[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-am-the-xu-family-s-son":3,"chapter-i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-17":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Am the Xu Family's Son",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2307795,4510,"Chapter 17: The Duke Prefecture","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-17",17,"\u003Cp>Xu Zaijing, nearly five years old, was already sweating on his forehead; seeing this, the Hou Fu’s stable hand did not continue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then made Xu Zaijing shoot fifty arrows with each hand, counting only those that hit the red center of a straw target ten paces away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After training, Xu Zaijing practiced a breathing technique, then was dumped into a tub filled with medicinal herbs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At his age, such repeated bow-drawing would damage his body without herbal soaking to nurture it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young servant Qingyun, whom the stable hand had brought along, was also training his strength nearby, but his herbal bath was significantly reduced in quantity compared to Xu Zaijing’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This servant was the stable hand’s nephew from his former family; after the stable hand’s misfortune, their family’s businesses were seized, and relatives lost their livelihoods, scattering from the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Xu Minghua’s help searching everywhere, they found only this orphaned nephew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason he had tested his skill at the polo field recently was because that major deal had originally been sought by Prince Jing, whom he had refused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, he had been too fortunate—his string of successes made him underestimate the world; one moment of misplaced trust led him into a beauty trap, causing him a devastating fall, one so severe it nearly ruined him beyond recovery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not long ago, the second branch of the Duke Prefecture’s Pingning Princess gave birth to a son.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Yongyi Marquis House, which had little connection to the Duke Prefecture, received a congratulatory gift and was invited to attend the full-moon celebration at the Duke Prefecture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pingning Princess was the only daughter of Xiangyang Marquis; like the Ningyuan Marquis House, she too bore the surname Gu, sharing the same ancestral lineage, so when she bore a child, the Ningyuan Marquis House naturally received the good news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On this day, Sun Shi arrived at the Duke Prefecture with Xu Zaijing and four other children; though Sun Shi came early, the roadside of Xingguo Fang  was already lined with carriages and sedan chairs of noble families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old Duke was a top-tier noble who had served in court for many years and enjoyed a clean reputation, so when the Duke family welcomed a grandson, both noble military officers and civil officials from court came to celebrate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the capital, bringing children to banquets was one way to assess potential spouses; arranging a marriage during such a joyous occasion was considered double fortune.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet there was no shortage of snobbery, mockery, and sharp-tongued barbs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Shi also brought Gu Tingye; her daughter was too young and remained at home under the nurse’s care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as a merchant’s daughter, few noble ladies of noble households wished to speak with her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ladies of the fourth and fifth branches of the Gu family, upon entering the Duke Prefecture, went straight to seek out their close female friends and ignored Bai Shi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chang Mama’s expression was also grim; Bai Shi gave a bitter smile, and beside her, Gu Tingye’s eyes flickered, glancing at his mother, then at those around him, a flash of anger passing through his gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she brooded, Chang Mama spotted Sun Shi’s group and quickly alerted Bai Shi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Shi called out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The five children beside Sun Shi bowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Greetings, Lady.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Shi smiled warmly, her sudden radiance drawing glances from many court ladies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She affectionately embraced Xu Zaijing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Jing Ge!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Auntie, may you be well.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Sun Shi held Gu Tingye’s hand and asked him ordinary questions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Gu Tingye was nearly a year older than Xu Zaijing, his speech and manners still carried the innocence of a child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Gu Tingye was truly a child; Xu Zaijing’s soul was that of a modern adult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Shi’s gaze toward Xu Zaijing was filled with affection, as if they were bound by fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Da Niangzi had also given birth to a son, the sixth in the Marquis House, so they called him Liang Liu Lang; he did not come this time, claiming he had fallen ill from anger during his confinement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just before the banquet began, the main guest of honor—the second branch’s legitimate son of the Duke Prefecture—was carried out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The guests naturally offered lavish compliments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Pingning Princess belonged to the second branch,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>she had brought the wealth of the Xiangyang Marquis House into the Duke family, and since the Gu family itself was top-tier nobility, this boy was born into golden luxury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the crowd, Pingning Princess wore a gold-threaded green-pine red-jade forehead band, while her nurse held the young Gu Er Young Master  for relatives to admire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The princess conversed with her kin, and as she did, precious gifts were placed into the infant’s swaddling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After circling the room, Pingning Princess whispered a few words to her personal nurse, who then took the boy back to the side chamber.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pingning Princess glanced around the spacious room and immediately spotted Xu Zaijing, standing quietly beside his mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the past year, Xu Zaijing had grown considerably taller; his hair, now longer, was tied into several topknots,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>making him appear even more adorable and well-behaved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While speaking with court ladies and noblewomen, Pingning Princess walked over to Sun Shi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After some polite exchanges, Pingning Princess sincerely told Xu Zaijing: “Good child.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This remark carried a tone unmistakable to the noble court ladies nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zaijing, of course, knew nothing of the events at the polo field or the Duke Prefecture months ago; he could only blink and grin foolishly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Princess, for your praise.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A lady-in-waiting stepped beside the princess and whispered something; Pingning Princess nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the lady-in-waiting announced loudly: “Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the banquet began, guests ate, but the children grew restless; those who did not wish to eat or had already eaten wandered into the courtyard to play games.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zaijing had been well-fed by his mother at the table; after eating, he went to the courtyard under the escort of a maid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the state flourished; from the imperial family and nobility down to commoners, all loved games of chance, and children inevitably picked up this habit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wow, Ye Ge, amazing!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How did he hit it?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the center of the courtyard, Gu Tingye was playing the dart-pot game with a group of noble youths, already amassing a pile of winnings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many of the trinkets in the hands of these noble children were worth half a year’s food for a commoner in Bianjing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet here in the Duke Prefecture, they were merely trivial prizes for children’s dart-pot games.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the pavilion nearby, several sons of high-ranking court officials had already begun their studies; some had even tried their hand at the game—not for winning, but to earn a reputation for learning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were drawn by the commotion in the courtyard and began whispering among themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gu Tingye of the Ningyuan Marquis House is astonishingly good at dart-pot.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“His family has always mingled with crude soldiers; it would be strange if he weren’t good.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this, several sons of civil officials in the pavilion exchanged knowing smirks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along the perimeter of the courtyard, behind curtains and screens, stretched a long corridor where noble daughters of various households played games, and close sisters exchanged tips on needlework.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Occasionally, stubborn children would sneak into the corridor to beg or trick their sisters for trinkets, hoping to challenge Gu Tingye again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But they always lost everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a cry suddenly echoed from the corridor—a girl of seven or eight ran crying back toward the banquet hall, followed by a boy looking panicked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zaijing did not join the games; he stood beside the maid Xiao Dan, watching the courtyard’s bustle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, he glanced curiously at Xiao Dan beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1311,"2026-06-20T10:32:38.675Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e9814a1765a5993e7260e5f97f3658599a4eb42bdcad510a7d963435ed5b90de","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-18","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-16",790,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-am-the-xu-family-s-son-cover.jpg"]