Chapter 426: Chapter 426 : The Little Lying Devil

"He’s not my child," the flustered Qiao Wei hurried to clarify the truth.

"Oh. Well, I guessed as much. Whose child is he then?"

"He’s just..." Qiao Wei swallowed hard. "The child of a friend, that’s all."

"Aha."

At the risk of spinning an even less believable lie, Qiao Wei forced himself to elaborate.

"My friend needs to go somewhere for a while, thus he entrusts his child in my care. Shizun, you don’t mind, do you?"

"Me? No, not at all," Bai Siyang cleared his throat comically. "Just make sure to tell Little Ling. She seems uh, rather taken aback."

"Taken aback" was a gross understatement.

Nevertheless, Qiao Wei nodded in agreement.

"Of course, Shizun. I will do that."

In the kitchen, Zhang Fengxi was sitting before a pile of food, with the kitchen aunties ooh-ing and aah-ing over his cute and cuddly appearance.

"Goodness, this child is so adorable. I can just stick him into my mouth and swallow him whole," a particularly plump kitchen auntie commented.

"Don’t scare the child," another replied with a smack on the first auntie’s arm. "What are you made of, little boy? When I look at you, my tea tastes particularly sweet."

Zhang Fengxi beamed at them while munching through pastries.

"I want more," he said while pointing to an empty plate.

"Oooh, you like the persimmon cake? That’s great. I will make some for you every day."

"Yaaay~!" Zhang Fengxi threw his tiny arms into the air happily.

"Fengxi."

Qiao Wei’s appearance in the kitchen prompted the kitchen aunties to straighten up their postures in an instant.

"Master Qiao Wei, greetings."

"Welcome back, Master Qiao Wei."

"It’s nice to be back. Has everyone been well?" Qiao Wei asked while scooping Zhang Fengxi into his arms.

Snugly held against Qiao Wei’s chest, Zhang Fengxi gave Qiao Wei a toothy grin,

"Daddy, these aunties are so nice to me. I like it here very much."

The corners of Qiao Wei’s mouth went stiff when he heard Zhang Fengxi calling him "Daddy" again, but he did not say anything to disparage the lie.

The kitchen aunties gawked, their eyes widening like saucers in the morning light. In Qiao Wei’s presence, their tongues were silenced, but the moment the kitchen door swung shut, the ladies broke into a thrilling discussion.

"Goodness! Heavens! Did you all hear what the little boy said???"

"He called Master Qiao Wei ’Daddy’!"

"I didn’t know that Master Qiao Wei had a wife, let alone a son!"

They did not even bother to lower their voices. Outside, Qiao Wei and Zhang Fengxi could hear every word.

Zhang Fengxi broke out in a giggle. In return, Qiao Wei pinched his cheek and gave him a stern look.

"Fengxi, you are so bad," he said. "How can you spread such lies without getting red?"

Zhang Fengxi put his arms around Qiao Wei’s neck and leaned against him like a spoiled child.

"While I am trapped in this body, this is all I can do to drive away all my competitors."

"What competitors...?"

"That little vixen who passed out at the temple gate is one of them," Zhang Fengxi answered smoothly.

"You..."

Qiao Wei rubbed at his aching temple.

"We are going to tell the truth to Bai Ling. And then, you have to apologize to her."

"Hmpf. Don’t wanna."

"... Fengxi."

An ominous rumble split through the sky, prompting both of them to look up. The tiniest dot in the sky appeared. It grew quickly in size, and landed in front of them in the form of Jiang Muchen on his spiritual lion mount.

In his hand, he was holding a low-hanging lamp with a flower shade. It was none other than the Heart Affinity Lamp, one of Longjing Palace’s more useful heirlooms. At the moment, it was burning with an orange glow.

"Ah!" Zhang Fengxi cried out. "How dare you use our palace heirloom as you like!"

Jiang Muchen’s lips parted in disbelief when he caught sight of the little boy who dared to bare his fangs at him.

"What are you staring at, Jiang Muchen?" Zhang Fengxi growled at him.

Jiang Muchen climbed off his spiritual lion and sauntered toward Qiao Wei and Zhang Fengxi.

"Zhang Fengxi? Why are you so... small?"

"None of your business," Zhang Fengxi spat out. "What the hell are you doing here? Go now, go!!!"

"I am here because you have been gone for days, you fool!" Jiang Muchen snapped at him. "Mingrui and Junjie are worried about you! I had to consult Longjing Palace Master about your disappearance and here you are, hanging out with..."

Jiang Muchen’s eyes settled on Qiao Wei’s face.

"Who in seven hells’ name is this human being? Why are you in his arms?"

Five years had passed like a stolen flame, leaving Qiao Wei speechless as he looked upon Jiang Muchen. He was no longer the playful cub he grew up with.

The alpha from five years ago had transformed into an imposing alpha, with the Fire Guardian’s mark, three drops of crimson flames shining between his brows like a living ember.

"Muchen," Qiao Wei slowly called out.

Jiang Muchen’s eyes grew as big as the moon. There was only one person in the entire world who called him the way Qiao Wei called him right now.

It was the same person who left his life unannounced, the one who left a gaping hole in his heart five years ago.

Words were caught in Jiang Muchen’s throat as he swallowed the rising emotions and suppressed the tears from forming in his eyes.

"Little Uncle?" He asked in a shaking voice, filled with grief and hope at the same time.

The corners of Qiao Wei’s lips tugged up in a smile.

"Un," he said with a nod.

In the next second, Zhang Fengxi found himself sitting on the ground while Jiang Muchen put his arms around Qiao Wei’s slender frame.

"HEYYYYY!!!" Zhang Fengxi protested loudly, but Jiang Muchen was too busy to pay him any heed.

"Little Uncle," he sobbed. "Little Uncle, it has been so long... I miss you so much."

------

Author’s note :

Beloved readers,

I need to inform you in time that my new book, "The Pregnant Cannon Fodder Is Looking For A Second Husband" starts its MGS period in February, thus I need to focus on this novel to stockpile Chapters for release.

That being said, "Dance Of The Dragons" will be put on hold for max. 1 month, and will resume 1 ch daily release starting from 1st March until the novel ends.

The privilege pricing for February has been updated.

I encourage you to read the Chapters within this month so that you don’t have to buy privilege for next month. You can start buying again in March, when I release a Chapter daily.

You are welcome to read my new work although it’s not a BL. New BL work will be announced close before "Dance Of The Dragons" concludes (⁠´⁠∩⁠｡⁠•⁠ ⁠ᵕ⁠ ⁠•⁠｡⁠∩⁠`⁠).

This author loves you all!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay