Chapter 241: Chapter 241 : The Xie Bloodline (2)

Xie Jianzhi.

The Xie siblings could not help but stare at the man who stood in front of them. Judging from the body posture alone, it was clear that he was an alpha. A male alpha who bore the Xie surname.

And the first character of his name was also "Jian". That only had one meaning*.

"Young man," Xie Jianshen narrowed his eyes at Xie Jianzhi. "Where do you live and what are the names of your parents?"

Xie Jianzhi calmly replied, "I currently live in the Central Orphanage in Willow Plains. I lost my parents from a young age, but my father was surnamed Xie and my mother was surnamed Qing."

"How did you come to manage the orphanage?"

"My benefactor, the previous orphanage head, took me in when I was three years old. Unfortunately, he passed away two weeks ago. Before he passed away, he asked me to take care of my brothers and sisters."

Xie Jianshen raised an eyebrow at the man opposite them.

"You seem to be not older than twenty. Am I right?" Xie Jianyu asked.

Xie Jianzhi smiled.

"Crown Prince is too polite. I am pushing twenty-five next year. It is a little embarrassing."

It was impolite to continue interrogating the guest, so Xie Jianshen and Xie Jianyu had to stop the questioning at that point.

Xie Jianzhi and the children were led to the front yard to enjoy the beautiful decoration and the plentiful snacks that the palace inhabitants painstakingly prepared for hours.

In light of Xie Jianzhi’s sudden appearance, the focus had shifted from adopting a child to finding out Xie Jianzhi’s biological parents.

"He doesn’t know his parents, but he for sure knows that he is related to the royal family," Xie Jianshen remarked in a low voice as he sat with his younger brother on a remote bench and observed the dragon children running about.

The maids and servants never had to deal with so many children at once, so they were quite busy catching the playful children one by one and preventing them from running into a decorative item and knocking off any of Fuxi Palace’s rare treasures.

"Big Brother, what do you think about him? Is he a cousin? If yes, how far apart from us?"

Xie Jianshen pulled his lips into a thin line.

"Little Yu, don’t you still have our family’s ancestral tree? We can take a look now if you want."

"Sure, Brother."

The siblings rose to their feet and went inside the palace. Xie Jianyu caught Zhang Fengxi in the middle of playing hide and seek with a few children in his peripheral view. A comforting warmth spread in his heart when he heard the happy waves of laughter that emanated from the children.

Zhang Fengxi did like children.

That was a relief.

A while later, the siblings bent over the huge scroll that depicted the Xie family’s ancestral tree. Alas, it was incomplete. Other than the obvious successors of the Xie bloodline, the ancestors had only taken care to mention the ones who married into important households. Even then, the children were not mentioned because they were no dragons.

"A Xie who married a Qing."

Xie Jianshen repeated the sentence many times in his head.

"I wonder who. It would help if we knew what clan Lady Qing hailed from."

"Or Lord Qing?" Xie Jianyu offered.

"Then again, didn’t he say that he was fairly young when he came to the orphanage?"

"Three years old," Xie Jianshen pointed out. "He won’t remember much about his parents, let alone his parents’ clan."

"One thing for sure is that the family resided within Fuxi Palace’s territories. Because otherwise, how did he end up in the orphanage?"

"Great clue," Xie Jianshen tapped at his lips impatiently. "Xie and Qing... Xie and Qing..."

He repeated the names over and over again like some kind of spell.

"We need to check the marital records of Xie family members over the past hundred years. I am sure that we can find the entry in the Palace Registry Office."

"What if his parents did not get married?" The siblings exchanged concerned looks.

"What if... his parents discarded him? He didn’t exactly say that his parents passed away."

"So many questions."

Xie Jianshen pressed both hands on the study desk and exhaled out of frustration.

"Brother, we should inform Father."

Xie Jianshen looked up and gave his younger brother a wary look. Xie Jianyu

"There is a male alpha left in the Xie family, however distant. This must be Heaven’s Will, no less. This is the best news for the Xie family."

"No rush. Find the entry first, and then tell Father."

Xie Jianshen seized Xie Jianyu by his shoulders.

"Little Yu, it is no secret that the Xie family is going to lose both the Fuxi Palace and the Dragon Throne in the next generation. I will not be surprised if impostors start showing up one by one, all of them male alphas with the surname Xie."

"I understand, but..."

"No word to Imperial Father," Xie Jianshen repeated. "We will check the marriage records first, and then we will tell Father."

"... En."

Xie Jianyu reluctantly agreed.

That night, he tossed and turned on his bed, unable to sleep a wink.

Next to him, Zhang Fengxi opened his eyes and pulled him into his arms.

"Baby, what’s wrong? Are you concerned about Xie Jianzhi?"

"Mmm... So you also noticed."

Xie Jianyu cuddled closer to Zhang Fengxi’s warm body and inhaled his pheromones.

Zhang Fengxi pressed a chaste kiss on Xie Jianyu’s forehead.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Brother and I will visit the Palace Registry Office tomorrow. And then... We will see."

Zhang Fengxi ran his hand up and down Xie Jianyu’s back.

"Don’t worry too much, my sweet Jianbao. Everything will just be fine."

That was what he said, but Zhang Fengxi was in actuality quite concerned.

Xie Jianzhi did not show up in the past life.

He might or might not be related to the Xie family for real. If he was, then Xie Jianyu was in danger of losing his claim to both the Dragon Throne and Fuxi Palace.

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Author’s note :

*Some explanation about the Chinese naming tradition!

Typically, every Chinese family has a Book Of Naming that is handed over from generation to generation.

The surname of all family members remains the same.

The first characters of the names are pre-determined for every generation.

The second characters of the names are chosen by the parents.

Let’s take the Xie family for example.

Assuming the Heavenly Emperor is the 70th generation of the Xie family, then his children are the 71st generation of the Xie family.

And so are the children of his alpha brothers, alpha sisters, and alpha cousins.

All children of the 71st generation share the same first character in their names, which is Jian.

So we have Xie Jianshen, Xie Jianyu, and now Xie Jianzhi.

This basically says that Xie Jianzhi is of the same generation as the Heavenly Emperor’s sons.

The question was rather... which branch of the Xie family did he hail from? What do the readers think? (⁠ﾉﾟ⁠0ﾟ⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠~

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay