Yang Pingping was young, and by her insistence and coupled with the fact that the Youngest was an apple of the eye, her chambers was in the Clan head's house building.
Yang Xuanhong entered Yang Pingping's room and laid the girl.
Watching her sleep peacefully, after waiting a while he left.
The Yang clan head's house was akin a palace, luxurious with different ornaments and precious materials, fittings and furniture.
As the hegemon of the Yang state the Yang clan wasn't lacking of opulence.
Yang Pingping chamber was just before the flower garden beside the lady's own chamber, in fact he had to pass through the Lady's chamber to get to the Pingping's.
Walking by the flower garden, Yang Xuanhong came across a stone chair.
This stone chair seat was empty when he had passed by earlier, but now it was occupied.
A middle aged beautiful woman sat on this stone chair wearing a green pretty noble ruqun with her legs crossed.
The middle aged woman had an air of elegance and nobility that was obvious.
This woman though elder looked very beautiful and bearing resemblance with Yang Lanruo.
Pei Mingmei, his mother and the Lady of the Yang clan
The beautiful woman aware of his presence raised her head and looked at Yang Xuanhong and pointing to the space beside her she said softly, " sit ".
This familiar sweet voice, it had been a while he heard it.
Yang Xuanhong obeyed, sitting bedside his mother.
Pei Mingmei looked at Yang Xuanhong beside her and smiled, " it had been a while she had seen him, especially this close, any time they did see, no matter how close it seemed there was distance.
In her heart and his.
But why this, hadn't she raised him up, wasn't he her son.
There was a bit of silence after the sitting but this silence was soothing,
As a balm caressing the hearts of mother and child.
At least the silence was better, Yang Xuanhong thought.
When had there even been anything between he and his mother in a while.
" Do you hate mother ? "
Pei Mingmei asked a question out of the blue that shook him.
Yang Xuanhong shook his head in response, answering softly, " No mother "
" How about Yang Ming, Yang Lanruo, Pingping, or your Father "
Yang Xuanhong smiled wryly, how could he hate any of these people.
How could he, he was grateful to them, there were his family, his benefactors.
Pei Mingmei studied Yang Xuanhong's face very well, as if she could tell what he was thinking she spoke.
" I wish I could go back to when you were young, so naive, so unrestrained, so beautiful and bold "
" But now, although you are still all these things, you are now restrained, unbold, either overthinking or underthinking with me, with us, with our family ".
" For this mother is seriously at fault, I'm sorry "
Yang Xuanhong ached at his mother's words, he also remembered those moments, cherishing them, missing them.
" It hurts me to see things these way, must you distance yourself like these to wound us that we aren't your real family ".
Yang Xuanhong felt pain in his heart at Pei Mingmei's words as if it had been squeezed.
" Aren't your real family "
Yang Xuanhong realized that he had really been selfish , not truly putting into consideration his family well, ostracizing himself.
How did it all get to this?
" What you're thinking of, the reason for your actions, I know, your Father knows, Yang Lanruo knows, Yang Ming knows "
" Only Pingping that is too young to understand doesn't, but I'm certain your distance hurts her as much, always longing for her elder brother "
Pei Mingmei raised her hand to touch Yang Xuanhong on the face smiling.
" Mother and Father have hurt you right?
Yang Xuanhong shook his head.
Seeing this Pei Mingmei nodded her head, " But if we have then please forgive us ", then she stood up.
Seemingly leaving with her back at him she said, " Would you do mother a favor?, let mother see you around everyday and don't distance yourself from us, it's heart breaking ", and saying so Pei Mingmei left.
Yang Xuanhong sat on the stone bench chair in silence, only the silence of the garden now left with him.
Yang Xuanhong sighed as he ran his hands through his hair.
He had already made up his mind, but now it was more certain, he was staying home, he was going to be home with his family from now on.
He would commit and put in the effort to the relationship with his family, not cowering away.
Yang Xuanhong smiled wrly, certainly his braveness wasn't extended to his loved ones, cowering in low self esteem.
Truthfully speaking, the reason for his actions thinking of it was certainly stupid, his actions of drawing a line with his family.
As his mother had said he had became less bold and innocent or sincere in heart to his family as he was before.
Not that Yang Xuanhong had became deceitfully cunning, but he had become more calculative, overthinking, thinking to do things in a way to not cause or make an issue issue with his family.
But not causing an issue was unavoidable, no issue meant no relationship.
Yang Xuanhong knew he had been foolish.
He wasn't himself.
As he resolved this quagmire in his heart, his inner strength that he subconsciously retrained was let free, the Yang clan Ascending Sun qi flowing through his meridian channel and hitting the 7th penetrating vessel chong mai meridian, and with a light pop sound the blockage was opened and inner strength flowed through, Yang Xuanhong breaking through to the 7th martial artist realm.
Breaking through the chong mai meridian Yang Xuanhong's vigorous blood qi became so much regulated, more enlivened.
Yang Xuanhong knew he would have broken through before this, had he not restrained his heart, hence also his inner strength flow.
Inner strength flowed through the meridian channels, guided by the consciousness, willed by the heart.
They were all correlated.
.....
After leaving the garden Pei Mingmei walked to the main house, and seeing Yang Weipin standing by the porch looking downwards to the garden direction.
From this vantage position of their porch, one could see the garden area, although it was at night, and this distance wasn't close enough for one to see at night clearly.
But Pei Mingmei knew how could her husband the Yang clan head not be able to.
If anything his eyes that shone with a faint golden glow spoke so, his gaze in that direction also ascertained so.
Yang Weipin was very much aware of his wife's arrival, " the kid has broken through, when i held his wrist earlier i felt he was purposely restraining his martial arts, with his blood qi so vigorous, and his inner strength also at a dangerous limit, he was harming himself by holding back ", Yang Weipin said, his voice unloud but deep.
Pei Mingmei nodded her head, " it was because of this she and Weipin had made a decisive move to clear things up with Yang Xuanhong "
Pei Mingmei responded to her husband, clicking her tongue, " Foolish boy, does he think his parents are so petty, even if we are flawed, it can't to cast away our loved one "
Yang Weipin smiled, " Truly a foolish boy, a dark beautiful boy ".
Pei Mingmei suddenly became tear eyed, " it pains me that i have hurt him so much "
Yang Weipin didn't say anything, he knew how Pei Mingmei had hurt Yang Xuanhong.