Chapter 1403 Evil Plans
Chapter 1403 Evil Plans
Hyson had come back from a long ride and he slowed down his horse once his eyes fell on Xia Zhao. Behind the wooden fence, he sat on the wooden chair with a wine glass in his hand, his eyes seemingly looking into the horizon but he was still alert enough to notice Hyson's presence. Seeing Hyson looking at him, he smiled kindly at him in response.
Hyson jumped down from the horse and tied his horse to the side. He put his hand on the wooden fence and with a push, he jumped over to the other side. He pulled a chair and sat down with Xia Zhao.
"Uncle Zhao," he greeted.
"Yue Fai," Xia Zhao acknowledged his presence. He was swirling the wine in the goblet and despite knowing the answer, he still offered, "Would you like to try some?"
Hyson shook his head, "No, I am not a big fan of drinking."
Xia Zhao nodded his head, "I know."
"And yet you are offering me wine despite knowing that I don't like drinking?"
"I thought you'd like to have a sip after that unpleasantness from earlier."
Hyson glanced at his expressions but he seriously wasn't able to read anything from his unfathomable expressions. He found it quite intriguing how good he seemed to be at hiding his thoughts. "Is that why you are drinking?" questioned Hyson. "To forget about the disappointment you just felt in Yanyan."
"I'm not that disappointed," stated Xia Zhao calmly. "If anything, I'd say that I expected it. I know Yanzi better than you do. How can I not understand her views? She was always someone who believed that love wouldn't last forever but friendship could. And hatred can last forever in her opinion."
Hyson pulled the gloves off of his hands and put them on the small round table between them. "Is that why she insisted on not accepting her feelings towards you?"
"You can say that," he replied. "But it doesn't matter. I can't just ask her to believe in my love for her as I can't guarantee it myself."
"You can't?" Hyson raised his brow at him in question as he found it quite unsettling.
Xia Zhao looked into his eyes, "Yue Fai, life is unpredictable. Plans often can keep up with the changes. Even if I have faith in my feelings, I can't say the same about my life. Promises of forever are often without any substance. I'd rather spend the rest of my life with Yanzi and prove to her through actions that love might not last forever but it'll last till my last breath."
Hyson accepted those words very well and didn't say anything. "Don't worry about your mother, she isn't that ill. She had a minor cold and because of exhaustion, she made it worse. But it wasn't anything serious. She recovered well before coming here. I don't know if it's the long air travel that made her uncomfortable now. However, she is still relatively fine. I just heard that she ate a small bowl of red dates and lotus seed porridge."
Hyson nodded his head and smiled at him, "I understand. Thanks for explaining it to me."
"There is no need for thanks." Xia Zhao lifted the wine goblet with his bony hands and took a small sip of the red wine. "Uncle Zhao!"
"Hm?"
"You come from a family of medical practitioners, right?"
Xia Zhao understood why he brought this up. He actually felt a little pity for him right now. He was really a good son. "If you are gonna talk about your mother's voice, then I'm sorry I can't help with this. I have already discussed her situation with a senior in the clan but..."
"But?"
"It's been too long," answered Xia Zhao. "If she had gotten timely treatment back then, she'd have recovered her voice. But now it's been more than two decades. It's almost impossible to do anything about it now." After a brief pause, he added, "I'm sorry about that."
Hyson shook his head at him, "You don't need to apologize. It is indeed my extravagant hope. Besides, I am used to it now. I am past the age where people could use her disability to bully me too. Now, I'm more worried about her. She had locked herself up for years in a small world and rarely had to interact with outsiders so communication wasn't a problem. It is different now. I don't want anyone to really use this to hurt her."
"You are indeed a good son," commented Xia Zhao. "I really wish that I could do something about this."
"What are you guys talking about?"
Hyson looked up at Xiang Wai who came over to join them along with Xiang Weimin who followed behind her. Xiang Wai looked at the wine in front of Xia Zhao and picked up the bottle to read the name, she was surprised, "Uncle, where did you find this wine?"
Xia Zhao pointed in a direction saying, "Right over there is the wine cellar. You can find whatever wine you want there."
Xiang Wai followed the direction of his finger and nodded before asking, "Can I go inside to see it?"
Hyson gave her a strange look, "Why are you asking that question? Did anyone stop you from exploring?"
"Fai is right," agreed Xia Zhao. "You are the Xiang family's daughter, why would you need permission to go anywhere? I think you should look around more. This is no different than your Xiang family's ancestral house."
"It's different," replied Xiang Wai. "This was Grandma's own property and she clearly left it to Raelle. I was wondering if I should get her permission to go sightseeing. I really like this place. The scenery, architecture, and weather, everything is to my liking."
"Then why don't you try asking Ellie for permission?" suggested Hyson with a bit of schadenfreude flickering in his eyes.
Xiang Wai might have ignored it but Xiang Weimin noticed it clearly. So, before Xiang Wai could fall into his trap, he put his hand on his sister's shoulder, "You should avoid asking that question or you might get kicked out instead."
Hyson laughed out loud when he heard that from Xiang Weimin, "Ge, why are you stopping her? Wouldn't it be fun to see Wai running into the muzzle of the gun on her own initiative? Sometimes I really wonder what is in your head."
"I also have the same question for you," shot back Xiang Wai. "It's my first time here. So, wouldn't I be a bit restrained in my actions? I should be careful not to offend the owner of this estate."
"The owner of this estate wouldn't allow you to live here if she didn't welcome you," answered Hyson. "You might have no noticed but not far from the estate, there are plenty of residential houses that are also owned by the Xiang family. Guests are usually not allowed to live in the castle as Raelle won't like to share her personal territory with outsiders."
Xiang Wai nodded her head as she felt like she learned something new now. She felt quite good knowing that the reason she was able to live here wasn't because she came with the family but because it was Raelle who allowed them all to stay here.
"When is your father coming?" asked Hyson. "And what about your mom?"
"They both will come a day before the wedding," answered Xiang Weimin as Xiang Wai had no idea about this. "Yanjun and Uncle Kuijun will come with them. Why are you asking that?"
"No reason," answered Hyson. Thinking of something, he looked at Xiang Wai and asked, "Wai!"
"Hm?"
"Want to do something fun?"
"What?" inquired Xiang Wai.
"It's something called pissing off Raelle Xiang!" Hyson was grinning as he spoke.
Xiang Wai squinted her eyes at him, "You aren't trying to trick me into your evil plan, right?"
"No, I can assure you that even if Ellie is mad, she won't be able to do anything to us."
"Why not?" asked Xiang Wai curiously.
"Because we'll be standing on the right side," answered Hyson matter-of-factly. "Believe me for once! I never do something without a hundred percent guarantee of success. And even if there is a slight chance of failure, I know how to change it into success. You tell me if you want to join or not?"
Xiang Wai contemplated his words but didn't answer hastily.
"And what are you getting out of this?" asked Xia Zhao who had been listening in silence just now. "Fai, why are you insisting on making Raelle mad? What did she do to you?"
"She had been pretty rude to me lately," answered Hyson. "Who asked her to always take sides with Xian Ge? I have to get my place back! She needs to remember that I, Yue Fai, always wins between the two of us. She can't pick a side." Nôv(el)B\\jnn
None of them expected such an answer from Hyson but on second thought, it sounded quite reasonable too. This was exactly something Hyson would do. Xia Zhao only sighed and said, "Just don't go too far. It's her wedding soon. Give her a break." He didn't stop them as he knew that they all had their own bottom line and none of them was an unreasonable person. Since it is considered a wedding home, there should be some fun here.