The Emperor's Capital 33: The Young Masters of the Xu Family

  The young masters of the Xu family

  At the entrance of Ye Manor, two handsome young men got off a horse carriage. The boy in front glanced at the steward waiting to greet them at the entrance and flashed a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes, making a sound with his tongue and turning back to smile at the people inside the carriage: "It seems that big brother's face is not enough, no one came to pick us up." The slightly older boy who got off the carriage behind him glanced at him and said: "Big brother asked you to come along to show off?" The young man made a mischievous face at his own brother, "Who cares! I'm here to see Sister Li."

  "Xu Qingyan, mind your manners." someone in the carriage said calmly.

  Xu Qingyan blinked at his brother and whispered a complaint, "Second Brother is even more fierce than Big Brother."

  Xu Qingbai rolled his eyes at him, knowing he was still provoking him.

  The steward of the Ye Manor looked at the two Xu family young masters with difficulty, who were talking to themselves and had apparently taken his previous words as a mere whisper in their ears, without any intention of entering the house, let alone seeing the few people sitting in the carriage. Just as he was hesitating whether to go forward again to invite them, a slightly excited voice came from behind the gate, "Are they Fourth Brother and Fifth Young Master?"

  Xu Qingbai turned to look at the blue-clothed girl who was walking out quickly from inside. His gaze, which had initially been somewhat unfamiliar, added a warm smile as Ye Li approached, "Li'er, I'm Fourth Brother. Do you still remember?" Ye Li nodded slightly, Xu Qingbai being one of the five sons of the Xu family, closest in age to her and only one year older. Therefore, he was also the one she had been closest to during childhood, when they would study and play together at the Xu residence, "Fourth Brother..."

  "Hehe, Lier sister, I am Qingyan." Xu Qingyan unwillingly lagged behind and caught up.

  Ye Li looked at the handsome young man in front of her, pursed her lips and smiled: "Younger brother has grown up, really looks like older aunt. When we left the capital that year, younger brother was still a little kid." Xue Qingyan's face immediately fell, "Lisi jie is bullying me."

  "Big brother, second brother and cousin... where's third brother?"

  The curtain of the carriage behind was lifted, and Xu Qingfeng jumped out of the carriage with a smile: "Fortunately, Li'er still remembers San Ge, otherwise San Ge would be jealous."

  Two young men stepped out of the carriage, none other than Xu Qingchen, the eldest son of the Xu family and known as the number one young scholar in the world, and Xu Qingze, the second son of the Xu family.

  "Lier." Xu Qingchen, dressed in white, had a refined and elegant face that wore a faint smile when he saw Ye Lier. Unlike Xu Qingchen's elegance, 19-year-old Xu Qingze had a more serious and solemn expression. It gave people a feeling of coldness and distance, but Ye Lier could also feel the warmth in his gaze on her.

  "Big brother, second brother." Ye Li called out softly, her eyes suddenly feeling a bit sour. A strange feeling of being at a loss surrounded Ye Li, who had always thought herself to be carefree. Even though the Ye sisters were numerous, Ye Li had always felt like she was alone. But with so many brothers suddenly appearing by her side, it was as if she had returned to the time when her mother was still alive and her uncle and grandfather hadn't left the capital yet. It was even more like returning to that warm big family in her past life, where although there were endless fights and quarrels, they made one feel warm inside.

  Xu Qingchen raised his hand and gently stroked Ye Li's hair by her ear, softly sighing: "Hasn't Lian'er suffered enough these years?"

  Ye Li shook her head repeatedly, but her throat seemed to be choked by something and she couldn't say a word.

  "Third sister, having a few older male cousins stand at the door is too impolite. Why don't you quickly invite the older and younger male cousins inside?" Ye Ying stepped forward with gentle steps and softly spoke to Ye Li. Then she turned to Xu Qingchen and curtsied, "Ying'er has met Older Male Cousin Qingchen." Meanwhile, Xu Qingfeng rubbed his nose and stood behind his own second brother. He had come to the Ye estate countless times, but the haughty Ye Ying had never been so polite to him before.

  Ye Ying's face changed slightly, and she forced a smile. Ye Li quickly calmed the turmoil in her heart and smiled at Xu Qingchen: "It was Li'er's fault. Brother, let's go in. Father and Grandmother are waiting for several cousins and Fifth Brother." Xu Qingchen nodded, and Xu Qingze waved his hand, and the Xu family servants who were waiting on the side took out the gifts they had brought from the carriage behind them and respectfully followed their masters towards the Ye Mansion gate.

  Ye Li followed beside Xiu Qingchen and Xiu Qingze, softly asking: "Big brother, are big uncle and aunt doing well?"

  Xu Qingchen nodded and smiled: "Mother stayed in Yunzhou, Father is fine, just a bit tired from the journey. A little rest will be okay."

  "Big uncle and cousins have arrived, why didn't you tell Lier a word, Lier could have gone to welcome them." Ye Lier complained in a low voice.

