He was born pure and handsome. Among all the sons of Emperor Lin, only he had such a pair of clear and innocent eyes.
It’s just that the eyes were red at the moment, much like the rabbit at his feet— very aggrieved and sad.
Emperor Lin’s fingers were a little stiff. He looked at the two children for a long while before he sighed and stretched out his palms, landing them on the heads of the pair of children respectively as he patted them comfortably, “Okay, stop crying you two little crybabies.”
Xiao Lan had also walked over at this time. She leaned forward and said, “Your Majesty, it’s because this Honourable Lady had failed to educate them properly.”
Emperor Lin turned to look at her and said with a rare and solemn tone, “No, you have taught these two children very well.”
He took the hands of both children respectively, pulling them towards the side of the couch. He first carried Lin Feilu up before he looked at Lin Zhanyuan, who was nervous next to him, and then leaned over and carried him onto the couch as well. He tightened his grip and laughed, “You’re quite heavy.”
The little dumpling leaned on his legs. Then, she looked up at him for a while and asked in a low voice, “Does Father Emperor not hate brother?”
Emperor Lin coughed dryly, concealing his guilty conscience, “I am different from others, so of course not I don’t hate him.”
The little dumpling cheered as she suddenly leaned in to wrap her arms around his neck, giving him a kiss, “Father Emperor is the best person in the world!”
Emperor Lin didn’t know when he started becoming this close with his daughter, to the point where he was absolutely smitten. But when he saw the happy expressions of the little dumpling, he smiled again as he mentally noted, daughters were meant to be pampered and cherished after all!
He glanced at Xiao Lan who was next to him and she seemed to be moved by this scene too. There was a hint of redness at the end of her eyes but a gentle smile formed on her lips, giving off a different vibe of elegance.
Emperor Lin took her hand and let out a long sigh, “I have neglected you all these years.”
Xiao Lan pursed her lower lip slightly as the tears in her eyes continued to form but she did not mask her sincerity when she looked at him, “I have never blamed you, Your Majesty,” She lowered her eyes and smiled, “And with these two children by my side, these years have actually gone by very well for this Honourable Lady.”
There were no traces of complaint or jealousy. Instead, she was generous and magnanimous— and that made Emperor Lin happy.
The atmosphere in the house was much more harmonious than before.
Emperor Lin remembered the four snowmen the Little Fifth Princess had piled up in the plum garden when he first met her. At this moment, he looked at the children and his wife that were surrounding him— this was epitome of the phrase ‘a neat and complete family of four’.
He had countless children, but at this moment, he felt like he was just an ordinary man in this world for the first time as he was overwhelmed by the sense of home. This kind of plain and warm atmosphere was something that he wasn’t able to experience in any other concubine’s palace.
The Emperor always mentioned that he was a lonely person, a loneliness that only he alone could understand. After bearing this position for a long time, he occasionally missed the warmth of belonging.
Xiao Lan’s gentleness, his daughter’s intimacy with him and his son’s innocence had just made up for his lack of emotion.