Mistakenly recognized as a cousin, thousands of pampered

When Xie Ningqiu first met Tao Jiuxi, he felt that this girl was extremely beautiful and well-mannered. In addition, Shen Zhiyi liked her very much, so Xie Ningqiu was quite satisfied with her.

But unexpectedly, the girl was so opinionated as soon as she opened her mouth. Xie Ningqiu immediately became angry and her expression changed quietly.

Xie Ningqiu's face darkened. He stared at Tao Jiuxi coldly and said, "Miss Tao, you sound so easy. It's common for men in this world to have three wives and four concubines. My son is of noble status and must continue the family line. If he only marries you, how can we ensure the prosperity of our family line?"

Tao Jiuxi secretly complained that it was not like he had a throne to inherit.

She raised her head without flinching and responded, "Madam, I understand you're worried about the family legacy. But if you casually take concubines just for the sake of having children, causing endless family strife, how can you ensure the harmony and prosperity of your family?"

When Xie Ningqiu heard that Tao Jiuxi dared to speak to her like that, she was so angry that she was speechless for a moment.

Shen Zhiyi held Tao Jiuxi's hand tightly and said to Xie Ningqiu, "Mother, Ah Xi and I are of the same mind. I only want to walk hand in hand with her in this life."

Xie Ningqiu stood up in anger, pointing at Shen Zhiyi and angrily scolding, "You rebellious son, for a woman, you even disregarded the family inheritance? I made this arrangement for your own good, for the good of this family. Mei'er has a gentle temperament, why don't you understand my good intentions?"

"Mother, please stop talking. I will never take a concubine."

After hearing what they said, Xie Ningqiu stood up abruptly and said angrily, "I can't control you two anymore. Get out of here. Since you've made up your minds, why did you come to see me?"

After saying that, she held her forehead with her hand, frowned, and her face showed an expression of pain and discomfort.

Tao Jiuxi knew that if he continued to stay here, it would only make Shen Zhiyi's mother more angry.

She also knew that this contradiction would inevitably lead to conflict, whether today or in the future. It would be better to let Shen Zhiyi and his mother have a good discussion now and try to reach a consensus before the wedding, so that there would be fewer disputes after the wedding.

"Ayi, you stay with your mother. I'm going back first."

Seeing that Tao Jiuxi was not angry because of his mother's words, Shen Zhiyi felt relieved and nodded to Tao Jiuxi.

Tao Jiuxi and Mu'er returned to the house. After drinking the medicine, although she was exhausted, she had no desire to sleep.

She just kept her eyes open, staring at the curtains on the bed, the scenes that had just happened in Xie Ningqiu's room kept appearing in her mind. She didn't know how long it took before she fell into a drowsy sleep.

Shen Zhiyi remained in Xie Ningqiu's room, repeatedly expressing his thoughts to his mother and trying to comfort her.

However, Xie Ningqiu could never understand.

She really couldn't understand why Shen Zhiyi was so obedient to Tao Jiuxi.

Especially when the maid told her that Shen Zhiyi was massaging Tao Jiuxi's legs, Xie Ningqiu became even more dissatisfied.

Finally, Xie Ningqiu angrily shouted at Shen Zhiyi, "Ayi, did that girl catch you in some way?"

Xie Ningqiu couldn't understand the feelings between the two, or rather, the feelings she understood were different from those of Shen Zhiyi and Tao Jiuxi.

In the end, neither of them could convince the other, and Shen Zhiyi was even kicked out of the room by Xie Ningqiu.

The next day.

Because Tao Jiuxi stayed up too late the night before, he felt dizzy and listless when he woke up in the morning.

After she got up, she went to look for Shen Zhiyi, but when she arrived at Shen Zhiyi's room, she found that the room was empty.

Despite this, out of courtesy, she still tried to cheer herself up and prepared to go and pay her respects to Shen Zhiyi's mother, Xie Ningqiu.

However, Xie Ningqiu refused to see anyone on the grounds of feeling unwell.

Tao Jiuxi thought, since the other person didn't want to, he really didn't want to force it, so he just went back to his room. He had to take medicine every day anyway, so he just said he was not feeling well.

