It's true, Wang's expression changed and he said: "I heard that Tongge and Yunge went to your house to play, this is good, brothers should be harmonious. Whatever fun things you have, I'll play with you today, and you can play with me tomorrow, in the end it's all yours. It's not worth hurting brotherly love for some worthless things. Langge, you just returned home, by rights I shouldn't say this to you, but you're older, so you should understand how to yield. If we can't even be humble with our own family members, then how will we interact with others outside? You tell me, isn't that right?"

  Xie Lang was so scolded that his face turned red and white alternately, and his head was bowed down to his chest.

  Xie Yun looked at him with a pang of sympathy and wanted to say something, but remembering her mother's words when she left the house, she closed her mouth again.

  Xie Tong was very pleased, and by this time the anger on his face had finally turned into ridicule. "It's just a few broken fish, isn't it? You've fallen to the point of relying on others for shelter, and you still treat them as treasures!"

  Xie Wan's crispy sugar in her mouth crackled and shattered with a crunch.

  At the same time, Xie Lian suddenly stood up from his seat. He may not be familiar with worldly affairs, but that doesn't mean he's a coward! What is Xie Tong? Is he even qualified to say they're freeloading off others? Who's the one who's really freeloading?!

  But though he could distinguish right from wrong in his heart, these words couldn't be spoken, and at the moment, his eyes bulged round, but his cheeks were flushed red with suffocation.

  "Wang furrowed his brow and said: 'What are you doing? You're scaring your little brother!'"

  Xie Tong was a sly one. Upon hearing this, he immediately flung himself into Ruan Shi's arms and began to cry: "Mother, save me! Second Brother wants to hit me!"

  "Look at you! Look at you!" Ruan Shi stood up, one hand protecting Xie Tong and the other pointing at Xie Cang, her voice shrill. "He's trying to intimidate me! Are you older than me or of a higher generation?! The mistress only advised you out of respect for your seniority as an elder brother, but you... You're getting more and more arrogant! Who are you putting on this show for?! Let me tell you, our Tong Ge is not someone to be trifled with!"

  "Who did you say is living under someone else's roof?!"

  Xie Lang shouted at Xie Tong in a hoarse voice. He had just passed the mutation period, and his voice was still a bit husky, which made him sound even more like he was bellowing.

  Brother is finally showing a masculine side, Xie Wan doesn't plan to stop him. But letting him act impulsively isn't wise either, didn't he suffer greatly in his past life because of his impulsive behavior?

  She slid down from her chair and walked up to him with a clear and tender voice, saying: "Brother, what is 'living under someone's roof'?"

  Xie Lang's face turned red and his neck thickened, and when she asked this question, he became even more embarrassed. He stared at Xie Tong for a long time before saying, "It means we're living in someone else's home, relying on their charity to survive."

  "How can it be charity?!" Xie Wan raised her voice, turning around to look at Wang Shi: "That day, Uncle wanted to take us away, wasn't it the mistress and master who begged us to stay? They kept saying we were people of the Xie family, not the Qi family. That's why we stayed. Father was originally Master's eldest son, brother is the eldest grandson of the mansion, this mansion is our home, we eat our own food, wear our own clothes, the maids are ours too, the place we live in is also ours, when did we ever receive charity from others? We don't even have the surname Li."

  Wang's ex-husband was surnamed Li. Wang's cheeks twitched slightly as she grasped her handkerchief and turned away, hiding her face.

  Ruan's face also fell, red one moment and white the next, like a piece of silk satin.

  "Wan Wan." Xie Liang, who was kind-hearted, also thought it was a bit too much when he heard his sister say this, and hastily pulled her hand.

  Xie Tong furrowed his brow and stared at Xie Wan: "What does this have to do with Li? Who said he's the eldest grandson by birth? My older brother is the eldest grandson by birth!"

  Xie Hongyi had always considered himself a member of the Xie family and would naturally not tell his son about this inglorious past.

  Xie Wan opened her eyes wide and said: "Big brother is the eldest son? Then who is Big Uncle's son?"

  "Nonsense! Of course it's the young master!" Xie Tong said with a smirk, glancing in the direction of Wang Shi.

  Xie Wan also glanced at Wang Shi's pale face, her finger raised to point to her chin, and said slowly: "That's not right. Everyone knows that my father's birth mother is Old Master's first wife, Yang TaiTai, and now the ancestral hall has an offering to our grandmother's tablet. If Eldest Uncle was born by TaiTai and is older than my father, then it means that TaiTai already had Eldest Uncle before she entered the household—— Ah, I understand now!"

  She suddenly realized and nodded her head.

  Before entering the door, there was already a child. Either it wasn't Xie Qigong's or it was a bastard. Neither of these is qualified to be the eldest son. This is common sense, not to mention that Wangshi and Ruan Shi can understand, even several older children present can understand.

  Wang's face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

  Ruan Shi suddenly stood up and said with a stern face: "Who taught San Gu Niang these absurd words?! Bring the people around San Gu Niang over here immediately!"

  Xie Wan quietly raised her head and asked her brother: "Did I say something wrong?"

  Xie Lang's lips were slightly parted, and she had no words to respond. What bad things had she ever said? It was simply that she spoke too well, too flawless, which made Ruan Shi lose her composure and jump up. They naturally wouldn't take it out on her, so they could only vent their anger on the people around her.

  "That's enough!"

