In terms of quant.i.ty, Senior Master Sheng had five grandsons, even not including Sheng Shuihe whom he hadn"t met back then!

But in terms of talents and qualifications, these five grandsons together were not as good as one Xu Baomo of Xu Family, okay?!

How could he reply?

He felt that he was fortunate enough that he didn"t bring his grandsons to Xu Family!

While Sheng Lanci heard this, he had no other choice but to comfort Senior Master Sheng, “Uncle Xu was old, so don"t make a fuss about it with him. Just tolerate him and let it go… Besides, when you compared your sons several years ago, I made you feel proud, didn"t I?”

“You call that old guy younger uncle, but not elder uncle. I am older than him anyhow! Why should I tolerate him?!” Senior Master Sheng roared to his son because his son just spoke for the person out of his family but not for his father. Then he became angrier, “It is just because I have never lost in the compet.i.tion of our sons. So, when comparing the grandsons, how could I lose?!”

Just think about the past, Sheng Lanci had succeeded in a government examination at a young age. He had paraded through the street by riding the horse and had been awarded a feast in Qionglin by the emperor, which made many elder brothers admire him.

Xu Baoting"s son Xu Zijing was Ningwei Marquis, in a high position and was powerful, but Xu Zijing"s marquis was awarded by his military exploit. Nowadays, people believe that learning is superior to anything else.

Especially, Xu Baoting was born to a poor family. If he hadn"t met Senior Master Sheng who was born and raised in a rich family in the army and followed him to learn how to read, maybe he would still have been illiterate and even couldn"t read his own name now!

Therefore, this Old Marquis respected and admired the intellectual the most. Sheng Lanci who had been a Jinshi was more promising that his own marquis son in his eyes, even Sheng Lanci had been retired to the countryside!

“During all these years, when I mentioned you, Old Xu and all the old guys would candidly admit defeat!” Senior Master Sheng recalled his success when they compared their sons. He couldn"t help but smile complacently. However, when thinking about right now, he became upset immediately, “But we are all about to be great-grandfathers now. It is popular to compare the grandsons but not sons. But the grandsons in Sheng Family….”

None of them were presentable, okay?!

Sheng Weide whom Sheng Shuihe had suggested before was the same. He was indeed honest and sincere, but when comparing with the talented and handsome Xu Baomo, it would not be mean to say that he was dim!

Senior Master Sheng looked at his son with rage, “So, is there anything wrong that I compared my granddaughter with his?!”

Sheng Lanci knew that if he said that his father was wrong now, he would definitely be punished by force by his father. Therefore, he flattered his father decisively, “Father, what you had done was using your advantage to hit your enemy"s shortcoming, which coincided with the essence of the art of warfare. It is enough to show that you are old but vigorous and not over the hill… It is just wishful thinking that Uncle Xu wants to surpa.s.s you!”

“So, if you drove away Xu Baomo now, how could I take revenge?!” Senior Master Sheng patted his son on the shoulder and said kindly, “All the same, as you have just said, he is chasing after Weiqiao, but not Weiqiao chasing after him. It is happy to look at how busy he was in ingratiating himself with our Weiqiao! It is not late to drive him away when I am tired of him!”

Sheng Lanci said angrily, “But our sweet little girl is young and innocent. What should we do if she believed him and was deceived by him?”

“Then just let Xu Family come and propose!” Senior Master Sheng became rubicund and his eyes shined immediately when he thought about that situation, “At that time, I will ask Old Xu to come here by himself! Let him witness how his grandson ingratiates himself with my granddaughter! Hhhhhhha….”

After laughing, he saw his son"s pathetic expression like he just lost his parents. Then he couldn"t help but feel unhappy, “Old Xu and I have had a relationship for several years. You have known clearly the detailed background of Xu Family. If these two kids were destined, wouldn"t it be a good thing? Maybe Xu Family will never treat Weiqiao unfairly for the sake of our face!”

“But I don"t want to be someone"s father-in-law now!” Sheng Lanci stomped and said, “I only have one daughter. I hope she can stay with me for a few more years!”

Senior Master Sheng said impatiently, “Then they can just get engaged first! Let the grandson of Xu Family wait for a few more years then marry Weiqiao. It is not a big deal!”

