Chapter 118 The moonlight does not illuminate the evening shadows rising from the mountains, yet their beauty is still evident. ...
A leaf fluttered and flew into the ancestral hall located at the Jingmen Gate inside Xuanyuan Hill.
The ancestral hall of Huangdi Ji's family is a typical example of "four waters returning to the hall". In the central courtyard, there is an ancient pine tree. Its leaves swayed in the air and deliberately fell into the pine pot.
This location is perfectly positioned to face the ancestral hall, allowing one to hear the voices inside, yet not so close that it would be discovered by the astute and vigilant Ji family members.
Has it started?
The leaf trembled and stood upright.
"Don't rush, there's no one inside yet."
As they were talking, they heard footsteps behind them.
"They're here...it's Ji Yinxiu, and...and another woman..."
"A woman? Is that the head of the Ji family? He said he was going to see the head of the family today..."
"Stop arguing! I can't hear you!"
“…”
A small boy suddenly rushed out from the side, carried two chairs out of the ancestral hall and placed them under the eaves, then swaggered away.
Late yesterday, the rain that had been building up for so long finally started, and it only stopped this morning. Thick moss grew on the roof tiles, and a few drops of water occasionally dripped from the eaves. A small puddle of water also gathered on the bluestone steps on the ground, reflecting a patch of blue sky and white clouds.
“Why don’t you sit outside with me?” Ji Yuehua patted Ji Yinxiu’s shoulder and led him to sit on the veranda. “Originally, we were going to invite a few respected elders to the ancestral hall to discuss this today, since it concerns family rules. But I don’t think it’s that serious. Let’s just treat it as a family matter. There’s no need to make a fuss. Let’s just talk about it between the two of us.”
Ji Yinxiu nodded in agreement and sat down with her.
Ji Yuehua had been the head of the family for over ten years. Her face was calm and she looked kind and approachable, though her temples were a little gray. She was Ji Luochi's mother, and by rights, she was Ji Yinxiu's aunt and Ji Buzhao's sister.
However, judging from her appearance, she seems to be older than Ji Buzhao.
It's probably because there are many things to do in the clan, and he has to worry about them day and night.
The two sat on the veranda, closer to the ancient pine tree in the courtyard, which was an excellent spot for watching the movie. The effect of peeking was much better than Feng Feng had expected.
"It's been a long time since I visited you and your mother. How has she been lately?" Before getting to the main topic, Ji Yuehua seemed to want to catch up a bit more. She looked Ji Yinxiu up and down. "You've grown quite a bit taller. I remember when you were little, you were about the height of a bean sprout." As she spoke, she gestured with her hand, indicating that she was just up to the height of a stool leg.
"Thank you for your concern, Master. Mother's health has always been the same as before."
“You child…” Ji Yuehua tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Why are you always so rigid and polite? I’m your aunt.”
Ji Yinxiu did not respond to that sentence. She sat upright, facing the courtyard, her gaze fixed on the bonsai with the pine tree.
"Alright, alright, I won't say anything more. You want to leave Xuanyuanqiu and hang out with those shady characters..."
The leaves in the pot trembled.
“They are my friends,” Ji Yinxiu interrupted.
Ji Yuehua glanced at him, shifted her knees slightly, and also faced the courtyard, her upper body unconsciously straightening up.
"In short, there's no room for discussion on this matter." His tone turned considerably colder. "You know the original intention of the clan rules, wasn't it all to protect you cripples?"
"Besides, you are the master of the Xuanyuan Sword."
“It’s because of the Xuanyuan Sword…” Ji Yinxiu wanted to explain something, but Ji Yuehua’s words made her swallow her words back.
"Master of the Xuanyuan Sword, wouldn't it be better to just stay at Xuanyuan Hill and be a respected mascot? Besides, if that prophecy comes true, shouldn't you stay at home to protect your family on the day of the natural disaster?"
Ji Yinxiu lowered his head slightly, staring at the velvety moss on the blue bricks and the four corners of the sky framed by the puddles of water.
“I have many sisters at home, and they are all more outstanding than me. As you said, if I stay here, I can only be a… mascot. But my friends need my help more.” He glanced at the potted plants in the yard, and his voice became much lower.
