Chapter 70: The Person Hiding in the Shadows… Did They Ask Him Before Bullying His Person?
The rule about not meeting for three days before the wedding could only fool a foreigner like Ben Nelson who didn’t know the situation.
The young man forked a lobster ball covered in sauce, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed ferociously.
Le Can knew very well that the butler was just a mouthpiece; this message was primarily meant for him by Xi Yun.
During that absurd night of confusion and passion, Xi Yun had been teased to the point of being unable to endure it any longer, yet they hadn’t actually gone all the way to the end.
In the very beginning, Le Can was still conscious. Xi Yun’s suppressed, low voice had rung in his ear: “Think clearly about what you want, Le Can.”
At that time, Le Can, whose brain was filled with nothing but smut, turned his head and blocked a certain dawdling man’s mouth with his own, frowning and ordering the other party to hurry up.
Immediately after… everything spiraled completely out of control.
Three days. Xi Yun was giving Le Can, and himself, ample time to calm down and think about the direction of this relationship. He had reserved the option of regret and personally handed it to Le Can.
Xi Yun was thinking long-term—far beyond the two years stipulated in the marriage agreement. Unfortunately, the experience of dying early in his past life made Le Can more inclined to carpe diem.
Enjoy the present; let the future self deal with future troubles. That’s right, Le Can would even pit his future self.
He couldn’t bring himself to give up a newly discovered “delicacy” just because of something that hadn’t happened yet. Especially since he had just had a taste, found it delicious, and was then put on a limited supply or even cut off entirely.
It was the same old saying: Xi Yun had whetted Le Can’s appetite.
Whether the other party intended to or not, Le Can was like a fish that couldn’t resist the temptation and voluntarily took the hook. He didn’t know if what awaited him after being reeled ashore was a frying pan or being released back into the wild.
He only knew that once something was in his mouth, the only possibility was to chew and swallow it; spitting it out was not an option.
The arc of the smile on the young man’s lips remained unchanged, his eyes clear but the smile not reaching the depths. His hands moved at a decent pace, lifting and lowering, cleaning up the twelve courses.
Twelve courses sounded like a lot, but each was only one or two bites worth, just as “stingy” as the castle owner who had ordered the kitchen to prepare them this way.
Le Can didn’t feel uncomfortably full after eating; instead, he let out a sigh of unsatisfied longing. The food, already delicious, had its flavor amplified by his hunger.
Before the sound of his sigh faded, a cup of green tea with tender green buds floating in it was placed in front of the young man.
Le Can nodded to the meticulous Ben Nelson in thanks, reached out to take the fresh clear tea, and took a sip.
It was to cleanse the palate and also to fill the cracks in his stomach.
Sighing lightly, Le Can looked up at the upright butler, his face showing a trace of melancholy.
“We have an old saying: ‘Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog.'”
“Since Xi Yun said we shouldn’t meet for three days before the wedding, then I… will naturally listen to him.”
If this was what Xi Yun wanted, Le Can would certainly agree. Just as the man had said to him last night: “Since it is what you want, then I will satisfy you.”
However, verbal agreement was one thing; how he actually went about it… well, that depended on individual subjective initiative.
After all, that was exactly how the other party had taught him.
But there was no rush for that. Since Ben Nelson had served three generations of the Nian family, and Xi Yun was indulging any curiosity he might have, Le Can took the opportunity to ask some questions.
“Grandpa Nelson, will anyone from the Nian family attend this wedding?”
In other words, was there anyone left on the Nian side who stood by Xi Yun?
Le Can had this doubt because, whether in the limited 100,000 words of the original novel he knew or from the mouth of Little Wu in his former office, a character with the surname Nian had never appeared.
Ben Nelson, who had finished wiping his fingers and put his gloves back on, slowly slowed his movements, his brows and eyes tinged with a bit of regret. “Mr. Le, I am very sorry.”
“Ever since Old Mr. Xi left a will leaving everything under his name solely to Mr. Xi, none of the remaining members of the Nian family stand by his side anymore.”
“However,” Ben Nelson paused slightly, looking at Le Can with eyes full of affection and relief, “fortunately, none of them are important people.”
“And fortunately… you appeared.”
For some reason, a classic butler line flashed through Le Can’s mind: It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the Young Master smile like this.
He abruptly raised his hand, laughing dryly out of guilt while waving his hand frantically.
Please don’t put him on a pedestal. Le Can didn’t think a powerhouse like Xi Yun needed anyone superfluous to stand up and comfort him.
But on the bright side, after he “married” Xi Yun, there were no in-laws he needed to exchange pleasantries with. Le Can wasn’t good at building relationships with strangers, nor did he have the patience to socialize among a crowd.
This was quite good. Just holding a wedding with Xi Yun would solve everything once and for all.
After deliberating for a moment, Le Can still asked one more question. “Are there any people in the current Nian family that I need to pay special attention to?”
Nominal relatives involved with a massive inheritance—one could imagine it wouldn’t be smooth sailing.
If his scum father and stepmother could tangle endlessly over a single building, Le Can didn’t know exactly how large Old Master Xi’s inheritance was, but judging by the private island with an airstrip beneath his feet, he could guess what a colossal figure it must be.
Throughout history, people willing to take risks for money have always been numerous, never few.
Speaking of this, Ben Nelson looked at the young man before him with apology in his eyes. “If possible, Mr. Le, please try to stay away from everyone in the Nian family.”
Le Can frowned subconsciously, having a bad premonition.
“Everyone?”