Sheng Lanci saw his father took a tough stand, and then he dared not to say more because he was afraid of being beaten. But he decided secretly that he must prepare well later: tell his daughter how bad Xu Baomo was tirelessly on one hand; Don"t give Xu Baomo any chance to meet his daughter by using his host status on the other hand!

But who knew that when he just made up his mind, he heard Senior Master Sheng say, “By the way, is Weide going to accompany Baomo to tour? I have thought about that. It would be lonely if just two of them toured. All the kids in our family should go together. The girls can go out and relax by the way.”

“Father, you can"t do this!!!” Sheng Lanci went crazy immediately, “You are pushing your granddaughter into the wolf"s mouth!”

He was afraid that his daughter would be tempted by Xu Baomo originally, but Senior Master Sheng only worried that Sheng Weiqiao would not fall in love with Xu Baomo and he even tried hard to make a chance for Xu Baomo. He was not finding the chance to drive Xu Baoting mad. Actually, he was intending to pair Weiqiao off with him!

Sheng Lanci didn"t consider Xu Family was not good enough, but he was really not willing to let his daughter marry someone now!

“So, you don"t agree?” Senior Master Sheng turned his head and asked in a low voice.

Sheng Lanci knew his father"s temper, but for his daughter, he answered determinedly, “No, I"m afraid that I can"t obey your command!”

Before he finished his words, he was kicked away by Senior Master Sheng as expected!

“I have said that it was better to have sons!” After a while, Senior Master Sheng walked out of the main hall while stretching. He snorted indifferently, “You can beat the boys as you want when they are disobedient! Unlike girls, they will cry even before you slap them! You dare to disobey my opinion! Do you really think that I am too old to beat you now?!”

He asked a servant casually to come near him, “Tell the eldest branch, I need Lanci to do something for me and he had to go out for a few days. What"s more, tell Weiqiao, Weirao, and Weiche to pack their luggage and follow Weide to go out and enrich their experiences!”

Sheng Lanci was in charge of all the business of Sheng Family during all these years. If some emergencies happened in the industry of other cities, Eldest Master who was in charge should go and deal with it without any doubt. Therefore, when the eldest branch had received the message that Sheng Lanci was committed to undertake the task of Senior Master and would go out for a few days, no one doubted that at all.

Sheng Weiqiao even gave a message to the servant, “Has my father already left home? If you saw my father was still with grandfather when you were back, help me to tell my father that the dim sum he took back in February was delicious. If the place he went this time also had that dim sum, remember to bring me some!”

After the servant promised her and left, she continued to recount her experience in the garden to Madam Feng, “… Then Little Jiuniang just left! Mother, can you tell me what I should do now? Actually, I haven"t done anything at all, but it seemed that Little Jiuniang thought I robbed her husband. How could she think like that?”

Madam Feng listened to her words with a smile and comforted her, “Just imagine, if you were Jiuniang, how embarra.s.sed you would be! She wanted to leave shyly, but you wanted to keep her. Should she just let you drag her and keep feeling embarra.s.sed there but not push you away? Actually, you are not considerate enough this time!”

When she saw her daughter rethink it after hearing her words, she kept saying, “Weiwu is still too young. Although she listened to you and caught up with Jiuniang, she might not be able to persuade her. In my opinion, you"d better go to find Jiuniang to talk about it and solve the misunderstanding. You are sisters, why are you keeping the unhappiness in your heart just because of this little thing? You don"t like that Young Lord Xu after all!”

Sheng Weiqiao felt a little bit unwilling, “There"s nothing between me and Brother Xu. I don"t care that Little Jiuniang misunderstood me, but why do I need to explain to her first?”

“Look how mean you are!” Madam Feng pointed her forehead with her finger and said disgruntledly, “She is your biological elder cousin. Why don"t you say that she has always tolerated you since childhood? Now she is in a bad mood, shouldn"t you go and comfort her? I always tell you that you should have a compa.s.sionate heart even to the servants, let alone your own sisters.”

Sheng Weiqiao was persuaded by her mother. She stood up and said, “Alright! I will go to find her now!”

