Two weeks later, right as the group were preparing to officially open their shop Dragon's Hoard, a middle aged man entered the Fairy Garden Inn.
Eunuch Shi who was helping the widow who owned the inn man the lobby, was dressed up very flamboyantly and looking oddly ageless and mysterious, courtesy of the new make up products Pan Shuchun had forced upon his face.
Eunuch Shi wasn't very enthusiastic but about it but he did enjoy the herbal fragrance of the perfume they gave him. Not only did it completely mask his *ahem* smell, it was not sickly and overpoweringly sweet like his old perfumes. Even though he was used to it, he couldn't deny that sometimes he wanted to vomit from nausea every time he had reapply the flowery perfume to himself. This herbal one was much more refreshing to his senses, minty and fresh.
It had only been a few weeks but Eunuch Shi felt nothing but good feelings toward Tang Muxin's group. The perfume alone was enough to make him swear allegiance to them, but now it was really the cherry on top.
He had learnt that Tang Muxin was responsible for saving his life. Not only that, her dragon had been so moved by his past virtues that the creature even donated some of his blessed saliva during his surgery resulting him recovering with fantastical swiftness.
Jia Hyson whose been unwillingly squeezed dry by Tang Muxin during the surgery: …Heh. Sure. Whatever.
They even gave him a beautiful jade stone to help facilitate his healing and improve his weak health. Not only was it imperial jade, it was also a pure legendary warm jade*, not only having a warm lustre but even warm to hold, giving him a comfortable feeling when he holds it. He heard from them that it was because Jin Bao had personally blessed it.
*jade obviously is cold to touch but it is believed that jade is a living mineral. Some think the jade absorbs heat and oil from its wearer and develops a warm luster, though in some novels they also describe warm jade as a jade with it's own heat- however from my research I don't think that's real? Then again neither are dragons so we'll go with it :3
Jia Hyson whose shit had been given to Eunuch Shi as an experiment to see if it improves his health: ….Yeah, blessed it out of my ass.
So even though he had ordered the guards to help the best they can, Eunuch Shi in good conscious, could not sit still. Therefore he volunteered to help with the Fairy Garden Inn and some basic administrative work. After spending time with everyone, he very much enjoyed their personalities and felt quite relaxed.
The middle of the day was not a busy time for the inn so Eunuch Shi was sighing as he thought of Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong.
Tsk, tsk, such a lovely, sweet young man who also liked animals, if he was twenty, no, even ten years younger Eunuch Shi would have really seriously considered pursuing the man.
Eunuchs were granted marriages, and even though it was not common it was also not an impossible thing either. Some women would even try actively seduce the higher ranking eunuchs as they are better paid and hold more power than the men in the same class as them. After all, in everyone's eyes, any eunuch would be lucky to have a person interested in him, and he couldn't perform his duties as a man so no matter what the woman would be the ones trapped and pitied.
However some women may see the opposite. A man with power and money, who she didn't have to serve daily, who she won't be pressured into having children with, and who would certainly not cheat on her with- isn't that really good? Even if they cannot have children, they can help support their family and their children! They can ask to adopt one of the children in their paternal or maternal homes!
Of course there were also some ladies that were too ambitious and there are tragic stories about them using the eunuchs to rise up in status and try attract some nobleman's eyes but that's a whole different thing.
Homosexuality also wasn't a large deal. Well, that's not correct. It wasn't a large deal for the rich who had many concubines and wives anyway. To them, what was the novel taste of a handsome pretty boy except a new experience? As long as you keep it under wraps nobody cared.
Eunuch Shi being homosexual would barely cause any waves. He didn't have any parents to be filial to, he wasn't actually a noble, he had a large backer and he had no obligated duty to produce offspring. This coupled with his reputation meant no one would really say anything except for some snide comments to his back. If anything he may even receive some young men as bribes or something to try curry favour with himself.
In short, if he really went to pursue anyone, there wouldn't be many who would stop it unless it directly affected their interests. So despite being an eunuch he was actually quite popular, even now. After all, the accumulated treasures he now had was not few.
Unfortunately he never found anyone who could make his heart skip a beat until now. It was such a shame really.
The worst part in his opinion wasn't that Ye Cheng, such a lovely man was taken. After all, he, himself was in his fifties, and had been in relatively poor health for a long time. Eunuch Shi had no intention on forcing any feelings on a young man with so much life ahead of him. He was very content to just enjoy these feelings and experience the bittersweet feeling of a first crush. But he was deeply unreconciled with the person Ye Cheng had lost his heart too.
