Tang Moyu stilled in her place for a moment before a deep frown appeared on her face. The afternoon breeze made her long hair flutter.

  "Qin Jiran, I'm not sure what you're up to. Indeed, whatever happened the other night was my fault but…" She paused, lost in thought, unsure of how she would express herself without offending him.

  "Is it because I'm like this?" He countered back, the amusement in his eyes was now replaced with an intensity that Tang Moyu had never seen in them before. It was like he was trying to look past her defensive walls, trying to take a peek of her soul through her eyes.

  Feng Tianyi would be lying to himself if he said he didn't find the empress desirable at all. At first, when He Lianchen warned him about Tang Moyu's charm, he thought that his right-hand man was just overestimating the empress.

  However, the other night, he realised that it wasn't an exaggeration at all, especially when she was sprawled on his lap and her soft womanly curves pressed against his body. Even before she attended the banquet with Li Meili, he'd seen how beautiful she was. That was enough for him to forget his name for a moment. It confused him as much as it made his stomach turn. Not unpleasantly, of course.

  Perhaps, it was because he'd not been with a woman for the past five years. He has always been alone since then. Wallowing in self-pity and shame upon the condition he was reduced to, that the only plausible career left for him was to write stories that could entertain and make people happy, while he stayed alone and bound to his wheelchair.

  It would make sense if the Empress didn't like someone like him.

  "No. Of course not…" she said decisively and with honesty. Qin Jiran's condition hadn't bothered her one bit. "I consider you a good friend of our family. I just don't want my children to misunderstand your words."

  "Then I apologize for making you uncomfortable, Tang Moyu." Feng Tianyi muttered and looked away, making it hard for Tang Moyu to guess what he was thinking at that moment.

  With a soft sigh from her, they continued their stroll back to the guest house where the twins were taking their nap.

  "What did He Lianchen tell you before he left?" Feng Tianyi decided to change the topic, casting the unwanted thoughts out of his mind for the time being.

  Tang Moyu lifted her hand and showed him a gray business card.

  "He gave me this. A call card from one of the private investigators he's associated with." She replied.

  "He said just in case I want to find the father of the twins." She shrugged, like it didn't concern her at all. "Not like I need to know who he is."

  "To be honest, I have no intention of finding out who or where he is at this moment. Why would I, when we have nothing to do with each other? I'm not after child support nor do I need his financial assistance. I can provide for my children." She paused as she gave it a good thought.

  "He fathered my children, yes but they came from a one night stand I never wished to happen in my life. If only I could change the way my children were conceived, but that's simply impossible, right? He gave me Xiao Bao and Little Star and I think that's enough for me. There's no need to ruin each other's lives."

  "But what if your children ask you about their father? Surely, no matter how smart your children are, they would still have questions, they still yearn for a father." Feng Tianyi continued to probe.

  Tang Moyu complemplated on what to say. What Qin Jiran said made sense. The recent mischief caused by the two recently proved that they were indeed looking for a father figure in their lives. Meeting and living with Qin Jiran for the past few weeks had also made this point obvious to Tang Moyu.

  "I don't know, Qin Jiran…" She started, "but the fact they were products of a one night stand, how do I expect that person to take them seriously? I'm also afraid of them getting hurt if he chose to disregard them despite knowing that they are his children. I don't want Xiao Bao and Little Star to know the feeling of being unwanted."

  Those words hit Feng Tianyi hard. Looking at Tang Moyu's face, he then realized that they probably suffered the same experience during their childhood. Both of them were born due to the need of an heir, not for love.

  As for being disregarded, wasn't this what Feng Tianyi felt when his father turned his back on him, and abandoned him and his mother? For the pair of sweet buns to suffer such pain… it would surely break their heart if they found out they weren't wanted by their own father.

  Feng Tianyi couldn't blame Tang Moyu for deciding not to look for their father. He didn't think the twins deserved such pain. Just thinking about it made his chest hurt. If that really happens, he might need to help Tang Moyu to give the man a good beating, before helping her dispose of the body.

  Once they arrived at the guest house, the two parted ways, as Tang Moyu joined her children for a quick nap, while Feng Tianyi decided to work on his manuscripts.