"I may be a mascot, but the Xuanyuan Sword is not."
Ji Yuehua coldly sized up the prematurely gray-haired boy in front of her. She maliciously thought that the dazzling white was nothing more than an embellishment for the Huangdi Ji family, and to put it bluntly, it was nothing more than a show.
To sacrifice her lifespan just to pull out a sword was, in her eyes, utterly unworthy. However, it would certainly enhance Xuanyuanqiu's reputation and prestige, and also quell the restless ambitions of those who shared her crippled state.
As for the disabled, most families have people who have lofty ambitions and aspirations but are powerless to achieve them.
She sighed softly, "You can leave Xuanyuan Hill if you want, but you'll have to leave the Xuanyuan Sword behind..."
"Stay?" A cold, sharp voice came from the doorway, interrupting their conversation. The wheelchair slowly rolled over the bluestone slab. "Does the patriarch believe that anyone in the clan can pull out the Xuanyuan Sword?"
A girl in a pink dress pushed a wheelchair into view.
"Mother?" Ji Yinxiu stood up in a daze. When Yinglong told him that Ji Buzhao could plead for him in front of the family head, he took it as a joke and did not even intend to tell his mother about it. He came to the ancestral hall alone to meet Ji Yuehua.
Unexpectedly, she actually came.
He walked down the steps, nodded to the girl behind the wheelchair to thank her, and then took the armrest.
Ji Buzhao looked at his sister, who was still sitting upright in the chair, and sneered, "Has the patriarch forgotten that only two people have been able to successfully use the Xuanyuan Sword in the last hundred years? One is me, and the other is my son."
"Besides, no matter how many times or how many people try, the Xuanyuan Sword is nothing but scrap metal in their hands."
Ji Yuehua quietly looked at the person in the wheelchair, her expression unchanged. A strange atmosphere spread between the three of them. It was a long time before she finally smiled.
“That’s right. I tried to draw the Xuanyuan Sword back then, and just as my sister said, the artifact didn’t react at all. It was like the worst defective product in the hands of a craftsman.”
Their gazes met in the air, and Ji Buzhao softened her tone, saying, "He's just free-spirited and wants to see the outside world." Her eyes were dark and deep, like bottomless pools.
Even so, can't we still let him leave?
Ji Yuehua lowered her eyes, seemingly thinking about something, then suddenly chuckled and stood up from her chair, walking to the two of them.
“That’s true. You and I have almost stopped leaving here for various reasons. Perhaps this kind of freedom is more comfortable for the child.”
She took the wheelchair handle from Ji Yinxiu and looked at him gently, "Your aunt hasn't spoken to your mother in a long time, let me take her back."
Ji Yinxiu seemed bewildered by the sudden change before him, and he absentmindedly let go of his hand.
"By the way, your friends have been waiting in the side hall for a long time. Go find them and have a good look around Xuanyuan Hill so the young people don't get bored."
As he spoke, he pushed Ji Buzhao out of the courtyard, leaving Ji Yinxiu standing alone under the skylight.
"They agreed already? So quickly?" Feng Mian was still a little confused.
Xia Zhu was also still not satisfied, thinking that Ji Yinxiu was going to enter the ancestral hall to debate with the scholars.
"Hmph, you don't know, do you..." Feng Feng put away the protective leaf, "No wonder Teacher Yinglong said that only one person could plead for Ji Yinxiu. The relationship between this family is not so simple..."
She grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the fruit plate on the small table in the center, mysteriously beckoned the group closer, and whispered, "Do you know why the Ji family members all call Ji Yinxiu 'San San'?"
“Isn’t that his nickname? Everyone has a nickname when they’re little…” Feng Mian said.
“No No No…” Feng Feng stretched out a finger and waved it wildly under Feng Mian’s eyes. “He chose this name himself because he didn’t have a name of his own from birth until he was seven or eight years old.”
"And because she's the third child in this generation, the adults call Ji Yinxiu 'San San' for convenience." She said, glancing furtively at the door. "Haven't you noticed that Ji Yinxiu's father is like an invisible man? Nobody has ever mentioned him."
