Qin Yining found this increasingly strange.
If their estate were located in some deep mountain forest, it would be reasonable for passing travelers to say they had nowhere to go. But though this place was remote, it was still in the capital’s outer city. If they wanted to find lodging at an inn, they could certainly find places to stay.
“What sort of people are they?” Seeing the farmhand from the outer courtyard looking as if he didn’t know how to describe them, Qin Yining stood up: “I should go see for myself.”
But Xie Yue said: “That wouldn’t be proper. What if someone is deliberately trying to frame us? Wouldn’t that be dangerous? Let this old man go look.”
Qin Yining found this reasonable and nodded in agreement.
Who would have thought that in just a moment, urgent footsteps came from outside, followed by Xie Yue’s voice unable to hide his excitement and joy: “Princess, see who’s come!”
Qin Yining stood up in confusion.
Ji Yun and Bingtang exchanged glances and followed behind Qin Yining to the outer room.
Qin Yining had just stepped over the threshold when she heard two clear children’s voices.
“Mother!”
“Mother!”
Two children wearing coarse cloth clothes rushed over in the blink of an eye, one on each side hugging Qin Yining’s legs. The child on the left had a small red mole between his brows, while the child on the right had curved eyes when he smiled, with two small dimples on his cheeks.
Qin Yining was completely stunned, bending down in disbelief to touch the two children’s faces.
She wasn’t dreaming, was she?
“Zhao Ge’er? Han Ge’er?”
“Mother, hug!” Han Ge’er twisted his little body.
Zhao Ge’er didn’t speak, just blinked his eyes and looked seriously at Qin Yining.
Tears burst from Qin Yining’s eyes. She crouched down and embraced both children in her arms, sobbing aloud.
She had been forced to separate from her children. She and Pang Xiao had faced life-and-death situations outside. She had even thought many times that she might die at any moment, that she might never get the chance to see her children again.
Sometimes she also wondered: when the children saw their mother again, would they find her strange? Would they not recognize her? Perhaps they would recognize her, but because she wasn’t a competent mother who hadn’t been by their side to accompany their growth, would they hate her irresponsibility?
Qin Yining felt guilty, so in all the reunion scenes she had imagined, she had never included anything like what was happening now.
When Qin Yining cried, the two children cried along with her. Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er both used their little hands to wipe Qin Yining’s face. Bingtang and Ji Yun were also moved to tears.
Seeing this, Xie Yue smiled: “Please forgive us. The Princess has been thinking of the two young masters day and night, and now she’s too excited to control herself.”
Hearing this voice, Qin Yining looked up and through her tears saw an extremely bright smiling face.
“Sister Cao?”
Cao Yuqing wore a coarse cloth dress with her hair wrapped in a cloth headband. Despite her village woman’s attire and the black ash deliberately smeared on her face, it still couldn’t hide the beauty that radiated from her bones.
“Yining, have you been well all these years?”
Qin Yining was overjoyed. She stood up, holding Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er’s hands, and walked to Cao Yuqing. Before she could speak, tears flowed first.
Thinking of everything she had experienced outside after their separation—how she had nearly died several times—now seeing someone from her natal family gave her that sense of belonging, of finally having someone to confide in, making her tears burst forth like a dam breaking.
Cao Yuqing knew of Qin Yining and Pang Xiao’s hardships. Though Qin Yining always reported good news and hid bad news, she had followed Qin Huaiyuan’s instructions to bring the children and catch up along the way, hearing many rumors. Even now, people still talked about how last winter, Prince Zhongshun’s consort and a pair of dragon-phoenix twins still in swaddling clothes were captured by the Son of Heaven, how the Princess was caged and paraded through the streets—the same treatment as the recently executed Tatar khan.
Cao Yuqing had been so angry she nearly wanted to rush into the imperial city and kill that foolish ruler!
Now seeing Qin Yining crying like this, Cao Yuqing’s heart ached and tears fell. Qin Yining was Qin Huaiyuan’s only bloodline. Cao Yuqing loved her because she loved Qin Huaiyuan, and she had always admired Qin Yining’s intelligence and decisiveness. Seeing her suffer so much grievance, even being forced to separate from her children, made her heart ache even more.
“There, there, it’s all over now.”
Cao Yuqing hugged Qin Yining and patted her back: “Look, if you keep crying, Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er will laugh at you.”
Only then did Qin Yining sniff and look down at the children who were also crying and sniffling. Tears welled up again, but she couldn’t help smiling. She crouched down to wipe the children’s tears.
“Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er have grown so much taller!”
Zhao Ge’er said seriously: “Mother, you’ve also grown much taller.”
Han Ge’er also imitated his brother, nodding with a smile: “Mother has also grown much taller!”
The children’s baby talk with their milky voices made Qin Yining finally break into laughter through her tears. She hugged them and kissed their cheeks several times: “Good children, I’ve missed you so much I could die.”
