Chapter 17 Father and Brothers
It wasn't until she left the teahouse and stood on the street, feeling the cold wind blowing, that she felt the oppressive, suffocating feeling from before dissipate slightly.
She watched Xie Sangning's retreating figure and asked cautiously, "Sister Sangning... are you alright?"
Xie Sangning stopped in her tracks.
"It's nothing," she chuckled lightly. "It's just a terrible show put on by some clown. Does it even deserve to cause me any trouble?"
She turned around, her gaze falling on Xie Rubao's indignant little face: "Alright, you little rascal, you've had your fill of the show and the excitement. Go back to your residence, so you don't parade around in this new outfit and become a target for some blind fool."
"But Sister Sang Ning..." Xie Rubao wanted to say something more, but she had a feeling that there was more to this than met the eye, and that Sister Sang Ning must be furious.
"No buts."
Xie Sangning interrupted her, her tone leaving no room for argument: "Ruqiu, escort Miss Xie back to her residence. Watch her enter before you come back."
"...Be careful on the road, don't get your newly bought clothes dirty and waste my money."
After saying that, she stopped looking at Xie Rubao's eyes, which had suddenly lit up with stars, and her expression of being moved. She took Ruxia's hand and got into her sedan chair.
The sedan curtains fell, blocking all outside views.
The sedan chair started moving smoothly.
Inside the sedan chair, the heater emitted a warm glow, and Xie Sangning's mask finally shattered!
Great! Excellent!
This play is definitely more than just a coincidence!
Who is it? Who has such malicious intentions?
What audacity!
Xie Sangning closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, her mind was clear.
"Like summer".
“Miss,” Ru Xia responded immediately.
"Investigate immediately."
"yes!"
As night fell, the General's Mansion was shrouded in snow.
The Ruixue Tower was brightly lit.
Ru Xia walked briskly into the study, her face solemn.
Xie Sangning was standing by the window, gazing at the deep night outside.
"Miss, we've found out."
"That play was written by a down-on-his-luck scholar from a teahouse."
"The rehearsal expenses, including the extra tips for the troupe leader, were paid through an anonymous account at the Chengxi Huitong Money Exchange."
"Our people followed the clues and discovered that a large sum of money had been deposited into this account in the past month. The source... was the accountant of the shop that came with Second Madam Wang's dowry, and the person in charge was Wang's trusted steward!"
Xie Sangning's back remained completely still.
“Go on.”
"The person keeping watch on Songzhu Courtyard reports that Xie Wulu has been frequently sending his trusted servant, Mo Yan, out of the manor these past few days. Besides the study, Mo Yan has been to the back alley of the teahouse! He's even been in contact with a junior manager in charge of purchasing at the teahouse and slipped him some money. Furthermore..."
"This very afternoon, the old lady went to the teahouse and ordered this very play! According to the servants who accompanied the old lady, her face was extremely unpleasant while watching the play, especially when the play was about the eldest son squandering the family fortune and burning down the ancestral home. The prayer beads in the old lady's hand even fell to the ground!"
"When he returned to the manor, he was helped out of the sedan chair by his nanny. His steps were unsteady and his face was ashen. He went straight into the small Buddhist hall and never came out again! Xie Wulu... went to the Buddhist hall not long after and stayed inside for almost an hour before coming out."
The clues are clearly connected!
Xie Sangning slowly turned around.
The candlelight flickered, casting its light on her face, half in brightness and half in darkness.
Wang's money, Xie Wulu's confidant's connections with the opera troupe and teahouse managers, the meticulously crafted plot reflecting his elder brother, the deliberate manipulation of rumors, the grandmother's timely intervention and profound emotional impact, and Xie Wulu's perfectly timed concern...
This is hardly a play.
This was clearly a meticulously planned and step-by-step scheme.
Her target was her brother Xie Sangyu's reputation and inheritance rights.
Its ultimate goal is obvious.
Xie Wulu wanted to take her place, to replace her own brother's position, and become the future master of this Zhenguo General's Mansion!
Xie Sangning's lips slowly curved into a smile.
"So that's what they were planning. Trying to climb into the inner circle? Ha..."
Having figured out Xie Wulu's wicked intentions, Xie Sangning's tense heart relaxed a little.
"Let them do as they please at the teahouse. All the rumors will disappear once my father and brothers return to the capital. It's nothing but child's play."
At most, his brother's reputation will suffer a little.
No matter how anxious the old lady was, she couldn't make such a big decision before her father.
As for my brother's reputation, let's not even mention it.
Thinking of his father and brothers, Xie Sangning smiled easily, a rare moment of relief that dispelled the gloom and scheming of the past few days.
She rarely had the leisure to say, "Ruchun, go and bring the small box over."
The box wasn't big, but it was heavy, bearing the marks of time.
The box was opened, but there were no treasures inside, only a box full of neatly stacked letters.
The paper has turned slightly yellow, exuding a faint scent of ink and the aroma of longing.
Over the years, everyone thought Xie Sangning had lost contact with his father and brothers, but in fact, apart from not seeing each other for ten years, they had not disappeared from each other's lives.
Xie Sangning took out the top letter, which was from last month. Travel was slow, and every letter sent by her father and brothers was filled with writing.
If anyone familiar with Xie Sangyu were here, they would be so shocked that their eyes would drop to the floor!
The notorious playboy Xie Sangyu actually had handwriting that rivaled that of a master calligrapher!
The letter read:
"My dear sister, Sang Ning, seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. The mountains and passes are cold and the north wind is like a knife, but fortunately, your letter is like the warm sun breaking through the clouds, comforting me from my journey. My return is near, only a few months away. Thinking of this, I, your brother, cannot sleep all night, my heart is filled with turmoil..."
The letter was written on three pages, but when you turn to the last page, the style suddenly changes.
The drawing on the paper is a simple sketch outlined with charcoal.
The lines are extremely clumsy.
The painting depicts a burly man laughing as he tosses a little girl with two tiny pigtails high into the air!
The little girl had bright, smiling eyes and a carefree grin.
Beside the painting was a line of crookedly written words, clearly the father's handwriting: "Ning girl, Dad misses you!"
Xie Sangning touched the letter, and suddenly felt a lump in her throat.
The letter was last written by the elder brother, Xie Sangyu.
[Waiting for the warm sun to shine in the old courtyard, I'll share a sunny window with you.]
Xie Sangning's gaze lingered on the short cross for a long time. She took a deep breath and suppressed the surging bitterness in her heart.
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