ISMW Chapter 16

Indeed, no one believed it, not even Yu Chen himself.

 

After all, his post was related to Yun Xunlan—but the relationship wasn’t about whether he could closely follow the Prince, it was about that “oath” which made him uncomfortable for an entire day after saying it.

 

Whenever he thought about the royal guard service period being a full ten years, and that he might have to live like this for ten years, Yu Chen felt he could hardly breathe.

 

Retribution.

 

This was truly retribution for his thoughtless, unfiltered speech.

 

Yu Chen’s mood was heavy, and to make matters worse, Fu Yanxi was still rambling beside him: “Look, you’re not speaking again. Is it because I’ve hit a sore spot and you can’t speak?”

 

“I can’t speak because you’re so trashy,” Yu Chen looked at Fu Yanxi with eyes that regarded him as garbage, saying wearily, “With your pathetic tolerance level, could you even stand there if you were chosen?”

 

Despite the many omegas currently surrounding Yun Xunlan, judging from the intensity of the simulated pressure they endured during training, if Yun Xunlan released his pheromone pressure, omegas of slightly lower levels wouldn’t even be able to stay in the same banquet hall with him without feeling extremely uncomfortable.

 

And Fu Yanxi’s adaptation to Yun Xunlan’s pheromone pressure was very poor—he belonged to the category that would immediately kneel when high concentrations were released, like a kitten held by the scruff of its neck, unable to move. Among the nine elite guards, his performance was the worst.

 

“What can I do about it?”

 

Fu Yanxi’s mouth was the toughest part of him. Even though he wasn’t capable, he wouldn’t admit it, and he still wanted to drag Yu Chen down: “Who can withstand the Third Prince’s charm? You couldn’t either if it were you.”

 

Yu Chen raised an eyebrow: “I couldn’t?”

 

“You definitely couldn’t. You might manage for a while, but not forever. No one can withstand the Third Prince forever,” Fu Yanxi emphasized word by word. “Absolutely. No. One.”

 

Yu Chen spoke honestly: “But I did withstand it.”

 

Fu Yanxi, however, insisted on his view: “You’re just pretending to be tough.”

 

Men hate it most when others say they’re incapable.

 

Especially when Fu Yanxi, who was the worst at withstanding Yun Xunlan’s pressure, told him, the best, that he couldn’t handle it—and said it more than once.

 

“I’m pretending to be tough?”

 

Yu Chen’s rare three points of patience were completely exhausted. He laughed coldly and said: “Fu dog, you’ve really made me laugh. If you’re incapable, don’t blame the road for being uneven. I bet if you called over that group of omegas near the Third Prince, they could all stand straighter than you, all withstand better than you. Don’t be surprised if Commander Dike can’t help but give them an outstanding award while you’re here applying powder in your coffin—desperate to save face.”

 

Fu Yanxi: “Yu dog, you—”

 

Yu Chen: “I’m your father.”

 

Fu Yanxi: “Damn, I—”

 

Yu Chen: “You’re my grandson.”

 

The pig teammate Gui Yan added another cut: “Wait? Your generational relationship doesn’t make sense.”

 

Fu Yanxi immediately questioned Gui Yan: “Whose side are you on?!”

 

“I’m obviously on your side, Brother Xi.” Gui Yan immediately declared his loyalty. “But what breed of dog is Yu Chen? His aggression is so strong?”

 

Fu Yanxi asked him in return: “Dogs that bite don’t bark, dogs that bark don’t bite. He does both—what kind of dog would you say he is?”

 

“Let’s forget what kind of dog he is…” Hearing this, Gui Yan began to advise Fu Yanxi to let it go. “Brother Xi, after all these years, when it comes to barking and biting, we’re no match for him.”

 

Fu Yanxi: “?”

 

How did you manage to call three people dogs in one sentence?

 

“You’re not my match in anything, oh, except being garbage and useless,” Very clearly, when it came to indiscriminate attacks, Yu Chen was still superior. “Gui Yan, Fu Yanxi is much stronger than you in this aspect, but there’s nothing to be done about it. After all, he’s a naturally gifted player—you really should feel inferior.”

