The Carved Garden.
A recreation ground reserved for members of the Northern Profound Heaven imperial family.
It spanned a hundred thousand li in every direction, with mountains scattered across the landscape.
Forests, streams, hunting grounds, and amusement parks—everything was here.
At the beginning of each month, the imperial family members flocked here to enjoy themselves.
Since Lin Xuan had only just arrived in Northern Profound Heaven, and it was the start of the month,
his daughters had dragged him here early that morning to show him around.
"Daddy, there are lots of cute demon beasts in that forest, and lots of delicious ice fruit!"
"And over there, there are larks that can sing!"
"Daddy, you can stand on the clouds on that mountain and fly around together!"
"The nine-winged frogs in the river are the most fun! Daddy, let's go catch frogs!"
All the way through the Carved Garden, the four children chattered nonstop.
Like little tour guides, they competed to show Lin Xuan all the fun things in the garden.
Seeing how filial his daughters were, Lin Xuan was positively bursting with joy.
"Don't rush, sweethearts. Daddy will play with each of you in turn."
Faced with his children's enthusiasm, Lin Xuan agreed to each of their suggestions.
When he did, all four little girls broke into happy smiles.
After half a day of playing,
Lin Xuan brought them to the amusement park in the center of the garden.
Several members of the imperial family were already here, playing with their children.
When they heard that Lin Xuan was the biological father of the four little princesses, the imperial relatives all looked at him with flattering smiles.
A man who could become the Empress's husband was certainly no ordinary person.
And Empress Profound Ice was so powerful—she was the strongest in Northern Profound Heaven.
Naturally, they had to flatter her man.
After greeting the imperial family members, Lin Xuan found a place to rest.
Xuanzhu and the others were playing with a group of imperial children at the amusement park not far ahead.
Lin Xuan was happy to have some free time. He could rest and enjoy the garden's beauty.
Before long, an exquisite paper kite landed in front of him.
As Lin Xuan reached down to pick it up, a small, fair hand landed on top of his.
The moment it touched the back of his hand, it snatched away as if it had been shocked.
He looked up and saw a beautiful girl of sixteen or seventeen, gazing at him with wide, dark eyes.
"Is this your kite?" Lin Xuan picked it up.
"Mm." The beautiful young girl, Mu Youqing, nodded, her cheeks turning red.
"Here you go." Lin Xuan returned the kite to Mu Youqing.
"Thank you." Mu Youqing smiled radiantly. "Young master, I come here all the time. How come I've never seen you before?"
Lin Xuan's handsome, sunny appearance had captured her heart at once.
Seeing that Lin Xuan was alone, Mu Youqing couldn't help wanting to chat with him a little longer.
Lin Xuan smiled faintly. "It's my first time here."
"Since we're both members of the imperial family, let's get acquainted. My name is Mu Youqing." Mu Youqing's eyes sparkled.
"My name is Lin Xuan." Lin Xuan smiled.
"I'll remember that." Mu Youqing didn't think much of it.
After all, the Donghuang Clan had many distant relatives and in-laws, including families with the surname Lin.
Just then, an older woman came over from the side and smiled at Mu Youqing.
"Youqing, you seem to be getting along quite well with the Emperor Consort."
"The Emperor Consort!" Mu Youqing's little mouth fell open. "Then you're my cousin-in-law!"
Her big eyes swept over Lin Xuan once more.
No wonder her cousin, the Empress, had taken a liking to him. He really was charming.
The older woman explained, "Emperor Consort, Youqing is a distant cousin of the Empress. So that makes you her cousin-in-law."
"I see." Lin Xuan smiled.
"Cousin-in-law, why don't you come to the tea gathering later?" Mu Youqing remained just as enthusiastic.
"There'll be lots of talented young people from the imperial family there."
"You seem so refined and cultured, cousin-in-law. I'm sure you're very knowledgeable."
"How about joining everyone and exchanging ideas?"
Then Mu Youqing told Lin Xuan a little about the tea gathering.
In short, it was a group of fine young people from the imperial family getting together to drink tea and chat.
They discussed all kinds of things, from the far corners of the world to culture and geography.
The gathering gave the younger members of the imperial family a chance to communicate and get to know one another better.
As well as strengthening their bonds, it helped lay a solid foundation for the clan's future.
According to Mu Youqing, the gathering had been discontinued ten years ago.
It was only reinstated after Empress Donghuang Ziyou ascended the throne.
That alone showed just how thoughtful and far-sighted Donghuang Ziyou was.
Seeing how sincerely Mu Youqing had invited him, Lin Xuan figured that since they were here to have fun anyway, there was no harm in taking the children along.
"Then it's settled. I'll come find you later." Mu Youqing happily left with her kite.
"Mm." Lin Xuan nodded.
He was just about to sit down again when a childish voice came from up ahead.
"Daddy, something bad happened!"
His eldest daughter, Xuanzhu, came running over.
Lin Xuan scooped her up and asked, "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
Xuanzhu turned and pointed into the distance. "Xuanyou got into a fight with someone."
"Really? Daddy will go take a look." Lin Xuan figured that Xuanyou was a little troublemaker, so it was only natural she'd get into a scuffle with another child.
The people playing here were all members of the imperial family.
But the imperial family was enormous.
With so many children gathered together, it was much like the playgrounds Lin Xuan had seen in his previous life.
Many of the imperial children didn't know one another at all.
Even if they did, it was inevitable they'd have little disputes over toys.
Thinking this, Lin Xuan carried Xuanzhu over to the amusement park.
By then, several adults had gathered there.
The most senior among them was Donghuang Deye, who shared a surname with Donghuang Ziyou.
That alone gave Donghuang Deye considerable standing among the imperial family.
And from the looks of it, the boy who had fought with Xuanyou was Donghuang Deye's son.
"Xuanyou, stop!" Lin Xuan set Xuanzhu down and hurried forward to pick the little girl up.
Only then did Donghuang Deye dare to go pull his son away.
Lin Xuan could tell that even Donghuang Deye didn't dare simply grab Xuanyou.
It seemed this little troublemaker really was someone no one dared to provoke.
"Xuanyou, why did you fight?" Lin Xuan asked.
Xuanyou puffed out her cheeks and shook her head. "I'm not telling!"
This little girl really was stubborn.
Lin Xuan decided to coax it out of her. "Tell Daddy. Whatever the problem is, Daddy will solve it for you."
Xuanyou kept shaking her head. "I can't tell you! I can't!"
Lin Xuan laughed at the little girl. What on earth could she be keeping such a secret?
He figured that if he wanted Xuanyou to tell him the reason herself, he couldn't keep pressing her.
Stubborn children needed to be handled with a little finesse.
Lin Xuan deliberately sighed.
"Alas, I never thought my sweet Xuanyou wouldn't even share her little secrets with Daddy."
"Daddy's feeling sad, so I won't be able to make any delicious food today."
At the mention of tasty food, Xuanyou's eyes immediately lit up.
Everything Daddy made was delicious. How awful would it be if she couldn't eat any?
After thinking it over, Xuanyou said, "Daddy, then I'll tell you why I fought with Donghuang Haoyu."
"It's because he said you looked like a girl!"
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