[{"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-99":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},2307877,4510,"Chapter 99: Your Majesty, the Yuan Family Has Fallen Ill","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-99",99,"\u003Cp>“When the Northern Liao come marching in, can’t you tell their soldiers to let you have a good New Year?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re twisting the truth!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the high officials of the court began quarreling again, hurling sharp words at one another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor said nothing; when the bickering had worn itself out, he glanced at the censor and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Minister Ruan, your impeachment of Minister Xu has nothing to do with your younger son’s betrothal, does it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty! No.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The censor’s face went slack—he knew full well his younger son’s betrothal had nothing to do with it, but his relative’s younger son’s betrothal had been affected!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good. Where is the official from the Imperial Pasture Supervision?” the Emperor asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your servant, Yuan Bing, is here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good! Oh! There you are! How is the imperial horse supply?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Majesty—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The court session ended peacefully amid the Emperor’s inquiries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After court, Marquis Yuan Bing returned home, sat in his carriage, and pondered his official duties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a child, he had witnessed the Yuan family stripped of its title and reduced to commoners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back then, soldiers as fierce as tigers and wolves stormed the Yuan estate, leaving an indelible mark on his soul.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he was a teenager, the Yuan family was still a noble house, and he himself a noble youth—never once had he needed to lift a hand for food or clothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when the family fell from grace, it was as if they had tumbled from the clouds straight into the mud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His father’s concubine, who had once doted on him, used her beauty to climb higher again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the Yuan family suffered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ancients said: it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to return from luxury to frugality!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire Yuan household struggled to survive in Bianjing, enduring endless hardship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, when Yuan Bing came of age and married, his wife was a sharp-tongued, short-sighted, selfish daughter of a noble house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, the current Emperor ascended the throne, and in his magnanimity, restored the Yuan family’s title; Yuan Bing, leveraging his family’s ancestral skills, secured a post in the Horse Administration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He became a nobleman, an official, a man above others once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the lofty titles and high offices were held by favored noble ministers, the actual work fell to Yuan Bing—he toiled tirelessly, day and night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was content; compared to his youth, this was a good life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the gate of his home, he stepped down from his carriage and saw the carriage of the Marquis of Shoushan’s family—he knew his sister had come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Entering the main hall of his courtyard, he found not only his sister and the Lady of Yongping Marquisate, but also a young, unfamiliar woman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a cup of tea, Yuan Bing’s sister stormed out, pulling back the curtain in anger, followed by the Lady of Yongping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmph! Wretched trash.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister, calm yourself—you’re married now; you shouldn’t meddle so much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My sister-in-law! A short-sighted sparrow!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He walked to the carriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Yuan Wenshao, returning from outside, saw his aunt and hurried to bow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aunt!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two ladies departed the Yuan household without further word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three days later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Officials began debating which horse breeds were superior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then they veered off-topic, raising whether the horses of noble envoys from Northern Liao and Bai Gao should be charged for when they arrived in the capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Emperor asked: “Where is Minister Yuan of the Horse Administration?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An official from the Censorate replied: “Your Majesty, Minister Yuan Bing submitted a leave request yesterday, claiming illness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh? Then note this down. Next—who has a memorial to present?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The one who actually did the work had fallen ill; now the tasks piled up on the desks of those above. After court, officials from the Horse Administration, still in their robes, went straight to Yuan’s home to visit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After warm inquiries, they found the matter was not serious—merely exhaustion from year-end duties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Superior and subordinate spoke for half an hour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Bing clearly explained every detail the superior needed to know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After urging Marquis Yuan to rest well, the official took his leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he stepped out of Yuan’s modest courtyard,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the official’s personal steward whispered as they walked past the gate:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master, their second son has also fallen ill!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the master and servant exited, they happened upon the Lady of Shoushan Marquisate hastily alighting from her carriage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the official’s robe, the Lady of Shoushan paused briefly to bow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two parties exchanged no words and passed by each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s the Lady of the Shoushan Marquisate, come to see her brother.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm. Let’s go. Send some tonic gifts later.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Master!