"Fa–Father..."

On entering the imperial study, the little girl in Ling Maomao's arms caught sight of Yuwen Tong sitting behind a desk. Her big eyes instantly brightening, she strained her neck, calling to Yuwen Tong, stretching out her hands. Her voice was babyish and sounded as though it were tinged with the aroma of milk. The sound of her voice alone was enough to melt Yuwen Tong's heart, not to mention that she was also gazing at him with sparkling, longing eyes.

Yuwen Tong rose to his feet and walked around his desk.

Ling Maomao, Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin bowed with hands folded in front to pay their respects to Yuwen Tong.

"I'm honored to bow before you, Your Majesty."

"I'm honored to bow before you, Father."

"There's no need for formalities," said Yuwen Tong, walking up to Ling Maomao and reaching out his hands. Yuwen Yue in Ling Maomao's arms giggled happily, gave a vigorous push at Ling Maomao's chest and launched herself at Yuwen Tong, calling excitedly, "Father! Father!"

After landing in Yuwen Tong's embrace, she kept calling Yuwen Tong "Father" delightedly, wriggling around in Yuwen Tong's arms. Then she gave Yuwen Tong a light peck on the cheek, her delicate-skinned arms around his neck, excitement written all over her face, her eyes narrowing into two crescents for smiling, which reminded people of her pet name. Her chuckle was exceptionally soft and pleasant.

Carrying his daughter steadily with one hand beneath her hips and the other on her back, Yuwen Tong, after being kissed by her, gave a smile and said happily, "You're such a good girl, Crescent."

"I'm a good girl." Yuwen Yue repeated Yuwen Tong's words, beaming, enjoying Yuwen Tong's compliment without any pretence of modesty.

Yuwen Tong laughed, looking at his daughter who was not at all ashamed to second his favorable remark about her being a good girl, feeling that his daughter was so smart.

Ling Maomao, along with Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin who were younger than him, stood where they were and watched Yuwen Yue make Yuwen Tong laugh, feeling relieved. Ever since Ling Zhang's departure from the imperial palace, Yuwen Tong had been getting sterner by the day. The two princes were frightened of him like rats of cats. On this day, because of Crescent's presence, Yuwen Tong didn't wear a poker face, which was rare.

"Why did you come to the palace today?" Yuwen Tong asked Ling Maomao after playing with his daughter for a while.

Ling Maomao was thirteen now and had been growing taller very fast, and the top of his head was about shoulder height with Yuwen Tong. On top of that, as he practiced kung fu on a daily basis, he was well-proportioned and lean, and he was always upright when walking, striking people as a teenager of great presence.

After Fu Caiwei gave birth to her second son, Ling Maomao and she had gone to Shengzhou to live with Ling Zhaowen. With the intention to toughen his son up, Ling Zhaowen had sent Ling Maomao to the military encampment. He hadn't had him join the army but just let him train with the crack troops under Jiang Ke's command. There had been quite some young boys in the North-western Army, many of whom were Ling Maomao's age. After assessing the boys' aptitudes, officers of the army would give the boys specialized training accordingly. Ling Maomao had considerable aptitude for kung fu. Ling Zhaowu had specially helped him lay a foundation, and the method Ling Zhaowu had adopted was similar to the one Yuwen Tong had used to help Ling Zhang in Tanyang. By doing that, he had improved Ling Maomao's aptitude appreciably. After Ling Maomao started receiving training with crack troops, he had at first felt as though he was going through hell, but afterwards he'd gradually become used to it. The five years' training had been quite fruitful. It had also greatly improved his mental endurance. When he'd turned twelve, Ling Zhaowen had sent him back to the capital city to learn kung fu from Ji Yin. After returning to the capital city, Ling Maomao had been quite unaccustomed to his new life, for life among aristocrats was totally different than life in the North-western Army. Fortunately for him, the training given by Ji Yin had also been quite harsh, so gradually he'd also got accustomed to it. On top of that, Ling Zhang had specially hired a distinguished scholar from a noble family to teach Ling Maomao. During the last couple of months, Ling Maomao's behavioral pattern and some of his habits had slowly changed somewhat. Ling Zhang had no intention to bring any changes to Ling Maomao's disposition, for the boy was thirteen now and had long since learned how to make decisions on his own. Still, Ling Maomao was actually the future patriarch of the Ling family, so it was inappropriate for him to stay in the army all the time. There were a lot of things that he must learn how to handle, which was why currently he was living in the suburban manor with Ling Xingzhong and Ji Yin. He stayed in the Ling Mansion only in days when he returned to the city to call on Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin both hit it off with Ling Maomao. They found each other very good company. As the two princes' "uncle", every time Ling Maomao visited the palace, he would bring them some gifts from the streets. As a result, the two young princes admired and liked him very much.

