Chapter 16: Keeping it Fair

"Tomorrow is the young master and young lady's birthday. Madam has asked for arrangements to be made and the banquet will be held tomorrow." The maid replied.

"Yuan'er and Yao'er's birthday?" Lu Changqing suddenly realized and hugged the sugar-roasted chestnuts in his hand tightly. Fortunately, he did not come empty-handed today. "Got it. I'll go in to see the lady and the two children. No need to inform them."

A few days ago, Fang seemed to have sent someone to mention celebrating birthdays for the two children, but he thought it was extravagant and wasteful, so he forgot about it afterwards.

"My brother stole my ball!"

"No...I didn't rob, my sister hit me!"

Lu Qingyao's chubby little hand had already reached out to Lu Qingyuan's face. Lu Qingyuan held the ball of wool in one hand and hid it behind his back, while holding Lu Qingyao's chubby hand tightly with the other hand.

Everyone was amused by this scene.

"Two little ancestors, please don't hurt them!" Suiqiong hurriedly pulled them apart.

There were fire pots lit in the four corners of the room. The bed against the wall was covered with thick bedding and soft pillows. Lu Qingyuan and Lu Qingyao, both wearing pajamas, were sitting on the bed playing with balls of wool, and soon they became tangled up in a ball.

Fang Qianxue was also half lying and half sitting on the bed with her clothes half open, watching the two children playing with a smile on her face.

Lu Qingyao is the older sister and is stronger than her younger brother. She finally snatched the ball back and kicked the ball into her younger brother's stomach.

"Bang! Gululu!" The ball bounced on Lu Qingyuan's stomach and rolled twice.

Just as everyone was about to laugh, they saw a large, bony hand pick up the big red ball of wool.

"Second Master!" The maids' expressions changed and they all bowed.

The surprised looks of the crowd made Lu Changqing feel a little uncomfortable. In the past, when he came back from court, everyone would smile when they saw him, but today, everyone looked at him as if they had seen a ghost, terrified and nervous.

Fang Qianxue also put away the smile on her face, and the two children looked at him as if he were a stranger.

The man frowned, thinking he was an outsider: "Everyone go down, I'll be here to accompany my wife."

If I don’t come and see them, I will really become estranged from these two children.

"Yes." The servants retreated silently.

"I came to see the two children. I bought some sugar-roasted chestnuts that you like on the way." Lu Changqing sat down on the Luohan bed, put down the wool ball, and took out an oil paper bag from his arms and opened it himself, "Try it."

The golden red chestnuts exuded an alluring aroma. The man was handsome as a picture, but Fang Qianxue looked at him without much appetite: "Leave it alone. I got a needle prick on my hand a few days ago, so I can't peel this."

That day she was making tiger hats for her two children. When she heard Mao'er talking about Lu Changqing staying in Xu Miaoyan's courtyard, the embroidery needle somehow didn't pierce the cloth, but instead pierced deeply into her finger.

The man held her cloth-wrapped fingers and looked at them, then said earnestly, "I'll peel them for you to eat."

As he spoke, he began to peel chestnuts and threw the shells into the brazier.

There was a crackling sound coming from the brazier, and the firelight illuminated the faces of the two men.

"Yao'er and Yuan'er act like they don't know me and treat me as a stranger." Lu Changqing looked back at the two children and handed a peeled chestnut to Fang Qianxue holding a handkerchief.

"Call daddy." Fang Qianxue took the handkerchief, feeling a pang in her heart.

She had decided to break up with Lu Changqing, but the two children didn't know what had happened and often asked their nanny where their father had gone.

Meihuaao's servants had all been told that Lu Changqing had gone out of town and had not returned yet.

She has to slowly tell her two children about her plan to divorce her husband.

"Daddy!" The two ignorant children hugged Lu Changqing's arms, one on the left and one on the right, and called in baby voices.

"Dad, you're back. Will you leave again?" Lu Qingyao could already speak a lot of words and leaned on her father's arms and acted coquettishly.

Lu Changqing's eyes warmed up and he suddenly felt guilty.

He raised his hand and ruffled her soft hair: "Dad has been a little busy with work recently, but he will come to see you often. When Yaoer grows up, he will help mother take care of his brother."

"Dad, my sister bullied...bullied me." Lu Qingyuan took the opportunity to complain.

"I'm not bullying you!" Lu Qingyao pushed him away and said confidently, "Yao'er will definitely take good care of my mother and brother!"

"Good kids." Lu Changqing hugged the two children in his arms. For a moment, he suddenly felt that having these two children in his life was enough.

But after all, Miaoyan must have a son to take care of her, otherwise she will be left alone when she is old.

He soon figured it out.

Yes, he lingered in Xu's courtyard these days not because he was greedy for her body, but just wanted to give her a child. When Xu gave birth to a child in the future, he would treat both Xu's and Fang's children well and treat the two rooms equally.