The father and daughter's gazes met in the air. Su Qing was the first to exclaim in delight, "Yuanbao, you're finally awake!"
Mo Shi rolled her eyes and said, "You're shouting so loudly. Even if Yuanbao was asleep, she'd be woken up by you."
Su Qing, a big and burly man, took large strides and reached Su Yuanyuan in a few steps. He looked at her face from side to side, then let out a sigh of relief. "Good, good, good. Her complexion is rosy and her breath is steady. Now that I see Yuanbao is fine, I can finally put my mind at ease."
He and Mo Shi were really a couple, for they had said the exact same thing. Unable to hold back, Su Yuanyuan cracked a smile.
Last night, Su Yuanyuan had been terribly frightened in the Qingyi Garden. She had been in a daze and hadn't managed to greet her father in this life properly. She felt quite apologetic.
Now that the atmosphere was just right, she called out to Su Qing, "Father."
Su Qing was overjoyed. He reached out and stroked Su Yuanyuan's head, smiling. "Hearing my dear Yuanbao call me father, all the weariness in my body has vanished!"
Mo Shi told the maidservant to bring a set of bowls and chopsticks and asked, "What nice things did you bring for Yuanbao?"
Only then did Su Qing remember. He took out a paper package from his sleeve and said with a grin, "Hehe, these are the new plum candies from Deshanfang. I bought some for Yuanbao as snacks on my way back."
He quickly unwrapped the paper package, revealing the candies that exuded the aroma of plums. Then he picked up one and put it to Su Yuanyuan's lips, smiling. "Yuanbao, try it?"
Su Yuanyuan took the plum candy from his hand and swallowed it. At first, a sour taste spread from the tip of her tongue, and she involuntarily wrinkled her face. But after the sourness, there was a sweet taste like honey, which made her heart sweeten as well.
It seemed that her parents in this life were both very kind to her.
"Is it delicious?" Su Qing asked eagerly.
Su Yuanyuan smiled and said, "Father, it's so sweet."
For some reason, these words made Su Qing's nose inexplicably sour. He stroked Su Yuanyuan's head again, and his voice softened a bit. "If Yuanbao likes it, father will buy it for you often in the future."
Su Yuanyuan replied, "Okay!"
During breakfast, Su Yuanyuan became completely quiet and made no sound at all. This was a habit she had developed in the Pingyang Marquis Mansion in her previous life. Her biological father in her previous life, Su Shian, the Marquis of Pingyang, attached great importance to rules and strictly adhered to the rule of not talking during meals or sleeping. Even though she was a bit naughty, she had to keep silent at the dinner table.
She thought the Duke's Mansion was the same, but then she found that Su Qing and Mo Shi were chatting very animatedly beside her. They didn't seem to care about the rules at all.
She even saw her father snatch the food from her mother's chopsticks, which made her mother blush and scold him. They were just like two children.
After Su Yuanyuan was full, she sat there with her chin in her hand, taking this opportunity to think carefully about her current identity.
In her previous life, when Su Yuanyuan was still alive, there was only one Duke of Qi in Shengjing. This Duke of Qi had been enfeoffed since the founding of the Great Chu Kingdom and had been passed down for three generations. He had deep roots and great power in Shengjing.
She had indeed heard the title of the Duke of Yong for the first time.
Although she had never heard of the Duke of Yong, she was not unfamiliar with the name Su Qing.
Su Qing was a famous general who guarded the border in the northern desert. He had followed his biological father, the General of Wei Yuan, to war at the age of seven. He had led a team of a hundred soldiers alone and repelled five thousand elite soldiers of the Northern Barbarians. At the age of sixteen, he had even charged into the enemy camp of the Northern Barbarians alone on horseback and killed the main general of the Northern Barbarians, Yelv Hongguang, which had allowed the Great Chu to defeat the Northern Barbarians with an absolute advantage and brought decades of peace to the border cities of the Great Chu.
Since then, Su Qing had become famous. After the current emperor ascended the throne, he had been personally conferred the title of "General Who Guards the Border" by the current emperor, given a general's mansion, and appointed a second-rank official. He commanded three hundred thousand soldiers and was like a sharp sword out of its sheath, guarding the northern desert city of Xuancheng.
