Han Yu'an looked in the opposite direction from where Cui Yulu had turned around and realized that it was actually Guo Mudan.
At this moment, she was wearing a bright red fox fur coat and her head was adorned with pearls and jade as she walked towards them.
"This woman is still so high-profile, isn't she afraid someone will steal her away?"
Cui Yulu muttered to herself.
“Sister Yulu, it really is you! That’s wonderful! I’m so happy to see you alive.”
Cui Yulu was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to respond, so she could only smile at her.
"Is there something you need?"
"I didn't have anything to do, I just saw you were happy and thought I'd come over and catch up with you."
"We don't seem to know each other that well," Cui Yulu thought to herself.
Who knew that Guo Mudan would grab her hand so familiarly and say, "Yulu, I listened to you before and had my father teach Guo You a good lesson. Now he has reformed. Let me take you to see what he's doing now."
"No need, I have other things to do, so I won't keep you from going to see your brother."
"No trouble at all, I'll take you there with me. I can tell you about my condition. Thanks to your prescription, my health has improved a lot. Now my husband often stays in my room and doesn't want to leave."
Upon hearing this, Cui Yulu could only feign a cough to imply that Han Yu'an was still there.
"Ahem, there's no need to explain it so clearly. Let's go see Guo You instead."
Guo Mudan still didn't notice anything amiss, and with a cheerful expression, she treated the two of them as if they were family, talking to them about everything, which kept Han Yu'an blushing.
He had no choice but to keep some distance from the two women, since it was better for him not to hear some of their private conversations.
Guo Mudan led Cui Yulu and the others through a maze of turns to the end of Qiankun Street, almost at the edge of the town.
"Look, that's Guo You. He's distributing porridge to the refugees right now. Doesn't that mean he's already reformed?"
Guo Mudan looked at Guo You, who was personally serving porridge, with a face full of pride and satisfaction. Her younger brother had finally done something right.
She has something to be proud of for a while.
However, Cui Yulu was not concerned about these things. What she was really worried about was that there were so many refugees here. What good is war? It only increases suffering. Their homes were gone because of the war. They were displaced and lived in constant fear every day.
"See, I knew you'd be touched. Now you can be my friend, right?"
Guo Mudan was still indulging in self-pity, but Cui Yulu was not moved by Guo You's actions, but by the pity felt for the refugees.
“You’ve done a good job. We’ll discuss this further when I return from Kyoto. But now is not the time for idle chatter. I have important business to attend to, so I won’t trouble you to take us back, Madam.”
After Cui Yulu finished speaking, she grabbed Han Yu'an and ran away, leaving Guo Mudan still in a daze.
"Hey, don't run away. Even if you have something to do, you can still grab a bite to eat, right?"
As he spoke, he jogged after them.
However, Guo Mudan had to stop when her path was blocked by a big yellow dog.
"Little Yulu, you must have dinner with me next time you come back."
The voice was so loud, it was like a demonic siren, but Cui Yulu simply turned her back to her and shouted, "Okay."
They quickly disappeared around the street corner. The two walked a distance before daring to stop, only to find that Guo Mudan had not followed.
The two went to the small eatery run by the sister-in-law and ordered two bowls of wontons for lunch.
"Where have you two been? Why are you sweating so much in the middle of winter?"
Cao Qiaoniu personally brought the wontons to them and, seeing that they were sweating, asked them what was wrong.
"Sister-in-law, you should take a rest. Why don't you hire a helper so you don't overwork yourself?"
Cui Yulu looked at her with a smile, and didn't forget to reach out and touch her belly, where two little lives were growing. Life is truly a wonderful cycle.
"It's nothing. Your older brother is helping with most things now, and my mother-in-law comes over too, so I'm not tired."
After Cao Qiaoniu said a few more words, more people started eating, so she went back to the kitchen to get busy.
"Brother Abu, I want to eat candy."
Niu Niu's sweet voice caught their attention. Both little ones seemed to have grown a lot taller. It was true that these children seemed to grow the fastest when they weren't around.
"Sister, are you still going to Kyoto? I heard it's very dangerous there. I want to go with you to protect you."
Abu is now six years old and much taller and stronger than the average child.
Perhaps because of his previous experience as a homeless child, he seemed much more mature than other children his age.
"Then how will you protect your sister? Do you know kung fu?"
Abu blinked his amber eyes at Cui Yulu, then demonstrated a set of punches and kicks to her. They looked completely disorganized, but they were incredibly powerful.
At this moment, Cui Yulu suddenly remembered that Abu seemed to have a tattoo on his body, and the pattern looked like a wolf.
At the time, I wondered how a mother could be so heartless as to tattoo her child. Now I realize that it was their totem, something only nobles wore.
Thinking about it this way, Abu might not be an ordinary child.
"Abu, can you show your sister the totem on your body?"
"Sister, why are you looking at that? It's kind of embarrassing here."
Cui Yulu was amused by his serious expression; he was quite conservative for his age.
"Since you're not comfortable with it, let's go home and watch it later."
The two little ones ran out together again, and only then did Han Yu'an have a chance to talk to her.
Why are you suddenly interested in Abu's totem? Is it related to the foreign tribes?
"Yes, Tuoba Xuan told me that he was looking for the young prince of the foreign lands, and suspected that he was in our Jingyuan Town, but they have been searching for a long time without success, and they wanted to ask me for help."
Han Yu'an put down his chopsticks and asked, "So you think it's Abu, right?"
“Hmm, this totem is not something that ordinary children can have; it is something that only nobles possess. Therefore, I suspect that Abu is a prince from a foreign land, but further investigation is needed.”
Even though he was a prince from a foreign land, Cui Yulu didn't want to reveal it easily. She only told Tuoba Xuan. Since there must have been unknown reasons why she and her son were driven out in the first place, and now that the child's mother was gone and only the child was left, she still had to ensure his safety before sending him back.
"Since you have a plan in mind, I will choose to support you."
Cui Yulu couldn't help but laugh when she saw Han Yu'an's still simple-minded and silly appearance.
Just as the two finished their wontons and were about to leave, an old man's voice suddenly rang out behind them: "Are you Yu'an? Is it really Yu'an?"
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