Because Li Yuheng was always "caring" for his subordinates, the King of Hell soon received a flood of complaints.
He rubbed his temples, feeling utterly overwhelmed.
"That brat..." Yama gritted his teeth, "He's at it again!"
Li Wanyao, leisurely sipping her tea, chuckled upon hearing this, "I think Xiao Heng has quite the ideas. The Underworld is indeed a bit dull; wouldn't it be good to have some energy?"
"Vitality? That's destructive!" Yama said irritably. "If he keeps being this energetic, the underworld will become a joke!"
"So what do you plan to do? Lock him up again?" Li Wanyao raised an eyebrow.
The King of Hell remained silent.
Lock them up?
That kid's got too big for his britches now; you can keep him in check for a while, but not forever.
Moreover, his ability to handle official business has indeed improved by leaps and bounds, and the efficiency of the underworld has increased significantly recently.
"Sigh..." Yama sighed deeply, "Can't he have some normal hobbies? Like... growing flowers, fishing, or playing chess?"
He just keeps causing trouble everywhere...
Li Wanyao put down her teacup and cut to the chase: "When has our son ever been normal?"
She stood up, walked to the King of Hell, and patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, don't worry, he knows what he's doing. He's just itching for attention. Once he finds something new to amuse himself, or... meets someone who can control him, he'll naturally calm down."
The King of Hell looked at his wife suspiciously: "Who can subdue him? Who? You?"
Li Wanyao smiled mysteriously: "Who knows? Maybe... it'll be soon."
…
The Underworld, the Crown Prince's Palace.
Li Yuheng was sitting with his legs crossed, his fingertips swirling with ghostly energy, conjuring up an abstract puppy that was frantically digging holes in the void, thoroughly amusing himself.
The palace doors were pushed open silently, and Li Wanyao, dressed in a fiery red dress, stepped in gracefully.
"Xiao Heng".
Li Yuheng didn't even look up. The abstract puppy on his fingertip barked twice at the air as a greeting: "Mom, what brings you here? Did you nag Dad so much that he went fishing in the River of Oblivion again?"
Li Wanyao was already used to his behavior, so she cut straight to the point: "Your cousin, Zhaoyan, has set a wedding date."
"Oh, Zhao Yan is getting married... Wait, who?! Li Zhao Yan?! That little brat who likes to cry and suck his fingers?! He's getting married?!"
"Otherwise what? Who else is there, Zhao Yan?" Li Wanyao looked at her son's rare loss of composure with amusement. "He's not young anymore. If he meets someone he likes, marriage will be a natural progression, won't it?"
Li Yuheng looked on incredulously: "No... how old is he? Is he already stepping into the grave of marriage?"
"Is child marriage common in Heaven now? Do his parents know about this? Aren't they going to do anything about it?"
"With Li Zhaoyan's brain, can he even tell the difference between marriage and playing house? What if he drags his bride to play in the mud after the wedding ceremony?"
The more he thought about it, the more outrageous it seemed. "...Could the object of his affections be one of his many glittering treasures? Has he finally decided to marry his glowing toy sword? Hiss—"
Li Wanyao was speechless, and gave Li Yuheng a flick on the forehead to interrupt his rambling:
"How can you talk like that? Zhao Yan is younger than you, but he's no longer a child. When the time is right, things will naturally fall into place."
"That girl is a princess of the Qingqiu lineage, with pure blood, a gentle temperament, and good cultivation. She is more than a match for your naive and innocent cousin."
Li Yuheng's face scrunched up, every feature strained: "The Princess of Qingqiu? What do you want from her? The way she sucks her fingers? The way her crying has a built-in reverberation? Or is it her collection of a room full of glowing scrap metal?"
Li Wanyao sighed, "Can you please control your facial expressions? Is that how you use your face? You're supposed to be a prince, so pay attention to your image."
Li Yuheng instantly regained his expressionless demeanor, only his lips twitched slightly: "Oh. So why did you notify me? To give a wedding gift? Do I need to teach him how not to suck his fingers while sleeping on his wedding night?"
“You need to be a groomsman,” Li Wanyao said with a smile.
Li Yuheng leaned back abruptly and gasped.
He made a big X with his hands in front of his chest.
“Da me”.
Li Wanyao asked slowly, "What's wrong? Is our Crown Prince having some kind of trouble?"
Li Yuheng said with a serious face, "Mom, think about it, with my looks, my temperament, and my status, if I stand there, will the bride look at the groom or at me?"