Yan Huizhong. The eighth prince.
Eunuch Shi massaged his forehead, annoyed just thinking about it. As the empress' favoured eunuch he was very familiar with the harem politics and the situation with the princes. Though the empress had no children, that didn't mean they weren't part of the fight for the throne. After all, the choice of who became the crown prince will of course affect the empress and her standing no matter what.
Yan Huizhong was one of the most eligible in their eyes. A dark horse with great power should he be cultivated well. However his personality was gloomy and had a deep and obvious desire to establish that he belonged in the palace making him easily manipulatable. Eunuch Shi and the empress had tried to dig him up, after all he had no mother to back him making him almost perfect despite his personality flaws, but unfortunately the crown prince got him first.
The crown prince and his mother was the biggest thorn in the empress' side.
Therefore since then neither she nor Eunuch Shi, liked the eighth prince who boosted the crown prince's faction greatly with his presence. As the faction who have received more than a few blows thanks to the eighth prince's intelligent and underhanded schemes, Eunuch Shi greatly understood what a bastard this guy was.
It didn't matter how pretty the eighth prince's appearance was, or that he somehow became a cripple, Eunuch Shi knew it was his insidious mind and innate sadism that one must look out for. Eunuch Shi tsk-ed again. If it wasn't clear to this old eunuch that Yan Huizhong seemed to really be genuine toward Ye Cheng, he would have been sorely tempted to do something.
He wouldn't do anything drastic of course. Yan Huizhong was also aware of who he was and still let him stay, and it was obvious the injury to the prince's legs was probably due to some conspiracy with the crown prince. Therefore with the mindset of an enemy of an enemy must be a friend, Eunuch Shi was reluctant to burn this newly made bridge they had.
Still. Seeing Ye Cheng with Yan Huizhong was really like seeing a flower in cow dung. Peh.
While idly thinking about small petty ways to annoy the eighth prince while not actually crossing any lines, the little wind chimes by the entrance door makes a delicate tinkling sound. Eunuch Shi immediately puts away his grumblings and looks toward the entrance with a faint, mysterious smile that produced the most handsome effect for his face and current make up style, which he had been forced to practice for far more hours than he would have liked.
"Welcome, welcome, weary traveller to the- *cough*" Eunuch Shi splutters as the familiar face of the emperor walks toward him, glancing around in curiosity.
"You've been picked up by some interesting people ah," The emperor glances at the fantastical style of the lobby before peering with bemused interest at the eunuch's make up. "Huh, you look pretty good like this. Maybe I should make all the eunuchs wear this sort of thing. Maybe they'll be less uptight and annoying to look at."
"Y-your majesty," Eunuch Shi quickly ran around the counter and began to kneel only to be stopped by the emperor.
"Tsk, oh Eunuch Shi don't be like that," The emperor sighs, "obviously zhen* came incognito here or else there would have been the usual parade of guards around."
*Zhen is how the emperor refers to himself. Only the emperor can refer himself as thus, and it roughly means 'we' as in when he speaks he also speaks for the country.
"Of course your majesty," Eunuch Shi laughs with slight embarrassment, "Sorry, I was too excited."
The emperor pats the older eunuch on the head, "Zhen is aware, Meifeng sends her regards. She misses you dearly."
The last part was said with some strain however it was unnoticed by Eunuch Shi who was overcome with emotion the moment the emperor mentioned the empress.
"That's great!" Eunuch Shi immediately spilled brightly before showing an expression of worry, "How is she? Is she eating well? She complained about being chilly in the evenings. I asked the chefs to make sure she drinks some warm, sweet ginger-barley soup, do you know if she's taking it? Aiyah, we also planned to watch the full moon and have a picnic together if the weather was good. I hope she didn't mind."
Eunuch Shi sighs, "No, I'm worrying too much. Meifeng is a grown woman now and won't be bothered by us missing our monthly night picnic under the stars, or doing work side by side, or trying to learn to make meals and sew together in the evenings…"
The emperor's eyes twitched violently. Oi, why does it feel like he's just the messenger between two star crossed lovers here? How come he feels like he's just eaten dogfood?
Even though he liked Eunuch Shi as a person and considers him a good friend after all these years… he still couldn't help but want to strangle him every time they talk about his wife.
He recalls the recent two weeks of cold treatment and he grinds his teeth.
Emperor: This motherfucking lightbulb. Even when he's gone he shines bright.
