"Kouki, it"ll be fine"The golden-haired woman he called "Mingxia" in his dream, smiled pleasantly and Yuanjun felt a sense of peace and relief in his heart.
Then there was a skip in the dream and it seemed like he was inside a tent,
"No, I"m not your wife," her voice was firm, honest and a bit condescending making his heart feel clenched.
What? Isn"t she my Empress?
Then there was another skip...
"Yeah! The baby in my belly! Is that all I am? A doll to have your children? Nothing more?"
It was another woman with her voice filled with hatred. He felt bitter when she spoke... Like he was trapped. He didn"t want to be with her.
"No..." It was a different woman"s voice as the scenery changed suddenly.
Who is she? Why is my heart racing this much?
"... Your choice was your brother. While her choice was him too....."
That other woman"s voice continued and he could feel something heavy on his legs.
Is she sitting on my lap? Who is she? What is this weird feeling in my chest? She makes me feel weird.
"Fourth Uncle!"
Lu Yuanjun who was deep in his dreams, was jumped on by his nephew, the son of his second brother.
"Ah!" Yuanjun sat up with a gasp. His head felt like it was hammered by the rude awakening.
"Fourth Uncle, whose picture is this?" the daughter of his first brother had picked up a photograph he treasured that he kept inside his school yearbook.
"Fourth Uncle.... Why is your luggage filled with books? Where are our presents?" his first brother"s son had already opened his luggage and everything was spilled on the carpet.
"What is going on here?" he gritted his teeth. "Who allowed you inside my room?" he snarled.
How dare these brats!
"The door was open," the boy who was still jumping on him answered matter of factly and Yuanjun wanted to strangle his nephews and niece who was going through his drawer with no guilt and gritted his teeth.
"It"s all my fault for not locking the door thinking I was in my apartment! But these pampered brats need to be taught a lesson!" he grinded his teeth and his face got scary.
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
I"m gonna spank them!
"Fourth Uncle," another sweet voice was heard from near his leg and a sweet little girl in a red frilly frock smiled sweetly at him making him melt immediately and his face became gentle immediately.
"I made this for you, fourth uncle. Welcome back" she held out a card with glitters and cute hearts glued on it and she had handwritten "Welcome Back, Fourth Uncle".
"You will stay with us from now on, right uncle? You won"t leave today like you used to before...?" she blinked her big eyes and looked so adorable and he couldn"t help but hug her and place a kiss in her pink cheek.
"How sweet, little Xuxu, " he petted her soft hair. His second brother"s daughter is the only one who really cares for him.
Picking the girl up, he went straight to the eldest grand daughter of the family and grabbed the photograph from her hand and kicked the boy on the floor trying to get his luggage.
"Get out!" he pushed all of those brats out. He didn"t want to spoil his mood. The soft angel in his hands have saved these devil children just now.
" Fourth Uncle, grandma asked us to bring you for dinner," Little Xuxu said politely before leaving.
"Sure, I"ll be there in a jiffy!" he smiled at that adorable girl and ruffled her hair and she nodded smiling and ran away wihh her frock swaying beautifully.
Why can"t other children be polite and adorable like her?
Yuanjun closed the door and it took five seconds for the smile in his face to dissipate. He gently traced the old photograph with his long slender fingers.
In that picture, there was a girl in her uniform, sitting by the window in a cla.s.sroom. The evening golden sun reflected in her light brown eyes and made it seem like they were gold in colour and filled with life. Supporting her hand on her cheek, she was looking out the window, with her pink lips curved to a gentle smile and her blushed red cheeks, gave the appearance of a young maiden in love.
He was the one who took this picture of her during one summer evening in their cla.s.sroom. He entered their cla.s.sroom one evening after his photography club and he saw her staring through the window and couldn"t help but capture that scene on film. He developed this picture himself and is keeping with him for almost a decade. She didn"t finish her high school in their private school and went to public school for the final year after her father"s death. This is one of the very few photographs of her in their high school uniform and he kept it safe.