He didn’t mishear, right?
Le Can even paused to specifically review everything that had happened since he transmigrated into the book. After a long while, the confusion on his face didn’t fade; instead, it grew thicker.
“I haven’t met a single person from the Nian family before.”
Ben Nelson was amused by the young man’s vivid expression and shook his head. “Actually, it’s not what you did, but rather, from the moment you appeared, you touched the interests of these side branches.”
Appeared?
Le Can lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment.
The only connection he could have with the rest of the Nian family was that he was Xi Yun’s legal marriage partner. Since it was about his “appearance,” then…
Le Can suddenly saw the light and instantly turned to look at the only person who could clarify things for him.
“Does inheriting the estate require Xi Yun to meet the condition of ‘starting a family’?”
Worried that the old butler, not being a local, might not understand the term clearly, he immediately explained, “‘Starting a family’ means finding a partner to form a new family unit.”
Ben Nelson looked at the energetic and smart young man with admiration and nodded. Since Xi Yun had instructed him to answer Le Can’s doubts, he was naturally prepared to be honest about everything.
“I admire your wisdom.”
“Sir contacted me in April. This island is the final gift in the massive inheritance.”
Calculating the approximate time, Le Can raised his eyebrows slightly.
It was right around the time of the fake Ru ware trap.
In other words, even if Xi Yun hadn’t picked up the leaks with him in the West District later, specifically the Yohen Tenmoku tea bowl, he would have had enough financial power to push the auction through smoothly?
Having inherited such a large fortune, Xi Yun hadn’t shown it at all. Le Can silently praised in his heart: The male lead really keeps his talents hidden!
However, looking at it this way, the timing of the fake porcelain’s appearance was a bit sensitive.
Le Can looked at the person beside him. “Grandpa Nelson, among the people in the Nian family now, do you think anyone whose name contains the sound ‘yù’ poses a threat to Xi Yun?”
Ben Nelson was somewhat surprised by this question, but he still seriously screened the people who met the condition.
“Most of the Nian family are like flowers grown in a greenhouse. When Old Mr. Xi was alive, they lived under his protection and didn’t have much mind of their own.”
And such a group of people, after losing their umbrella, lacked the opinion and brains, making them extremely easy to incite, becoming cannon fodder who charged into battle for others without thinking.
It wasn’t that Ben Nelson had a filter for Xi Yun, but he sincerely believed that these foolish people being led by the nose couldn’t pose any threat.
However, it wasn’t that a special existence didn’t exist at all…
“You don’t need to care about those people, but there is one person—you and Sir must be careful of her.”
Meeting Le Can’s suddenly widened eyes, Ben Nelson shook his head. “Regarding this person, her name does not contain the sound ‘yù’.”
Le Can let out a soft breath.
True, the villain who could cut off all intimate relationships around Xi Yun in the original novel, causing physical harm to Yuan Cheng and psychological trauma to Xie Jun, wouldn’t be found that easily…
But there is a saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Perhaps he could follow the vine of these visible enemies to find clues about the person behind the scenes.
“Who is this person?”
Ben Nelson frowned slightly, a rare expression of displeasure appearing on his face.
“This person was originally Sir’s maternal aunt, but now, legally speaking, the two have absolutely no relationship.”
Maternal aunt, generally referring to the mother’s sister.
If Le Can remembered correctly, someone had told him that Mother Nian, Nian Furou, was Old Master Nian’s only bloodline.
Therefore, as Nian Furou’s only son, and designated as the sole heir in the will, even if the rest of the Nian family was dissatisfied, they couldn’t do anything.
Then, the only possibility for an aunt to exist was…
“Did Xi… cough, did Grandpa adopt a daughter outside?”
Ben Nelson nodded. “That person’s name is now Bai Xiaotong. She was disowned by Old Mr. Xi and sent out of the Nian family because she once hurt Miss Furou.”
Le Can frowned. “What else has she done besides this?”
Ben Nelson was silent for a moment but finally spoke. “It was also she who facilitated the affair between Xi Chong and Ke Yun, and handed the evidence of their cheating to Miss.”
Nian Furou was someone who couldn’t tolerate a speck of sand in her eye.
Once trust was broken, the romantic facade Xi Chong had put up was exposed. Thus, Nian Furou filed for divorce.
That strong and intelligent woman, who was merely imperfect in matters of love, didn’t die of heartbreak or depression in the end; she simply met with an unfortunate accident on her way home.
“Is there anything else?”
“After her first husband died, Bai Xiaotong’s current second husband is a high-level executive at Yongxin Auction House. Investigation showed that the collective withdrawal of sellers some time ago was at his instruction.”
Le Can slowly lifted his eyelids, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
“For your wedding with Sir this time, barring any accidents, she will also appear on the cruise ship.”
The young man raised his hand to cover the lower half of his face. Before long, a playful chuckle leaked through his fingers. “Ah… the former Grandaunt-in-law.”
“I didn’t expect that she would send so many ‘gifts’ to me and Xi Yun.”
Above his palm, his eyes, which appeared exceptionally narrow and long when lowered, carried a breathtaking sharpness. “Then I must prepare a return gift properly…”
Although Xi Yun could be infuriating at times, did they ask him before bullying his person?
Author’s Note: Bai Xiaotong (going crazy): When I was bullying people before, I didn’t know you! Who was I supposed to greet? Protective and unreasonable Yaoyao: Well, you know me now. Big Xi, who still doesn’t know what he’s about to welcome: Smuggling private goods to perfect the wedding ing…
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