  Wang's loud shout startled Ruan, who immediately jumped back. Xie Tong was also frightened and stared at her with his mouth agape. Wang composed herself, glanced at Ruan, and said, "Zhuang is just a child, why are you arguing with a child? Brother Zhuang, take your sister back to the house first."

  Xie Lang heard this and hastily pulled his sister out of the house.

  Xie Wan followed him out of the hall and into the left corridor, where she suddenly stopped to look around. Xie Cang asked, "What's wrong?" She raised her index finger to her lips, made a silencing gesture, then pointed to the banana grove outside the moon gate on the left. Before Xie Cang could react, she had already slipped through the moon gate when no one was looking.

  After Xie's siblings left, Wang leaned against the big pillow and fell asleep.

  Su Luo hastily fetched some moxa sticks to help her rub her temples, while Ruan Shi also accompanied her and carefully handed over tea, waving her hand to let Xie Tong and Xie Yun retreat.

  Wang took a sip of the tea and held it in his hand, saying: "I've long heard that this San Niang has been spoiled by Er Fang. At the age of three, she wouldn't even hold her own bowl while eating, and she's always been very mischievous. But these past few days, I've seen that not only is she not naughty, but she's also very calm and well-behaved. Listen to how she spoke just now, so calmly and unhurriedly, each sentence hitting the nail on the head - does she really seem like an eight-year-old child?"

  Ruan Shi smiled and said, "At the age of eight, it's not big or small, thinking that now there is no one to protect her, knowing that in the mansion, the mistress is in charge, unlike outside where she can be carefree and happy. She can't afford to offend the mistress, so she deliberately shows off to invite favor." After a pause, she continued, "Our Qi Jie is different. There are not so many clever thoughts."

  Wang was lost in his own thoughts, took a sip of tea, and stared blankly at the ground.

  Behind her, Su Luo was massaging her acupoints and said with a raised lip: "Madam only remembers San Gu Niang, how could she have forgotten that San Gu Niang has an older brother? San Gu Niang is young, but Er Shao Ye is already thirteen years old. These words are harmless coming from San Gu Niang's mouth, but if they were to come from Er Shao Ye's mouth, it would be difficult not to sound improper."

  Ruan's expression changed: "Right! San Ya Tou wouldn't understand these things, it must be Lang Ge teaching her."

  She slapped her thigh and stood up, gritting her teeth: "Good! This Xie Liang looks like a delicate flower on the surface, but unexpectedly has a belly full of evil water. He himself doesn't dare to show his face, yet he incites his younger sister to make things difficult for us! ——Madam, you must take out a plan to deal with this! Otherwise, in the future, this household will be turned upside down by them!"

  Wang held the tea bowl for half a day without speaking. Ruan was anxious but didn't dare to urge him, and was stifling her breath beside him. Su Luo gave her a glance, and she slowly calmed down again.

  "Is Dongkui Yard's Xiangxiang Yard empty?" Wang suddenly asked Ruan with a tilted head.

  Ruan Shi immediately said: "Exactly."

  Wang nodded and said, "Lang is also grown up. Although they are siblings, it's not good for them to live in the same courtyard anymore. Go tell Zhou Erjia to tidy up Xiangxiang Courtyard and let Lang move in. It's close to the library, which will make it convenient for him to focus on his studies."

  Xie Jia Tai Zu was originally just a tenant farmer, with no fixed property, so poor that he was not married until the age of 20. It was also a heavenly match, because of the good looks passed down from his ancestors, one day he met the only daughter of Chen, the owner of the leather workshop in the town, Miss Chen fell in love with Xie Jia Tai Zu at first sight.

  At the beginning of this dynasty, due to years of military conscription and war, the population of Hejian and Baoding prefectures was drastically reduced. Shanxi, on the other hand, was not affected by the war and had fewer natural disasters due to its favorable climate, resulting in a dense population.

  The imperial court then issued an edict to Shanxi, rewarding the population with money and grain for migrating to Baoding and Hejian prefectures. The Chen family thus moved from Shanxi to settle in Baoding Prefecture. The Chen family quickly used the reward silver given by the imperial court to start a business in Qinghe County. Seeing that their daughter had found her soulmate, Chen Zhanggui took in Xie's ancestor as his son-in-law.

  Afterwards, Xie Jia's ancestor took over the leather workshop and became a young shopkeeper. This person was quite clever and in just a few years, he made the leather workshop prosperous. With some extra money on hand, he also invested in other small businesses.

  Heaven has unpredictable winds and clouds. Just as life was going smoothly, Miss Chen caught a cold at the age of thirty and left behind a pair of children after just a few months. The elderly Mr. and Mrs. Chen lost their daughter and soon passed away one after another.

  Originally, the descendants of Zhaoren San could return to their ancestral home after three generations. However, the great ancestor of the Xie family took advantage of the fact that there were no more Chen family members to restrain him and changed his children's surname back to Xie in that year, thus obtaining a share of the Chen family's property for nothing.

  In this way, after several generations, the Xie family became wealthy, and this distant history gradually became unknown. Moreover, from an unknown generation onwards, the Xie family suddenly produced a scholar-official, and began to develop from merchants to scholars, making it even more important to bury this family history.

  As Xie Wan's great-grandfather won the imperial examination, the Xie family not only frequently assisted their hometown but also expanded their ancestral temple. They even built a special library in the mansion to collect thousands of rare books and opened it to the public on the first day of each month for reading. As a result, the Xie family gradually gained a prominent position in Qinghe, and this piece of history was naturally no longer mentioned by anyone.