “Xie Xuchuan and Jiang Wansu have been secretly involved, and she’s even pregnant. Now they’re clamoring to bring her into the Xie family.”
Xie Qi snorted lightly upon hearing this. “A fool who’s been pampered for too long.”
“Master, with this happening, do you think Xie Xuchuan’s marriage arrangement with the Shen family can still hold? If he breaks off the engagement with the Shen family, wouldn’t he become a sinner of the Xie family?”
Tossing the book aside, Xie Qi sneered disdainfully. “My brother has always been simple-minded. He’s probably been flattered for so long that his brain is like old cloth in a warehouse, riddled with moths.”
Xie Qi lowered his gaze, his fingertips slowly tracing the spine of the book. “The marriage alliance between the Xie and Shen families cannot be broken, but the person involved in the arrangement may not remain the same.”
“You mean a replacement?”
Wei Hu’s eyes lit up. “Who? You, Master?”
His slender fingers paused. Xie Qi lowered his eyes, concealing the myriad thoughts that had suddenly arisen.
“Master, if you marry the Shen family’s young lady and gain the support of the Shen Family Dyeing Manual, the business of our Jixia Manor will surpass the Xie family’s in no time.”
Over the years, he had followed Xie Qi closely, witnessing the various actions of the Xie family, and he couldn’t help but feel resentment.
Both were legitimate grandsons of the Xie family’s eldest branch. Why did Xie Xuchuan have everything, while his master had to fight for even a decent meal and compete with dogs for scraps?
For a small place like Jixia Manor, his master had poured endless effort into establishing it.
“Master, your grandmother and mother probably won’t arrange a good marriage for you.”
Mentioning marriage reminded Wei Hu of Mianhe. “By the way, earlier I went to the warehouse with Mianhe and saw firsthand how intimate she was with Sun Qi.”
“She also said that once Xie Xuchuan marries the Shen family’s young lady, she would plead with the old lady to become your wife.”
Wei Hu recounted Sun Qi and Mianhe’s words with utter contempt, then sighed softly. “Master, the Xie family has mistreated you for so long. You must take your marriage into your own hands. Relying on others will only bring you endless burdens.”
Marry Shen Yuanzhu?
Hearing Wei Hu’s words, Xie Qi furrowed his brow.