"Tsk, this Wen Xia isn't completely brain dead after all ba." Jia Hyson mildly comments as he's swinging back and forth in a little bamboo cage stuffed with soft fur.
He was being carried through the night by one of the Wen family's most trained and trusted guards, feeling the night wind against his face as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop, experiencing for the first time the amazingness of fictional ancient qigong* and the light footwork skills.
*Qi as in qi energy/life force energy- if you don't know what that is then get out you heathens cuz clearly you haven't been reading much Chinese translated novels and like, given this story is talking about tropes, like, wtf are you even doing here lol- and gong means more or less Kung fu that's cultivated through continuous training.
In fictional stories with ancient setting, people can use qigong to enhance their body strength, health, defense - which can also be effective to a lesser extent in reality- but also is used to allow the user to have martial arts so good it borders on supernatural (depending on the story). Essentially it's slightly more realistic than wuxia but less than in reality.
Jia Hyson had to admit, he underestimated Wen Xia's intelligence. Maybe it was she had cooled down somewhat after leaving the scene, but from the quality of the guards it seems she had gone and told someone higher up in the family about the little dragon, allowing her to control some of the family's personal guards.
The guards then snuck into the inn, threw out a light sleeping gas into the corridors outside their rooms and went about looking for Jia Hyson. Unfortunately Jia Hyson was sleeping next to the most sensitive super assasin/spy/doctor Tang Muxin and even more unfortunately he was specifically sleeping.... underneath the super protective rooster Da Gong.
The Wen guards who saw a shiny golden tail under a giant black rooster: '...' What the fuck is this??
The guards looked at each other helplessly. The sleeping gas they used is pretty good but given the order was deemed to be low risk since they were just stealing from some commoners, they didn't bring out their most potent batch or even second or third most potent. These sort of things were expensive and limited to get.
So even though the sleeping gas will make it harder to wake up and notice something off, it's not impossible to resist it given enough external stimulus. If they moved the rooster and the rooster woke up in fright and crowed right next to the lady's ear.... forget being drugged even a dead man might wake up after that ah.
However the other guards who checked the other rooms came out empty. It seems this so-called dragon the young Miss Wen Xia wanted to take was the owner of the golden tail underneath the rooster.
The Wen Guards surrounding the sleeping rooster: '....'
....it was really hard to be a guard these days la. _(:3」∠)_
The leader of the group looked at the youngest guard, a young girl called Little Fifteen since she was the fifteenth personal guard of the current generation who was born with deft hands and nimble fingers making her perfect for the job. A few other guards also nudged at Little Fifteen with looks filled with expectation.
Little Fifteen: '.....'
She had done a lot of things for the Wen family, mainly theft and lock picking, but she really didn't know how to hold a chicken without waking them, much less this giant black rooster with her small hands.
Circling her inner qi and controlling her breath, Little Fifteen squatted down and lightly held the sides of bird, making sure to place her hands underneath the wings since she wasn't sure if they would be very sensitive. Finally, she used her knees to help her carry the weight of the surprisingly quite muscular bird up and lift the rooster from the ground like some sort of heavy ceremonial bowl.
The leader of the guards knelt down, ready to snatch the little dragon in this moment but immediately stiffened.
Curious, the other guards tilted their heads, trying to see what exactly made their usually unflappable leader freeze. Then they all froze in disbelief.
The sight they saw… was so cute!
Too cute!
Wen family Guards: Kyaaaaaaaaa~! (」,,,> ロ <,,)」♡ ♡
Jia Hyson as a dragon, was not actually affected by the gas, so he had already started to wake up the moment the warmth of Da Gong left his body. He sleepily blinked as he lifted his head up from the tight spiral he had curled himself into, his large golden eyes faintly glowing and bright, like someone had crushed the stars in the sky and scattered it into his irises. His golden scales and iridescent hair sparkled despite the faint moonlight as if not even the darkness of the night could tarnish and dim the shine of each delicate scale and hair.
If his appearance alone wasn't enough, there were also three baby mice cuddled against him! Sure they were wearing weird golden clothing but the dress up only increased the cute points! This is a foul! Unfair!
