After Ling Li gave some sober soup for Su Jingyang to drink, he didn't stay any longer. He probably thought about Ah-Xuan, who was studying martial arts with Song Hui, and hurriedly got up to leave.

Su Jingyang quickly went to take a shower and relieved the smell of alcohol on his body before daring to go back inside the room and coax the child.

Xiaofan waved his fist and gently touched his face. Su Jingyang grabbed his little hand and kissed him, staring thoughtfully at the hall beyond the door.

Su Jingyang remembered the words Ling Li last said to him, "You... said something not very good about Rong Ci. Jingyang, I know how deeply you want to go home, I know that you'll leave sooner or later, however, Rong Ci really loves you. You're now married, you also have children together. In the remaining days of your stay here, why not get along with him more? In the future, you can also give the children thought, so that you won't leave with any regrets."

As for what he said, Ling Li didn't elaborate further. Su Jingyang was too dizzy at the time so he couldn't remember.

About a quarter-hour after Ling Li left, Rong Ci still hadn't returned. Su Jingyang suddenly became a little uncomfortable and walked to the door with the child in his arms. By coincidence, it happened that Rong Ci's slender figure appeared in the hall outside, coming in strides like the wind.

Su Jingyang turned around and continued to pace with the child, citing like he had approached the door by sheer accident.

After Rong Ci walked in, Su Jingyang said: "You're back."

Rong Ci glanced around naturally, he looked at him and asked: "Has Ling Li gone?"

Su Jingyang hummed and took the initiative to speak to him. The two talked while walking inside.

Xiaofan turned over on the bed and threw himself up. He couldn't get up by himself, and Rong Ci reached out to pick him up when he saw. Not only did Xiaofan not cry, his head also moved forward, by coincidence, his drooling mouth kissed Rong Ci's cheek, leaving a trail of drool.

Xiaofan opened his pair of big black and white eyes and looked at Rong Ci with great expression.

Rong Ci's sharp and beautiful black eyes curved up. He had a smile on his face, but his nose snorted: "Little thing, don't wipe your drool on your father."

Xiaofan waved his small fists twice and punched around. He smiled, revealing his pink gums. Rong Ci stretched out a finger to wipe his saliva.

Su Jingyang stood by the side with Dafan in his arms, suddenly feeling a little surprised. He looked at Rong Ci carefully and found that there was no foul play, so he pretended to ask ignorantly: "Rong Ci, when I was drunk this morning, did I treat you..."

Rong Ci looked at him sideways and said: "What?"

Su Jingyang said, "What did I do to you, what did I say?"

Rong Ci became thoughtful for a while and said to him: "You shut me out and refused to let me in. As for what you said... you seemed to have mumbled something, but I didn't hear too clearly."

Su Jingyang's expression became dazed, he slowly set the child down the stool, squinting his eyes and thinking. Although Rong Ci didn't say clearly, he suddenly guessed something. It was nothing more than the unfeeling words he had said before to make Rong Ci face the true nature of the relationship between them.

He used to always talk about it and didn't feel that he was wrong, because it was better for both of them to clearly draw lines in advance.

But now the relationship between them has become different. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed that there had always been that seed.

Su Jingyang wanted to say sorry to Rong Ci, but his lips only moved, and his throat seemed to be choked. In the end, he only sighed, secretly glancing at his expression from the corner of his eyes. There was nothing unusual in his expression, and after struggling for a while, he gave up.

After the meal, Rong Ci helped Su Jingyang bathe the children together. During this period of time, Rong Ci had been patrolling the outer river formations. Su Jingyang didn't know much about it. He only knew that it was mostly used to resist foreign enemies, it was very important to Rongcheng and couldn't afford to be relaxed.

It was rare for him to come back early today. Su Jingyang asked him how he was doing while washing the child.

Rong Ci squatted down on one knee and handed him a towel. Hearing his question, a dark light flashed in his ink-coloured eyes. He stared at Su Jingyang's profile and said slowly: "It's a little troublesome checking like this every three years, but after another twenty days, I would need to do the check every day. Why? Are you unaccustomed to being alone at home?"

Su Jingyang wrapped the washed Su Xiaofan in a big towel, and handed him to Rong Ci, "I'm very used to it. You'll only make the children cry at home and cause me trouble."

Xiaofan's face was flushed because of the steam and heat, he blinked his big eyes while laying against Rong Ci's arms. He was very well-behaved and obedient, but his time with Rong Ci was very short.

Su Jingyang still had to wash Su Dafan, so he directed Rong Ci to dress Xiaofan before he cried.

