Chapter 419 - 418: Do You Recognize the Characters?
Two years had not seen her, and although my niece’s complexion appeared rougher, her demeanor had gained a gentle and tranquil temperament that made her seem even more graceful and composed than before. Her eyes, too, had shed their unruliness, becoming bright and clear.
Qi Sanshun, holding Qi Jia’s hand, followed closely behind Ye Xinyan with respectful, downcast eyes. Qi Jia, on the other hand, looked around curiously as they walked, and though curiosity filled his bright eyes, they seemed frank and clear, somewhat resembling Ye Xinyan’s.
After entering through the Second Gate, they didn’t have to go far to reach the courtyard of Madam Cao, the wife of Marquis Zhongyong, Yin Long. Madam Cao’s courtyard was simple without much decoration, a main building of green bricks and blue tiles with three rooms to its north, flanked by two wing rooms, and three rooms each to its east and west. The overhanging eaves of the building were broad, yet there were no corridors built.
Madam Cao, wearing no adornments and dressed in a plain dark-patterned lotus-colored house coat, sat on the heated brick bed of the main room. A child, about the same age as Qi Jia, sat beside her, his eyes turning round and round, watching the four people who entered.
On a chair on the floor sat a young girl in purple attire, none other than the youngest daughter of Yin Long’s second brother, Yin Yuanfang. Upon their entrance, Yin Yuanfang rose from her seat.
Ye Xinyan didn’t need an introduction; although she hadn’t come as the granddaughter, she still paid her respects to Madam Cao with a deep bow.
Following Ye Xinyan’s lead, Qi Sanshun and Qi Jia also knelt on the brocade cushions brought over by the maids, performing the ceremony of kowtowing.
Madam Cao, wearing a gentle smile, observed them finish their salutations before turning to Lady Yin with laughter, "Hurry, help the children up, and come sit on the heated brick bed. Let me see how this child has grown up, to see if she truly has improved. And these two little ones belong to the Qi family, don’t they? Let them come up and sit as well."