Qin stayed in bed for seven full days before being allowed out. Xiao Jingmin, who had long since passed his return date, saw that his mother had truly recovered and began packing his bags to return to his post. The dinner celebrating Qin's recovery thus became a farewell banquet for Xiao Jingmin and his family of three.
"Brother and sister-in-law, second brother and sister-in-law, after I am gone, my parents will need you to take good care of them. Come, I'll toast you a glass." Xiao Jingmin picked up the glass and drank it all.
While speaking, he automatically ignored Xiao Jingyan next to him. In his eyes, he was a child who had not grown up yet and was not much better than his son Xiao Rui.
He wasn't the only one who thought this way; his father and his two brothers probably all shared this sentiment. Fortunately, Xiao Jingyan was only superficially a playboy and had never gotten into any serious trouble, so a few people turned a blind eye and let him go. If someone in the Xiao family was more prominent, the emperor might have been wary.
"It's almost time for the official assessment. Judging from the current situation at home, you may continue to be sent out. You'd better be mentally prepared for this." Xiao Jingkang reminded him. Of the four officials in the family, three are already in Kyoto.
So if nothing unexpected happens, Xiao Jingmin will still be sent out.
"I understand. I've gotten used to life outside these years. If I were suddenly transferred back to Beijing, it would be difficult to adapt."
"Yes, yes, we still want to enjoy ourselves for a few more years, so I'll leave the house to my brothers and sisters-in-law. Please allow us to stay lazy for a few more years."
The couple sang the same tune, but everyone knew they were saying this out of fear of guilt for their families. Who wouldn't want to serve in the capital and instead be attached to their hometown? But facing the imperial decree, they had no choice. Xiao Jingkang had just been promoted and couldn't leave. Xiao Jingtai held an important position and his sphere of activity was in Kyoto, so they had no choice but to let Xiao Jingmin suffer.
"Fourth brother, what are your plans?" Xiao Jingmin hoped that he would stay. Having him accompany his mother would be more effective than any panacea.
Xiao Jingyan, who thought he only needed to entertain the guests, did not expect to be called out. He tried hard to recall the question from his third brother, but he looked confused and didn't know how to answer.
"Brother Yan, please stay with mom and don't leave. If you go on a long journey, and if mom falls ill like this time, or never wakes up again, then I..." I will never see you again.
"Mother"
"grandmother"
This sentence scared the children and grandchildren so much that they stood up one after another. Xiao Jingyan felt very sad. He thought he was such an unfilial son who forced his mother to say such words in order to keep him.
"If you want him to stay, just tell me. If he refuses, I will break his legs." General Xiao looked at his youngest son with a murderous look, as if he would face the fate of having his legs broken if he dared to say no.
"Mom, I won't leave. It's better to stay with you wherever I go." He quickly made his position clear, otherwise he would offend everyone. Forget it, he had already had enough fun, so he might as well stay.
"You won't leave anymore, right?" The unexpected surprise came too quickly, and Qin was eager to confirm it.
"As long as you don't agree, I won't leave. That should put your mind at ease."
"Okay, okay, okay." Qin was really satisfied now.
After a few words, the topic turned back to Xiao Jingmin's family.
"I'm taking them both with me this time. Arui is a very naughty child. I hope my father and the eldest and second brothers will take the trouble to discipline him."
"Don't worry, I'm the best at dealing with disobedient children. Are you curious about what your uncle will do?" Xiao Jingtai asked his nephew with a raised eyebrow and a wicked smile.
Xiao Rui shook his head decisively. Only a fool would want to know!
The four children were sitting at their own small table to eat. When Xiao Yao heard what her third uncle said, she suddenly turned around and saw her father and mother looking at her. She hurriedly lowered her head, not wanting them to see the sadness and reluctance on her face.
Xiao Yuan was sitting on the wet nurse's lap, commanding her to eat and drink in a domineering manner. Xiao Yao put down her bowl and spoon and looked at her sister intently. Xiao Jingkang and Tong Mingyu felt sorry for their daughter very much. The child was obviously sad, but she didn't cry or make a fuss.
"You two can go, but leave Ruyi behind." How could General Xiao be happy when his chubby little granddaughter was about to be taken away?
