Chapter 1114 Leaving the mess to Qi Heng

Xiao Chenggui, who was standing to the side, saw Chen Shi make a move and quickly pulled her away.

"Yue Sha, your mother misses you so much that she often can't sleep. It's not that she really blames you."

On days when they are reunited, his wife must not touch him.

It would be bad if Lin Yuesha misunderstood that she didn't love her daughter even though she had a son.

"You talk too much."

Exposed by her incompetent teammate, Madam Chen glared at Xiao Chenggui and said angrily, "A son is no longer under his mother's control when he grows up. You only told your little girl about her mother after she got married."

This matter is related to Qi Heng. Chen suspects that she has let a wolf into the house. Every time the topic is brought up, Xiao Chenggui laughs it off.

"At that time, the situation was urgent and we had to act accordingly. Besides, the engagement was something your son-in-law had agreed to."

Xiao Chenggui stood up to speak for Qi Heng, but under Chen's angry glare, his initial righteous words became increasingly hesitant, and his voice grew softer and softer.

"Mother, you are dissatisfied with your daughter, so why are you taking your anger out on Father?"

Despite being separated for several years, Lin Yuesha felt no estrangement from her parents. In her mind, this was how a family should be—saying whatever they wanted without so many taboos.

Lin Yuesha clung to Chen's arm affectionately, then turned to give her father a meaningful look. Xiao Chenggui winked knowingly, and the father and daughter were very in sync.

"Fine, fine, I'm the bad guy. You and your father are in cahoots."

Chen wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, but Lin Yuesha amused her so much that she stopped crying and started laughing.

Ultimately, as her own flesh and blood, Madam Chen didn't really blame her daughter; she just felt sorry for Lin Yuesha, who had been away from her parents for many years and was having a hard time.

Lin Yuesha picked up her younger brother, and the family of four got into the carriage.

Xu Da stared blankly at the scene before him. So, he was being ignored?

Xu Da, feeling dejected, saw the bewildered Qingxing and Qi'er and the other maids, and then laughed, "You've been left behind too?"

"Lord Xu, I heard that the Xu family has sent a carriage to pick you up. Could you please take me back to your residence on the way?"

Qingxing remained calm. After all, she had legs and was familiar with the capital, so she could go back on her own.

Once the carriage was traveling on the wide roads of the capital, Lin Yuesha remembered that she had reunited with her parents and younger brother, seemingly having forgotten her cousin and maid.

"Little girl, your grandmother is getting old and her health is not as good as before. Originally, the family was going to pick you up together, but considering that you have just returned to Beijing, they will come to visit tomorrow."

As people grow old, they find it hard to leave their homeland. The Chen family discussed that they would return to the north after Lin Yuesha returned to Beijing to complete her wedding.

"Mother, how are my uncle and aunt?"

The Chen family members are all very down-to-earth and never crave wealth and luxury. Even though she is no longer the little girl from Chenjia Village who once had the ability to provide a good life for her relatives, her uncle and aunt remain steadfast and never ask for anything.

My cousin Chen Lin has small shops in Cangzhou and Beijing, running a small business. My cousin Chen Xiaohua also runs a small business with her husband after she got married, living a stable life.

"Everything is fine, everything is fine."

Chen patted Lin Yuesha's head and sighed, "It's just that your maternal grandparents are getting old and miss the north. They say they don't get used to the fact that it doesn't snow in the capital all year round."

As people grow old, they yearn to return to their roots and reminisce about the cold winters in the north when the mountains are covered in snow.

This parting may be a final farewell.

Over the years, Ms. Chen has survived to this day thanks to the help of the Chen family, and she has a very deep affection for them.

Originally, Chen and Xiao Chenggui discussed taking their son back to the north to live for a while and to see their parents off in their old age, but the parents stopped them.

"Mother, I will get married later and spend more time with my family."

Lin Yuesha leaned against Chen Shi's side and suddenly asked, "Mother, where is my eldest brother?"

"Sister, who is eldest brother?"

The little boy blinked. His family only consisted of his parents and older sister; he didn't have an older brother.

"Cough cough!"

Xiao Chenggui was drinking water when he heard his daughter's question. He spat out a mouthful of water and almost choked himself.

Xiao Chenggui and Chen Shi looked very uncomfortable, and the little child kept asking questions, making Lin Yuesha feel a chill in her heart.

In recent years, I've rarely spoken to my stepbrother in my correspondence with my family; it seems my parents have been deliberately avoiding the topic.

Lin Yuesha thought that given Xiao Qi's kind and gentle nature, it was understandable that his wife would be in charge after marriage, and that he might not be very close to Chen Shi, since Chen Shi was his stepmother.

Judging from the couple's expressions, things are far more complicated than she thought.

"Father, Mother, is my eldest brother...?"

Lin Yuesha felt a pang of pain in her heart. Back then, during the turmoil in the capital, Lin Shusheng arrested many scholars to make an example of them. Could it be that her stepbrother had not escaped the past?

Therefore, for many years, her family has tried to keep it a secret, fearing that she would be heartbroken if she found out the truth.

Lin Yuesha closed her eyes, her heart aching to the point of numbness.

She still remembered what she had said to her stepbrother before leaving the capital: the two siblings would always stay with their parents. If Xiao Qi was gone, why should their parents hide it?

No wonder Xu Da once said that on his wedding day, he would carry him to the bridal sedan chair.

So Xu Da already knew this cruel truth?

Lin Yuesha took a deep breath and said tremblingly, "Is Big Brother really gone?"

"Yue Sha, your older brother is still alive. It's not what you think."

Xiao Chenggui quickly explained that the matter was a long story.

"Father, don't I only have one older sister?"

Like Lin Yuesha, the little child waited for his father to explain.

Xiao Chenggui gave vague answers, but in his heart he cursed Qi Heng a hundred times.

Qi Heng had to break through this barrier himself, and he glanced at Chen Shi for help.

"My older brother hasn't been home for the past few years?"

Lin Yuesha was certain, otherwise her younger brother would have seen him before. Could it be that he went on a trip to another place?

Even so, it's not like there's no such person at all.

Lin Yuesha even felt that the fact that she had a stepbrother was just her own illusion.

Xiao Qi had a similar idea before: reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. He left for several years and there was no news of him.

"He didn't go home."

Xiao Chenggui thought to himself, "That's because that big bad wolf with black sesame filling has been hiding around Lin Yuesha all along."

"Brother, really, you should at least leave a message."

Lin Yuesha complained that her stepbrother was a bit clueless about practical matters, probably because he was too naive to think of this.

"By the way, Yue Sha, your mother really likes the crystal dates you brought over."

Xiao Chenggui winked at Chen Shi, his face full of flattery. This mess had to be left for Qi Heng to clean up himself; saying anything more now would only make things worse.

"I've noted down that shop. If Mother likes it, we can ask the caravan to bring it back."

Only the local specialty, the golden thread jujube, can produce candied dates with this texture; you can't buy them in Beijing.

As they were talking, the carriage arrived at the gate of the mansion.

The mansion gates opened, and all the servants stood at the main entrance waiting. Upon seeing Lin Yuesha, they excitedly exclaimed in unison, "The young lady is back!"

"Yes, I'm home."

Three years had passed since they last met, and the gates of the mansion had not changed much. Lin Yuesha alighted from the carriage and walked through the gates with her parents.

After her second marriage, Lin Yuesha will have to enter the palace, and married women will no longer be as free to return to their parents' home as before.