Chapter 31 Gloom
"Master, guess what I just saw?"
Jiucai Residence was located in a remote area, and the Xie family regarded it as a dangerous place, never daring to set foot there.
This actually gave Xie Qi a lot more freedom, and even Wei Hu would occasionally sneak out of the Xie family home to play wildly outside.
Now, with his hair covered in tangled straw, he sits on a small stool next to Xie Qi's bathtub.
"Jiang Wansu's maid came to see Xie Xuchuan and handed him something. Although I didn't hear what the maid said, judging from her expression, it was as if she was saying goodbye to the young master."
Wei Hu looked at Xie Qi: "Are you saying that she's giving up on Xie Xuchuan and is going to marry into the Song family?"
"It's just a strategic retreat."
Xie Qi sat in the bathtub, his face covered with a warm, soft towel.
The arm casually draped over the edge of the bathtub was strong and powerful, but upon closer inspection, one could see many light white marks on it.
Some are irregularly round, some look like small crescent moons, and some are of unknown origin. Although not obvious, there are quite a few of them.
Wei Hu looked at them; the scars were familiar to him.
The crescent moon shape is usually made by pinching with fingertips; the tiny pits are scars left by skin scraped off by something unknown.
He also has many scars, but they are much deeper than those on his master.
Wei Hu grinned and rolled up his sleeves: "Master, how old were you when you got these injuries? They don't look as obvious as mine, so they were probably done when you were younger and your skin was still delicate."
He clicked his tongue twice: "Is it the old lady, or your mother?"
Pulling off the soft towel, Xie Qi looked down at the dents on his arm and said indifferently, "I can't remember."
"Most of my injuries were incurred when I was seven or eight years old, about six years ago, when you bought me back to the Xie family, Master."
Xie Qi hummed in response and casually grabbed a soft towel to cover his arm.
In fact, he not only remembered Xie San Niang stabbing him with a gold hairpin when he was not even as tall as the soft stool, but also remembered the Xie family servants pinching his flesh with their fingernails when he was hungry and crying.
He didn't remember the physical pain very well, but he had a particularly vivid memory of the time he went to see that so-called mother.
He and Xie San Niang bumped into each other by the Xie family's flower garden.
Upon seeing him, the other person suddenly kicked him into the flower bushes, where thorns pierced him, leaving him covered in blood, yet he dared not cry out.
If he cries out, Xie San Niang will only pinch and beat him even harder.
Xie Qi still remembers that day when he crawled out of the flower garden, his head and face covered in thorns, and cried as he went to find Hua Nanzhi.
As a child, he didn't understand why his grandmother didn't like him, and why his own mother didn't like him either.
He watched his mother hold Xie Xuchuan in her arms every day, speaking softly and tenderly to him, and he couldn't help but feel wronged.
He was injured that day, and he wanted his mother to hug him, comfort him gently, and carefully remove the thorns from his body.
In the end, I was disappointed again.
Xie Qi still remembers when he went to Xuanji Academy, Hua Nanzhi squatted on the ground arranging porcelain figurines for Xie Xuchuan.
He ran over crying, and as soon as Hua Nanzhi saw him, she quickly hugged Xie Xuchuan into her arms and took three steps back.
"You're all dirty, where have you been playing?"
Holding Xie Xuchuan tightly in her arms, Hua Nanzhi frowned: "Are all the servants who take care of the second young master dead? He runs around all day, what if he gets dirty on Xuchuan?"
Xie Qi watched as his mother held his brother tightly in her arms, looking down at him with cold and disgust.
He looked as if he were looking at a stray dog by the roadside.
"Mother, please hold Qi'er too..."
"younger brother……"
Hearing his cries, Xie Xuchuan reached out his hand from Hua Nanzhi's arms.
Xie Xuchuan's palms were very white, with the roundness and delicacy unique to a child. Xie Qi liked them very much and slowly extended his hand as well.
His hands were dark, thin, and covered in blood and mud, making them appear even blacker and dirtier...
The moment Xie Xuchuan reached out his hand, Hua Nanzhi disgustedly hugged him and ran back to her room, leaving him standing in Xuanji Courtyard, crying his heart out...