But how did the famous General Su suddenly become the Duke of Yong in Shengjing?
The original body was stupid, and the memories in her mind were very limited. Su Yuanyuan thought for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so she had to give up.
Forget it. Since she was here, she might as well accept it. Sooner or later, she would know what she should know as time passed.
Su Qing and Mo Shi across from her had also finished their breakfast and were about to call the maidservant to clean up when there came another sound of footsteps approaching from afar, along with three different voices.
"Father! Mother! Is Yuanbao in your room?"
"I heard from sister-in-law that Yuanbao was wronged at the Autumn Festival Banquet. What exactly happened?"
"Who on earth dares to bully the apple of our Duke's Mansion's eye?!"
The three figures rushed into Mo Shi's room like a gust of wind. Su Yuanyuan stared blankly at the three men with different looks, heights, and builds in front of her.
These three men were none other than Su Yuanyuan's three elder brothers in this life.
The eldest one on the left was Su Huachen, the eldest son of Su Qing and Mo Shi and the heir of the Duke of Yong. He was only twenty-one years old. He took after Mo Shi in appearance and was very handsome. He was currently working in the Ministry of War as the left assistant minister. He and his wife, Wei Linlang, had no children yet. He was upright and steady.
The tall and handsome man in the middle with a square face like Su Qing's was called Su Huayuan. He was one year away from adulthood and was not married yet. He had a fiery temper like Mo Shi and was a martial arts enthusiast. His goal was to pass the martial arts imperial examination and become the commander of the imperial bodyguards, so as to revive the glory of their Duke's Mansion in the northern desert.
The sixteen-year-old boy on the right was the third son, Su Huasheng. His appearance combined the characteristics of Su Qing and Mo Shi. He had Mo Shi's elegance and Su Qing's heroism. He was very intelligent, good at both literature and martial arts, and had many clever ideas. He especially liked to tinker with small things and was good at carving wooden sculptures.
They were all born to Mo Shi. Together with Su Yuanyuan, Mo Shi had given birth to three sons and one daughter for Su Qing.
Did Su Qing have concubines? He did. Su Qing had once had two concubines. One was Aunt Tian, the daughter of his wet nurse. She had died in a sneak attack while trying to save Su Qing just after entering the Su Mansion.
The other concubine, Aunt Hu, was a dancing girl given by his superior. However, Su Qing had never favored her. Before returning to Shengjing, he had removed her lowly status and given her a sum of money to set her free.
Calculated in this way, Su Yuanyuan was indeed the daughter that Su Qing and Mo Shi had longed for. No wonder she was so favored. Even these three elder brothers cared about her very much.
In her previous life in the Pingyang Marquis Mansion, Su Yuanyuan had only one elder brother, Su Zeqian. Before her elder sister, Su Qingyu, was brought back, her elder brother had also cared for and doted on her. But what happened later... It was better not to mention it.
At this moment, facing the concerned and loving faces of her three elder brothers in this life, Su Yuanyuan was extremely touched and couldn't help showing a wronged expression.
Seeing her like this, the three elder brothers became even more indignant and quickly asked Mo Shi.
"Mother, what exactly happened? Tell us quickly!"
"Right! Our Yuanbao can't be bullied by others casually!"
"Oh, I said, you guys ran too fast. I haven't finished speaking yet." At this time, another person gasped and stepped into the room. It was Wei Linlang.
Mo Shi twitched the corner of her mouth and gave a sideways look at Wei Linlang, who had come late. Then she told her three sons exactly what had happened.
As expected, their reactions were exactly the same as Su Qing's last night.
Su Huachen's face tightened, and he clenched his fists. "This is outrageous! The Pingyang Marquis Mansion is being too bully! Tomorrow, I will definitely impeach Su Zeqian severely in the court!"
Su Huayuan even drew out his long sword and was about to rush out. "I'll go to the Pingyang Marquis Mansion right now to get an explanation!"
Su Huasheng cracked his fingers and even crushed a corner of the table. He said sinisterly, "The Pingyang Marquis Mansion, right? Just wait for me. A gentleman never forgets a score to settle!"