Eunuch Shi: Empress~ I miss you~
Empress Meifeng, somewhere: I hope Eunuch Shi comes back soon~
Emperor: ಠ_ಠ
Emperor: ಥ_ಥ
After some idle chit chat, Eunuch Shi brings up his observations and thoughts about Tang Muxin and the group. Even though he owes them, his heart and loyalty in the end is to the empress and emperor.
Fortunately everyone was aware of this and made sure Eunuch Shi wasn't given access to any confidential things such as whatever Yan Huizhong and Duan Mengyao were doing. Eunuch Shi on his part, did not actively look for secrets either. It was a silent tacit understanding of boundaries and trust.
The emperor fortunately was quite mild, and was neither overly ambitious or power-hungry during his reign, having a ruling that was neither full of ups or downs. He had no intention of using the group for any big plans to secure his seat on the throne or anything. He was mainly here to meet the dragon, arrange a formal official meeting with the dragon and it's saintess in order for him to save face as an emperor, and see if Eunuch Shi was okay.
However just because he wasn't ambitious, that didn't mean he wasn't interested in living longer. Hearing about Tang Muxin's medical abilities first hand made the emperor's interest rise from an already high 90% to 130%.
"Even your health has stabilised?" The emperor's hand trembled in excitement for a second. After all, he knew very well that Eunuch Shi's constitution has been weak for a long time now. The empress cared greatly for Eunuch Shi, and the emperor cared greatly for the empress, so the fact Eunuch Shi practically had the entire kingdom's resources and still barely improve really spoke volumes on how bad his health was. It got slowly worse over the years as well, it was the sort of thing where the eunuch could be bedridden for a month if he got a light chill. If this young dragon saintess was capable of helping Eunuch Shi, then there's no doubt she could help himself.
"Not just that," Eunuch Shi boasted happily, smiling brightly. The emperor squints slightly. It wasn't very noticeable but it looked like Eunuch Shi looked a bit younger? His skin was always good thanks to the empress sharing her skincare with him, but the emperor felt like there were less wrinkles than before. "I feel that not only has it stabilized it's improving. My joints don't ache as much, I feel more energetic, and even my appetite has returned! I feel like I'm ten years younger."
Eunuch Shi coughs and in an embarrassed, quiet voice he even confesses, "Even my *ahem* private region has improved a little. The scarring and tightening creams the young ladies gave me have worked wonders and now it is no longer as difficult to look at and endure."
The emperor was surprised, pleasantly so. The wound from castration is old and Eunuch Shi was unfortunate to have a bit of a messy surgery causing there to be some complications in healing. Hearing how the dragon saintess even was helping solve that further convinced the emperor of her abilities. He even felt the saintess was more valuable than the dragon at this point.
A dragon was a dragon. Fierce and powerful. The emperor didn't know the details but he knew that these creatures that he once considered myths were real and that only one was left to his knowledge. In his mind the options were something happened to cause the dragons to die out or they left humans a long time ago to live in a faraway land.
He wanted to meet a dragon sure, but it was like a little boy's great wish to visit Disneyland after someone described it to him. It was a strong desire but compared to meeting a doctor capable of healing what was considered previously as incurable, it was just a whim, incomparable to the responsibility he must hold.
Even if he entered the fight for the throne with rather half-assed intentions, but that didn't mean he would do the same for his ruling. And while he was satisfied with the peace he has done his best to try maintain, the emperor knew that with the recent reports about the farmlands and the grain problems, that peace was reaching an end soon. A miracle doctor isn't as good as an agriculture expert but they may provide some insight to help prepare for the oncoming years.
Also, like, who wanted to be dying ah? It would be great if the dragon saintess could give him a few more healthy years. Maybe long enough for some of his younger sons to grow up and become eligible for the throne. Because let's face it, he could randomly throw a rock at the princes that are currently able to fight for the throne and he cold guarantee he would hit a crazy one.
Seriously. The emperor doesn't know if it's him or his wives, the tutors, the maids, or maybe just something in the water but he's pretty sure his imperial brothers weren't this weird when he was younger. Sure they were vicious backstabbing pieces of shit bastards, but it was the normal kind.
Oh, oh, maybe the dragon saintess has something for his kids!
Princes 1 to 9: …Thanks dad.
In short the emperor, as a man with a serious mysterious illness, a bunch of spicy chicken sons, and a country predicted to go into a really bad rough patch, was very tempted in asking for Tang Muxin's services immediately. It almost overtook his desire to flatter.
