"You little brat, what took you so long?" Zhu Ziyang's appearance immediately caught the attention of the people in the pavilion. The middle-aged beautiful woman instantly showed a chiding expression, quickly walking towards him and scolding him.
"Mom, I just came out of seclusion," Zhu Ziyang could only say with a forced smile, while enduring Liang Ying's not-so-heavy slaps, and asked, "By the way, Mom, why are you here? Where's Dad?"
"Hmph! You little brat, you're really something." Although Liang Ying was scolding Zhu Ziyang, the smile on her face showed her inner joy. She said, "If Nannan hadn't told us, how long were you planning to keep it from your father and me?"
"If I said I just found out too, would you believe me?" Zhu Ziyang could only say with a bitter smile.
"I believe you." Liang Ying nodded and said, "Never mind, I won't delay you from seeing your children, but, Mom has to remind you, you must compensate Nannan well. If you let down such a good girl, I won't forgive you!"
"Oh, Mom, how could your son be that kind of person!" Zhu Ziyang felt extremely wronged upon hearing his mother's words and said.
"Hmph! Who knows." Liang Ying snorted, turned away, and walked outside, muttering as she went, "I wonder who this child takes after? It's definitely not me..."
Zhu Ziyang listened to Liang Ying's muttering with a bitter smile on his face, then turned and walked towards the pavilion.
Inside the pavilion, Jiang Nannan and Zhang Lexuan had both stood up. Jiang Nannan's pretty face, besides longing and joy, also held quite a bit of resentment, her bright eyes carrying a half-smile that made Zhu Ziyang hesitate. Zhang Lexuan's expression was much simpler, a mix of longing and joy, with a hint of fear, as, in a sense, these two children were born by her without Zhu Ziyang's knowledge.
"Sister Lexuan, you've worked hard!" However, Zhu Ziyang's first sentence dispelled Zhang Lexuan's worries, causing her pretty face to immediately show a happy and blissful expression. Zhu Ziyang also didn't neglect Jiang Nannan; after expressing his attitude to Zhang Lexuan, he then said to Jiang Nannan, "Nannan, thank you!"
"Brother, you've finally come out of seclusion," Jiang Nannan naturally understood the meaning behind Zhu Ziyang's words, but she didn't follow up on them. Instead, she said playfully, "If you hadn't come out sooner, the babies would already be talking."
"Uh, hahaha, really?" Zhu Ziyang said with a silly smile upon hearing this, "Doesn't that mean I haven't missed much!"
"Show-off!" Jiang Nannan rolled her eyes at Zhu Ziyang and said, "Alright, I'm going to rest now. I won't disturb your family of four's reunion."
After speaking, a silver light flickered, and Jiang Nannan instantly vanished from the pavilion, leaving behind a wryly smiling Zhu Ziyang and an apologetic Zhang Lexuan. Oh, and two little ones who were sound asleep.
"This girl!" How could Zhu Ziyang not hear the complaint and jealousy in Jiang Nannan's words? He shook his head helplessly, then stepped forward, sat beside Zhang Lexuan, and took her delicate hand.
Zhang Lexuan smiled, leaning into Zhu Ziyang's embrace, enjoying this long-lost relaxation and sense of security.
"Sister Lexuan," Zhu Ziyang called softly.
"Hmm?" Zhang Lexuan closed her eyes and responded.
"They..." Zhu Ziyang looked at the two little ones in the crib, dressed identically, sleeping identically, which naturally evoked a sense of tender love and doting care in his heart. An unprecedented sense of responsibility fell upon him. This must be what it feels like to be a father, how wonderful.
"The one on the left is the older brother, and the one on the right is the younger sister!" Zhang Lexuan only opened her eyes when she heard Zhu Ziyang mention the children, her beautiful eyes filled with doting affection as she told Zhu Ziyang.
"Oh, oh, that's great!" Zhu Ziyang was overjoyed upon hearing this. Zhang Lexuan giving birth to twins for him was already surprising enough, but he didn't expect them to be a boy and a girl. This, this, how should he put it, at only twenty-two, he already had both a son and a daughter, achieving something his father hadn't in forty or fifty years. Could this be considered excelling over his master?
"The older brother is very quiet, but the younger sister is truly a handful. She'll definitely be a willful girl when she grows up!" Zhang Lexuan's face held a hint of pride as she described the two children's temperaments to Zhu Ziyang.
"What's wrong with being willful? What's wrong with my Zhu Ziyang's daughter being a little willful?" Zhu Ziyang had already adapted to his new identity, consciously defending his future little darling. He said.
