Starting with choosing a wife, creating the most powerful Xia

"you……"

Chu Wanqing thought she could get revenge on Chu Xuan, but she didn't expect to be choked by him again. Her well-maintained face turned pale and then red.

He clenched his teeth so tightly that you could hear them grinding together.

Cheng Han, standing to the side, was already drenched in sweat.

He had long realized that the relationship between Chu Xuan and the Chu family was not as harmonious as he had originally thought.

But no one expected that the tension between them would be so palpable so soon after they met.

They were like sworn enemies who wanted to kill each other.

They quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Gentlemen, why bother? We're all sitting here today to have a conversation, aren't we?"

"Perhaps there were some misunderstandings in the past. Let's sit down and clear things up. Blood is thicker than water. If we continue like this, won't we just make ourselves a laughing stock?"

With Cheng Han offering a way out, Chu Wanqing took a deep breath, glanced helplessly at Chu Xuan, and then sat back down.

Chu Lian, standing to the side, also wore an angry expression, but in reality, he was practically bursting with joy inside.

Yes, he did it on purpose.

Chu Wanqing and A Leng were at loggerheads. He could have stepped in to mediate, but Chu Lian just stood by and watched, waiting for a conflict to break out between Chu Wanqing and Chu Xuan.

Before coming, Chu Yifeng had made it clear to him that his grandfather, perhaps due to old age, was no longer quite clear-headed.

They actually asked me to bring Chu Xuan back to the family and personally train him.

Why?

He was just a collateral branch of the Chu family who had been abandoned. Giving him a remote place as a fiefdom was already considered extremely kind and righteous.

I've worked so hard for so many years, and I don't know how much effort I've put into pleasing that old bastard, but I still can't get his attention. What makes this bastard so special?

The meaning of Chu Yifeng is also very clear.

We cannot allow Chu Xuan to return to the family, otherwise, Chu Xuan could very well become the biggest obstacle for Chu Lian in his struggle for the position of family head.

We must do our best to sow discord between Chu Xuan and the Chu family, and if the opportunity arises, kill him.

Only the dead are the safest option.

Chu Xuan glanced at the two of them, and he roughly understood their thoughts, but he didn't care much.

He pulled Ah Leng to sit down beside him.

Cheng Han tried his best to ease the tensions between the parties, but was caught in the middle and had a difficult time.

The meal was terrifying, making me feel like I was crawling on ants.

Only Chu Xuan and A Leng didn't care at all. This meal was much more sumptuous than the one at Chu Ran Ju. A Leng would peel a few shrimp and feed them to Chu Xuan from time to time.

Chu Wanqing looked at the two of them coldly, inwardly cursing their immoral behavior.

Dinner ended in this awkward atmosphere. After rinsing his mouth with tea brought by a servant, Chu Xuan leaned back in his chair with an air of nonchalance before finally asking a question.

"Now that we've eaten, shouldn't we get down to business? I don't believe that the two elders of the Chu family would make a special trip to this godforsaken place to find me because they missed me."

After being subtly and overtly mocked by Chu Xuan, Chu Wanqing suppressed her dissatisfaction, cleared her throat, and said helplessly.

"Ah... Chu Xuan, do you really have to talk to your aunt like that? After all, we are family. Why make it seem like we are mortal enemies and make ourselves a laughing stock?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Xuan merely sneered, his face radiating a murderous aura.

"We're family, Miss Chu. What kind of joke are you talking about? When did the Chu family ever consider me family?"

"Or is your definition of family based on what the Chu family did to me before?"

"Do not……"

Chu Wanqing opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Chu Xuan's angry voice.

"I lost my parents when I was young, and I was born into a collateral branch of the family. Do you know what kind of life I lived in the Chu family?"

“Not a single penny of the monthly stipend for the Chu family members ended up in my hands; it was all secretly divided up by the other members. I didn’t even have a place to live in the Chu family. I finally managed to negotiate with Uncle Hu in the woodshed that I could stay there temporarily, but what did those young masters do? The very next day, they kicked Uncle Hu out of the Chu family, and they wouldn’t even leave me the woodshed. Do you know how Uncle Hu was when I finally found him?”

"He was thrown under a dead tree on the back mountain of the Chu family. His body had long since rotted, and his face was mutilated by wild beasts."

"He was the only person in the Chu family who was good to me, but because of me, he can't even live. This is the bloodline that your Chu family gave me."

Chu Xuan's voice grew louder and louder, like a thunderclap, almost a roar.

"I accept it and dare not resist, because I know those young masters are just waiting for me to resist so they can find an opportunity to kill me too."

"So I humbled myself and served as their lackey for over a decade, barely surviving on scraps of food. I abandoned my dignity, even catching their spit with my bare hands, kneeling like a dog, all just to survive. This is the bloodline your Chu family gave me!"

Chu Xuan slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

At this moment, Chu Wanqing in front of him was extremely pale, and her delicate hands were trembling incessantly.

He seemed unable to believe what he was hearing.

She had met many of the younger generation of the Chu family, and in front of her, they were all extremely polite and respectful children. How could they do such a thing?

"Could this be a misunderstanding..."

Chu Wanqing said in a low voice.

But she probably understood that Chu Xuan was telling the truth, so even she herself wasn't very confident in her statement.

Upon hearing this, Chu Xuan sneered.

"Misunderstanding? Chu Wanqing, I'd like to ask you, where were you when they almost drove me to my death? I finally managed to get out of this mess, and now you come here pretending to be a good person, talking about misunderstandings? Is this what you call reading the classics!"

"Chu Zeng, you should remember him, right? A direct descendant of the fourth branch, now the lord of Pei County. I can tell you the truth, I killed him."

"what?!"

Chu Wanqing and Chu Lian's expressions both changed.

They knew that Chu Xuan harbored resentment towards the Chu family, and the Chu family had also suspected the cause of Chu Zeng's death, but they never expected that it was actually Chu Xuan who did it.

Putting aside whether he had the guts, the sheer number of guards around the latter almost completely eliminated the possibility of Chu Xuan making a move.

Seeing the shocked expressions on their faces, Chu Xuan sneered.

"Surprised? Do you think I wouldn't dare kill him? Or do you think I can't kill him?"

“I was in Lucheng on business when I ran into him. Chu Zeng coveted my wife, and in the middle of the night, he sent his guards to attack me. If I hadn’t resisted, I would have died that night.”

"After he died, don't think I didn't know the Chu family had been secretly investigating this matter. Now, Chu Wanqing, ask yourself honestly, if I had been the one who died that night, would the Chu family have investigated?"

"Don't you find it ridiculous that you're telling me we're all related by blood?"