Volume One, Chapter 16: Treat Everyone Fairly

“Tomorrow is the young master and young miss’s birthday. Madam has instructed to prepare and hold a banquet,” the little maid answered.

“Yuan’er and Yao’er’s birthday?” Lu Changqing suddenly realized, clutching the roasted chestnuts in his hand tightly. Fortunately, he hadn’t come empty-handed today. “Understood. I’ll go in to see Madam and the children. No need to inform anyone.”

A few days ago, it seemed Fang had sent someone to mention celebrating the children’s birthdays, but he found it extravagant and had since forgotten about it.

“My brother stole my ball!”

“N-no, I didn’t! Sister hit me!”

Lu Qingyao’s chubby little hand had already reached out to Lu Qingyuan’s face. Lu Qingyuan was holding the yarn ball behind his back with one hand while tightly grasping Qingyao’s chubby hand with the other.

Everyone was amused by the scene.

“You two little nobles, don’t hurt each other!” Su Qiong hurriedly pulled them apart.

The room was warmed by braziers in each corner. Against the wall stood a wooden daybed thickly covered with quilts and soft pillows. Lu Qingyuan and Lu Qingyao were both dressed in padded jackets, sitting on the daybed playing with a yarn ball, soon turning into a playful tussle.

Fang Qianxue, with her collar half-open, was half-lying, half-sitting against the daybed, smiling warmly as she watched the children at play.

Qingyao, the elder sister and sturdier in build, finally snatched the ball back and kicked the red yarn ball toward her brother’s belly.

“Thump! Rolling!” The ball bounced twice off Lu Qingyuan’s stomach.

Just as everyone was about to laugh, a large, well-defined hand reached out and picked up the bright red yarn ball.

“Second Master!” The maids and old servants’ expressions changed instantly as they bowed respectfully.

The surprised looks from everyone made Lu Changqing feel somewhat uneasy. In the past, when he returned from court, everyone greeted him with smiles, but today, their faces were like they had seen a ghost—fearful and uneasy.

Fang Qianxue’s smile faded, and the two children looked at him as if he were a stranger.

Frowning, the man realized they regarded him as an outsider. “Everyone else, you may leave. I’ll stay here with Madam.”

If he didn’t come to see them soon, he would truly become distant from the children.

“Yes.” The servants quietly withdrew.

“I came to see the children and brought some of your favorite roasted chestnuts,” Lu Changqing said as he sat on the daybed, setting down the yarn ball and pulling out a wax paper bag from his chest pocket, opening it himself. “Try some.”

The golden-red chestnuts gave off an inviting aroma. The man was handsome as a painting, but Fang Qianxue looked at the chestnuts without appetite. “Leave them be. A few days ago, I pricked my hand with a needle and can’t peel these.”

That day, while making tiger hats for the children, she heard from the cat servant that Lu Changqing had stayed overnight at Xu Miaoyan’s residence. Somehow, an embroidery needle had pierced not the cloth but deeply stabbed her finger.

The man took her bandaged finger in his hand and said attentively, “I’ll peel them for you.”

He began peeling the chestnuts, tossing the shells into the brazier.

The brazier crackled softly, firelight illuminating their faces.

“Yao’er and Yuan’er act like they don’t know me, as if I’m a stranger,” Lu Changqing said, glancing back at the two children. He handed a peeled chestnut, wrapped in a close handkerchief, to Fang Qianxue.

“Call me Father.” Fang Qianxue took the handkerchief, her heart tightening.

She had already decided to sever ties with Lu Changqing, but the two children were unaware of what had happened and often asked their nanny where Father had gone.

The servants at Plum Blossom Pride had been instructed simply to say Lu Changqing went away and hadn’t returned.

Her plan to divorce him would have to be explained to the children slowly.

“Father!” The two innocent children each hugged one of Lu Changqing’s arms, calling out in their baby voices.

“Father, you’re back. Will you leave again?” Lu Qingyao, who could speak more now, nestled in her father’s embrace, acting spoiled.

Lu Changqing’s eyes grew moist, a sudden wave of guilt washing over him.

He raised his hand to stroke her soft hair. “Father’s been busy with official matters lately, but I will come to see you often. Yao’er, when you grow up, you must help Mother take care of your brother.”

“Father, big sister bullies me,” Lu Qingyuan seized the opportunity to complain.

“She doesn’t!” Lu Qingyao pushed him away resolutely. “Yao’er will surely take good care of Mother and brother!”

“Good children.” Lu Changqing pulled both children into his arms. For a moment, he felt that having these two was enough for a lifetime.

But in the end, he needed to give Miaoyan a son to rely on in her old age.

He quickly came to terms with it.

Yes, these days he lingered at the Xu residence not out of desire for her body, but to give her a child. Once the Xu family also had children, he would treat the children of both the Xu and Fang families well, maintaining fairness between the two households.