久久综合激激的五月天

It was not unusual for Esong and his closest men to receive the award year after year. He had a whole chest of such awards by now, so the ceremony while meaningful held no attraction to him. All of his thoughts were on home, 'tomorrow, I will be going home tomorrow.' 

After being recognized and rewarded, mecha warriors from wherever they were stood on their feet and placed their hands over their hearts to loudly renew their oath of servitude and faithfulness to the throne and empire in all circumstances. 

When the ceremony ended, Esong decided to do something that he had not planned to do, visit his parents. Even before arriving at their family home, he dreaded the visit. His mother would use her sharp tongue to condemn this or that, particularly anything t do with his wife. His father would grunt and disappear and his siblings would pretend not to hear anything and then, they too would disappear. 

And he was right in his thinking because the moment he stepped through the doors, his mother started raining her perceived grievances on him. 

"You have been here for three months but it did not cross your mind to visit your home, has she taught you how to hate us already?" 

Esong frowned, and he felt an imaginary headache setting in. He gritted his teeth, faked a smile and said, "It's good to see you too mother."

Emory Wu was like a dog with a bone that it would not let go of however, she sat down and looked at her hands. Then she looked at Esong and said, "So you still consider me to be your mother, I thought I had become your stepmother. How long has it been since you last contacted me Esong? How did your feet even find our home, isn't the blue star your new home?"

"Since this is not my home then maybe I should not have come." Esong turned around, intending to leave. He was not here to argue or fight with his mother but it looked like she was of the opposite thinking from him. Her intention was to duke it out verbally with him.

"Let it be Emory." his father strolled slowly into the living room and said to his mother. 

She, in return scoffed but kept quiet, something which stunned Esong. What had happened while he was away? 

"Sit down son." his father said.

Reluctantly, Esong turned around and took a seat. For all the bitterness his mother had toward his wife, she had not hesitated in approving changes in their home, following a trend led by his wife. The soft new sofas, motion triggered pictures on the wall, a small Buddha statue on a worship table high up, the smell of incense, the pendant in her neck and much more. Even the floral holograms on the sill of the windows, the tables and most of all the mechanical dog sleeping in front of a new fire place. Which of these ideas or items had not originated from the blue star?

"How are you son?" his father asked. 

"I am alright, physically and mentally." Esong answered. 

"How was the battle, things got a bit tricky towards the end of the season?" his father added another question. 

"It was not difficult to deal with, what was hard was the civilians who died." he replied. 

His father nodded and said, "Yes, the ministers who died, it's such a tragedy. The emperor will need to fill those positions." 

Father and son were speaking casually, settling into a comfortable pace when his mother suddenly butted in and loudly said, "You should return to the capital and take one of those positions, it's high time you_"

"Emory please!!" His father shouted. 

Esong was surprised and his eyes widened, what happened? Wasn't his father usually passive about his mother's actions. Seriously, what had he missed? 

Where were his siblings? Now was the time to fill him in on what he missed. 

A maid came into the room and served Esong hot tea and ginger cookies. 

'So, my mother adopted the tea culture as well.' Esong laughed inside. 

 "How is my grandson? I heard from from mother than he is already training in combat and he excelled in school during the last term." His father turned his attention back to him and he inquired more about Justin. 

The more Esong answered, the more his father asked and soon, Esong was sharing pictures and videos of Justin with his father while his mother sulked in misery because both of them ignored her. 

"Brother," Elon came running into the living room and Esong stepped away from his father to embrace his younger brother. 

"Brother, you are here." Emily his sister came in as well and she said gently, before curtsying. 

Keeping one hand on Elon's head, Esong asked Emily, "How have you been?"

"I am fine, Elon and I went out shopping for christmas supplies. The emperor said that we should all celebrate it since it's a festival that promotes family ties and happiness." 

'He opened up a factory to manufacture christmas supplies and gifts, the emperor wants to make money.' Esong thought. But he did not share this thought with his sister. "You look flushed, come and have a cookie." 

Emily was happy to sit closer to her brother who was more welcoming of her today. He always kept her at a respectable distance. 

"What else have both of you been up to in the winter_" 

"Emily come and sit here." his mother said in an authoritative voice. 

When she stood up to move, Esong tugged at his sister's hand and stopped her from moving. "She is fine where she is." He said, "Tell me, what do you usually do at home?" 

"I read books, and visit my friends, we go shopping most of the time..." 

Esong frowned because he compared his sister activities and those of the women in the Su family. They were all noble but they had jobs and they worked, even little Halley often helped her mother in the kitchen. His sister on the other hand simply spent money like water daily and went to be bed. Moving to the blue star had opened his eyes to many things that were wrong in their society. Why is it that daughters of noble families did not work and all they were good for was creating alliances through marriage? He was sure that his mother had such plans for his sister and he did not approve. 

"Emily, have you ever thought about getting a job?" he asked.

"A job!" Emily gasped. 

"Yes." Esong nodded. 

"Are you crazy? Is that what your mentally ill wife told you to suggest to my daughter?" his mother screamed. 

"Emory!!" his father shouted. 

That was not something someone uttered simply in the empire. It was an insult, one that most people found offensive.