Chapter 113: 113 Uncle Xie Lingyan?_1
Hua Zhuo didn’t publicize Wen Jiang’s identity. By the time she returned to the Jimo Family, the night lamps had just been lit.
The majestic and solemn Yunxia retro-style courtyard was surrounded by carved-out waterways, with interlacing bridges converging on the grand central courtyard.
Wen Jiang and Zero Egg couldn’t help but sigh in unison.
"Extravagant."
"Decadent."
The word "decadent" came from Zero Egg.
The retro-styled courtyard in front of them was roughly seven stories high, featuring upturned eaves and a grand architectural design. Warm lighting wrapped around each floor, bringing a modern, luxurious opulence to the manor in the dead of night.
Seeing Wen Jiang look up at the building, Hua Zhuo thought she might be reminiscing about her past life in the slums. No matter how she appeared now, her background in the slums couldn’t be fabricated. Perhaps it was because of this that she seemed so indifferent.
With this thought, Hua Zhuo suddenly felt a pang of sympathy but didn’t know how to express it, simply saying in a muted voice, "This is the main residence of the Jimo Family, and it will also be your home from now on."
Upon hearing this, Wen Jiang didn’t refuse.
Staying in the Spirit Card Master Apartment wasn’t very safe, mainly because she had Nian Jian with her. Stashing Nian Jian here would make things a lot simpler. However, she first needed to see what the situation with the Jimo Family really was.
Hua Zhuo had difficulty walking but was not completely disabled. Wen Jiang had seen her manage to stand up by supporting herself with the car when getting out earlier. It wasn’t especially awkward, suggesting she had leg issues that prevented her from standing for long periods.
Now, Hua Zhuo led Wen Jiang over several bridges into the Jimo Family’s main residence. Along the way, many uniformly dressed servants were busy with their own tasks, and the ponds underneath the bridges even housed various ornamental fish.
As Hua Zhuo brought a girl back, not a single servant showed any curiosity; they all kept to their tasks.
Indeed, the management of the nobility was strict. But within such an atmosphere, Wen Jiang felt a sense of oppression. It was the oppression that came with a hierarchical system.
Entering the first-floor hall of the mansion, the decor was also retro-styled, but it had integrated a lot of modern design, complementing the occasional vintage aspects.
At that moment, a man wearing a costly, tailor-made suit was inside. When he saw Hua Zhuo return, a smile began to form on his face, but when he glimpsed Wen Jiang beside her, his expression shifted to surprise.
An odd smile suddenly touched Hua Zhuo’s lips. She glanced at Wen Jiang and said, "You’ve arrived just in time. This is your mother’s brother, your uncle, Xie Lingyan."
Her voice was neither too loud nor too soft, making it perfectly clear for Xie Lingyan to hear.
He couldn’t contain his shock and looked at Wen Jiang in disbelief.
The Xie Family was not traditional nobility. Wen Jiang’s mother, Xie Lingbing, and Jimo Xiao had met in the military, where they fell in love at first sight.
With the early passing of the Jimo Family Head, no one was there to constrain Jimo Xiao’s marriage; he was free to choose his own partner and marry the woman he loved.
Through this association, the Xie Family hitched its wagon to the Jimo Family’s star and became a newly affluent family.
While Jimo Xiao and Xie Lingbing were alive, the Xie Family was extremely cautious, afraid of doing anything to displease Jimo Xiao, especially since Xie Lingbing did not have a good relationship with her own family.
Later, when Xie Lingbing passed away, the Xie Family, taking advantage of Jimo Xiao’s guilt over his wife’s death, secretly expanded their massive family enterprise. Now that Jimo Xiao had also passed away, they no longer hid their greedy ambitions. The Jimo Family had no descendants, but the Xie Family did!
Xie Lingyan even had a son of his own.
Although they couldn’t latch onto the Jimo Family’s noble title, securing a part of the Jimo Family’s estate would firmly establish the Xie Family’s footing and win favor from other nobles.
Who could have expected a Hua Zhuo to suddenly emerge?
With Jimo Xiao’s verbal decree and the Empire’s backing, the Xie Family dared not act rashly against Hua Zhuo. But Hua Zhuo was, after all, an outsider. The Xie Family had recently started to court other nobles to undermine Hua Zhuo’s legitimacy.
According to imperial law, succession wouldn’t fall to Hua Zhuo, Jimo Xiao’s junior fellow disciple.
Moreover, before this, they hadn’t even heard the name Hua Zhuo.
Xie Lingyan had come today hoping to find an opportunity to join the management of the Mount Flower Association, but instead, he encountered such ’disastrous news’.
Caught off guard, even his smile became stiff. "Miss Hua Zhuo, ’uncle’?" he asked. "What do you mean by that? I don’t recall having such a grown niece."
"You do." When facing others, Hua Zhuo’s commanding presence became evident. Even while smiling, she exuded an undeniable pressure. "Your sister, Xie Lingbing, and my senior, Jimo Xiao, had a daughter who went missing years ago. Fortunately, I have now found her."
"If my senior and his wife know this in the afterlife, they can now rest in peace."
Xie Lingyan’s face changed drastically. "Impossible! That niece of mine is long dead—"
Before he could finish, Hua Zhuo’s expression turned suddenly icy, and a terrifying pressure silenced him, forcing him to swallow the words he couldn’t complete.
"Dead?" Hua Zhuo sneered. "She was only missing. Even after all these years without a trace, we couldn’t definitively say she was dead. Moreover, I’ve found her now. The Jimo Family finally has an heir. You should be grateful."
Zero Egg: "Honestly, when she was just with you, I thought Hua Zhuo wasn’t very imposing. But in front of Xie Lingyan, her aura just burst forth. People really do show different sides to different people."
No one can suppress a Host as beastly as this one.
I never thought I’d actually witness such a melodramatic scene! Ever since you became a Spirit Card Master, every plot twist has completely surpassed the scope of my knowledge. Zero Egg’s tone carried a hint of excitement, a thrill that was almost tearful, like a wish fulfilled. "But I never expected to see a plot I could fully grasp, where my data can predict with one hundred percent accuracy how he’s going to whine next, and how you’re going to shut him down!"
It seemed to have forgotten that its full designation was the "Drawing System for a Tortured Female Protagonist." From the day it met Wen Jiang, those words—"Tortured Female Protagonist"—were like an unbridled horse, never returning to their proper course.
Wen Jiang: ...
Xie Lingyan’s first words were not beyond the understanding of the System and Wen Jiang. He was suppressed by Hua Zhuo but still didn’t believe her.
"Impossible!" Xie Lingyan exclaimed, his expression still tinged with indignation. "I’ve never heard anything about this niece! You casually bring someone back, claim she’s my sister’s daughter, and we’re supposed to believe it? My sister and brother-in-law have both passed away; we can’t even do a DNA test..."
"It’s been done. They both left their genetic codes before they passed away."
Genetic coding was the latest technology in this world. Once entered into the gene bank, various genetic matching tests could be performed, no matter how long a person had been deceased.
Hua Zhuo’s face was expressionless. "On my way back, I already informed the Empire of the result. Tomorrow, they will deliver the nobility medal representing the Jimo Family to the Jimo estate and personally hand it to her—your niece, the heir to the Jimo Family."
Xie Lingyan: "..."
His face became as colorful as a painter’s palette, quite a spectacle to behold.