Xiao Cui entered the yard and looked around, seeing Xia Yan in the room. Her eyes perked up as she walked in. Xiao Cui was wearing a purple cotton skirt above a pair of soft pink shoes covering her small pale feet, looking very charming for a seventeen year old. However, she stared at Xia Yan with a haughty expression, as if Xia Yan was not even as worthy as a dog.

  “Xia Yan, the Patriarch wants you in the conference hall immediately!” Xia Yan ignored her and continued to slowly make strokes on the rice paper with a brush. Xiao Cui glanced at Xia Yan before shouting his name in a brusque tone.  It was apparent that she did not respect him as the young master.

    But Xia Yan did not care for a moment of arrogance from a servant is nothing compared to living in this forgotten corner of the Xia house for fourteen years.

    “Thanks for the reminder”, Xia Yan casually replied, but he wondered to himself why the Patriarch wanted him in the conference hall.  Even the pampered children of the Xia family could not freely enter such an important place.  

    Xiao Cui slammed her hands down on the table, startling Xia Yan as he was deep in contemplation.  

    Xiao Cui scoffed and in a cynical tone said, “Xia Yan, the Patriarch has summoned you to the conference hall and you dare not go immediately? Do you expect the Patriarch to wait for you?”.

    Xiao Cui’s tone was one of a master lecturing her servant. Even though Xia Yan was not well liked, he was still a direct descendant of the Xia Family.  It was not a servant’s place to order him around. Seeing Xiao Cui’s insufferably arrogant behavior, Xia Yan stared coldly at her.

  Xiao Cui began to have guilty thoughts and her fingers trembled slightly under Xia Yan’s stare. Aware of her poor temper, she immediately returned the stare with a solemn look, muttering, “Hmph, you consider yourself a master? What master lives in a straw hut without a single servant? Looking at your sickly countenance reminds me of that nasty woman.”

   The nasty woman Xiao Cui was referring to was Xia Yan’s mother. Under the protection of Xia Dongsheng in the Xia family for eight years, Xia Yan’s mother was naturally known by the Patriarch and by extension, Xiao Cui .

   Xia Yan’s face suddenly blackened with anger and his eyes shined with a powerful light as he suppressed his fury and said through clenched teeth, “Hmph, my body may be weak, but killing you would not be difficult. Xiao Cui, you would know that it is no big deal even if I kill you. In a large household like our Xia family, losing a few servants would not even warrant an investigation!”

   Xiao Cui became fl.u.s.tered and stepped backward, seeing the white teeth revealed by Xia Yan’s sneer.  Her chest heaved up and down as she looked at Xia Yan in confusion. Xia Yan’s words had deeply unsettled and frightened her. Fearing Xia Yan really would kill her, she did not feel safe even after backing away.  With a face frozen in terror, she retreated from the room.

   Xia Yan’s face was too frightening just now.

   Standing outside the door, Xiao Cui’s mouth moved a few times, wanting to say something sarcastic, but looking at Xia Yan with her eyes flashing, she could not say what she wanted.  Without a sound, she turned around and quickly left Xia Yan’s courtyard.

   After Xiao Cui left, Xia Yan hurriedly put away his books, brushed off the white robe he was wearing, and quickly headed towards the conference hall.

   “The Patriarch has summoned me to the conference hall, is this because of the matter about my mother’s soul?” Xia Yan’s face shone with excitement, walking and thinking at the same time.

   The Xia family mansion was very large and walking from the backyard to the front yard took Xia Yan the same amount of time it would take to boil a cup of tea. Reaching the entrance of the conference hall, Xia Yan saw two uncles guarding the door.  Taking a moment to steady his heart, he approached them.

   “Uncles, the Patriarch has summoned me to the conference hall to see him!”, Xia Yan respectfully said.

    The gatekeeper elder cast a look at Xia Yan and with a wooden face said, “The Patriarch and the elders are inside.  When you go in, do not speak nonsense. If you offend the Patriarch, you will be cast out of the family.”

   Xia Yan quickly said, “Honorable uncles, rest a.s.sured, I will not speak nonsense.”

   Creak! The red door was slowly opened and Xia Yan fearfully stepped in for this was his first time in the Conference Hall. The Conference hall was very grand and even though the room did not have a lot of decoration, the room gave off a heavy pressure. In the center of the room at the head of a long table was the family patriarch, Xiafei Long and the nine elders of the Xia Family.

   Xia Yan’s third grandfather, Xia Changhe, sat among them, his facial expression indiscernible.

   The patriarch and the Grand Elder, as well as several other elders, gazed solemnly at Xia Yan, their eyes revealing traces of unhappiness. Seeing this, Xia Yan’s heart thumped. Would they still not let his mother into the Ancestral Temple to reunite with his father?

    “Xia Yan, your mother’s soul cannot be placed into the Ancestral Temple. Your mother is not a citizen of the Imperial Dragon continent, therefore she has no right to become a member of the Xia Family,” the Patriarch declared in a commanding voice, as his sharp eyes swept past Xia Yan. Xia Yan felt a feeling of oppression, making him unable to resist, even feeling the urge to bow down.

   Xia Yan’s frail body trembled a little under the pressure, but he suddenly lifted his head and with a fearless look in his eyes, gazed at the ten most powerful people in the Xia family.

   “My mother is my father’s wife, so why can she not enter the temple? The third elder once said, ‘my mother married my father, so she is a member of the Xia family!’ Grand Elder, my third grandpa told me that you also think my mother’s soul should enter the temple, right?” Xia Yan looked at his third grandfather, Xia Changhe and the grand elder, Xia Lai.

   “How brazen!”, the Grand Elder exclaimed as his face changed colors, his eyes staring daggers at Xia Yan. He angrily slammed his hands on the table and pointed at Xia Yan.

   “Xia Yan, no more of this nonsense.” The third elder, Xia Changhe, also frowned and looked at Xia Yan, a hint of frustration on his face. He had tried, but could do nothing.

   “Third Grandpa, my mother was not a bad person!” When Xia Yan saw Xia Changhe acting this way, his heart turned ice cold. “Third grandpa you understand my mother, you know she is really not a bad person! Before she died she told me that her last wish was to be reunited with my father after her death. My mother lived within the Xia family for nine years and she never did anything to harm anyone!

   “Patriarch! I beg you, please let my mother into the ancestral temple!” Xia Yan with bloodshot eyes pleaded with a hoa.r.s.e voice full of hope and sincerity. In order to let his mother into the Ancestral Temple he was willing to do anything.

   Xia Yan had already waited for six years and in these six years, his greatest desire to was to make his mother’s wish a reality. But in the Xia family, he was powerless, as even servants dared to scowl at him.

   As Xia Feilong stared at Xia Yan, in his heart he thought that this boy really does have an indomitable will, but he was the son of that evil woman. That evil woman was from the Dark continent and out of the nine elders in the family, only three elders agreed to let her into the Ancestral Shrine.