chapter 28.1

The servants had already set up a banquet table laden with food in the main hall. When they entered, they were still steaming hot and smelled fragrant.

“Come over here. After going to the bitter and cold place in the Northwest, you haven’t eaten good food for a long time, right? They are all your favourite. Put your younger sister down and have two servings!” The Old Madam beckoned.

Yu Xiang also struggled to get down.

Yu Pin Yan reluctantly put his sister into the wheelchair, filled the Old Madam with a cup, and said in a hoarse voice, “Grandmother, your grandson has made you suffer throughout the years! Grandson will drink a cup to punish himself!”

The Old Madam burst into tears again when she heard him say this. She heard Yu Xiang said, “Elder brother, we’re all a family. What are you saying about bitter life or punishment? You’re working hard outside, we should guard this family well. It is for each to perform their own duties and secure their own life. If you drink on an empty stomach, you’ll harm your stomach. Quickly eat!” After saying that she grabbed the glass directly and put a jade prawn dumpling into his mouth.

Yu Pin Yan quickly swallowed it down and rubbed his sister’s hair affectionately.

The Old Madam said in agreement, “What Xiang’er said is correct. Let’s perform our own duties to maintain the family well. We don’t have to speak about these insincere polite words. After years of absence, you have become distant from your grandmother!”

“You deserved to be hit!” Yu Xiang took out the small whip hanging from the wheelchair and gently hit her elder brother.

“This little girl is getting more and more fierce, worthy of being my younger sister!” Yu Pin Yan laughed heartily. The more he looked at her beautiful and cute younger sister, the more he liked her. He couldn’t help carrying her to his knee and reached for the tip of her nose.

Yu Xiang stealthily took a prawn to stuff his mouth and the brother and sister made a lot of noise.

“Sit down and eat. After both of you have eaten, you can be affectionate however you like. How old are you two?! You two still act like a child!” The Old Madam chided but her face was lit up with smiles.

Yu Pin Yan swallowed the prawn dumplings, touched his younger sister’s forehead and asked, “Why is there a bruise here?”

The Old Madam was about to speak when Yu Xiang cut in, “I heard that you came back. As I was happy, I bumped into the doorpost. It’s all your fault!”

Now that her grandson has returned, there was no need to let him know about the hardships of the past. The Old Madam thought and kept quiet. Yu Pin Yan believed in it. He laughed softly and said, “Alright, it’s all my fault. If Xiang’er makes any mistakes in the future, it would also be my fault. I’ll take all the blames for you.”

The atmosphere was great until they saw Ma Momo with a solemn expression entering. She reported in a soft voice, “Old Madam, Madam has arrived.”

“Why is she here for no reason? ” The smile on the Old Madam’s face disappeared in an instant. On such a good day, she really didn’t want to see that jinx, Lin Shi!

Yu Pin Yan’s expression remained unchanged, but his eyes gradually turned cold. He would have forgotten about his mother if she hadn’t been mentioned by Ma Momo. Yu Xiang and his grandmother wrote him a letter every ten days, along with clothes, shoes and socks. Even the dry food that was never lacking in the camp was also sent in dozens and dozens of Jin[1], and the sweet and salty taste often made him tear up with a smile. However, it was as if Lin Shi didn’t have such a son. Don’t even mention a piece of paper, even a thread had not been sent by her.

Yu Pin Yan used to guess whether Lin Shi had given birth to him, just like Xiang’er who wasn’t blood related to her. But now, this problem no longer troubled him.

To fit into the auspicious atmosphere, Lin Shi wore a pink dress with a butterfly hairpin pinned to her temples that was rarely worn by her. She walked in slowly and said with a smile, “What’s Mother saying, how can I not be present. It’s time to celebrate Yan’er victorious return to the capital.”

As she saw Yu Xiang who was sitting on Yu Pin Yan’s arms, she said with a cold smile and chided, “Come down quickly. How is it appropriate to sit in your elder brother’s arms?”

Yu Xiang didn’t think so, but she pulled Yu Pin Yan’s sleeves to put her down.

The warmth that was floating in the air was washed away by her few words. The Old Madam laughed angrily and said in a cold voice, “It’s rare for you to remember that Yan’er is also your son. When he was fighting in the war, what were you doing then? Embroidering a portrait of Jun Jie? Are you going to help Yan’er embroider a deceased portrait?”

As soon as these were spoken, the Old Madam hit her own lips and whispered anxiously, “Buddha, please don’t blame me. This believer is so angry and muddleheaded. Please don’t make it count. Buddha, please don’t blame me!”

Lin Shi sat down and said grudgingly, “Mother has burnt my husband’s personal belongings. Daughter-in-law has nothing to reminisce on, so I have to embroider a portrait. Currently, aren’t I listening to what you have said and didn’t touch a thread? Yan’er, how have you been in the North West? Have you gotten hurt?”

Yu Pin Yan gazed at his younger sister who was putting all the things on her plate like a squirrel, with a smile in his eyes and in a flat tone, “Child has troubled Mother for thinking about me. Child is all right.”

Yu Xiang covered her cheek with a hand and tried to persuade by mouthing the words, “Eat quickly, don’t talk nonsense.”

Yu Pin Yan couldn’t help laughing but also lovingly rubbed her lips and then lowered his head to eat.

Lin Shi also politely picked up a vegetable for him and said gently, “Eat slowly, don’t choke. I heard you were promoted to General Guangwei this time? With 180,000 soldiers under you?”

Yu Pin Yan didn’t respond. He fed a spoonful of egg soup into his younger sister’s diamond shaped mouth and watched her swallow with smiles in his eyes. Yu Xiang also picked up a spoon and fed it to him. The siblings took turns and ate heartily.

The Old Madam was pleased with something and called the servant to add another bowl of egg soup. When her son returned from the first war, he couldn’t eat for three months where he vomited when he saw meat and vegetables. He became so thin and didn’t look like a human. She heard that all the people who returned from their first war were like this and it was incurable no matter how much medicine was taken and had to be thought through on their own. She remembered this deeply and was fearful that her grandson would be like his father and suffered from this weird disease.

It was good now. Her grandson was full of energy and had a scrumptious meal. The heart that was hanging for a year and a half was finally put down safely.