Han Ge’er hugged Qin Yining’s neck coquettishly: “Mother, we missed you too. Grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother all missed you too. Grandfather said Mother needs us to protect her now, so he had Aunt Cao bring us to find you.”
“Right!” Zhao Ge’er nodded seriously: “Grandfather also said he’s bringing people outside to support you and take you to Father’s military camp.”
Qin Yining looked excitedly at Cao Yuqing: “You came from the Prince’s side?”
Cao Yuqing smiled and nodded: “When the Prince and the Tatars had their decisive battle at the frontier, your father felt this might be a matter concerning the future, so he selected a thousand elite soldiers and raised the Pang banner, successfully reaching the battlefield using tracking poison from Xiyue, just in time to repel the enemy and capture the Tatar khan alive. We were in a hurry to come out and didn’t know the battlefield situation. Fearing it would be dangerous for Han Ge’er and Zhao Ge’er to follow us, we had secret agents bring them behind us. When everything was stable, we sent word to them.”
She lowered her head and touched Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er’s heads: “Now our boys are people who’ve seen the world—they’ve seen deserts, battlefields, and military camps stretching like an ocean.”
“Father wielded his sword—swish, swish, swish—so powerful!” When Han Ge’er mentioned Pang Xiao, he was like a little monkey, actually demonstrating a few moves quite stylishly.
Cao Yuqing laughed: “When I have time, I teach them some martial arts. But most of the time, they’re with your father.”
Qin Yining was delighted beyond measure, hugging and kissing the children repeatedly, then saying gratefully: “These two children—it’s all thanks to you all. I’m such a derelict mother, never properly teaching or accompanying them.”
“What are you saying? How could we not understand your difficulties? Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er understand too.”
“Mother, I know Mother and Father are fighting people outside to protect us.” Zhao Ge’er took out a small handkerchief from his chest and seriously wiped Qin Yining’s face.
Han Ge’er also chimed in: “Right! Father said he’d teach me swordwork. When I learn Father’s swordwork, I’ll also learn whip techniques from Uncle Ji and sword techniques from Uncle Mu! Then I can protect Mother.”
“Mother, I’ll learn too,” Zhao Ge’er also said.
Qin Yining nodded repeatedly, tears flowing continuously.
Perhaps because of mother-child connection, crying came from the side room, quickly becoming a duet.
Only then did Cao Yuqing remember, asking joyfully: “Is that Xuan Ge’er and Yun Jie’er?”
Qin Yining nodded: “They must have woken up.”
Zhao Ge’er’s eyes sparkled: “Mother, we want to see little brother and little sister.”
“Mother, Grandfather said little brother and little sister are children Mother had to keep us company. We want to play with little brother and little sister!”
Qin Yining’s tears swirled in her eyes as she nodded: “Good, let’s go right now.”
She was truly grateful to Qin Huaiyuan now.
Her father had managed Xiyue so well and helped her raise the children so well. He even understood her worries.
She couldn’t accompany Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er, yet she had given birth to Xuan Ge’er and Yun Jie’er outside. She had also worried—what if the two children found out and minded especially, feeling they had been abandoned?
But now hearing the children’s tone, Qin Huaiyuan had thought of even this aspect for her. He had already convinced the two children, allowing them to accept their younger siblings without any grudge.
The whole family happily went to the side room.
The wet nurse had just soothed the two children. Suddenly seeing Qin Yining bringing two adorable children, she was a bit confused since she didn’t recognize them and quickly held the not-yet-one-year-old young miss and young master to bow.
Qin Yining smiled: “No need to be nervous. These are my other two children—their older brothers.”
Zhao Ge’er and Han Ge’er held hands and curiously walked to the two wet nurses.
The wet nurses quickly placed Xuan Ge’er and Yun Jie’er on the warm kang by the window.
The two children could already sit up straight and crawl. One wore a bright red jacket, the other a tender pink jacket. Both were fair and beautiful, with little dimples when they smiled.
Seeing them grinning, Han Ge’er pulled Zhao Ge’er close and carefully poked Yun Jie’er’s face.
“Brother, they’re so ugly.”
“They don’t have teeth yet. When they have teeth, they won’t be ugly anymore.”
“They don’t look like you either. Or like me.”
“They’re not twins. Of course they don’t look like us.”
While talking, the two children climbed onto the warm kang with hands and feet, curiously watching how the other two crawled backward.
One small warm kang, two pairs of twins, four children—all her treasures.
Qin Yining wiped her eyes with her thoroughly soaked handkerchief and said to Cao Yuqing beside her: “Sister Cao, you don’t know—I’ve dreamed of this scene so many times. When I woke up, half my pillow would be wet from crying.”
“These years have really been difficult for you.” Cao Yuqing hugged Qin Yining’s shoulder and patted it, then smiled: “Fortunately, everything is looking up now. I heard your father say this time can settle everything once and for all. The Prince has also made up his mind.”
Qin Yining nodded: “We’ve been forced into a corner with no way back. If we don’t fight for it, the whole family will lose their lives. Naturally, we can’t worry about much else.”