Rong Ci left according to his words, and they cooperated in washing both the children until they smelled especially fragrant. It was still early and neither of them would be able to sleep, Su Jingyang put them on the bed to play and teased them with Rong Ci using a small rattle. They liked the sound very much, screaming with their mouths open, and waving and beating more vigorously with their little hands and feet.

Su Jingyang propped his cheeks, staring at their little faces in a daze.

This morning, he was so annoyed that he wanted to choke them to death, but now that he was calmer, he regretted the temper he showed before. He felt that he had become somewhat weird whenever he encountered things related to the children.

It might've been because they still remembered Su Jingyang's angry appearance, but the two little boys didn't pester him for hugs, they yawned a few times and fell asleep by themselves.

Su Jingyang sighed with emotion, how good it would be if this was the case every day! Then his world could really be much easier to manage, but he knew that this was just a dream.

Su Jingyang stretched his body and laid down, turning his head and glancing at Rong Ci who was sleeping beside him. He found that he wasn't asleep yet, with his arms crossed and his black eyes staring at the top of the bed, as if thinking about something.

Su Jingyang leaned over and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Rong Ci turned his eyes slightly, his eyes fell on his face and he said, "Su Jingyang, I want to discuss something with you."

Hearing his solemn tone, Su Jingyang paused in surprise before saying: "What's the matter, should we talk about it now?"

Rong Ci stared at him for a long time before looking away, his voice was low and slow, a bit difficult to gauge. I know that you want to go home, I just want you to tell me in advance when you'll leave, so that I can at least be more mentally prepared."

Unexpectedly, he wanted to talk about this. Su Jingyang couldn't help but tremble, his hands tensed and his five fingers tightened up, "Uh... I'll tell you in advance, but you won't—"

"I won't do anything, don't worry. If you're willing to stay, I'll be overjoyed, if you decide to leave, I'll never force you to stay. It all depends on your wishes, if you don't believe me..." Rong Ci looked at him again, his deep eyes looked into his, "I'll use the entirety of Rongcheng to swear a poisoned oath. If I ever violate my oath, the entire city will be destroyed."

Su Jingyang's eyes didn't blink, he stared at him while holding his breath, his head almost went blank for a moment.

He knew how important Rongcheng was to Rong Ci, Su Jingyang had to believe it as soon as he said that the entire city would be destroyed.

It took a long time for Su Jingyang to find his voice. He pulled at the corners of his mouth, and said hurriedly, "That's good."

It really was good, it was what he wanted.

"Then you'll promise me too. In the future, you must tell me, you can't just suddenly leave."

"I know. I'm very sleepy. I'll go to bed first." Su Jingyang turned his back to Rong Ci, tightening the quilt and closing his eyes preparing to sleep

In the second half of that night, the two children woke up to eat, Su Jingyang found that he was still tossing and turning, he hadn't fallen asleep yet, and his chest felt like it was still blocked by something.

Su Jingyang sat up and adjusted his breathing, but still couldn't fall asleep. He thought about it, but he could only attribute it to the sequelae of getting drunk and sleeping a lot during the day.

Su Jingyang woke up in the morning and wasn't in good spirits. Before the two children could make any noise, he rushed to the bed to try and make up for a while, but soon he was awakened by an annoying fart sound.

That fart had always been a prelude to something stinky. Su Jingyang rubbed his temples, estimating the time, he was about to get up but was pressed back down by Rong Ci.

"You lie down, I'll clean up." As soon as Rong Ci's words fell, a subordinate outside suddenly asked for a meeting outside the main hall. Su Jingyang felt that it was very strange. Generally, they would wait for Rongc Ci in the front hall with matters of like.

They came here in a hurry, it was probably something important. Su Jingyang asked Rong Ci to take a look and got up to attend to the twins.

As soon as he finished changing a clean diaper for Dafan, Rong Ci returned. Su Jingyang looked back and saw that he was holding an opened letter in his hand.

Su Jingyang hugged Dafan up and asked him about it. Rong Ci walked to the bed, he looked at him deeply for a while and told him news that caught him off guard.

"The Emperor of the Great Lin Dynasty died."

When Song Hui came to see Ling Li with a letter, Ling Li was teaching Ah-Xuan to write in front of a book.

Song Hui panted, an expression of uncontrollable excitement on his face, he presented the letter with both hands to Ling Li. Ling Li's calm expression contrasted sharply with Song Hui's. He raised his head and glanced at him before accepting the letter.

