Chapter 626: Chapter 398: Imperial Guard Commander
The concern of the second wife quickly dispelled the unfamiliarity of not seeing each other for years and attracted several other brothers.
The group surrounded Wei Ziang, inside and outside, and for a while, they even forgot about Xiaomi.
Well, Xiaomi only ran away ten days ago, so knowing she was fine was a relief. But Wei Ziang hadn’t been seen for a solid four years.
After a while, Xiaomi asked for the kitchen’s location, brewed a pot of tea, and poured everyone a cup, finally calming everyone down.
Xiaoxue held her sister’s hand: "Xiaomi, you really are something. You just ran off like that and scared us to death. We worried about you the whole way."
At the time, no one reacted, but Xiaomi had already ridden off. By the time they chased her to the city, they only learned a bit of news about Xiaomi from Uncle Liu.
"Second sister, what are you worried about? I’m so capable, there was no chance of anything happening to me."
Xiaomi raised her chin proudly: "I was the one who rescued our brother. If I hadn’t run fast, who would’ve saved him?"
"And you think that makes you right."
Instantly, she got knocked on the head. Second wife, whose eyes hadn’t yet reddened, cast her a glance.
"Couldn’t you wait for us to go together?"
"Mom, Sis could wait for us, but Brother couldn’t. Did you hear what General Song said? It was really critical."
Jiang Wei countered, getting another glare from the second wife.
However, she was just saying it. After all, what the younger son said was true. Now that she knew both her children were safe and had heard from General Song about the situation, of course, she was grateful Xiaomi had gone ahead.
"Mom, don’t worry. I’ve checked our brother thoroughly; he’s fine, even better than before."
Xiaomi pulled her parents over to sit down.
"As for what happened with Brother, we can’t investigate it too deeply. Just knowing he’s safe, performed meritoriously, is enough. Let’s talk about you guys instead."
The affairs of the army camp, Wei Ziang naturally couldn’t disclose, not even to his parents, and Xiaomi hadn’t heard much from him either.
As for the experiences over the years, they were even more strictly guarded.
Jiang Hu and second wife were aware of the situation, especially since General Song had explained what could be said before.
Having not seen him for so long, their worries lingered; it wasn’t until they saw him in good health that their worries finally faded.
Even so, when Xiaomi pulled them over, the second wife still held onto Wei Ziang’s hand, making him sit right in front of her.
To anyone outside looking in, no one would guess that Wei Ziang was not their biological son.
"There’s nothing much to say about us; we’re just staying here. If I had known Lishi City was this close, we shouldn’t have waited until now. If Ziang couldn’t come back, we could have come to see you sooner."
The second wife said, with a dissatisfied glance at Wei Ziang. He was the one who always stopped them with talk of danger or such.
That led them to believe that the road to Lishi City was too distant and risky, not wanting to endanger the other children, so they held back.
"Mom," Wei Ziang sighed, "It’s not that I don’t want you to come over, but Lishi City really isn’t that peaceful. If you don’t believe me, ask Xiaomi. She just found out."
Beside them, Jiang Yu nodded: "The frontier, indeed, is not like inland. But Xiaomi, I heard General Song say earlier that he’s looking for a safe and spacious inland place for us to settle. Did you do something again?"
Such a question, it was almost like asking if she was up to tinkering with something bizarre for Dad to take credit for.
In the past, Xiaomi would’ve missed the implication entirely, but now, well, she pretended not to hear.
Like Brother said, as long as everyone understood, no need to spell it out.
"What do you mean, did I do something? Since we rarely come to Lishi City, and Brother will only return next year, might as well wait here together."
Xiaomi chuckled dryly: "Since Lishi City isn’t stable, it’s better to find a safe place to live."
"If we’re going to live somewhere, we can’t just play every day. We know nothing else but farming, so we might as well find some land and grow some crops, right?"
Everyone understood, so they stopped asking once Xiaomi mentioned it.
"However, to settle here, we first need to have Xiao Bai, Xiao Mi, and Xiao Hei brought over."
These three had always been with the family, unlike other animals.
Xiaomi nodded in agreement.
"By the way, Dad, Mom, what’s the deal with Commander Yang? And those soldiers at home? We’ve never seen them before."
Mentioning this, everyone looked a bit surprised, until Jiang Hu explained: "We heard they’re the imperial guards stationed in Chengxian, specifically to protect us."
"Huh? Protect us? How come I never noticed?"
Xiaomi was surprised. Ever since her father had the title of Baron of Farming, officials from the Capital City frequently came to Xiangmu Village to learn from their experiences, purchasing seeds from the Jiang family.
But imperial guards? She had never heard or seen them.
"It’s the first we’ve known too. Commander Yang said they’ve been near Chengxian, secretly protecting our family."
Jiang Yu glanced at Xiaomi: "Except for Xiaomi, it seems there was once you went to the city, someone tried to follow you and got noticed. After that, Commander Yang figured you were safe enough not to need protection."
The way he said it made everyone chuckle.
"Uncle Liu knew about Commander Yang too. When he learned about Ziang’s situation, he predicted we wouldn’t stay at home, so he informed Commander Yang early. When we were ready to come over, Commander Yang was there to escort us."
"I’m safe without needing protection?"
Xiaomi widened her eyes and pointed to herself, feeling somewhat targeted.
Everyone else nodded, holding back laughter: "It seems now that Xiaomi doesn’t need anyone’s protection."
Only those people didn’t know the one truly needing protection was actually Xiaomi.
Xiaomi shrugged helplessly, alright, she truly didn’t need protection, even the so-called protection might restrict her.
But it was fortunate they gave up protecting her.
Then they explained a bit more; Commander Yang brought five hundred men, but only ten entered the city, the rest stayed outside, supplied by General Song.
As for what to do with them next, it depended on their plans. If they planned to stay in Lishi City, ten people obviously weren’t enough; more would have to be called into the city.
If they were going back, the others would wait outside, with the border soldiers temporarily protecting them in the city, as they were more familiar with Lishi City.
Though border soldiers were stationed there, they couldn’t indefinitely serve as their protectors.