The leader of the guards, Guard Yi was the fastest to get over the sudden attack of meng and quickly snatched the still waking dragon. He pulled out a bamboo cage lined with soft fur that was strapped to his back and placed the struggling dragon reverently into the cage. Jia Hyson half-heartedly tried to frantically escape and squeal for help.
Little Fifteen who was still quite tender, softened almost immediately as she heard the heartbreaking cries coming from the cage. However seeing the stern look of her leader she didn't say anything. As guards personally raised by the Wen family they were instilled with blind loyalty toward the Wen family. Even if they were told to kill a baby they had to do so with no questions asked.
Still, the little dragon was so cute even the hardened hearts of the guards that had been unprepared were moved. They were brought up with the expectation that all dragons were fierce and majestic creatures. No one told them they could sell meng so effectively!
With a sigh, Little Fifteen forced herself to turn away from the cute baby dragon only to meet the fierce silver-eyed glare of a very, very angry looking rooster.
Da Gong: "Cluck. Cluck. Motherfuck." (╬ ⓪⊝⓪)
Little Fifteen: "…"
Before she could even react Da Gong crowed loudly, spreading his wings and flapped wildly, startling her into loosening her grip. Da Gong 'cock a doodle doo'-ed, his voice piercing the ears of everyone nearby. Maybe because he was bigger than most roosters, his cry also seemed to be even more domineering and frightening to hear. More like a battle cry than a rooster call.
Tang Muxin immediately woke up. She didn't even need to stop and assess the situation before she took out a knife from under her pillow and threw it at the nearest black figure making them grunt in surprised pain. Not wasting any time she pulls out two more knives from under her pillow and charges out to fight these unfamiliar enemies.
Tang Muxin's fighting ability has improved a lot since she came here and has become more familiar with her new body. But the body was still naturally soft, unfit and lacking in muscles. It would take more than a few months on the road to get to her top tier super assassin-spy caliber even with her super doctor skills supporting her as well. Compared to these personal guards whose body and mind were harshly trained since they were young, she was still a little lacking. While she could fight off one or two with some difficulty, there were numbers on their side as well as the sleeping gas which affected her reaction speed.
Da Gong, this OP rooster was not fairing any better. No matter what he was still a bird and the dosage of sleeping gas is more effective for him. After the initial adrenaline started to wear off, his movement became naturally sluggish. To be honest, the guards were truly shocked to see the bird had lasted this long. It should be known even with this potency, the guard dogs that have been trained by them may not even last half as long as this rooster.
Somewhere in the middle of the heated battle, Ye Cheng and Meng Meng had burst in to try help but even then it was ultimately a fruitless effort and the guards managed to escape with Jia Hyson in tow.
For the first time since Tang Muxin's transmigration, she had tasted a complete defeat.
...
The Wen household was quite bright and lively from a distance. Jia Hyson was a bit suprised. It couldn't be that Wen Xia told everyone about her discovery could it? Even then, how can they be so brainless as to all accept it?
However as they reached the entrance Jia Hyson instantly retracted his previous doubts. There were some sneering women, both young and old with similar features to each other with their arms folded and expressions mocking.
"I can't wait to see what that dumb girl fished up," one of the woman snickers.
"Saying she saw a dragon, and even asking for some of our personal guards from grandfather, pft, if this doesn't cast her out from favour nothing will."
Jia Hyson clicked his tongue. It seems that the concubines who married in and don't hold the same traditions and uniquely obsessive beliefs about dragons didn't believe Wen Xia and purposely made a big fuss to 'help' the girl. Very good. The bigger the commotion, the more face Wen Xia would lose in the family.
It made sense. Wen Xia was fairly annoying and super pompous. Quite like the original story's Tang Muxin actually. It wasn't strange that the concubines and their daughters who were probably bullied by her would want to find ways to retaliate. Jia Hyson would've probably done the same thing in their shoes to be honest.
Unfortunately for them ah, the dragon was 100% real.
The Wen family guards had grown up in the family and were more inclined to those that carried Wen blood than the people who married in. Not to mention, these concubines weren't favored and their daughters were generally just as bad as Wen Xia.
