7.9 – This Highness was probably thoroughly full of tricks and schemes
translator: xiin
editor: alamerysl
“Is it really alright to use your legs to walk?" Although Xue Ling had already a.s.sured him several times, Lou Cen was still particularly worried. The little merman"s legs looked so thin that they could be broken in a moment of carelessness.
“You"re so long-winded.” Xue Ling glared at him. “I said I"m alright.”
Lou Cen"s heart and soul quivered under his glare. He unconsciously clenched his fist, coughed, and said, "Okay, you"re alright. Wenwen, when do you plan to go back? We still can"t delay for too long. Although Yan Chuhuan knows that I"m with you, he will not sit pa.s.sively and resign himself to this."
The corners of Xue Ling"s lips twitched. He really didn"t want to bother with him anymore. He paused his footsteps rather helplessly and turned to look at the man. The man even blinked innocently, and seeing him turn around, showed a smile that did not seem at all like a smile.
Fine, he"d accept it. After all, his facial paralysis had been going on for such a long time, for a beginner at smiling to smile like this was very normal. Xue Ling hypnotized himself in his mind, and opened his mouth to ask, "What are you doing here?”
“Work related matters.” Lou Cen reached out to take Xue Ling’s hand, but he dodged, and he was unable to do so. "I"ve been busy sorting out work from the handover, so I couldn"t go and find you."
“Find me for what.” Xue Ling responded casually, his head bowed in thought as he tried to recall the timeline of the plot. He had not disappeared, and Yan Qingjun had already been recognized into the Duke"s Palace, so he could not ascertain exactly what the situation was. But, according to estimates based on Lou Cen"s current work, it should be at the stage where he began to have suspicions about the underground area.
He did not have as deep of a grasp over the chess pieces as Lou Cen did, and still needed Lou Cen"s help to find the entrance. But as long as he could enter, Xue Ling would have ways to dodge Lou Cen and enter the research laboratory.
Seeing him with an expression that said "I am thinking about something serious", Lou Cen"s heart melted. "If there"s anything that I can help with, let me know. I can help you."
Xue Ling wrinkled his brows and looked at him, then curved his lips and said, “Okay, it can be considered as your compensation for pulling out of our engagement. When this is over, I"ll give you the right to pursue me again."
Lou Cen was stunned. He had not expected happiness to come so suddenly.
Xue Ling emphasized it again. “Although what you said in front of my elder brother, second brother and my father and mother was very righteous and proper, saying you have the power to pursue me, I also have the power to disagree. If you can really help me with this, I’ll pull you out of my blacklist.”
“Baby, you blacklisted me?” Lou Cen’s emphasis was slightly off.
“If a man asks you in a particularly overbearing way to cancel your engagement with him, and you agreed, putting him onto your blacklist is something any merperson would do."
“Actually…”
“Even if you didn"t use particularly overbearing means, or it wasn"t something that you took the initiative to do, the fact that you made me unhappy doesn"t change."
Lou Cen felt that the person who was currently angry at him was particularly cute. He nodded his head, and his tone was soothing. Although he had not had many chances to meet with the little cutie, for some reason he could easily see past his cold as ice, uncaring surface to the hidden self that liked being spoiled by him. "Yes, I know. You"re angry, so you want me to make up for it. As long as it"s something you want to do, I can help you do it." When he made his promise, he did not forget to set some guiding principles. "Other than anything that is harmful to your health, or anything that might threaten our relationship."
“We have a relationship?” Xue Ling glanced at him. He was very certain that he had never agreed to be with this man. How did he deduce from their various conversations that there was a lovers relationship between them?
System: “…” Did this still need to be deduced? The small fits of temper and spontaneous love games between you pair of husband and wife gave off a feeling that was too strong! Isn"t it obvious that you"re acting d.a.m.ned spoiled while he"s being a fool in love?
“In fact, I think it would be better to explain some things clearly." Having spoken to this point, Lou Cen’s face became serious. “Shall we find a place to sit down and have a proper talk?”
They found a small table in a teahouse. The s.p.a.ce within the small compartment was not large, and Lou Cen could brush against Xue Ling"s face when he leaned forward, and he compulsively pressed close.
Xue Ling look a good look at his face, and reviewed it in his heart. As a matter of fact, he still liked the skin that the man wore in the last world the most so far…
Oh, the man had two skins in the last world.
