Crooked Steward

In the pre-dawn stillness of Blooming Courtyard on the morning of the Xuan family wedding, silence enveloped every corner like a secret. The world was painted in shades of gray, and the courtyard lay in a state of expectation.

In this silence, many brides would likely be lost in their thoughts, preparing to step into a new chapter of their lives, the serenity of the courtyard echoing the serenity of their hearts. Or the chaos within it.

Was this true for the chosen Xuan bride to be? Nope.

The "protagonist" of this play was fast asleep surrounded by his extra fluffy quilt on the chilly winter morning. The Blooming Courtyard was almost completely silent, as the rest of the Nanshan mansion was already up and bustling in the dark.

The servants of the mansion, all 9 of them, were bustling about from place to place, getting the mansion ready to welcome the members of the Xuan family.

They focused on making space in the main reception room to welcome the wedding guests with status. The wedding was going to be a small affair, but there would be guests that needed to be treated with care.

They also needed to set up the area in the courtyard to welcome the villagers and whatever lower-status guests would come from the town. While these guests were less of a priority, they would be at the entrance of the mansion, where the honored guests would need to pass.

Plus, the Xuan family was not a small family. Even if this was a small rural mansion among many, and this was a marriage to a small village ger, the Xuan family face must be kept at all costs.

If this face wasn't kept, who would be held accountable? The head of the household would normally be held accountable, not the master of the family. It would normally be the wife who takes care of household affairs that are too mundane for the "master" of the family.

But this wasn't the main Xuan family in Jinghua, with Lady Xuan at the helm. This was a small remote, satellite mansion, and a wedding that was almost a secret to those in the capital, where the family lived most of the year.

Steward Wu was completely in charge of this mansion. It wasn't the only mansion of the Xuan family he managed, but this could win him a lot of good or bad points with Lady Xuan, depending on how smooth the wedding was.

Seemingly unaware, the prideful steward was looking at this event as a claim to fame, not a possible way to lose credibility. If things went wrong today, he would be the one to take the blame for it all.

This wedding was between the only legitimate young master of the Xuan family and should be one of the most important events of his career. But the fact that it was a hidden small affair with a village ger, lowered the setward's caution.

Steward Wu was bustling around the mansion with pride, like a peacock. The main reception room looked grand enough for the Xuan family.

The older servants of the Nanshan mission were wrapped up in the same façade the steward was in. This could also be their claim to fame, right?

Maybe they could move to the main mansion to serve the main family?

Steward Wu still had a little bit of a foreboding feeling when he thought of the ugly village ger and the look Xu Feng had when he was eating with the female servants of this mansion.

A shiver ran down Steward Wu's back, and his face scrunched up in fear. An uncontrollable, unshakable chilling fear.

"It's nonsense, that stupid village ger couldn't do anything to someone who was raised outside of a backward village."

The Steward Wu thought his whispers went unheard, but one of the mansion aunties, Lifen, heard as she bustled about and asked with care for her benefactor, "Are you okay, Steward Wu?"

She and Auntie Lan were hoping they would get moved to a higher position in Nanshan estate. There was no way an inexperienced village ger could become the head of the household of even a rural mansion of the Xuan family.

They had lived here for years, since they were children, and were more worthy than an ugly village ger with nothing to offer. They honestly didn't understand why this wedding was even happening.

Most regular people weren't as in touch with the history of Donghua and didn't understand the importance of the immortal bloodlines. Xu Feng was much more precious than they could grasp.

Not because of his tall stature, and less feminine looks, that would be more liked by Xuan Yang. Even if he was truly ugly, he would still have good marriage prospects in large families of Donghua. Most likely as a concubine, but still one with certain liberties and status.

"Ah yes," Steward Wu smiled, caught off guard, "Good work."

Realizing his comment must have been too loud, Steward Wu quickly straightened his outfit as he reassured the woman before moving hastily to another area.

That stupid ger was nothing compared to him, all he had was a head full of silver hair and a deep red mole. If not for that, he would be stuck in a village his whole life.

Even one of his nieces would be a better choice as a bed companion than the statuesque ger with no background.

Steward Xu smiled wickedly when no one was looking.

Although he would no longer be in charge of this mansion, he had left the ger with almost nothing. He'd pocketed the maintenance money from the mansion for the month, and it would be too late when the ger realized.

If he ever realized. Running a mansion wasn't an easy task.

Steward Wu also slaughtered all the animals for the wedding except the old Ox. He had even stolen anything of value from Xu Feng's betrothal gifts, leaving him with things of little worth.

There was enough food in the kitchen to last them till the next month, but the ger wouldn't live well if he had his way. Plus, the other servants didn't respect a village ger with only his ass to his name.

Steward Wu's smile grew as he thought of Xu Feng's fate when the young master was forced to live with such a backward ger who couldn't manage only one estate.