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After four or five days,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the day arrived: New Year’s Eve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The festive atmosphere in Bianjing reached its peak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Quyuanjie,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yongyi Marquisate,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>as in past years, swept clean, pasted peach charms and couplets, replaced the new door gods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now Xu Zaijing was no longer merely watching—he could now complete certain tasks on his own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After finishing, Zhaizhang amused the cat in his father’s room, while his sister Anmei played with several young maids.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His elder sister-in-law had just moved to summon the cat, but seeing her mother-in-law, she stopped, crestfallen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then a servant came to report on affairs in the rear courtyards; Xie Shi followed her mother-in-law, taking her younger sister along to observe and learn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His elder brother had already gone ahead to the surrounding alleys, visiting old retainers of the Xu family—two of whose sons had perished in the west.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Night fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Firecrackers echoed through Bianjing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Countless lanterns lit up, turning Bianjing into a city that never slept.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the fireworks from the Xu family’s upper floor, Xu Minghua returned from the palace and joined the family for New Year’s Eve dinner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Shi directed the household stewards and maids in preparing the feast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Shi, pregnant, could not run about; Anmei stepped in, helping Sun Shi with much of the work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was an early lesson in the essential duties of a proper Lady of the House.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After dinner, the family played games like toss-pot, laughing and chattering merrily inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zai and his two younger brothers had drunk their fill, smiling broadly as they watched it all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the second half of the night-watch, the Xu household gradually quieted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Xu Zaijing grew older, he no longer needed to go out early to chant the song “Sell Your Foolishness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along with his siblings and sister-in-law, he paid New Year’s respects to his parents and received red envelopes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the younger maids and servants of the Xu household go out to chant, he laughed inwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each person tapped the ash of firecrackers with bamboo poles tied with copper coins, each whispering a different wish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Shi wished her eldest daughter well in her in-laws’ home,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Shi naturally wished for a son,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingcao murmured silently, then her eyes grew distant; she lowered her head, thinking—her family’s faces grew faint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yin Hour (4 to 5 a.m.)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Zhu family arrived first at the Xu home to pay New Year’s respects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was their first year of marriage; the new bride, brimming with joy, had to come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Shi gave her a large red envelope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She inquired carefully about Zhu’s daughter-in-law Ni Shi, asking after her younger sister’s condition, learning that this was Ni’s first year spending New Year’s at the Zhu household, brought by Zhu Qinghu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next year, Ni’s younger brother—the eldest son of the Ni family—would be taking over the household.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ni Shi would assist him as much as she could.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, at the Gu household, the atmosphere had been uneasy since last night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fourth and fifth branches had sent word: since Gu Tingyu had spoken, they would not celebrate together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Neglecting their own brothers, yet favoring outsiders!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>recently, the Lord of the Bai family had returned to Yangzhou, leaving Bai Shi gloomy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And because Gu Yan Kai had not spent the holiday in Bai Shi’s courtyard, her face had grown extremely dark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made both Gu Tingye and Gu Tingyi hesitant to approach their mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Gu Tingyu who had Pingmei sit beside Bai Shi and whisper something to her; upon hearing Pingmei’s words, Bai Shi’s eyes filled with astonishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ping’er, is this true?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mother, it’s certainly true. My husband has promised me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good, good, good—I’ll start preparing then.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying this, Bai Shi also spoke with Chang Maomao, who was equally delighted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just before Hai Hour, Gu Yan Kai returned from Bi Lian Courtyard to the courtyard where Bai Shi resided.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, at Gu Tingyu’s strong insistence, the courtyard’s name had been changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Tingyi saw his father and walked up happily, asking sweetly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Father, why are you only here now? Yì’er missed you so much!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This left Gu Yan Kai speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t say he’d spent time with his concubine, then his brother, and only now came to his daughter—that would break her heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Filled with shame, he knelt down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yì’er, what do you want? Tell Father, and Father will buy it for you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thank you all for your support!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I slept fitfully for three hours.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I just revised the previous chapter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There are still about six thousand characters left to revise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1559,"2026-06-20T10:32:38.675Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","0ab50056dce2c5792721f098e5ee5b58b909b860a144e32e897a8cc81851d7a6","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-100","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-98",790,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-am-the-xu-family-s-son-cover.jpg"]