September 9, the Double Ninth Festival.
This year, the Prince Residence did not hold any banquet. Considering that the twins had never been outdoors since their birth, on this day, Xiao Yeyang, with a grand gesture, took his whole family for an outing beyond the city, to climb the mountain and gaze into the distance.
On the Longfeng Mountain outside Liangdu City, wild chrysanthemums spread widely, blooming wantonly, attracting countless people to ascend the heights.
At the foot of the mountain, on the grass, Daohua was laying out the tablecloth on the lawn with her maids, and then placing various foods and fruits on top of it.
Next to them, Xiao Yeyang was enthusiastically grilling skewers.
Gu Jian sat cross-legged on the ground, beaming as he watched Daozi and the twins chase and play around him.
"Brother, wait for me!"
The twins were now quite steady on their feet when walking, but still wobbled when running.
Daozi was flying a kite, his entire attention focused on getting the kite higher into the sky, having no time to attend to his little brother and sister.
Daomang was lively and active. Seeing her brother moving about, she followed suit, but after running a few steps and seeing that her brother did not wait for her, her little mouth turned downwards into a pout, her large watery eyes gradually filling with mist, looking utterly pitiful.
Gu Jian simply couldn’t bear to see the little girl cry, quickly got up, ran over, and embraced her in his arms to console her: "Don’t cry, don’t cry, your dear ancestor will play with you, alright?"
The little girl leaned into Gu Jian’s arms and looked at Daozi in the distance, who was laughing loudly because the kite was flying high. She pouted her lips up high: "Brother is bad!"
Gu Jian nodded repeatedly and carried the little girl over to where Daohua was.
Daomiao was not particularly active. Once Daohua had spread out the blanket, the little one contentedly lay down on it.
When Gu Jian brought Daomang over, Daomiao was nibbling on an apple slice slowly, his little feet kicking leisurely, prompting a chuckle from Gu Jian: "This cheeky little rascal!"
Gu Jian placed Daomang on the blanket, although the little girl still seemed a bit unhappy.
Daomiao glanced at his sister, slowly sat up, crawled over to the edge of the picnic cloth, reached out for a piece of cake, then crawled back and offered the cake to Daomang.
Daomang, the little girl, cast a glance at her brother, somewhat reluctantly accepted the cake, and then cheerfully started to nibble on it.
Seeing how easily the little girl was consoled, Gu Jian found it amusing, then turned to Daomiao: "How come you only got cake for your sister? What about your dear ancestor?"
Daomiao looked at Gu Jian’s extended hand, his eyelids seemed to flick upwards, then he slowly and leisurely crawled towards the picnic cloth.
All of this was observed by Daohua and Xiao Yeyang from the barbecue grill. The two of them had gained some experience in child rearing; as long as the children did not cry or make a fuss too terribly, neither of them would interfere.
Xiao Yeyang said with a smile: "Have you noticed that Uncle seems to favor Daomang more than Daomiao?"
Daohua gave him a side glance: "How come I didn’t notice? Aren’t you the same?"
Xiao Yeyang touched his nose and offered a weak defense: "Isn’t it because girls are more delicate than boys, thus they need extra care?"
Daohua chuckled dismissively, no longer bothering to debunk him: "Have you not noticed that Daomang’s eyes look familiar?"
Xiao Yeyang looked puzzled: "What do you mean?"
Daohua glanced at the Master, who was doting on his daughter: "Daomang’s eyes resemble yours, and your eyes look a lot like your mother’s."
Xiao Yeyang was taken aback for a moment, then quickly looked toward Gu Jian and the twins: "You mean..."
Daohua nodded: "Your mother’s face was disfigured by burns, and neither you nor I have seen her true face, but I remember those eyes quite clearly. Daomang might resemble your mother."
"You spend little time at home and might not have noticed, but several times I’ve seen Master gazing at Daomang, looking through her as if he sees someone else."
"You still have me, and also Daozi and the twins, we will always be by your side."
Xiao Yeyang nodded, then sighed deeply: "Uncle Chu helped us a lot when we were in Xiliang, I should personally prepare a gift to avoid... to avoid him calling me stingy."
Daohua said with a smile: "Mother will surely be very happy when she receives it."
...
On September 15, Han Xinran sent an invitation to the Prince Residence.
"Why has second sister come to Liangdu City at this time?"
Surprised by the content of the invitation, Daohua wondered.
Although Yan Yishuang and Yan Yihuan both followed their husbands and held positions in Xiliang, due to family matters being quite busy, they typically only gathered during the holidays, so their meetings were relatively rare.
The next day, Daohua met both Han Xinran and Yan Yihuan.
Daohua knew that Yan Yihuan had first gone to the Yan Residence, and after big sister-in-law had sent an invitation, she then came over to the Prince Residence. Daohua asked with a smile, "Second sister, when did you arrive in Liangdu City?"
Yan Yihuan replied with a laugh: "I arrived the day before yesterday." She continued, showing a hint of embarrassment, "As soon as I arrived, I troubled both big sister-in-law and big sister."
Seeing Han Xinran not participating in the conversation, Daohua chuckled: "Why talk like this amongst ourselves, sisters? Is there something urgent that brought you here at this time?"
Yan Yihuan hesitated for a moment, her expression slightly uncomfortable as she said: "Big sister, not long ago my mother sent me a letter, saying that she came to Xiliang with Yile."
Upon hearing this, Daohua’s eyelids twitched instinctively, quickly glancing at Han Xinran. At that moment, she understood why big sister-in-law was barely containing her smile.
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