Chapter 453: The Doting Uncle

Helian Beiming said, “I’m not eating this.”

Little Snow Fox: “Squeak—”

I eat! The little snow fox flapped its four claws and drooled. Helian Beiming looked at the restless little fellow on his lap and reluctantly accepted the candied hawthorn.

“Squeak!” The little snow fox could not wait to pounce over. It hugged the candied hawthorn that was almost longer than its body and started chewing.

On the other side, Helian Beiming had already placed the portrait into the basket on the table. On the surface, these portraits looked the same, but for some reason, Yu Wan felt that the young man’s portrait was exceptionally outstanding.

“Is there anything else?” Helian Beiming asked.

“No.” Yu Wan retracted her gaze. “Then I’ll take my leave first.”

“Okay.” Helian Beiming nodded indifferently.

Yu Wan was puzzled. That was it? Wasn’t he prepared to ask about the West Manor? After all, the two of them had bullied Madam Li and her sons like that. It would be fine if they were biological children, but they were fakes. Shouldn’t he be angry and warn her not to cause trouble in the manor again?

Of course, although Yu Wan was puzzled, she was not to the extent of taking the initiative to ask him.

Yu Wan felt that she had touched a pattern: As long as the Old Madam was happy, it was fine even if the sky collapsed. Or perhaps the relationship between the East and West Manor was not as harmonious as it looked.

Who cared? She was not the real daughter-in-law of the Helian family. When they obtained the medicinal primer, they would leave Nanzhao. She thought this in her heart, but the moment she returned to Xixia Garden, she asked about Helian Beiming’s family matters. “Grandma, what’s happened to General Helian’s son?”

The old man was reading the Three Character Classic in the room. When Yu Wan entered the room, he silently put the half-prepared class materials back into the drawer.

“What do you mean what happened?” He said without changing his expression.

Yu Wan did not see the Three Character Classic that he had prepared for class. She sat down beside him and said, “Wasn’t General Helian’s son expelled from the family? What did he do?”

The old man said, “It’s rumored that he killed someone.”

Yu Wan said thoughtfully, “Why do I feel that it’s so unbelievable? Can a son raised by a man like Helian Beiming casually kill the innocent? If that person was not innocent, he wouldn’t have been expelled from the family even if someone died. Moreover, Old Madam personally expelled him. How great is this hatred?”

“Ha, you don’t know this, do you?” Old Cui walked in while chewing on a radish.

Qing Yan and Yue Gou were packing their luggage. When they heard this, they could not help but prick up their ears. Yu Wan sighed. It seemed that she was not the only one curious about Helian Beiming’s son.

Old Cui lived in Old Madam’s courtyard with Yan Jiuchao. Although he was an old man, he had an old lady’s mouth and loved to ask for gossip. After a while, he really found something.

It turned out that Yu Wan’s guess was right. Helian Beiming’s son, Helian Sheng, was really not expelled from the family because someone died. They found out that he was not Helian Beiming’s biological son.

Old Cui said, “Madam Tan admitted it herself and said that the son didn’t belong to Helian Beiming. In a fit of anger, Old Madam almost killed the mother and son.”

Yu Wan had an enlightened expression. “I knew it. Old Madam has deep feelings for her children. How could she bear to be ruthless to her biological grandson?” Looking at how Old Madam doted on Yan Jiuchao, she knew that as long as he was the grandson she had chosen, she would protect him even if he had to poke a hole in the sky.

Yu Wan continued, “What happened after that? Did they make up the pretense that Helian Sheng killed someone because family scandals can’t be aired in public?”

Old Cui took a bite of the radish and said, “That’s right. What else can they do? Say that Helian Beiming’s been cuckold? Let the Helian family become the laughing stock of the entire world?”

Yu Wan muttered, “Did Madam Tan become a nun not because she was angry at the Helian family for dealing with Helian Sheng, but because she asked Old Madam to send her to the nunnery?”

“You can say that.” Old Cui smacked his lips.

“Does the West Manor know?” Yu Wan asked.

Old Cui spread his hands. “I’m not sure about that.”

Yu Wan touched her chin. “I keep feeling that the relationship between the East and West Manor is not as good as everyone thinks. That Old Master of the West Manor has a gloomy gaze, like a poisonous snake.”

Old Cui nodded at the table and said, “Alright, ignore the lousy matter of the Helian family. The medicinal primer is the important thing. Your husband is really not as good as he looks.”

Yu Wan’s eyes flickered. “He…”

Old Cui sighed. “He feels terrible, but he didn’t say.”

How could he not feel anything after being poisoned by the Fragrance of Hundred Miles? In the past, it was suppressed by the poison curse and did not show much. Now, his entire body had become a battlefield for the Fragrance of Hundred Miles. Yan Jiuchao was always suffering from the poison. Why did he go and ruthlessly destroy the flowers? It was because he was so uncomfortable that he could not sit still. It was because he was more tenacious that he did not kill anyone on the spot.

“Do you know what happened to those people who were poisoned by the Fragrance of Hundred Miles in the past?” Old Cui asked.

“What’s wrong?” Yu Wan asked.

“They went crazy,” Old Cui said.

