Chapter 7: What a Pretty Sister

 

Chapter 7: What a Pretty Sister

Xu Ping'Zhi was dazed. “Ning’Yan?” (Xu Qi'An’s courtesy name, he is also known as Xu Ning’Yan.)

Li Ru’s tears still clung onto her face, as her happy expression had frozen.

“Two days ago, Xu Qi'An had clamored in his prison cell about meeting the magistrate, said that he had important information to report. Then, the magistrate had solved the case. In accordance to the Great Feng’s codex, for making up mistakes with accomplishments, all of you are pardoned obviously.” The clerk replied.

“Is, is that so…” Xu Ping'Zhi stuttered. He had taken Xu Qi'An home since when he was a toddler. He knew what kind of person Xu Qi'An was.

Xu Ping'Zhi suspected that the clerk was lying, but he had no proof of it.

‘It was that rascal nephew of mine…’ Li Ru was stunned.

‘Was it not the favors gathered by my son that saved the family? How was it done by the unfortunate nephew instead, was he not stuck in jail?’

Keeping massive doubts within him, Xu Ping'Zhi led his wife and children out of the prefectural office’s back door. He saw Xu Qi'An that was anxiously waiting in place, and was combing his hair that looked like a chicken’s nest.

The moment he saw his nephew, the doubts he had harbored within his heart had seemingly became unimportant. The man that came from a grunt’s background felt warmth within his heart, and his eyes moistened. He approached with the intent to give his nephew a big hug, then felt that it was too embarrassing to perform in action. He then smacked Xu Qi'An’s shoulders hard. “Ning’Yan, well done.”

Xu Qi'An was almost smacked to the afterlife.

“Second uncle, you are at the peak of the Qi-Refinement Stage, there’s a whole cultivation level between us.” Xu Qi'An naturally spoke those words, he felt proficient in speaking this way.

He was surprised at the closeness they shared. Meanwhile, he glanced across his second uncle and looked at the three women behind Xu Ping'Zhi.

‘Heh, aunty, even you have faced a tragedy that made you look like this…’ He uncontrollably thought.

His condescending mood did not last long, as he was attracted by the sister’s appearance.

The young lady wore loose prisoner’s clothing, her messy long hair hung above her aesthetically pleasing face with her tall nose. At a glance, it seemed like she was a partial mix-blooded beauty.

She was at the exact age where her appearance looked the purest, it was so vivid that nobody could avert their eyes from her charm.

‘Shit, I actually have such an angelic looking sister.’ Xu Qi'An was shocked.

(T/N: From now on, assume the MC’s cousin brother/sister as his brother/sister. There’s no distinction story-wise.)

In the memory of the original host, he recalled his (cousin) sister as a blurry figure. Perhaps it was because that he did not pay much attention due to his relationship with his aunt. He had felt quite peeved with anyone that had associated with his aunt.

Thus, he was not friendly when it comes to dealing with his cousin brother and sisters.

Feeling the intense gaze of his elder brother, Xu Ling’Yue shyly called out, “Older Brother.” She then lowered her head in slight embarrassment.

“Brother!” Somehow, he heard a hiss somewhere.

Xu Ling’Yin was 5-years-old, she was small sized. She ran over in a puff and did an emergency brake in front of Xu Qi'An. Raised her head and stared at him.

Xu Qi'An shook his arm. “No candy for you. I’ve just been released from jail as well.”

It was worth mentioning that the original host had not liked his cousin siblings, but he treated this younger cousin sister well. It was because her looks did not come from her mother.

“What is jail?”

“The place that you’ve been sleeping at in the past few days.”

“What about the other brother, did he bring candy?”

“He isn’t here.”

“Oh.” The tiny thing looked disappointed. The ‘other brother’ she mentioned was Xu Xing’Nian that was born from the same mother as she was. But she still had not realized the distinction between a cousin brother and brother.

This younger sister was not quite intelligent, she was dull. This must have been something that was inherited from her own mother…—That was what the original host had thought.

Finally, he looked at his aunt, Li Ru. This woman had always been oppressing Xu Qi'An, it was likely that she never imagined that she would ever need to thank her despised nephew in her entire lifetime.

The beautiful woman turned her head around robotically, and spoke unwillingly, “All thanks to Ning’Yan…”

Coincidentally, Xu Qi'An recalled a blurry memory within his head.

Back then, when Xu Qi'An was drove away from the house into the yard adjacent to their house by his aunt, he made an oath in anger: ‘I, Xu Qi'An will become successful one day. Don’t you regret it!’

Now that he thought about it, he felt so awkward. It seemed like this was a typical oppressed protagonist story with his evil aunt as the antagonist.

Xu Qi'An now observed the relationship between the original host and his aunt with an outsider’s perspective, that was purely logical. He actually did not fully blame the mistakes on this beautiful woman.

Xu Qi'An practiced martial arts, who ate away over 100 taels of silver every year. This was equal to a common household’s earnings after accumulating it for 30 years, granted if they worked hard for it.