Crescent, who was Ling Maomao's little sister, had allowed Ling Maomao to hug her the first time they'd met, which had gladdened Ling Maomao's heart.

When Ling Maomao had returned to the capital city a couple of months before, he had brought back news that Fu Caiwei was pregnant once again, but there was no telling whether it was a boy or a girl. Though the living conditions in the capital city were better, Ling Zhaowen, believing that Fu Caiwei was not in a fit state to make a long journey, had decided to have her stay in Shengzhou to await delivery. After being informed of this, Ling Zhang had hastened to send a court physician to Shengzhou, along with some precious medicines.

Fu Caiwei, who had been using the methods taught her by Mr. Mu to preserve her health these years, seemed as though she were aging backwards, and her constitution was excellent. Some people worried that it was fairly risky for her to bear another child, considering her age, but she herself was not concerned at all, and she felt rather resigned as she learned that even her nephew in the capital city which was very far away had been alarmed by the news of her pregnancy. Before Ling Zhang's departure from the capital city, she had written him a letter, telling him not to worry about her.

Ling Zhang had still felt apprehensive after reading the letter, but he hadn't dared overdo his concern for his aunt for fear that she might be unhappy, that it might hinder her from nourishing the fetus, so he had had no choice but to restrain himself, but eventually his worries had been channeled into his efforts to knock Ling Maomao into shape. When he'd still been in the capital city, he'd checked Ling Maomao's homework every few days, and when he'd found it unsatisfactory, he had gone back to the manor to scold and punish Ling Maomao on that very day.

As a result, though the very sight of the eminent scholar responsible for teaching him gave Ling Maomao headaches, the boy didn't dare take his studies lightly and had been learning from his teacher and studying hard every day.

There was nothing particular going on in the capital city. Theoretically, Ling Maomao should be in the manor working hard at this time, which was why Yuwen Tong asked Ling Maomao why he'd come to the palace this day.

"My grandfather was worried about my cousin, so he sent me here to check if there're any new messages from my cousin. Last night, my grandfather had some dream which scared him awake. After waking up, he kept telling me to come here, so I set off early this morning," replied Ling Maomao.

A dream? Yuwen Tong's eyebrows contracted slightly. Ling Xingzhong had never been an impetuous man; given that a mere dream had frightened him into sending his grandson to this palace, it had been by no means a good dream. Yuwen Tong missed Ling Zhang very much. These days, what with Ling Zhang's absence, the look on his face was so cold that nobody dared approach him when he was in a foul mood. At this time, he subconsciously became sulky at these words, but he knew that neither Ling Xingzhong nor Ling Maomao was to blame, so he didn't show any particular emotions on his face.

"I received a signed letter from him only the day before yesterday, in which he said that everything's okay. He has twenty-four guards by his side and some of my secret bodyguards are covertly protecting him. Even if he blows his cover, nobody would dare do him any harm. You may go back and tell Old Master Ling that your cousin is fine, that everything's going well and there's no need to concern himself. He had a bad dream because he worried too much."

After hearing Yuwen Tong's remarks, Ling Maomao, who also knew about that and had made this visit only because he wanted to help ease his grandfather's apprehension, said, "I'll repeat your words to my grandfather."

Yuwen Tong said no more about this topic. His adopted daughter in his arms patted his cheeks with her soft little hands. "Father, smile."

Though Yuwen Tong didn't show anything on his face, children are innately sensitive to changes in adults' moods.

