Zhu Shunyao spoke directly from the side, "The Zhu family in Zhushi has been trying to meet you for the past two years. I’ve turned them away many times.
I don’t know how they found out about your sister and Doumiao, but now they want to meet them too. Fortunately, your sister and Doumiao usually live at school. Even during holidays, they stay with their master for studies, so they haven’t crossed paths with them. But they keep coming again and again. I’m almost sick of them."
It was rare to see Zhu Shunyao look so childish. Zhu Yanyi saw this and laughed heartily.
Zhu Shunyao gave Zhu Yanyi a helpless look. "Don’t laugh at me. I’m telling the truth. The Zhushi Zhu family is like ivy, clinging to us. I don’t even know what relation we have to them. Even if our ancestors were the same long ago, that was generations back. It’s shameless of them to bring it up now."
Zhu Shunyao had never cared about the Zhushi Zhu family and never intended to acknowledge them. Yet, they refused to let go.
"If you don’t want to see them, Uncle, I’ll handle it," Yan Aohan said, finishing the last bite of his peach and tossing the pit into the nearby trash can.
Zhu Shunyao sighed. "I can’t always trouble you, Little Yan. Anyway, since Ani and the others aren’t here, even if they want to pester us, they can’t." Although it was a passive approach, it was the best solution for Zhu Shunyao.
"No trouble at all," Yan Aohan said with a faint smile. "The Zhushi Zhu family does need a shake-up. That way, they won’t have the energy to come to Beijing. They just need to know whose territory this is."
A sharp light flashed in Yan Aohan’s eyes. He had originally disdained to act, but since Zhu Shunyao didn’t want to see them, he didn’t mind intervening slightly.
Zhu Yanyi added from the side, "Hasn’t the Ma family already entered Zhushi?" She was calculating if there was a way to deal with the Zhu family.
"Yes, but their foundation in Zhushi isn’t very stable yet. So, dealing with the Zhushi Zhu family won’t be easy," Yan Aohan stated directly.
"Then let’s drive them out of Beijing first," Zhu Yanyi said with a slight smile. "Beijing is our territory. The Zhushi Zhu family shouldn’t be here. After all, they aren’t the only local aristocratic family."
Yan Aohan raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at Zhu Yanyi. "It seems Ani already has a plan."
Zhu Yanyi smiled faintly. "Wandering around the east, west, south, and north these years had one benefit: I learned that our Huaxia still has many local aristocratic families. For example, the Zhu family in Zhushi, the Hun family in Shancheng—also known as the Hun clan—the Bai family in Baili, the Chen family in Xiangjiang, the Wang family in Haicheng, and the Mao family in Xiuzhen. These are all local aristocratic families with at least hundreds of years of heritage. They dominate their respective regions.
These families love to check and balance each other. So, if other local aristocratic families know that the Zhushi Zhu family has come to Beijing, what do you think they will do?"
Face was very important for aristocratic families. Everyone usually stayed out of each other’s way. If the Zhushi Zhu family came to Beijing and stayed there without other local families knowing, it would mean the Zhu family wanted to expand into Beijing. This was not good news for other local families, so they would definitely obstruct them.
Yan Aohan smiled slightly. "I could just drive them away myself."