They would be tortured until they lost all their rationality by the poison. If they could not wait for the antidote, they would go completely crazy first. There had never been someone like Yan Jiuchao since ancient times.

No matter how much Old Cui disliked Yan Jiuchao, he could not help but admire his temperament. He clearly looked like a spoiled little silk pants, but no one could withstand the pain he endured.

Yu Wan frowned. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Old Cui coughed lightly. “Do you think I dare say it? I, I, I… Didn’t I let it slip just now… How can I tell you this?” Wasn’t he afraid of being killed by that kid?

As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Wan walked out.

Old Cui looked at the old man guiltily, then at the expressionless Qing Yan and Yue Gou. He coughed and said, “Why are you looking at me like that? I didn’t even tell her. How could I tell you in advance…?”

Yu Wan went to Old Madam’s courtyard, but the servants told her that Yan Jiuchao had went to take a stroll around the manor. He did not want anyone to follow, so Old Madam could not do anything.

He must be feeling uncomfortable, but he didn’t want anyone to discover him, so he found a private place to hide himself. He must have felt the same way when he went to the greenhouse. He must have felt extremely uncomfortable, that’s why he picked so many flowers.

Why didn’t she think of this?

Along the way, he was so obedient that he was not like himself. She even teased him that he had stopped fooling around. Why didn’t she think that he was always enduring the torture of Fragrance of Hundred Miles?

It was not that he did not have the strength to cause trouble, but he had used all his strength to endure the poison in his body.

Yu Wan was in a hurry to look for Yan Jiuchao. She was worried that he would hurt himself if he couldn’t take it anymore. She walked towards a place with few people. Halfway there, she bumped into Helian Yu and his brother, who had secretly slipped back to the manor.

The two brothers were shocked!

Yu Wan’s mind was filled with Yan Jiuchao. She could not be bothered with them, nor did she remember that the two of them should not have appeared outside the ancestral hall. She walked past them.

In the eyes of the two brothers, she had become arrogant without even saying a word. It was really infuriating to think about it. How could the daughter of a tea merchant from Qinghe Town pull a long face at the dignified young masters of the Helian family? Did she really think that a sparrow could become a phoenix just because it flew up the branch?

“Stop right there!” Helian Cheng stopped Yu Wan.

Yu Wan ignored him and walked forward.

“Hey! Are you deaf when I tell you to stop?” Helian Cheng chased after her in a few steps and circled around to block Yu Wan’s path.

Yu Wan looked at him indifferently. “What brings you here, Fourth Young Master?”

Helian Cheng exploded. “What Fourth Young Master? I’m Third Young Master!”

Yu Wan sneered. “Is that so? Go tell the general that.”

“I…” How could Helian Cheng dare to say it? Not now.

Yu Wan said, “Is there anything else? If not, I’ll leave first. I won’t accompany you anymore.”

Helian Cheng said angrily, “Did I say you could leave? Who allowed you to stroll around the manor?”

Yu Wan looked around. “This is the East Manor. I’m the young madam of the East Manor. It’s my business how I want to stroll around. If Fourth Young Master wants to show off, why don’t you go back to your West Manor?”

“You!”

Yu Wan smiled. “Ah, I almost forgot. Weren’t the two young masters punished to kneel in the ancestral hall? Why did you come out so quickly? Is it already over, or did you sneak out?”

Helian Cheng flew into a rage. “If you dare to spout nonsense, I’ll pull out your tongue!”

Yu Wan heard him spout ** and was thinking about how to teach him a lesson when she saw a white figure quickly walk forward and press Helian Cheng’s head into the water jar which was just beside him.

“Let go of my…” Helian Yu wanted to help, but before he could even say the word “younger brother”, that person grabbed his head with his other hand and pressed him firmly into the water jar.

It was a pair of slender jade-like hands with distinct joints. Veins could be seen on the back of his hands. The white wide sleeves slid down and soaked into the water like two floating lotus flowers. His eyes were bloodshot, as if there was a blood mist that could not dissipate. His entire body was filled with a violent aura.

This was the first time Yu Wan had seen Yan Jiuchao like this.

“Uh…”

“Uh…”

The two brothers clearly had martial arts, but they were suppressed by the violent killing intent emitted by Yan Jiuchao and did not dare to move.

“Yan Jiuchao,” Yu Wan said softly.

Yan Jiuchao seemed to come back to his senses in a second and stopped holding the two of them. The two of them took the opportunity to raise their heads and fall to the ground. They looked at Yan Jiuchao in horror, who was like an Asura malicious ghost, and their entire bodies trembled.

Yan Jiuchao shouted, “Get lost!”

The two of them supported each other and staggered as they rolled. Yan Jiuchao turned around. Yu Wan took a step forward.

“Don’t come over!” He said coldly. It was not the coldness he usually pretended to be, but his words were filled with killing intent.

“It’s me,” Yu Wan said.

Yan Jiuchao clenched his fists. “I know it’s you. Go away!”

Yu Wan did not leave. She walked forward and hugged him from behind. “I’m not leaving. If you have the ability, chase me away. I’m not afraid of anything. If you feel uncomfortable, I’ll feel uncomfortable with you.”