The place Shen Jiuniang was living was the boudoir in which Sheng Lanxin had lived before she was married. It was called Qiyue Building. There was a courtyard under the building. After Sheng Weiqiao knocked on the door with Lvjin for a long time, a little maid finally came and opened the door. She sincerely admitted her error and asked for punishment when seeing Sheng Weiqiao, “I was working behind and didn"t hear the knock. Please forgive me, Second Miss!”

“Why are there so few servants?” Sheng Weiqiao walked into the building while looking at the empty courtyard. She said in surprise, “I remember that aunt and uncle brought many people here!”

The little maid explained, “Grandaunt and Granduncle had already taken their two sons back home yesterday. Now only Miss Sheng is living here, so just a few servants are still serving.”

Sheng Weiqiao was locked into the ancestral hall to reflect herself on her grandfather"s birthday, so she didn"t know that Sheng Lanxin and her husband had already left with their two sons. After hearing this, Sheng Weiqiao pursed her lips guiltily: It was she who had thought of the idea that let Shen Jiuniang stay here alone after the birthday!

But unexpectedly, Xu Baomo was not interested in Shen Jiuniang. No wonder that Shen Jiuniang left in a hurry in the garden!

She felt guilty. She entered the building and went upstairs. She saw Shen Jiuniang lying on the bed, covered by the quilt. Shen Jiuniang noticed that Sheng Weiqiao was here, but she didn"t greet her. On the contrary, she turned around and faced the wall. Sheng Weiqiao was not angry. She sat on the side of the bed and hinted the servants to leave. Then she called Little Jiuniang softly, “I came here to explain. There was nothing between Brother Xu and me. Don"t get me wrong!”

“Why would I get you wrong?” Shen Jiuniang froze for a while after hearing her words, and then she said in a m.u.f.fled voice in the quilt, “I am not an idiot. I knew you wanted to help me at that time. It was my fault that Young Lord didn"t care about me. So, I had to run away!”

Sheng Weiqiao was afraid that she would not believe or would be not willing to believe in her at first. She relaxed after seeing that she was so sensible. Then she said hastily, “That was because he had a poor taste. Little Jiuniang, you are so talented and beautiful that you will definitely find a husband who is one hundred times better than him in the future. Just leave him to regret then!”

Although Shen Jiuniang was angry and ashamed, she still couldn"t help but laugh bitterly, “If it was not because of grandfather and Marquis Xu"s deep relationship, I would never be eligible to talk to a man who was in a high position like him in my life, let alone to find a husband who is one hundred times better than him. Big Weiqiao, don"t comfort me anymore. Although I have wishful thinking sometimes, I am not that silly to fall into the dreams and never wake up in my whole life!”

She pushed the quilt away and turned her head, revealing a pair of red and swollen eyes. Obviously, how she was hurt by that scene was definitely not as slight as what she expressed just now.

However, Shen Jiuniang was unwilling to show her weakness. When she saw that her cousin seemed to comfort herself, she said, “My thing should just end here! It is too late today, so I"m going to ask my grandmother to take me back to Shen Family tomorrow. Fortunately, no one else knew this absurd thing except you, so that I will not be in shame when I see my father and mother!”

Sheng Weiqiao used to be the apple of the other people"s eyes. She was always the one who had been coaxed and comforted. She had never comforted others. After hearing her words at this moment, she didn"t know what to say. She paused and said, “You have already stayed here, why to leave in such a hurry? I"m afraid that after you go back, my aunt and uncle will be suspicious. It would be troublesome if they asked! Why don"t you just let my mother teach you to draw for real for a few days?”

“Learning to draw was just an excuse.” Shen Jiuniang sighed and said. “Do you think that I really like drawing? It was just because my elder aunt came back to Feng Family and grandma and mother worried about me, so I found an excuse!”

She explained the inside story in a few words. When she glimpsed that her cousin was racking her mind to coax her, her heart softened. She didn"t bear to refuse her goodwill, so she said, “I don"t want to disturb my elder aunt. But if you really want to accompany me, shall we go to the market together?”

As she was talking, she put her hands under the pillow and took out a small mirror. She looked at herself in the mirror and touched her forehead, “Oh, my! Why am I swollen like this? No, no, I can"t go to see grandmother tomorrow. Otherwise, grandmother will definitely ask the reason. I suppose it will take me three days to restore to the original appearance. Could we go out and play together at that time?”