It was not unreasonable for his aunt to be resentful about it. Thus, Xu Qi'An spoke sincerely, “Aunty, don’t be quick to thank me yet. Try thanking me again after we had returned home and had a meal.”

Li Ru immediately widened her eyes, angrily glaring at the damned nephew.

Xu Ping'Zhi’s scalp had gone numb, and muttered, “go home first!”

…

Xu Xing’Nian was holding a wine jug, stumbling back into the house. The home that he had lived inside for the past 19 years were now sealed with stickers on the front door. It was a pitiful sight to see the house that had been deserted.

Xu Xing’Nian broke through the main entrance with a kick, after swaying around for a few steps inside, he retraced his steps and shut the door.

Suicide by hanging was not a prideful thing to do, especially not for someone of his scholarly standing. Thus, he did not intend to draw attention from the public officials.

To save face.

He walked from the outer yard into the inner yard, just like he had progressed through a long lifetime.

He became literate at the age of three, and memorized poems at five. He was already familiar with the scriptures when he was ten, and entered the Cloud Deer Academy when he was 14. Passed the provincial imperial exam at 18.

It was not reaching to consider him as an incredibly talented person.

His intelligence and breadth of knowledge had formed his prideful demeanor.

He always held his pride when facing his family. He was successful, glorious, and always was the pride and joy of the Xu Family.

As a man, he would rather die in a blaze of glory, than to survive in humiliation.

Thinking up to this point, Xu Xing’Nian gulped down the remaining alcohol on hand, and smashed the wine jug onto the floor.

Relying on his drunkenness, he rushed into his room, prepared the ink and raised the ink brush. Then written the greatest farewell poem he had ever seen in his life.

He chuckled heavily, dragged the paper and rushed outdoors. He pulled out the rope that he had prepared and hung it on top of a gingko tree inside the inner yard.

He was surprised that he had not felt any fear when faced with death. He had only felt a sense of satisfaction in which that he had never ever experienced.

Suddenly, he understood the feelings of those unfettered, mad scholars. He knew that only the fearless could truly look down towards the entire world.

As he was no longer afraid of dying, he would not fear anything else in the world.

…

The capital city was prosperous, it was claimed to be the greatest city in the world.

Xu Qi'An slowly made his way through the bustling old town. Horses and carriages swarmed like ocean tides; shops allayed on the opposite ends of the street; cloth banners drifted through the air like they were dancing.

He could not help but think of a poem: The floating smoke formed bridges, winds draped as curtains, there were 100,000 families.

(T/N: Poems often are lost in translation regardless. So, I will only translate traditional Chinese literary works directly. As close to the original as possible, its up to you on how you decipher the words.)

In truth, the capital city was way more prosperous than what was described within that poem. As written in ‘Great Feng Geographics’, There were 1.96 million population in the capital city during the 1st year of Yuan’Jing.

It was currently the 36^th year of Yuan’Jing.

The population of the capital city should have exceeded 2 million. The Xu Residence had 3 layers of yards, and kept 7-8 servants. Now that they are all sent away, the main entrance was locked, the residence was deserted.

The aunt looked at the plaque on top of the main door and felt emotional. “Don’t know how Nian’er had been feeling by now, he must be worried sick of us. This child, he promised to save us before we were sent to jail.”

She talked as she walked.

‘Real-estate was pricey in the capital city. A big residence like this costed at least 5,000 taels of silver. The down-payment was 30%, hence it would be 1,500 taels… Shit, why am I thinking about real-estate prices after I’ve been isekai-ed?’

Xu Qi'An grinned.

Xu Ping'Zhi comforted her. “Nian’er had learnt many things, he is assertive and reliable. Perhaps he is still toiling for us at this point in time. Let’s wait for him to come back, and give him a surprise.”

‘Shit…’ Xu Qi'An’s expression changed, he knew that Xu Xing’Nian had planned on committing suicide.

In the eyes of his uncle and aunt, the second son of the Xu Family had indomitable will, assertive in nature and was dependable. He was a persistent scholar,

“Hahahaha, I, Xu Xing’Nian, born an unfettered soul, will die as a prideful ghost.

Xu Xing’Nian, talented beyond limits, yet the heavens vexed me.

If the heavens had not permitted Xu Xing’Nian to exist, the Great Feng will forever be shrouded in darkness…”

Under the gingko tree, the scholar stood on top of a stool. He suddenly tossed his hair ornament away, shook his head hard and scattered his hair.

He was egoistical. He was unfettered. He placed his head within the tied noose and came to saw the family members that had frozen in place, shocked beyond belief.

‘I, Xu Xing’Nian was an unfettered and freedom loving soul… Xu Xing’Nian had talent without limits but the heavens vexed me… If the heavens had not permitted Xu Xing’Nian to exist, the Great Feng will forever be shrouded in darkness…’ Xu Xing’Nian looked at his family members that had returned surprisingly. He felt that he should have committed suicide a tad quicker.