“You said you wanted to talk to me?” Although someone was pressed close to him, and it was even someone who had the oppressive aura of a breeder, Xue Ling did not seem anxious or frightened at all. This was completely different from the delicate, silly, and sweet appearance he had shown before. "I also think that we need to talk, but if you are only planning to stare at me like this, I feel that giving you a photo of myself can solve all your problems. You don"t need to stand in front of me to see me, and it"s not a bad idea to go back and look at the photo."
Lou Cen narrowed his eyes, and opened his mouth to say, “Don’t you feel that your current appearance is quite different from before?"
“I know. After all, the difference between a tail and a pair of legs is basically the difference between heaven and earth.” He curved his lips, and the tear moles at the corners of his eyes gave him a lazy appearance, adding a touch of evil to his face. "If you would prefer someone more silly and sweet, then there is nothing for us to talk about."
“No.” Lou Cen denied his words and prevented him from continuing. "As long as it"s you, I like it. But…" He looked at the complete stranger in front of him and sighed somewhat helplessly. "If you say that the silly and sweet one is not you, then I"ll become someone who doesn"t understand you at all…"
“It"s great that way.” Xue Ling reached out a hand and touched Lou Cen’s face, then lightly patted it, the expression on his face turning mysterious. "Only when you have the ** to understand a person will you want to get closer, and want to understand more. And the more interaction there is, the more you will be unable to move your gaze away from that person." He looked down, his eyes flashing with a ferocious light that even he himself did not understand. "Until one day, you will love me to the point of being unable to extricate yourself, and will never betray or leave me."
These words sounded incredibly psychotic and crazy, but it made Lou Cen excited from head to toe. He liked the state that Xue Ling described, which was just like an unprecedented offering, dedicating everything that he was to this person. It was an instinct that had been engraved into his soul, and could not be erased.
He leaned forward and laid his lips against his cheek. Even his voice carried a trace of pleasure as he spoke, "I wanted to tell you that I fell in love with you from the moment I woke up and saw you in the hospital, and then loved you to the point where I could not extricate myself. But it seems that these words are not that necessary to say. Every day and night in the future, I will let you feel what kind of feelings I truly have for you, and how thoroughly I am unable to separate myself from you."
Xue Ling twisted his head, and no longer met the other party"s pair of terribly solemn eyes. He moved the conversation back to the original topic. "Well then, according to our previous agreement, as long as you bring me to the underground city, I"ll pull you out of the blacklist."
Lou Cen"s hand froze, and he frowned. “You know about the underground city?”
“Yes.”
“Want to go?”
“This is about my origins. I have to go." Xue Ling drank a cup of tea and spoke lazily. "I don"t need you to help me. I"m just giving you a chance, so if you…"
“I’ll help you.” Lou Cen turned over countless methods in his mind and said, “But after entering, you cannot leave my side."
Xue Ling nodded and expressed that that was not a problem.
At this time, the Empire did not know much about the deep-sea merfolk. Most of the information was suppressed by the upper levels of Empire"s government. Lou Cen was only a General now, and although he was the hope for the future, he still did not have the power to know about anything beyond his jurisdiction.
Even before he had cleared out the laboratory, Lou Cen had entered the underground city many times undercover. Xue Ling had only brought up his request to have the other party bring him along because he had deduced this. It would be great if he could meet another deep-sea merperson in the underground city - that way he would have more people he could make use of.
Over the years, many deep-sea merfolk had sneaked into the human world to explore. They had constantly been searching for the original host. The original owner of this body had no opportunity to return to the sea, but Xue Ling could help the deep-sea merfolk survive the upcoming disaster.
Merfolk were the guardians of the ocean. Legends said that the ancestors of the deep-sea mermaids was a famous sea G.o.d, and the royal lineage had the sea G.o.d"s ability to control the ocean in their bloodline. Once the last inheritor of the royal lineage died, the entire ocean would be in turmoil. At that time, the crisis would affect more than just the merfolk.
The ocean would become a dead sea, and mankind would slowly fall into a worse situation under the influence of the ocean"s atmosphere.
Of course, the prerequisite for all this was that the bloodline of the last direct descendant of the deep-sea royal lineage dissipated.
