Everyone turned toward the direction of the voice and saw a rather luxurious carriage approaching.
When the carriage appeared, Su Yanxi noticed that the usually composed Su Qinghe’s expression had slightly changed.
The carriage stopped in front of the Su Family.
A beauty with red, swollen eyes descended from the carriage, as delicate as a weeping willow.
Su Qinghe, who typically kept his emotions well-hidden, anxiously stepped forward a few paces. “Suyu, why have you come?”
Zhen Suyu wiped her tears but did not answer Su Qinghe’s question.
Instead, she turned and looked back at the carriage.
A maid then carried three children down from the carriage.
The older boy was about five or six years old, while the two younger girls appeared to be twins, roughly three or four years of age.
As soon as the children stepped down from the carriage, they rushed toward Su Qinghe.
The two little girls, in particular, each clung to one of Su Qinghe’s legs, their eyes red as they cried, “Father, Xuan’er missed you so much!”
The other little girl refused to be outdone, “Father, Rui’er missed you too!”
The older boy, however, stood beside Su Qinghe, silently gazing at Zhen Suyu.
Zhen Suyu’s expression remained calm as she took one last look at them.
She turned and boarded the carriage. “Let’s go!”
With that command, tears streamed down her face.
“Madam…” a maid called out worriedly.
She dried her tears and glanced outside through a gap in the carriage curtain, her expression already composed. “It’s nothing.”
As the wheels began to roll, Su Qinghe watched the carriage enter the city.
Su Qingyu was momentarily stunned. “Elder Brother, what does Sister-in-law mean by this? Why did she leave just like that? Yi’er and his two sisters are still here!”
Su Qinghuai tugged at Su Qingyu’s sleeve and explained gravely, “Second Brother, Sister-in-law… she must be cutting all ties with our Marquis Family.”
Su Qingyu’s fiery temper flared up again.
“What do you mean by cutting all ties? How could the Zhen Family do this? When they persuaded Elder Brother to sign the divorce agreement, they clearly said it was for the sake of Yi’er and the other two children. They claimed that after the divorce, Yi’er and his siblings would follow their mother back to the Prime Minister’s residence to avoid the hardships of exile. How could they go back on their word after just a few days?”
By then, the Marquise had already pulled Su Yi into her arms, continuously wiping her tears.
Su Xuan’er and Su Rui’er, still clinging to Su Qinghe’s legs, suddenly noticed that their mother’s carriage had departed.
The two little girls instantly grew anxious.
“Mother… Mother…”
They wailed loudly and tried to run after the carriage.
Su Qinghe scooped one up in each arm, comforting them, “Xuan’er, Rui’er, be good. Your mother has important matters to attend to. From now on, you’ll be with your father, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Aunt, Grandfather, and Grandmother, alright?”
Su Rui’er immediately cried even louder, “I don’t want Aunt! I don’t want Aunt!”
Su Xuan’er, her eyes misty, looked at Su Yanxi and suddenly stopped crying.
She tilted her little head and asked Su Yanxi with a puzzled expression, “Huh? Did they change who gets to be Aunt?”
Hearing this, Su Rui’er also stopped crying.
She similarly stared at Su Yanxi with her teary, wide eyes, looking her up and down, left and right.
Finally, the little girl still seemed unable to decide.
She poked Su Xuan’er and whispered, “This Aunt seems prettier than the previous Aunt.”
“Perhaps it’s the same person, just grown up and her features have matured.”
Su Xuan’er wrinkled her little brow like a miniature adult and nodded, “That’s possible too.”
Su Rui’er immediately pouted her little mouth and said tearfully, “Then she’s still that bad aunt who would secretly punish us.”
The Su family members felt their hearts tighten at these words.
Had Shen Qingyan secretly punished the two children before?
“Xuan’er, Rui’er, how did Auntie punish you before?” Su Qinghe quickly asked.
The two little ones timidly looked toward Su Yanxi, too afraid to speak.
Su Yi stepped forward, “Xuan’er, Rui’er, this is no longer the same Auntie as before. She won’t secretly punish you anymore. Tell Father the truth.”
Su Xuan’er and Su Rui’er trusted their older brother the most.
With their brother’s reassurance, the two little ones were no longer afraid and quickly told the Su family the truth.
When the Marquise heard the children say that Shen Qingyan used to frequently make them kneel in the scorching sun and pinch their inner arms and thighs, her tears fell once again.
She hugged the two children, trembling with anger.
“How dare she? How could she dare?”
Su Qinghe’s heart ached terribly.
Unable to bring himself to scold his two daughters, he only asked Su Yi, “Yi’er, did you know about this all along?”
Though only six years old, Su Yi was precociously mature, truly as steady as a small adult.
He shook his head and bowed respectfully, “Father, I didn’t know before.”
He had only learned about it when he went with his mother and two younger sisters to their maternal grandfather’s house.
Because his two younger sisters said they were afraid of their aunt and wanted to stay at their grandfather’s house permanently, and even wanted to bring their father there to live too.
He asked more questions and found out.
When he asked them why they didn’t tell their father or grandparents when they were punished, his mother told him that she had forbidden them from telling.
His mother said that everyone in the Su family—whether grandparents, father, or two uncles—treated their aunt as preciously as the apples of their eyes.
Telling them would not only be useless but might even bring displeasure.
Su Yi had wanted to argue with his mother that Grandfather, Grandmother, and Father weren’t like that.
But then he remembered times when small conflicts occurred between his mother and aunt, and indeed whether it was Grandfather, Grandmother, or Father, they would always urge his mother to yield to his aunt.
Su Houye sighed, “We were wrong—”
The Marquise, weeping, pulled her two little granddaughters into her arms, “Grandmother was wrong, Grandmother was truly wrong…”
Su Qinghe instinctively looked toward the city gate.
So had she already become disheartened?
Su Yi noticed his father’s gaze, then turned to thoroughly examine Su Yanxi.
Afterward, he bowed, performing the gesture with perfect form, and saluted Su Yanxi, “Su Yi pays respects to Auntie.”
Su Xuan’er and Su Rui’er, who had been wiping the Marquise’s tears, turned upon hearing their brother’s voice and also bowed to Su Yanxi.
“Xuan’er (Rui’er) pays respects to Auntie.”
The tiny figures with their clear, childish voices made Su Yanxi’s heart soften involuntarily.
But before the family could exchange more greetings, a guard nearby cracked his whip on the ground.
“Still not moving? Still chattering? Want a taste of the whip?”
The confused Xuan’er and Rui’er trembled with fear and were about to cry again.
At that moment, another set of hoofbeats came from the city gate.
Along with it came a shout, “Su family, wait!”