The birthday banquet was set for noon, still nine hours away.
That seemed a long time, but in fact, the intervening hours were already packed with various arrangements.
It was past two in the morning.
Xiao Wan'er and Xiao Jinghong had brought Xiao Wuge to wait outside Jiaxing Garden.
As legitimate children of the Xiao Family's Main Branch, the three needed to accompany the Old Marquis to the ancestral hall to pay respects to their ancestors.
Apart from them, neither the Second Branch nor Xiao Xuanshuo, a concubine-born son of the Main Branch, was entitled to enter.
Naturally, neither was Chen Yi.
He, however, was perfectly at ease, standing serenely among the Xiao Family members.
One moment, he studied Xiao Jinghong, who had removed her faceplate, comparing her beauty to Xiao Wan'er's.
The next, he looked at Xiao Xuanshuo, wondering when he would come to test his martial skills.
Mostly, though, he watched the people from the Second Branch.
For no other reason than that the Second Branch, led by Second Master Xiao Wang, had strength in numbers. Everywhere he looked, there were their people.
Besides, quite a few of them were looking his way. He could hardly avoid noticing.
In particular, the Duchess of Qian, Xiao Qiuyun, whom he had only met twice, scrutinized his face with her peach-blossom eyes as though seeing him for the first time.
Chen Yi did not understand why, but he paid her no mind.
Over these past days, he had seen this Duchess of Qian's temperament for himself.
-courteous and proper toward her elders, but not the least bit restrained toward servants, household guards, and anyone beneath her in status.
Otherwise, Young Heir Apparent Zhang Heng would not have been whipped so badly with a cane that day.
At the thought, Chen Yi