General Xia slapped Xia Lin hard on the back, while his elder brother pinched his arm. They both praised, "Not bad. You've really built up a lot of muscle. You're growing into a real man."
Xia Lin looked proud. "Of course. I've not only grown taller but also stronger in the past six months. I've been eating well and practicing martial arts hard every day. In the future, I'll be as tall and as capable as my elder brother."
Xia Lin's mother stroked his head, her eyes full of relief and love. "Good, good. My Lin'er is becoming more and more promising. Come on, have some tea and snacks. Lunch will be ready in a while."
At this moment, Qiu Zi and Ling Yuan were tidying up Xia Lin's luggage. There were only Xia Lin's family and Jiang Yun there. To have a good conversation, Xia Lin's mother sent the maids and servants out to work.
After chatting with Xia Lin for a while, General Xia and his elder brother turned their attention to Jiang Yun and greeted him.
Xia Lin's mother had her mind on Xia Lin from start to finish. Having such a pleasant time with his family, Xia Lin thought, "Forget it for today. I'll come out to my family tomorrow."
Although he comforted himself like this in his heart, Xia Lin knew he was just being a coward. At night, Xia Lin found Jiang Yun to discuss.
"What should I do? I was so determined before, but now that I've met my family, I'm scared again and don't dare to do it. What should I do? What should I do?"
Seeing Xia Lin pacing back and forth anxiously with a panicked expression, Jiang Yun simply stood up, pulled Xia Lin onto his lap, and comforted him. "Don't panic. I'll stand in front of you when the time comes. I'm in good shape and can take a beating. Don't worry. I'll protect you when your parents beat you."
Xia Lin's expression softened a bit, but he still said worriedly, "It's not just about getting beaten. The most important thing is that my parents and elder brother will surely be disappointed and sad. According to the storylines in TV shows... or storybooks, they'll say to me, 'Either break up with Jiang Yun today, or we'll act as if we never had a son like you!'"
Jiang Yun couldn't help but smile wryly. "What kind of nonsense is going on in that little head of yours? Don't worry. It won't be like that. Your parents won't be willing to disown you. I think their solution might be to find me and kill me, and then tell you that I died in an accident or something."
Hearing this, Xia Lin got even more scared. "That's even worse! By the way, I've got an idea. What do you think of asking the emperor to step in?"
Jiang Yun was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and thought for a while before shaking his head. "It probably won't work. I understand what you mean. But the emperor won't grant us a marriage, after all, we're both men. And even if you ask the emperor to talk to your parents, they'll use the excuse that it's a family matter. After all, your mother is the emperor's elder sister. The emperor respects her very much and won't force her to agree."
Xia Lin hung his head dejectedly. Jiang Yun rubbed his head and said, "Don't be in a hurry. We'll be here for a month this time. Let's think it over slowly."
Xia Lin lost sleep over this matter, but the next day he had an idea. He said to Jiang Yun, "Let's come clean today. If my parents and elder brother don't agree, I'll elope with you. We'll just use our light - foot kung fu to fly out of the yard. My elder brother and father are good at martial arts, but their light - foot kung fu is no match for mine."
Jiang Yun didn't think this method was very feasible, but seeing Xia Lin's excited expression and the dark circles under his eyes, he thought that if he denied it, Xia Lin would probably keep thinking about it. So he might as well pretend to agree.