“Oh right…” Xia Zhu thought to herself. She had been to their house before and had never seen any other men or any trace of their lives. Even Ji Yinxiu had never mentioned them.
“You all heard it just now, his mother was the previous owner of the Xuanyuan Sword. That means that in their generation, Ji Yinxiu's mother was simply a genius among geniuses, an elite among elites! Such an outstanding person, the family would definitely not let go of her body, her bloodline…” Feng Feng's voice grew softer and softer, “So even if she herself was unwilling, under the pressure of the family, she had to find someone to have a child with when she reached a certain age…”
"Wait, wait, wait!" Xia Zhu felt that the more she listened, the stranger it became. She suddenly realized a problem, a problem that everyone had been tacitly aware of for so long, but which she had never seen clearly. She looked at Feng Feng with hesitation, and when their eyes met, they seemed to understand each other's suspicions.
"Aunt Ji was a genius of her generation, and the first person in nearly a hundred years to pull out the Xuanyuan Sword. She was so powerful and outstanding, yet now she's frail and needs a wheelchair... Could it be because she gave birth to Ji Yinxiu?" She felt her voice tremble slightly. "So, a woman in a divine bloodline family, no matter how exceptionally talented, will... once she gives birth..."
“You will lose all your power.” Feng Feng calmly picked up where she left off. “Isn’t it ironic that even matriarchal societies cannot escape the immense harm caused by childbirth?”
“No, no…” Xia Zhu thought of Pu Yang’s ancestors, “But the female cultivator I saw in Isuzu, she gave birth to four children and also had the power of Xiang…” She was even able to travel thousands of miles to slaughter seven or eight tenths of the Yun family in Nanhuo Mountain.
“It’s different. The female cultivator is the human god Zhuanxu. The first generation of unknown officials were all called human gods. Their bloodline is the purest. Human gods also have a longer lifespan than ordinary unknown officials. For example, the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan lived to be about 120 years old,” Feng Mian explained.
"I see." This discovery was a complete blow to Xia Zhu. She had never imagined that even in this world, her mother could not be praised simply as "great".
They were undoubtedly suffering.
Feng Feng reached out and patted Xia Zhu's shoulder. "So, Ji Buzhao spent all her effort and carried the baby for ten months, only to give birth to a crippled body, a crippled body that cannot inherit her own talent."
They lost their health, and they also lost the abilities they were once proud of.
"Her husband, in her eyes, was nothing more than a tool whose name was completely unimportant. There was no love between them, only family scheming and expectations. I heard that after Ji Yinxiu was born, his father left Xuanyuanqiu because that man already had a lover in the human world, a woman who was just an ordinary person." Feng Feng's expression suddenly changed, and he raised his hand, saying, "Of course, let me clarify first, I don't think Aunt Ji's current depression is because of this unimportant man. I can completely understand how devastating it is to lose Xiangli. But similarly, she doesn't love that man, and perhaps she doesn't love Ji Yinxiu either, which is why she could say to him, 'I regret giving birth to him,'"
For the sake of family interests and a woman he didn't love, he had a son who was considered disabled.
Now everything makes sense. Why did Ji Bu Zhao look at his son as if he were an enemy? Why did Ji Yin Xiu take the Xuanyuan Sword before entering the house? And why did he go to such lengths to pull out the Xuanyuan Sword to prove himself, and even give himself such a name?
As the mountains rise in the evening shadows, their beauty becomes apparent.
"I mean... this kind of thing should be quite secretive, right? How did you know?" Feng Mian stared at Feng Feng with a suspicious look.
"You think I'm here to freeload? Didn't your mother teach you that when you go to a new place, you have to get to know people and socialize? That's called being a social butterfly..."
"Social etiquette? Are you talking about me?"
Suddenly a head popped out from behind the group, startling them so much that they screamed.
"Hmph, this is what happens when you gossip behind someone's back~" The girl in the peach-colored cheongsam smiled and tilted her head to look at the crowd with her hands behind her back.
Feng Feng patted his chest to catch his breath, then lunged forward menacingly.
"Ji Tao! You're the bad person who spreads rumors everywhere!"
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