Several distant branches of the Yu Family had left Jade City years ago to settle elsewhere, a fact that was not so surprising, considering how the Old Madame Yu herself had to take her family abroad to escape the turbulent situation. Even though they had handed over Jade City to the nation, they couldn't avoid being targeted by certain malevolent elements.
Only when the situation improved did Yu Zekun's two uncles move back to Jade City one after the other. Yu Xinrui and Yu Zongmei, for example, are cousins from his third uncle and fourth uncle's families, respectively.
With the older generation gone, the younger family members' attachment to their clan gradually waned. Practices like ancestral worship lost their importance, and fewer and fewer people returned for the New Year celebrations. As a result, some members of the Yu Family hadn't been back for many years.