Chapter 1030: Chapter 1030: She Doesn’t Bear the Xu Surname

"Xiang Ming! How many times have I told you? You can’t just talk nonsense." Xv Baiping said in a low voice.

Xiang Ming deflated like a punctured ball, responded with a soft "oh," and muttered something under his breath that no one could make out.

Miaoqiu, however, had a different opinion. She leaned close to her mother’s ear and whispered, "Mom, Ruyan has the Bewitching Heart Constitution, born with seductive bones, just like that ancestor of our Xu Family."

After hearing this, Xv Baiping’s brows immediately furrowed, but there wasn’t the slightest hint of surprise on her face.

"Mom, you already knew?" Miaoqiu asked.

Xv Baiping nodded. "Mm, I knew the first time she came to our home."

"Then why didn’t you keep her here?" Miaoqiu asked in confusion.

The Bewitching Heart Constitution with innate seductive bones—how important that was to the Xu Family went without saying. Because of this, it would practically be impossible for their mother and daughter to ever leave the Xu Family; the ones driven out might very well have been the two of them instead.

"Some things carry blessing and disaster together, they’re not necessarily a good thing. Otherwise, with your dad’s temperament, how could he possibly have let their mother and daughter be kicked out of the Xu Family so easily?" Xv Baiping said lightly.

An expression of disbelief instantly appeared on Miaoqiu’s delicate face. "So you’re saying Dad deliberately let them go?"

"Yes. If she hadn’t left the Xu Family, Ruyan might not have lived to grow this big." Xv Baiping said, "But only a handful of people know about this. Your uncle and them don’t, so it shouldn’t have been them who made a move."

Miaoqiu gave a wry smile. "They probably found out long ago. Not just Uncle and them—everyone knows by now."

This actually stunned Xv Baiping for a moment. She frowned and said, "What’s going on? Who leaked it?"

Miaoqiu smiled bitterly; it seemed her own mom was about the only one who didn’t know.

Then Miaoqiu briefly told her mother about what had happened at Luoyan Dock.

The more Xv Baiping listened, the deeper her frown became. Living in the old Xu Family residence, she heard nothing of the outside world. She had never imagined that getting the medicine had been so perilous; if not for Lin Tian, they might not even have obtained it.

"Uncle and them came over this morning to ask for the Ancestor Returning Elixir, wasn’t it exactly for the Bewitching Heart Constitution? It’s normal that someone would be eyeing Ruyan. Why don’t we pay Uncle’s place a visit?" Miaoqiu asked.

Xv Baiping steadied herself on the chair and stood up. "Let’s go. We’ll visit his place right now!"

Lin Tian quickly said, "Auntie, you’ve already been exhausted all afternoon. There’s no need for you to personally handle this kind of thing. We can go, you should rest."

Xv Baiping shook her head. "Auntie’s body may be weak, but I can still walk a few steps. Let’s go."

With that, Xv Baiping strode out, truly swift and decisive.

"Let’s go. With my mom’s temper, there are hardly any people who can talk her out of something." Miaoqiu said with a bitter smile, then followed after with Lin Tian.

Miaoqiu’s house was in the center of Xu Family Stream, while Xu Beishan and the others’ residence was at the entrance of Xu Family Stream. After walking a short while, they arrived.

The houses in Xu Family Stream were uniform in style. Xu Beishan’s house was roughly the same as Miaoqiu’s, even down to the vermilion gate and the door rings on it, which were identical.

Knock knock knock...

Nao Nao used the door ring to rap on Xu Beishan’s gate, and soon the vermilion door was opened a crack. A Xu Family disciple in his early twenties stuck his head out to take a look. Seeing so many people standing outside, his face was full of surprise.

Before he could ask, Nao Nao shouted loudly, "The Matriarch is here, hurry up and open the gate and invite us in!"

This girl still couldn’t change her rash, hot-tempered nature.

In Xu Family Stream, many rules had remained unchanged from ancient times to the present. For example, forms of address had very strict conventions.

Although Xu Shaohui was still gravely ill in bed, he was nevertheless the Patriarch, so Xv Baiping was naturally the Matriarch. It might just be an empty title, but it was a form of address that couldn’t be omitted.

"Yes, yes, yes." That Xu Family disciple nodded repeatedly and then flung both sides of the gate wide open.

Everyone in Xu Family Stream knew the Matriarch was particular about etiquette. When guests came, the gate had to be fully opened before inviting them in.

This wasn’t putting on airs, because when others visited her place, she did exactly the same. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The Xu Family disciple led them to the guest room and said, "Matriarch, please be seated in the guest room. I’ll go notify Elder Bei right away."

For some reason, he felt the Matriarch bringing such a large group over seemed like an expedition to demand justice. In such a situation, it was better to slip away quickly, lest he get caught in the crossfire.

"Mm, go." Xv Baiping gave a slight nod.

The disciple fled as though granted amnesty, hastening his steps as he left. He hadn’t interacted much with the Matriarch before; he’d only heard others say she was just a vase. But seeing her today, he hadn’t expected her aura to be so strong. Just sitting there, her gaze alone made people feel uneasy.

Before long, Xu Beishan came over with light steps, not hurrying yet not dawdling.

"Hahaha, Sister-in-law, what brings you here to sit with me today? A rare guest indeed." Xu Beishan said with a smile. The man had grown a bit of a beard, and when he smiled he actually looked rather handsome.

"I’ve come to ask you something. Sit down and we’ll talk." Xv Baiping said flatly.

Seeing his sister-in-law’s stern expression, Xu Beishan knew it was serious business and put away his smile. Only when he saw Lin Tian did he cup his fists toward him and say, "Lin Tian, we studied your pill recipe for a whole day. It truly isn’t easy."

There were far too many things that weren’t easy—like the medicinal ingredients, the control of the flames, and the Alchemy practitioner’s mental calculations. All were critical factors that determined whether the pill succeeded or failed.

Lin Tian also cupped his fists in return and said, "If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask me directly. Let’s focus on the business at hand."

"Alright." Xu Beishan agreed and sat down on a chair, then asked, "Everyone, you’re here because of Mei Ruyan, aren’t you?"

Lin Tian and the others had been searching all afternoon. For such a big matter, there was no way Xu Beishan could pretend he didn’t know.

"Yes. I’d like to ask if Uncle has seen my little sister?" Miaoqiu said.

"You all don’t know where she is, how would I know?" At this point Xu Beishan paused, then added in a softer voice, "From what I know, although she’s my big brother’s daughter, she doesn’t carry the Xu surname, does she?"

As for surnames, they were taken extremely seriously across the entire Celestial Dragon Continent, to say nothing of an ancient martial family.

Though Xu Beishan hadn’t spoken bluntly, everyone could hear that he did not regard Mei Ruyan as one of the Xu Family.

Since she wasn’t of the Xu Family, whether she lived or died naturally didn’t matter that much.

Xv Baiping cast a faint glance at Xu Beishan, secretly sighing in her heart. How tragic—kin that weren’t treated as kin, utterly devoid of humanity.

"Sister-in-law, there’s something I really shouldn’t say, but I still have to remind you. Mei Ruyan’s surname will always be Mei. I know she was born with seductive bones and would be of great benefit to our Xu Family, but you’ve seen it all these years—how much that wild girl despises our Xu Family. With someone like that, can we really make use of her?" Xu Beishan said.