The faint sense of displeasure inside Yuwen Tong was instantly dissolved by the pat his daughter gave his cheeks, and with that his eyes gleamed with amusement once again. "Okay, smile. Today I'll take you to the imperial garden for a walk. In fact, I'll take you wherever you want to go."

"I want to go and see the flowers!" said Yuwen Yue immediately. It was spring and the imperial garden, which was a varicolored sea of flowers of all descriptions, was quite appealing in children's eyes. However, what with the occasional cold winds, the eunuchs and handmaids didn't dare bring the young princess to the imperial garden. As a result, though Yuwen Yue for quite some time had been looking forward to going there to take a look, she hadn't had the chance so far.

"Okay, then, let's go and see the flowers," Yuwen Tong said happily and then turned to face the doorway and instructed, "Go and bring my daughter her cloak."

"Yes, Your Majesty," a eunuch answered and then walked off to make preparations.

It was not until this moment that Yuwen Tong looked at his two adopted sons. Though he hadn't asked them any questions, he'd been observing their reactions all along. Both of them had listened quietly to the conversation between Yuwen Tong and Ling Maomao. Though neither of them had been asked any questions, they were both very patient. Unlike Yuwen Qi who had been looking up at the speakers unblinkingly, Yuwen Lin, though having been looking at them attentively as well, had a calmer expression in his eyes. His eyes had on occasions raked Yuwen Tong's hands, which had suggested that he was checking whether his father was carrying his little sister steadily; when Ling Maomao had been speaking, he had fixed his earnest eyes on Ling Maomao; when Ling Maomao had mentioned Ling Zhang, the look in his eyes had become considerably more serious, and then he'd shifted his gaze to Yuwen Tong, waiting for Yuwen Tong to make a reply; when he'd heard that Ling Zhang was safe, the glitter in his eyes had become more noticeable than it'd been a moment before. All these micro-expressions of his had been fairly unnoticeable, but none of them had escaped Yuwen Tong's notice.

Yuwen Qi was more like the Marquess Fuan (AKA the Marquess of Fortune and Peace) – smart but relatively active, while Yuwen Lin was more like the Marquess Huaiwen (AKA the Marquess of Moderation) – also smart but relatively quiet.

Each of his two adopted sons had his own merits, but Yuwen Qi, because of his activeness, would be easily distracted; Yuwen Lin, because of his quietness, would have less difficulty staying focused on things he set out to do. This was not very obvious at the moment, but as the two princes got older, the difference between their characters would become more and more evident, and eventually the two of them would grow into very different persons.

Yuwen Tong was in no hurry to select one of them to be the crown prince. He needed more time to observe his two sons before he could decide which one of them was fitter to be his heir.

There was no telling whether Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin had come to realize this. Also, it was premature to make a decision at this stage.

Yuwen Tong looked at his two sons and asked them, "Have you finished today's homework?"

Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin inclined their heads in unison and with that the former replied, "Yes, we have, Father. Our teacher gave us permission to take half a day off from school."

The two boys had been getting up early in the morning every day and working hard since a very young age. Their first teacher, who was still teaching them, was a distinguished scholar, and they themselves were quite intelligent and diligent, so their academic performance had always been pretty good. Earlier this day their teacher had given them a test, which they both had passed with distinction, so their teacher had allowed them to take half a day off.

Yuwen Tong, who on occasions asked the teacher about his sons' progress in their studies, knew what this was about, and he normally wouldn't interfere with the teacher's decision, so he said, "In that case, you two may come with us."

Then he told the eunuchs to go and get each of the two princes a cloak.

"Thank you, Father."

Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin were both very happy. Though they regarded Yuwen Tong with reverence, they also held him in deep filial affection. They would be lying if they said they didn't feel any jealousy when seeing Yuwen Tong hold Crescent in his arms and gently coax her. Yuwen Tong had never hugged either of them since they'd turned three. He was very strict with them and had been drumming it into them that they must learn to be independent. As a result, envious as they were, they didn't dare show it on their faces. At this moment, they were, naturally, both overjoyed to hear that they were allowed to go to the imperial garden to play as well.

