After being reborn, I stole the female lead's cheat ability and raised the empress.

Chapter 21 Comparison

It seems that compared to her mother Cui Fangshu and her adopted sister Wen Wan, her father and brother are extremely concerned about her. They ask her about her well-being all the way, so warmly that A Li has no chance to interrupt. However, it is clear that the three of them do not care about her answer. They continue to ask her about her well-being and escort her into the mansion.

Only Cui Fangshu and Wen Wan were left behind, and they followed the others in dejectedly. As soon as they entered the mansion, they saw Xia Deqing and his two older brothers leading Ali to the newly set dining table and sitting down, constantly serving Ali food.

"Come, come, eat quickly. Do you want Daddy to feed you?" Xia Deqing looked at Ali with affection.

The latter was so frightened that he quickly picked up the bowl, took it, and buried his head in his food.

Hello?!

I would be very grateful!

She should just rely on herself!

Seeing this, Xia Deqing looked very pleased. His eyes seemed to say, "My daughter has finally grown up. I am very gratified."

Ali looked up at the sky speechlessly. This was karma. She had just said that no one cared about her, but now she was going to be overwhelmed by concern from all sides.

Especially when she accidentally caught a glimpse of her father's eyes, Ali was immediately frightened and quickly finished the rice in her bowl before heading back to her room.

"Father, elder brother, second brother, I've been traveling for two days and I'm really tired, so I'm going back to my room to rest."

After leaving those words behind, Ali fled the scene as fast as she could.

She had little connection with her family since childhood, as if she were in an ice cellar, so she was indifferent to Cui Fangshu. However, Xia Deqing and the other two were like lava crashing into an ice cave, which made her both fearful and full of expectations.

However, as soon as Ali returned to her courtyard and hadn't even had a chance to rest, her brother Xia Jingwen came over with a pile of storybooks: "Little sister, I know you like these the most, here you go."

Ali took the storybook and was about to express her gratitude when her eldest brother, Xia Jingyuan, came over: "Little sister, these are the treasures I've collected over this period of time. Here you go."

Xia Jingwen was not to be outdone: "Little sister, here you go. Take this and pick any shop you like from my estate." Xia Jingwen took off the jade pendant from her waist.

Xia Jingyuan raised an eyebrow: "If Father were here, you would be punished according to family rules." As he spoke, he handed a huge luminous pearl to Ali.

Their father hoped that one of them would be a scholar and the other a warrior, so they could protect their younger sister in the future. However, Xia Jingwen preferred business. His father forbade it, so he secretly developed his business, and every time his father caught him, he would be severely beaten.

Xia Jingwen: "Heh, if Father knew that you went out to train only to collect treasures everywhere, and even used the Marquis's name to steal things when you couldn't beat them, I wonder if you would get beaten up. Here, your sister will give you this."

"..."

The two bickered while constantly stuffing treasures into Ali's hands, which made Ali extremely happy.

nice one!

This is good stuff!

That's good stuff too!!

"Then you can rest assured," Ali said, "Heaven knows how poor she was when she first came to this world." She thanked them while happily examining the various gifts her brothers had given her.

Xia Jingyuan: "Sister, I just heard that you don't have any useful people around you. Xia Yi, you stay and protect the young lady closely."

A voice emerged from the shadows: "Yes! Young Miss, this subordinate is Xia Yi."

Xia Jingwen raised an eyebrow, a hint of something intriguing in his eyes. Because his elder brother frequently went out to train, he had formed his own secret guard. But Xia Yi was the most powerful of the ten guards, and also their commander. Was his elder brother about to…?

"Is this Xia Yi very powerful?"

Ali swears that she really just asked casually, but it caused a huge uproar when it reached her two brothers' ears.

The two brothers exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with deep wariness.

My sister's antics are always a mess, but her brothers are there to clean up her messes. Why would anyone be afraid?

What did my sister experience this year?

Xia Jingwen: "Little sister, I'll go find some people with high martial arts skills later and have them protect you, okay?"

Ali: "..." Are you even going to donate this?

In Ali's eyes, Xia Jingwen wanted to find someone to protect her because her brother had given her a bodyguard.

She said awkwardly, "Uh, this, is it really necessary?"

"Yes, of course we need to use someone. My sister needs someone to protect her closely. It's settled then. I'll go find someone now."

“Hey,” Ali wanted to refuse.

"You're not allowed to refuse!" Xia Jingwen said fiercely.

Ali stammered, "How about finding me a few women with high martial arts skills? There are still many inconveniences associated with men."

Her brothers immediately sent people to her upon her arrival, which made her feel quite embarrassed.

"Okay, okay, brother, let's go pick some together!" Xia Jingwen pulled her brother out, not wanting him to be alone with his sister. What if he made her like him even more?

As Ali watched the two brothers walk away, she grew fond of them from the bottom of her heart. She vowed that in the future, she would give a large portion of her earnings to her two brothers.

Not long after the Xia Jingyuan brothers left, Xia Deqing came again, saying, "My dearest Ali, you've suffered this past year."

Ali blushed: "...It's not bitter." Please, don't be so greasy, it'll scare the child.

“How could it not be bitter? My A-Li is very intelligent, but after a year in the other courtyard, his cultivation has hardly improved. It’s obvious that someone must have made my little A-Li suffer.”

Can you imagine a middle-aged man nearing forty calling you "baby," "baby"? It's just like the scene where the Big Bad Wolf tricks Little Red Riding Hood.

Ali blushed and asked, "Um, Father, is there something you need?"

"I'm fine, I just wanted to have a chat with you. Come on, tell me what you've been through this past year?"

Ali: !!! How would I know! Your daughter didn't leave me any memories when she died.

In order to avoid revealing her identity, Ali had no choice but to make up stories to play games with the old man.

While Ali was busy fooling the old man, Wen Wan was talking badly about Ali again.

While massaging Cui Fangshu's shoulders, Wen Wan applied eye drops to her eyes: "Mother, look, as soon as Sister came back, Father and Brothers only had eyes for her. They didn't even notice us during dinner... Father and Brother are rarely home anyway. Could it be that she resents Mother for sending her to the estate, so she's deliberately preventing Father from having a proper meal with Mother?"

When Cui Fangshu thought of the scene where her two sons and the Marquis left one after another right after Ali left, she began to feel resentful towards Ali again.

"She was sent to the estate because she was sick. If she has any complaints, she can only blame her own body for being weak. Why is she blaming me?"

"Yes, Mother did it so that she could rest and recuperate. How can she blame Mother?"

She said sadly, "Yes, Ali doesn't understand me."

Even the Marquis doesn't understand me... He's never done anything like this before..."

Wen Wan quickly said, "Mother, I have a way to get Father to come over."