Chapter 271: Chapter 253, Sparring_1

Under Xiao Yeyang’s gaze, Daohua ate up the lumpy soup without leaving a trace, and after eating, she even let out a satisfied burp.

“Are you full?”

Fearing that Xiao Yeyang would offer to cook for her again, Daohua hurriedly said, “I’m full, I’m full, not just full but stuffed!” After a pause, she added, “Thank you so much!”

She had been so busy that she had forgotten her own birthday. Her eldest brother, third brother, and fourth brother were all around her, but to her surprise, the one who remembered her birthday turned out to be Xiao Yeyang.

Xiao Yeyang just smiled and did not say anything.

Daohua glanced at the sky, which had now turned pitch black, yawned with her hand covering her mouth, and said to Xiao Yeyang, “I’m going to go back to sleep, you should rest early too. Even though the illness is gone, the body still needs time to recuperate.”

Xiao Yeyang nodded, “Okay.”

After Daohua left, Xiao Yeyang looked at the empty bowl with not a trace of soup left and said with a smile to Defu, “Daohua ate it all up, which means, the taste of the longevity noodles I made should be quite good.”

Defu: “…”

How was he supposed to answer that?

Miss Yan obviously didn’t have the heart to go against her master’s wishes, so she ate all the lumpy soup.

Seeing his master pleased, Defu wisely kept his mouth shut.

Well, whether the master’s cooking was good or not had nothing to do with him, since he couldn’t enjoy it anyway. Let Miss Yan worry about it herself!

…

“Where did the Little Prince go? Why hasn’t he returned yet?”

Yan Wenkai glanced towards Xiao Yeyang’s room and saw that the door was closed and the light was not on, feeling very puzzled.

Dong Yuanxuan pondered for a moment and said, “The Little Prince hasn’t been seen since this afternoon.”

Yan Wenkai: “The epidemic in the city is now under control; there isn’t much to be busy with now, is there?”

Yan Wenxiu thought for a while and said, “Perhaps the Little Prince has other matters.”

Yan Wenkai nodded and said nothing more.

After a while, seeing that Yan Wenxiu, Yan Wentao, and Zhou Chengye were still around, he spoke up again, “Aren’t you going to go back to sleep? I’m tired!”

Yan Wentao, who usually didn’t talk much, spoke up with furrowed brows, “I keep feeling like there’s something I need to do, but I just can’t remember what it is.”

Yan Wenkai immediately looked over, “What is it?”

Yan Wentao scratched his head, “I just can’t remember!”

Seeing him like this, Yan Wenkai waved his hand dismissively, “Then stop thinking about it, it’s probably not important. Right now, we should be thinking about whether we can leave the city during the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

His words did remind Yan Wentao, and even Yan Wenxiu remembered what day it was when he mentioned the Mid-Autumn Festival.

“Today is our eldest sister’s birthday!”

As soon as these words were spoken, Yan Wenkai was stunned. Dong Yuanxuan, who was wiping the chessboard, paused, and his gaze quickly flew toward the room where Xiao Yeyang was staying.

“Ah, how could I forget about this?” Yan Wenkai pounded his hand, annoyed, “It’s already late at night, it’s too late to celebrate our eldest sister’s birthday now!”

“What do you mean it’s too late?”

At this point, Xiao Yeyang returned with Defu.

Yan Wenkai glanced at him and said, “Today is my eldest sister’s birthday, but we all forgot about it.”

Xiao Yeyang smiled, “I thought it was something serious. Well, it’s getting late, everyone should head back and rest!” With that, he returned to his room with Defu.

Seeing this, Yan Wenkai was taken aback and then muttered discontentedly, “It’s our eldest sister’s birthday, and the Little Prince seems too flippant about it.”

Dong Yuanxuan’s eyes twinkled, and he smiled, “If you care, why not make it up to Miss Yan later with a birthday gift?”

Yan Wenkai shook his head, “It’s not the same. No matter how good the gift is, it can’t compare to being there in person!”

At that, everyone turned and looked at Yan Wenkai.

Yan Wenkai felt uncomfortable under their gaze and couldn’t help but step back, “What, did I say something wrong?”

Su Hongxin exclaimed in admiration, “Wenkai, I had no idea you had such a delicate side!”

