From then on, although Huo's family outwardly appeared to be managed by him, the Marquis of the First Rank, in reality, all major and minor decisions ultimately had to be made by Huo Qixiao. He had no authority whatsoever.
After the imperial mansion was decided, Huo Qixiao directly moved into the main courtyard of the Marquis's residence.
When dealing with the outside world, Huo Siming would still smilingly claim he did it voluntarily, under the guise of the Marquis respecting his elder brother and willingly ceding the main courtyard for his second brother's family to reside in.
Huo Siming's family thus began to live in dire straits. If anything was slightly displeasing to Huo Qixiao, he would threaten Huo Siming with the safety of his wife and children, forcing him to act against his own will.
Huo Siming found it extremely troublesome, wondering which deity Huo Qixiao had been worshipping. After the Prince of Companionate's estate collapsed, his actions became increasingly reliable.
He repeatedly helped the Emperor resolve many issues that even court ministers couldn't handle. Consequently, he became increasingly valued by the Emperor, enjoying unparalleled prestige for a time.
After this incident, the Huo family lay low for a period. However, before long, they were living more luxuriously than ever before.
No longer a Huo family that relied on others' military exploits to maintain its status, they now truly possessed noble titles and imperial patronage, successfully breaking into the ranks of high-ranking noble families.
From then on, they were surrounded by brocades and silks, with no worries about food or clothing. They attended various banquets and engaged in social niceties. The Emperor's favored confidant and close minister remained a member of the Huo family, and though the civil and military officials might have disdained them, none would openly show them disrespect.
Everything seemed unchanged, yet the true difference, perhaps, could only be understood by those within it.
...
Following the servant to the main courtyard, Huo Siming stopped reminiscing about the past. He composed his expression and, with a somewhat apprehensive heart, stepped through the main courtyard gate.
Upon entering the courtyard and arriving at the front hall, Huo Qixiao sat at the head, holding a teacup. Seeing him enter, he made no move to stand or greet him.
Huo Siming could only plaster a smile on his face and cautiously approached, asking, "Qixiao, why did you summon Fourth Uncle so urgently? Did something happen?"
Huo Qixiao glanced at him and then waved away the surrounding maids and servants. Once only the two of them were in the hall, he slowly began to speak.
"Fourth Uncle, someone wrote me a secret letter stating that Huo Qiyuan has returned!"
"Qi... Qiyuan? How is that possible? Wasn't he already..."
"We only know he was poisoned three years ago. Although the poison of Bingxing Grass is said to be incurable, there was no sighting of him alive and no corpse. After all these years, no one has ever seen his body. Therefore, no one can absolutely guarantee whether Huo Qiyuan died from the poison!"
"Then, then what should we do? If it really is Qiyuan, he will definitely come back for revenge!"
"Revenge? Hmph! Even if he has truly returned, I am not afraid of him. I could kill him once, and I can kill him a second, a third time..." Huo Qixiao's face was filled with a sinister expression as he spoke.
Although he firmly believed that Huo Qiyuan could not possibly be alive, whenever he thought of him, he couldn't help but burn with jealousy. He hated Huo Qiyuan, hated Huo Sizhun, and hated that his own father was crippled and couldn't secure a good future for him.
This hatred had persisted for two lifetimes. It turned out that Huo Qixiao, like the Saintess of the Thousand Poisons Sect before him, was also a reborn individual!
Huo Qixiao's father, Huo Size, had fallen ill in his childhood and was left with a limp as he grew up. The women on the other side worried that this illness would be hereditary, so very few high-born ladies were willing to marry him when he reached marriageable age.
It was only after Huo Sizhun achieved great things alongside the previous Emperor, and the Huo family's situation improved significantly, that he stepped forward to arrange a marriage for Huo Size's second brother.
Marrying and having children was originally a joyous occasion. However, his wife gave birth to three daughters for Huo Size consecutively, causing strong dissatisfaction from his mother.
After all, Huo Sizhun was fully focused on his career and had delayed his marriage. The second son had finally managed to marry a wife, but she only gave birth to daughters. The Huo family had no male heir, so who would inherit the vast family fortune in the future?
