Chapter 601: Brother (2)
When he saw that Chu Lian was sneaking glances at him from time to time, her clear and innocent eyes full of curiosity and uncertainty, he burst out into laughter. He took out a green brocade purse from his waist and passed it to He Sanlang.
“Take this. Since Father wasn’t around for Lian’er’s tea ceremony, this is a welcome gift to make up for it.”
Once Count Jing’an set down the authoritative presence he had honed in the army, he was actually a very likeable person.
No wonder even the cold He Changdi held affection towards his father.
He Changdi naturally wouldn’t stand on ceremony with his own father. He took the purse and passed it to Chu Lian without looking. Humour could be heard from his tone as he said, “Lian’er, open it and see what’s inside. If Father’s gift isn’t good enough, I’ll ask him for more.”
Chu Lian looked askance at He Changdi before thanking Count Jing’an. She was about to keep the purse without looking inside, but the count stopped her. Smiling, he said, “Aren’t you going to open it and see?”
Since the gifter had said so, Chu Lian carefully opened up the purse and poured its contents onto her hand. When small, resplendent little gems fell onto her palm, Chu Lian could no longer hide the shock on her face.
The… The purse actually contained more than ten gems the size of pigeon eggs…
Amongst them were the extremely rare red and pink diamonds… If these appeared in the modern world, they would literally be worth entire cities…
Chu Lian hadn’t expected her father-in-law to have given her such valuable gifts on their first meeting.
She froze up while holding up the purse, not knowing what to do. She turned to look at He Changdi for help.
He Sanlang understood the look in her eyes. He smiled and rubbed her hand to comfort her. “Since Father has given them to you, just keep them. It’s worth these few trifles to get you to call him Father.”
Chu Lian wanted to roll her eyes. A few trifles… Could these fine red and pink diamonds really be called trifles? She shook her head helplessly in her mind and carefully poured the gems back into the purse. She made another deep bow in thanks to Count Jing’an.
“You must be tired from your travels, Father. Daughter-in-Law has no special talents, but Daughter-in-Law will personally cook a few dishes for Father at tonight’s reunion dinner.”
Count Jing’an laughed openly once again. “Then Father will look forward to trying Lian’er’s cooking tonight!”
Once the customs were done, He Changdi held his wife’s hand and retreated to the side.
Count Jing’an didn’t address his eldest son, who was still kneeling on the ground, and made some small talk with Matriarch He instead. His gaze finally landed upon He Ying, who he hadn’t seen in many years.
His tone turned cold as he said, “Miss Ying. It’s been a long time since we’ve last met, but you seem to be the same.”
There was ridicule in his words that made it clear he wasn’t complimenting her appearance. He was mocking her for being up to her old tricks. It was bad enough that she had created a scandal for herself back then, but now she was doing the same with her daughter.
Back then, the only one that He Ying had feared wasn’t the old count or her mother, but her very own brother, He Yanwen.
He Ying was both afraid and jealous of her brother.
She had hated her brother for being able to follow their parents onto the battlefields. He had been taught personally by their parents. Later on, when he had grown up and married, she had hated him for being able to inherit their father’s title, for being able to bring honour to their family. She hated her brother for having three sons, while she only had a failure of a daughter by her side, without any heirs to take care of her in her old age.
Before Count Jing’an had returned, she had been able to swagger about the estate with the matriarch’s protection. She had been able to bully the younger members of the family and even her sister-in-law Countess Jing’an. However, now that her brother was back, she was instantly beaten down into the dust without her brother even trying. She didn’t even have the courage to move anymore.
He Ying stood to one side with her daughter, her head low. She couldn’t even look Count Jing’an in the eyes, and instead, she let out a weak mumble, “Brother.”
It was Pan Nianzhen’s first time seeing her mother so nervous, so she ended up getting affected as well. Her personality was a little cowardly in the first place, so she didn’t dare to lift her head up now. In a frail voice, she said, “Uncle.”
