Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongle's gaze, filled with bone-chilling coldness, swept down once more.
He seemed to really care about this offspring, scrutinizing Zejin again with great pressure, but he hesitated to nod.
The air fell into a deathly silence.
It was the cubs who broke the stalemate.
The child tugged at his father's sleeve and pointed at Zejin.
His original intention was to complain to his father, and this was the person he had been secretly watching earlier who was still denying it.
However, Emperor Chongle thought the cub needed a playmate, and he asked the cub in a nonchalant tone:
"You like this hostage? If you like this kind of child, I can find someone to train a whole batch of them that are even more obedient and won't go against your wishes."
The cub shook its head vigorously:
"I like the eyes."
"You like his eyes? Then I can just gouge them out for you, clean them, and keep them as a keepsake. You can play with them however you want."
The tone suggested that Zekin was not considered anything important at all.
But Zejin wasn't angry at all, as if the discussion wasn't about him at all. He remained kneeling there, unmoved, waiting for the little fairy's mercy.
Indeed, the cub was kind-hearted. When it heard that its father was going to bully Zejin, it disregarded the previous grudges and shook its head so hard it was almost like a rattle drum, fearing that Emperor Chongle would actually do what he said and take the cub's eyeballs out.
Seeing the cub's strong reaction, Emperor Chongle assumed that the cub was really satisfied with this guy. He was a little jealous, but he still temporarily agreed to let Zejin stay by the cub's side.
The cub's wish is the greatest wish.
If this dog doesn't behave, then we can just get a different dog for the puppies.
What Emperor Chongle didn't expect was that the decision he made at that moment would become the most regrettable decision of his life.
But at that time, how could he have known that Zekin's true ambition lay in his cubs?
It all started with that first, breathtaking glance.
If Emperor Chongle knew this, the first thing he would do would be to castrate all the foreign envoys who entered the territory of Dayu.
Damn aliens!!!
At this moment, Emperor Chongle did not pay much attention to Zejin. He simply waved his hand and told Zejin to take him away and wash himself properly, learn all the proper etiquette, and then come back to his son's side.
So, just a few days later, the cub gained a taciturn but tall bodyguard.
Although the others were all his father's subordinates, and thus also the cub's subordinates, they had all seen the cub when he was very young, so they still had a bit of an elder's mentality, unlike Zejin, who was 100% subservient to the cub.
If the cub tells him to go east, he won't go west; if the cub tells him to stay where he is, he absolutely won't move an inch; if the cub points at a mule and says it's a donkey, then Zejin will find a way to make the mule actually turn into a donkey.
For a time, the cub really liked Zejin as a playmate, and even his father wasn't as clingy anymore.
The palace servants would all watch the Emperor's expression with trepidation, but only Zejin would kneel before him and answer with burning eyes, "I belong to Your Highness alone."
"Your Highness can bully me however you want. I am an illegitimate child, with dirty blood flowing through my veins. A noble person like you should naturally be above me."
The cub blinked but didn't speak.
Okay, although he has feelings for Zejin, he hasn't forgotten what happened before. The little one just holds a grudge a little; after all, this guy is on the bad guys' side, and bad guys bully everyone.
So the cub also wanted to take revenge on Zegin.
The little one crossed her arms and gave a soft snort. She looked like a snowball pretending to be something she'd never seen before, lacking in intimidation but overflowing with cuteness.
Zejin glanced at it and quickly lowered his head, seemingly afraid of laughing out loud in front of the cubs.
The boy was still engrossed in his role, saying, "I am the Crown Prince of the Great Yu Dynasty, the only true dragon in the world. Be serious!"
"yes."
The cub added, "I'm going to bully you, but you can't cry. You're so much taller than me, you're a grown-up now, you can't cry. If you cry, I'll feel bad about bullying you anymore..."
Zejin lowered his gaze, focusing intently on the fairy before him, seemingly contemplating how he would be punished—would he be kicked, or whipped and scolded? The usual methods used by his clan to humiliate Zejin would seem like a compliment to Qianyuan if he were to use them.
He said, "I will absolutely not cry."
"Alright then."
The cub cheered itself up, rolled up its sleeves to reveal half of its smooth, white arm, reached out, placed its fingers on Zejin's forehead, and flicked it on the head without making a sound.
Kid: Ugh! Why did it fail again?!
"I made a mistake in my homework. When Ning Fu's bullet hit my head, it made such a loud noise. Why can't it make a sound when I shoot it?"
Seeing his son so angry he was practically bursting with rage, Zejin didn't have time to figure out why things had turned out this way. He was clumsy and taciturn, and didn't know how to comfort his son at all. All he could do was reach out and give his son a loud flick on the forehead when his son was about to cry.
The cub touched its flushed forehead, its eyes lighting up: "You can do it too! Teach me!"
Zekin: ...
In order not to hurt the little prince's precious forehead, Zejin could only secretly provide voiceovers for the cub from behind while he and the cub flicked each other's foreheads, so that the cub would think he knew how to do it.
The boy was finally satisfied.
Then, with her forehead flushed red, Zai said to Zejin, "I bullied you too, but let's call it even! We'll be good friends from now on."
The cub stretched out its round, white little finger: "Hurry up, pinky promise."
Zejin instinctively felt something was wrong, that it shouldn't be like this, but he couldn't go against any of Zai's requests, so he could only make a pinky promise with him.
After finishing, the cub clung to Zejin as if they had become sworn brothers, saying, "You're older than me, so I can call you brother. What's your name? Do you want to take my surname?"
Zejin pursed his lips, not saying that it was wrong to change one's name to the national surname without permission, letting the cub decide. Then the cub hugged his arm and shook it: "Then you will be my brother from now on. Brother, you have to protect me."
When the baby's cool, soft body leaned against him, Zejin was completely disoriented. He could only nod with his ears turning red, but his body remained stiff and motionless.
The little boy covered his mouth and giggled, "Brother, can you write? Can you help me with my homework?"
The boy finally revealed his true intentions.
If Ning Guanyan knew that the little brat was putting all his mischievous ideas into these kinds of things, he would definitely give him another fifty big words!
Zejin nodded: "I can speak the language of Dayu, but I'm not proficient in writing it yet; I can only write a little bit."
The cub displayed an unprecedented enthusiasm for learning: "I'll teach you!"
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