The Xie family still pays attention to etiquette.

When Tao Jiuxi said he was feeling unwell, his aunt quickly came to visit him and asked if he needed a doctor. Finally, his aunt thoughtfully had a meal delivered to Tao Jiuxi's room.

After finishing his meal, Tao Jiuxi stayed in the room bored. About an hour later, Shen Zhiyi came back from outside with a scroll in his hand.

As soon as Shen Zhiyi entered the room, he walked straight to the table under the window, gently spread out the scroll, and then called to Tao Jiuxi, "Axi, come and take a look."

Tao Jiuxi looked up and saw that it was a painting.

In the picture, a pavilion stands quietly on the mountain, a red sun is rising slowly from the east, and the golden sunlight shines on the surface of the river, as if coating the river view with a layer of dazzling gold foil.

The composition of this painting is superb. The layout of the mountains and rivers is staggered and orderly. The overlapping peaks and rivers complement each other perfectly on the canvas. Every detail and every layout is just right.

Looking at the side of the scroll, it was written "Tao Jiuxi was here".

"Are you painting Mount Qixia?"

Although Tao Jiuxi didn't know much about landscape painting, he found this painting very pleasing to the eye.

"I wrote the calligraphy. I don't know much about painting. This painting was painted by a friend of mine named Su. I went to the mountain with him." Shen Zhiyi explained.

Tao Jiuxi looked at Shen Zhiyi, his heart deeply moved.

She was happy but also a little angry that he took her words so seriously.

"It's already this late, and you still have the mind to do this..."

Shen Zhiyi put the painting away, pulled Tao Jiuxi to sit next to him, and said, "I talked to my mother yesterday, but she can't accept it yet. My mother has her own ideas, but even if she doesn't agree, it won't affect us."

"But if she's always angry about this, how uncomfortable will it be for me to get along with her?"

"My mother is not an unreasonable person. We will talk to her slowly about this matter. Don't worry, I will go to pay my respects to my mother later. I just don't want you to be affected by this matter." Shen Zhiyi said while gently stroking Tao Jiuxi's back.

After he was kicked out by his mother yesterday, he saw that the light in Tao Jiuxi's room was off, so he did not disturb him.

After nightfall, Jiang Qu asked his maid to report to Shen Zhiyi that Mr. Su had agreed to their plan to visit Mount Qixia.

So, before daybreak, Shen Zhiyi and Mr. Su rushed to the mountain and finally completed the painting after sunrise.

After saying goodbye to his friend briefly, he hurried back and showed the painting to Tao Jiuxi.

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard voices coming from the yard.

When they walked out of the house, they saw Xie Shumei walking out of Xie Ningqiu's room.

Xie Shumei also saw them and just opened her mouth to call Shen Zhiyi: "Cousin..."

Tao Jiuxi didn't say anything, grabbed Shen Zhiyi and walked into the house with quick and decisive movements.

Only Xie Shumei was left standing there, stamping her feet in anger and gritting her teeth, but she didn't dare to make any loud noise.

Tao Jiuxi no longer wanted to maintain superficial politeness at this moment.

It turned out that Xie Shumei had been planning to become a concubine these two days. No wonder she insisted on interfering even though she knew that she and Shen Zhiyi were in love.

Tao Jiuxi recalled the scene that day at the dinner table. At that time, he felt that this girl was very favored in the family. During the meal, everyone's conversation and attention were focused on her. If she was so favored, why did she insist on becoming someone else's concubine?

Moreover, when Shen Zhiyi's mother went to pay her respects, she said she didn't want to see anyone, but Xie Shumei came out of her room.

How can I not be angry!

"Wait until she leaves, then go and pay your respects."

"Why are you still bothering with her? Ah Xi, don't take such an insignificant person to heart." Shen Zhiyi advised.

"I'm not as magnanimous as you. I just hate her." Tao Jiuxi looked unhappy.

"Okay, okay, then I hate her too." Shen Zhiyi said helplessly.

After Xie Shumei left, Shen Zhiyi went to pay his respects to Xie Ningqiu, but Xie Ningqiu still closed the door and refused to see him.