She didn"t expect that Sheng Weiqiao didn"t answer her immediately. On the contrary, she looked reluctant.

“What"s wrong?” Shen Jiuniang was confused.

“… Grandfather just sent someone to the eldest branch, telling me to pack the luggage with Third Sister and Fourth Brother, and tour with Eldest Brother the day after tomorrow.” Sheng Weiqiao was not planning to tell the news to Shen Jiuniang, but she was afraid that her cousin would misunderstand that she didn"t want to go out with her. At this moment she had to tell her frankly, “So Little Jiuniang, if you wanted to go out in three days, I"m afraid I can"t accompany you!”

“…” Shen Jiuniang had already heard that Senior Master Sheng was planning to arrange Sheng Weide to accompany Xu Baomo to travel around when she was on the road to invite Sheng Weiqiao and Sheng Weiwu to go to the garden with her.

At this moment, when she heard that, she was like being struck by lightning. She looked at her younger cousin blankly for a while. When Sheng Weiqiao was like a cat on hot bricks under her gaze, she closed her eyes and said lightly, “I see!”

Xu Baomo came to Sheng Family alone as a guest and he did not bring any female relatives. It was reasonable if Sheng Family arranged a few men of the same generation to accompany him on the tour, but he also called his granddaughters to go together. How obvious it was that he wanted to set her up with him!

She had mixed feelings and all kinds of thoughts came to her. She even didn"t notice how Sheng Weiqiao said goodbye and left.

She didn"t imagine that she had kept the moony status until the next day. Old Madam Ming dispatched a person to tell her to pack her luggage and go on the trip with Sheng Weiqiao and the other people.

After hearing this news, Shen Jiuniang was really speechless. She didn"t want to see Xu Baomo at all, okay?

So, she said frankly, “But I just thought of an urgent thing. I need to go back to Shen Family immediately!”

Her words sent the servant away, but Old Madam Ming came here personally, “Why are you so eager to go back to the Shen Family? If it was not very urgent, you must stay and help your grandmother this time!”

Shen Jiuniang said surprisingly after hearing that, “Grandmother, what do you mean?”

“It was all because of your second aunt, the troublemaker!” Old Madam Ming"s old eyes were dim. Additionally, Shen Jiuniang put on some makeup after she got up today.

At this moment, the embroidery curtain in the room was also deliberately closed, which made the room dim. So, although the grandmother and granddaughter were close at hand now, Old Madam still didn"t notice anything abnormal. She sighed deeply and said, “Only your younger cousin Weide was dispatched to accompany Young Lord Xu to travel around at first. Unexpectedly, your grandfather intended to let Weiqiao marry into Xu Family, so he arranged Weiqiao to travel with them too on purpose….”

Shen Jiuniang guessed this yesterday, but when it was confirmed by her grandmother, her face turned pale again. Careless Old Madam Ming still hadn"t found it and said, “It"s just because Weiqiao and Weide were not from the same branch, and your grandfather had dispatched Weirao and Weiche to go together in order to avoid making his purpose too obvious. After hearing the news, Weiche was okay, but Weirao"s mother Madam Bai prepared new clothes and jewelry for Weirao overnight. There"s no need to explain what"s her intention. You know the temper of your grandfather. I don"t dare tell him about it. Otherwise, your second uncle may be beaten again!”

When Mrs. Ming said here, she finally explained her purpose of coming clearly, “Therefore grandmother thought of you. You are staying alone by incidence this time. If Weiqiao and Weirao both went out, you would feel bored in Qiyue Building. Going out with them would be better. You can not only relax but also help grandmother stare at Weirao! In case she will listen to her mother"s words and entangle Young Lord Xu, which will lose our family"s face and destroy your grandfather"s plan!”

She looked up and finally found that there was something wrong with her granddaughter. She said surprisingly, “What"s wrong, Jiuniang? Why is your face so pale? Do you feel uncomfortable?!”

Facing her grandmother"s thoughtful expression, Shen Jiuniang just wanted to slam her head against a wall now!