"When that kid Li Zhaoyan comes crying and asks me, 'Brother, why did you steal my thunder?' Am I supposed to tell him, 'Because you're ugly?'"
He shook his head in anguish: "For my cousin's marital happiness, we can't take this risk."
"...Are you sure this is it?"
Li Yuheng responded decisively: "Yes."
He didn't say the real reason.
Once Li Zhaoyan gets married, it's obvious that Li Yuheng will be the next one to receive special attention from the whole family.
Li Yuheng was well aware of his reputation in the Three Realms.
A complete troublemaker, even dogs would avoid him.
But because of his face and the identity of the Crown Prince of the Underworld, some gods always thought he could turn over a new leaf.
So, one after another, people went to his parents to deliver messages, saying things like, "It's time for the young master to settle down," and they even included portraits of various fairies and goddesses, enough to fill an art gallery.
These past few days, his parents' probing has escalated to the point of being overt: "Xiao Heng, don't you have a girl you click with?"
His mother's gaze became even more profound, as if she were pondering something.
If someone went to Li Zhaoyan's wedding, what would happen?
It's like throwing lambs to the slaughter.
His parents, along with those gossipy aunts and uncles who love to watch the drama unfold, could practically have the words "urge him to get married" tattooed on his forehead right there and then.
Is Li Yuheng the kind of person who would suffer such injustice?
Definitely not!
At that point, will he argue back or curse?
At someone's wedding ceremony, he berated the matchmaker so badly that she ran away crying.
Did that leave his elders speechless and rolling their eyes?
Although he has never been one to hold back, he knew that doing so would be disrespectful to his cousin and a bit excessive.
never mind.
Let whoever wants to be the best man be it.
He firmly believes that he will never jump into this fire pit!
Li Wanyao stared at her son for a few seconds, then a knowing smile appeared on her red lips.
"Fine, I won't go then." She slowly straightened her cuffs. "Anyway, our young master is all grown up now, he can skip his cousin's wedding whenever he wants."
Li Yuheng immediately perked up his ears.
His mother's words sounded like a concession, but they actually concealed a murderous intent.
Sure enough, Li Wanyao's next sentence floated down lightly: "But your father is currently looking for a reason to punish you. If you suddenly get grounded for ten days or half a month for some... well, like replacing all the vermilion pens used in judging cases with dog bones, or covering the Reincarnation Well with abstract 'Caution: Slippery' graffiti... or other such outrageous behavior..."
She drew out the last word meaningfully: "So, it's understandable on the surface that I can't attend the wedding, right?"
Li Yuheng: "…………"
His mother really knows all his tricks.
You either go to a wedding and get pressured to get married, or you do something really stupid and get locked up in jail.
“Mom,” Li Yuheng forced a smile, “you really are my mother.”
Li Wanyao turned around gracefully: "Think about it yourself, son. You have to choose one eventually."
She walked to the palace entrance, then suddenly turned around: "By the way, you're not planning to stay single forever, are you?"
Li Yuheng was slumped back onto the couch when he heard this, and lazily lifted his eyelids: "So what if I'm single? The widowed king has been working hard to build a beautiful underworld."
"Tell Mom the truth, do you like men? It's okay, I'm very open-minded."
Li Yuheng's expression went blank for a moment: "...Mom, your thinking is too jumpy! Does my liking for men or women have anything to do with whether I'm single or not? The King of the Widow! The King of the Widow! Rampaging all the way!"
Li Wanyao nodded thoughtfully: "Okay, if you say it's okay, then it's okay."
A knowing glint flashed in her eyes as she turned away.
My son's problem isn't about liking boys or girls; he's just not mature enough yet.
The day Li Yuheng returned from the human world, she casually patted her son's head and noticed the demon contract between his eyebrows.
With this kid's abilities, he would have been eliminated eight hundred years ago if he hadn't wanted to.
Later, Li Yuheng plunged into the study to look through ancient books, and soon after, Li Zhaoyan's ghostly wails could be heard.
The first time her little devil in the family had ever hit someone was over a broken contract.
Over the years, she's tried to subtly probe him, but all she managed to get out was the phrase "made a good friend in the human world." The rest of the details have been kept tightly under wraps by this brat.
Li Wanyao walked gracefully out of the Crown Prince's Palace, already having made her plans.
Perhaps, this kid should be sent to the Quick Transmigration Bureau to see firsthand how other people date.
Using such external force, perhaps we can pry open his blockhead-like emotional sensibilities.
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