Chapter 245:
“Alright, alright, alright, they are my elder brothers too,” Chen Xi’er said with a bitter smile, yet she did not brush off her cousin’s feelings, “Thanks to Wanwan, I also gained two dashing elder brothers like jade trees in the wind.”
She was no ignorant village woman without experience in the world; she had discernment and knew that even if these two were placed in the Capital City teeming with prominent families and nobles, they would surely be among the top prodigies.
Weren’t they just like jade trees in the wind?
“Isn’t my elder brother quite handsome?” Xie Wanning laughed. “And Cousin Ji from the Ji family is also a gentleman like an orchid, handsome and upright.”
Meeting her elder brother, the joy on her face could not be concealed, with smiles filling the corners of her eyes and eyebrows; Chen Xi’er was truly envious.
Xie Wanning saw her mood and patted her shoulder, laughing, “Don’t be like this. We’re no longer helpless orphan girls without support. My backer is your backer. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can come straight to the Prefect’s Mansion to find me.”
Thinking that she could not stay in the Prefect’s Mansion forever, she added, “If I buy another courtyard, I’ll tell you first. We’re sisters, so you must not stand on ceremony.”
She spoke so directly that Chen Xi’er laughed along, then could not help saying, “So this is Wanwan’s true temperament?”
Before today, this cousin of hers had come alone to Bianzhou to set up a household, and she had a backbone of resilience.
Outside, though she often wore a smile on her face, there was a faint sense of distance that made people dare not offend her easily.
But after her elder brother appeared, she changed, returning from having to be solely responsible to the carefree little girl who worried about nothing.
…Clearly married for so long, and now even sporting a big belly, but in her every gesture, she still had the air of a young lady.
It showed just how much her elder brother doted on her to make her trust him so completely.
Xie Wanning felt a bit embarrassed; her temperament had been spoiled by her family, making her indeed a bit delicate.
Only in front of family would she fully relax and trust, with such a sense of ease that she would not have even in front of Lu Ziyan, let alone Pei Yuqing.
She wanted to say something when Chen Xi’er saw the two maidservants packing the cosmetic box leave, then suddenly leaned close and whispered, “Is Wanwan childhood sweethearts with Cousin Ji?”
Xie Wanning was stunned. “Of course not. I’ve only met him a few times. Why do you suddenly ask this?”
“I see…” Chen Xi’er said, realizing. “I was wondering why, with such an outstanding cousin right in front of her, Wanwan’s marriage was set with that Killing God.”
Even later, after breaking the engagement with that Killing God and choosing to marry the much older heir of Duke Pei’s Mansion, she still did not choose this top scholar like a clear breeze and bright moon.
Clearly, from the look of it… that person was not without feelings.
Turns out he appeared too late.
While she was regretting for them, Xie Wanning over there puzzled, “Cousin is outstanding, sure, but there are plenty of outstanding sons from prominent families. Lu Ziyan excels in everything; he was a little tyrant in the Capital City from a young age, with few daring to provoke him. Before I broke off that engagement, it was hailed in the Capital City as a golden match.”
When they got engaged, the Lu Family was not like it is now; Old Marquis Lu was still alive then, with four sons, nine grandsons, three generations under one roof—that was thriving prosperity.
Who could have foreseen the vicissitudes of life, leaving only Lu Ziyan as the sole remaining sapling?
If they had foreseen it, her parents probably would not have arranged that marriage for her.
But at the time, the Lu Family and Xie Family seemed perfectly matched as ideal in-laws.
One talked about the east, the other about the west; they were completely not on the same page.
Chen Xi’er’s gaze was complicated.
She had thought this cousin of hers knew the other party’s feelings, but unexpectedly… she was this slow-witted.
She was completely oblivious.
