Mrs. i asked soone to prepare lunch, spoke with Xiao Song for quite a while, and then had tea and snacks prepared for him.
"Good child, hurry and have so water, eat sothing."
Xiao Song was truly hungry, and ate several pieces of the snacks in a row.
Mrs. i was about to ask how Anning was when she heard the maid laughing, "Miss Su is here."
Upon hearing there was a lady coming, Xiao Song quickly stood up to leave.
Mrs. i waved her hand, "It’s fine."
Xiao Song sat back down beside Mrs. i.
Just as he settled, he saw a girl with an elegant appearance wearing a water-green jacket swaying as she walked over.
"Aunt has a guest, really..."
Upon seeing Xiao Song, Miss Su blushed first, "Then I shall take my leave."
Mrs. i smiled and waved for her to co over, "Is there sothing you need?"
Miss Su then took out a headband, "I was idle with nothing to do, so I did so needlework. This is a headband I made for Aunt, and having finished it, I wanted to show you. I hadn’t expected guests at ho."
Mrs. i took the headband, "Your handiwork is skillful, and the needlework is also vibrant. This headband is quite well-made, I like it very much."
She pointed at Xiao Song, "This is a child of a family friend."
Miss Su smiled and curtsied towards Xiao Song.
Xiao Song hurriedly stood up to return the gesture.
Mrs. i then said to Xiao Song, "This is a relative from my maiden family, currently staying at ho."
Xiao Song’s face reddened a bit, "Master may still be waiting for . I, I’ll head over now."
Mrs. i nodded, "Then go ahead, I’ll have soone call you for a al together later."
"I take my leave."
Xiao Song respectfully retreated.
Once Xiao Song was gone, Mrs. i invited Miss Su to sit down, "Yu, we might be heading south, would you be willing to co along?"
Su Yu lowered her head, hiding the deep aning in her eyes, "Aunt, what are you saying? My parents have passed away, and I have no other relatives. Naturally, wherever you go, I should go too."
Mrs. i smiled and patted Su Yu’s hand, "You’ve always been a good one, and I can rest easy with you around. As long as I’m here, I’ll protect you for a day."
Su Yu smiled slightly, and after a while, she asked Mrs. i, "The young gentleman just now was from a family friend, which family friend? Is it a family I’m acquainted with?"
Mrs. i waved her hand, "You don’t know his family. His grandfather was a classmate of your uncle. Earlier, his mother was even guided by your uncle. Because of that, his mother still rembers us and sent him over to visit, also hoping to invite us over as guests."
Su Yu furrowed her brow, "I truly haven’t heard of them. What is their surna? If we’re going as guests, should we prepare so gifts?"
Mrs. i didn’t think much of it, "Their surna is Xiao, currently in Southern Yi. His father is the Marquis Zhenan, known as Mr. Xiao. These days, he manages several prefectures in Southern Yi. All the places south of Jiangnan belong to his family. Although known as Marquis Zhenan, people privately refer to his family as the King of Southern Barbarians."
"It’s them."
Su Yu was startled, "I have indeed heard so things. It’s said this Marquis Zhenan is quite capable, back then with only a few troops, he could conquer Nanyi Prefecture and swiftly suppress the rebellion. Afterwards, the court was very accommodating towards him, rewarding him multiple tis. Just unsure what kind of person he is."
"We’ll get to et them once we go."
Mrs. i smiled and patted Su Yu’s hand, "You should rest for now, tomorrow we might have to prepare for travel."
Su Yu stood to bid goodbye.
As she stepped out of Mrs. i’s room, her pace quickened.
Once back in her room, Su Yu dismissed the attending maid, sitting alone in her quarters lost in thought.
The more she thought, the more complex her expression beca.
She clenched her fists tightly, "Grand Ancestor Jing, indeed eting the descendants of Grand Ancestor Jing, haha, perhaps this ti heading to Southern Yi, I might see Grand Ancestor Jing in person. If I, if I... don’t know if I can stay by his side."
Su Yu locked the door from inside and took out a scroll from under the desk, unfolding it.
It surprisingly was a portrait of a man.
Had Xiao Song seen this, he would have been quite shocked. The person in the portrait Su Yu held was actually Xiao Yuan.
