Chapter 1534: Huge Loss
Zu An was at a loss. He had so many beautiful women at his side. If he married her but didn’t marry the others, he would be favoring one and discriminating against the others!
“Hm? What, are you not willing?” the Great Elf King continued, glowering when he saw Zu An’s reaction.
“Why wouldn’t I? Father-in-law must be mistaken!” Zu An exclaimed, quickly revealing an apologetic smile. “I was just caught off guard with happiness. Father-in-law didn’t even want me to greet you too intimately not too long ago.”
The Great Elf King choked. Zu An had indeed called him ‘father-in-law’ from their first greeting, and yet it was he who had told Zu An to call him uncle with a cold expression. He really had kicked himself in the foot there…
He cleared his throat and continued, “Then you agree?”
“Of course! Taking Snow as my wife would be my honor!” Zu An replied decisively. This wasn’t a question that would allow for hesitation. He could only agree for now and think about the consequences later.
Of course, he was also being sincere. Even though he had been separated from Snow for a long time, their affection was still deep. Furthermore, she had even shared half of her lifespan with him, so how could he let her down now?
Snow’s eyes shone brilliantly when she heard that. Her fair complexion revealed both embarra.s.sment and happiness. She had been clinging enthusiastically to Zu An before, and yet now, she was so embarra.s.sed she didn’t even dare to look at him too much.
The Great Elf King’s expression cleared up a bit. He suddenly felt that this seemingly ordinary man now looked a bit more handsome.
Zu An then said, “But the Medusa Queen and I have already pledged our undying love, and I can’t let her down either. We might have to get married together.”
He figured that he might as well take the chance to wed Yu Yanluo too. Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue had already left, so he didn’t have to worry about them. As for the Second Empress, her status made it so that they could never reveal their relationship publicly.
Either way, he would be getting married under the ident.i.ty of Regent, so it was fine even if the news got back to the human side. What did the marriage of a Regent here matter to the aunties and uncles back on the human side?
“Medusa Queen?” the Great Elf King repeated, his brows furrowing. “She’s alright in terms of appearance. Letting her in the harem wouldn’t be shaming our Elf Race too much.”
“Dad…” Qiao Xueying tugged on his sleeves worriedly.
Zu An spoke up and said, “Father-in-law might have misunderstood. I don’t intend to make the Medusa Queen a concubine.”
The Great Elf King immediately erupted with fury. “What? Don’t tell me you’re going to make our Elf Princess a concubine?”
You have successfully trolled the Great Elf King for +666 +666 +666…
“That’s not what I meant…” Zu An began, but before he could even finish, he was already cut off again.
“Hmph, you d.a.m.n kid, do you think this king is scared of drawing blood?” the Great Elf King said threateningly. However, he quickly remembered that Zu An had easily killed several grandmasters, so he no longer had as much confidence. “Even if I can’t do it alone, our Elf race still has many strong individuals.”
Zu An explained, “Father-in-law has misunderstood! I’m not making either the Medusa Queen or Snow become a concubine, but rather, I think our family shouldn’t have so many rules. We won’t decide who is higher and lower; they’ll all be wives.”
“Hah!” the Great Elf King sneered. “That’s just wishful thinking. Even the Fiend Emperor and Human Emperor only have a single empress. The rest are all just concubines. Are you more formidable than the two of them?”
“They’ve just never had this kind of intention. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t make such a thing happen,” Zu An said, his tone full of sincerity. “Regardless of whether father-in-law believes me or not, that’s what I really think.”
“Nonsense,” the Great Elf King snapped, feeling that Zu An’s answer was completely rebelling against social norms.
He was just about to say something else when Qiao Xueying stopped him, saying, “Dad, I’m still young. There’s no rush for this kind of thing…”
The Great Elf King was about to become even angrier when he quickly said to himself, “This won’t do… Getting too angry will harm my liver and cause my skin to wrinkle…”
He took a few deep breaths, then said to Zu An, “Think things over properly. I don’t want to hear such childish words again in the future.”
Afterward, he didn’t wait for Qiao Xueying to retort, and simply took her away.
…
When they got some distance away, the Great Elf King finally let go of his daughter. Qiao Xueying pouted and asked, “Dad, why did you break us up?”
“Dumb girl, do you understand that willingly putting yourself in these kinds of losing situations won’t do you any good?” the Great Elf King snapped angrily as he looked at his daughter.
“Who said I was doing that? Look, big brother Zu even gave me something great,” Qiao Xueying said, reaching out a hand for him to see.
When he saw the red fruit in her hands, the Great Elf King’s eyelids twitched. He asked, “You were won over by just a single tanghulu?”
In that instant, he even began to wonder if he had carried her the wrong way back then when he was at war. Of course, he didn’t suspect his wife of doing something that would let him down while she was pregnant. After all, he was so handsome; how could she have betrayed him for another man?
Qiao Xueying’s face reddened. She shouted, “Look at the ring, the ring!”
