Empress Of The Lost Kingdom

After listening to his son's complaints about their mother, Lee Tae Yang looked at the twins with a conflicted expression on his face. 

Not even in his wildest nightmares, he expected to be a mediator between his wife and kids over something critical as well as funny.

"What do you want me to do now? Punish your mother?" He sought his children's opinion regarding a 'burning issue' that needs to be sorted out as soon as possible. 

"Yes. Daddy should punish Mommy so that she would reflect on her mistakes and never repeat them." Little Hyun put forward his petition like an experienced lawyer. Though he was only few minutes older than his brother, Tae Hyun always behaved like matured person. 

"But Hyun ah, why does daddy feel that you guys should give mommy one more chance?" Lee Tae Yang tried to persuade his sons into compromise. However none of his words worked as he expected. 

"No. Absolutely not." The twins protested together and grabbed Lee Tae Yang's arms with a sullen look plastered on their faces. It looked like they will break into tears any minute from now. 

"Daddy, you don't know what we had to go through-" Just as the twins began to explain, Li Juan's voice broke their conversation as she walked over, gathering everyone's attention to the doorstep. 

"Xiao Li, you came at the right time." Chi Yan grinned and moved closer to her as if he got a person to share his laughter. He could no longer have any strength to listen to the sweet bickerings of the twins. 

With Li Juan's sudden appearance in the room, the happy twins went silent and stood beside their father like two bodyguards, drawing an imaginary boundary between them.

After looking at her kids for a long moment, Li Juan turned to face Chi Yan and asked to come downstairs for afternoon tea. 

"Bunnies, shall we take a tea break and proceed with this later? Uncle needs to leave early to catch the flight." Chi Yan looked at his watch and suggested as he got a flight to catch in two hours. Since the three of them were able to reunite after a long time in a foreign country, he decided to fly to Jing city instead of going directly to S city, where his family lives.

"Uncle Yan, you are not staying with us today?" Tae Yong asked in surprise. He was expecting uncle Yan and his family to join them in the new year celebrations.

"No bunnies, uncle has to go home today itself. I will go back and bring Little Bao and aunt Xin so that we can all go and attend uncle Ren's wedding. Isn't it a great plan?" Chi Yan pulled an easy trick to lead the twins downstairs.

Even with the guests present, the dining room was quiet, as the two trouble makers of the house decided to remain silent. 

"Where are you celebrating this new year? At your home or his home?" Chi Yan tried to break the awkward silence by shooting a question at Li Juan. 

"Grandpa Bai invited us to Yun city. Bai Yu's marriage discussions are going on, so they want us to come and finalize the dates for the ceremonies." Li Juan elucidated as she poured tea for everyone. 

"It must be hectic for you to please your family and in-laws who live in different cities" Hao Ren stated in a worried tone. Since his fiance is also a foreigner, he could foresee the struggles of inter-racial couples to please "in-laws" who wished to celebrate the special occasions with their children. 

"It's surely hectic, but aren't we all want to see our family on a special day?" Li Juan answered with a beaming face. " We are just trying our best not to hurt anyone's feelings."

"Woahhhh!" The twins exclaimed in disbelief when they heard her answer, and couldn't help but ask Li Juan. 

"What about us?" The duo raised a question at their mother who appeared to be in a better mood.

"Mommy, you just hurt us by showing up late for kindergarten that too even wearing unpretty clothes." 

"Sorry, I forgot that a "suit" is considered something unpretty." Li Juan couldn't help but retaliate sarcastically. 

"You were supposed to wear a dress, Mommy." 

"Bunnies, can't you overlook Xiao Li's one mistake?" Chi Yan asked sweetly. Being a father of four year old girl, he knew the trouble that Li Juan have to go through everyday. 

"No. It is not easy to overlook, Uncle Yan. Mom is not as considerate with us as she is with others." Little Hyun explained his part in an extremely serious tone. 

"Okay, boys, that is the limit." Lee Tae Yang immediately interrupted when he sensed that their argument was getting out of control and he need to step in.

"We will not talk anything like this at the dining table." He gave the final word and tried to wrap up the argument.

"See, even daddy takes mommy's side. Daddy only loves mommy." Tae Hyun went on blaming his father for joining hands with Li Juan. 

"Yes. Daddy and Mommy don't love us. Only our uncles love us." Little Yong followed his brother's suit and pouted his lips.

"Mommy doesn't even allow us to play the game which uncle Tae Min brought us. Bad mommy." 

Hearing their words, Li Juan let out a sigh and turned to Chi Yan's for help. 

"Gege, you tell me. Will you allow Bao to play with VR games?" 

"Bao is a girl. Girls like to play with dolls." Little Yong refuted even before Chi Yan could answer, surprising his mother. 

"Where did you hear that?" Li Juan's eyebrows creased in dubiety as she interrogated them. 

"That's what we see in our classroom. All the girls play with dolls." The duo answered together, but only to get corrected by their mother.

"There are no restrictions like that. Boys, girls, everyone plays games nowadays." 

"Then, mommy, why aren't you allowing us to play?" The twins held onto the same excuse which Li Juan used to argue with them. 

