Chapter 1217: She Returned to the Castle
It was already evening by the time He Xiyan returned to the castle.
Xi Xi was chatting with her father while playing chess with him at the main hall and they were waiting for her mother to return.
They stopped playing when they spotted her familiar figure.
Xi Xi ran over to her mother excitedly and stood in front of her mother as she said, “Mom, how was it? Did you have fun?” Xi Xi smiled prettily at her mother, revealing her tiny dimples.
They had been waiting for a while for her mom to return.
He Xiyan stopped in her tracks but her eyes seemed unfocused. She looked at her daughter and tried to paste a smile on her face but her smile seemed forced and bitter.
“Xi Xi, I’m tired so I’ll be heading up for rest,” He Xiyan’s voice sounded very soft and hoa.r.s.e and she looked very tired and haggard.
Xi Xi said, “Ah…” as she stared up at her mother in confusion. Her amber-colored eyes widened when she noticed that her mother seemed listless, as though she hadn’t slept in several days.
She wondered if a wedding banquet was such a tiring event.
Ye Hao approached He Xiyan as well.
“I’m sure you haven’t eaten, Yan Yan,” Ye Hao said in concern. He noticed the fatigue on her face and also saw the sorrow in her eyes.
He felt as though someone had stabbed him in the heart. He bit his lips and a conflicted look crossed his face that reflected how he felt at the moment. He knew why she was so upset and why she looked so fatigued.
He Xiyan shook her head at him and said, “I’m not hungry. You guys should go ahead.”
She walked past her daughter and headed straight upstairs leaving her daughter and Ye Hao staring after her in surprise.
Xi Xi shook her head in bewilderment. She couldn’t understand what was wrong with her mother and why she seemed so upset, as though she had suffered some form of injustice.
Ye Hao stared at He Xiyan and watched as she headed upstairs. His heart felt heavy as he listened to her heavy footsteps.
He turned to his daughter, patted her shoulder and said, “Alright, Xi Xi, let’s go get some food and let your mother get some rest.”
Ye Hao’s voice sounded so soft that it was as though he had forced himself to speak.
Xi Xi agreed but she was still very confused.
“Dad,” she said as she looked up at her father, “Do you think mom suffered some form of injustice when she went to her friend’s wedding banquet?”
She didn’t think that her mom’s listless state could purely be attributed to fatigue.
Ye Hao pursed his lips and smiled wryly.
He knew that there was no wedding banquet in the first place.
“Let’s go grab some food,” he said. He didn’t know how to respond to his daughter’s question.
They headed to the dining hall but they didn’t feel like eating, so they stopped after having a bowl of rice each.
——
He Xiyan laid on the sofa in her bedroom on the third floor. Her complexion seemed waxy under the fluorescent lamp as though there was a layer of powder on her face.
She stared up at the ceiling expressionlessly and there was no light in her eyes. She seemed haggard and exhausted.
She lay on the sofa for almost 30 minutes until she heard someone knocking on her door.
“Knock knock.”
“Mom…”
Her daughter called out for her.
He Xiyan heaved a soft sigh and after a moment of hesitation, she finally sat up from the sofa and slowly walked toward the door.
The moment she opened the door, she saw that it wasn’t just her daughter who stood outside. She was also accompanied by Ye Hao.
They both carried something in their arms.
Ye Hao was holding food while Xi Xi carried a bag in her arms.
“Mom, dad and I went to the mall today and dad bought you new clothes and shoes,” Xi Xi said.