After my mother read my mind, my whole family rebelled

It was late at night, with only the crickets around the inn chirping occasionally.

In the corridor of the backyard, Xia Xiaoxian and Ma Sanbao stood side by side.

"Sanbao." Xia Xiaoxian called softly.

"Your Highness." Hearing Xia Xiaoxian calling him, Ma Sanbao immediately turned around, and unexpectedly found himself standing opposite Xia Xiaoxian.

Ma Sanbao, with his back to the moonlight, just happened to see Xia Xiaoxian's pretty and delicate face illuminated by the moonlight.

He lowered his head guiltily, his ears feeling a little hot.

Ma Sanbao thought, fortunately it was late at night, otherwise his blushing face would have been discovered by Xia Xiaoxian.

He took a deep breath, lowered his eyes and asked, "I wonder if your Highness Princess has any instructions?"

"Sanbao, I will be leaving here soon." When Xia Xiaoxian thought about parting with Ma Sanbao, she felt a little sad for an inexplicable reason.

"Leave? Where to?" Ma Sanbao asked puzzledly.

"I can't tell you that, oh!" Xia Xiaoxian sighed, "Even if I tell you, you won't understand."

"Has someone proposed to the princess?" Ma Sanbao really couldn't think of any other reason why Xia Xiaoxian left.

"No." Xia Xiaoxian shook her head.

"Then where are you going?" Ma Sanbao's voice began to sound a little impatient.

“It should be somewhere far away.”

"Impossible! There is no way a princess in my Great Xia Dynasty can marry a foreign princess!"

This clause was included in the late emperor's will. The future monarchs of the Great Xia Dynasty would never allow the princess to be married in exchange for peace on the border.

"Well... let's not talk about me anymore, let's talk about you." Xia Xiaoxian walked to the stone bench in the backyard, sat down, and waved to Ma Sanbao, saying, "Sanbao, come sit down and chat."

"I will obey the princess..." Ma Sanbao cupped his hands, but was interrupted by Xia Xiaoxian, "Don't call me princess anymore. Just call me Xiaoxian like we did when we were little."

"Okay." Ma Sanbao was not Mo Ji's man, so he smiled and said, "Xiao Xian, what did you mean when you said you were leaving?"

"Let's not talk about that," Xia Xiaoxian waved her hand, "Sanbao, I want to ask you, if one day you were asked to choose something you like to do, what would you do?"

"What?" Ma Sanbao looked a little suspicious. He pressed the sword at his waist unconsciously. "Of course, I will stay in the palace and protect the emperor."

"Don't you have a place you want to go, or someone you want to meet?" Xia Xiaoxian saw that Ma Sanbao didn't understand what she meant at all, so she hurriedly reminded him again.

"Where do you want to go?" Ma Sanbao asked.

"Well! Close your eyes and think about it. Where is the place you most want to go?" Xia Xiaoxian replied.

"Well... the place I want to go most..." Ma Sanbao closed his eyes obediently and murmured to himself: "The place I want to go most..."

"The sea!" Ma Sanbao opened his eyes suddenly, "I want to see the sea and the end of the sea."

"It is true!" Xia Xiaoxian said to herself.

"What?" Seeing that Xia Xiaoxian was not surprised, Ma Sanbao asked unconfidently, "Xiaoxian, do you also think it's a fantasy?"

"Of course not!" Xia Xiaoxian said this with an unusually sure tone, "If I say this is your fate, would you believe it?"

Ma Sanbao obviously didn't believe it, and he continued, "In fact, since I was a child, I often dreamed that I had a home on the sea. My home is actually a large ship that can accommodate tens of thousands of people. The ship is 44 meters long and 18 meters wide!"

"Whenever I arrive at a new and interesting place, I will stay there for a while and go ashore with the crew to have a look..."

Xia Xiaoxian smiled slightly and said softly to Ma Sanbao, "Not only that, you will cross the ocean seven times and stay on the sea forever."

"Haha, if I can really stay on the sea, wouldn't that be my best destination?" Ma Sanbao was overjoyed when he heard that, but after a while, the light in his eyes dimmed, "Xiaoxian, you are trying to comfort me, right?"

"Then do you want to make a bet with me?" Xia Xiaoxian smiled like a flower, and before Ma Sanbao agreed, she said, "I bet that in three years, you will set off to cross the ocean."

"Really?" Ma Sanbao said with a smile, "If it is true as Xiaoxian said, and I can start sailing in three years, then I will definitely come to your house in person and bring you all kinds of good things, no matter where your home is!"

"Then don't regret it." Xia Xiaoxian said with a smile, "Maybe I'm somewhere very far away?"

"A gentleman's word is as good as gold. No matter where you are, I will be by your side!" Ma Sanbao looked into Xia Xiaoxian's eyes and said solemnly.

"Okay!" Xia Xiaoxian suddenly felt a trace of sadness in her heart that she had never felt before. Tears suddenly filled her eyes. "No matter where I am, I will wait for you!"

When Shen Yuyao woke up, it was still dark.

"Zi Su, did you hear any crying last night?" Shen Yuyao didn't know whether she was dreaming or really heard the faint sound of a woman crying. When she wanted to listen more carefully, she suddenly woke up.

"I fell asleep as soon as I lay down, and didn't hear anyone crying." Zi Su was bringing a small basin of water, ready to help her wash up.

"Xiaoxian lives next door to us, right?" Shen Yuyao asked.

Zi Su was slightly stunned. Today, Shen Yuyao always made her feel a little different from usual.

"Yes, it was you, Miss, who asked Ma Sanbao to move the princess's room next to yours yesterday."

Shen Yuyao has always had a good memory, so how come she could forget something that just happened yesterday?

"I have been having dreams frequently lately." Zi Su handed over the handkerchief for Shen Yuyao to wipe her hands.

Shen Yuyao looked back at her and asked curiously, "What did you dream about?"

Zi Su smiled and said, "They were all strange, sporadic dreams. I can't remember many of them, but I only remember that I and the young lady returned to the Duke's Mansion. The young lady took me to the backyard of the Duke's Mansion to fly kites. The flowers in the whole backyard were in full bloom, and it was so beautiful."

Listening to Zi Su's story, Shen Yuyao also smiled. She was carefree at that time, "It seems like it was just yesterday."

"Well, I still remember that the young lady loved to sit on the swing in the garden full of flowers, reciting poems that I had never heard of."

"And winter's Gudong soup."

"Yes, in winter, the whole family gathers in the backyard to cook Gudong soup." Zi Su's smile widened, "Miss loves it the most."

Shen Yuyao suddenly remembered the days when she and Xu Yunxuan ate Gudong soup together. She choked up and said, "Zi Su, go tell San Bao to get ready to leave. He must be waiting anxiously."

Zi Su knew that the person Shen Yuyao was talking about who was afraid that he would get impatient waiting must be the current emperor, Xia Yu!