Daozi smiled cheerfully as he unwrapped gifts with the twins.
Daohua watched the children’s joyous faces with a smile, the bittersweet feelings of departure in her heart lessened somewhat. She turned to Xiao Yeyang and said, "Now I understand why you insisted on putting these gift boxes in the carriage."
Xiao Yeyang, knowing Daohua couldn’t bear to part with family, wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Give them something to do, that’ll stop them from being restless. I’m still decent at handling kids, don’t you think?"
Daohua cast him a sidelong glance, then silently leaned on his shoulder. "Mother said that last night, Grandmother cried secretly for a long time."
Xiao Yeyang held Daohua’s hand tightly. "Once Xiliang fully gets on track, I’ll have more free time. When that happens, we’ll come back to visit more often."
Daohua nodded, wrapped her arm around Xiao Yeyang’s and gazed at the scenery outside the carriage. Listening to the children’s laughter, her mood gradually calmed.
...
After traveling for a month, by mid-August, Xiao Yeyang’s convoy crossed into Xiliang’s territory.
Seeing the golden yellow crops along the official road, Daohua’s face lit up with a joyful smile. "I remember when we first came to Xiliang, it was desolate everywhere. Look at it now, the fields are full of grain."
Xiao Yeyang’s eyes gleamed with heartfelt joy. Today’s Xiliang was built by him and Yiyi together, a testament to their shared efforts.
Without Yiyi’s high-yield crop varieties, even if he were skilled at leading troops in battle, defeating Xiliao wouldn’t have been so easy. Even if he and the officials excelled at governance, it wouldn’t have been possible to quickly end hunger for Xiliang’s citizens.
"Want to go horseback riding?"
Daohua nodded eagerly, "I do! Back in Beijing, I always had to restrain myself. Now, I feel like running free!"
Hearing this, Xiao Yeyang immediately pulled Daohua off the carriage.
Daozi and the twins saw their parents leave them behind to ride horses and couldn’t help but pout.
"See? Father loves Mother the most. We’re just pitiful little things!"
While playing with the music box gifted by the Emperor, Daomang pouted and grumbled.
Still fiddling with a Rubik’s Cube, Daomiao nodded in agreement without raising his head. "Exactly."
Daozi, with a sense of experience, sighed, "You two need to get used to it earlier, or you’ll end up heartbroken."
"Giddy-up~"
"Giddy-up~"
In the golden fields, two horses galloped freely, chasing and racing each other, their riders’ laughter echoing far into the distance.
On horseback, Xiao Yeyang gazed at Daohua’s radiant smile, as bright and charming as when she was a child. His eyes overflowed with tenderness.
It was this warmth that made him fearless in the face of storms.
Watching his wife gallop ahead and glancing back at the carriage carrying their three children, Xiao Yeyang felt that there was nothing he would regret in this life.
Inside the carriage, the three little ones had grown bored with their toys and were lying by the window, watching their parents horseback riding outside.
When they saw their father use his whip to wrap it around their mother’s waist and pull her onto his horse’s back, the three couldn’t help but cover their mouths and giggle mischievously.
"So embarrassing, Father and Mother are showing off their love again!"
"I’m going to keep showing off my love every day in the future!" Daomang clenched her fist to pump herself up. Not content with just doing it herself, she roped Daozi and Daomiao in as well.
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