Fortunately he was a man who had discipline beaten into him since he was young. He understood that that it was more important to treat the dragon and the saintess well in order to gain better benefits both for himself and the country. It wouldn't do to treat her just like any old doctor and ask for her to diagnose him on the first meeting. It was similar to meeting a singer and asking them to sing a song for you. Very rude.
Of course this sort of attitude is only because Tang Muxin had a golden dragon thigh as a backer, otherwise he wouldn't be so considerate.
Though the emperor didn't voice it, Eunuch Shi didn't keep his high position solely from the empress' favour along and already knew the other's intentions. After some more updating, Eunuch Shi then led the emperor up to Pan Shuchun's private room upstairs where everyone else was present.
The emperor who entered was immediately shocked to see the presence of not only the missing Eighth prince but even Duan Mengyao as well. He glanced at Eunuch Shi who looked away and coughed awkwardly. To be honest the eighth prince and General Duan didn't really interest Eunuch Shi much as people so inevitably he sort of forgot to bring them up.
Eighth Prince and Duan Mengyao: Heh.
Emperor: '….' It seems he needs to have a good talk with his spies ah.
Being an emperor doesn't mean he's omniscient but Yan Huizhong was his own son and Duan Mengyao was a very notable figure in the military. Him not having any information about them in the past few months and then finding they've been in the capital under his nose for at least two weeks minimum really fucks with his paranoia ah.
Of course his shock really couldn't compare to Yan Huizhong and Duan Mengyao's own.
After all they had planned so hard and had been carefully hiding their tracks in order to make a comeback and take revenge. Suddenly when everything was almost in place their respected father and boss respectively bursts in and catches them with their metaphorical pants down. The emotion was really hard to describe.
Jia Hyson was also surprised. He didn't expect this sort of thing at all ah.
'That's the emperor.' Bebe informs him.
'I know ah,' Jia Hyson waves his tail and touches his snout thoughtfully, 'I can more or less sense his blessing, it's pretty strong, much stronger than other people's, including Yan Huizhong's.'
Then again he supposes if Yan Huizhong had inherited a lot of his bloodline's blessing he wouldn't have become a cripple in the first place ah.
The blessing in the imperial family is stronger than most, like the Wen family who were devout followers of dragons could still not compare to the imperial family's blessing. However even if it is stronger than most it still cannot fight against time and has weakened significantly. If given a somewhat accurate description it would be like a waterfall being reduced to a high pressure water sprayer. It's still powerful but not 'able to sustain a country' powerful.
When the blessing was strong people don't notice anything wrong but the weaker it gets the more fickle it can be. That's why the most recent generation of princes have become a little strange and the blessing of success is not evenly distributed either. Yan Huizhong had the worst luck so far so his blessing was probably the weakest, even Duan Mengyao had a stronger blessing when they first met and he wasn't a direct descendant of the imperial family at all! Well… he wasn't officially anyway. The whole bloodline thing gets quite messy when people have harems and you think about all those stories where corrupt princes will go rape whatever beauties catch their interests etc.
Duan Mengyao aside, Jia Hyson hadn't seen another proper imperial till now to compare with Yan Huizhong to confirm the theory till now.
Seeing the emperor there was an undeniable feeling. Like there could be no one else who could be the emperor but him, that sort of feeling.
Seeing the emperor stare at him in shock, Jia Hyson quickly activated [Karmic Insight] and was a little dazzled. The aura wasn't pure gold, Jia Hyson has never seen a pure gold aura before but he assumes only top tier winners in life with good hearts could managed to get that sort of thing. Like pure white lotus protagonists in a sweet romance story.
The emperor's aura overall base color was a faint blue, the faint coloration showing his health wasn't very good at all, but the edges of the aura was outlined in gold and it was like someone threw a large heaping of gold glitter into his aura.
If a child put a few drops of blue food dye in a white bucket filled with water, and then an entire bottle of gold glitter into the bucket as well before mixing it, that's probably more or less what Jia Hyson was seeing now. It was unexpectedly very childish the more you look at it.
Jia Hyson glances at Yan Huizhong. Since he had been around himself, this super cute lucky dragon, for so long his blessing was stronger than before. But unlike the emperor's blessing which manifested as a glitter effect, Yan Huizhong's was merely a background shimmer. His original vicious blood red aura had become a mix of red and dark blue, with the majority of the aura being a deep purple with the two former colors bleeding out randomly. It suggested he was at a very dramatic transition in his life where he would face many crossroads ahead.
