"Don"t you have work to do? Why are you here?", Xing asked the Emperor, leisurely sitting in their garden pavilion and sipping the tea Xing brewed."What a disrespectful host", the Emperor didn"t mind her and shooed her away watching his brother walking towards them, "Bring back my son. Go.. Go...Hanmi will be waiting to have dinner with me"
" Disrespectful? Me?", Xing sneered, "Coming here often... You are no guest. You almost live here. What a nice father you are to slack off here while letting your eleven year old son out there to take care of your work?", Xing curled her lips blaming the Emperor.
In that nice spring evening, in that lavish garden, along with the sound of the chirping birds, the gentle breeze that ruffled their hair that would lift up one"s mood, lost to the joyful cheering and giggles of children that were heard from the distance, livening up the place.
"Well, well... That"s new! You two fighting", Chenglei entered the pavilion, realised the tensed mood between his brother and wife and sat by his wife grabbing the teacup in her hand.
"He is getting annoying. Who"s let a eleven year old boy slave off? ", Xing frowned. Ah Xuan"s been working hard without test these days and he doesn"t even take a break. Shouldn"t he care for his obsessed son?
"Ah!", a shriek of a little girl was heard and as if an arrow shot out from a bow, Xing stood up and ran towards the little girl.
"Shuang, dear! What happened...? Poor child! Did you fall down?", Xing picked the child a little younger than Li Wenyan, her youngest son and coaxed her.
Chenglei watched his wife running towards the cute little girl with brown hair and eyes with a gentle and pure disposition. Like her name, she was pure, clear and open-hearted.
His wife seemed pretty sad after she couldn"t get pregnant again and she wanted a girl child in the home. So, like a good husband, he went to the Ming Manor and brought the then two year old girl to his Jin Manor to raise. Haru wasn"t pleased but Chenglei had to emotionally manipulate this guy whom he thought of as a brother, to get his daughter.
"I think Little Zai pushed Ming Shuang", the Emperor looked panicked. This daughter of Lord Ming is currently residing in the Jin Manor and Mingxia treats her like the apple of her eye,more than her own sons and Baobei even.
" Did someone push you? Who did?", Xing"s voice got terrifyingly cold making all the other children pause.
"Aunty Xing, I didn"t mean to... I was running and she got in front of me suddenly and I couldn"t stop. It was an accident", Little Zai looked honest and regretful making Xing calm down.
"Careful when you play", she spoke gently and checked little Shuang if she is hurt when Little Zai fell down.
Xing saw Feifei, standing with his hands folded and eyes filled with warning, "Oops! Sorry. My leg stretched by itself", his voice was calm but Xing could sense the darkness from her second son.
"Feifei!", she shouted at him but Little Zai stopped Xing from lecturing Feifei and he looked at Xing expressionless. He had no regret of pus.h.i.+ng the second Prince or fear of the punishment he might get.
Xing always worried about her son who was always quiet and calm. He always looked gentle and elegant with a soft smile in his face but Xing could sense the darkness inside him. He reminded Xing of her uncle Feiye. A vicious person hiding behind the mask of a gentleman.
"Apologise, Fefei", Little Xinxin who was eight advised his little brother and Lian Lian who was shocked stood by the side wanting to see how this all would end.
"Mother, I will go back to my room and read", he bowed politely and before Xing could react turned and left.
"This boy!", Xing sighed. She didn"t know how to handle this boy worse than Chenglei in expressing his thoughts and almost as dark as him.
Chenglei noticed the happenings too and he could very well understand his son. He was surprised his smart wife couldn"t figure it out as well. Their youngest son only gets dark and goes on attack mode if Shuang gets involved. He knew Feifei who is four years old will not understand the concept of "love" and his protective instinct towards Shuang might just be a brotherly love and he didn"t worry much.
If his son is brave enough to go against the second Prince, for the girl he wants to protect, he should be applauded for it, right?
"My son takes after me! ", Chenglei was proud.
The Emperor looked at the carefree att.i.tude of Xing, "She doesn"t know, still?", his voice was laced with concern and Chenglei didn"t say a word and poured the Emperor some tea.
"He sent another official letter. I have to reply him, brother. The Water Kingdom is safe and he wants his son back"
Chenglei still didn"t say anything and watched Xing playing with the kids. He knew this is going to happen. He was keeping tana with the water Kingdom. He saw this coming. But she didn"t.
What could I do?
She forgot...
She forgot Xinxin is not our son!
She forgot the promise she made!
"Does the child know?", the Emperor asked his brother who had his eyes glazed with tears.
"This is going to be bad", the Emperor sighed. Judging by his brother"s reaction, it seems like Xinxin doesn"t know he is the Crown Prince of Water Kingdom.
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
Chenglei didn"t answer. This is going to be too heartbreaking for the entire family.
That night, Chenglei held his wife crying bitterly after a very long time, clenching her chest, comforting her. Heaven knows he was crying silently too. He had to be strong for her and so he buried his sorrow.
In a week, they left for the Water Kingdom, to hand over their Crown Prince. Little Xinxin was too distraught to say anything. He wasn"t happy he suddenly became a crown Prince suddenly.
Lian Lian... He threw all kinds of tantrums to keep his brother but they really can"t.
He took after his mother in character and looks.
More than them, Xing was the one who was hurt the most while Chenglei came to a close second. His sorrow multiplied by his need to hide it for the sake of his wife.
And so the luxurious carriages left for the Water Kingdom, the nativity of the son Xing and Chenglei raised from the day he was born.