Only then did the Great Elf King notice the ring on her finger. He knew he had ended up thinking the wrong thing. He remarked, “Hmph, this ring’s appearance is so rough. It doesn’t even have any engravings; how ugly! You can tell… Huh? This is a heaven-grade weapon?”
He was the Great Elf King, so he naturally had great knowledge. He quickly recognized it.
“Yeah. This thing can both be used in battle and change in size. Big brother Zu gave it to me so I could protect myself, and he even made it into a ring. He clearly thought about it a lot,” Qiao Xueying said, gently rubbing the ring with a blissful smile on her face.
“Hmph, look at how you’re acting from just a trifling heaven-grade artifact. You need to grow up!” the Great Elf King said; despite his words, however, his mood had still improved considerably.
Heaven-grade weapons weren’t too rare for the Great Elf King Manor, but they were still precious. Furthermore, there were also good and bad heaven-grade weapons. The aura this item gave off and the fact that it could change meant that it was of high quality among heaven-grade weapons.
That brat at least has some conscience.
“Go back with me and stay there obediently. A woman will fall at a disadvantage if she’s too proactive,” the Great Elf King lectured his daughter with a meaningful and sincere tone.
Qiao Xueying pouted and grumbled, “Weren’t there many aunties who went after you? They were much more proactive than me, and yet you weren’t opposed to it.”
The Great Elf King almost choked on his own saliva. He retorted, “Why else do you think I’m speaking to you like this? It’s coming from someone experienced! If you weren’t my daughter, would I say all of this? Sigh, who would’ve thought that I would father a daughter who would cost me so much? Is this retribution?”
“Can you use nicer words? If you keep acting like this, I’m going to smash that mirror of yours!” Qiao Xueying exclaimed.
“You dare? …Hmph, I won’t say those things anymore, alright…” the Great Elf King muttered.
…
Meanwhile, Zu An was hesitant about whether to chase after them. Suddenly, however, several Golden Crow Guards came to report that the Second Empress wanted to meet him.
Zu An was a bit confused. The Second Empress had sent for him in a very straightforward manner, which meant there was something important to take care of. As such, he followed them to a grand and imposing building.
“The Crown Prince Manor?” Zu An exclaimed, startled. In that instant, he even wondered whether the remaining forces of the Crown Prince were trying to harm him.
However, all of those suspicions were quickly erased when he saw an extravagant carriage. The curtains fluttered, and a pleasant fragrance wafted through the air. It was the Second Empress’ personal carriage.
The Second Empress quickly emerged with the a.s.sistance of a maid. She was dressed in a light golden palace gown. Even though it wasn’t as grand as what she had worn during the offering rituals and other ceremonies, she was still gorgeous and n.o.ble. Her hair was tied up gracefully, embedded with all sorts of precious gemstone decorations. She wore red phoenix eye makeup and had bright red lips. As she walked, her waist elegantly swayed back and forth in an alluring rhythm.
“Greetings, your highness!” Zu An exclaimed. He had to show proper etiquette while they were in front of other people.
“There is no need for excessive formality, Regent. Do you know why I called you over here today?” the Second Empress asked. Her demeanor had only become more dignified after she became the Empress Dowager, but when she saw Zu An, her gaze became gentler. Only she knew how powerful this man was, in every sense of the word.
“I must request for your highness’ enlightenment,” Zu An said, his expression warm. No one else could guess just how wild the two of them had been in private.
The Second Empress didn’t keep him in suspense. With a look, her subordinates by the doorway quickly tore off the red silk on the door, revealing the new words ‘Regent Manor’.
“I initially wanted to prepare a new King Manor for you, but that would take a long time. The place you are residing in currently is too simple and crude, so I remodeled the Crown Prince Manor a bit for you. The only place in the entire Fiend King Court that is fitting for you, apart from the Imperial Palace, is the former Crown Prince’s manor,” the Second Empress said, gesturing for him to come inside and take a look.
Zu An followed her in. Before he could even admire the grandeur of the architecture inside, he was frightened to see many people kneeling on the ground. In particular, there were several women kneeling at the forefront; even though their heads were lowered, it was clear that their bodies were charming and their skin was fine. Just a quick glance told him that they were all outstanding beauties.
When she saw his shock, the Second Empress said with a smile, “I helped you to change out the servants and maids. You can take a look and see if they are to your liking. Right, the ones in the front were the Crown Prince’s former concubines. If you find any of them to your liking, you can keep them to warm your bed. The Fiend King Court’s winters get quite cold at night.”
Zu An jumped in fright and said, “There’s no need. I don’t have that kind of fetish.”
The Crown Prince knew how to enjoy himself, huh? Even though he didn’t formally take on a Crown Princess, he still had so many concubines in the manor.
“Is that so?” the Second Empress replied, giving him a look. She clearly didn’t believe him at all after their intimate experience. “If you don’t want them, we’ll send them to the government brothel.”
She clearly still had a grudge from the Crown Prince’s prior bullying.
Zu An was speechless.