With a splash, Xie Qi stepped out of the bathtub.
"Master, please get dressed."
After handing the undershirt to Xie Qi, Wei Hu rinsed the bathtub clean and tidied up the bathroom.
His biological mother died early, and after his father remarried, he lived under the care of his stepmother.
His stepmother constantly beat and verbally abused him. Six years ago, when he was only seven or eight years old, his stepmother used coal tongs to whip him until his mouth and nose bled.
It was at that time that he met Xie Qi.
For Wei Hu, Xie Qi was not only his master, but also his father and elder brother.
After leaving the bathhouse, Wei Hu sat down in front of Xie Qi and grabbed a steamed bun from the table, eating it in large bites.
He sobbed, "Master, although no one outside knows that the Director of Textiles is about to be replaced, there are always rumors."
"Logically, Xie Xuchuan should have heard some rumors, so why is he still determined to offend the Shen family for Jiang Wansu?"
Exhausted after his bath, Xie Qi leaned back in his chair and lazily said, "Many wealthy and noble families produce fools who are infatuated and wronged."
"My twin brother must have felt that life was too smooth, so he had to find some hardships and setbacks for himself, so that he could experience some pleasures that he could not get in a smooth life."
Upon hearing this, Wei Hu glanced at Xie Qi's arm, gritted his teeth, and muttered, "I think he's just bored and has nothing better to do."
Xie Qi lowered his eyes and gave a soft snort.
"My lord, there is something I don't understand."
Wei Hu scratched his head: "Since you want to steal the Shen family's marriage, why don't you go directly to Jiang Hong and tell him that Jiang Wansu is pregnant?"
“Jiang Hong, that snobbish scoundrel, knows he’ll definitely try to push Jiang Wansu into the Xie family, so why bother going through all that trouble by going to the Song family first?”
Xie Qi narrowed his eyes, seemingly a little sleepy: "Jiang You is about to leave the Weaving Bureau, so if Jiang Hong learns that Jiang Wan is pregnant, he will definitely do everything he can to climb up to the Xie family."
"But the marriage agreement between the Xie and Chen families cannot be easily broken. In the end, Jiang Wansu will probably only end up as a concubine, which is not my goal."
"But Jiang Hong will have to find him eventually, but not now."
Seeing that he was sleepy, Wei Hu pulled up a soft blanket and tiptoed out of the room.
After Wei Hu left, Xie Qi opened his eyes and gazed indifferently out the window.
There were other reasons he didn't tell Wei Hu.
He approached the Song family first because he wanted to push Jiang Wansu to force Xie Xuchuan to make a mistake in his haste and break ties with the Shen family.
This also caused Shen Yuanzhu to completely lose faith in Xie Xuchuan, severing all ties of their relationship.
The spring sunlight was blinding, and Xie Qi covered his face with his arm.
In the darkness, he suddenly saw Hua Nanzhi hugging Xie Xuchuan, her eyes full of disgust and contempt, retreating and avoiding him.
For some reason, Xie Qi felt a sense of gloom rising in his heart.
The stinging pain in his fingertips snapped him back to reality, and he then ran his long finger across his lips, leaving a wet, long trail.
Blood trickled from his fingertips as he coldly stared at the teeth marks until the blood dried and the wound closed.
The reason he abducted Shen Yuanzhu was not because he had any illicit feelings for her, but because he knew that what Wei Hu said was absolutely true.
If he doesn't manage to snatch the Shenyuan Pearl, his grandmother and mother might actually betroth Mianhe to him, making her the second young mistress of the Xie family.
Even though he was ruthless towards Shen Yuanzhu, he could not accept that his wife, like everyone else in the world, had a special fondness for Xie Xuchuan.
Thinking of this, Xie Qi suddenly threw the soft blanket on the ground.
His uncontrollable boredom and anxiety made him want to see Shen Yuanzhu.
Seeing Shen Yuanzhu's complete disappointment in Xie Xuchuan, and seeing her disgust and hatred towards Xie Xuchuan.
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