HNYWEF -Chapter 178 Low Emotional Intelligence Speech

The room fell quiet for a while. The old man picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and set it down.

He looked at Zhou Xiong for a few breaths before speaking.

His voice was steadier than before.

“How many days were you on the road?”

Zhou Xiong lifted his head and looked at him. His throat was still hoarse, but he could speak now.

“About ten days or so…”

The old man nodded. “You must be tired.”

Zhou Xiong shook his head, then nodded again.

The old man did not ask further.

He turned and looked at Zhou Yi and Li Lizhi for a moment, then suddenly nodded.

“Good children.”

He spoke very softly, almost as if he were talking to himself.

No one in the room spoke, but no one felt awkward either.

Zhou Xiong slowly stood up.

His legs were still a little weak. He steadied himself against the edge of the table before standing firm.

His brother-in-law stood nearby with his hands half-raised, ready to catch him if he swayed again.

Zhou Xiong straightened up and turned toward Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi was standing in the back. The tear stains on his face had not dried yet, and his eyes were still red. Being looked at so directly by his father startled him.

Zhou Xiong pointed at him. His voice was rough and hoarse, but every word was crystal clear.

“Oh right. This is her child.”

The old man and old woman’s gazes both fell onto Zhou Yi.

The old man nodded. Zhou Yi had already called him “Grandfather” earlier, so he knew who he was.

But hearing Zhou Xiong personally say, “This is her child,” still made him look a few moments longer.

After a while, he nodded again without speaking.

Zhou Xiong’s hand shifted and pointed toward Li Lizhi.

“This is the boy’s wife.”

The old man’s eyes followed his hand.

Li Lizhi stood beside Zhou Yi, wearing a simple skirt and jacket. There was only a silver hairpin in her hair. Quiet and composed, traces of tears still lingered on her face from earlier.

But the way she stood, the grace in her eyes, and the disciplined servants and guards waiting outside instead of entering the room—

none of that was something an ordinary family could produce.

The old man looked at Li Lizhi, then at Zhou Xiong.

He fell silent for a moment before speaking again, cautiously.

“Child… you must be living quite well out there, right?”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

The old man continued, “You earned a noble title through military merit, didn’t you?”

His eyes swept over Zhou Xiong’s clothes.

The fabric, the stitching, the fine jade pendant at his waist—

all of it confirmed his guess.

Then he glanced at Li Lizhi again.

“This girl clearly isn’t from an ordinary family either.”

Zhou Xiong looked at him and nodded.

“Yes.”

The old man waited for him to continue.

Zhou Xiong said:

“She is a princess of the current dynasty.”

The room instantly went silent.

The old man’s hand froze on the edge of the table.

The old woman’s mouth fell open and stayed that way.

The two of them looked at Zhou Xiong, then at Li Lizhi, then back at Zhou Xiong again.

The old man’s face went from red to pale, then pale to red again. His lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but no words came out.

Supporting himself on the table, he slowly stood up.

Far more slowly than before, as if his knees had suddenly lost strength.

“P-Princess?” the old man’s voice cracked.

Li Lizhi stepped forward.

She walked before the elderly couple and bowed deeply.

Not the grand formal bow used in the palace, but the respectful greeting of a younger generation paying respects to elders.

She bent low, sincerely and respectfully.

“Grandfather. Grandmother.”

The old man stood there, completely at a loss.

His hands lifted from the table edge, then lowered, then lifted again. He had no idea where to put them.

He had lived his whole life teaching books. The highest-ranking official he had ever met was the county school administrator.

And now a princess stood before him, bowing to him and calling him grandfather.

His mouth hung open as words squeezed painfully from his throat.

“Th-this…”

The old woman was even more flustered.

She kept wiping her hands against her apron over and over. She wanted to reach out and help Li Lizhi up, but each time she shrank back again.

She looked toward Zhou Xiong, her eyes silently asking for help.

Li Lizhi straightened and glanced helplessly at Zhou Xiong.

“Father, you really are too blunt when you speak.”

Her voice was soft, lightly reproachful, but even more filled with the resignation of I knew this would happen.

She turned back toward the elderly couple. A smile appeared on her face, and her voice gentled further.

“Grandfather, Grandmother, please don’t be nervous. I’m his wife. You can just call me Lizhi.”

The old man looked at her.

At her smile.

At those calm, quiet eyes.

Slowly, he sat back down.

His hands were still trembling, but much less than before.

The old woman also sat down again. Her grip on the apron loosened, though her eyes still darted back and forth between Li Lizhi and Zhou Xiong.

The younger brother-in-law stood off to the side without speaking the entire time.

He looked at Zhou Xiong, then at Li Lizhi, then at his father and mother’s reactions—

and suddenly let out a laugh.

Very light, but everyone in the room heard it.

The old man shot him a glare. He suppressed the laugh immediately, though the corners of his mouth still curled upward.

Zhou Xiong stood there, looking at the entire room.

His father-in-law was flustered and helpless.

His mother-in-law did not know what to do with her hands.

His brother-in-law was desperately holding back laughter.

Zhou Yi still had tear stains on his face.

Li Lizhi was gently explaining to the two elders, “No need to be nervous,” and “Just treat me like an ordinary child.”

As Zhou Xiong watched them, he suddenly felt that thing lodged in his throat for who knew how many years…

had loosened a little more.

He sat down in the chair.

And this time, he sat very steadily.