The weather was getting colder and colder, so General Xiao did not let the women in his family see him off on the day of his departure. After breakfast, the Xiao father and son, who had packed up, still had not seen the two sisters come to say goodbye. Feeling lost for a while, they had to set off.
At the city gate, the Ninth Prince, Yun Yichen and Mu Fengwu were waiting there to see General Xiao off.
"We look forward to General Xiao's early return. When the time comes, the three of us will definitely go to the city gate to welcome Uncle Wang and the general." Yun Yifan saluted General Xiao respectfully.
"Grandpa, if my grandfather allowed, I really want to go with you, what a pity!" Mu Fengwu had an expression of confidence, but he had to give in.
It’s not a pity at all, General Xiao thought, I don’t want to help you clean up the mess every day. Your grandfather’s decision was so wise.
"Take care, General Xiao. I hope you and my father can return safely soon." Yun Yichen clasped his fists and bowed deeply to General Xiao. He looked at the old man in front of him, who looked frosted, and felt inexplicably guilty. General Xiao was already over 60 years old, no longer a young man, but he had to travel long distances and take risks to help his father. Was it a bit too selfish for him to do so? But it was really hard to find a more suitable candidate than General Xiao at the moment!
"Look, whose carriage is that?" Someone shouted, and everyone turned their heads to look in the direction of the voice.
After the carriage stopped, the curtain was quickly lifted, revealing a delicate and pretty face. She kept searching the crowd with her eyes, and when she locked on the target, a sweet and innocent smile appeared on her face.
"Grandpa, we finally caught up with you." After saying this, Xiao Yao opened her arms. Xiao Jingkang ran over quickly, hugged his daughter and carried her out of the car.
"And me, uncle, give me a hug." Xiao Yuan then got out of the carriage. Her sister was moving too fast today, and she couldn't keep up at all. What she didn't expect was that usually Xiao Yao would accommodate her speed, but today was a special situation, and Xiao Yao was a little too busy to pay attention to her.
"Come, let big brother hold you." Xiao Lang was ready to hug his heavyweight sister. Although he had already expected it, when Xiao Yuan rushed into his arms, the seventeen-year-old Xiao Lang was still shaken by his sister and almost failed to catch her. Xiao Lang secretly thought that he really didn't dare to catch this girl who hadn't eaten enough!
General Xiao, who had just squeezed in, saw that both of his granddaughters had been snatched away. He glared at his son and grandson several times in displeasure. These people are becoming more and more rude. Hurry up and send the people to me! Are you still waiting for me to beg you?
"Grandfather, Ruyi and I have gifts for you and Second Uncle." Xiao Yao, who had already gotten up from the ground, said as she took off a purse from her waist. It was made of plain brocade, oval in shape, and had long tassels hanging from it.
"This is..." General Xiao was a little excited. His granddaughter actually came all the way to give him a gift. It was worth the love.
"My sister sewed it herself, and we also made the tassels ourselves. How about it? Do you like it?" Xiao Yuan stayed in Xiao Lang's arms and refused to get down. There was no other reason. It was because his eldest brother's shoulders were broad enough to block the wind for him.
"Brother, hold me. I want to hang it on grandfather's belt with my own hands."
"Okay." Xiao Yi, despite the glares from his grandfather and father, picked up his sister so that she could easily reach his grandfather's belt.
"You two kids! Why are you taking the trouble to make this? Each of you just needs to sew two stitches, and the rest can be done by the embroiderer. No wonder I haven't seen you often these days. It turns out you went to make this. You are not allowed to do it again in the future, do you hear me?" General Xiao felt sorry for his own granddaughter, and he was moved but only felt sorry for her.
"No! You are pregnant, but we still have money!" Xiao Rui patted his waist. He also wanted the purse made by his sister.
"Looking for an embroiderer."
"Go buy it yourself."
"If you dare to let Ping An and Ru Yi embroider one for you, I'll beat you up."
Xiao Jingkang, Xiao Jingtai and General Xiao all began to rebuke Xiao Rui.
None of his brothers sympathized with him. Who wouldn't want a purse made by Ping An himself? You were right to have that thought, but you were wrong to bring it up in front of Grandfather and the other two elders. Now, not only are you ruined, but ours are gone too. You're truly a scoundrel who's more trouble than good.
Yun Yichen and the others were used to this kind of scene, and they were no longer surprised or confused. While they were amazed at their own ability to accept it, they also realized that the two little girls were the ones that the Xiao family could not afford to offend.
"Second uncle, let me help you hang up. I have practiced it several times, so there will be absolutely no problem." Xiao Yuan patted his chest and promised.
"Okay, Ruyi will hang it on Uncle Er." Xiao Jingtai raised his arm, revealing his belt. No wonder his wife always envied his eldest sister-in-law and younger brother's wife. Having a daughter is good! Someone feels sorry for her, someone cares about her. When his son gets married, he may not care how many grandsons he has, but he must have a granddaughter.
"Grandfather, you must take care of yourself, eat well and rest well on the way, and please come back safely, okay?" Xiao Yao tried hard to hold back the tears in her eyes and not let them fall.
