Chapter 268: Picking Up the Bride (Part 2)

Li Qingxiao pulled Xiao Xian into the carriage, let go of his hand, and sat listlessly in the carriage. Her small face still showed discomfort. She muttered something. Xiao Xian had been pulled for the whole journey, and his palms were full of sweat. He only asked:

"What else do you and I need to do later?"

"My mother said, just follow the carriage back."

Li Qingxiao frowned and responded. The carriage bumped, and the journey made her feel very uncomfortable. She just lay on the seat, pursing her lips, and endured it silently.

Xiao Xian had no choice but to sit beside the girl, leaning against the carriage wall. Having been tossed about since early morning for several hours, he felt hungry. He touched the pastries in his bosom, which had long been crushed into powder in the pushing and shoving, scattering all over the ground. The boy sighed and leaned against the carriage wall, closing his eyes to sleep.

When he woke up, the world was dim. Xiao Xian found that the girl was in much better spirits. She was lying on the curtain looking out. Seeing him wake up, she used her hand to pull him and said in a childish voice:

"My name is Li Qingxiao."

"Yushan Xiao Xian."

Xiao Xian replied. The girl nodded and lay back on the couch. The boy's face felt very uncomfortable, wrinkled into a ball. He was really hungry, so he could only blush and say:

"Young lady... do you have anything to eat..."

Li Qingxiao was stunned, nodded repeatedly, took out a wooden box from under the carriage, and stuffed it into Xiao Xian's hand. Xiao Xian happily took it, unbuckled the wooden clasp, and opened the lid. He saw neat pastries decorated with vermilion petals, which made one's appetite soar.

Xiao Xian was already hungry, so he stuffed three pieces into his mouth in a row, only feeling the fragrance and sweetness, and mumbled in praise:

"Good taste."

Xiao Xian ate three more pieces, but the wooden box was snapped shut with a click. Li Qingxiao's small eyebrows wrinkled, her white and tender little hand pressed on the box, and she said in a childish voice:

"The road to Lijing Mountain gets bumpier the further we go. If you eat too much now, you will vomit it out later. There are still a few hours, save some to eat!"

After all, it was someone else's thing. Xiao Xian had nothing else to say besides nodding repeatedly. Li Qingxiao giggled and asked in a low voice:

"I heard that our two families still have marriage ties. Brother Xian, tell me if your Xiao family has any good brothers, I'll listen for fun."

Xiao Xian looked at the girl's expression, feeling inexplicably moved, and only replied:

"Brother Guitu is the eldest brother of my generation, everything is top-notch... He broke through the Profound Scene Wheel at eight years old."

Li Qingxiao's expression was a bit dim, and she answered:

"My cultivation is so slow, I haven't broken through to the Profound Scene yet."

Xiao Xian's talent was also not high, and he had always been timid among the Xiao family disciples. Hearing this, he seemed to have found a confidant and sighed:

"I am also like this. The eyes of the older generation are all fixed on those geniuses born... Everyone wants to be a genius, they are just lucky!"

"People are born unequal... I am just a clumsy person. I have to listen to things my brothers listen to once, twice, and sometimes three times, before I can barely understand some."

Li Qingxiao waited for him to finish, then hummed and answered:

"You and I were born in a great family, we have already stepped on so many people under our feet, how can we still be qualified to talk about inequality? I was born to marry into your Xiao family, how can I say anything more."

Xiao Xian was stunned for a moment, laughed, scratched his head awkwardly, and after such a conversation, the two chatted one sentence after another, from sword immortals to Early Zifu, and from Early Zifu to Wu-Yue. Xiao Xian became familiar with the relationship, calling her sister one by one, making Li Qingxiao laugh out loud.

Until the mountain road became bumpier and bumpier, Li Qingxiao was so uncomfortable that she closed her mouth, and Xiao Xian had nothing to say. The two endured it on their seats and fell into a deep sleep again. Xiao Xian held Li Qingxiao in a daze, tossed and turned by the carriage, and couldn't help but curse:

"You Li family members really don't know how to enjoy. Even if there is no cloth to insulate from the heat in the carriage, there is not even a buffer array. Dignified cultivators, still have to be tossed around like mortals."

Li Qingxiao coughed and gritted her teeth:

"Our family doesn't go in for that set. Seeking pleasure is a crime, and you will be whipped by the Clan Justice Court!"

Xiao Xian was stunned and only replied:

"Born in your family, how unfortunate."

"Bah."

Li Qingxiao muttered. Both fell silent. After a full hour, Xiao Xian felt a warmth in his palm in a daze. Li Qingxiao rested her head on his hand. Before Xiao Xian could react, he only felt his palm wet. It turned out that the child had vomited.

"Damn it."

Xiao Xian cursed vaguely, opened his eyes to look, and saw Li Qingxiao's face slightly red, struggling to straighten up to wipe the traces. Xiao Xian looked and smiled:

"How old are you and still drinking milk."

"None of your business."

Li Qingxiao's voice was like a mosquito hum.

—————

The carriage walked slowly. Li Yuanjiao did not know that Li Qingxiao and Xiao Xian were suffering in the carriage. He rode his horse beside Xiao Guiluan's bridal sedan, looked at the woman inside, and asked in a low voice:

"Madam, now that you are returning, do you know the situation in my family?"

"I know a little."

Xiao Guiluan spoke to her husband whom she had never met for the first time, answered seriously, and opened her mouth:

"Guiluan only wants to ask the husband one thing."

Li Yuanjiao vaguely saw a pair of shrewd phoenix eyes, his heart moved, and he replied:

"Speak."

"Do you have any intention for the position of family head?"

Li Yuanjiao narrowed his eyes, pulled the reins as if irritable, and replied:

"I have no such intention."

Xiao Guiluan did not ask again, paused for a breath, and replied:

"Luan'er understands."

Li Yuanjiao went through the various rituals at the Xiao family in his mind, captured many details keenly, and said gently:

"Why don't I see your father."

This naturally referred to Xiao Guiluan's marriage, and her father did not come to see her off. Li Yuanjiao's words made Xiao Guiluan pause, and she had to reply:

"I have no feelings for my father. He hates me for not marrying into a family and recruiting a son-in-law, but climbing to a relative family and marrying to the west, he was extremely angry and refused to see me."

Li Yuanjiao was overjoyed to hear this news, nodded, and smiled tentatively:

"Stupid."

Xiao Guiluan laughed softly and replied without hesitation:

"Indeed stupid."

Then her tone was gentle, and she said softly:

"There are only a few brothers at home who love me. Guiluan has no connection with her mother's family since then. If something happens in the future, I am afraid it will be difficult to seek help from home."

Li Yuanjiao's heart was bright. As long as Xiao Yuansi was alive, with the relationship of his uncle Li Chijing, how could Xiao Guiluan fall to seeking help from the Xiao family? Xiao Guiluan's words meant that she had no paternal coercion and would not attract the Xiao family's maternal relatives. She also mentioned her brothers, fearing that he would see her alone and bully her after marriage. He smiled bitterly in his heart and thought to himself:

"What a smart woman!"

So he reined in his horse and comforted her gently:

"It doesn't matter, as long as I am here, no one can bully you."

"Hmm."

The woman inside responded gently. The young girl was in the carriage, the young man was on horseback, the night was dim, the moonlight was gentle, and Li Yuanjiao couldn't help but laugh muffledly twice.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 269 =====