Chapter Fifty-Eight: A Family of Four (Part One)
Su Nanxing let out a sigh. “I really shouldn’t have made any plans to begin with!”
The Seventh Prince chimed in, “It wasn’t a meaningless death; at least it helped us deal with the Imperial Dragon Guards.”
Speaking of the Imperial Dragon Guards, Tao Ming couldn’t help but glance sidelong at the person who gave her an uneasy feeling. His cheekbones were sharp, his face gaunt, and though his eyes seemed lifeless, a single glance from him felt like a cold blade sweeping past. Clearly, this was Long Lin One.
Puzzled, Tao Ming turned to the Seventh Prince and asked, “Weren’t you and my fifth uncle supposed to kill him?”
Long Lin One replied, “I am a spy the Qin family planted in the palace.”
His voice was like a spoon scraping a stainless-steel lunchbox, making Tao Ming shudder involuntarily.
Qin Sihao looked somewhat embarrassed. “I only just found out myself.”
“Do you have some kind of secret code or signal? Aren’t you afraid of mistaking each other’s identity?”
Long Lin One answered, “Of course we do.” Then he added, “With the Imperial Dragon Guards wiped out, we’ll need to plan carefully. The Heavenly Emperor is not so easily deceived.”
Tao Ming felt uncomfortable at the sound of Long Lin One’s voice, and just at that moment her stomach rumbled twice. She seized the opportunity to excuse herself, “You all go ahead with your planning, I’m going to get something to eat.”
The Seventh Prince chuckled lightly. “Find a room and get some rest, you don’t need to worry about the rest.”
Tao Ming responded with a simple “Mm” and got up to leave, with Su Nanxing naturally rising to go as well.
The Seventh Prince called after him, “You’re leaving too?”
Su Nanxing smiled. “If I get involved, your plans are sure to fail.”
The Seventh Prince waved him away. “Off you go.”
Seeing all the familiar faces leave, Feng Ying figured there was no reason to stick around and followed them out.
Tao Ming went up to the second floor and pushed open a door at random. The room inside was well-furnished and spotless.
Su Nanxing gestured for Feng Ying to close the door, then whispered, “Wife, this is my best buddy, his name is Feng Ying.”
Only then did Tao Ming realize that the man exuding an icy chill like a perpetual glacier was named Feng Ying.
Feng Ying was still puzzling over what “best buddy” meant when Tao Ming greeted him, “Hello. It must be tough being friends with someone so unreliable.”
Feng Ying nodded without thinking, then, seeing Su Nanxing’s darkening face, quickly shook his head.
Tao Ming asked in surprise, “Are you mute by any chance?”
She hadn’t heard him speak a word, after all.
Feng Ying responded crisply, “No.”
Su Nanxing smoothed things over. “He’s just not familiar with you yet. You’ll see later.”
He continued, “Feng Ying, grab something to eat, then hurry back to the Su family and tell my father that the Saintess is Ruanruan.”
Feng Ying nodded, turned, and left, closing the door behind him.
Now that they were alone, Su Nanxing swept Tao Ming up in his arms and strode toward the bed. Tao Ming pinched him and cried out, “Ruanruan! Ruanruan!”
Su Nanxing paused, setting Tao Ming down. “I forgot about the little ones.”
Tao Ming brought out the two children from the spatial artifact. At the sight of Su Nanxing, Ruanruan squealed, “Daddy!”
Tao Ming marveled inwardly—it’s been over a year, and she still recognizes him at a glance?
Su Nanxing eagerly scooped Ruanruan up and smothered her with kisses. Ruanruan wriggled away, protesting, “Daddy, your beard is scratchy!”
Su Nanxing teased, “It’s not just scratchy—I aimed it right at you!” Then he tickled her a few times.
“Ha ha ha ha, Daddy, stop tickling me!”
Su Nanxing settled Ruanruan on his lap. “Did you miss Daddy?”
“I did! Mommy said you went to work. Why did it take you so long to come back?”
“Daddy won’t ever leave little Ruanruan again, okay?”
“Okay! Daddy, I want a giant golden surprise egg, can I have one?”
“Of course.”
“Then buy one for Nuonuo, too, okay?”
Only then did Su Nanxing remember seeing another little girl earlier. He turned to look—the girl was almost identical to Ruanruan!
