If it had been before, the two sisters wouldn"t surely have feared. Especially that Senior Master had set one month for them last time, but he cut it down to ten days to half a month now. Evidently, he had compromised!

But still scared by the experience last night, let alone being locked in the ancestral hall for ten days to half a month, they couldn"t endure staying there for a quarter!

Hearing that, naturally they pleaded. But the more they pled, the surer Senior Master Sheng was that they were lying in order to evade the punishments. He said, "You"ve ruined my birthday banquet and shamed Sheng Family! With such a big scene caused, I didn"t beat you or throw you out. Instead, I just sent you to the ancestral hall to copy books for two days, but you still want to bargain? Do you really think that there aren"t any disciplines in our family?"

After saying that, ignoring the explanation and the cry of the two sisters, he commanded, "Drag them to the ancestral hall! n.o.body is allowed to release them in ten days!"

Fortunately, the two sisters met Xu Baomo on their way being dragged to the ancestral hall, crying hysterically. Actually, it wasn"t fortuitous. Xu Baomo was scheming to get Sheng Weiqiao, so how could he let go of such an opportunity?

So, after the well-planned encounter, he stopped the servants, pretending to be surprised, and asked the reasons behind.

In principle, as a guest in another family, he shouldn"t intervene in their issue. But considering his status and the friendship between Xu Family and Sheng Family, the servants felt it improper to ignore his will, so he went through the whole incident roughly. He had to do it roughly. After all, the two Misses weren"t locked into the ancestral hall for something nice. And this time they were sent back there for something even worse.

How could he tell a n.o.ble guest such things baldly?

But luckily, Xu Baomo didn"t manifest any dissatisfaction or contempt for Sheng Family. Instead, he said gently to Sheng Weiqiao, "Your graceful deeds and behaviors, though in a neighbor county I live in, I"ve heard many of them from Senior Master Sheng. For this affair, I suppose there must be some misunderstandings within it. Don"t worry, I"ll go to see Senior Master Sheng now and try to negotiate for you!"

"Go then! Waste no time!" All Sheng Weiqiao wanted, for now, was not to go back to that terrifying ancestral hall. She forgot all the reserve when hearing his words and clenched his sleeves as if a drowned man clung to a straw for rescue. With tears, she said, "It"s alright to change the punishments. Anyway, we"ll never go back to the ancestral hall again!"

Huh? Since it was so difficult for her, if he made it, wouldn"t she change her view on him?

As he had expected, such an innocent girl was the easiest to coax!

It seemed that everything was on his side!

Xu Baomo held back his delight and consoled the two sisters gently—Mainly Sheng Weiqiao. Then he turned and headed for Jinxue House. But to his surprise, after he found Senior Master Sheng and just started with the topic, Senior Master Sheng got displeased, "I"m teaching my granddaughters. Is there anything to do with you? At the time when your grandfather beat your father, I never tried to stop him. Sometimes I even handed him a whisk. As even a peer of your grandfather, I never meddled in how he disciplined his son! But now as a junior, you"re interfering how I discipline my granddaughters. You"re too bold! If Old Xu were here, I would surely blame him for his indulgent education for you!"

If another person heard those words, he would surely feel guilty and retreat.

But being raised up by his grandfather, Xu Baomo was already used to the disposition of people like Senior Master Sheng. Hearing that, instead of leaving with guilt, he said and smiled as if nothing had happened, "When My grandfather beat my father, he used the specially-made jujube wood stick. I heard from the old servants of my grandfather that the jujube wood stick was as thick as an egg. With the strength of my grandfather, three strikes of it could bring about a half-day recuperation for my father in bed! But you handed him the whisk instead. I see you indulged my father! In this way, when it comes to your own granddaughters, furthermore, my two vulnerable sisters, I bet it will be even harder for you to impose the punishment, right? So why don"t you take advantage of my intercession and let go of the two sisters?"

"Boy, you"re much smarter than your father!" Hearing that, Senior master Sheng failed to give himself airs as a senior, burst into laughter and said, stroking his beard, "Your father couldn"t tell that I indulged him. And after being beat he stared at me in anger. Also, he said plenty of mean words about me privately!"

"My father was too young to discern the right and the wrong." Xu Baomo said eagerly, "Actually when this thing happened, I hadn"t been born. How could I know about it if my father didn"t tell me? So, since my father realized the truth, he has always kept your kindness in mind! Believe it or not, if my father comes back afterwards, he will surely pay you a visit. If he didn"t kowtow to you and thank you for your grace, you could beat me with a whisk!"

Senior Master Sheng, well pleased, looked at him up and down, "Beat you? You"re even more handsome than your father and your grandfather. Such soft skin, red lips and white teeth you have that I can"t bear to put my hand to you."

"Senior Master, will you be deluded by the outward appearance?" Xu Baomo flattered him without hesitation and said seriously, "By saying that you"re treating me as a real grandson!"

"For your sweet words, even if your father doesn"t come to thank me, I won"t beat you!" Senior Master Sheng loved such junior as him who was handsome, competent and good at dealing with jokes. He stopped creating difficulties and said gladly, "I"ll do you a favor then. Call back the two b.a.s.t.a.r.ds for me!"

