Chapter 102: Teaching

As soon as reinforcements arrived, the children hiding all around emerged one by one.

General Xiao grabbed Xiao Yuan with one hand and carried Xiao Yao in the other. His eyes darted between his two granddaughters as he asked, “Has your fourth uncle bullied you? Don’t be afraid of him with your grandfather here.”

“Father, even favoritism should have its limits,” Xiao Jingyan protested.

Xiao Rui leaned in close to his brothers and whispered, briefly explaining the situation. Upon hearing it, not only did Xiao Lang and Xiao Yi chuckle, but even the normally stern Xiao Yang’s lips twitched upward.

So it was Ping’an being mischievous again. No wonder she needed to hide. The brothers were all curious about how their sister came up with such strange and unexpected ideas. Her thoughts were always so unique, her actions completely unpredictable. It was hard to understand her at all!

“Fourth Brother, I’ll trade a piece of news for the safe release of all the children, including my own,” Xiao Jingkang proposed, already guessing that his daughter must have done something outrageous again. Seeing his fourth brother’s aggrieved face, he couldn’t help but feel secretly delighted while maintaining a calm exterior.

“Let me hear the news first,” said Xiao Jingyan, unwilling to let a group of troublemakers off so easily.

“Miss Yu is getting married soon. She will marry far away and probably won’t return to the capital,” Xiao Jingkang revealed the freshly minted news to his family.

Everyone was shocked upon hearing it. Xiao Jingyan and Xiao Yao both thought the same thing: at last, the days of walking on eggshells were over!

Xiao Jingyan sighed inwardly. If this news had come out earlier, he might not have had to follow Prince Jing to the Northwest. Now that the departure was imminent, it was impossible to back out. Alas, perhaps it was fate.

“I wonder where Miss Yu will be married off to? If it’s to the Northwest, she might even travel with Fourth Uncle,” Xiao Rui speculated, resting his chin on his hand.

Xiao Jingkang gathered the other children except for Xiao Rui and called them over to his side. As for the one who had gone looking for trouble on his own, he could only hope his fourth brother would go easy on him and not leave him crippled.

Xiao Yao covered her eyes and thought to herself: Fourth Brother, if you don’t get beaten up twice a day, you probably can’t sleep at night. Watching the figure running out and the cries of pain coming from outside, Xiao Yao felt no sympathy for her fourth brother at all.

After some time, Xiao Jingyan dragged Xiao Rui back into sight. One looked as dashing as ever, while the other was grimacing and rubbing his backside.

“Serves you right!” Xiao Yuan whispered into Xiao Yao’s ear.

Xiao Yao thought: That’s still your own brother! Even if you’re pretending, you should at least show some concern and say a few comforting words. But no, you’re the first one to gloat. No wonder your relationship seems more like enemies than siblings.

After the ruckus settled, General Xiao asked his youngest son about his preparations for the journey. Feeling both pained and helpless, he turned to his wife and said, “Pack some spare clothes and daily essentials for Xiao Jingyan. When he leaves, it should be just one person, one cart, and a few attendants. If he ends up with several carts, I’ll have no choice but to accompany him to apologize to Prince Jing myself.”

“Why is that?” Madam Qin asked.

“Your son is merely a minor accompanying official. If you outfit him like a prince on a journey, people will say he has no decorum. Do you think that would please the prince?” General Xiao explained, holding back his temper.

“Fine, I’ll do as you say.” If she couldn’t send items, she’d just prepare more silver notes. Practical and compact, there’d be no objections to those.

With Xiao Jingyan’s issue settled, preparations for the county princess’s birthday banquet at Prince Jing’s residence began. New clothes and jewelry were laid out for everyone to see. The two sisters each received three outfits, and a jewelry box filled to the brim with various hairpins.

“Auntie, isn’t this too much? We’re going to a banquet, not a beauty pageant. There’s no need for so many clothes and accessories,” Xiao Yao said, looking at the items in front of her.

“A girl can never have too many clothes,” Li Jiaoying insisted. “Go try them on. There’s still time to make alterations.”

“Change into the new clothes. Grandmother wants to see too,” Madam Qin added, enjoying dressing up her granddaughters like flowers. With only two girls in the family, they always had the best of everything.

Xiao Yao picked a relatively plain outfit from her pile and went to change. When Xiaohui offered to redo her hair and add new hairpins, Xiao Yao refused.

“Changing clothes is enough. The hair and hairpins can wait until the banquet,” she said.

“Yes, Miss,” Xiaohui replied, noticing her mistress’s lack of interest in the upcoming gathering. Though usually kind-hearted, Xiao Yao always found ways to avoid things she didn’t want to do.

Once dressed, Xiao Yao and Xiao Yuan stood before their grandmother and Aunt Li Jiaoying again. Xiao Yao looked lazy and uninterested, clearly just going through the motions. Xiao Yuan, on the other hand, fussed over the sleeves and complained about the skirt. Madam Qin and Li Jiaoying sighed. Attending a birthday banquet at a prince’s residence was a rare opportunity. Others might beg for such a chance, but these two girls seemed completely indifferent, as if it didn’t matter whether they went or not.

“Behave yourselves at the prince’s residence and get along with the county princess. If only Nanny Ruan could accompany you,” Madam Qin said, uneasy about the two girls attending alone. Watching their attitude today only deepened her worries. Unfortunately, the adults hadn’t been invited, and Nanny Ruan might not be able to go either.

During a later conversation with Xiao Yao, Nanny Ruan mentioned that she could accompany them if they were nervous.

“There’s no need to trouble you, Nanny. I can handle it. The princess said the guest list is small, and my cousins from the Yuan family will also be there. Please don’t worry,” Xiao Yao replied.

Nanny Ruan was busy enough teaching her, preparing medicinal diets, and handling other tasks. Asking her to escort them would be unreasonable. Xiao Yao thought she was quite considerate and filial.

“You silly child, what are you daydreaming about now?” Nanny Ruan teased with a smile, fondly tapping Xiao Yao on the head.

Nanny Ruan admitted to herself that she had grown soft in her old age. Perhaps it was the Xiao family’s unique expectations for their children or her own latent desire for a carefree life. Either way, her standards for Xiao Yao had loosened considerably.

That said, Xiao Yao was an attentive and earnest student during lessons, only occasionally negotiating her workload. For that, Nanny Ruan was willing to indulge her.

“Since you’ve brought it up, I’ll bring forward my plan for you to learn about fragrant baths,” Nanny Ruan said.

“Really? What plan?” Xiao Yao’s eyes lit up.

“You know, medicinal baths aren’t just for healing. They can strengthen a man’s body and make a woman more beautiful and fragrant,” Nanny Ruan explained.

Xiao Yao was amazed by ancient wisdom. “Can you teach me to make fragrant oils and medicinal foods someday?”

“If you’re truly interested, I’ll teach you. But some secrets must stay with you alone. You can use them for others, but you can’t share the methods,” Nanny Ruan said with a smile.

“Thank you, Nanny!” Xiao Yao’s gratitude was genuine.