Saving Someone in Passing (3)
T/N: Chapter sponsored by Azurixa and Gilly! Thank you for supporting!
Coming out of the central room, Du Xiao Li went to the kitchen to begin making dinner. Although Ying Ge and Xia Yuan have been here for more than a year now, and the other matters have all been handed over to them to do, their cooking skills still couldn't reach Du Xiao Li's no matter what. Moreover, Du Xiu Heng liked eating Du Xiao Li's cooking, so the cooking has always been handled by her.
"Xia Yuan, what did that person do all afternoon?" Du Xiao Li asked while chopping the vegetables.
"Miss, after you went to rest, he asked where madam's grave was, went to madam's grave, and stayed there for a very long time. Only after young master returned, did he finally followed him back." Xia Yuan replied.
"How was his expression?" Du Xiao Li continued asking.
"His expression was very painful, and he even bitterly cried in front of madam's grave. He said a lot of words, majority were all just recalling the past, and also some things about miss. At the time, he'd went alone and didn't know we were observing in the dark either. It didn't seem like he was acting for someone to see." Xia Yuan said.
Cried? No wonder when she saw Du Yun Han just now, she noticed that his eyes were swollen. Moreover, when he was getting angry at Du Xiu Heng, there was also an unerasable trace of grief in his eyes. Looks like the things that happened that year were indeed worth contemplating over.
Du Xiao Li thought that since Du Xiu Heng refused to acknowledge Du Yun Han, he naturally would just leave, but unexpectedly, when she went out again after she finished cooking, she discovered that he still hasn't left yet. Furthermore, he managed to have someone bring a bed from who knows where and placed it in the storage room, saying for every day they refuse to return with him, he won't leave for a day. During dinner, he even squeezed himself onto the table, insisting on eating together with them. That look didn't have the slightest appearance of a prime minister, fully just a thick-skinned person.
Afterwards, he really did settle down in their home, every day having a stare off with Du Xiu Heng. Learning that Du Xiu Heng had successfully passed the provincial exam and was going to participate in the preliminary rounds of the imperial exam next years, he smiled till his eyes narrowed shut. But every time Du Xiu Heng said he won't acknowledge him, he would rage until his eyes popped open.
However, he was very accommodating with Du Xiao Li. When he saw her going to the tangerine orchard to comb the fruits, he also followed over, wanting to help Du Xiao Li. But he was an official after all, how would he know how to do these thing. Seeing Du Xiao Li picking tangerines, he had the tangerines on the branch all picked, angering Du Xiao Li in the process and getting himself kicked out. She even forbid him from coming near her tangerine orchard. Seeing him standing at the edge of the tangerine orchard with a face full of grievance, Du Xiao Li felt both amused and in a good mood.
Not long after, the emperor's letter came, letting Du Yun Han return to the capital without delay. As a result, that old guy wrote a reply saying he was there to experience for himself the life of a commoner, and experiencing the commoner's way of thinking, follow which was another lengthy eulogy, singing praises, which ended up pleasing the emperor, allowing him a few more days of time.
But the emperor wasn't a fool either. He naturally knew why Du Yun Han wasn't returning to the capital. Thus, immediately afterwards, he sent an imperial edict, wanting Du Yun Han to bring his di son and di daughter back to the capital.
The imperial edict said 'di son and di daughter', thus was acknowledging Su Su Xin and the sibling's position. The purpose naturally was for letting Du Xiu Heng and Du Xiao Li willingly follow Du Yun Han back. Of course, an important reason why he was able to pass such an edict was because that equal wife was still just an equal wife. In the fourteen years' time, she has never managed to climb onto the position of the official wife.
Du Xiao Li once again lamented the restrictions of an era with imperial power. But she still consulted with Du Yun Han, letting him go back on his own first, while she and Du Xiu Heng leave at the end of the sixth month.
Du Yun Han asked her the reason, and she said there was something to take care of. Only Du Xiu Heng and Xia Yuan and them knew the reason. She was waiting for the grapes to mature.
Towards this Du Xiao Li replied, "The winery and restaurant all need to be taken care of. This also needs to take some time." However, she didn't want to let Du Yun Han know about any of these.
Although he really wanted to travel together with his daughter, he also didn't want to against her intentions. The emperor's side was also pressing tightly, and under reluctance, Du Yun Han eventually went on the road alone. However, he had a portion of the people he brought left behind.
Before departing, he went alone to Su Su Xin's grave again and cried in front of her grave for a very long time, while Du Xiao Li and Du Xiu Heng stood below the mountain, silently watching.
Du Xiao Li knew that whenever Du Yun Han had time, he would always spent it there. Aside from the first time and this time, he didn't cry the other times. But every time he returned, his mood was always down. This time, perhaps because he needed to part, he looked particularly heartbroken.
Watching Du Yun Han cry like a small child, Du Xiao Li couldn't help letting out a sigh.
"Sigh."
In the horse carriage, Du Xiao Li also sighed following her recollection, her arms curling around Silver who was beside her. "Silver, after passing Fuyang, we'll arrive in the capital in another day. What do you think the capital is like? After going, will we be able to get it use to it? Will you be not used to it? There, it won't be able to be like Du village, with mountains for you to run around. However, fortunately, I had your wife brought along too, so you won't be lonely either."
"Pfft---" Hearing Du Xiao Li's words, Ying Ge and Xia Yuan both laughed, because they both recalled the wedding Du Xiao Li held for Silver and Gold at the time.
Last year, Silver seduced a female wolf back from the mountains. Following the husband when married, the female wolf also got along very well with Du Xiao Li. Du Xiao Li gave her the name Gold, and even let the two wolves put on crimson clothes and a crimson flower, holding a wedding for them. That spectacle amused one to death.
However, because this horse carriage was too small, after squeezing in the three of them, it couldn't fit two more adult wolves. That's why gold went over to Du Xiu Heng's horse carriage, and Silver remained here. Of course, Silver sometimes would also go to Du Xiu Heng's horse carriage.
Du Xiao Li rolled her eyes at the two laughing at herself and reached out to pick two grapes to feed Silver.
"Shh...."
The carriage driver suddenly pulled the reins and stopped the carriage. Ying Ge quickly asked, "Why did we stop?"
"Miss, there seems to be a situation up front. Young master's horse carriage also stopped." The driver replied.
"Perfect, I just happened to have gotten tired of sitting. Let's go down and see too." Du Xiao Li said, "Ying Ge."
Ying Ge opened the carriage door, and Du Xiao Li directly jumped down from the horse carriage. Silver, seeing Du Xiao Li get down from the carriage, also leapt up and directly jumped down. Following which, Ying Ge and Xia Yuan also came down, leaving the driver to watch the horse carriage.
When Du Xiao Li arrived up front, Du Xiu Heng had also just happened to have gotten down from the horse carriage. The siblings thus walked forward together.
In a place about fifty meters ahead of them, there were five to six horse carriages stopped, and also several horses standing in the middle of the road. A bunch of people were currently crowded together, seemingly something must have happened, because they nearly had the official road all blocked. Du Xiao Li and them had no choice but to stop.