Presently, Sheng Weiqiao and Sheng Weiwu came back, hopefully. As soon as they entered, they called grandfather eagerly and cast a grateful look to Xu Baomo.

But Senior Master Sheng didn"t look pleased, and with a sullen face, he scolded them sternly. In the end, he said, "After all, it was all caused by your offensive behaviors against your brother! So, if you didn"t want to be grounded in the ancestral hall, you need to be excused by Shuihe! Meanwhile, even if he forgives you, if you dare to commit a similar mistake in the future, still you"ll go back to the ancestral hall and reflect on your att.i.tude! Understand?"

Sheng Weiqiao, "…!"

Sheng Weiwu, "…!"

They intended to exploit Sheng Shuihe and then betray him. Later on, they were about to revenge him even more harshly, weren"t they?!

But Senior Master Sheng, noticing their hesitation, snorted, "Since you still adhere to your error, you"d better go back to the ancestral hall…."

"We admit we"re wrong!" Hearing that the two sisters were frightened and said instantly, "Grandfather, we"re willing to apologize to our brother. Please do not send us back to the ancestral hall!"

Seeing that, Senior Master Sheng raised his brows in confusion. The two really feared to enter the ancestral hall? Had they really encountered something there?

But Senior Master had once served in the army and got through blood and corpses. About the mysterious stuff, he neither believed in nor feared it. At that thought, he glanced at the granddaughters. Seeing that aside from being nervous when the ancestral hall was mentioned, nothing else occurred. So, he left it behind, thinking that he had scouted the spot by himself and everything was good!

Possibly the girls were timid and they were accustomed to other"s company. Without the company of nannies and the care of maids, when they stayed alone in the chamber, even knowing that their brother was in the external room, they might be scared when seeing the shadow of branches on the window. That must be the reason behind the scream at midnight reported by the servant!

He was happy secretly. The two girls, always protected by their parents tightly, were indulged and willful. What was worse, his sons and daughters were too soft-hearted to discipline them!

Senior Master Sheng thought it improper since a long time ago. But his only way of teaching a child was to beat!

It was feasible when dealing with a son or a grandson. But when it came to a daughter or a granddaughter, it wasn"t applicable at all. Therefore, anxious though Senior Master was, he had no solution. But now finally it appeared something that the granddaughters feared, so how could he hold back his gladness?

Then he put on a serious face, "So I"ll send someone to call Shuihe here. It depends on your att.i.tude. Don"t say something but do it differently. If I hear about that, you"ll be locked into the ancestral hall instantly!"

The two sisters felt depressed beyond measure, but still, they had to nod, "No worries, grandfather. We"ll apologize seriously to earn our brother"s forgiveness!"

After a while, Sheng Shuihe was called there. He barely entered the room when Sheng Weiqiao and Sheng Weiwu went over and wept, "Brother! Brother! We know we were wrong! We"ve made such a mistake! Please, will you forgive us?"

"My sisters, why did you say that?" In front of other people in the room, Sheng Shuihe lightly raised his brows and surprise was manifested in his eyes. He raised each of them with one hand respectively, and while flicking the dust off their dress, he said sincerely, "You"re always naive and cute. How would I take small jokes seriously? As for what happened in grandfather"s birthday banquet, it was all caused by the misleading rumors told by foul servants. It was also because I didn"t take care of my sister good enough as a brother that she had some misunderstandings about me. We"re a family, and it"s good since we"ve cleared up everything. If you act this way, you"re regarding me as an outsider!"

Seated in the place of honor, Senior Master Sheng stroked his beard with satisfaction. See! Though brought back from outside, the child was so tolerant, broad-minded, friendly and conscious of moralities! If the two spoiled girls hadn"t been so troublesome, there wouldn"t have been so many affairs!

"Shuihe, come and sit down to talk." At that thought, Senior Master Sheng was surer that he should recompense the grandson. Having commanded Sheng Shuihe to sit down in front of him, he glanced at Xu Baomo by the side, "Though Baomo came to Nanfeng County for some personal stuff, he hoped to have a visit in the neighborhood. I"m too old to accompany him through the journey. You"re probably the closest to him in our family in terms of age. How about you show him around?"

Sheng Shuihe came back not long ago. Let alone the natural sights around Nanfeng County, he probably wasn"t familiar with Nanfeng County itself. Senior Master Sheng said that in order to give him an opportunity to acquaint with Ningwei Marquis" Young Lord rather than distribute a guiding duty to him.

His intention of cultivating him was so obvious.

Aware of his intention, Sheng Shuihe was about to rise and answer him. But Xu Baomo unfolded his hand fan and then folded it again, rose before him and smiled with his hands cupped, "Senior Master, it won"t be funny for only two people to go sightseeing. Why not ask Sister Weiqiao to come with us? With more people, it will be lively."

"You"re right." Senior Master Sheng looked at him with appreciation. The brother and sister of the first branch just reconciled, they should follow up with the pursuit and make them communicate more. He was focusing on recompensing the grandson but unlearned that. Fortunately, Xu Baomo proposed it himself. He was not only smarter and more skilled in talking than his father, but also more considerate!

But he was unaware that this "considerate" junior was laughing aloud in the heart, "You want to send a grandson to deal with me? I"m here for your granddaughter!!!"