"Li Xueman! " his thin lips said her name as his hands brought the picture close to his lips but he stopped himself at the last moment and ended up sighing.
He himself was confused by his behaviour the past few days and with a frown, placed the photograph back inside the year book and closed it.
"Wait... If I am the reincarnation of an Emperor, is Li Xueman the reincarnation of that golden eyed girl, Mingxia? She didn"t love me either. Didn"t she love my third brother too? "
"Ah! What am I thinking? Crazy... It"s all crazy!"
Remembering the dinner he has to attend, he sighed. All his brothers and their wives are going to be there and it is going to be a nightmare for him.
As he entered the dining hall with the long rectangular table that could seat twenty, he was amazed to see that almost the entire table was occupied.
His father was sitting in the host seat and opposite to him on the other end was his mother. In the other places, his three brothers sat opposite to their wives with their children beside them.
"And is that Li Xueman?" his heart skipped a beat.
"Behold! The Prodigal son returns! Prepare the feast! " his eldest brother, Lu Weisheng stood up and clapped and all his other brothers joined him too.
Lu WeiZhe, Lu Weisheng"s twin brother, get to Lu Yuanjun and ruffled his hair.
"We are really glad you are back, fourth" he hugged him and even sniffed as of he was controlling his emotions and sooner his third brother, Lu WeiYuan joined and hugged his little brother too.
It would have looked like a touching scene of brothers reuniting, but only the person standing in the middle getting squeezed enough for him to suffocate and his bones crunch, knew his brothers are not hugging him but hurting him deliberately.
He tried to get out of their grip but he couldn"t. He really cannot win the odds of one against three against his brothers who always bullied him.
"I hate you all. You are not my brothers. Let go! " he grumbled gritting his teeth. No wonder their children are worse, they learn from their fathers. Is this the way to treat one"s little brother?
"No you don"t, dear brother"
"You love us!"
"Also, it is true you are not out brother. Our parents picked you from the trash... That"s why you don"t have "Wei" in your name, "
Their grip only tightened as each gave their two cents about their brother"s hateful words towards them. They could never leave their younger brother who could be easily provoked alone.
"Alright, alright! Let your little brother sit," their mother interrupted their torture and so he was relieved. His seat was near his mother and he walked towards his mother while his heart thumped as he could see Li Xueman from the corner of his eyes. She was seated opposite him.
"My brothers" wives are seated opposite them and she is seated opposite me. Does this mean she is my... Ahhhh!"
He shook his head trying to control his thoughts that were wandering.
"Why is she here? How is she here? Where is her boyfriend/husband. Is she here for third brother?..." his thoughts still wandered.
"Brother Yuanjun! How are you?" a jade white hand appeared in front of him suddenly. He looked up to see a neatly made up face with youthful charm.
If it was anyone else, they"d have felt at least a little for that pure looking young girl who is in her prime. But for Yuanjun who spent most of his time in the College campus, that fresh beauty, whose intentions were well written on her well-made-up face, only made him cringe. At one glance, he recognised her. She is the little sister of Li Xueman. She is a bad person even when she was little.
" What was her name again? Ah, I hate her! I hate Li Xueman too but this girl.... I despise! Ew! Why is she here? ", his face cringed.
Li Xueman used to be a very naughty tomboy but she always was careful not to hurt others or other"s properties. This little sister of hers, she loved to protect, like a stupid, would break other"s windows and scratch cars. There was once when she broke the hair clip of another girl because she refused to let her touch it. She"d do all these mistakes and would blame her sister without regret and that stupid Xueman would agree and accept punishments, like a stupid.
Once he got so mad at that stupid and confronted her and she said that she was family and she would protect her.
Stupid! If family protects family, why did her sister, pushed her and ran away that day she was almost kidnapped? That little sister didn"t even get help from the elders but ran and hid in a bush trying to protect herself. Or did she want her sister"s life to end that day, who knows?
