After hearing Xie Yuancheng's words, I really wanted to punch him: "Are you worried I'll beat you up? How can you talk about your own daughter like that?"

"Yes, Xiao Mian'ao doesn't look quite like her now, but her features are still there, so there's no mistake. It's all because Ying'er ran out, otherwise they wouldn't have seen us so late."

"It's been so long since that happened, so stop bringing it up all the time."

“I’m going to say this: last time you were so determined, you wouldn’t listen to me and insisted on jumping down. Yu’er and the others must have learned from you, which is why they scared our daughter.”

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Go and take care of your business and come back." I didn't want to argue with him; no matter what, it was all my fault.

Xie Yuancheng then spurred the horse forward. The road we were on was less crowded. He never told me in advance what he was going out to do.

He had left the city without a word; the capital was peaceful now, so no one stopped him. He rarely came to the capital, so how would these people recognize him?

"I should be from the capital. You didn't know me when you were little, so you probably thought I didn't visit the Ji residence often. But when I did go, I never saw you, and I always missed you terribly~"

"Shut up!"

"Ying'er, you went to pretend to be a man and get married without saying a word. Luckily I snatched it away, otherwise you would have been waiting to do nothing in the palace."

"Stop talking, these are all impossible things."

"You looked down on me back then, and now Yu'er looks down on Su Ling. It's all because you didn't do a good job from the start!"

"Yes, you're all a bunch of adults and kids, you really know how to stick together."

I'm a criminal now, so I'd better not get into a conflict with him. Anyway, it'll only be a matter of a few days. Sigh, I'm so unlucky. How did I end up giving Xie Yuancheng something to hold against me?

He's so petty; he'll definitely find a chance to talk about me later. While I wasn't looking, he leaned down and stole a kiss on my cheek. I quickly grabbed his hand, looked around worriedly, and thankfully no one was there before letting go.

"If you had been this obedient back then, you wouldn't have missed our wedding," he complained, leaning on my shoulder.

"How can you blame me for this? Next time, I'll make you a woman too, and I'll threaten you to see if you'll willingly marry a man you've only known for a few months."

Besides, you're always doing things behind my back; how am I supposed to know which of your schemes are genuine and which are just for show?

"If you still dare to criticize me, then I won't draw for you anymore."

"Please don't. You've said it several times these past few days, and I haven't objected."

"Of course you didn't object, you just fell asleep while listening. You even talked about the three children in your dreams, and my name never even appeared."

“I’ll call your name as I sleep when we get home that night. They’re still young. If they were eight or nine, I wouldn’t be so worried.”

“I was able to remain calm and composed when I was three years old. They are my children, and they should inherit my true skills even more.”

I pulled his wristband over and asked, "Are you calm now?" He's just childish. He'll definitely regret it later. I'd better give him a way out first.

"It's gone~" Xie Yuancheng told me to drive away, and he leaned against me like a spineless person.

I had wanted to rein him in from the beginning, and now it's just the right time. We've only gone a short distance when we heard some people talking.

The voice was very weak, but I could smell something unpleasant, so I quickly went back to ask him, "Are there any refugees here?"

"Ying'er, this is the capital city, how could there be such an unworthy person here?"

Xie Yuancheng's suffering from poverty was still too little. In 2020, I read about the stories of many people and learned that many people, even though they worked very hard, still had a difficult life.

"Should we go take a look?" I was genuinely worried.

"No, we don't have enough time. We have things to do. Stick close to me, we need to hurry."

Xie Yuancheng then began to urge the horse on; there wasn't enough time, he still had so many things to discuss with me. It was summer now, so the weather was very hot, and after riding for a while, he was covered in sweat.

"Where does this road lead? I had no idea there was such a place outside the capital."

"We need to burn down the place where we were. Lin Chao and the others went to take care of other things, so we have to go there ourselves."

"Have they all left already?"

“I left last night. I thought you were alright, so I brought you out for a walk and to familiarize you with the place.”

"What's there to recognize here? Everyone's gone."

"I already said I'd teach you some Qimen Dunjia techniques. I happen to have some free time today, let's go."

Xie Yuancheng kept pressing down on my head; there were quite a few branches up there, and I was even thinking of taking off my hairpin. The trees here were mostly very low-lying, and we ran around in them for half an hour.

If someone unfamiliar with the route came here, they would probably have been knocked down by tree branches long ago. But after running along the way, I felt that some parts were repeated.

“It is indeed repetitive, but we still have to keep running, otherwise we won’t be able to get out.” He said that many people feel that it is repetitive and will not continue to walk, which is an entrance to exploit loopholes.

"However, not all methods are applicable, and if you blindly follow the same methods, it can be very dangerous when you reach the exit. That's why many Qimen Dunjia techniques are like this."

You know it's dangerous, but if you walk on it, nothing happens. But those who don't walk will fall quickly.

Have any children come in here? They shouldn't have so many concerns; they might just stumble upon this place by accident.

"No, there are very few families living here. Even if some children came in, they would probably be scared and cry. If they managed to get out, they probably wouldn't come back again."

"No wonder they didn't invite Yu'er. If he had come, his eyes would probably have been overwhelmed."

“If he comes, I won’t need to teach him anymore. Let him go around and see things; he’ll learn faster than I do.”

Whether Xie Yuancheng was praising his teaching or saying Yu'er was smart, he always managed to praise Yu'er without even realizing it. Xi Zhi and Su Ling are still young, so he occasionally hugs them and takes Yu'er out for walks.

Sometimes I wonder if these two little ones are really his children. He said he wanted to take advantage of the time he spent with Yu'er to teach him properly.

I always forget that I can't take Yu'er with me when I go back this time; he has to stay in the capital with his parents. So I feel most guilty towards my eldest son; I wasn't by his side when he was little, and now I have to leave him with his parents.

"Ying'er, it's just ahead." Xie Yuancheng said, quickly diverting my attention.

I looked over and saw a cluster of houses built among pear blossoms. They looked real, yet also unreal; they were beautiful no matter how I looked at them.

“This place still takes up a bit of space, but if we just burn the one in the very middle, we can bring up the ones on both sides.”