"It's over, this child will definitely be spoiled by you in the future." Zhang Lexuan couldn't help but cover her forehead, saying with a touch of helplessness.
"Hehe, it's fine." Zhu Ziyang chuckled, "By the way, Sister Lexuan, have the babies been named yet?"
"Not yet." Zhang Lexuan shook her head and said, "Originally, I wanted Dad to name them, but he refused. He said that this kind of thing must be done by you personally. However, Mom gave the babies nicknames. The older brother is called Huanghuang, and the younger sister is called Jing Jing."
"Understood." Zhu Ziyang nodded, then a teasing expression appeared on his face as he said, "Sister Lexuan, you're calling them Dad and Mom quite smoothly now!"
"Oh my!" Zhang Lexuan, hearing Zhu Ziyang's teasing, uncharacteristically showed shyness and said softly, "I've already given them grandchildren, isn't it normal to call them Dad and Mom? It's you, always making fun of me!"
"I was wrong, I was wrong!" Zhu Ziyang, seeing this, decisively admitted his mistake, hugging Zhang Lexuan tightly, and said, "Let's think of a name for the babies."
—
Zhu Ziyang stayed in Mingdu for nearly two months. During these two months, he did nothing else but take care of the children, and in a very short time, the two little ones accepted him.
The names of the two little ones had been decided. The older brother was named Zhu Yuhuang, as bright as the great sun, as dazzling as the great sun. If nothing unexpected happened, this child would inherit his mother's position and become the ruler of the Empire. The younger sister was named Zhu Yuyue, a sparkling little moon; she would be the most dazzling little princess on the Douluo Continent.
Of course, in between taking care of the children, Zhu Ziyang still did some serious business. He still had five Source Golden Pills on him. He took out one, turned it into two equal parts of medicinal liquid, and gave them separately to Zhang Lexuan and Jiang Nannan.
Actually, before obtaining Zhu Ziyang's Source Golden Pill medicinal liquid, Zhang Lexuan's spirit power had already reached rank 97. The reason for such an exaggerated increase was naturally because she had completed the Ninth Trial of the Lunar, obtaining the final reward. Besides her spirit power increasing by three ranks, the age of all her spirit rings also increased by ten thousand years, making her spirit ring configuration an astonishing five black and four red.
Due to Zhang Lexuan's special status, she couldn't directly go into seclusion to fully absorb the Source Golden Pill medicinal liquid. Therefore, she could only absorb a little each day, and at this rate, Zhang Lexuan would be able to absorb all of the Source Golden Pill medicinal liquid in at most one year. By then, her spirit power should be able to reach the rank of 99 Limit Douluo.
Unlike Zhang Lexuan, Jiang Nannan, after completing the Eighth Trial, officially reached the Titled Douluo realm. After absorbing her ninth spirit ring, her cultivation reached rank 92. Just as Zhu Ziyang expected, Jiang Nannan's Ninth Trial also required her to raise her cultivation to rank 99.
Therefore, after obtaining the Source Golden Pill medicinal liquid, Jiang Nannan immediately went into seclusion in the Mingdu Imperial Palace and has not yet come out. This was actually very normal, after all, Zhu Ziyang was all too familiar with the medicinal power of the Source Golden Pill. According to his estimation, Jiang Nannan would need at most another six months before she could come out of seclusion, and by then, her cultivation should be able to reach rank 96 or rank 97.
Two months later, Zhu Ziyang left Mingdu.
Although he was very reluctant, he still had many things to do, and Zhang Lexuan also had many things to do. It was not yet time for a grand reunion, so he could only leave helplessly amidst Liang Ying's complaints.
Before leaving, Zhu Ziyang specifically left Liang Ying with five bottles of diluted Source Golden Pill medicinal liquid. This medicinal liquid was made by Zhu Ziyang after turning one Source Golden Pill into liquid and then diluting it with water. Although its medicinal power was greatly reduced, it could be absorbed by people with lower cultivation, unlike the Source Golden Pill or Source Golden Pill medicinal liquid, which even Super Douluo had to risk exploding from.
Zhu Ziyang's purpose in leaving Liang Ying five bottles of Source Golden Pill medicinal liquid was simple: one bottle each for her, Zhu Changhe, and Zhu Ziguang, and the remaining two bottles were to be disposed of by the couple. Zhu Ziyang didn't even need to guess; one of them would definitely be given to Hong Zhen by Zhu Changhe.
After leaving Mingdu, Zhu Ziyang returned directly to Shrek Academy. However, when he arrived at Shrek City, he did not choose to return to the Academy, but instead turned north and flew into the Star Dou Great Forest.
It had been over a year; he needed to confirm with Ditian if their cooperation was still valid.