"Ruyi is less than ten months old. How can she be separated from her mother? Send her back in a few years so she can study and learn to read with her sister."
Seeing her husband being unreasonable again, Qin Shi spoke up. "Don't even think about reasoning with him about anything related to his granddaughter. Anyone who wants to take his granddaughter away from under his nose is a bad person, no matter who it is."
Thinking about having a granddaughter by his side, and how Ruyi was indeed too young, General Xiao reluctantly kept his mouth shut. Looking out, he saw the two little granddaughters snuggling together, heads touching, so close. They should be together every day, but someone had to ruin the moment. It was such a disgrace.
After dinner, the date for Uncle San’s family to depart was confirmed, which was tomorrow morning.
In the evening, Tong Mingyu enthusiastically invited her daughter to sleep with her. Xiao Yao didn't want to be a light bulb. When she was shaking her little head to refuse, Yuan Yutong and his wife came over holding Xiao Yuan.
"Ping An, can you sleep with Aunt San and your sister tonight?"
That’s good, but what about Uncle San? Xiao Yao blinked her big eyes and asked silently.
"Third uncle is going to play chess with your fourth uncle tonight and won't be going back to Yiyuan." Xiao Jingmin stretched out two fingers and gently pinched his niece's face. The feeling was different from touching his daughter. His daughter's face was chubby and soft when pinched, while his niece's face was thin, but smooth when pinched.
Xiao Jingkang slapped his brother's hand away and said, "I can't even bear to pinch it, so why are you doing this?"
Xiao Yao happily nodded in agreement. The abandoned Tong Mingyu sighed softly, "You little heartless girl," and handed his daughter to his younger brother and sister-in-law, and told Qiao Yue to go back and get some clothes for his daughter.
How could Xiao Jingkang miss this great opportunity to comfort his wife's wounded heart? He gently tapped his daughter's forehead in agreement and followed his wife's footsteps.
In Yiyuan, Yuan Yutong personally washed the two children and changed their underwear. Xiao Yao was dressed in light pink and Xiao Yuan was dressed in bright red.
Maybe she has grown taller, Xiao Yuan's little belly is exposed, and it keeps shaking as she moves. Her mother and sister are very unscrupulous and take turns poking her with their hands, which feels really good.
"Well, you guys had such a fun thing to do but you didn't invite me." Xiao Rui sneaked back from the front yard, intending to fulfill his duty as a brother and play with his sisters for a while. As soon as he entered the door and saw the scene in front of him, he shouted in dissatisfaction. Such a fun thing was actually left out, and Xiao Rui was extremely angry.
Yuan Yutong and Xiao Yao stood in front of Xiao Yuan. This guy was a naive person. If he were to make a move, he might break his sister's belly.
"Why don't you let me play with my sister for a while? Just for a little while, okay? I won't use too much force, I promise to be gentle."
The two shook their heads in disbelief. Xiao Rui sighed and said, "Ruyi is leaving. I can't bear to leave my sister. Can't I play with him for a while?"
Xiao Yuan squeezed out from the gap between his mother and sister, looking at the three of them curiously. Are they playing games? Why don’t you take me with you?
Xiao Jingmin walked in lightly, wanting to give everyone a surprise. However, the scene of the confrontation between the two sides gave him a fright. If he dug out his son, the scene would still be quite beautiful.
"What's going on?"
"Daddy! Mom and Ping'an won't let me play with my sister. They won't even take me with them when they play games."
Xiao Jingmin looked his son over with suspicion, thinking there was probably 90% truth to his words. He then cast a questioning look at his wife, but all he got was a roll of the eyes and the short reply, "Do you believe this?"
"It's so late, go back to your front yard." A slightly majestic voice came from above.
Well, I knew the result would be this. Xiao Rui walked away, looking back every few steps.
"Why are you back?"
"I'm worried about you three. What if you get scared at night? So I decided to stay with you tonight." The main reason is that I've always wanted to experience what it feels like to sleep with two little girls in my arms. Tonight is the moment when my dream comes true, so how can I miss it?
Didn’t you agree to play chess with Fourth Uncle?
Xiao Yao really wanted to ask, if it is possible if I say now that I want to move back to Yayuan.
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