Chapter 12

-   Capital  -

The carriages' speed started to slow down due to the fact that they had reached roads with a higher traffic in people and other carriages. Ye Xiu and Xiao Tu peered outside the windows to watch the people walking by in the capital and noticed that compared to the people usually walking around in the city they were from, that the wealth was clearly much higher here.

A variety of characters walked around the streets looking at shops and buildings. Some people had scars all over their body and some just wore luxurious robes and carried a fan around. Ye Xiu snickered knowing from some of the ancient cultivator dramas that he watched in his previous life had shown this stereotype as an 'arrogant young master who loves to flaunt his wealth.

The carriages' was soon blocked by a massive building and its tall walls. Seeing that they were about to end their journey, everybody started getting up and packing everything they had used and stored it back inside their inter-spatial storage. The horses finally stopped and they all stepped off the carriage which was in front of the entrance of the grand building they had seen.

A loud voice shouted, "Halt, identify yourselves, no unauthorised personnel is allowed past this point."

Mei Ling didn't bother waiting for the person to finish speaking before throwing a wooden board at this person. When the guard saw it, he instantly apologised, "Sorry Young Miss! We had no idea that you would be arriving at this time."

Mei Ling waved off the apology and asked for her father, "Is father home right now? If not I'll just bring my party to the main residence. We'll be staying here for at least a month so inform the other guards to not apprehend my friends." After speaking she walked off and gestured for everyone else to follow her.

They started walking a pebble pathway surrounded by small ponds and wildlife fluttered around them. Ye Xiu could see that whoever had designed this place had a good taste of aesthetics. They walked down the pathway until they veered towards the right where a little gate stood in front of them.

"Well guys, this is where everybody from the main family lives so it's best for us to be as quiet as possible." Mei Ling informed everybody.

Ye Qiu started laughing, "Mei Ling, that's like telling a shark to stop swimming. You are the one who talks the most and it's nearly impossible for anyone to shut you up!"

Mei Ling just glared at him before pushing open the gate whilst calling out, "Mother, I'm back. Greet your precious daughter! Haven't you missed me or were you just trying to see my precious baby instead of your own daughter?"

A voice rang out from the building, "Stop shouting you imbecile! Have you no manners? You haven't changed at all Mei Ling! Brash and bold as always. I could hear you tell your friends to be quiet when entering the building but the moment you take a step through the gate you are already shouting? Such a hypocrite!"

Mei Ling's face started going red, "Sister, I'll have you know I'm better than before! I'm also married while you are still stuck at home like a Sheng Nu! I also have a cute baby whilst you are just sitting at home waiting for the perfect man that will never come!"

The two sisters started to bicker back and forth and the 3 adults in the visiting party just shook their heads in a jovial manner whilst laughing quietly. They entered the building and Ye Xiu could see that the building was definitely much bigger on the inside compared to the outside. His interest in the expansion of the building and the carriage coming forth again, he was planning to ask his parents about this matter because he just couldn't handle not knowing something so interesting.

Mei Ling brought them to a couple of seats in the residence which were rather comfortable. After a few minutes of waiting, a woman who looked to be in her thirties walked and started to move towards the party. The adults which saw the woman just looked away, afraid of meeting her stern gaze. The woman's gaze had honed into a specific part of the room.

The woman walked even faster towards it.

The woman pinched the face inhabiting the space.

"Mei, you never told me you had two sons! They both look so adorable unlike you when you were a child!" Xiao Tu's face became red from the continuous pinching but didn't ask for her to let go; he was afraid that this woman would be similar to his mother. Before Mei Ling could even respond, the woman grabbed Ye Xiu, picked him up and placed him on her shoulders. "This adorable one looks even cuter than the older son you have! He looks like an innocent doll that I just can't wait to taste!"

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Mei Ling quickly picked Ye Xiu off of the woman's shoulders before speaking, "Mother, I only have one child... the child you placed on your shoulders just now was my friends' child. Also, what do you mean my son is not cuter than him? My son is the cutest existence to grace this world!"

"I'm sorry for mistaking your child for hers." Mei Ling's mother bowed in apology for the error. "Your son truly is adorable and I'd love to have some time with him and my grandson alone. I am called Mei Tu and I am Mei Ling's mother if you haven't realised it yet." After apologising she sported a similar smile to Mei Ling's when she was infatuated with something. "Oh, aren't you two just the cutest little things."

Recovering from their shock, both Ye Qiu and Yu Er quickly greeted the elder hosting them in their residence. Ye Qiu asked a question to try and refresh the memory of the grandmother, "Mei Tu, don't you remember me, Ye Qiu? I was the boy who always followed Mei Ling's current husband around, watching him goof around and try to woo your daughter."

