Chapter 324: Imminent Childbirth, Talented Xiao Clan, Emergency Gathering

Second Year of Great Xia, December 15th.

Not long after nightfall, in the Xiao Mansion in the inner city, in the guest hall of the front courtyard.

The hostess Lin Lan was arranging a family banquet with two attendants.

"Come, this dish is prepared for Ning'er, put it here."

"Xiao Yue, you go to the back kitchen and take three bottles of aged wine."

"Yes, Madam."

"Xiao Ping, go see if the stewed meat is ready. If it is, bring it over."

"I'll go right away, Madam."

"The banquet is about to start, let me see what's still missing!"

Although she was so busy that she couldn't stop at all, Lin Lan was full of spring breeze, and the corners of her mouth were always hooked with a smile. Clearly, she was enjoying the whole process.

"Dad, Mom, Big Sister and Second Sister have arrived, come quickly!"

Suddenly, Xiao Heng's loud shout came from the front gate.

Lin Lan hurriedly put down what she was doing, then took the two attendants, washed her hands in a hurry, and walked quickly toward the front gate.

In the main hall, four middle-aged men had just walked out. The leader was Lin Lan's husband Xiao Kangcheng, the one closest to him was Xiao Yuan, and the remaining two were similar in appearance to Xiao Kangcheng, clearly his brothers.

A large group of people also rushed out of the side hall, which were three women leading fifteen young men and women. Their faces were full of curiosity, and they also followed behind Xiao Kangcheng and the four, walking toward the front gate.

"Sister Ning and Sister Yu have both come. We haven't seen them for a long time."

"Can't call them that anymore, have to call them Madam."

"Right, right, right, should call them Madam. Heard that the Second Madam just broke through and is the third female cold-resistant level in Xia City now!"

"It was three days ago. Big Uncle and the others went to see it personally."

"Isn't the Second Madam still pregnant?"

"It's because her belly is big that Big Uncle and the others are worried. Fortunately, no accidents happened. Today's family banquet is to celebrate the Second Madam's breakthrough."

"And Uncle Yuan, Uncle Yuan also broke through last night. Big Uncle, Uncle Yuan, plus Big Madam, our Xiao family now has five cold-resistant levels."

"Soon there will be more, Second Uncle and Third Uncle and the others are almost there too!"

"Cough cough... all shut up, don't be rude when you see the Madam!"

Xiao Kangcheng, the head of the family, opened his mouth, and the group of women and juniors immediately shut their mouths, all obediently following behind him and walking to the front gate.

However, before they walked out, Xiao Heng had already led a group of people in.

Xiao Ning in the front was holding a big pregnant belly, and walking was a bit inconvenient;

Xiao Yu beside her only had a slightly bulging abdomen, clearly pregnant not long ago.

Both of them had two attendants supporting them, and walking was very slow.

Xiao Kangcheng glared at his son Xiao Heng first, blaming him for bringing people in first, and then led a family of people to walk to the front of the two daughters, bowing respectfully:

"Greetings, two Madams!"

"Oh my, Dad, Mom, Uncle Yuan, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Aunts, what are you all doing? Get up quickly, get up quickly."

"If you do this again, Big Sister and I won't dare to come back in the future!"

Seeing her parents and uncles leading a family of people to salute them, Xiao Ning and Xiao Yu were a bit angry and hurriedly asked everyone to stand up.

Seeing that her parents and others had stood up, Xiao Ning said angrily: "This Xia etiquette is really too heartless, family members still have to make it so distant!"

Xiao Ning knew very well why her father and others saluted them, which was because of the regulations of the ninth-rank title system in the etiquette chapter of the four chapters of Xia etiquette.

Nowadays, the daily behavioral norms of everyone in the Great Xia camp were almost constrained by Xia etiquette. The regulations of the ninth-rank title system in the etiquette chapter stipulated that commoners must perform subordinate etiquette when seeing those ennobled, and low-rank titles must also perform subordinate etiquette when seeing high-rank titles.

Although the rules were so, seeing her parents salute them, the two women naturally felt bad in their hearts, so they couldn't help but blame this Xia etiquette for being somewhat heartless.

Xiao Kangcheng saw it more clearly than the two and waved his hand with a smile: "The new regulations have just been issued, and strictly observing them will not be wrong. Doesn't Xia etiquette have content about father-son etiquette? I estimate that it will definitely be adjusted and modified later."

Xiao Ning remembered that Xia Chuan had indeed mentioned this when he heard this, and nodded, smiling: "Father sees it more clearly than the daughter. Husband did indeed say this matter. Father-son etiquette should override the title etiquette."

"Oh my, alright, don't stand here at the gate. I can't stand anymore, hurry in, sit down first!"

Xiao Yu had a straightforward personality and directly urged everyone to enter.

"Good, good, good, Yu'er has spoken, everyone enter and take your seats!"

Xiao Kangcheng knew his second daughter's temperament and waved his hand with a smile to invite everyone in.

Lin Lan couldn't help it long ago. She rushed to Xiao Ning's side, replaced the attendant to hold the hands of the two, and looked at her eldest daughter with full pity.

"Ning'er, I said let Heng'er pick you up, why did you come yourself? You are going to give birth next month, you must be careful, don't hurt my grandson!"

Seeing Lin Lan's nervous look, several aunts also gathered around, supporting and talking, looking like stars holding the moon, firmly protecting Xiao Ning and Xiao Yu, and walking toward the guest hall.

"Oh my, Mom, I'm not that weak. Isn't it just pregnant with a child? You gave birth to three of us back then, and I didn't see you so nervous. And the three aunts, which one didn't give birth to four or five, I didn't see it so exaggerated!"

