He was murdered after his family was wiped out and left with no descendants; his whole family knelt

Chapter 23 Serene Bamboo Forest

Mr. Ye laughed loudly and pointed at Qiao Qingshu,

"Grandma Bai, your granddaughter is quite something. Even your grandfather never asked me to do anything, but my granddaughter made me act in several plays. If it weren't for my long-standing relationship with Grandpa Bai, I wouldn't have agreed."

Madam Bai nodded in agreement.

"Shu'er has gone to so much trouble for Mr. Ye, why don't you come and thank him?"

Mr. Ye did indeed help Qiao Qingshu a lot. When she first asked Mr. Ye to help her, Qiao Qingshu was a little apprehensive, afraid that he would be too proud to help her put on an act. But she didn't expect that Ye Qingqiu would agree so readily and be so enthusiastic towards her. This was something Qiao Qingshu hadn't anticipated.

Qiao Qingshu smiled and stepped forward, a shallow dimple appearing at the corner of her lips as she expressed her gratitude.

"Thanks to Mr. Ye's help, my mother was able to escape from the tiger's den. Please accept my daughter's bow."

He was about to kneel down and kowtow to express his gratitude, but Ye Qingqiu quickly helped him up.

"Absolutely not, I cannot accept such a bow from you, young lady. It would shorten my lifespan. If you truly wish to thank me, please do me this favor. If I ever need your help in the future, you must not refuse me."

Qiao Qingshu looked up into Ye Qingqiu's cunning and deep eyes, wondering why this great Yin-Yang Master would need her, a young woman, for help, but she immediately nodded and smiled.

"That's for sure. If I can help Mr. Ye in any way, I would be happy to."

Old Madam Bai exchanged pleasantries with Mr. Ye, mostly about the relocation of ancestral graves and ancestral worship within the clan. Qiao Qingshu found it uninteresting and left the meditation room, pacing back and forth at the doorway.

It rained last night, and now the entire Zen temple is covered with fallen ginkgo leaves, a golden carpet that feels soft and thick underfoot. The mountain air is also cooler than in the city, and breathing it in brings peace and tranquility.

She unconsciously walked into the ginkgo forest, and heard a rustling sound. She looked up and searched for the source of the sound.

A young man dressed in black was seen practicing swordsmanship in mid-air with a tree branch in his hand.

Qiao Qingshu stopped to look and felt that the face looked familiar. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was her short-lived brother-in-law, Xiao Zhijie.

When Xiao Zhijie practiced his sword, his eyes were solemn and imposing, his brows and eyes were gloomy and melancholy, as if he had a thousand unresolved sorrows in his heart.

Qiao Qingshu felt a chill run down her spine after watching for a while. Despite being just a young boy, he inspired a sense of fear.

She lifted her skirt and prepared to leave quietly.

The next second, a shout rang out, and a tree branch rustled as if a sharp sword was blocking the way.

"who!"

Upon seeing who it was, Xiao Zhijie quickly pulled back the branch, his brows furrowing slightly.

Qiao Qingshu forced a smile; it was she who had interrupted his martial arts practice.

"Sorry, I barged in by mistake. I'll be leaving now."

Xiao Zhijie dropped his gloomy expression, a youthful, irreverent smile appearing at the corner of his eyes.

“Last time you hit someone and ran away, this time you disturbed someone and you still run away. Why does my sister-in-law run away from everyone she sees?”

Qiao Qingshu pursed her lips and remained silent, looking at Xiao Zhijie with a hint of anger in her eyes.

“I told you not to call me sister-in-law, I am not your sister-in-law.”

Xiao Zhijie smiled crookedly.

"There's no one else here, so there's no need to pretend. Which noble lady in the capital wouldn't want to marry my second brother? You've gotten such a great deal, and you're not even happy to be called sister-in-law twice?"

Qiao Qingshu snorted coldly. In her previous life, she was indeed secretly delighted to be able to marry Xiao Er, and even felt somewhat inferior because she felt she was not good enough for the handsome and upright Xiao Chengyan.

But she had already seen through everything about being husband and wife for a lifetime. The ideal husband she had sincerely hoped for was nothing more than an ordinary man in this turbid world, not even as devoted and caring as an ordinary man.