“And who is this?”
Tao Ming, cradling Nuonuo, grinned mischievously. “She’s the child I had with someone else.”
Before Su Nanxing could react, Ruanruan shouted, “Mommy’s lying!”
Tao Ming thought to herself: This daughter is hopeless—maybe I should just toss her in the trash someday!
She quietly asked, “Do you have anything that can prevent eavesdropping?”
Su Nanxing made a series of gestures, summoning a white light ring that enveloped the room.
Tao Ming looked down at Nuonuo in her arms and spoke, “This is the Sacred Beast, White Tiger.”
Su Nanxing was visibly shocked. “How can that be?”
“Why not?”
Su Nanxing set Ruanruan on the bed and took Nuonuo, examining her closely. “Sacred beasts rarely take human form, and even if they do, it takes at least a hundred years. Besides, as far as I know, on the rare occasions it’s happened, the human form looked nothing like its master.”
Tao Ming shrugged helplessly. “Well, this is how things are now. We’ll just have to go with it.”
Su Nanxing patted Nuonuo’s head. “What’s your name?”
Nuonuo replied, barely above a whisper, “I’m Nuonuo.”
Tao Ming gestured in the air, “Su Nuo—Ruanruan’s little sister.”
Su Nanxing’s eyes sparkled. “Wife, you just can’t let me go, can you?”
Tao Ming shot him a glare. “Watch your mouth, or you’ll set a bad example for Ruanruan.”
Ruanruan giggled and said, “I didn’t hear a thing.”
Tao Ming pulled out a piece of cake to stuff into Ruanruan’s mouth. “I’m starving. Let’s eat something first. Nuonuo, what would you like?”
Nuonuo wriggled out of Su Nanxing’s arms and crawled over to sit next to Ruanruan. “The same as Ruanruan.”
Tao Ming handed Nuonuo a piece of cake and then asked Su Nanxing, “What about you?”
“I want to eat a meal cooked by my wife!”
Ruanruan chimed in, “Me too! Mommy hasn’t cooked in ages.”
Tao Ming handed Su Nanxing a piece of bread and tried to placate them. “When Mommy has time, I’ll cook for you both, okay?”
“Alright then.”
The two children huddled together, whispering to each other, while Su Nanxing pulled Tao Ming to sit off to the side. “How did Ruanruan become the Saintess?”
Tao Ming recounted the events in brief.
Su Nanxing was deeply remorseful. “Wife, I’m sorry. I never thought you’d get caught up in all this. I always thought you were just an ordinary Earthling.”
Tao Ming felt like teasing him. “I never expected it either! Imagine—I actually married an alien.”
She paused, then added, “By the way, we’re already divorced, so don’t sit so close to me!”
Su Nanxing immediately pressed closer. “Wife, I was tricked by my mother!”
“How did you even end up going to Earth?” Tao Ming was genuinely curious.
If Su Nanxing had a tail, it’d be wagging in the air by now. “The Su family has always specialized in formations. Like me, for instance—maybe my raw strength isn’t the best, but with arrays to make up for it, hardly anyone can beat me.”
He took out their wedding ring. “Wife, you just handed over something so important without a second thought.”
Tao Ming smiled. “I was planning to return it to you anyway. Now’s as good a time as any.”
Su Nanxing took her hand and slipped the ring onto her left ring finger. “Wife, let me explain.”
Tao Ming kept up her teasing. “Right now I should say, ‘I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening!’”
Su Nanxing ignored her protest. “When we got our marriage certificate, it was like forming a contract. At some point, my mother secretly placed a restriction on me. When Ruanruan was born, I discovered that unless I either broke the contract with you or brought you both to see her, you would die.”
Tao Ming ground her teeth. What kind of mother is this?
“My mother always wanted me to marry and have children, so I can understand why she did it. But she didn’t realize you weren’t from Weishui.”
“Of course I couldn’t take you both back to Weishui to see her. I was fretting over it, when she sent word tricking me into believing my father was on his deathbed. My father always does as she says, so they teamed up to deceive me.”
“I had no choice but to break the contract with you and rush back to see my father one last time. I planned to sneak back to find you both after he died.”
Tao Ming rolled her eyes. “Honestly, you should eat more walnuts to boost your brainpower.”