If only he was not there, who"d know where Li Xueman would be now. Or if she"d be even alive.
"Addressing me with such familiarity... Do I know you?" he never was nice to people he hated and he didn"t care that girl in front of him is now filled with tears looking like a meek lamb. But he could sense the viciousness in her heart.
Ah! I hate her! Weiye... I despise that name too!
His brothers and their wives looked at each other and tried to control their smiles. Their little brother is savage as always!
"Junjun, did you forget? She is Uncle Li"s young...." Tang Weihua tried to salvage the situation seeing the little girl in tears. She was even a little angry at her son. She only had four boys and she always liked girl children and for her making a girl cry is unacceptable even if it is her own son.
" Ah, right. Li...no, Gao Weiye. I forgot," he said bluntly. Their mother, Dong Xueming, married another man even before a year pa.s.sed after their father"s death.
There were always rumours that their mother cheated their father with Gao Zhaomin and the youngest daughter is his child and not Li Xueman"s father. But Yuanjun was sure of it. He was responsible for actually revealing their mother"s infidelity to her husband.
He knew Li Xueman hated him for that. Another reason for her to hate him. But he never felt like he did wrong since he spoke the truth.
"Li Xueman, long time no see," he said with a scholarly smile that would make anyone trust him while pulling his chair out and sat elegantly.
"Yeah, welcome back, Lu Yuanjun" she gave a really polite smile and her eyes were filled with both surprise and anger. She was mad he didn"t remember her sister but was surprised and pleased that he still remembered her. Both were of the same age and were cla.s.smates and so she just addressed him by his name.
"I met them on my way back here and compelled them to attend the dinner. Both of you, feel free at home," Lu Kong"s voice was authoritative, yet he couldn"t hide the doting in it. He really loved the elder girl more.
"Sure, Uncle Lu" both of them answered politely.
The dinner table was lovely throughout dinner as the brothers teased their little brother who just returned. Gao Weiye tried her best to impress everyone and not one in the Lu family was a fool and everyone could read her like a book yet they didn"t out her.
Yuanjun, who wanted to hear more of Xueman"s voice was irritated by Weiye answering his every question and soon he went silent.
He silently watched Xueman who was eating elegantly, like a n.o.ble lady, trying to hide her presence, yet so attractive. She was wearing ordinary clothes and had a little make up on and her bright eyes that weren"t covered by those thick spectacles, looked amusing.
She felt his unwavering glance and her eyes met with his and he felt his heart thumping looking at her eyes.
"Lu Xueman! How could you ignore me and let your sister answer for you? I hate you! I want to keep you by my side and do things to you in bed and make you beg for mercy.... "
"Brother Yuanjun, it seems like your hate for my big sister haven"t reduced in over a decade," Gao Weiye chuckled sweetly and immediately Xueman looked away.
Yuanjun just glared at that vicious girl who deliberately saying words creating misunderstanding and looked at Xueman whose expression that haven"t changed much. It was indifferent, as if she always knew he hated her.
"Fine then! Think what you want, stupid woman! I do hate you, so you are not misunderstanding me," he snorted in his heart but his heart hurt by her indifference.
Did he want her to cry or did he want her to say that he really didn"t hate her?
Even he didn"t know what he wanted. But her indifference made him depressed.
"Why would Fourth hate Manman? You must be misunderstanding...Manman,don"t mind her. Weiye is inexperienced," Tang Weihua said while signalling her fourth son to say something but he pretended he didn"t notice his mother and continued eating.
The table fell silent for sometime and the three Sister-in-laws looked at each other and rolled their eyes by the act of the despicable Weiye.
They all were looking at their little brother looking at Xueman like he wanted to impregnate her. His glance was like a hungry wolf wanting to devour. How did she interpret it as a hateful glare? What a white lotus b*tch! No one but us can tease and taunt our precious little brother!
