Chapter 191: He Tries to Get Close
Zhou Anran realized she had overlooked one important thing.
If she and her other children could hear Xiao Qingya’s inner thoughts, wouldn’t Xiao Yuanwei be able to hear it too?
She had figured out the pattern regarding this. Only people who had closest blood relation to her youngest daughter could hear her inner thoughts, which means that Xiao Yuanwei also should be able to...
Her face turned deathly pale, and she subconsciously hugged Xiao Qingya tighter, almost couldn’t breathe.
At this moment, a flash of confusion also appeared on Xiao Yuanwei’s face.
The cute and childish voice which seemed to be scolding him... was it Zhou Anran’s youngest daughter?
His gaze settled on Xiao Qingya, but Xiao Jingran quickly blocked it. He sat in front of his youngest sister and began to feed her.
"Try the porridge, Little Ya," he said as he started feeding her.
Xiao Qingya obediently ate the porridge, her inner thoughts became silent. Zhou Anran also heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was her reliable eldest son.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yuanwei fell into a deep thought.
He glanced at everyone present and noticed that their expressions were normal, as though they also hadn’t heard such a confusing question from the little one.
On the other hand, the eldest daughter and second son had a confused look on their faces. Then, he remembered how the eldest son had acted so quickly, shielding her from his gaze...
He seemed to have discovered a secret.
Then, regarding the sentence the little one was talking about...
It seemed that it was truly the truth that he was their father.
Xiao Yuanwei took a deep breath. This time his gaze settled on Zhou Anran’s face which seemed to have a relieved look. She had a motherly gaze as she stared at Xiao Qingya.
Actually, he also didn’t reject it.
The more he looked at her, the more he saw her resemblance with the figure in his memories, and he felt that these scenes weren’t so strange or foreign anymore.
"Imperial brother, what are you looking at? You didn’t even blink." Su Wan arrived and immediately made fun of him.
He cleared his throat. "Did you hear something just now?"
Su Wan blinked in confusion. "Something?"
Xiao Yuanwei’s flashed. "Nothing. Forget about it."
He could easily conclude that the ones who heard the little one’s voice were only him, her mother, and her siblings.
At this moment, Zhou Anran realized that there seemed to be a new problem after Xiao Qingya said these words.
Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi were staring at them in bewilderment. They even started looking around to see if their father was really there.
When they returned to the carriage, she finally explained to her children.
"Mother, does little Ya really found our father?" Xiao Yuxi’s eyes were sparkling.
Xiao Fenghao also had an expectant look on his face, waiting for her to answer.
She began to have a headache. Although she didn’t want to disappoint her children, she had no choice but to hide the truth from them for now.
"Little Ya was looking at the information regarding your father..." she trailed off. Her eyes flashed with hesitation before she continued. "Your father might be in the Capital."
Both of them glanced at each other with surprises in their eyes. "Really, Mother?"
"Other than finding Yan’er, we will also meet our father," Xiao Yuxi muttered happily, looking very optimistic.
Xiao Fenghao still had doubts when he saw his mother’s face. There was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, so he refrained from expressing his thoughts.
They were just a few days away from arriving in the Capital, and since that night, a strange thing began to happen.
Zhou Anran stiffened when she saw Xiao Yuanwei suddenly sitting near their family. The fireplace was actually huge enough. The guards kept on finding firewood to keep it burning.
It made the area around it also become wide, so she didn’t find any plausible reason why he would suddenly choose a place near their family.
"Sister Anran, you wouldn’t mind if I invited my brother over, right? He is so pitiful, sitting all alone over there." Su Wan muttered.
"No problem, no problem," Zhou Wenzhi immediately said before Xiao Yuanwei took a seat.
She shoved Xiao Yuanwei to sit near Zhou Anran, making her stiffen.
Xiao Yuanwei suddenly felt the same, slightly nervous...
