Time Travel: The Noble Family

Lady Li hesitated. According to her wish, it would be better not to teach Yueyao martial skills, but since Yueyao was Tingzheng’s legitimate elder sister and truly wished well for Tingzheng, she could not outright refuse. After pondering for a while, Lady Li said, "Wait until your Uncle Li comes back, and I’ll speak to him. What do you think?"

Yueyao explained with a smile, "Auntie, every time I see Tingzheng, I cannot help but feel anxious. Given his appearance, I’d rather he were less attractive." Yueyao paused before adding, "I want him to learn martial skills so that in the future he will have the ability to protect himself. With our parents gone, we have to rely on ourselves for everything."

After Yueyao said this, her eyes became red-rimmed, and as soon as she finished speaking, she seemed to realize her words may have been inappropriate and quickly lowered her head, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve. Even without tears, they seemed to be rubbed into existence.

Lady Li was initially taken aback but then understood what Yueyao meant. Immediately, a multitude of thoughts and emotions filled her heart, and she took a handkerchief to wipe away Yueyao’s tears, chastising her as she did, "You child, keeping all these worries to yourself without telling us, needlessly carrying such burdens. If only you’d spoken to Auntie sooner, you wouldn’t have had to live in fear every day. You can rest assured that it doesn’t matter if Tingzheng is good-looking; what do we, as a family of our standing, have to fear? If anyone dares to harbor such filthy thoughts, your Uncle Li will not let them off easily." They were not rootless, vulnerable children to be taken advantage of; she couldn’t fathom how Yueyao could think otherwise.

Upon hearing these words, Yueyao’s tears began to fall in streams, and she sobbed, "Auntie, I didn’t mean to keep it from you, I just..." Xiang Wei had crafted a touching excuse for Yueyao, but faced with Lady Li’s obvious distress, Yueyao found herself unable to voice it.

Seeing Yueyao like this, Lady Li took it for granted that someone had been filling Yueyao’s head with nonsense and unnerved her. She embraced Yueyao tenderly, trying to calm her with, "Don’t worry, nothing like that will happen. Tingzheng is always accompanied by someone when he goes out; he won’t be abducted by kidnappers, so don’t be afraid. Although she understood Yueyao’s fear, as losing her only brother would be like the sky falling down.

Although Yueyao’s crying had been provoked, it turned into genuine sobbing. She had been living on tenterhooks, leading a repressed life, and it seemed she had finally found a way to vent.

Lady Li comforted Yueyao for a long time before she managed to stop her tears. Yueyao pulled out her handkerchief, wiped away her tears, her face flushed, and said, "Auntie, forgive me for laughing, Yueyao has been impolite."