After My Engagement Was Broken, I Married My Fiancé's Uncle - Chapter 11

“What should we do now?” Zhao Lou was so anxious that a layer of fine sweat broke out on his forehead.

Suddenly, someone poked their head out from the neighboring Qingfeng Courtyard.

Biyun’s brows were locked in a frown as she scolded in a low voice, “Be quiet! What are you shouting about so early in the morning?”

“Seriously, there hasn’t been a moment of peace since last night.”

Seeing Biyun appear, Zhao Lou’s eyes lit up. He was just about to open his mouth to ask for help when he saw her turn around and walk away.

Jiang Xingyuan took a deep breath. He looked at the lock through the narrow slit of the door. As the light entered his pupils, they constricted instantly, flashing with a strange luster.

“Xiao Lou.”

Zhao Lou suddenly heard a cool, calm voice. He followed the direction of the sound and looked over, meeting a beautiful eye. A beam of light hit it, refracting a crystal clear glow, like a stunning piece of quartz.

He was momentarily dazed by the sight.

“Go find a long strip of metal. Remember, it needs to be sharp, resilient, and made of a material that can be bent.”

Hearing this, Zhao Lou snapped back to his senses, his mind racing.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on the pin on his collar. He quickly held the pin up to the door crack.

Jiang Xingyuan looked at the pin through the gap. “Straighten it out, then insert the sharp end into the keyhole.”

Hearing this, Zhao Lou’s raised hand suddenly felt clumsy.

He roughly understood that Jiang Xingyuan intended to pick the lock with the pin, but he had never done such a thing before, he had only seen it on TV. “No… I can’t. I can’t do it.”

“Listen to me.” Inside the door, Jiang Xingyuan’s tone was exceptionally firm.

In the end, he followed Jiang Xingyuan’s instructions and inserted the tip of the pin into the keyhole.

The moment the pin entered the lock, Jiang Xingyuan slowly closed his eyes. The surroundings were deathly quiet. He heard the slight friction of the needle sliding across the grooves of the lock.

“A little more to the left. I feel a bit of resistance.”

Zhao Lou nodded, he did indeed feel a slight resistance in his hand.

“That’s the spring. You just need to push forward more and then use some force,” Jiang Xingyuan explained.

The moment he finished speaking, a “click” echoed.

The heavy iron lock suddenly sprang open.

Zhao Lou stared blankly at the scene, completely dumbfounded. He found it hard to believe that he had actually opened it.

He looked up abruptly at Jiang Xingyuan, who was pushing the door open, his eyes full of disbelief. He suddenly felt that this Second Young Master of the Jiang family was somewhat different from the rumors.

What kind of “good for nothing” rich second generation would know how to do this?

“Why are you looking at me with such surprise?” As soon as Jiang Xingyuan pushed the door open, he saw the dazed Zhao Lou.

It wasn’t anything special, but the other’s heated, searching gaze made him feel quite self-conscious.

“It’s just picking a lock, no need to make a fuss.”

Jiang Xingyuan’s eyebrows arched slightly as he walked past Zhao Lou with a calm expression.

However, in the next second, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl upward. “Hurry up, or we won’t make it in time.”

Zhao Lou immediately followed him. He asked curiously, “Young Master, how do you know how to do that?”

“Naturally, you learn after doing it enough.”

Jiang Xingyuan turned his head. Seeing Zhao Lou’s confused and innocent expression, he raised a hand to rub his nose and said casually, “Before I became the Second Young Master of the Jiang family, my identity was a locksmith in a small town.”

“It’s just a small trick,” he said, waving his hand dismissively.

As Zhao Lou watched the hand wave in front of him, his sharp eyes caught several obvious scars on the back of it. The thin calluses at the base of the thumb seemed to verify what Jiang Xingyuan had just said.

His eyes widened instantly.

“Hey, don’t envy me. I just have good luck.”

Good luck?

So, this Young Master Jiang grew up in the slums, only to discover his biological parents were wealthy, and after returning, he was sent to another family for a political marriage.

And that counts as “good luck”?