Su Yu placed the portrait onto the desk, her hand caressing the face of the person in the picture, "I can finally see him, it’s not in vain that I’ve been yearning all these years, not in vain I’ve found kinship relations to join the i Family, it really is just like the historical records, Grand Ancestor Jing highly valued i Boqing."
She gazed at it for a long ti before putting the portrait away securely.
Then Su Yu sat before the dressing table, grooming herself before the mirror.
She looked at the girl in the mirror with a face as pretty as a flower, unable to help but laugh lightly, "This appearance, I wonder if it can captivate him."
After having lunch, Su Yu saw i Zhiyuan talking with Xiao Song.
She walked over smilingly to greet, "Uncle, Young Master Xiao."
i Zhiyuan asked with a smile, "Yu, are you heading out?"
Su Yu shook her head, "No, I’m here to see Young Master Xiao."
Xiao Song was puzzled.
Su Yu laughed and said, "I’ve often heard about Southern Yi, and knowing Young Master Xiao hails from Southern Yi, I wanted to ask how it really is over there? Is it like spring all year round, never cold in winter, and have you seen the sea..."
Su Yu asked a lot of questions in a row.
Xiao Song listened attentively and answered earnestly.
Su Yu feigned great interest, "So, Southern Yi is even better than our Yangzhou Prefecture. I really want to see it soon. Young Master Xiao, if you have free ti, could you tell more?"
Nanyi Prefecture
Xiao Qing returned from outside to find Xiao Yuan.
"Dad, I’ve had soone keeping an eye, and yesterday the Zhang Family arrived at our Nanyi Prefecture."
"The Zhang Family?" Xiao Yuan quickly figured out which Zhang Family it was, "Is it the Zhang Family from Jiangnan?"
Xiao Qing nodded, "Indeed it is them, but I don’t know what their purpose is, whether they co as court emissaries or to cooperate with us."
Xiao Yuan thought for a mont, "Keep an eye on them, let’s not worry about their actions in the Prefecture City for now, just pay attention."
Only then did Xiao Qing take his leave.
After he left, Xiao Zhu ca in.
Xiao Yuan called Xiao Zhu and Xiao Yang, "Co, today I’ll take you out for a stroll."
Father and sons changed their clothing and headed to the marketplace.
Xiao Yuan had been very busy recently and hadn’t had a chance to stroll around for quite a while.
This ti walking through the street, he noticed new changes in the Prefecture City, so many things had changed on the streets he could hardly recognize them.
Nurous shops facing the street had installed glass windows, and so had refurbished their facades.
Moreover, both sides of the street had been greened up, and surprisingly, there were public transport signs.
Seeing those seemingly public transport signs, Xiao Yuan couldn’t help but want to laugh.
This must be sothing Xiao Yin has done, that girl really is growing bolder, introducing more modern things.
However, setting up so bus carriage routes isn’t bad; at least it provides convenience to pedestrians, serving to alleviate traffic in Prefecture City.
These days, the population in Southern Yi is growing, and the area around the Prefecture City is more densely populated, adding to the traffic pressure in the city. Many marketplaces are experiencing congestion.
Xiao Yin might have done this because of that, hence the creation of bus services.
"Dad, do you want to ride a bus carriage?"
Xiao Qing asked Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan nodded, "Might as well take a ride."
Just as they were talking, a carriage painted with the number five stopped by the roadside.
Xiao Qing and Xiao Yuan boarded the carriage.
The carriage was quite long, with many seats, and had an open canopy, appearing quite novel.
Once Xiao Yuan was seated, soone ca over and said, "Two cents each."
Xiao Yuan patted himself down, realizing he hadn’t brought even one cent.
He looked at Xiao Qing with a helpless expression.
Xiao Qing took out his wallet he carried with him, managing to pull out a dozen or so cents.
He took out six cents to give over, saving them from embarrassnt.
"Dad, you should ask mom for so pocket money next ti; it’s not right to take your son for a ride and have him foot the bill."
Xiao Yang leaned over to softly tease Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan curled his finger to tap Xiao Yang on the head, "You brat, daring to tease your father, see if I don’t deal with you later."
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