Hearing Xiao Ning's words, Lin Lan blamed: "Can that be the same? The big treasure lump you are pregnant with is personally named by his Big Uncle. My little Yu Zong is the top noble young master of our Great Xia in the future."

Lin Lan became more proud as she spoke, and the three women beside her also followed to tease.

"That's not it, it was personally named by the Lord before it came out. This favor is unique in our Great Xia."

"In Xia City with more than 400,000 people, who can be more precious than our little Yu Zong?"

"Not a noble young master, clearly a little Secretary adult, hahahaha!"

Hearing the flattery of the three younger sisters, Lin Lan's smile naturally became even brighter.

Initially, Xia Hong took two names. The boy was called Yu Zong, and the girl was called Yu Ning. Everyone clearly defaulted that Xiao Ning was pregnant with a boy and didn't mention the two words Yu Ning at all.

During the greetings, everyone stepped into the guest hall and took their seats one by one.

Today was the family banquet of the Xiao clan. Everyone present was a member of the Xiao clan. Xiao Kangcheng, the head of the family, naturally took the main seat. Beside him was his wife Lin Lan, and the two daughters Xiao Ning and Xiao Yu stood on both sides of the two;

Downward were his cousin Xiao Yuan and his wife, as well as his two own brothers Xiao Kangyue and Xiao Kangjian, and their respective wives;

Further down were the second-generation descendants of the Xiao clan at present. His son Xiao Heng was also among them. Xiao Lin, Xiao Jing, Xiao Cen, Xiao Yue, Xiao Yan, Xiao Qing... there were sixteen people in total.

"Tonight is a family banquet to celebrate Yu'er and A-Yuan's breakthrough to the cold-resistant level. There are not so many rules. Everyone is here, let's start the banquet!"

Xiao Kangcheng opened his mouth, and everyone smiled and picked up their chopsticks. A harmonious family banquet began like this.

Seeing such a big family, Xiao Kangcheng couldn't help but feel a bit emotional. Looking back a year ago, they were still leading more than a thousand people on the Five Ape Mountain side, living a bitter life. Compared to now, it was like dreaming.

The twenty-six people present today were their entire Xiao clan.

Just the cold-resistant level, there were four: him, Xiao Yuan, Xiao Ning, and Xiao Yu; the two own brothers Xiao Kangyue and Xiao Kangjian were also at the limit of the Earth-Digging Realm cultivation and had just been selected into the Long Wu Army, becoming battalion-level captains. It was estimated that it wouldn't take long to break through to the cold-resistant level;

Seven of the sixteen second-generation descendants were Earth-Digging Realm. His son Xiao Heng achieved 18th place in the Woodcutting Realm grouping martial arts meeting in June, and was the best among them; the remaining eleven, looking at their age, their talents were not bad, and there was even a good seedling who could break the Earth-Digging Realm breakthrough record soon.

The Xiao clan of today, just by their own strength, was enough to occupy a place in the upper echelons of Great Xia. Plus the two Secretary Madams, Xiao Ning and Xiao Yu, saying that the Xiao clan had already ranked among the top noble families of Great Xia was not an exaggeration at all.

Such a life, what more could one ask for!

"Yu'er congratulates Uncle Yuan on his breakthrough. From now on, our Xiao Mountain team will have four cold-resistant levels. After Big Sister gives birth, we can also try to hunt high-level cold beasts. By then, maybe we can also form a Xiao Mountain Army!"

While Xiao Kangcheng was feeling emotional, hearing his daughter Xiao Yu's words, his expression was somewhat moved, but after pondering for a moment, he shook his head and quickly calmed down.

Xiao Yuan bowed and smiled: "Uncle Yuan is so old, it is right to break through. It is you, Yu'er, who broke through so early. I am afraid your future will be limitless. It should be Uncle Yuan congratulating you!"

Hearing Xiao Yuan's words, Xiao Kangyue and Xiao Kangjian couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency in their hearts. Their ages were not much different from Xiao Yuan. In the past, everyone was Earth-Digging Realm, so it didn't matter. Now that Big Brother and Xiao Yuan had broken through, they naturally felt that they were lagging behind.

As for the other ten or so juniors below, they were all looking at the four people above with envy, their eyes full of longing for the cold-resistant level.

"Dad, three days ago, the Martial Arts Academy issued a notice, stopping the quotas for us Earth-Digging Realms. Do you know what's going on?"

Xiao Heng was a bit bolder and directly asked Xiao Kangcheng about the recent reduction of Earth-Digging Realm quotas in the Martial Arts Academy. The other Xiao descendants heard this and also raised their heads curiously, clearly very concerned about this question.

Xiao Kangcheng frowned, probably thinking that his son was asking blindly, and subconsciously wanted to scold.

Xiao Ning saw her father's thoughts. In order not to let her brother be scolded, she took the lead and scolded: "You stinky boy, you have a lot of questions every day. Secretary Qiu issued the order, do you still need to explain it to you?"

Xiao Yu was a bit careless and directly opened his mouth: "Heard it was for the Hive side. The Lord personally issued the order. During this period, the quotas of the Martial Arts Academy are all allocated to the Earth-Digging Realm limit, as much as possible to let some people break through to the cold-resistant level first." ===== CHAPTER 325 =====

Xiao Yu was a bit carefree and spoke directly: "I heard it's because of the matter at the honeycomb. The Lord personally issued an order that for this period, the quotas for the Martial Arts Academy are all allocated to those at the limit of the Earth-Digging Realm, to let as many people as possible break through to the Cold-Resisting Stage first."