 

Yu Chen’s words didn’t contain a single vulgar term, yet each sentence was lethal and cut to the heart. Gui Yan drew in a sharp breath and didn’t dare to make another sound. He felt that today’s situation wouldn’t end without a fight. But to his surprise, after listening, Fu Yanxi didn’t express any opinion, and even his previously agitated breathing had become much smoother.

 

Gui Yan felt this was extremely abnormal: “Brother Xi, why did you admit defeat so quickly today?”

 

He truly deserved to be scolded—otherwise, why would Fu Yanxi question whether he was Yu Chen’s undercover agent? When the battle was raging earlier, he rushed to pour water but missed the mark; now that there was a ceasefire, he couldn’t stand the peace and wanted to stir things up again: “You haven’t even been beaten yet.”

 

Fu Yanxi had no time to dwell on Gui Yan’s double-crossing remarks. He straightened his back, looking straight ahead: “We’ll fight later. Don’t talk now—the Third Prince is looking at us.”

 

Gui Yan quickly shut up and assumed his most handsome posture.

 

Yu Chen also pressed his lips together, his blue eyes gazing deeply at the silver-haired alpha dressed in white and gold formal attire not far away. In fact, his gaze had never left the young man from beginning to end, as this was the duty of all guards tonight—to never let the Third Prince leave their field of vision.

 

They had to nurture him like a tender sprout breaking through the soil with difficulty, investing all their attention and gaze upon it.

 

But the young man’s gaze rarely turned toward them.

 

Yu Chen only saw him smiling at that group of omegas.

 

Or perhaps he wasn’t smiling, but Yu Chen couldn’t tell the difference. After all, the Prince’s crescent-moon lips naturally curved upward at the corners, always making him appear to be smiling—it was the same when he looked at anyone.

 

Gui Yan was saying: “The Third Prince seems to be smiling at me.”

 

Fu Yanxi: “You’re wrong. His Highness is smiling at me.”

 

Gui Yan insisted: “No! It’s me. His Highness is even walking in my direction!”

 

Fu Yanxi: “Can you be more clear-headed? His Highness is coming in my direction.”

 

Yu Chen didn’t join their competition for king of clowns, and mercilessly burst Fu Yanxi and Gui Yan’s fantasies: “His Highness is heading toward the banquet hall entrance. The two of you combined don’t compare to a single door.”

 

Gui Yan: “…”

 

Fu Yanxi: “…”

 

Yun Xunlan was indeed heading toward the banquet hall entrance, but halfway there, he was stopped by an alpha.

 

This alpha was tall and exuded the aura of a mature man. Even with a few fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, it didn’t diminish his handsome face.

 

All the guards recognized this face. More precisely, there wasn’t a person in the entire galaxy who didn’t recognize this face—the face of Jian Chexiao, the current head of the galaxy’s number one financial group, the Jian family, and a top-tier alpha.

 

Yun Xunlan greeted him: “Uncle Jian, you came too? I don’t remember sending you an invitation.”

 

“Indeed,” Jian Chexiao held a glass of champagne, swirling it as he smiled and said, “Uncle has given you 18% of At One’s shares as a birthday gift, yet you wouldn’t send Uncle a birthday invitation. Uncle is truly heartbroken.”

 

At One was a medical company under the Jian Group. Before Yun Xunlan’s independently developed ninth-generation omega suppressant was released, At One had almost monopolized the suppressant business across the galaxy. The relationship between the Jian family and the royal family had always been tense, especially since Jian Chexiao’s other well-known identity was as the ex-husband of the late Empress He Chubai of the Galactic Empire.

 

So when Yun Xunlan’s ninth-generation omega suppressant caused a huge impact on At One’s revenue, outsiders thought the Jian family would respond. In the end, Jian Chexiao’s response was to give Yun Xunlan 18% of At One’s shares as a coming-of-age gift on his birthday.

 

“Thank you for your gift, Uncle Jian,” Yun Xunlan explained in response to Jian Chexiao’s complaint. “I sent an invitation to Wenxi, and him coming represents the Jian family just the same.”

 

“But I don’t see Xiao Xi. He hasn’t arrived yet, has he?”

