Chapter 1697 - 308:

"Second Uncle, Young Master Xu."

The mansion's gate opens.

Tan Wenbin reaches out to hold Li Zhiyuan's hand, leading him inside.

Zhao Yi follows behind, somewhat timid, with a look of shame, reluctance, and anger on his face.

The house servants at the entrance exchange glances, their eyes meeting.

This kind of family drama is the most interesting and naturally becomes the gossip among the servants.

For instance, Second Uncle brought the child born out of wedlock home again, and the legitimate Zhao Xu still has to walk behind the child born outside.

Zhao Yi glares angrily at them, and they immediately straighten their backs.

The house is decorated in a festive manner because the day after tomorrow is the Family Head's seventieth birthday.

Although the core family members will go to the old mansion in the mountains for the celebration, the preparations at the new mansion are also indispensable, as guests will be arranged to gather here.

The further they walk inside, the more people they encounter.

However, most people actively greet Tan Wenbin, and he only needs to nod slightly in response, while Zhao Xu follows behind, greeting and talking to the people, and casually tells Li Zhiyuan their identities.

No one asks who Li Zhiyuan is because everyone "knows" who he is.

However, Zhao Yanglin, despite repeatedly bringing the child born out of wedlock inside, is not a fool; he deliberately tarnishes his reputation to prevent the third branch from seeing him as an eyesore.

The family power struggle has actually long begun.

And the third branch, having given birth to Zhao Yi as the sole heir, stands directly in an unbeatable position.

In the front courtyard are some unimportant small characters, but entering the back courtyard, the real family members appear.

It's a woman, standing in the arc-shaped door, seemingly having hurried over after hearing from the servants below.

The woman's gaze first falls on Zhao Yanglin, then moves to Li Zhiyuan, whose hand is being held.

"Damn it, what sin have I committed in this life to deserve you treating me this way!"

The woman stamps her feet, crying out with anger and grievance.

Her name is Cui Xinyue, the wife of Zhao Yanglin; the two are married through an alliance, although the position of the Cui family in Jianghu is much inferior to that of the Zhao family.

Li Zhiyuan and Tan Wenbin are connected by a Red Line, and whatever Tan Wenbin should react to, Li Zhiyuan will inform him.

At this point, Tan Wenbin's face darkens, and he snorts coldly, clearly dissatisfied with his wife's surprise.

Cui Xinyue rushes forward, grabs Tan Wenbin's wrist, and exclaims in sorrow and anger:

"I don't care what you do outside, I won't mind even if you bring them into the house, but don't have children outside and then bring them back. Count how many you've brought back since I married into your Zhao family, it's as if our second branch is an open charity home!"

"Unreasonable!"

Tan Wenbin shakes off Cui Xinyue, then continues to walk forward holding Li Zhiyuan's hand.

Cui Xinyue falls to the ground, holding a silk handkerchief to cover her face, her shoulders trembling as she cries.

"Mother, mother, mother..."

Zhao Yi steps forward, squatting down to try and hug his mother, comforting her.

"Get out!"

Cui Xinyue pushes Zhao Yi away, causing him to stagger and fall to the ground.

"You're no good either, even though you came out of my belly. Don't think I don't know about the tricks you pull outside to help your father. You father and son really have no shame!"

After scolding Zhao Yi, Cui Xinyue follows inside.

Zhao Yi stands up, dusting off his hands.

At this moment, footsteps are heard from behind.

Zhao Yi turns around and sees the two cousins from the main branch.

One is called Zhao Wen, the other Zhao Dong.

In a large family, the position of the younger generation is also earned by the previous generation, unless one is exceptionally talented, in which case, they can earn prestige for their parents.

But clearly, compared to the children of the main branch who have long begun to preside over family affairs, the absurd and laughable second branch offspring are not in the league of those to be respected.

Zhao Wen: "Xu, we're all brothers, if you have anything good, don't forget your elder brothers."

Zhao Li: "Exactly, shared joy is better than solo joy, don't just help your father, also show filial piety to us brothers."

The two speak sarcastically, but in reality, they are not that bad; Uncle Zhao's discipline towards the children is also very strict, they simply can't stand the wasteful second branch members and thus come over to vent hostility.

Zhao Yi angrily glares at them, fists clenched tightly.

Zhao Wen: "Haha, angry now, what's there to be angry about, you still have some nerve?"

Zhao Li: "Indeed, shameless fellows, don't block the way."

Zhao Li intentionally walks over and knocks Zhao Yi down with his shoulder again.

Zhao Yi sits on the ground, head bowed, sulking, yet not daring to truly fight the two cousins.

Zhao Wen and Zhao Li exchange smiles and walk away side by side.

"Sigh..."

Zhao Yi breathes a sigh of relief.

He suddenly feels that being sickly and bedridden in the past was not so bad; indeed, being healthy and growing up with this bunch would be torture.

Standing up once more, he collects some water under a rock to wash his hands.

From there, his gaze shifts towards the west courtyard, where the third branch's rooms are located.

Having returned home with great difficulty, how could he not go and see his mother?

As expected, his mother should now be at the shrine praying.

All along, his mother, Chen Cui'er, has presented herself as fresh and elegant. Since marrying into the Zhao family, she's been without envy or jealousy, respectful to the elderly, kind to the young, and attentive to the servants, making her a rather perfect image of a Young Madam.

But Zhao Yi knows that all these appearances are merely an act.

He never forgot the hateful look she and his father had when they stood by his bedside, looking at him with disdain.