  Xu Qingfeng, who was walking behind, laughed and said: "This is not my fault, it's because Eldest Uncle sent a letter ahead of time forbidding anyone from going to receive him. Eldest Uncle and Eldest Brother have already moved into the mansion in the capital, and Father only found out about it afterwards. He was furious." Ye Li also knew that her eldest uncle disliked those formalities and didn't mind, laughing and saying: "Then I'll go visit Eldest Uncle again tomorrow. How are Lin Nian and Wei Nian?"

  "It's all right, Lin and Wei are very loyal to your aunt. Their families are also willing to follow you to the Dingguo Wangfu. So grandfather let their families come along too." Xu Qingze said.

  Ye Li nodded, without saying any polite words. In her heart, she felt even more guilty towards her grandfather, for never being able to bring joy to his knees, yet he still worried about her at his age.

  Xu Qingchen looked at her with downcast eyes, raised his hand and gently patted her shoulder, saying: "Don't think too much, as long as you're doing well, your grandfather will be happy."

  "I know." Ye Li said.

  Ye Lin and Ye Shan watched as several handsome men surrounded Ye Li and walked away, then looked at the gloomy expression on Ye Ying's face. They exchanged a glance, and Ye Lin carefully asked, "Fourth sister... those few people... are they Third Sister's cousins?" Ye Ying lifted her head and glared at her fiercely. The rarely seen ferocious expression made Ye Lin involuntarily take a step back, almost bumping into Ye Shan behind her. All she heard was Ye Ying's cold laughter, disdainfully looking at her as she said, "You'd better give up early. The Xu family is not the kind of people who would look down on you!" After that, she didn't care about Ye Lin's expression and turned to follow them.

  Ye Lin was stunned by Ye Ying's words, and her beautiful face suddenly turned red. Thinking of Ye Ying's meaning, she felt both ashamed and embarrassed. Ye Shan looked at her, shook her head and said: "She's in a bad mood, who told you to still go provoke her? Hurry up and leave, if we're late, grandma won't be happy." Ye Lin didn't expect that Ye Shan, who usually minds her own business, would actually comfort her. Seeing that the others had already walked far away, she quickly followed them with Ye Shan.

  Rong Le Tang

  "The juniors have seen the elderly lady, and also... Uncle." Xu Qingchen stepped forward first to greet Ye Lao Furen and Ye Shangshu, and then others followed suit. Ye Lao Furen looked at the five men standing in the hall, not to mention the famous Xu Qingchen's elegant appearance and refined manners. Even 13-year-old Xu Qingyan was handsome with clear eyebrows and polite demeanor. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she had to say that the Xu family indeed knew how to raise children better than the Ye family. Ye Lao Furen's eyes sparkled, and she quickly smiled: "We are all one family, let's dispense with these empty formalities. How is your father?"

  Xu Qingchen stood tall and replied elegantly, "Father is doing well, but due to the fatigue of traveling by boat and carriage, he was unable to come visit Old Madam. Please forgive him."

  Although she knew it was just a polite remark, Mrs. Ye couldn't say much more. She just smiled and said: "It's tiring on the road, you should rest well. Rong'er, come over and greet your cousin."

  Ye Rong stood beside Wang Shi, intending to say something but caught his father's severe gaze. He reluctantly stepped forward and said, "Rong'er greets older cousin." Ye Rong was not a cunning person and couldn't even pretend well on the surface. He didn't like Ye Li, so naturally he didn't like Ye Li's older cousin either. Even though he had been warned by his father and grandmother beforehand, he still couldn't completely hide his expression. Even when performing the greeting rituals, his movements were somewhat careless and perfunctory. This made Ye Shangshu's face sink again.

  Xu Qingyan twitched his lips and turned away, not saying a word. Anyway, he was the youngest, so it wasn't his turn to speak. Xu Qingchen, however, seemed to have not noticed Ye Rong's expression at all, his smile still warm and polite, even with an added hint of kindness, "Young Master Ye is being too courteous. I've heard that Young Master Ye has exceptional literary talent. Qingyan and Young Master Ye are only a few years apart in age, but he's quite mischievous, so it wouldn't hurt for him to get out more often."

  Xu Qingyan's heart was furious, who wanted to follow him? But on the surface, he didn't dare to refute Xu Qingchen's meaning. He cleverly revealed a friendly smile, "Big brother is right. Younger brother will definitely learn more from Ye Gongzi."

  Xu Qingchen was very satisfied with his younger brother's cleverness and had someone send gifts to Ye Rong and the Ye family. Ye Rong suddenly felt a few more points of affection for Xu Qingchen, compared to Xu Qingfeng who always looked down on her with disdain and even intimidated her from time to time, Xu Qingchen who didn't have any condescending attitude towards her was simply too likable.

  Xu Qingyan, who was forced to make friends, subtly flashed to Xu Qingbai's side, secretly poked his arm, and then handed over his puzzled eyes: Why would big brother like this idiot?

  Xu Qingbai's eyes are straight and fair: because he is stupid enough and silly enough.

  How could they be so stupid to think that the eldest of their family would actually like any member of the Ye family other than his niece? The possibility is even lower than the chance of Da Ge not bullying Ding Wang.