"Okay, grandpa promises you." Seeing his granddaughter's red eyes filled with tears, General Xiao didn't want to leave. He wanted to hug Xiao Yao, but was afraid that the child would really cry. The old general, who had experienced many battles, suddenly became at a loss when facing his beloved granddaughter.
"And second uncle, you not only have to take good care of grandpa, but you also have to take care of yourself, okay? Don't forget second aunt, eldest brother and Aqi are waiting for you at home." Xiao Yao turned into a nagging aunt, and after making an agreement with her grandfather, she began to instruct her uncle.
"Uncle knows." Xiao Jingtai walked to his little niece and turned his face upwards. The meaning was self-evident.
Since her sixth birthday, Xiao Yao had rarely visited her family members, but today was different. Her grandfather and second uncle were leaving home for a distant place, so it was only natural for them to be kissed. She tilted her head back to hold back her tears, hugged Xiao Jingtai's neck, and, not caring about the presence of outsiders, kissed him deeply.
Even someone as brave as Mu Fengwu was frightened by Xiao Yao, especially since there were outsiders present! Do you think it's appropriate for the uncle and nephew to kiss?
"Well, grandpa didn't want to make any demands, but we can't let others get it for free." General Xiao opened his arms, and Xiao Yi happily handed his sister over. Xiao Yao followed suit and kissed grandpa heavily, and rubbed her little face on his weather-beaten cheek.
"Grandfather, I won't let you get hurt or lose weight."
"Grandfather never gets hurt, and never gets thin."
"Don't lie."
"No lie."
"Dad, it's time to set off." Xiao Jingtai urged. He didn't want to disturb the grandfather and grandson from saying goodbye, but it was already late and it was really time to set off.
"Can I ask my grandfather one last question?" Xiao Yuan grabbed Xiao Jingtai's sleeve and shook it.
"Ruyi, just say whatever you want to say." General Xiao stroked Xiao Yao's back, returned her to Xiao Yi, bent down and picked up Xiao Yuan, and asked with a smile.
"Who gave my sister and I our nicknames?"
"Of course it's grandfather. Doesn't it sound nice?" General Xiao wanted to show off, and the people around him turned their heads. If it was some poetic name you wanted to show off, we could understand it, but with this "peace" and "good luck", how can we agree with it?
Especially the word "peace". How can you have the nerve to put two words like that on such a pretty girl? Please explain.
"I didn't notice it when I didn't embroider the purse, but when I embroidered our two names, I realized that Ping An and Ru Yi were much easier to embroider. Look at my hands, there are holes from embroidering Ru Yi. It's not fair."
Everyone looked down at the purses on General Xiao and Xiao Jingtai's waists, and discovered that the words "peace" and "good luck" were embroidered in red thread on the front and back of each purse.
"Did you two embroider this by yourselves?" General Xiao asked in surprise. His little granddaughter was only a few years old, but she could actually embroider. She was really smart and capable.
"Um..." Xiao Yuan lowered his head and looked at his fingers, and said slowly: "My sister embroidered her own name, mine? It's too difficult, so I embroidered the first character of the name, and my sister helped me finish the rest."
"That's great too. Grandfather likes this gift." After saying this, General Xiao looked at his second son and quickly expressed his attitude.
"Second uncle also likes it very much and must carry it with him every day."
"If I had known that you wanted to embroider your own names, I should have given each of you a name that is easy to write and pronounce. In fact, I have also prepared a name called Jixiang. By the way, is Jixiang easier to write or Ruyi?" General Xiao asked without hesitation.
"Father, it's really too late, let's go." Xiao Jingkang urged his father. You are safe and happy here, and finally even auspiciousness came out. People who know that you named your granddaughters, but those who don't know would think that our family named it for? Or a restaurant!
"Ayi, please send your two sisters home safely. Ninth Prince, Prince Yun, I'm taking my leave." General Xiao jumped onto his horse swiftly. He turned around and looked at his granddaughter a few times, then squeezed his legs against the horse's belly and galloped away.
The moment her grandfather disappeared, Xiao Yao could no longer hold back her tears, which began to fall. Her tears did not fall one by one, but in strings, just like beads that had broken off the string.
Yun Yichen happened to see Xiao Yao crying. He felt as if those tears were hitting his heart, making his breathing heavy and his heart aching. Even many years later, he still remembered the scene vividly and could not forget it.
"Be good and don't cry. Grandpa will be sad if he knows you are so sad. You don't want grandpa to be sad, right? My sister is the most obedient and sensible." Xiao Yi coaxed Xiao Yao gently. He felt so distressed that he wished he could take her place and transfer her sad mood to himself.
"Sister, don't cry. Didn't we agree on this when we came from home? No one is allowed to cry." Xiao Yuan also advised with tears in her eyes.
"Ping An is a good sister. You must do what you promised your sister. Otherwise, your sister will laugh at you, okay?" Xiao Yi advised again.
Xiao Yao wiped her tears with the clothes on her second brother's shoulders, got up, took Xiao Yuan's hand and walked towards her own carriage. She never looked at Yun Yichen and the others from beginning to end.
This little girl must be angry with me, Yun Yichen thought gloomily.
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