Dai Luoli reached out and caught Dai Youheng by the sleeve, as though afraid his brother might leave again. Brimming with excitement, he led him toward a neat, clean courtyard in the village. "Brother, this way! We live close by. Mother will be thrilled to see you!"
Dai Youheng let him tug him along and followed Dai Luoli.
Ling Ya and Nana followed quietly behind them. Nana involuntarily checked the "greeting gifts" tucked inside her Soul Tool again, her heartbeat quickening slightly.
Inside a simply furnished but spotlessly clean house, Bai Wanning sat beside the window, mending a garment by the sunlight streaming in.
Her stitches were fine and even, a habit formed through years of treading carefully in the Duke's Mansion. Suddenly, Dai Luoli's voice rang out from beyond the courtyard, brimming with barely contained excitement. "Mother! Come and see! Brother's back!"
His voice was like a stone cast into a still lake, instantly shattering the room's tranquility. Bai Wanning's fingers trembled, and the needle nearly pricked her fingertip.
She snapped her head up, delight and surprise written across her face. Without hesitation, she set the half-mended garment aside. Not even stopping to straighten her slightly disheveled bun, she hurried to her feet and rushed outside.
The moment she crossed the threshold, she saw the figure she had worried about day and night standing in the courtyard. Her eyes grew hot. Unable to contain the emotions surging through her, she hurried forward and pulled her son, now considerably taller than her, into a tight embrace. Her voice choked with tears and lingering fear. "Youheng! You're back! Thank goodness you're all right! My heart has been tossed up and down with worry these past few days."
Feeling the warmth and faint trembling of her embrace, Dai Youheng stiffened slightly before