Chapter 197: They Finds Out...
Xiao Yuxi and Xiao Fenghao thought that they had heard it wrong, but when they saw the shock in each other’s eyes, they knew they absolutely hadn’t!
Their Little Ya really mentioned their father...
The siblings’ gaze turned to Xiao Qingya with blazing looks, the intensity so high that the little one could feel their gazes.
She turned around and was taken aback.
[What’s wrong with my second brother and eldest sister? They look constipated... should I tell my eldest brother we should head back for now...?]
Her words made Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi’s faces stiffen. Alas, one of them was driving the carriage at the front, so... it suddenly changed direction abruptly, startling everyone on the carriage.
"Hao’er!" Xiao Jingran warned.
Xiao Fenghao hurriedly took control of the reins in fright and steadied the carriage again.
"Let’s just head back home. It should be enough for now." Xiao Jingran ruffled Xiao Qingya’s hair.
Still, Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi almost couldn’t resist wandering their gazes around, trying to find this so-called father.
Xiao Jingran sighed softly. He knew that with Xiao Qingya around, it was impossible to hide this secret forever. The little one always chatted with the System, after all.
Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi couldn’t find any clues for the time being, so their gazes simultaneously fell to Xiao Jingran, someone who had been too calm the entire time.
It was such a huge and surprising news. Shouldn’t their eldest brother show at least a slight hint of surprise too?
Unless... he already knew about it beforehand.
They rummaged through their memories and found some clues.
Facing his younger siblings’ questioning gaze, he signalled with his hand to keep quiet. He will explain it to them later.
Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi were still restless, and the former hurriedly made the horses run faster so that they also could arrive home soon.
They wanted to demand an explanation from their eldest brother. He obviously knew about this information, and yet, he was keeping it from them.
Xiao Qingya was still busy chatting with the System at this moment, discussing other things after she found a more interesting topic.
Since she didn’t talk about it anymore, her two elder siblings couldn’t get much information from her inner thoughts.
[We are already planting the paddy rice seeds into the nursery tray.] Xiao Qingya was talking about Zhou Anran’s dimensional space to the System.
[Perhaps Mother’s space would allow another human soon. In the next harvest or the one after that. I can feel it.] Xiao Qingya said thoughtfully.
[Who should we bring first to the dimensional space hmm...]
Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi could only distract themselves by listening to the little one’s chattering.
They couldn’t help but answer her question.
[Me, your second brother/eldest sister, Little Ya!]
A dimensional space that had such magical spring water. They definitely wanted to see it with their own eyes!
Unknowingly, they soon reached back at the house.
Their grandfather, mother, and aunt were also busy trying to search for Xiao Yuyan and they hadn’t returned.
Meanwhile, Zhou Defeng was tending the garden, so the siblings immediately got off from the carriage and went to help him.
"Granduncle, let us help!" Xiao Yuxi said enthusiastically, her eyes flashed with a hidden motive.
Zhou Defeng family’s courtyard was very wide. Compared to his house which didn’t have many rooms, it was safer to discuss things outside.
They were worried someone might suddenly appear or happened to hear the shocking topic of their conversation.
"Aren’t all of you tired?" Zhou Defeng shook his head. Like a concerned elder, he immediately told them considerately. "Just take some rest, I can water the plants myself."
Xiao Yuxi shook her head. "Granduncle, don’t worry, we were using the carriage. Wasn’t it just sitting inside? We are absolutely not tired at all."
"Granduncle, watering plants is actually quite fun." Xiao Fenghao helped his sister to persuade him.
Eventually, Zhou Defeng gave in. "Alright, alright. I am already old and can’t understand how it feels to be young with so much energy."
He let out a chuckle and pointed to the water vat. "The water is there. There are several wooden buckets too."
They all nodded and immediately ran to the place he was pointing at.
Xiao Qingya picked a small wooden bucket and headed in the different direction compared to her older siblings. Xiao Xue was trailing behind her, spitting out information on how to take care of certain plants.