The two of them seemed to be awkward as they sat near each other, but Su Wan was satisfied with her attempt to get them closer to each other.
She silently observed them, especially Zhou Anran, and made a conclusion.
Based on Zhou Anran’s reaction, her imperial brother was most likely her husband, and she had some kind of reason for not willing to admit his status.
After Xiao Yuanwei took a seat, Zhou Wenzhi whose memory had become sharper from drinking the spring water gradually noticed something wrong.
Why did the atmosphere between her daughter and this nobleman seem off? The more he looked at Xiao Yuanwei, the more he seemed to resemble someone familiar.
Not long after, a person’s figure clicked into his mind.
Xiao Wei, his son-in-law.
Even though their figures were similar, they were ultimately different people. One was a nobleman and the other a commoner like them.
It never crossed Zhou Wenzhi’s mind that the person sitting beside his daughter was really his son-in-law. Because he wasn’t aware of Xiao Yuanwei’s past where he was missing for several years. Otherwise, he might have linked both people together.
"Jing’er, do you think the princess might have found out something?" Zhou Anran asked her eldest son.
These past few days, she found out that Su Wan always shoved her brother to her. During the meal in the morning, lunch, or even dinner.
Xiao Yuanwei also didn’t refuse... and it filled her with some trepidation that he finally remembered something.
Xiao Jingran’s eyes flashed, and he took a deep breath before he asked his mother.
"Mother... Father isn’t an unreasonable person. What if we just talk to him about what we want?"
Xiao Jingran actually also wasn’t sure how much these years had changed Xiao Yuanwei. After all, being in power can easily change someone.
For the past few days, the way Xiao Yuanwei looked at Zhou Anran, most of the time, he looked like he was trying to figure her out.
On some occasions... Xiao Jingran even saw a similar gaze he used to look at Zhou Anran in his eyes.
He just couldn’t be sure about his mother’s true thoughts regarding this... or even, his father’s.
"No, no, Jing’er," Zhou Anran hurriedly refused, shaking her head. "That move is too risky."
Xiao Jingran nodded in understanding. He didn’t want to press his mother. After all, the situation was also difficult.
Tomorrow, they should be arriving at the Capital already anyway. His Master also should arrive soon; something had held him up for a bit.
His Master had some connection in the Capital, and even Xiao Qingya’s Master, Mo Chen, was a high-ranking person.
Physician Bai might be able to help him to find Xiao Yuyan’s whereabouts. Once he contacted Mo Chen, the latter’s ability would be useful.
"I think that your father also has changed a bit," she mumbled.
Moreover, the current Emperor... if it was really Xiao Yuanwei, he had a lot of consorts and concubines already..
On the other side, Xiao Yuanwei had been trying to get close to Zhou Anran while making an attempt to figure out Xiao Qingya.
The voice he heard from her; he already determined that it wasn’t his illusions. He was really curious how she could make other people besides her family unable to hear it.
On the last day before they finally arrived, he found his answer.
The little one didn’t open her mouth at all!
So, it seemed that it was her inner thoughts. No wonder she was such a daring little one, talking about this or that incessantly.
And her family... from his observation, the little one was also unaware that her family could hear her inner thoughts. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have blabbered about the second son’s secrets.
[My second brother was bald...]
[My second brother admitted that he looks like an ox...]
The next sentence caught him off guard.
[He resembles our father the most, so does that mean our father looks like an ox?] She clicked her tongue. [Fortunately, I look more like my beautiful mother.]
She patted her little chest. [In the family, it’s only the Second Brother and Father who resemble the oxen!]
Unknowingly, it was already time for them to part ways once they arrived in the Capital.
Xiao Yuanwei who had been mostly silent suddenly opened his mouth, turning to Zhou Anran.
"Mrs. Zhou, we will help you to find your second daughter."
After all, Xiao Yuyan also might be his daughter too. In order to confirm it, he needed to meet a certain someone as soon as he returned to the palace.