Chapter 7

Su Jia returned from the eastern part of the city. Upon arriving home, she saw Shen Yu and Shen Yue standing there, pestering Tao Sheng.

Su Jia walked over and smiled politely. “It’s so cold. Why are you standing here? Why not come inside?”

Shen Yu cared about his reputation, so he couldn’t admit that his own daughter had refused to let them in and forced them to talk outside.

Shen Yu had recently become critical of Su Jia’s behavior. As an elder who liked Tao Sheng, she should know right from wrong and urge her to return to the Marquis’ Mansion for her future.

But she was doing the opposite, only caring about the present and keeping the child with her, without considering her future. In his eyes, she was utterly clueless.

Shen Yu’s tone was a bit stiff as he spoke to Su Jia: “I’m here to pick up Tao Sheng to go home for the New Year. I’ll just say a few words and leave. There’s no need to come in and sit down.”

Su Jia, knowing the situation, glanced suspiciously at Tao Sheng.

Tao Sheng replied honestly, “I’ve already told the Marquis and the Prince that I won’t be going back with them today.”

After several days of thought, Shen Yu decided not to argue with his child and came to Tongguang Lane to pick up Tao Sheng. Now that he hadn’t succeeded, he was unwilling to give up: “Are you sure your cousin will come back before the New Year?”

Tao Sheng confirmed, “Of course.”

What her aunt personally told her must be true.

Shen Yu looked suspiciously at Tao Sheng again.

At this moment, Su Jia noticed her son approaching. She pointed to the side and said, “Speak of the devil, isn’t that him?”

Tao Sheng, who had doubts about her cousin based on her mother’s description, thinking it was just family bias, finally met Ji Bai in person and had her doubts cleared.

It was a little past noon, and the sun was shining brightly. He stood in the light, dressed in white, with a tall figure, jade-like face, clear features, and a perfectly arched jawline. He looked like a young man walking out of the snow, impossible to look away from.

He was very handsome.

The boy nodded to Su Jia, “Mother, I’m back.”

Shen Yu hadn’t expected a response so quickly.

Since Ji Bai was a junior, Shen Yu, as a parent, felt it wasn’t appropriate to deal with him directly.

Shen Yue, understanding his father’s thoughts, stepped forward and said, “Mr. Ji, you’ve worked hard studying. If you’re free after the New Year, you can come to my house for dinner. Tao Sheng is my sister, and my parents worked hard to find her. It’s only right she spends the New Year with her elders. I hope you’ll understand.”

Ji Bai, seeing the situation, smiled faintly, “Legally and by the family tree, my cousin is now part of the Luo family. My mother and aunt were very close, and now that my aunt has passed away, it’s only natural for my cousin to stay with us. I hope you won’t force her.”

He directly addressed the laws and family relationships. Shen Yu knew Ji Bai was correct, but he didn’t want to lose face and said coldly, “Do you know who I am?”

“No, I don’t.”

“I am Shen Yu, Marquis Wenyuan. I hear you’ve been studying hard, preparing for the imperial exam this autumn. I think you’ll achieve great things. It would be good for us to visit each other often.”

Shen Yu implied that Ji Bai should be more polite, as offending a high-ranking person like him could be unwise.

Ji Bai replied calmly, “I’ve never heard of it.”

His voice was clear and pleasant, with a bit of youthful arrogance. Tao Sheng found him quite pleasing to the eye.

Facing Ji Bai, who wasn’t intimidated, Shen Yu felt frustrated. He turned to Tao Sheng, “Are you really not going back to the Marquis’ Mansion? Your mother and I raised you. Is this how you repay us?”

“Mother will understand me,” Tao Sheng said. “I’ll prepare New Year gifts and visit you after the third day of the New Year.”

In tradition, unmarried girls visit their families on the first day of the New Year, while married girls visit on the second. Visiting relatives after the third day is a regular courtesy ^[1]refers to cultural tradition for visiting after key days..

Shen Yu was furious. His daughter had just said in front of her aunt and cousin that she would treat him as a relative, embarrassing him.

After several failed attempts outside Su’s house, Shen Yu finally left angrily.

Meeting in such tense circumstances was awkward for the cousins who hadn’t seen each other in years. Su Jia, as if nothing had happened, pulled Tao Sheng over and introduced them, “This is your sister, Luo Tao Sheng.”

Then she pointed to Ji Bai and said, “This is your cousin, Ji Bai.”

Tao Sheng stepped forward and greeted him, “Hello, cousin.”

Ji Bai greeted her back and then said to Su Jia, “Mr. Song told me my name doesn’t match my destiny and has many issues, so he insisted on giving me a new name.”

Su Jia, knowing that Mr. Song was the respected president of Yuelu Academy ^[2]refers to a prestigious educational institution., was pleased. “What name did he give you?”

“Yanming, Ji Yanming.”

Tao Sheng’s mind went blank.

She remembered that her cousin’s name was Ji Bai, but there was no such person in the book she knew. Now that his name had changed to Ji Yanming, it aligned with the plot of the book.

Ji Yanming appeared later in the novel “A Life of Glory.” He was a paranoid and powerful official, well-known in the capital.

After being betrayed by fellow disciples, oppressed by superiors, and betrayed by his mentor, Lord Ji became ruthless and paranoid. Though he rose through the ranks, he never found the right person to start a family.

Now that his name and experiences aligned with the novel, the cold and otherworldly young man would eventually become a villainous prime minister with immense power. It was hard to believe.

Tao Sheng rubbed her forehead.

In just two months, she had gone from being an estranged daughter of the Wenyuan Marquis family to seeing her cousin become the top villain of the future. The world was too fantastical.

_

Tao Sheng and Ji Yanming had only met a few times in their childhood, so they weren’t familiar. He always had an expression that seemed to say, “No strangers allowed.” After Tao Sheng entered the house, she excused herself, saying she needed to go back to her room to cut window flowers, leaving Su Jia and Ji Yanming to talk.

On her way back, she recalled that Ji Yanming became very popular later in the original text, and many writers in the court gained fame by writing fan fiction about him. Lord Ji’s fan fiction status in that era was comparable to that of Grand Tutor Pang in the Shao Bao universe, spawning works with similar themes, like “A Few Things About Grand Tutor Pang and My Mother.”

Sure enough, the experiences of villains are often similar.

Tao Sheng heard from Su Jia that after much investigation, they decided to convert the idle shop into either a rouge shop ^[3]refers to a store selling cosmetics, especially for the face. or a tea shop, and plan to open it for business after the New Year.

Now it seems that their family should not open a rouge shop or a tea shop, but should directly open a bookstore. After her cousin from the Ji family becomes successful, they could write some biographies about Ji Yanming and convert the attention from powerful officials into profit.

It was all her cousin’s fault for changing his name too late. He missed such a good opportunity. He was so careless.