The Sister-in-laws decided they should get their awkward little brother who is stupid realising his feelings and that girl who listened to her sister and thinks he hates her, together.
"Weiye, you should check your eyes," Su Yuemeng, the eldest daughter-in-law said with a sweet smile. She was a renowned neuro surgeon and continued to work even after she got married and had kids.
With Tang Weihua telling her that she misunderstood and now this, Gao Weiye was embarra.s.sed and got angry too. Even though her Gao family is not as powerful as her Su family who owned the biggest hospital in the capital city, how could she belittle her? If she married the fourth, wouldn"t both of their status become the same then? It seems hard with brother Yuanjun still looking at her sister adoringly, but she, Gao Weiye will get what she wants, no matter what. If she could make brother Yuanjun look away from her sister once, she can do it once again. She wants to be the daughter-in-law of the Lu Family.
Before she could find a polite reply, Su Yuemeng continued herself, "It"s just that, you seem to squint your eyes a lot and you are not blinking your eyes properly and so I guessed. I might be wrong and there might be actually something wrong with your brain...."
By now the other two daughter-in-laws couldn"t hold back their laughter and their husbands couldn"t help but admire their eldest Sister-in-law.
Pretending to not notice the other"s gazes, Su Yuemeng continued," Maybe because I"m a neurologist, I seem to be so sensitive about it and maybe I am making a mountain out of molehill. Honesty, all I want now is to put a probe through your nose and check your brain for any abnormalities," she chuckled. Her n.o.ble upbringing and her profession of a doctor was apparent by the way she spoke. No one could say she was actually rebuking that girl and thought she was really caring," "But..." she paused seeing Weiye who was now almost glaring but Xueman was pale as a sheet of paper.
"What could be done about this naive girl? And look at the clothes they are wearing.The CEO is wearing ordinary clothes while the girl attending university is wearing the latest fas.h.i.+on."
" Little sister, let"s arrange for a checkup. What if it is serious?" Li Xueman said anxiously.
" Yes, bring her to our hospital. I"ll arrange a good doctor to have a look at her," Su Yuemeng said in an honest voice as if she was really concerned. All she wanted was to meet that girl and give a piece of her mind. But she knew she will never come and meet her.
"She is this vicious at this young age. What made her this way? " she wondered.
"Yes, you do that," Lu Kong agreed too. This little conflict between women wasn"t apparent to him and he genuinely thought that Weiye might be sick.
The rest of the dinner went peacefully. The children all acted well too since the ones who were proper will get hefty rewards from their grandfather. Gao Weiye also tactfully stopped talking unnecessarily since her intentions were discovered by that Su Yuemeng.
But Weiye was happy that Su Yuemeng said she might be sick. She has already planned for something and she can a.s.sure her place in this Tian feng estate if that happens.
Even during dinner, Li Xueman kept on receiving calls and after dinner she excused herself to make some calls. She is the CEO of the Li Enterprises and it is understandable if she is busy. Especially in this crucial time when she really has a lot of work to do if she has to avoid filing for bankruptcy.
As Xueman returned, she thanked them and apologised for leaving early since she had things to take care of.
She asked Weiye to join her but the latter pretended that her head hurt and that she"d stay in the Feng Tian Manor for the night since she feels like collapsing. She was relieved when Mrs. Lu agreed.
Lu Yuanjun felt something was wrong with this scenario and looked at his eldest Sister-in-law and she nodded in understanding.
"Here," Lu Weizhe, the second brother threw his car key at his brother, "Get Manman home safe," he sighed internally that his brother has to be pushed this much.
Shouldn"t he have offered to drop her himself? What an idiot brother! If he is like this, how is he going to get married?
Li Xueman refused but Lu Yuanjun walked steadily in the front as if he was deaf. Lu Xueman, having no other way, followed him after excusing herself and saying bye to her sister.