Ling Li didn't read it immediately after receiving it. It felt like a thick pile, there were probably mostly about missing him, he could write in five or six sheets of paper at a time.

Song Hui finished delivering the letter but didn't leave. His eyes lit up, and he knelt while minding his robe corners. He gave a big gift to Ling Li and said in a clear and loud voice: "Master, His Royal Highness will hold the ceremony of ascension soon. His Royal Highness has sent someone in due haste to escort you and the young master to the Palace. Your subordinate congratulates you!"

Before his words finished, Ling Li swayed and shook violently, the letter that was originally crushed in his hands fell to the ground.

He looked at Song Hui incredulously.

For an instant, the air in the room seemed to freeze instantly.

Ling Li kept silent, and Song Hui lowered his head and felt a little uneasy. "Master..."

After a long time, he heard Ling Li's unhappy voice sound across the room: "I know, you go and leave first."

Song Hui responded, he picked up the letter that fell on the ground and put it on the bookcase, leaving silently.

Ling Li was stunned for a long time, and Ah-Xuan, who had been holding back in silence, snuggled into his arms and asked excitedly, "Daddy, is father coming to pick us up? Can we go home?"

Ling Li watched the child's joyful expression, he raised his hand to touch his head. He closed his eyes, his face was pale, although he was sitting, his figure was a little unstable and shaky.

After a moment of messy breathing, Ling Li whispered: "Sit back down and continue practising."

Ling Li didn't answer, making Ah-Xuan a little absent-minded. After writing two strokes, he looked back at him. Ling Li's breathing became heavier, and his voice was a little weak, soft, but clear, with a sense of majesty. He said to him: "Ah-Xuan, remember what Daddy said, from today onwards, as long as it is related to your education, you must be diligent, don't be lazy, have you heard?"

Ah-Xuan nodded vigorously, he said cleverly: "I heard, I won't be lazy. In addition to practising calligraphy, I have to read more."

As expected, A Xuan practised a lot of and copied books that day until he recognized the characters quickly. He fell asleep with exhaustion in the middle of the night.

Ling Li sat quietly on the side of the bed, with the glow of the candlelight, his eyes fixedly stared at Ah-Xuan's sleeping little face. His eyes were cold, as if he had lost his soul.

"...Ah-Li."

Ling Li realized that someone had entered when he heard the voice. He turned his head and saw Rong Hua who had already walked up behind him.

Rong Hua glanced at Ah-Xuan sleeping on the bed and motioned speaking next to him. Ling Li paused, stretching out his hand to tuck Ah-Xuan inside the quilt, he then got up with him.

"Take it." After sitting down at the table, Rong Hua quickly opened a small box containing a vermilion pill inside. He looked at Ling Li with a bit of sadness and said: "You'll get sick once you ingest this. It can be cured only inside Rongcheng, you don't need to go back to the Palace with him for the time being."

Ling Li's eyes fell on the pill, his lips moved and his nails pinched his palms hard. His eyes were slightly red, but he didn't move.

Rong Hua lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry, you've taken a Gu poison pill before. And didn't the subordinates of the Prince also often report that you're in poor health? It won't appear abrupt and won't cause suspicion. Even if there's a problem, Rong Ci will help you."

Ling Li's eyes seemed to be stuck, but he still didn't move. A few strands of messy black hair rubbed against his cheeks, tears flashed in his eyes but the expression on his face looked so calm and unwavering.

Rong Hua also became surprised. Before he was so determined to stay in Rongcheng, he was unwilling to enter the Palace, and even killed a child for this, why did he hesitate so suddenly now?

Rong Hua then said: "Ah-Li, don't worry. I made this Gu poison myself, the symptoms only look scary, after you endure the initial effects, you'll e able to quickly recover. Ah-Li, I'll definitely not hurt you, believe me."

Ling Li closed his eyes tightly, his long black eyelashes trembled like butterfly wings several times.

Amidst trembling and confusion, he suddenly raised his hand and closed the small box in Rong Hua's hand.

There was a light click, but it was as if a gong rang through his mind, making a loud sound.

Ling Li lowered his head and let out a long breath. After a while, he raised his eyes to look at Rong Hua and found him looking back. He said in a low voice, "I won't take the Gu. Rong Hua, thank you for helping me. Thank you very much."

Rong Hua was in shock for a long time, "What's wrong with you, Ah-Li?? Why can't you..."

Ling Li's eyes moistened, he tilted his head and smiled lightly at him. His tone of voice was unusually low and slow, "I've changed my mind, I... I plan to take Ah-Xuan into the Palace."

_____