That is, Xu Jingzhi's mother hastily married her eldest brother, but little did she know that her eldest brother still couldn't forget his sister, and he often quarreled with his wife because of his sister.

When my mother learned of this, she panicked. At her grandmother's urging, she went to find Nan's father in the capital. At that time, Nan's family needed a large sum of money, so my mother married into the family.

I thought the matter was over, but my uncle went crazy and kept running to the capital to secretly see my mother. In order to resolve the matter completely, my mother went back to her parents' home, intending to put an end to my uncle's thoughts. However, this backfired and gradually intensified the conflict between my uncle and his wife.

In a fit of anger, he left the Xu family. This incident led to accidents involving his maternal uncle, mother, and Xu Yao's mother. Upon learning of this, Xu Jingzhi's mother committed suicide out of guilt.

Not long after, the elderly grandmother, unable to accept the departure of her son and daughter-in-law, also passed away.

After listening to Mr. Xu's story, Nanzhi couldn't help but sigh that such a melodramatic story had actually happened to her mother. Ultimately, the Xu family was a family that valued reputation, and they would certainly not allow their adopted daughter and son to be together.

“We are also extremely saddened by this matter, but we cannot tell the world the truth. Zhizhi, your mother has a very good personality and is not like what those gossips say.”

As Mr. Xu recounted this incident, he was indeed somewhat saddened. However, as Nan Zhi had said, he would not let it go so easily, even if it was someone's own family member. He would punish them severely.

"Was Aunt's death an accident?" Xu Chaoci asked after a long silence.

A flash of pain crossed Old Xu's eyes, so fast that the two didn't see it; they only heard him sigh:

"It was an accident. Three people in my family died at once. In the end, even Jingzhi's mother committed suicide out of guilt. This incident has been my nightmare for many years."

"Thank you for telling us this, Grandpa. Now that we understand the matter, we won't bother you any longer."

After thanking Xu Lao, Nan Zhi was about to leave with Xu Chao Ci. Xu Lao looked at her and said, "Zhi Zhi, since you're here, why don't you stay a couple more days?"

Nanzhi politely declined Mr. Xu's offer to stay, saying, "My cousin has other matters to attend to in Beijing, so I won't stay any longer. Grandpa, please take care of yourself. I will make time to visit you again."

Despite Nan Zhi's words, Old Master Xu could still sense her distance from the Xu family. But thinking about it, it was understandable. After all, the Xu family had never been very close to her, and now there were rumors about her mother's disgraceful remarks. It was clear that she was angry.

Just as Nan Zhi and Xu Chaoci reached the door, Xu Jingzhi returned. Seeing Nan Zhi, he was visibly startled, then gave her a cold nod. His gaze then fell on Xu Chaoci behind Nan Zhi, and Xu Jingzhi asked疑惑地问道:

Who is this?

Nanzhi didn't intend to hide it from him, "This is my older cousin, my mother's nephew."

Even though Xu Jingzhi was usually calm, a crack appeared on her face at this moment. It turned out that she knew her mother was not a child of the Xu family.

"So you already knew."

Nan Zhi smiled, a hint of self-deprecation in her expression, "And I also know why you don't like me?"

Nan Zhi could vaguely sense Xu Jingzhi's dislike for her from their first meeting, but his behavior after arriving at the Xu family confirmed it was true.

Now that she knows the truth, Nan Zhi can be calm. Xu Jingzhi has actually done a good job. At least he only ignored her or was a little indifferent to her. He did not speak ill of her or make sarcastic remarks just because she is her mother's daughter.

However, her mother was not wrong.

Xu Jingzhi's heart skipped a beat. So, her grandfather had already told her about that?

"Could I take a moment of your time? I'd like to talk to you."

Upon hearing this, Nan Zhi raised an eyebrow and then nodded. Xu Chao Ci then waited for Nan Zhi not far away.

Xu Jingzhi took Nanzhi to the garden. Looking at the garden, which was still full of flowers, Nanzhi smiled and wondered if it was the same when her mother was alive.

"Cousin, I apologize to you on behalf of Yao Yao. Don't listen to what she said."

Xu Yao's words were indeed harsh. After the two returned to Yuecheng, Xu Jingzhi concealed it from Old Master Xu, fearing that Old Master Xu would punish her if he found out about Xu Yao. However, because of what happened in the capital, Xu Yao had a falling out with him and hadn't called him "brother" so cheerfully for a long time.

"This has nothing to do with you."

Nan Zhi reached out and gently twirled a green leaf beside her, then looked up at Xu Jingzhi. "Xu Yao's mistake doesn't need you to pay for it. What's done is done. She didn't know the truth, yet she told her so-called friends, ruining my mother's reputation. This matter can't be made up for with a simple apology."

A look of shock flashed in Xu Jingzhi's eyes. He hadn't expected that Xu Yao would tell others about this.

This is a family matter of the Xu family; how could she just blurt it out?

Nan Zhi admitted that she did it on purpose, deliberately letting Xu Jingzhi know that Xu Yao had spoken out of turn with malicious intent.

"I'll talk to her nicely."

Xu Jingzhi immediately felt ashamed. "And I've been blaming my parents' death on my aunt, and then I've pinned it on you, who knows nothing about it. I apologize to you. I'm sorry."

Nan Zhi was surprised; she hadn't expected that someone as arrogant as Xu Jingzhi would apologize to her.

"It doesn't matter, you didn't do anything to hurt me."

He had never had so many conversations with Nan Zhi before. Most of the time, they had debated because of Xu Yao, such as the Nan Li incident and the Shen family incident in the capital. Now that he thought about it, this was the first time he had such a calm conversation with Nan Zhi without Xu Yao around.

Xu Jingzhi had always viewed Nan Zhi with prejudice because of what happened in the previous generation, but now he found that she wasn't as bad as he thought. For some reason, Xu Jingzhi felt like laughing at his own ignorance and foolishness.

Nan Zhi turned to leave, but before she did, she glanced back at Xu Jingzhi with a smile in her eyes, "Cousin, I've found my brother now, and they're treating me very well."

Xu Jingzhi gazed in the direction she had left. The tall man, though seemingly unsmiling, softened his coldness and became gentle when he looked at Nan Zhi. Xu Jingzhi suddenly wondered if he and Xu Yao had appeared to Nan Zhi in the same way two years ago.

Back then, Xu Yao was his precious little sister, the apple of his eye. He wanted to give her everything good.

That's probably how Nam Gyi looked at them back then.

A wave of sadness suddenly washed over him. In truth, he could have had two younger sisters.