For Xue Ling to die? Were they joking?
According to Lou Cen’s previous promise, he sent Xue Ling all the way home. Most of the people of the Duke"s Palace were gathered at the front entrance. Xue Ling was seated in his merfolk chair, hiding behind Lou Cen and looking exactly like a delicate, frail merchild.
In addition to the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess, and the three brothers Yan Chuhuan, Yan Zhaiyan and Yan Qingjun, there was another breeder standing at the door.
Xue Ling searched through the original host"s memories for a good while before finding information about this person. He popped his head out from behind Lou Cen and greeted the breeder. "Greetings to His Highness the Prince"
Lou Cen was obviously familiar with His Highness. He bowed, and gave a simple greeting. His Highness did not care much about things like etiquette when he was outside.
His Highness the Prince of the Empire was SS-cla.s.s breeder. The difference in strength between him and Lou Cen had not been big previously. Now, he was one step behind, but he was still very powerful. He was the future Emperor of the Empire, but he had always been very kind to the people. In the original host"s memory, His Highness was a very gentle person, and was very attractive when he smiled.
Xue Ling measured him up for a moment. He really was a very easy-going person, and his gentleness was not a hypocritical mask that he had put on for show. He stood next to Yan Qingjun, and the two seemed very well matched. After all, that kind of mild temperament that was like a "Holy Mother" and "Holy Father" were not very different…
In the original plot, there were not many mentions of His Highness the Prince. He should have ascended the throne the normal way…
Lou Cen stretched out his hand, and blocked out Xue Ling"s line of sight to His Highness the Prince.
Xue Ling: “…” If he didn"t want him to look, then he won"t look. In any case, the Prince was not as good looking as him.
Perhaps because His Highness the Prince was next to them, the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess who were planning to give Xue Ling a proper lecture did not say stern words. Yan Chuhuan grabbed Xue Ling"s ears and scolded quite a lot, making His Highness the Prince joke that he looked more like a mother more than the d.u.c.h.ess.
Yan Chuhuan could no longer say anything after that. Yan Zhaiyan had been hiding from Xue Ling during this period of time, and now, although the look he sent to Lou Cen seemed like he was eager to bite him to death, he managed to hold back and did not speak out.
Xue Ling was handed over to the Duke’s family by Lou Cen, and was reminded again to call him if he wanted to go out so that he could come pick him up, before he was finally let into the house.
Xue Ling clutched at Yan Qingjun’s hand and leaned in close to catch up with the gossip. Only then did he learn that His Highness Prince was going to have dinner at their house this evening. Rumors said that he had come to propose marriage, wanting to settle matters before the Duke"s Palace announced news regarding their youngest son.
Although the Duke formally rejected his proposal, he still shamelessly stayed behind for dinner.
Xue Ling found it strange, and asked Yan Qingjun, “It’s really strange. Has he seen Junjun before? Why would he suddenly come to propose marriage?" Although he had also planned to do this, he had not yet implemented his plan when the person automatically sent himself to their door. It was a bit weird no matter how one looked at it.
“I don’t know… I was there when he was talking… His original words were that he liked me very much when I was an egg. Now, when he sees the color of my fish tail, he feels that I"m particularly suitable to be an Imperial Princess. Because he was worried that mother and father would introduce me to more people who would come with proposals, he wanted to propose ahead of time."
Xue Ling’s gaze landed on the seemingly serious and upright prince, and he got a smile in return. Xue Ling changed his personality in his mind from gentle to black-bellied. This Highness was probably thoroughly full of tricks and schemes. "… Well, this kind of reason is very convincing… or not."
“You don"t believe it, right? Father doesn’t believe it either… So they declined."
“But I think His Highness the Prince’s looks like he is determined… It doesn"t seem like a joke…”
“Maybe it’s just because he needs to marry someone from the Duke"s Palace?”
“There"s shouldn"t be any need for that. He had never treated me differently before. Although I’m only an adoptive son, and it wouldn"t be very useful to marry me. Oh. Maybe he doesn’t like black and gold?”
“… Don’t you like Lou Cen?”
“Well, yes, then I won"t fight over His Highness the Prince with you.”
Yan Qingjun: “…” What kind of logic is this? Did he get stumped by a child???
“Baby, you blacklisted me? ^_^”
“Ha-ha.”