Chapter 966 - 968: The Eminent Personage in Great-Grandma’s Book_1
"What is this about ’representing the Old Master to recognize kin’? By the tone, it seems like a servant or estate manager from a wealthy family, and they are looking for Bai Lu, which is quite strange. Bai Lu is of considerable age, where would he have relatives to recognize? Don’t all his relatives live here in Fengye Village?"
Visitors should be treated as guests, be they genuine or not, it is necessary to ask them directly and clarify the matter.
Bai Lu told a member of the younger generation at home to open the door, only to see a middle-aged man standing outside. He was indeed dressed like an estate manager of a wealthy household. Behind the man followed a young servant, leading two tall horses, indicating that both had arrived on horseback.
In the village, horses were exceedingly rare; even the horse carriage that Bai Ruozhu’s family used upon return had attracted onlookers, and these tall horses used as mounts attracted the attention of many village children.
Bai Ruozhu secretly glanced at the visitor, noting that his master’s household was no ordinary one.
Bo Zheng stood respectfully in place, bowing to everyone before he entered the yard and said, "My name is Bo Zheng, and I am the estate manager of the Bo Residence. Our Old Master has been searching for his long-lost sister for many years, and we have finally found her descendants. However, the Old Master is advanced in years and cannot travel long distances, so he sent me here."
Bai Lu, the Patriarch and Elder of the clan, stepped forward and asked, "Could you have made a mistake? We do not know a family with the surname Bo."
Bo Zheng smiled and took out a book from his chest to show to Bai Lu. Bai Ruozhu, who stood by and watched the commotion, felt a sudden jolt in her heart; that book wasn’t the one they had obtained from her second brother and then accidentally lost on the trip to Mount Hua?
That book belonged to her great-grandma, with her handwriting on it. Could it be...
Bai Zepei recognized the book as well, immediately looking towards Bai Ruozhu. When their eyes met, Bai Ruozhu nodded slightly—she had good eyesight and was sure it was the same book.
The others looked on, completely baffled, while Bai Lu’s hands shook slightly as he took the book. He remembered that book; it was left by his mother. How could he forget? But wasn’t it taken by his elder brother, Bai Fu?
Seeing Bai Lu’s gaze toward them, Bai Ruozhu had no choice but to ask Bo Zheng, "Where did you get this book from?"
"The Old Master has commanded us for years to search for his lost sister, claiming that even finding her descendants would be a comfort. This book was found by someone in the region of Mount Hua, and through a series of events, was discovered by the people we arranged to search and eventually delivered into the Old Master’s hands," answered Bo Zheng.
Bai Ruozhu nodded. That could explain it, but she did not fully believe it. It was always wise to be cautious about suddenly emerging relatives.
"Grandpa Elder, this book was originally in the hands of my second brother. I saw it when we moved, and I asked to look through it. Later, when I had business at Mount Hua, I carried it with me. Unfortunately, I fell ill, and by the time I recovered, I found that the book was missing," explained Bai Ruozhu.
The Old Master scoffed from the side, muttering, "Losing an elder’s relic and still so many excuses. You clearly didn’t treasure it."
Bai Ruozhu listened but did not respond. Indeed, she was the one who had lost it, and she did not want to make excuses for herself.
Bai Zepei’s expression darkened, and he patted Bai Ruozhu’s shoulder, saying, "Grandma, at that time, Ruozhu was poisoned and fell unconscious. When she woke up, she was blind. It’s not that she didn’t cherish the great-grandma’s book. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have carried it with her to read."
Bai Ruozhu did not expect her second brother to remember so clearly and looked at him with gratitude in her eyes. He did not want her to suffer any injustice.
Bai Lu and the others were startled. Poisoned? Blind? These were things they dared not even contemplate. People only saw the Bai family’s success outside, but they never considered what they had experienced, especially Ruozhu, who had endured so much.