If one could describe the emperor's blessing as the art project of one very enthusiastic child, Yan Huizhong's might be of an indecisive artist who original wanted to paint something golden, already painted the canvas gold, then changed his mind and painted the red and blue and purples on top. The golden background was strong enough to see past the other paints if one squints hard enough, at the very least it produced a pleasant iridescent sheen to the whole image.
Still, that didn't make the fact the blessing was still very weak. If there wasn't a strong outline of gold around the aura Jia Hyson really could just dismiss it as some other thing entirely.
It seems Yan Huizhong was most likely not destined for the throne unless he received some serious outside help. Tsk tsk. Not even rubbing off on a lucky dragon and protagonist aura can help him. How sad and pathetic.
Yan Huixhong: '…' Why do I suddenly feel so angry? 눈_눈
Then again maybe the blessing only fully activates once a prince becomes the emperor and every prince's blessing is more or less dormant. Jia Hyson only had theories to go off of for now ah.
As he ponders about the feasibility of his second hypothesis, there was actual drama happening in the room.
"My son," After hiding his shock and awe at the dragon, the emperor turned to Yan Huizhong, his demeanor oppressive and dignified. Even in his commoner disguise, once the emperor put on his facade there was no denying that he exuded a majesty no normal person could have.
Yan Huizhong instinctively shrunk his neck like a naughty child. It wasn't just him, the domineering pressure of the emperor affected everyone. Duan Mengyao was a general and a good soldier can both lead and follow orders, he was very patriotic and his solemn, militaristic nature made him automatically want to salute toward the emperor. Tang Muxin who was a super spy assassin doctor was no better as her temperament was a more gentler version of Duan Mengyao's.
Pan Shuchun who was just a normal fashion student in modern times and Ye Cheng, a proper ancient commoner resisted the urge to get on their knees. These two had absolutely no resistance to this sort of thing and felt shaken to the core. They silently swore in their hearts as cold sweat poured down their back.
Ye Cheng: Fuck! The emperor is so mighty! How amazing! As expected of the great dragon emperor!
Pan Shuchun: Fuck! The dramas on tv don't do the emperor's domineering aura justice! How frightful! How handsome! Ah ah I think I peed a little!
On the other hand Da Gong who was in the corner merely huffed, looking completely unaffected. Jia Hyson was also resistant. After all when he took the white lotus acting classes, one of his classmates was also an emperor, and he had already gotten used to his imposing aura that the man used whenever he wanted to gain back face. It was very cute. Jia Hyson really wanted to fuck him and see him cry. Unfortunately the emperor in his class was very proud and dropped out of the class after two lessons. There was no time to scope out the availability of the proud, domineering emperor.
Seeing the same powerful aura on this man, Jia Hyson just perked up his ears, tail wiggling in interest.
The emperor wasn't ugly but he wasn't handsome either, like most people in the world his looks were just ordinary. In order to produce a beauty like Yan Huizhong though it's fair to say his harem is filled with extraordinarily beautiful women.
Jia Hyson didn't care if a man has ordinary or extraordinary looks though. As long as his interest is piqued he will be attracted. He only looked for beautiful people when he wanted them specifically, other than that everyone was ultimately free game as long as they didn't have a ring on their finger.
Of course the emperor had many metaphorical rings on his finger, but this was ancient China, and he was the fucking emperor. Jia Hyson felt like he could bend his morals in this sort of circumstances.
Bebe: 'Your suspiciously flexible moral standards may not stop you but you have a big black cock blocker that would.'
As if on cue Da Gong pecked Jia Hyson's ear lightly in admonishment. Then, after a second of thought, opened his beak, and licked the tip of the dragon's ear.
Jia Hyson: !!! (,,☉ 0 ☉,,)
The small tongue was hot, and the sudden unexpected action was like lightning going through his ear, down his spine and finally straight into Jia Hyson's heart. His ears twitched violently and his tail which had only been lazily wriggling was now trashing like a fish out of water.
Da Gong felt this reaction was extremely adorable. He desired to see more. And as a chicken who gets what he wants, he opened up his beak and licked the tip of the shivering ear, before clamping down to gently bite it.
Jia Hyson: !!!!!!!!! (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ♡ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)
Fuck! What a foul! No, what a fowl!
Jia Hyson tried to twist his head to look at Da Gong, his large eyes had become watery at the ticklish and erotic sensation of having his sensitive ears being bitten. It gave the dragon a pitiful appearance that enhanced his meng value by 200%.
