Resplendent – Chapter 436

Chapter 436: Jun Qicheng Goes Berserk

“My new dessert! Soft, bouncy, and super delicious!” Gu Ye said proudly—Come on, praise me, praise me! 

“You can make desserts, little sister? Even better! Fifth Brother likes eating desserts made by you with your own hands!” Chu Xiaowu grinned, pushing his luck.

Gu Ye’s face twisted into a strange smile: “Fifth Brother, are you really sure you want to eat something I made?”

Chu Xiaowu’s instincts for danger immediately flared. This situation felt suspicious. He chuckled nervously, then quickly backtracked: “Actually… never mind. Sister, you’re delicate, and if you get burned or hurt while cooking, we brothers would feel terrible!”

Chu Xiaoliu couldn’t bear to watch him be foolish and tried to redirect the conversation: “Sister, when you’re making amends, shouldn’t it be something the other person likes? Why is it something you like?”

Gu Ye pursed her lips with a smile, broke the last piece of osmanthus cake in half, and fed the two little pets first. Only then did she speak: “You are my brothers. If I like it, then naturally you would like it too. Right, Fourth Brother?”

The way she said ‘Fourth Brother’ was so sweet it could knock out a diabetic. 

Chu Musong, who had just stepped into the waterside pavilion, didn’t even catch what his sister said and nodded immediately, “Right! Everything Sister says is correct!”

At this moment, Gu Ye’s smile was even brighter than the evening glow in the sky. Being spoiled by her brothers felt really nice! Fortunately, her inner self wasn’t truly a little girl. Otherwise, she would have been completely spoiled by now!

That evening, the whole family sat together around the stove, enjoying hotpot, grilled meat, and lamb offal soup. The lively gathering of more than a dozen people was perfect for sharing a meal around the pot.

The rich, aromatic lamb offal soup was so delicious that even Chu Xiaowu, who had sworn he wouldn’t touch a single bite, ended up drinking it more heartily than anyone else. 

The Chu family was a household of martial men. They especially loved the hearty pleasure of eating meat in big bites and drinking soup in large bowls. Even Jun Li, the young lady from the Jun family, was caught up in the excitement, chewing roasted meat and sipping soup in big mouthfuls.

The only one who was deliberately unhappy was Jun Miao. She had spent the whole afternoon moving house and was filled with pent-up anger. She had lived in that courtyard for three years, yet just because of a single sentence from that wretched girl, she had to vacate it.

Why didn’t that lowborn girl just die outside? What did she come back for!

While the whole family was happily eating, the steward from the outer courtyard hurried in to report to the Duke, “Your Grace, the young master from the maternal family has arrived. He seems quite anxious…”

Young Master from the maternal family? Who? Gu Ye was busy eating the slices of lamb her brothers placed in her bowl, dipping them into her own sauce—absolutely delicious.

“Oh? When did Cheng’er arrive? Quick, bring him in!” Chu Bufan had already received a letter from his brother-in-law and figured that his wife’s nephew would be arriving any day now. 

Wasn’t Jun Qicheng supposed to come with someone? Did he run into some trouble? Why did he come straight to the house as soon as he entered the capital?

Gu Ye, who was busy drinking her lamb offal soup, almost spat it out when she heard her father’s words. Coughing violently, she was deeply annoyed—she suddenly remembered what she had forgotten. 

She had left Brother Cheng behind!

He had been pulled off to attend a literary gathering early that morning, with instructions that he wouldn’t be back until noon. When he returned home in the evening and didn’t see her, her grandfather, or her brother, and none of the familiar servants were around either, of course he panicked…

“Aunt, uncle, my sister has gone missing!  Please, help me find her!” Jun Qicheng was sweating profusely from worry. After attending the literary gathering, he had even stopped by a candied fruit shop to buy the most famous preserved fruits in the capital, intending to sweeten Xiao Ye’er’s day.

Who would have known that when he returned to the East City residence, none of the three masters were home, and even their maids and servants seemed to have vanished. He asked the gatekeepers and learned that Ye’er and Gu Ming had left early that morning and still hadn’t returned.

By noon, the old master had also hurried out. By the afternoon, Ye’er’s personal cook, Aunt Yan, had also left through a side gate at some unknown time. As for where they had gone, no one knew. It made him frantic!

He recalled the old master mentioning that he had a residence in West City. Surely the whole family hadn’t moved there? Yet all the luggage brought from Yan City was still in the East City residence.

Jun Qicheng hurried to West City, and after much effort, finally inquired about the location the old master had mentioned—only to find no one there! 

Where were they? Where were the three of them—the grandfather and his two companions? They couldn’t have vanished into thin air, right? 

Jun Qicheng, like a headless fly, ran around asking everywhere, and by nightfall, he had still found nothing.

His inner anxiety was beyond imagining. Thinking that his uncle, being a man of the capital, had wide connections, he decided to seek help at their residence.

“Cheng’er, take your time and speak slowly, don’t rush!” Seeing that her nephew’s lips were chapped from all the talking, Lady Jun hurriedly instructed a maid to brew a pot of tea. “First, tell me—when did you suddenly get a little sister?”

In this generation of the Jun family, there was only one daughter, Jun Qicheng’s biological sister, who was already married. Since Lady Jun had been ill, she naturally had no idea that her young nephew had unilaterally ‘adopted’ a little sister.

“Don’t ask why I suddenly have a sister. My sister and her family only arrived in the capital yesterday, and today they’ve suddenly disappeared!” Jun Qicheng was too anxious to hold back and recounted everything he knew in meticulous detail.

The Duke frowned and asked, “After your sister’s family entered the city, did they happen to offend anyone?”

In the capital, there was no shortage of people who held grudges and sought revenge among the noble sons. If they had accidentally offended any of those spoiled scions…

Jun Qicheng took a big gulp of tea and immediately said, “I’ve already inquired carefully. Yesterday, when they first entered the city, the Prince Tai rode his horse recklessly in the street and nearly ran over my sister. My sister even scolded him fiercely. Although they later smoothed things over, I don’t know if that prince might hold a grudge.”

“And also this morning, my sister and her junior nephew had a conflict with some disciples of the Huang Sect. The Huang Sect disciples were defeated and might still be resentful. Uncle, if we are to talk about the most suspicious people, it would be them. You must think of a way quickly, don’t let them hurt my Sister Ye…” Jun Qicheng paced back and forth anxiously in the living room, almost ready to jump.

“Cough-cough!” Gu Ye took a sip of juice to soothe her throat from the earlier coughing and interjected, “Since you’ve already inquired, didn’t you find out that your Sister Ye was publicly ‘claimed’ in the street and taken home as someone’s sister?”

“Who? Who would dare—who has the guts to force my Sister Ye? If he wants a sister, can’t he just have his mother give birth to one? If his mother can’t give him one, then his father can just take a few more concubines. They can have as many children as they want. Why steal my sister?” Jun Qicheng was nearly frantic with worry and didn’t even recognize that it was Gu Ye speaking.

“Um, Second Cousin, the person who claimed a sister on the street was me…” Chu Mushan weakly raised his hand, sneaking a glance at his father, whose expression was growing darker and darker, and hurried to stop his cousin from digging his own grave.

Suggesting his father take concubines? Careful, or your aunt might strangle you!