Chapter 12: Successor

  Li's mother sat on a small stool in front of the kang, chatting with Xie Shu'ning.

  Xie Shu'ning, however, just sat quietly on the kang and didn't bother to respond. But she was young, and had just shown a spoiled and arrogant side in front of Li Mama, so Li Mama just assumed that she didn't understand what she was saying. Even if Xie Shu'ning really didn't understand, Li Mama still had to continue speaking.

  Children of this age love to imitate others.

  One is that they don't know what to say and what not to say, the other is that in order to get noticed by their elders, they tend to talk too much.

  They themselves have nothing much to say, so they like to repeat what they've heard. That's why Li Mama can talk to Xie Shu Ning without getting tired of it.

  Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside, followed by the sound of hurried and disordered footsteps. The curtain was then lifted, and Xie Yu rushed in with a "thud thud thud". He exclaimed, "A Man, you're finally awake!" as he quickly took off his shoes and climbed onto the kang.

  "Master, watch your step!" Hawthorn shouted as she hastily followed behind him and ran in.

  Mrs. Li was taken aback for a moment, then subconsciously glared at Violet.

  The Xie family considered themselves to be of high social standing, and their rules and regulations were extremely strict. So when Li Mama saw Qiangwei rushing in, shouting and yelling, she couldn't help but reveal a displeased expression, which made Qiangwei pause for a moment. Qiangwei had grown up in the Song household, where they treated their servants with kindness, and Xie Zhen's uncle was also someone who didn't place much emphasis on rules and regulations, so Qiangwei and the others were all used to being carefree. Now, being glared at by Li Mama, she suddenly felt a bad taste in her mouth.

  She slowed down her pace, slowly approaching, bending over to reposition the small boots that Xie Yu had casually thrown away, and then said in a soft voice: "Young Master, you just came in from outside, your hands and feet are still cold, Miss will catch a chill later." After finishing speaking, she handed the blue cloth doll in her hand to Xie Shu Ning.

  Xie Yu looked at his hand that was about to touch Xie Juning's face, pretended to be an adult and sighed, shaking his head repeatedly: "Forget it...... forget it......"

  The strange appearance made Xie Jun Ning hug Meng Meng with a smile on her face.

  Her younger brother is really just like her older brother.

  Li's mother also stood up from the stool, smiling: "The slave has seen Master Wu, and Master Wu is indeed born with a dragon's brow and phoenix eyes, very similar to Master Liu!"

  Dragon eyebrows and phoenix eyes?

  Xie Shu Ning secretly sneered, and indeed, Li Mama's words were quite something. The servants of the Xie family, along with their master, all shared the same virtue - they couldn't wait for everyone to know that they were full of poetry and literature, and that their words were as elegant as a well-written essay. But in reality, one or two of them were just half-baked, only knowing how to use some out-of-tune phrases. Xie Yu was just a four-year-old child, how could he possibly live up to the description of "dragon eyebrows and phoenix eyes"? Moreover, at this time, who would dare to use the words "dragon" and "phoenix"? Just based on this sentence alone, it would be enough to kill Li Mama.

  But for now, she could only bury these words deep in her heart.

  Xie Yun was young and only listened halfway, so when he heard this, he loudly said: "Of course I look like Father!"

  Just then, a gentle and even footsteps sounded from outside again.

  The crowd followed the sound and went to take a look, but saw that the curtain had been lifted at some point, and a figure of average height was standing in the doorway.

  Mrs. Li was originally standing beside the small stool in front of the kang, waiting to see the person coming in a flurry, and the small stool was brought down with a muffled sound, she hurriedly saluted and said: "Fourth Master, how did you come?"

  "I heard that my younger brother and sister have arrived, so I came to take a look." The curtain was lifted further, and the figure that had been unclear before gradually became clear. It was a boy with a clear and elegant appearance, looking around ten years old.

  Xie Shu Ning leaned against the satin backrest on the kang, gazing at the person with a calm and serene expression, her eyes clear and transparent.

  She knew who was coming.

  After her father went missing, Chen held the memorial tablet and entered the door. After waiting for four more years without seeing any trace of him, she had to harden her heart and acknowledge that her father was really dead. However, since the three branches of the Xie family did not have a male heir, the word "extinction" was too cruel, and it could not go on like this.

  With only one daughter and no son, it's inevitable that a male heir is needed to carry on the family line. Therefore, the only option left is to adopt an heir.

  Because of Xie Yuanmao's affair, the Third Old Mistress and Eldest Sister-in-law had a falling out, and it was now impossible to adopt another child from the Eldest Branch.

  Moreover, among the descendants of Sun, the male members of the eldest branch are also not prosperous.

  The second house had also withered away, but now it's finally gained some people. Of course, they wouldn't dare to give any to the third house. Who would have thought that the third house was cursed, and its male descendants died one after another? This made everyone afraid to continue having children.

  So two years ago, Chen had no choice but to adopt an orphan from a side branch of the Xie family whose parents were both dead and named him Xie Chen.

  This was the person Li's mother had been talking about just now.

  Her another brother, Fourth Master Xie Chen.

  At this moment, Xie Chen, who is already nine years old this year, quietly put down the curtain and looked at the two siblings.

  "Fourth Master, you've come here, does the mistress know?" Li Mama seemed to be familiar with Xie Chen, and now that he had entered, she didn't stop him, but instead said with a slightly different expression.

  "I'll just take a look and leave." Xie Chen downplayed it and shook his head.

  Xie Yun climbed down from the kang and stepped on the ground, looking at Xie Chen with a puzzled expression and asked: "Who are you?"

  Jasmine hastily bent down and carried him back to the kang, sat him down, and put his shoes on for him.

  Xie Chen took a step back, "I am your fourth brother."

  The second and third houses of the Xie family were not prosperous, so when it came to ranking, everyone was in a single row. Therefore, Xie Chen ranked fourth, Xie Yu ranked fifth, and Xie Shu Ning had already been ranked eighth. In this generation of the Xie family, there were not many males, but many girls were born.

  "Li's mother also followed closely: 'Fifth Master, this is Fourth Master, your older brother.'"

  "My uncle said I'm the eldest son of our family, I don't have an older brother, only a younger sister!" Xie Yu stood with his hands behind him in front of the kang, "How can you be my fourth older brother?"

  Before anyone could speak, he muttered again: "If you say it's my cousin, that's not right either. I only have one cousin, but Uncle said Shu Zhen's eyes are blue..."

  "Blue?" Mrs. Li blurted out in surprise, only to feel that she shouldn't have said that and hastily looked away with a red face.

  Xie Shuning was also taken aback.

  Her aunt was a girl her uncle had married outside the pass, who looked different from the people of Xiyue. Her hair shone like golden sunlight and her eyes were like blue lake water. However, she had only heard about these things. She had never seen her aunt or cousin in her previous life until her death.

  The mother took them to the capital, avoiding her brother. Her brother had a violent temper, and she said that if he knew about their father's other family with Chen, he would not let them go north. So the mother, who never dared to disobey her brother, hid this matter for the first time.

  This matter is probably also one of those things that can't go wrong again.

  Just then, she heard Xie Chen say: "How can there be people with blue eyes in this world? Don't spout nonsense."