"It's because you are pre-schoolers-" Just as she began to elucidate, Lee Tae Yang gestured her to stop and made a declaration that uplifted the sombre mood in the room. 

"Let's play it today." He took a quick peek at his wife and his sons, who was practically grinning ear to ear on their victory. "But only if you allow mommy to be on your team." 

As soon as Lee Tae Yang made the unexpected announcement, the cheerful atmosphere vanished in a glimpse. 

"We don't want to play it." A sulky little voice echoed in the room.

"Please return the game to uncle Tae Min." 

"Huh? You don't want to play the game anymore? Or you don't want to play with Xiao Li?" Chi Yan gaped at the twins in disbelief. How intense is their fight that the twins even refused to team up with their mother?

However, he got no response from the kids, who chose to eat their favourite snack instead of answering the question. 

Suddenly the front door got open, and Bai Yu walked in with glee. 

"Brother-in-law, you are here!!!" He enthusiastically called out as soon as he entered the silent living room.

Whenever Lee Tae Yang stays away from his family, it was Li Juan's brothers who took turns babysitting the twins to help their sister. 

With Bai Yu's arrival, the sombre silence in the dining room lightened up.

However, once the tea time was over, the twins went back to their protesting mode and it lasted till dinner time. 

"So, what happened at school? Lee Tae Yang asked the twins as he sat down to continue their conversation. 

"Jing Xiao always says that his mother is prettier than mommy." Tae Hyun finally opened up the root cause of their argument with Li Juan. 

"Then he said that she is not our mommy, but our nanny and does a looser's job. I didn't like it, so I hit him." Tae Yong admitted in a steady tone. Unlike his eloquent brother, Tae Yong was more into action than speaking. So he didn't control when someone spoke ill of his mother. 

"When mommy came to pick us, the teacher told her everything and she even said sorry to Jing Xiao. Daddy, why did she say sorry to him? He was the one who started the fight. He should have said sorry for calling mommy 'an ugly looser'?" 

"So you just asked Xiao Li to dress up prettily and show them that she is your mother?" 

"Hmmm. Yes, mommy reads books and stays at home all day. She is too lazy to comb her hair or dress up nicely. Why can't she be like others?" 

"Oh my good lord, you cannot question our queen's lifestyle like that... It's treason by the laws of the clan... Brother-in-law, why aren't you saying anything?" Bai Yu who was listening to their complaints almost broke into a peal of laughter. However, he was immediately silenced by two pairs of ice-cold eyes that shot invisible laser beams at him. 

"Your sister might be a queen to you. But she is our mother. We just wanted mommy to do better." Tae Hyun spoke like a concerned parent evaluating his or her child's life choices.

"So, what are you guys proposing?"Lee Tae Yang crossed his arms over his chest and asked the duo.

Little Hyun sat just like his father and made a fair suggestion as he sat straightly. 

"Mommy should change so that we don't have to fight with anyone else over mommy." 

"Hmm, let me talk to her. But you should promise that there won't be any such incidents like this in future." 

Hearing his words, the twins looked at each other for a moment before coming up with a joint decision. 

"Let's see if mommy changes, then we will give our word." 

"So you are not going to talk to Xiao Li?"

"No...not until dad's 'Xiao Li' changes." Tae Yong emphasized his mother's pet name as he spoke. 

"Okay then. Bai Yu, when you go home, take Xiao Li with you. It is better that she lives with her brothers than staying with her own sons who refused to talk to her." Lee Tae Yang gave the final verdict. 

"Yes. I will book the tickets, right away."

"Then goodnight, daddy...go and sleep with your Xiao Li." The twins stood up from the seat and moved next to Lee Tae Yang to give their usual goodnight kiss. 

"What about your mommy?" Lee Tae Yang asked with a grin as he recieved the sulky kisses and hugs from his sons. 

"You can gave it to mommy." Little Yong rebuked and held onto Bai Yu's arms. "Let's go uncle Yu." 

"Kids, your father is here, why are you sleeping with me, again?" Bai Yu protested as the twins began to drag him to the bedroom. 

"Brother in law, take your sons with you." 

"It's just one night, let them sleep with you." Lee Tae Yang told with a wide grin as he stood up from the seat and walked towards the master bedroom. 

"I'm jealous." He stated as soon as he saw Li Juan waiting for him without sleeping.

"Huh? What happened? Are they still disappointed with me? She asked the man who sat on the soft bed beside her. "What did they say?" 

"It would have been really nice if I had someone to fight for me." He spoke smilingly as he recalled the conversation with his sons and pulled Li Juan into his arms. 

"They are in pre-school, Yangyang. How can they hit a classmate?" Li Juan inquired in a perplexed voice as she remained cooped in his embrace. 

"They couldn't stand someone making fun of their mommy. Well, I would have done the same if I was in their position." Lee Tae Yang proudly stated as his calloused palm traced her curves. 

"But-" Just as Li Juan opened her mouth to argue back, Lee Tae Yang shut her with a gentle kiss. 

"So it's better to let them know about their super cool mom, otherwise we will end up raising two thugs at home."