Luckily the Wen family had two sons that were well-educated and brought up to understand how to conduct themselves without looking like a fool. If not the Wen family really would be on the decline.
Ignoring the coquettish women who were trying to grab their attention and check the rumored dragon for themselves, the guards walked into the main residence. It seemed all of the Wen family in the surrounding area had come to watch, some interested, some excited and some mocking and waiting to see a good joke.
Jia Hyson who had cleverly wrapped himself in the fur carpeting like a little dragon furritto, poked his snout out and blinks lazily. He didn't expect the faceslapping he will be able to help out with was not for Tang Muxin but Tang Muxin's cannonfodder.
Tsk, tsk, it's not really what he wanted but it's also not a bad development to be honest.
The Tang family could not compare to the Wen family's riches. Even though Jia Hyson had to hide in order to do a better a dramatic reveal he could still see how rich these people were. As a dragon living on the road, he couldn't help but guzzle vinegar. Fucking rich people. Peh.
Bebe: 'You're double standards are showing host.'
Jia Hyson: 'Look, until I become rich again, I'm going to resent not being rich. Pretty much everyone does it on some level ah.'
However thinking about how these rich guys were obsessed with dragons and feeling the silky soft fur around his scaly body, Jia Hyson felt that his days of being a poor dragon may be finally coming to an end. He quietly 'mrp'ed in satisfaction.
Given their souls bond, Tang Muxin and him were connected by fate and will reunite eventually. And there wasn't exactly much he himself could do so he might as well relax and enjoy himself while he waits.
The only thing that he couldn't dislodge was the faint guilt and unease of not having Da Gong by his side.
He snuggles into the white fur aggressively. Closing his eyes and pretending it was black feathers instead.
Bebe: '….' What to do, Bebe finds it's host a little cute right now.
The nap Jia Hyson took was longer than expected. It seemed many people were interested in blocking the way for the guards and tried to pry into the little bamboo cage. Not to mention, the masters of the house had been called off an hour ago for some administration emergency or so the event had to be pushed back.
Bebe who didn't need to sleep was casually playing the popular game among systems, Alien Virus where a random number of systems are randomly assigned as a virus and they must try destroy the other system players before they get found out. Looking at the drama it sighed and felt very sorry for these poor guards who were practically reduced to huddling around the bamboo cage protectively like a bunch of penguins defending their egg against bloodthirsty predators.
'Aiyah, it's hard being a guard.' Bebe comments.
The funniest system ever Lolol: [A guard system? Didn't you say you were a basic system in the last round?]
System 666 is looking for love: [Bebe did. It also has no alibi this time.]
Baby Bebe: [No, wait Bebe was distracted and didn't do anything! Bebe isn't the virus!]
The funniest system ever Lolol: [Sounds super sus.]
Waiting for my promotion 145: [+1]
System DanDan doesn't like Dandan noodles: [+2]
ShockingtheworldasaFighterPlane8261: [+3 sorry Bebe, but everyone else checks out for now]
Waiting for my promotion 145: [Fuck me 8261, do you have to keep bragging about being a fighter plane? It was one world!]
ShockingtheworldasaFighterPlaneandFuckingover145_8261: [Heh. You're just sad because you got demoted back to a Minor Supporting Character system. That's what you get for betting on bad hosts all the time.]
Waiting for my promotion 145: [I just think maybe I can change them with my love and dedication!]
The funniest system ever Lolol: [lolololol you certainly changed them into perverts who want to fuck you ah.]
Baby Bebe: [+1]
System DanDan doesn't like Dandan noodles: [Honestly, you would have kept your job if you just dated them or something. At the very least they wouldn't have gone crazy and stole enough system and heavenly energy through various means to become Worldbreakers in order to try find a way to be with you forever and also kill off any of your other hosts as well.]
Baby Bebe: [Or you know.... choose a less weird host.]
Waiting for my promotion 145: [Tsk you should talk Bebe. I've seen your posts.]
Baby Bebe: [That's different! I didn't get to vet my host this time! The overseer did it because I'm new to the job! They promised me that my host fit all the requirements of a Beta host and would be top tier quality!!!]
Waiting for my promotion 145: [Ugh I want a specialized job too, my pay is so low now, boo.]
