In the kitchen of a courtyard at Xiao Manor, Zhou Ruoxi was cooking, while her maid, Cuicui, helped her.
Usually, Zhou Ruoxi only made one or two dishes to share with Cuicui. There were only the two of them, after all, and they didn't eat much.
But today, the meal was especially lavish.
Zhou Ruoxi knew her son would come home to eat after returning to the capital.
"Mother, I'm home."
As the sun neared the horizon, Xiao Mo's voice came from outside the courtyard.
Hearing her son, Zhou Ruoxi quickly scooped the food from the pan onto a porcelain plate, wiped her hands, and hurried out. "Mo'er, you're back! Her Highness the Princess is here, too."
"Aunt Zhou."
Qin Siyao dipped into a curtsy, her cheeks faintly flushed.
"Mo'er, take the Princess inside and sit for a while. Dinner will be ready soon." Zhou Ruoxi smiled gently.
"Aunt Zhou, I... I'll help you, too." Qin Siyao lifted her skirts and hurried into the kitchen, looking just like a young bride eager to impress her future mother-in-law and win her approval.
Xiao Mo sat on a stone stool, taking in everything in the courtyard.
From the day Xiao Mo was born until now, nothing in the courtyard seemed to have changed at all. Everything was just as it had always been.
Whenever he came home and saw all that familiar scenery, a deep calm settled over him. It felt as though he could slowly let go of everything in the world.
The slaughter on the battlefield seemed as distant as if it belonged to another world.
How could Xiao Mo not know?
His mother had always refused to live at Frost King's Manor, and had even refused to leave this courtyard, largely because she wanted him to have a familiar