Thus, Yuwen Tong carrying Yuwen Yue went first. Ling Maomao followed in his wake, keeping an eye on the two young princes, heading for the imperial garden to view the flowers.

At first Crescent was in high spirits, but after playing for some time, she suddenly refused to share her flowers with others, nursing them as though they were treasures.

"What's the matter?" Yuwen Tong was baffled as to why his daughter suddenly became unwilling to share the flowers with others and appeared fairly glum.

"I want to save these flowers for Daddy," replied Crescent in a babyish voice, looking at Yuwen Tong with her big eyes brimming with anticipation. "Father, when is Daddy coming back?"

As she mentioned Ling Zhang, both Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin paused briefly and with that they shifted their gaze to Yuwen Tong in unison, the same anticipation in their eyes.

Beneath the expectant gaze of his children, Yuwen Tong was having a hard job maintaining the smile at the corners of his mouth. Feeling a throb of pain in the heart, he raised his hand to stroke Crescent's head. "Daddy has something important to attend to. He'll be back when it's done."

The anticipation in Crescent's eyes ebbed somewhat. She was still looking at Yuwen Tong with her big eyes, but the corners of her lips were hanging. "I miss Daddy."

Holding the flowers so tight as though they were the possibility of her Daddy coming back, the little girl seemed somewhat crestfallen, the boisterous air she'd been emanating a moment before now gone, clasping her sleeve with her fingers unawares.

Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin were older and thus had a better understanding of the situation. On hearing their father's reply from which a definite date of return was absent, they came to realize that their Daddy wouldn't be back anytime soon, their faces etched with disappointment as well.

Yuwen Tong, who was crouching, opened his arms. Crescent, head down, leaned into his embrace and rubbed her face against his shoulders. Before long, she started sobbing.

His heart aching, Yuwen Tong hugged his daughter and patted her back consolingly. "Be good, Crescent. Daddy will be upset if he knows you cried. Cheer up, Crescent, so that Daddy will be happy when he comes back."

Crescent made no reply, burrowed her face into Yuwen Tong's shoulder, sobbing, still holding her flowers in her arms.

Both Yuwen Qi's and Yuwen Lin's faces became somewhat downcast as well at the sight of Crescent crying. They were also still children after all. Except for an interlude of Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang going to the south-west when they'd been younger, they'd never been separated from Ling Zhang for such a long time. Ever since Ling Zhang's departure, the two of them had been almost every day anticipating hearing the sound of people welcoming Ling Zhang's return at the front gates of the palace.

Infected by the children's dejection, feeling a bit upset as well, Yuwen Tong scooped up Crescent. Patting her on the back, he made an attempt to distract the children's attention. "How about I take you kids to see some foals? A few days ago I had them make some children's saddles. Qi and Lin may try getting on horseback."

On hearing that they were going to see some foals and may try riding them, Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin were immediately distracted and the despondency on their faces finally disappeared.

Crescent, with her face buried in Yuwen Tong's shoulder, sobbed for another few moments. With her father consoling her, she slowly grew tired for sobbing and stopped. When they arrived at the livery stable, her attention was instantly drawn to a snow-white foal. Staring at it with curious eyes, she had Yuwen Tong put her down and then walked up to it to stroke it, forgetting what she'd felt sad about a short while before.

Seeing this, Yuwen Tong finally heaved a sigh of relief. These children got emotional so easily that he was really a little worried that he might not be able to handle this kind of situation properly.

Ling Maomao, who'd been following him all along, also gave a gasp of relief, holding the flowers that Crescent had entrusted to him. As he saw that his nephews and niece were fascinated by the three foals, he hastened up to them to make sure none of them got hurt.

Those foals were all descendants of thoroughbreds of rare species. The black one with white patches on its skin was the son of North Wind and Snowflake; the other two were born of another pedigreed horse. Yuwen Tong had specially prepared these foals to feast his children's eyes.

Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Lin, under the close protection of guards, got onto the foals' backs. The foals were quite docile and didn't overreact after the two princes mounted them. As the foals slowly walked around, Yuwen Qi shouted with joy. Even Yuwen Lin who had always been rather quiet couldn't help but feel thrilled, his face registering excitement.