"We’re almost at Beijing!"
On the official road, a convoy of carriages and horses was swiftly heading towards Beijing.
Inside the carriage, Ye Yueying carefully held a bowl of medicine, feeding it to Madam Weng.
First, her granddaughter’s promised marriage was stolen away, then her son and daughter-in-law planned to send her granddaughter to Juechen Monastery. In anger, Madam Weng fell ill twice. Her health had not fully recovered, and now having to travel in the bitter winter was only making her condition worse.
During the journey, she had been taking herbal medicines constantly.
After drinking the medicine, Madam Weng lifted the curtain of the carriage and gazed outside. "Finally, we’re almost there."
Ye Yueying also looked out, her eyes fixed on the distant, increasingly clear and towering city walls, her heartbeat inexplicably quickening.
When she parted ways with Xiao Moxi in Liaodong, he had said he would report her father’s unjust death to the Great Grandson. She thought clearing her father’s name would be enough, yet she never imagined she would be summoned to Beijing.
It must have been Xiao Moxi who spoke highly of her in front of the Great Grandson. Otherwise, why would someone as busy as he is care to meet a lone orphan?
Xiao Moxi...
Ye Yueying let go of the curtain, lowering her gaze to conceal the complexity in her eyes. This man always seemed to barge into her life unbidden, making her lonely heart harbor forbidden hopes.
But... could it truly be possible?
A fleeting, self-mocking smile appeared on Ye Yueying’s face before vanishing. Shaking her head, she muttered inwardly: Don’t hope recklessly. The greater the hope, the sharper the disappointment.
...
Meanwhile, as the Weng Family’s carriages entered Beijing, inside the Prince Residence.
Xiao Moxi had just returned from outside. As he stepped into the residence, a feather duster lightly smacked him from the front.
"Ah, it hurts so much!"
Xiao Moxi let out an exaggerated cry, immediately bolting into the courtyard.
Behind him, the Prince wielding the feather duster puffed and chased after him. "You rascal! You stop for me! When will you bring my grandson’s bride home, huh?"
"All you do every day is work, work, work. You can’t even learn from your father. Back in the day, your father knew how to find himself a wife. Why didn’t you inherit this one skill from him?"
"I married at seventeen, your father at least at twenty. But look at yourself – you’ll be twenty-two after the New Year. If you don’t marry at this rate, you’ll be a proper spinster! You’re disgracing the whole Prince Residence!"
Running ahead, Xiao Moxi quipped back, "Grandfather, don’t smear my reputation! I’m famous out there; people praise me everywhere!"
The Prince caught up, smacking Xiao Moxi again. "Famous, my foot! You fool! Can’t even distinguish flattery from insults?"
"To outsiders, they probably think you’ve got something wrong with you. Otherwise, why haven’t you married yet? Behind your back, they might even claim you’ve got some hidden illness!"
Xiao Moxi: "..."
The Prince continued his tirade: "Look at those your age—look at your cousins! Which of them isn’t married with their own families? Their sons and daughters are running around everywhere. What about yours?"
"Let me ask you—where are my great-grandsons?"
Xiao Moxi groaned helplessly, darting to hide behind the rockery, evading the feather duster his grandfather used as a weapon.
Great-grandsons? He didn’t even have a bride anywhere in sight, but his grandfather was already thinking further ahead. Honestly, his grandfather’s ambitions were too wild!
This wouldn’t work!
The Prince finally stopped waving the feather duster, but still cursed angrily, "I’m telling you, your parents are just shameless, traveling carefree instead of arranging their own son’s marriage. There’s nobody in the world like them!"
Xiao Moxi poked his head out: "Grandfather, don’t speak ill of them. They let me pick my own bride, and I think that’s fantastic."
The Prince grew even angrier: "Well, then pick one! You’re always with the Jinling Guard, surrounded by men all day – what can you pick from there?"
Xiao Moxi smiled apologetically, "Grandfather, don’t be mad. Your grandson will go pick a bride for you right now!" With that, he bolted again.
Watching his grandson scurry off, the Prince was both annoyed and amused.
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