After listening to Yuan Yin's explanation, Chen Xiao couldn't help but ask, "Did you encounter any difficulties?"
Yuan Yin gave a wry smile and explained again, "No, and the world has misunderstood their relationship with my father..."
It turned out that after setting off, Yuan Yin planned to walk with the young people because there weren't enough carriages. However, when the older man saw her walking, he let Yuan Yin get into their carriage.
The old men rode in the carriage with Yuan Yin, and for a moment none of them knew what to say. Before the awkward atmosphere could spread, the eldest man began to awkwardly show concern for Yuan Yin.
As soon as he arrived, the other old men all started chatting with him.
They treated Yuan Yin like their own daughter, showing her concern and care, offering her comfort in roundabout ways, and subtly indicating that Yuan Yin was welcome to visit their home anytime she wished.
Yuan Yin had prepared herself for difficulties, but she didn't expect them to be completely different from the rumors. Unable to withstand their enthusiasm, she finally voiced her question.
The old men's eyes widened in surprise, and they began to explain to Yuan Yin all at once.
"How could that be? We've known Li Yuan since we were young. When the General was teaching us martial arts, he would always be reading a book. In his spare time, he would spar with us a few moves, although he never lasted a single one..."
“At that time, we were all among the first batch of elite soldiers trained by the General. We were only eleven or twelve years old. Li Yuan was a few years younger than us. At first, we treated him as our young master. But the General told us that there was no distinction between rank in the Li family army. In addition, Li Yuan also insisted, so we became friends, although we still secretly treated him as our younger brother.”
"Ten years passed in this way, and we became official members of the Li Family Army, rushing to the battlefield to kill the enemy. Li Yuan entered the Xiaoyuan. Although we were separated, the feelings between the brothers did not diminish. When we were on the battlefield, we would often receive letters from him. There were more than thirty of us, and each of us received one."
"...Until the General suddenly passed away and a new emperor ascended the throne, we became an army without a leader and were completely lost. We are the Li family army, and the new emperor will not take us into his service, so we went to Li Yuan. This is also the first time we have met Li Yuan in fifteen years."
"He understood our purpose, refused us, and said that he was neither skilled in martial arts nor in management, and told us to disperse and go back to our families and live our own lives."
“We are all homeless people. We were picked up by the general when we were ten years old, joined the Li family army when we were twenty, and fought for more than ten years. We are now in our thirties and almost forties. It’s time for us to return to our own lives. Li Yuan is right, but we are not used to it!”
“We were like lost people, unable to find guidance. Li Yuan already has a wife and daughters and is living a very happy life. Perhaps we shouldn’t bother him anymore, so we left. But out of concern, we have continued to help with things that we can, and we have also been quietly keeping an eye on Li Yuan. Seeing that he is still so happy, we are relieved.”
"We know nothing about those remarks! How could it be that we don't recognize Li Yuan?"
After receiving their varied explanations, Yuan Yin realized that her father had a very good relationship with them, contrary to the rumors. She then revealed that her father also secretly cared about them.
With tears of emotion streaming down the faces of the old men, the misunderstanding that had lasted for over twenty years was finally resolved.
Chen Xiao roughly understood the situation and didn't have time to express his feelings. The young members of the Li family army had already gone to the orphanage and the kite-making center under Ye Qi's leadership, while the elders were all tired after traveling all night and were resting at the post station.
Led by Yuan Yin, Chen Xiao headed to the post station where the elders were staying, preparing to wait for them in the lobby. However, upon arriving at the post station, he found that they were already eating in the lobby.
When they saw Yuan Yin arrive, they quickly put down their bowls and chopsticks, stood up to greet her, and crowded around to pull her to a chair. They all asked her if she had eaten, how things were going, and if she needed their help. They also said that they were used to getting up early and couldn't stay idle, so they had gotten up early.
Chen Xiao watched as they seemed to like Yuan Yin more than he had imagined, completely ignoring everyone else, heading straight for Yuan Yin and surrounding her. This scene was simply unbelievable.
Chen Xiao and Ye Yu were left standing bewildered in the wind.
Yuan Yin was both amused and exasperated. She turned to Chen Xiao and said, "Xiao Xiao, don't blame them. They don't pay much attention to the royal family and don't know your identity."
Following Yuan Yin's words, the old men also looked in Chen Xiao's direction, and only then did they notice Chen Xiao and Ye Yu. Combining this with Yuan Yin's words, they realized that the overlooked person at the door was royalty, but they didn't know which of the two was royalty.
Chen Xiao just smiled and walked towards them. He noticed that they looked to be only in their fifties or sixties, yet their hair was already completely white. No wonder Ye Yu had reported that there was a group of old men.
He counted in his mind and realized there were only ten people in front of him. Of the thirty-odd elite soldiers he had once commanded, only ten remained.
Time truly flies, and things change.
Chen Xiao had great respect for the Li Family Army because she read in the book that most of the soldiers were children without relatives who, after ten years of training, became elite soldiers and were already fighting on the front lines while still in university in modern times.
They dedicated their best years to the battlefield, and by the time they returned home, they were already middle-aged in ancient times.
As Chen Xiao approached, Yuan Yin stood up, and the old men followed suit. Yuan Yin introduced them to Chen Xiao, and Chen Xiao greeted them one by one. The old men, unaware of Chen Xiao's identity, were somewhat bewildered.
When Yuan Yin introduced Chen Xiao's identity to them, the old men gasped and quickly prepared to kneel down to pay their respects.
Although they were the Li family army, the Li family army at that time still had 100,000 people. They were only the earliest batch, not the most outstanding, and they did not hold any official positions. Naturally, they did not have an audience with the emperor. They only caught a glimpse of Emperor Wende from afar when they returned to the capital.
So when he first truly met the emperor, he was still somewhat dazed.
Chen Xiao and Yuan Yin were so frightened that they quickly reached out to support them, and Ye Yu also reached out to stop several others.
Chen Xiao quickly spoke up to persuade them, "Elders, please don't put on this show! This isn't the palace. I'm just a junior now, and you've all made such great contributions to the Night Dynasty, how can you treat me like this!"
Yuan Yin chimed in, "That's right, uncles, Xiao Xiao has always respected you all! Wouldn't this make you seem distant?"
They were helped up, and it was inappropriate to continue supporting the emperor. They simply said, "But Your Majesty, we hold no important positions and are merely commoners. We should kneel before Your Majesty!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, although we are members of the Li family army, we have no merits. It is only right and proper that we pay our respects to you!"
Chen Xiao shook his head, and he and Yuan Yin pulled them to sit down, ready to have a proper talk.
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