 

Jian Chexiao looked around with an exaggerated expression, not lowering his voice, and even speaking with a deliberate tone: “Indeed, if he were here, how could you possibly see the shadows of other omegas?”

 

Everyone attending the banquet today knew that Jian Wenxi was Jian Chexiao’s nephew, one of the heirs to the Jian financial group, and the Third Prince’s childhood friend. The omegas who had gathered around Yun Xunlan, hearing Jian Chexiao’s warning-like words on behalf of his nephew, dispersed one after another, thinking that since the Third Prince’s consort hadn’t been decided yet, they might as well leave temporarily to avoid the Jian family’s sharp edge. Moreover, judging from Yun Xunlan’s words, he didn’t like Jian Wenxi.

 

Because he said: “Uncle Jian, Wenxi and I will only ever be good friends.”

 

Jian Chexiao seemed not to have heard these words. He narrowed his eyes, his gaze on Yun Xunlan’s face hazy and distant, as if looking through the young man at someone else: “Lanlan, you look more and more like your dad.”

 

“Is that so? But Dad said I look more like Father,” Yun Xunlan met his gaze, his voice cool. “Uncle Jian, you really should get your eyes checked.”

 

Jian Chexiao threw his head back and laughed heartily: “No need to check. Uncle has been blind for many years.”

 

After laughing, he looked at Yun Xunlan again and said with utmost seriousness: “Lanlan, marry Wenxi. Have a child together, and I’ll give him half of all the Jian family equity under my name.”

 

Fearing Yun Xunlan might have misheard, he specifically emphasized: “Equity, not shares.”

 

“If you don’t want to get married, that’s fine too. As long as you have a child together, whether that child is an alpha, omega, or beta, I will give them half of the equity.”

 

Trading a child for 50% of the Jian family equity under Jian Chexiao’s name—there couldn’t be a second deal in the world simpler or more profitable than this.

 

As for why Jian Chexiao was so obsessed with matchmaking him and Jian Wenxi, Yun Xunlan roughly knew the reason—Jian Chexiao had no children of his own, and Jian Wenxi looked very much like Jian Chexiao and shared an inseparable blood relationship with him.

 

Just like himself and his dad—Empress He Chubai, who shared the same blood.

 

Hearing this, the system couldn’t help but curse: “What child? Hurry up and get Yu Chen to slap him twice.”

 

Even with Yun Xunlan’s good temper, his expression had now turned cold, and he uttered four resounding words: “Absolutely impossible.”

 

Seeing that the silver-haired alpha’s demeanor indeed carried some of Emperor Yun Qihe’s cold aura, Jian Chexiao narrowed his eyes at those golden pupils—the ones he detested most, unique to the royal bloodline. He drained his champagne in one gulp and turned to place the empty glass on the table: “Lanlan, no need to rush to a decision. Think carefully about Uncle’s words.”

 

After speaking, Jian Chexiao walked back to Yun Xunlan, raising his arm as if wanting to pat Yun Xunlan’s shoulder.

 

But Yun Xunlan swiftly stepped back half a pace, causing Jian Chexiao to pat empty air.

 

Jian Chexiao didn’t seem to mind. He stepped to Yun Xunlan’s side, standing shoulder to shoulder with him but facing the opposite direction, and lowered his voice: “Have you and Wenxi concocted some new invention in the laboratory? Someone in the black market was willing to pay 3 billion star coins for your manuscript. Uncle helped you remove it this time, but next time you’ll have to figure it out yourself, after all, you’re an adult now.”

 

Yun Xunlan looked straight ahead, his tone emotionless: “Thank you for your trouble, Uncle Jian. I will repay this money to you.”

 

Jian Chexiao smiled: “Uncle watched you grow up. It’s just a small amount of money, why talk about repayment?”

 

Yun Xunlan’s expression remained cold: “Then I’ll repay Wenxi.”

 

Just as he finished speaking, Yun Xunlan’s light brain vibrated once. Before he could open it to check, Jian Chexiao prophetically said: “That’s fine. It’s a message from Wenxi, isn’t it? Chat more with each other, develop your feelings well.”

 

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