Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 373 : A Rare Moment Of Peace

Chapter 373: Chapter 373 : A Rare Moment Of Peace

Both boys acted like deers caught in a headlight.

"Daddy!!!!" they cried out nervously.

Zhang Fengxi humphed at the carelessly drawn circles and sticks that his eldest son tried to pass as the drawing of his mother.

Did he not know that Xie Jianyu was easily the most beautiful omega in all three realms?

Zhang Fengxi could name at least five contenders whom he went through in order to secure Xie Jianyu’s hand in marriage.

It was not an easy feat, no.

"Daddy, I was just fooling around," Zhang Mingrui exclaimed. Close-up, the menacing tiger emblems on Zhang Fengxi’s belt looked somewhat intimidating. He didn’t want that belt anywhere near his ass.

"While sitting through your punishment?"

Zhang Fengxi raised an eyebrow at Zhang Mingrui.

"Mingrui, I do hope that you behave yourself better in class."

Zhang Mingrui swallowed hard.

He fidgeted with his tiny hands, trying hard not to look at the schoolbag that lay carelessly next to the table.

If Zhang Fengxi had gone through his son’s schoolbag right then, he might have found several books with the tiger boy’s scribbles and drawings.

Xie Junjie was the one who always sat straight on his cushion and listened to the Grand Tutor’s lengthy and boring lessons.

Zhang Mingrui, on the contrary, was always busy chatting and playing with his classmates during class.

Zhang Fengxi snorted before he put the drawing aside and started to inspect the boys’ handiwork.

Xie Junjie’s script was neat and organized. Although his tiny hand must be aching because he had to write fifty copies of the palace rules every day, his handwriting remained consistent.

Truly, it was like looking at a second Xie Jianyu.

But as his eyes landed on Zhang Mingrui’s offering, Zhang Fengxi’s face contorted like the setting sun swallowed by storm clouds.

"What’s this?" He held the first page before Zhang Mingrui’s eyes. "What’s with the constant writing mistakes?"

Zhang Mingrui gulped.

"What mistakes?"

Xie Junjie looked down at his feet, praying that his twin brother shut up before their father blew up.

Zhang Fengxi stared at his son in bewilderment. He took one of Xie Junjie’s copies and held it up next to Zhang Mingrui’s in front of the boy.

"Well? Can you see the mistakes now?"

Zhang Mingrui’s big eyes darted between the two papers for a while before he sucked in a lungful of air and made an "Oooooh" sound.

"Rewrite all of these," Zhang Fengxi picked up the nine written copies and put them down before Zhang Mingrui’s face.

"But Daddy..." Zhang Mingrui was close to tears. "I have written so many..."

"Only nine copies, not much. Be glad that I am not making you rewrite all the copies from the other days."

He was sure that they were as messy as the ones he saw today.

"Waaaahhhhhh~"

Zhang Mingrui rolled on the wooden floor, hit the ground with his tiny fists, and wailed.

"At this rate, I am not going to be done before midnight!"

"Then focus," Zhang Fengxi squatted next to Zhang Mingrui and pinched at the tiger boy’s cheek. "Look at how well Junjie is doing. He is already at his 49th copy."

Zhang Mingrui’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. He crawled to Xie Junjie’s desk and stared at a stack of finished copies that lay before his twin brother.

"Junjie, how did you write so fast? Did someone come to write for you???"

Xie Junjie pinned his twin brother with an incredulous stare.

There were only the two of them in the ancestral hall, day after day. Zhang Mingrui knew very well that no one came to write on Xie Junjie’s behalf.

"Come on, start writing," Zhang Fengxi hauled his tiger son by his armpits and made him sit before the desk.

"If you write quickly, then we can play together before dinner."

"We can?"

Both boys’ eyes turned as round as the moon.

"Yes."

Zhang Fengxi retrieved the jianzi he received from Qiao Wei and showed it to the boys.

"With this."

It was amazing how quickly Zhang Mingrui could write, given the promise to play together with his father.

"Daddy, I am done with mine," Xie Junjie tugged at Zhang Fengxi’s sleeve. "Can I help Mingrui with his?"

Zhang Fengxi smiled. He poked Xie Junjie playfully at the tip of his nose. "Just this one time," he said with a wink.

They played together way past dinner time.

Only when the Fuxi Palace traded its golden light for velvet darkness did the delicious spread of dinner finally manage to lure them away from the jianzi. Once the game was over, exhaustion settled heavily on both boys, causing them to fall asleep at the dining table.

Lady Song pursed her lips in displeasure.

With both hands at her hip, she proceeded to scold her son.

"Fengxi, do not make them play past dinner time again. Look at them, they don’t even have enough energy to eat!"

Zhang Fengxi broke into a placating smile.

"It’s all my fault, Mother. I won’t do it again."

Sprawled across his lap, his two sons were dozing off peacefully, looking a lot like two little angels.

Next to Zhang Fengxi stood two bottles of wine. One was already empty, while one still had some wine inside.

"Son, what’s wrong?" Lady Song sat next to Zhang Fengxi. "Did something happen?"

"Mmm, no. The war with the Demon Kings is starting soon, probably tomorrow. I won’t be able to come home within these few days."

He ran his hands across his adorable sons’ sleeping features. Five years had passed and they had grown considerably bigger, but they were still small. Defenseless little cubs.

Zhang Fengxi lifted them to his arms and rained kisses upon their faces, tender whispers lost in the ocean of their sleep.

Within the past five years, Zhang Fengxi had been constantly busy. If he was not doing some work for the Emperor, then he had to lead troops into wars. Days when he could stay home to play with the boys were practically non-existent.

Lady Song did not know much about her son’s activities, but she always grappled with anxiety whenever her son did not return at the end of the day.

"Fengxi, you need to be careful." she said with a voice trembling with worries.

Zhang Fengxi shifted his sons into one arm and draped another around his mother’s shoulders.

"Don’t worry, Mother," he said. "I will be back as soon as possible."