Zhao Lou was once again shocked by the Second Young Master’s statement, so stunned he didn’t know what to say.

While he was lost in thought, a stunningly beautiful face suddenly magnified in front of his eyes. He jumped in fright, his body shivering.

Jiang Xingyuan had walked ahead for a while before realizing he didn’t remember the way. He turned around and saw the distracted Zhao Lou.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing!” Zhao Lou immediately snapped out of it and shook his head.

He suddenly remembered something and said, “You asked me to look into Ninth Master’s news last night. I’ve found something.”

Jiang Xingyuan’s eyes lit up instantly. “What does he like?”

“Ninth Uncle likes worshipping Buddha.”

“And?” Jiang Xingyuan frowned. This was going to be difficult.

“And also the ‘Four Arts’ zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting.”

But he didn’t know the first thing about any of those.

Jiang Xingyuan didn’t last a second before deciding to forget it. “Which way is that ‘Aranya’ place?”

There was a fork in the road ahead, and Zhao Lou pointed to the right.

Just as Jiang Xingyuan stepped onto the right path, he suddenly paused. He turned to look at Zhao Lou. “By the way, what time is it?”

“It’s 5:30.”

Jiang Xingyuan suddenly asked, “Where does Xie Chao live?”

Seeing the cold smile on Jiang Xingyuan’s lips, Zhao Lou immediately had a bad premonition.

“What… what do you want to do?”

“It’s a secret,” Jiang Xingyuan said, blinking playfully, his mood exceptionally cheerful.

By the time Jiang Xingyuan finished everything, he had just enough time to step into Aranya.

This was the courtyard he had visited once before. He looked up at the few characters on the sign that he didn’t recognize and studied them seriously.

Suddenly, he smelled a familiar scent of sandalwood.

He looked up and saw that abstinent, refined figure.

The handsome young man, dressed in plain clothes, looked as pleasing to the eye as melting winter snow.

Jiang Xingyuan was momentarily stunned, but he immediately flashed a bright smile and greeted him happily, “Ninth Uncle, we meet again.”

Xie Junqing’s gaze fell on the boy with the brilliant smile. He stared for a few seconds before nodding with a smile in response.

Jiang Xingyuan hurried to Xie Junqing’s side, snatched a prayer mat in the very front row, and plopped down. His beautiful brows furrowed as he asked righteously, “Ninth Uncle, didn’t Buddha already forgive me? Even you were generous enough not to hold a grudge, so why are you calling me here to copy sutras again?”

His tone carried a hint of complaint and blame.

The waiting servants nearby widened their eyes, their hearts surging like crashing waves. This was the first time they had seen someone dare to speak to Ninth Master Xie like this, this new Young Master Jiang was truly bold.

Hearing this, Xie Junqing did not answer. Instead, his gaze moved toward the door.

Suddenly, someone pushed the door open.

When Jiang Xingyuan saw the newcomer, his eyes filled with surprise. Why was Xie Huai here too?

“Hi~ Good morning.”

The moment he saw Xie Huai, Jiang Xingyuan earnestly tried to build some favor and gave a warm greeting.

However, he was destined to get the cold shoulder.

Xie Huai acted as if he hadn’t seen him at all. He walked straight to Xie Junqing and bowed. “Ninth Uncle.”

Xie Junqing nodded. “Find a place to sit.”

Under the giant Buddha statue, several prayer mats were laid out. Xie Huai chose one in the back row on the left and sat down.

Having his greeting ignored didn’t make Jiang Xingyuan feel awkward; he just calmly rubbed his nose. After all, he wasn’t a gold coin, he couldn’t expect everyone to like him.

Shortly after, a small pink “dumpling” walked in; the child looked to be only five or six years old.

The child approached Xie Junqing and bowed just as Xie Huai had. “Grand-uncle Nine, morning.”

“Jinhuai, sit over here.”

Xie Junqing arranged for the child to sit in the front row.

Jiang Xingyuan was absolutely flabbergasted. He looked at the man before him who didn’t have a single wrinkle on his face, he looked only a year or two older than himself.

