Ten miles north of the imperial city, there is a post station.
Early in the morning, Xie Chang'an accompanied his mother to the post station to wait for his father to return home.
This was Xie Chang'an's first real meeting with his father in both his lives, and he was quite excited.
However, he was now so adept at controlling his emotions that he didn't show it at all; he just kept a straight face and remained expressionless.
But the Crown Prince's wife always found a way to break Xie Chang'an's defenses.
"Chang'an, Chang'an, what do you think of my clothes today? Do you think they look good? Will your father like them?"
"Chang'an, Chang'an, do you think the hairpin in your mother's hair is pretty?"
"Chang'an, Chang'an, do you think this whip at my waist matches my clothes today? Doesn't it look too out of place?"
"Chang'an, Chang'an, what do you think I should do after seeing your father? Should I rush over and hug him, or should I fight him first?"
...
Xie Chang'an just wanted to cover his ears.
From the moment he left the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion in the carriage, his mother kept chattering in his ear, and she didn't stop for a moment even when they arrived at the post station.
Xie Chang'an poured a cup of tea without making a sound and pushed it in front of his mother, saying, "Drink some water."
"Our Chang'an is so thoughtful, he even knows that his mother is thirsty!" The Crown Princess touched Xie Chang'an's little head with great emotion.
Xie Chang'an suppressed the urge to run away, and rolled his eyes inwardly. His mother had been nagging him all the way, almost an hour ago. How could she not be thirsty?
He was initially very excited, but that excitement has almost completely vanished now. He only hopes that his father will appear soon so that he can take on his mother's loving nagging.
After waiting at the post station for more than half an hour, during which the Crown Princess drank a whole pot of tea and witnessed several waves of people coming and going at the station entrance, finally, at the end of the official road, a man and a horse arrived, travel-worn and heading towards the imperial city.
Xie Chang'an felt a sense of unease; he was finally about to see his father.
Although the Crown Princess kept talking, her eyes were also fixed on the official road, and she spotted the familiar figure she had been longing for immediately.
As Xie Chang'an stood up, the Crown Princess had already darted out of the post station and ran towards the man and horse.
Xie Chang'an: ...
He should be happy that his parents have such a loving relationship.
He slowly walked out of the post station and saw his mother, who was longing for her husband, drawing her long whip from her waist when she was still quite a distance from his father. She excitedly lashed the whip at his father from a distance.
She used all her strength in that whip; even from a great distance, Xie Chang'an could hear the sound of it cutting through the air.
He should have guessed it long ago. Although his mother would occasionally tug at her clothes or touch her hairpins along the way, she touched the long whip at her waist the most.
Her excitement wasn't entirely due to missing her husband; it was probably more because she could finally find someone to fight.
She came from a military family and grew up in the army, raised like a boy. Her lifelong wish was to fight on the battlefield like a man and protect her country.
Later, she met her father, and the two fell in love. She married him and was trapped in a grand mansion by her social status and children.
In her previous life, after news of her father's death in battle reached the capital, her mother changed out of her fine silks and satins, picked up a long whip, and used her strong stance to repeatedly drive away all the malicious ridicule and mockery directed at the declining Duke Zhenguo's mansion. At least on the surface, no one dared to easily provoke the old, weak, women and children of their mansion.
As Xie Chang'an reminisced about the past, his father and mother had already started fighting.
The father faced the mother's long whip with his bare hands, yet he held his own, even appearing to handle it with ease. He seemed to anticipate every attack from his mother and counter it effortlessly.
As the fight went on, the mother's whipping force gradually lessened, and the confrontation slowly changed, becoming tender and poignant.
Xie Chang'an suddenly felt a bit superfluous.
Especially when he saw his father deliberately give his mother a opening, get entangled in her long whip, and be pulled in front of her, and the two embrace each other affectionately, he felt particularly superfluous.
They hugged for a while before the mother seemed to remember that he was such an extra person.
"Shaoling, Chang'an, come with me to take you home!" Princess Consort Xu Qingqing finally remembered Xie Chang'an and pulled Xie Shaoling in front of him.
"Chang'an, this is your father. Isn't he tall, imposing, and handsome?" Xu Qingqing asked, pointing at Xie Shaoling.
Xie Chang'an: ...
He looked up and gazed at his father.
Although my mother's description of my father was anything but modest, he was indeed as she described: tall, with a resolute face, an upright posture, and an aura that gave off a sense of calm and composure, yet also a feeling of flamboyance and unrestraint.
It's a contradiction.
Just like how people in the imperial city perceive their fathers.
Some people admire him highly, while others hate him to the core.
“Father.” Xie Chang’an looked at him, genuinely happy.
Xie Shaoling didn't laugh. Instead, he frowned and looked Xie Chang'an up and down for a long time. Then he grabbed Xie Chang'an's arm, lifted him up, and bounced him around in his hand.
"How can you be so thin and light? You're so fair and delicate, like a little girl!" Xie Shaoling said with a hint of disdain.
Xie Chang'an's smile froze on his face.
If Xie Shaoling weren't his father, the father he had longed for for two lifetimes, Xie Chang'an would definitely have fought him to the death based on that action and those words.
“Our Chang’an is indeed a bit too thin now!” Xu Qingqing nodded in deep agreement. “It’s all Mother’s fault. She’s always worried he’ll get sick and won’t let him exercise! But it’s all good now. The Old Madam has spoken. If he exercises more, he won’t be as frail as he is now!”
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