Xiang Yuan's mouth twitched. He knew his mother-in-law had quite the fierce temperament—often, in a rush of hot blood, she would think of something and immediately do it.
Like when they had first met. She had known perfectly well that he and Xiao Lingyue were mutually in love, yet she had forcibly dragged him into pretending to be a pretty-boy lover, acting intimately with him just to provoke Xiao Yan.
Cheng Yuling had been in the heat of anger then. Though Xiang Yuan could not understand it, he could at least say he understood.
But this business of climbing into a wardrobe—he truly could not understand it.
There came a knock at the door. Outside, Xiao Yan said nothing.
Xiang Yuan looked at the door, then at the wardrobe in the inner room. Rolling his eyes speechlessly, he went to let Xiao Yan in.
"Xiang Yuan pays respects to Father-in-law!"
Xiang Yuan cupped his hands in salute. He did not mention their relationship as adoptive father and son. He was Xiao Yan's ninety-first son—calling him "Ninety-One Sir" somehow sounded all kinds of wrong.
Besides, there was a great beauty next door calling him "sir."
Even more wrong!
They had been apart for several... well, not that many years. It had only been last year.
Xiao Yan looked unchanged. His features were upright, his appearance dignified; he carried himself with majesty and propriety, an awe-inspiring air of righteousness. His looks were truly exceptional.
It was precisely because of that face, coupled with his remarkable gift for sweet-talking women, that the red flag at home never fell while colored flags fluttered outside—living the sort of life Xiang Yuan envied. Pah, despised.
As for King Zhao's title and the position of Guanshan Circuit Grand Secretariat, they had little to do with Xiao Yan's