Seeing that everyone was surprised by him, Yan Wenkai immediately puffed up with pride, straightened his chest, and raised his chin, “Heh, there’s still a lot about me you all don’t understand.”

…

After returning to her own courtyard, Daohua chatted with Dong Yuanyao for a while and then went to wash up and sleep.

Perhaps because the epidemic was under control and everyone in the residence had recovered, without the burden on her shoulders, Daohua slept deeply, all the way until dawn.

Early the next morning, as she observed the slightly bright sky, Daohua stretched her body and said to Wang Manman, “Manman, fetch my whip. I haven’t practiced with it for a while. I need to go out and move around.”

“Crack, crack, crack!”

Dong Yuanyao was awakened by the sound of the whip cracking, “What’s that noise?”

The maid immediately replied, “Miss, it’s Yan Miss practicing with her whip in the courtyard. She’s really slick with that whip.”

Originally still drowsy, Dong Yuanyao instantly grew alert upon hearing this and sat up at once, “Really? Quick, help me get ready, I’m going out to have a look.”

It wasn’t long before Dong Yuanyao stepped out of her room.

Watching Daohua in the courtyard, whipping up a storm, her eyes lit up instantly.

At a glance, she knew that Daohua was not just playing around but seriously practicing with earnest.

When Daohua saw Dong Yuanyao, she quickly put away her whip, an apologetic expression on her face, “Sorry, I forgot about you. Did I wake you?”

Dong Yuanyao walked over with a smile, “No, it’s time I got up.” As she spoke, she glanced at the whip in Daohua’s hand, “You’ve been practicing this for some time now, I see. You’re already quite good with it.”

A flash of surprise crossed Daohua’s face, “You know about whips?”

Dong Yuanyao shook her head, “I don’t know about whips, but I understand force.” With that, her figure straightened and her hands swiftly mimed a sword-swinging motion.

From her tensed posture, it was evident at a glance that she exuded a strong sense of power.

Daohua was now truly astonished, “You’re practicing martial arts too?” Of all the young ladies she knew, even those as favored as Zhou Jingwan, were taught to be gentle and demure at home. Brandishing knives or wielding guns was strictly forbidden.

In their family, the rules were not so strict. With the support of her grandmother and mother, coupled with the fortunate encounter with Uncle Qin, Daohua had the chance to learn to use the whip.

Dong Yuanyao dropped her stance and chuckled, “I’ve always been active since I was a child. When my brother started practicing martial arts, I followed and learned from him. Seeing how much I truly enjoyed it, my father went so far as to hire a martial arts master specifically to teach me swordsmanship. I’ve been learning for several years now.”

Daohua: “Is that so? I’ve trained with the whip for less than two years.”

Dong Yuanyao’s eyes sparkled, and she sized up the neatly dressed Daohua, raising her eyebrows, “How about we have a little competition?”

Daohua was intrigued, “How shall we compete?”

Dong Yuanyao pondered for a moment, “Both whips and swords can easily hurt someone, so let’s have a hand-to-hand combat instead!”

“Alright!”

Daohua immediately agreed, rolling up her sleeves as if ready for a big fight.

Seeing this, Dong Yuanyao was not scared but rather eager to try.

The two of them, one wanting to test their own skills and the other finally finding someone to spar with, hit it off at once. Without another word, they dove into the fray.

Wang Manman and Guyu, among others, stood by watching, cheering and encouraging the two from time to time.

Xiao Yeyang and others from the neighboring courtyard heard the commotion and hurried over. As they reached the entrance of the courtyard, they saw Daohua and Dong Yuanyao in the midst of a heated battle.

Their exchanges were fierce and solid, with no signs of playfighting or holding back.

After watching for a while, Yan Wenkai mused, “I always thought our eldest sister practiced with the whip just as a pastime—I never expected… She’s really not bad at all with her moves.”

“Look at that sweep kick, that backhand punch—pretty good! If those hit you, they’d probably hurt a bit.”

Dong Yuanxuan laughed and said, “My sister and Yan Miss practicing martial arts isn’t so much about the strength, but about honing their agility. One is learning swordsmanship, and the other whip skills. If they really get their speed up, we’ll have to be careful when facing them too.”

Xiao Yeyang nodded in agreement, “Yuanxuan is right. Ladies practicing martial arts don’t need to focus too much on strength like we do. It wouldn’t do if they became too tough; being like Daohua and the rest is just perfect.”