Chapter 1123: Leave

Mu Yangling intended to spend the night at home, but that turned out to be impossible.

While Little Madam Xia helped Mu Yangling prepare dinner, Little An and Little Fu were receiving gifts in the side hall and merry laughter could be heard constantly. Therefore, as soon as Fan Zijin returned home, he went to the Prince’s Residence without even entering his own house.

Since his wife and children were all here, he couldn’t possibly go home and be by himself, right?

Therefore, the two families had dinner together that night.

Qi Haoran had already successfully won the hearts of the boy-girl twins. At dinnertime, they insisted on sitting beside their father and eating with him.

After casting a smug glance at his wife, Qi Haoran carried the two children and placed them each on both sides of him, completely ignoring the table etiquette.

Disdainful of this, Fan Zijin turned around and asked Tiger Head and Little Lion, “During this time that your parents were away from home, did Little Leopard and Baozhu cry and ask for them?”

Tiger Head and Little Lion immediately shook their heads. “Little Brother and Sister were very obedient. They only clamored for meat and never once asked for Daddy and Mommy.”

Satisfied, Fan Zijin specially scooped a spoonful of meat soup for Little Leopard and Baozhu. With a smile, he said, “Since you like meat, do eat more. If it’s not enough, Uncle will scoop more for you.”

The two children immediately buried their heads in their food and even took the time to look up at Uncle Fan gratefully.

Fan Zijin glanced at Qi Haoran from the corner of her eyes, expressing his meaning with his eyes: Look, you’re not that important to your son and daughter. You’re not even as important as a spoonful of meat soup.

As if that wasn’t enough, Tiger Head and Little Lion added, “We were the ones who mentioned Daddy and Mommy in front of them. Otherwise, they definitely wouldn’t remember you.”

Little Lion even specially chimed in, “We said that Daddy would bring them something fun, and Mommy would bring them delicious food. Only then did they remember Daddy and Mommy.”

Little An and Little Fu also quickly raised their hands to indicate that they often praised Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt in front of the boy-girl twins, so they also contributed, hinting that Fourth Uncle should not forget them if there was anything fun.

Fan Zijin could not help but laugh out loud.

Qi Haoran flew into a rage out of humiliation. “One should not talk while eating. Didn’t your teacher teach you dining etiquette? Go copy lines tomorrow.”

The four children immediately shrunk their necks and buried their heads in their food. Fan Zijin said happily, “It’s fine. Since we’re at home, it’s fine to be casual.”

Mu Yangling couldn’t stand it anymore and said, “If you want to fight, fight between yourselves. Don’t make use of the kids.”

Little Madam Xia also tugged at Fan Zijin’s sleeve.

Only then did the two of them stop talking and eat quietly.

Little Madam Xia heaved a sigh of relief and said to Mu Yangling in private, “The two brothers missed each other so much when they didn’t see each other. Now that they’ve met, they’re fighting again. Were they like this in the past?”

Recalling her childhood, Mu Yangling shook her head and said, “In the past, Haoran listened to Zijin. If Zijin said to head east, he would never go west. On the other hand, Zijin has always despised Haoran, but I’m already used to it.”

Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin started eating casually. After the meal, Qi Haoran sent the guests off with a look of disdain. Then, he told him explicitly that he was going to bring the children for horse-riding tomorrow morning and would only attend the meeting at the Imperial Study but not the morning court assembly. Hence, he asked Fan Zijin to help him apply for leave.

Fan Zijin said, “… Everyone is still waiting for you to discuss your merits and rewards together. If you don’t go tomorrow, it’s going to attract plenty of hate.”

It had been more than 20 days since they returned to the capital, and most people had been rewarded based on their contributions. Only a few important figures were left for the last, such as him, Rong Xuan, and a few generals who had led the troops back to the capital. Because the greatest contributor, Qi Haoran, had not returned to the capital, everyone was waiting.

Because of this, Qi Xiuyuan had no choice but to send a letter to urge them to come back. He was just short of issuing an imperial edict to order their return. In the end, this person chose not to attend the morning court assembly after coming back just because he wanted to accompany the children?

Qi Haoran sighed. “There’s nothing we can do about that. It’s fine with Tiger Head and Little Lion, but you saw how it was with Little Leopard and Baozhu. They didn’t even recognize me at all. If I don’t strike while the iron is hot, they might once again forget who I am tomorrow.”

Fan Zijin said, “… The kids aren’t even three years old. How much can they remember? There’ll be plenty of time for you to interact in the future. I don’t believe that they won’t remember you. Anyway, you have to go to the morning court assembly tomorrow.”

Qi Haoran straightened his neck and said, “I’ve already promised the children. How can I go back on my word? What if the children do the same in the future?”

Fan Zijin was so angry that he fell backward. He decided to come over and grab him early tomorrow morning. Having decided that, he turned around and left angrily.

Qi Haoran turned around and went back to continue nurturing his relationship with the children.

For the sake of fairness, Qi Haoran expressed that Tiger Head and Little Lion could also sleep with them tonight. In the end, the twins sandwiched their big brother on the left and right with a look of disdain, indicating that they wanted to sleep with their big brother tonight instead of squeezing with their parents and younger siblings.

Qi Haoran: “…”

With a big grin, Little Bear led his two younger brothers away.

Qi Haoran puffed up his cheeks and looked at Mu Yangling. “To think these two brats are already starting to despise us. What will happen when we’re old?”

Mu Yangling hugged the drowsy boy-girl twins and lowered her voice. “Considering Tiger Head and Little Lion aren’t young anymore, it’s normal for them not to cling to their parents.”

“But they’re not that old…” Qi Haoran muttered as he took the youngest son from her arms and placed him on the bed.

Mu Yangling placed Baozhu beside Little Leopard and poked him. “Hurry up and sleep. You must be tired after such a long journey.”

Mu Yangling knew that Qi Haoran had to attend the morning court assembly the next morning, so she woke up early. However, Qi Haoran woke up earlier than her and had already washed up and changed.

Seeing that he was carrying the two children in his arms wrapped with a thin blanket, Mu Yangling widened her eyes and asked, “Where are you carrying them?”

“I promised them yesterday that I would bring them to the West Mountain to watch the sunrise and ride a horse. I can’t go back on my word.”

Mu Yangling: “… You’re not attending morning court assembly?”

Qi Haoran coughed lightly and said in a low voice, “I’ve already asked Zijin to help me apply for leave. It’s still early, and you can sleep for a while more. I’ll go carry Tiger Head and Little Lion.”

“The two of them are going too?” Mu Yangling hesitated and said, “Do you want me to go too?”

“Don’t.” Seeing her sleepy eyes, Qi Haoran’s heart ached. “Go to sleep. I’ll get the guards to carry the children and make sure they’re dressed warmly.”

Extremely sleepy, Mu Yangling had relied on her great self-control to wake up. When she heard Qi Haoran’s words, she fell asleep again in a daze. However, shortly after she dozed off, Spring came in from outside and said, “Your Highness, the Duke is waiting outside the residence for His Highness to go to court together.”

Mu Yangling came back to her senses and asked in surprise, “Didn’t His Highness go out to watch the sunrise?”

Spring was very helpless. “Steward Zhu also said this to the Duke, but the Duke didn’t believe him and insisted on coming in to take a look personally. He said that it wasn’t even dawn yet, and nobody would go out to ride a horse at this time. As for watching the sunrise, when did Prince Rong have the leisure to do so?”

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