He never expected Xie Junqing’s seniority in the family hierarchy to be so high that he already had grandchildren…

It seemed he and Xie Chao weren’t the only ones being punished today.

At that moment, several more people filed in one after another. Most were young. Though they still carried a trace of morning exhaustion, they kept their heads down without complaint.

After entering and bowing to Xie Junqing, they began to choose seats on their own. The prayer mats in the hall were quickly filling up.

Finally, a bell tolled.

Xie Junqing looked over the Xie family juniors kneeling in the hall and noticed one obvious empty spot.

“Who is late?”

“It is Young Master Xie Chao of the second branch.”

“Go see what’s happening,” Xie Junqing said to someone nearby.

His tone was calm and lacked any anger, yet it made the scalps of the Xie family juniors in the hall tingle.

These juniors knew well that although Ninth Uncle usually appeared approachable and easy to get along with, it was all built within the framework of the rules. If someone broke his rules, Ninth Uncle had the means and methods to deal with them even without getting angry.

“Maybe Xie Chao didn’t get enough rest because he wrote too many sutras last night? That’s probably why he’s late,” Jiang Xingyuan said very “thoughtfully.”

Xie Junqing cast a faint glance at Jiang Xingyuan.

Jiang Xingyuan immediately met Xie Junqing’s eyes and blinked his beautiful eyes, projecting a sincere and concerned look, as if he were truly worried about Xie Chao.

Seeing this, Xie Junqing raised an eyebrow imperceptibly.

Soon, the servant who went to check returned to report: “Young Master Xie Chao’s bedroom door was locked.”

As soon as these words were spoken, a buzz of murmuring broke out in the hall.

Xie Chao’s door was locked inside the Xie family’s old manor? This was definitely not something an outsider could do. The only person who could have done it was someone inside the manor.

Who would lock Xie Chao’s door for no reason?

By now, some people’s gazes had already landed on Jiang Xingyuan, who looked completely unconcerned. What happened between Jiang Xingyuan and Xie Chao yesterday was not exactly a secret in the Xie manor.

Seeing everyone’s eyes on him, Jiang Xingyuan frowned, tilted his chin up, and widened his eyes. “Do you all suspect it was me?”

“Hey, you need actual evidence for this kind of thing, okay? If you suspect me, show some proof.”

Jiang Xingyuan spoke with total seriousness. He immediately turned to Xie Junqing and said flatteringly, “Ninth Uncle, don’t you think I’m right?”

Xie Junqing looked at the obediently smiling Jiang Xingyuan, studying that face for a few seconds as if trying to find any sign of guilt.

Under that calm gaze, Jiang Xingyuan’s eyes flickered with a hint of panic. He maintained the smile on his face until his cheeks began to feel stiff.

How much longer is he going to look? Hasn’t he seen enough?!

He couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. He knew he was somewhat attractive, but being stared at like this was a bit much!

Xie Junqing was simply wondering how thick-skinned Jiang Xingyuan could be.

Seeing Jiang Xingyuan’s slightly stiff smile, he kindly looked away and said with a slight curl of his lips, “You are right. Evidence is very important.”

The moment Xie Junqing looked away, Jiang Xingyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open with great force.

At the same time, a loud roar came through: “Jiang Xingyuan, you bottom feeder! If you’ve got the guts, come fight me properly! Don’t use these underhanded tactics!”

Xie Chao stood at the door, fists clenched, eyes red, and clothes in disarray, glaring furiously at Jiang Xingyuan.

The moment Jiang Xingyuan saw Xie Chao appear, the corners of his mouth twitched upward. He immediately dodged and hid behind Xie Junqing.

With an expression of pure, innocent confusion, he said, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand! I was just worrying about you a moment ago!”

“Ninth Uncle, you should really discipline Xie Chao. He can’t keep acting like this!”

The crowd looked at Jiang Xingyuan, who was hiding behind Xie Junqing and “flaunting the tiger’s might,” and was collectively struck dumb!

Could someone actually pull off a move like that?