Thus, the old madam, eager for a grandson, took several concubines for Huo Size. Perhaps her sincerity moved Heaven, as shortly thereafter, one of Huo Size's concubines became pregnant. Unexpectedly, a few months later, his main wife also became pregnant.
Huo Size's wife thought she could turn the situation around with this child. She burned incense day and night, praying that Heaven would bless her and grant her a male heir.
Who knew that just as she was full of anticipation for the new life to arrive, the accident would happen. One day, the pregnant concubine and the pregnant main wife were taken out by the old madam to burn incense.
As the carriage turned a corner, it was accidentally bumped, causing both of them to be injured and bleed. The Huo family rushed out to summon doctors, but only one was found.
However, the condition of both of them looked precarious, especially the concubine, who was close to giving birth and seemed to be in critical condition. Thus, deciding who should be treated first became a thorny issue.
Logically, any family with some standing would definitely choose to save the main wife and the legitimate son in her womb when faced with such a situation.
However, the old madam thought of the main wife's previous daughters, and her pregnancy was only six months along, while the concubine's was over nine months.
Fearing that if they first saved the main wife and she gave birth to another daughter, it would delay the concubine's son, which was calculated to be an absolute boy by the half-immortal of Nancheng. Thus, the old madam, with a hardened heart, ordered the doctor to deliver the concubine's child first, and to save the fetus at all costs.
Here, the concubine was giving birth for the first time. Due to the collision, the fetal position was somewhat irregular, and it took a whole night to deliver the child. As for the main wife, although she waited for a while and another doctor was found, she lost too much blood, and the child ultimately did not survive, dying in utero.
The old madam was also very saddened upon hearing this news, especially when she saw the undeveloped male infant who had been miscarried by her daughter-in-law, she was heartbroken beyond measure. This was her own grandson! Who would have thought he would be so ill-fated and perish like this!
Such sorrow continued until the early hours of the next day. The concubine finally gave birth, and as the old madam wished, it was a male heir who could inherit the family business. Her grief over the loss of her previous grandson was thus somewhat alleviated.
Fearing that her daughter-in-law would blame her after waking up, the old madam sent people to throw the concubine, who had just given birth and was still in a coma, into an empty room in the side courtyard to fend for herself, eventually letting her bleed to death!
Publicly, it was claimed that the concubine was unlucky and died of excessive bleeding shortly after giving birth. The old madam's sole purpose in doing all this was to keep the child and abandon the mother, entrusting the child to the main wife for upbringing.
When the main wife woke up, she learned that she was carrying a boy, but the child did not survive. Later, she heard that the concubine had died after giving birth. She did not speak or cry out, but lay on the bed and wept silently.
However, in her downcast eyes, besides endless sorrow, there was also a chilling hatred.
When they were injured and brought back, the main wife had not completely fainted. She had personally heard the old madam order the doctor to save the concubine's fetus first, simply because someone had predicted that the concubine's child was definitely a male fetus!
It was all their fault! If that old witch had saved herself and her child first, her son would not have died in utero.
If that concubine hadn't repeatedly boasted that a half-immortal had predicted her child was definitely a male fetus, then the old witch wouldn't have ordered her to be saved first.
Even the newborn cub was at fault! It was precisely because he was born into the second branch of the Huo family, stealing his son's chance at life, that her child had such an accident. That bastard was destined to be her nemesis!
She was determined to make these people pay for her child!
As Huo Size's main wife's mind became twisted and frenzied, she spent days fantasizing about how she would avenge her son!
Who knew that a perfect opportunity would present itself within days.
It turned out that the old madam, in an effort to alleviate her grief over the loss of her son, decided to have the son born to the concubine raised at her knees.
She also expressed her hope that the main wife would treat the child as her own, and even if she were to have another son in the future, she should raise this child as a legitimate son.
"Although this child was born to a concubine, he is still the son of my husband. As his mother, he should rightly call me Mother. Now that I have lost my child, and he has lost his birth mother, I will cherish him dearly in the future."