"Oh, you're the one who was perverted weren't you? Everybody in the capital talked about the both of you for your perverted actions for days after you guys had been caught for peeking on the ladies' communal bath." Mei Tu thought deeply whilst knowing that she would embarrass the grown man easily with that memory.

"Ahh, really? Everybody knew about us from then on?" Ye Qiu asked nervously because he could see his wife's face twitching violently. "I hope you can just forget that event and think of me as a changed man now." He asked very hopefully.

"That's fine, it was a matter from a long time ago anyway. What brings the three of you back to this country anyway? Did Mei Ling force you all on this trip or did you give your consent?" Mei Tu asked curiously.

Yu Er answered for them, "Mei Ling and I both decided that it had been too long since we had all met up as a group, so we decided to take a vacation to this country since she has an event here in the next month or so and we wanted to bring our children to see and learn about new places besides where they grew up in."

The grandmother kindly informed them, "I think it would be best for you to be safe in the capital this time around. Recently the streets have become more dangerous with strong cultivators being murdered during the night. It's best for you to travel in the day and be back by sunset."

Yu Er thanked her for the information and advice.

"By the way Mei Ling, where did that husband of yours go? He hasn't been here for the entire conversation."

"He's probably talking to sister again. You know what they are like when they get wind up talking about their hobby."

"That's fine then, everybody should be back for dinner by then so he won't be able to escape me then." Mei Tu smirked deviously.

Everybody started to settle down from the earlier excitement and sat down to talk quietly whilst waiting for dinner to approach. They caught up with some things that had happened in their lives since they hadn't met for a long period of time. The two boys had secretly snuck off to the garden area where they started to train secretly. The trip didn't give them as many opportunities to train as they had thought so they had slacked off in their training. They were trying to make use of their leisure time now to make up for lost time.

Night approached and a man had entered the residence silently as the household was currently enjoying dinner whilst conversation was made. The man entered the residence suddenly and bellowed, "Who are these strangers intruding into my home? These munchkins look like I could chew them from breakfast!" The man moved towards the two children and picked them up by their robes.

The adults didn't bother moving because they knew who this man was and what his eccentricities were like. "Is that my daughter I spy with my little eye? That could only mean that these two brats are my grandchildren! Well, say hello to grandfather, the best person in the world!"

The kids just rolled their eyes at the older man's theatrics and started giggling when Mei Tu smacked the man on the head with a wooden spoon, "Sit down and eat you fool, being dramatic doesn't make you seem more intimidating when you only just shaved your beard and moustache this morning. Now you just look like a man-child. Anyway, this is my husband, Shen Jing. He has his love for theatrics just so he can scare people."

Mei Ling greeted her father and asked him how his day went. "My day was boring, as usual, the only interesting thing happening in the capital now is the mysterious murders happening at night."

Mei Tu just whacked Shen Jing on the head again, "Shut up, eat your food, this isn't a discussion for the dinner table."

Shen Jing just whined like a child, "Fine, we'll talk about this later. Mei Ling, I see that you've been busy with your husband. You already gave me two grandchildren. Are you going to give birth to anymore? A daughter maybe?" His eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Father, I only have one son. Did you not read the letter I sent you? You always seem to ignore letters coming from people."

"Letters usually mean boring things. I skip them if they don't have an official seal." Shen Jing started complaining, "Why would I even need to read your letters anyway, you can always come back to tell me everything happening in your life."

"The trip takes an entire month father, You can't just expect me to up and leave the city at any given moment. I only came back because it was a reunion party which was organised by my friends. It was also convenient to bring everyone here because they were all at our house at the time." Mei Ling said exasperatedly. "Also, the older boy is my adorable son. The younger one is Yu Er's son. You know Yu Er perfectly fine so I sincerely doubt that you've forgotten her appearance."

"Yu Er? The one married to the pervert? She also had children already?" Shen Jing asked surprised.

"Father, she's literally sitting on this table right now."

"Oops, my vision must be getting worse as I age." Shen Jing shamelessly lied.

"Father, you forgot what she looked like didn't you?" Mei Ling asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, what's my son's name, Mei Ling? I hope you haven't given him a terrible name!" Shen Jing hastily and very obviously steered the conversation to another topic.

"His name is Xiao Tu. The other boy's name is Ye Xiu. Now let's get back to eating my stomach is grumbling for food." As she said this, a loud growl sounded out. "Wait that wasn't me."

They all looked at Ye Xiu who waved sheepishly, "Uh I'm hungry, may I eat?"

They just laughed and dinner continued on from there. Chatter filled the night until the children fell asleep and their parents had to carry them to bed.