Xiao Nan had received benefits and would be more loyal to him, so he would probably be more meticulous in his work. Xie Zhuzhou showered, then sat on the bed to meditate.
He could now sense movements over a hundred meters away.
In the Great Yan Dynasty, many people practiced martial arts, and plenty could scale walls and leap across rooftops.
The walls of wealthy, powerful households were easily climbed too. He had heard that his father never got a single good night's sleep.
The emperor feared the marquis's household, which held military power. Before his grandfather died, he had handed military command to his second uncle, who was stationed on the northern frontier. The emperor worried that his father and second uncle were plotting together, so experts often visited his father's courtyard.
In short, to ensure his descendants could protect themselves, the old marquis had not spared even a sickly invalid like him. Unfortunately, his body had not been up to it.
Xie Zhuzhou slowly closed his eyes, exhaled a breath of stale air, and entered a meditative state.
No one knew that Xie Zhuzhou, who seemed to be a freeloader, was still grinding away in the middle of the night. Master Elder Ji's youngest son, Ji Wuwei, had heard that Xie Zhuzhou was still just as unambitious. He had gone on some dating show, barely passed his major courses, had poor character, bullied other students, and had even been ostracized by the entire school.
"It seems life hasn't been all that easy for him since he returned to this family." A sneer hung on Ji Wuwei's lips as he slowly swirled the glass of red wine in his hand.
He was supposed to have gone abroad, but he was now still lying low in a villa somewhere in City A, waiting for an opportunity.
He and the old man would rise and fall together.
"If you can't stand him, we could..." The equally vicious-looking subordinate beside him raised a hand and made a throat-slitting gesture.
"There's no hurry yet. What could he possibly amount to? Besides, the old man wants to drag him into a marriage alliance." The methods were just a little dirty, that was all.
Strong-arm tactics worked just as well in modern high society.
People like them valued their reputations above all else, and Ji Wuqiu was no exception. If Xie Zhuzhou were forced into a fait accompli, no matter how much Ji Wuqiu doted on the boy, he would ultimately have to swallow his objections and accept it.
It was not that they had never considered going after Ji Wuqiu's other three sons, but those three boys were surrounded by ironclad defenses, guarded tightly on every side.
Loyal people were the last thing the Sheng Family lacked. They even owned an elite security company staffed entirely by young, strong mercenaries.
Even the assistants at their sides could fight.
"If we wait too long, could..."
"Let him enjoy himself a little longer. I refuse to believe a pampered, indulged brat could stir up any real trouble."
"But the old man plans to secure an investment next year and enter the medical industry."
Master Elder Ji was already elderly. Although he still looked hale on the surface, in reality, he suffered from one minor illness after another. If he passed away one day, wouldn't everything under his name belong to Ji Wuwei?
For that reason, Ji Wuwei was very willing to do the old man's bidding.
Xie Zhuzhou had no idea that those people still refused to give up on scheming against him. When he woke up and ate breakfast, the whole family regarded him with complicated looks.
"Father, what's wrong?"
"You..."
Apart from Ji Wangchen, the other three had learned at different times about what had happened at the auction the night before.
Xie Zhuzhou truly had a gift for unearthing antiques, and talent should not be buried. To avoid alerting him, none of them asked about the auction, but in their hearts, they had finally begun to regard Xie Zhuzhou as a rival rather than a delicate younger brother.
Previously, Xie Zhuzhou had said he did not want to inherit the family business and would not compete with them. So it had been because he had this talent to rely on and did not have to worry about Heaven denying him a livelihood.
Not only that, their youngest brother could paint and carve too... His grades might not be very good, but those were skills, at least.
If their Ji Family went bankrupt one day, they might even have to rely on their craftsman brother to support them.
Ji Wangyun had a vivid imagination. He was already picturing the three brothers clutching chipped bowls and crawling to their younger brother's feet, begging him for food as he made sugar paintings.
The image was so funny that Ji Wangyun struggled to press down the corners of his lips.
At the same time, however, they had learned from their eldest brother that Xie Zhuzhou had given him his first gift.
As his father, Ji Wuqiu felt terribly sour about it, but when he thought about it, he had only himself to blame for his son's lack of closeness to him!
His other sons all called him Dad. Only Xie Zhuzhou, though unfailingly respectful toward him, addressed him with both respect and distance.
He had suggested that Xie Zhuzhou call him something else, but Xie Zhuzhou was utterly impervious to persuasion. He said that a father was an insurmountable mountain and that one ought to be filial to one's father, stubbornly refusing to call him Dad.
After turning it over in his mind, Ji Wuqiu abruptly changed tack and asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"
"Well enough." Xie Zhuzhou did not know when he had slipped under the covers either. As he meditated, he would drift off to sleep. Of course, even while he slept, his internal energy kept doing parkour through the meridians throughout his body, never ceasing its cultivation.
Had his martial arts tutor still been alive, he would surely have marveled that Xie Zhuzhou was a heaven-sent genius!
The naive Xie Zhuzhou thought everyone was the same.
"Come home for dinner tonight. Ms. Sheng will be coming over."
Xie Zhuzhou froze, then glanced at Ji Wangchen.
Ji Wuqiu frowned slightly, thinking, How have I let my youngest end up living a life where he has to watch other people's expressions?
His heart sank, and he immediately added, "You don't need to worry about anything else. If you're busy, it's fine not to come back."
Xie Zhuzhou sat beside Ji Wuqiu, with Ji Wangchen on his left. Suddenly, someone ruffled his hair.
"Mom wants to meet you. Grandpa said he really likes your painting, and Mom happens to know a little about traditional Chinese painting. She's coming to see you this time."
Xie Zhuzhou breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear Ji Wangchen suddenly add, "Mom remarried ages ago. We also have a younger sister, so you don't need to worry about any of that nonsense."
"Huh?"
The expression on Xie Zhuzhou's face was like a poor signal, or perhaps information still loading. His mind suddenly could not keep up.
He had thought there was some melodramatic, heart-wrenching story between Ji Wuqiu and his ex-wife, but it was actually... that ordinary?
Ji Wangyun and Ji Wangyan discovered that their little brother could sometimes be adorably slow.
After much hesitation, Xie Zhuzhou said, "If she wants to meet me, I can just go see her."
His father, the ex-husband, was still here. How awkward would that be?
"She wants to see us while she's here too. Don't worry. Father won't be having dinner at home tonight."
Ji Wuqiu was a little worried that his youngest might be bullied, but the butler was one of his own people. After considering it for a moment, he agreed with Ji Wangyun.
The poor father had a home he could not return to that night.
After breakfast, Xie Zhuzhou looked out the window, then at his phone screen, which was far too quiet.
His heart gave a lurch. Could something have happened to the little blind guy?
It was hardly surprising that Xie Zhuzhou would think that. He was abroad, unfamiliar with both the people and the place.
The little blind guy was so foolish. Xie Zhuzhou had managed to lure him home on their very first meeting. He was someone who trusted others easily.