"We can’t blame Ruozhu for this. Let’s continue listening to what Bo Zheng has to say," Bai Lu brought the topic back from the digression caused by the Old Master and turned his attention again to Bo Zheng.
Bo Zheng cleared his throat and said with all seriousness, "The situation is like this, when our Old Master was twelve years old, a great tragedy befell our family. His second sister, Bo Jingru, saved his life but ended up being caught by government soldiers and exiled. Since then, despite being destitute and homeless, the Old Master has always been intent on vindicating the Bo Family and finding his long-lost sister. Unfortunately, there has been no news for many years, until recently..."
At this point, Bo Zheng sighed with regret.
Everyone pondered the credibility of Bo Zheng’s words, but the old lady, still angry with Bai Ruozhu and unable to find her to vent her frustration, directed her ire towards Bo Zheng instead.
Her tone was caustic as she said, "You’re talking about something that happened decades ago, right? For decades no one could find a single person, and now that my second grandson has passed the imperial examination, you suddenly come to recognize relatives. Who knows if it’s true or not? Are you just here to take advantage and mooch off us?"
The servant behind Bo Zheng couldn’t stand it and blurted out loudly, "Old lady, don’t talk nonsense. Does our master need to take advantage of you?"
"Xi Shun, show some respect!" Bo Zheng frowned. He too was somewhat displeased, mainly because the old lady hadn’t asked for clarification yet was speaking to his master in such a tone. It truly nullified the Old Master’s decades of searching.
However, Bo Zheng wasn’t sure of the identity of everyone in the yard, fearing that the person in question might be a daughter of the late Madame, who would still be his master, and thus entitled to respect regardless.
The servant adopted a respectful expression and immediately closed his mouth, standing quietly behind Bo Zheng with eyes focused obediently ahead, displaying the well-disciplined nature of the servants in this household.
Bo Zheng gave a respectful bow to the people present and said, "The Old Master had no knowledge of the Bai Family’s offspring passing the imperial examinations. I set out from the Capital over half a month ago and hope that no one here will misunderstand."
Bai Ruozhu appeared somewhat confused, but suddenly, as if struck by a thought, she asked, "What is your Old Master’s name?"
Although it was rather abrupt, Bo Zheng initially didn’t wish to casually disclose the Old Master’s name to a member of the younger generation, but on seeing the earnestness in Bai Ruozhu’s bright eyes, he felt that the girl was sincere and had no ulterior motives. Perhaps she merely wanted to verify the truth of his words.
"The Old Master’s name is Bo Gaozhuo, and he is currently seventy-four years old," responded Bo Zheng.
"Gaozhuo, Gaozhuo, that’s it," Bai Ruozhu murmured to herself without looking at Bo Zheng, repeating the name softly under her breath.
Bai Zepei immediately turned to Bai Ruozhu—he too had browsed through that book of their great-grandmother’s quite a bit. When Bai Ruozhu mentioned it, he too recalled the appearance of the words "Gaozhuo" in the book. He had initially thought it praised the eloquence and excellence of a poem and had never considered it to be a name.
Bai Ruozhu raised her head to look at her elder brother, "Elder brother, you remember it too, don’t you?"
Bai Zepei quickly nodded, and Bai Ruozhu then turned to Bai Lu, "Patriarch Grandpa, the book of the late great-grandma mentioned the name Gaozhuo three times. When I first read it, I thought she was praising the content for being brilliant and outstanding. I bet elder brother thought the same. Just now, it suddenly occurred to me that it might be a person’s name. So, it seems that what Manager Bo has told us is likely true."
Although the great-grandma had passed away, if they could help her visit the brother she always longed for, it would surely comfort her spirit in heaven.
The onlookers nodded in agreement, feeling convinced that there hadn’t been a mistake. Out of nowhere, the old lady spit disdainfully and said with a sarcastic tone, "So if you say it’s true, it is? How do we know you’re not playing some trick?"
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A cute new day has started, I’m begging for monthly votes, Mouka really hopes to make it into the top 50 this month...