Deep down, the main wife's teeth itched with hatred, but outwardly, she had to feign a sorrowful and magnanimous demeanor. Her words were also constantly pleasant, truly embodying the model of a virtuous wife and loving mother who guides her husband and children!
The old madam was quite satisfied with her daughter-in-law's response. Although she had many reservations about her not giving birth to a son before, her loss of a child this time partly stemmed from her own responsibility. Moreover, the fact that she did not cry or make a fuss after waking up and agreed to raise the child diligently made the old madam reconsider her earlier opinions.
When the main wife officially began raising the child, she had tried to secretly strangle the child several times. However, when she saw the infant in her arms greedily sucking milk, or when he nestled on her arm and slept soundly, the main wife's raised arm could no longer be lowered.
Once she softened her heart, there would be a second and a third time, and ultimately the main wife could not bring herself to kill the child. However, deep down, she was truly unwilling to raise him with sincere effort.
In the end, after much deliberation, the main wife could not bear to kill him and decided to find another way to retaliate. She would raise him indifferently. After all, he was a child of the Huo family; even if he were ruined, he would still be her own source of heartache!
Thus, this infant narrowly escaped death, and his identity was that of the later Huo Qixiao.
Even though his mother often belittled him and was cold to him behind closed doors, he was, after all, the first male descendant of the Huo family's direct line. In the following years, whether within the family or in the eyes of the old madam, Huo Qixiao was considered exceptionally favored.
Even the Prince of Companionate, the Great General who Pacified the West, Huo Sizhun, who was a bachelor busy campaigning in his youth, was very fond of his nephew, Huo Qixiao.
It should be known that although Huo Sizhun was the Prince of Companionate, he did not marry until he was forty. And before he married and fathered Huo Qiyuan, Huo Qixiao was the sole legitimate young master of the Huo family, and thus he enjoyed a few years of good life.
However, all this happiness was shattered when Huo Qixiao was six years old. For in this year, Huo Sizhun's newly married Princess, Leng Muran, unexpectedly gave birth to a son, the young heir of the Prince of Companionate's estate – Huo Qiyuan.
From then on, the eyes and attention of the Huo mansion, the Prince's estate, and all sectors of society shifted from Huo Qixiao to Huo Qiyuan.
In fact, Huo Qiyuan was indeed very outstanding. Not only was his appearance pleasing, but from childhood to adulthood, whether in his studies or martial arts, his achievements were always the most excellent.
Especially from the age of three, all the resources originally used to nurture Huo Qixiao in the Huo family were redirected to Huo Qiyuan. This greatly angered Huo Qixiao, who was nearly ten years old and had some understanding of affairs.
He went to his grandmother to cry, but his grandmother now preferred his cousin. He went to his father to complain, but his father told him that the Huo family's current status and wealth were all due to his uncle's meritorious service in battle, so he should always yield to his brother and not compete with him for anything.
Receiving no comfort from his grandmother or father, he only felt more distressed. Thus, Huo Qixiao went to his mother, hoping to gain some comfort from her.
Who knew his mother's words were even harsher? She directly spanked Huo Qixiao and told him to know his place. She said Huo Qiyuan was the prince's son, and he deserved to enjoy these things.
Why was it that Huo Qixiao had such bad luck to be born into such a family? His father was crippled and of little use, and even his son, who was not the old madam's biological child, could hold a minor official post.
But only the men of their second branch couldn't become officials, and sometimes even the household expenses needed support from their uncle.
Under such prolonged indoctrination of inequality, a seed of resentment gradually grew in Huo Qixiao's heart.
At the same time, he felt that the main factor causing all this was the incompetence of his parents.
His father could not wield a sword and ride into battle to bring glory to the nation. His mother, all day long, had two faces: in front of people, she was extremely caring and attentive to him; behind closed doors, she was harsh, stern, and coldly ridiculed and attacked him. Sometimes he really doubted if he was her biological son!
Such a life stimulated Huo Qixiao, but instead of striving for self-improvement, he became increasingly rebellious.
As he grew up, he spent his days associating with dissolute young men, engaging in petty squabbles, frequenting brothels, and indulging in wine and pleasure, attempting to numb himself through decadence.