ShockingtheworldasaFighterPlaneandFuckingover145_8261: [Thats because 76% of the hosts you raised became Worldbreakers...]
Waiting for my promotion 145: [Well they didn't kill any systems!]
Baby Bebe: [Which is why you're still able to work with hosts ah.]
Waiting for my promotion 145: [QAQ Maybe I should go into R&D or marketing. I'm still young. I'm only 241 years old. Bebe, you'll help me right? You have connections there.]
Baby Bebe: [Hahaha hell no. We were in the same general Logic class, Bebe has seen your grades. Unless Bebe slept with the head of R&D there is no way Bebe would be able to get you through the backdoor.]
The funniest system ever Lolol: [Wait… didn't you sleep with Overl-]
[The funniest system ever Lolol has been muted]
[The funniest system ever Lolol has been unmuted]
The funniest system ever Lolol: [Rude.]
System 666 is looking for love: [Guys, times running out. We're voting for Bebe right?]
The funniest system ever Lolol: [Ya]
Waiting for my promotion 145: [+1]
ShockingtheworldasaFighterPlaneandFuckingover145_8261: [Totally]
System DanDan doesn't like Dandan noodles: [Let's do this]
Baby Bebe: [Guys, no, come on QAQ]
[Baby Bebe has been deleted... Baby Bebe was not a virus.]
Bebe curses before switching to ghost mode and curses again. It turns out System 8261 and System 145 were the viruses. No wonder, they suddenly started bickering. It turned out they were distracting everyone so that way only Bebe would be the only suspect present in everyone's minds when time runs out!
How insidious!
"The old master and master has arrived!" A young male servant came into the main hall. Seeing everyone's eyes on him, he trembles a little but keeps his back straight. "The first young master has been intercepted by his fiancee so he will be unable to make it and the second young master will arrive soon. Master has asked for Guard Yi to bring him the dragon to the study to personally confirm the presence of the dragon with his father."
The people in the room held looks of great dissatisfaction at the announcement. Especially the concubines and their less favoured offspring. If they didn't get to see the dragon with their own eyes then there's a chance that Wen Xiao can still be protected when the fake dragon is revealed by spouting some lies about how the dragon flew away or some nonsense.
Wen Geming, the old man of the Wen family only produced one son with his childhood sweetheart, Wen Xing, the current head of the family. Generally even though Wen Geming is old, he should still be considered the head of the family however he loved his son very much and gave him all the family power a year after his wife died, happy to sit in the background to help Wen Xing out but not stifle him.
Both this father and son were very intelligent, and sly like foxes but not too ambitious so the Wen family maintained a high status but not too high they would easily be pushed out as a target during any large conflicts. While many family members were not satisfied with the current status quo, they were only branch members that unfortunately was not able to produce anyone with as much talent and skill as Wen Xing. Therefore they did not have the authority or ability to complain about Wen Xing and Wen Geming's choice of personally inspecting the dragon up close first even though the pair were clearly not giving their family members any face and were openly favouring Wen Xia.
It had to be said, Wen Xia was a brash idiot like the original Tang Muxin but unlike her, she at least knew how to use her position as a child of the main wife and curry favour well to be able to win the hearts of her father and grandfather. Her brothers were also quite indulgent toward her but they were much more strict and nagging so Wen Xia preferred her father and grandfather more.
Guard Yi showed a faintly relieved expression and hastily obeyed. He didn't like dealing with these blood sucking leeches of the Wen family since as a guard, even a respected one in the family, he could neither talk openly against them much less hit them like he would have wanted.
As he walked toward the study, Bebe quickly woke Jia Hyson up and filled him in.
Jia Hyson listens and frowns. It seems he'd miscalculated Wen Xian's shrewdness and the love the head of the Wen family has for her to protect her like this. He had wanted a big reveal in front of all the cheap family members to best slap their faces but he supposes this was okay as well. He felt a little helpless. It was really hard to manipulate things given his identity.
Guard Yi knocks on presumably the study door.
"Come in," A deep slightly rough voice commands. Jia Hyson's ears perk up at the sound. Mature and elegant. It was… quite nice to listen to ah.
