Chapter 116 Who is your brother?
As the heir of the Duke of Xin, Xie Xuanxiao would normally have been at the military camp training with his father for two hours by this time.
But these days, his father was sent to Changyuan to rescue disaster victims. He originally wanted to go with the army, but his grandmother had a gout attack, and there were also days of torrential rain.
His father was worried about him, so he left him behind to take care of the family.
His mother, the Duchess of Xin, dragged him to the Marquis of Anping's residence to present a thank-you gift, which he was extremely unwilling to do.
Because he looked down on the Anping Marquis's family, a third-rate noble family, from the bottom of his heart.
The marquisate, passed down from his ancestors, had achieved nothing by the time of Marquis Anping, and could only hold a sinecure, which showed that the whole family was incompetent and useless.
It's a waste of time to associate with someone like that.
He would be better off using that time to practice his kung fu more on the training ground.
Therefore, when Marquis Anping invited him to his study, he refused outright and instead went to the garden of the Marquis's residence.
After shaking off the servant who was following him, he jumped up and sat on the paulownia tree, basking in the sunlight. Just as he was about to doze off, he heard murmurs below.
Xie Xuanxiao peered down and saw a round head with hair styled in two buns, tied with a red ribbon that reached down to the shoulders.
It was a little girl of seven or eight years old, who was still muttering to herself.
"...Shouldn't the Duchess of Xinguo have seen her mother by now?"
Xie Xuanxiao frowned slightly, then heard the little girl below continue muttering.
"Oh dear, I wonder if the Duchess heard what Sister Zisu and Sister Zilan said, and if she can help Mother out of this predicament?"
Xie Xuanxiao's face darkened as he recalled the whispers they had overheard from the maids when they entered.
Was this specially arranged for the mother to hear?
Then she heard the little girl muttering, "Sister Zisu hasn't come to the garden to find me yet. Could it be that something happened to Mother?"
No, I have to go back right away.
Suddenly, the person jumped up from the rock, preparing to leave.
Xie Xuanxiao picked a sycamore fruit and flicked it lightly with his fingertip.
The sycamore fruit hit the little girl precisely in the back of her knees.
"Ouch."
Just as Li Nanke lifted his leg to run, he suddenly felt a pain in his knee and fell to the ground.
She instinctively turned her head to look up at the tree.
A tall, slender young man slowly floated down from the sycamore tree, his silver-white robes fluttering in the wind, and his toes landed on the ground without making a sound.
She stared in astonishment, her eyes wide, so much so that she forgot to get up from the ground.
The young man had slanted, sword-like eyebrows, but a small cinnabar mole at the corner of his eye softened the coldness in his eyes.
He stood there like a pine tree in the cold, looking upright and dignified.
Li Nanke recognized the boy immediately. His eyes darted around, and he nimbly got up from the ground, patting the dirt off his body.
Then she ran over to Xie Xuanxiao, waved her little hand at him, and looked at him with admiration.
"Wow, brother, did you fly down from the tree? You're so amazing!"
The little girl's grape-like eyes shone as brightly as the stars in the sky, and there was an undisguised adoration in them, as if she were the person she admired most.
Xie Xuanxiao had received a direct and rough education in the military since childhood. Suddenly, he was faced with such a soft and cute little girl, and she spoke to him in such an admiring tone.
He completely stunned her, and the question that was on the tip of her tongue turned into an awkward rebuttal.
"Who's your brother? Don't claim any brother out of nowhere!"
Li Nanke responded crisply.
"Understood, Brother Xie."
Xie Xuanxiao...
Then he realized what was happening and squinted at Li Nanke.
"You know me?"
Li Nanke tilted her head and looked at him, first shaking her head, then nodding.
Xie Xuanxiao: "What do you mean?"
Li Nanke said with a grin, "I don't know Brother Xie, but I know that the Duchess of Xinguo brought the Duke's heir to my house today."
So I guessed you were Xie's elder brother, the Duke of Xin. Brother Xie, aren't I clever?"
The little girl has two small dimples when she smiles, making her look cute and sweet.
Xie Xuanxiao is fourteen years old this year. He has a lot of younger brothers, cousins, and other male relatives, but no younger sister.
There's no younger sister as cute and adorable as this.
He was momentarily lost in thought and nodded subconsciously.
Li Nanke's eyebrows curved into a smile, concealing the cunning in her eyes.
Actually, she never guessed it; she had seen Xie Xuanxiao more than once in her dreams.
However, that was Xie Xuanxiao at the age of twenty-four, who was already the most trusted young general by Shen Xu's side.
Xie Xuanxiao was a rigid and cautious man who had suspected her identity several times and secretly investigated her past, almost ruining her plans with Shen Cong.
After narrowly escaping several times, she secretly began to retaliate against Xie Xuanxiao, even causing him to lose his right arm and be unable to wield a sword to kill his enemies.
Li Nanke shook his head, trying to shake off the scene in his dream.
"Brother Xie, hello. I am Li Nanke. My father is the heir of the Marquis of Anping."
Xie Xuanxiao frowned.
"So, the Crown Prince's wife is your mother?"
Li Nanke nodded with a smile.
Xie Xuanxiao's face darkened, and he pointed at her, asking, "What did you scheme against my mother for?"
Li Nanke's eyes widened.
“Scheme? No, Brother Xie must have misheard.”
Xie Xuanxiao frowned. "I heard you muttering to yourself just now. You'd better tell the truth, or else..."
"Otherwise, Brother Xie, are you going to beat me up? No way, it would be too rude of Brother Xie to beat up the host on his first visit to my house."
"Oh dear, I know Brother Xie isn't that kind of person, and the Duke and Duchess of Xin are both good people."
Li Nanke tilted her head back, her grape-like eyes sparkling.
Xie Xuanxiao opened his mouth, but suddenly found himself speechless.
At this moment, his servant ran over.
"So you were here, Your Highness. The Duchess said she was going back and was waiting for you in the front yard."
Xie Xuanxiao was worried about his mother and secretly glared at Li Nanke.
"So young yet so sharp-tongued, it's annoying!"
After saying that, he turned and left.
Li Nanke pouted and made a face at his back.
Xie Xuanxiao walked all the way to the front yard and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the Duchess of Xin was safe and sound.
"Mother, let's go."
Even after he boarded the carriage, seeing his mother still smiling, he frowned and asked, "Mother, are you very happy today?"
Lady Xin Guo nodded.
"Well, I had never interacted with Madam Song before, but after talking to her for a while today, I discovered that she is a kind-hearted and sincere person."
"Kind-hearted and sincere?"
Xie Xuanxiao frowned. "I don't think so. The maids' conversations that we overheard when we entered were all arranged to be told to Mother."
Although I don't know why they did this, I think the people in the Hou family really lack manners, considering how they scheme against their guests.
Mother, you should avoid having any further dealings with the Marquis of Anping's residence.
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