Chapter 5

Xiao Baoshu was about to shed tears because of his pure heart. He had already let her beat him up, yet he was so concerned about her. What kind of drive must he have to repay evil with kindness? He completely did not think that what he had done was bastardly.

“Don’t beat around the bush. Now!” He enunciated each word with extreme seriousness, his eyes frighteningly bright. “All men are like this!”

“Every one!” He said, “Even if our father only has our mother now, hasn’t he also taken in concubines that other people gave him? Even though one of them died after Second Miss was born, that doesn’t mean that Father didn’t have any other concubines! Don’t be deceived by Father!”

In fact, he secretly felt that his father’s life was really tough. His first wife, Xiao Baoshan’s mother, had died early. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had anything to do with his own mother. He also had two concubines. One of them was given away without him touching her, while the other gave birth to a child and died on the same day.

Of course, the one whose life was tougher than his father’s was his own mother! Not only had she not been cursed to death by his father, but she had also risen from being a daughter of an impoverished landowning household to a first-rank noble lady, giving birth to such an outstanding pair of children!

“…”

If her father had heard what his precious son that he loved so dearly had thought of him, she wondered how her father would feel.

“Sister, there’s no exception. You don’t know about the situation in the inner residence, but I’ve been in the outside world for many years, so how could I not know about this? Besides, Brother and Sister-in-law have been married for five to eight years, right.” He was a little uncertain.

“The novelty has long passed…”

“If life depends on freshness, why not sell fruits?” Xiao Baoxin smiled. “They can also be sold for a good price.”

“You can’t say that.” Xiao Baoshu felt a headache coming on because of his sister’s stubbornness. His future brother-in-law was not an ordinary casanova, he was famous for being flirtatious, alright?

With his Sister’s high standards and strict requirements, if she really married him—

It probably would not make her feel aggrieved. But he was afraid that she would beat him up three times a day and even kill him!

“Even those from reputable aristocratic families are all casanovas, so it’s inevitable for them to put up a pretense.”

Xiao Baoxin was used to Xiao Baoshu’s thick-skinned behavior. He was heartless and did whatever he wanted. Occasionally, he would put on a serious face and reason things out for her like now, but Xiao Baoxin was still not used to it.

But what could she do?

She couldn’t just reveal her trump card and say that she was going to end the engagement with the Yuan family, right?

If she dared to say it, Xiao Baoshu would dare to make it known to the whole world.

She did mention it to her mother, but her mother rejected it for the same reason as Xiao Baoshu.

“How many of the young masters in Jiankang City who had a decent reputation would not have any scandals? Some of them who didn’t have one would even make it themselves, as though afraid that if their reputation were not badly tarnished, they would let down their families.”

“Isn’t it the same marrying anyone? Men are all the same.”

“…Would it be good if it’s a man from a small family? Aristocratic families have many rules. No matter how much trouble they make, they won’t go overboard.”

Xiao Baoxin’s ears almost formed calluses from hearing such words.

She believed that her mother was speaking from the bottom of her heart. She did not lie or deny it. She also knew how much her parents wanted to form a marriage alliance with this family. In order to protect the family, those aristocratic families had always arranged marriages internally and monopolized their status through marriage. Xiao and Yuan families had married to each other to climb up the social ladder and raise their social status. They could not be said to have entered the ranks of the aristocratic families in one go, but it was still the best way to increase the social status of the family.

However, her mother also did not disregard her daughter’s happiness just to get close to the Yuan family. She really thought so because this was how she had lived through all these years. She had seen through everything, so she chose the best path for her daughter and the family. Of course, it was the ‘best path’ she thought.

Xiao Baoxin refused to believe it. There was a pit in front of her. How could she jump into it with her eyes closed?

She had seen that little lad from the Yuan family before. He was indeed just like what Xiao Baoshu had said. He looked like a good-for-nothing and was a famous handsome man in Jiankang City. He could be considered a little talented and had written a few elegant and popular articles. However, this person’s literary talent was good, and he was also very popular. There were no less than five or six people who had flirted with him. The most extreme thing was that there were not only women among them, but also men…

That would be awkward.

She would rather die than be friends with such a messed-up person!

She had told her trusted servant, Mu Jin, to secretly follow the Yuan family’s young master for half a month. It was not easy for her to catch him having a lovers’ meeting. She was planning to go over and be a witness to ruin the wedding. Who knew that Madam Cai would make a fuss and stall her? She missed such a great opportunity!

“As the saying goes, first comes life, second comes fortune, and third comes fengshui. I have a fengshui master. Should I—”

“Alright, I have my own plans.” Xiao Baoxin interrupted him. “Just take care of yourself.”

Xiao Baoshu, “…”

Why did his heart tremble when he heard that she had her own plans?

“…I’ll change your luck.” He quietly finished the topic.

Then, the siblings fell into an inexplicable silence.

Xiao Baoshu did not know how to persuade Xiao Baoxin to dispel that unrealistic notion in her mind. If she had married into the Yuan family with such a thought, she would become enemies with them sooner or later. Meanwhile, Xiao Baoxin’s thoughts drifted further away. Xiao Baoshan and his wife had caused such a scene, and someone had died, so they probably could not cover it up anymore. They could control the mouths of the servants in the Xiao family, but Madam Cai had directly gone to smash the house of the mistress. There were too many people, so it was inevitable that news would leak out. By then, there would be countless people in Jiankang City waiting to see a joke.

If the Yuan family annulled the engagement because of this—although it didn’t match her expectations that she should be the one to annul the engagement, it could also be considered an outcome that was unexpected but had achieved her goal.

Even though she did not want this way of achieving her goal!

…

Just like that, the two of them returned to the Xiao Residence each with their own thoughts. After alighting from the carriage, Xiao Baoxin untied the belt that bound Xiao Baoshu. Although the Xiao Residence was their own home, they could not let the servants look down on them.

Xiao Baoshu followed Xiao Baoxin all the way to Madam Xie’s courtyard. Before they could enter, they heard Xiao Baoshan’s angry roar from afar.

“Madam, don’t stop me. She killed my son and even made me apologize to her. Who gave her such rights!”

“Damn you, Xiao Baoshan. Your son is in my stomach right now. If you continue to curse my son with your nonsense, my Cai family clan won’t just stand there and watch!”

“You don’t have to use your Cai family clan to suppress people every day! Acting so high and mighty! So what if you’re from an influential family? Don’t you have to pay with your life for killing people?!”

“You want me to pay with my life—you want me to die! Xiao Baoshan, you bastard! You’re dead, but I’m not dead yet!”

It was a complete mess.

When Xiao Baoxin walked into the yard, she saw three to five people standing in front of Xiao Baoshan, while Madam Cai hid behind Madam Xie, just like a game of eagle catching a chick. She was scolding him until her face was red and her veins were bulging.

Madam Xie was forced to stand in the middle. Her hair was slightly messy and she was sweating profusely. Her makeup was smudged and she looked extremely disheveled.