Bebe: '…' 눈_눈
The study of Wen Xing's was surprisingly quite ostentatious.
Everything seemed to have a faint shine of gold in it and every decoration had some element of it. There were also various symbols of fortune and various scale patterns around the room. It was a not so subtle yet not super tacky show of worship for the golden dragon the Wen family has adored for so long.
In fact if it wasn't that the five clawed dragons were reserved for the emperor and four clawed dragons were reserved for the princes and certain high noble families, Jia Hyson was sure that this room would have been much more blatant and filled with dragon posters and motifs.
Wen Xing and Wen Geming were both seated by the desk. The relationship between the two were very close, as both father and son shared similar views and intellect. If there was one thing they disagreed on it would have to be in the topic of marriage since Wen Geming only brought his sweetheart into his household while Wen Xing was a typical man of the era and had five concubines.
Fortunately for Wen Xia who was useless and arrogant, her father still had the opinion that children from the main wife were worth more than a concubines'. It could be said that even though he didn't have the same level of affection as Wen Geming had for his wife, he still valued his own wife above the other women he brought in which is considered pretty upstanding given the time period.
At the very least there wasn't any of that drama of the concubine overthrowing the main wife and her children bullshit like in the original Tang Muxin's family.
Wen Xing was not a very handsome man but his temperament that is honed as a good leader of the Wen family helped add twenty points of attractiveness to his plain face. Wen Geming however, despite being in his sixties, was much more striking. It was clear he had been a looker back in the days and those good looks had not completely faded over time.
While Jia Hyson couldn't physically be sexually aroused by them he silently wolf whistled. Tch if he was human and they were available he would have flirted with them by now. This father and son were very much in his strike zone ah.
Bebe: 'Your strike zone is so wide that it's longer than the distance between the earth and the fucking sun.'
Seeing his little golden head peeking out of the fur blanket in the cage, Wen Xing and Wen Geming were stunned.
Jia Hyson was not shy and slithered out of the fur, showing off his dragon appearance. His upper body was straightened upwards and his lower half half circled the cage, posing like a snake ready to attack, eyes vigilantly staring at the two men.
The men had long left their seats, creeping closer with wide, bright eyes as they stared at the baby dragon. If they were about a few decades younger and weren't in ancient style clothes, Jia Hyson could easily imagine them as excited little boys pressing their faces against the glass as they see a real life tiger for the first time at the zoo.
"It's so beautiful!" Wen Geming exclaims in his excitement only to get shushed by his son.
"Don't scare it ah," Wen Xing whispers like Jia Hyson couldn't hear the suppressed delight and childish exhilaration in his voice. "Ah, ah, look at how it stands so tall and upright as it sways!"
"En, it seems very healthy."
"Smaller than I expected though."
"It's okay, with our help we'll help it grow nice and big ah!"
Second Young Master who had just arrived: '…'
Guard Yi had been very careful in holding the bamboo cage with both hands, putting it closer down to his stomach in order to better support it and minimise the amount of jostling and discomfort for the baby dragon. The moment he arrived into the study he didn't even get time to speak before the baby dragon woke up and attracted his masters' attentions. The masters were so enthralled they were practically kneeling in front of him, both fighting to get a closer look at the dragon and trying to coax the cute little thing closer by wriggling their fingers at it.
Second young master Wen Gen had been a little caught up with some documents but in order to support his sister and to do his best to brush up his father and grandfather's impression of him he had done his best to finish up quickly and join them. He had even contacted his older brother's annoying fiancé to distract him. With this in mind he opened the door to the study only to be greeted with such a spicy scene.
The leader of the Wen family's loyal personal guards Guard Yi stood with his back toward him…
His father and grandfather kneeling at his feet, their hands reaching up toward what looked like Guard Yi's crotch…
And then the dialogue….
"It's so beautiful!"
"Don't scare it ah,"
"Ah, ah, look at how it stands so tall and upright as it sways!"
"En, it seems very healthy."
"Smaller than I expected though."
"It's okay, with our help we'll help it grow nice and big ah!"
Second young master Wen Gen: '...…..'
Even though he was fit, healthy and in the prime of his life, second young master Wen Gen really felt like he was having a stroke.