In the first year of their marriage, the two were still very much in love, but not long after, he took wives and concubines one after another. Even his mistresses and children from before the marriage came to him asking for recognition. Liu Wan'er was one of Xiao Zhijie's many suitors.

Qiao Qingshu had made a fuss before, and Xiao Chengyan had tried to appease her. She thought he still cared about her, but years later she realized that Xiao Chengyan was only after the power of the Bai and Qiao families behind her. What he really wanted was the power behind Qiao Qingshu.

While she was being tormented by many elders of the Xiao family, Xiao Chengyan stood by coldly. When her mother's clan was imprisoned and she knelt before Xiao Chengyan begging for his help, he remained unmoved. When she suffered two miscarriages and was physically and mentally exhausted, he spent the Lantern Festival with Liu Wan'er's child...

Thinking of all this, she couldn't suppress the hatred in her heart, and her expression turned cold.

"You won't be able to have a good sister-in-law like me in this life. Your second brother isn't so lucky."

Her tone was full of mockery and indifference. Xiao Zhijie noticed her change in mood, put away his playful face, and dared not tease her anymore.

Qiao Qingshu glared at him, then turned and left.

As soon as they returned to the meditation room, they saw Mr. Ye escorting Madam Bai out, with Bai Zhining and Shen Wenying by his side. The group bid each other farewell amicably at the door.

Upon seeing Qiao Qingshu return, Old Madam Bai said,

"We're back. Say goodbye to Mr. Ye, we're about to leave."

Qiao Qingshu was furious and said goodbye in a huff.

"Mr. Ye, farewell."

After a pause, he decided to file a complaint anyway.

"By the way, Mr. Ye, your little apprentice has a sharp tongue. He's already made fun of me twice. You move among the wealthy and powerful, and this apprentice has no sense of propriety. If he offends someone important, you'll probably suffer too."

Ye Qingqiu was taken aback. He knew Xiao Zhijie's nature. Although he was young, he had a sharp tongue and would make sarcastic remarks about everything he saw. However, Xiao Zhijie was usually very tactful in front of aristocratic families. Why would he have provoked Qiao Qingshu?

The thought that he might have to plead with Qiao Qingshu for Xiao Zhijie in the future filled him with lingering fear, and he repeatedly said...

"That rascal, I'll teach him a lesson when we get back! Don't worry, girl, I guarantee he'll behave like a quail next time he sees you."

The Bai family left through the back door of the meditation room. There was an inconspicuous sedan chair at the back gate. They boarded the sedan chair and headed to their estate on the outskirts of Beijing.

So discreet and careful, all for the sake of seeing the Bai family.

The sedan chair traveled for an unknown amount of time, winding its way through many turns, before finally stopping in a bamboo grove on the outskirts of Beijing.

Qiao Qingshu carefully helped Old Madam Bai down.

Bai Zhining and Shen Wenying, gazing at the secluded manor, couldn't help but speak up.

"Even the Xiongnu couldn't find a place like this when they were fighting. Shu'er, where did you find such a place?"

Qiao Qingshu led everyone inside and explained the origin of the manor.

Before becoming a monk, Uncle Qiao returned all his worldly possessions to the Qiao family. Qiao Qingshu was only seven or eight years old at the time. One day, Uncle Qiao called her over and gave her the deed to this estate. He said that this estate was his favorite place, quiet and simple, and it was his private property. No one in the Qiao family knew about it. Now that he was going to become a monk, there was no use for keeping it, so he gave it to Qiao Qingshu.

Qiao Qingshu was terrified. She took the land deed back home and dared not tell anyone except her mother. Her mother told her to accept it without worry and not to make a fuss.

That's how the estate became Qiao Qingshu's private property.

Over the years, even Qiao Qingshu had almost forgotten that she owned this estate. It wasn't until recently, when she was planning a temporary residence for her mother, that she suddenly remembered that she had such a place.

They found the yellowed land deed at the bottom of the box, and after arranging for someone to sweep and clean it, it turned out to be quite elegant, a good place to live in seclusion.

Huan'er was washing clothes in the yard when she looked up and saw several people standing outside. She excitedly shouted and rushed out.

"Madam, Madam, come out and see! The young ladies and old ladies are here!"