The System helped her identify some problems with the plants and the way she could handle it. Earlier, she had bought an item that could cure the plants’ diseases.
In order to administer it, she needed to part with her siblings and went to water plants alone.
She was unaware that her older siblings were currently having a secret meeting without her.
"Eldest Brother, don’t try to deceive us anymore," Xiao Fenghao immediately unleashed his anger. "You must have been aware who our father is!"
Xiao Yuxi stared at Xiao Jingran with anticipation. "Eldest Brother, please tell us!"
However, they actually already had a vague guess in their hearts. Xiao Qingya was always with them. How could she have a lot of contact with other people?
Then, there was also a certain man who always wore a mask and never took it off even until he reached the Capital.
It was Su Wan’s older brother!
Originally, they were quite angry at the man’s actions during the last few days they were together. They could tell that he was trying to get close to their mother.
But... what if he was really their father?
They were still angry too, of course!
"Your guess is right," Xiao Jingran began. "It was that nobleman, Aunt Su Wan’s elder brother."
Xiao Fenghao snorted. "Is it really him?!"
After receiving the confirmation, a sense of loss welled up in Xiao Yuxi’s heart. "Then, why didn’t he admit it to us..."
Upon seeing his younger siblings’ reaction, Xiao Jingran sighed softly.
"Do you remember that Father had memory loss and didn’t remember who he was before?" He guided them, starting with a clue.
They nodded like chicken pecking the rice. Then, their eyes slowly had a flash of realization.
"Eldest Brother, do you mean Father had memory loss but this time it’s about us?" Xiao Yuxi was shocked.
Xiao Fenghao, however, was a bit more skeptical. "How are you sure about this, Eldest Brother? What if he deliberately left us..."
He still remembered how their mother cried so hysterically back then. Her mental state definitely wasn’t good, and suddenly, one morning, she recovered.
She got up from the bed and started going to the fields again, and yet, they could still feel the silent sadness radiating from her.
"Did you take his pulse or personally check him before?" Xiao Fenghao continued. "Or was it Physician Bai who did that?"
Xiao Jingran saw the faint expectation on their faces.
"I can tell that he didn’t deliberately leave us... just by looking at his condition, he had been suffering from a major headache all these years he was separated from us." He explained softly.
"As you can see, our father has a lot of guards under him."
Xiao Yuxi nodded, still feeling rather conflicted. "He is a nobleman..."
His identity alone now could make things complicated.
"The years he was with us, he should have been missing from his home too. Then, his people brought him back." Xiao Jingran continued. "Our Qingshan County had a lot of people missing..."
"As for how he ended up in the Capital and found his family again, it must have been the human traffickers doing it."
He laid out all of his hypotheses that didn’t seem too far-fetched from the truth. His younger siblings listened carefully, and their minds raced.
"Then... how about Mother? Did she know about it too?" Xiao Yuxi asked again.
Xiao Jingran answered frankly. "She already knows about it."
They both were surprised again. "Why didn’t she talk to our father...?"
"Mother certainly has her own reasons." He carefully explained. "She also wanted me to keep this from the two of you for the time being, but with Little Ya around, I know that this secret wouldn’t last for so long."
"Eldest Brother," Xiao Yuxi called out. "Father tried to get close to Mother the last few days before we parted ways. Does it mean that he has remembered us?"
There was a hopeful tone in her she herself didn’t notice.
Xiao Jingran fell silent for a moment before he nodded. "There is such a possibility."
His Master also told him that the imperial family also dispatched their imperial guards some days ago.
Xiao Yuanwei was also using the imperial family’s force to search for Xiao Yuyan.
"Then..." Xiao Yuxi trailed off.
Xiao Fenghao, however, had another thought. He asked solemnly. "Eldest Brother, who is our father?"
He didn’t hide it from his younger siblings and answered frankly. "It is suspected that he is the emperor."