Da Gong: !!!!!!! ⋋(,,☉⊝☉,,)⋌ ♡
Fuck! That appearance was too lovely! Once again his little worm has wormed his way into his heart! How sly! ⋋(,,> ⊝ <,,)⋌ ♡
Eunuch Shi who was standing behind the emperor and therefore unaffected by the brunt of his imposing and intimidating emperor aura, didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
In one corner there is a very high intensity royal family drama going on, the emperor was overpowering, the servants were shivering and the the whole surroundings were suffocating- and in the other corner there seemed the be some sort of high intensity interspecies flirting going on, which was honestly suffocating in its own way. He can practically see the warm pink bubbles emanating from the dragon and rooster coupling.
To put it lightly, it was like the embodiment of spring and winter were in the same room.
Tang Muxin who had a soul bond to Jia Hyson also sensed something amiss and turned her head only to be punched in the face with this new level of dog food being scattered.
Fuck! The literal emperor of the country was here and you guys want to try deepening your relationship now?! Are you animals?!
…it seems they were actually animals ah. 눈_눈
After a minute, the emperor eased off his intimidation and gave the group a chance to breathe. Smiling genially he looked like a harmless middle aged man but nobody could underestimate him as the cold sweat on their backs were proof enough. It was a very domineering power move but everyone here had their own sort of self pride and high levels of arrogance so it was very effective in making them all submissive at once.
The only ones who remained unaffected throughout was the dragon and the rooster. The emperor felt that it was normal for the dragon to feel nothing, after all, it was a dragon! However he couldn't help but take a second look at the gigantic rooster who was also unaffected.
Ever since he ascended the throne his aura had become more powerful and even horses can freeze when he pulls it out. From the ancient records he found when he became emperor it was said that the throne was the true blessing from the dragons. The blessing in their blood was supplementary, training their body and spirit to be able to absorb the real blessings in the future.
Their bloodline was more blessed then others but it was impossible to produce true equality among children. Otherwise how could any prince win the crown if everyone else was just as lucky as he himself was? Even if there were differences in abilities and personal skills, the mutual damages incurred by a fight with people of relatively equal strength would still be painful. Hence why his luck before being emperor was not always good, and in fact was quite bad. But once they become emperor their luck would be enhanced a few folds.
It was really sensible. The emperor when he was younger had always complained about how they were all supposedly blessed by the dragons yet some were clearly more blessed by others. However survival of the fittest was a concept everyone understood. It was especially important for finding a leader of the country. You could have all the luck in the world but if you weren't competent enough to use it wisely and help the people then what's the point? The emperor now understood this concept intimately.
The blessing wasn't something they could take for granted but was a gift for the victor. The supplementary blessing in their veins may even just be a side effect of being the children of the owner of the blessing ie; the previous emperor.
Of course that was merely a theory. The writings were only so detailed and a lot of information was lost by time, paranoia and greed. Mainly the last two. The emperor's own father especially had sort of lost it by the end of his reign.
Anyway, the main point of it was his oppressive aura had become nearly palpable once he became emperor. Even the haughtiest foreigner and the most self-entitled prince will feel intimidated by him. It was strange this large bird could ignore him so easily. Was it because it was close to the dragon? No, if that was the case the saintess lady wouldn't be affected either.
Before the emperor could ponder over this any further, the glimmer of the dragon's scales quickly distracted him. He had been too busy suppressing the group with his aura to pay attention to the dragon, after all, he had repeatedly told himself to focus on the main topics, mainly the reappearance of the very valuable son of the loyal Duan family, Duan Mengyao and Yan Huizhong his gloomy son, not to mention the impressive medical expertise of dragon saintess Tang Muxin.
In his heart, the emperor subconsciously thought that while a dragon will be amazing to see, it was still an animal and could not be treated with the same value. It was like seeing a rare beast. An attraction.
This can not be considered the emperor's fault. Humans in the face of animals are naturally narrow-minded and biased with the exception of a few extremes.
Even if someone hears an animal is smart, they will still believe in human superiority and think it is intelligent compared to other animals- but not against humans. Even in modern day times where information is easily accessible, video proof is abundant and many individuals are able to see the amazing abilities of nature personally, a majority of people will look down on animals and cannot fully comprehend their abilities but only value the external appearance and practical worth.
In these ancient times where the view of animals is a very basic, eat or be eaten attitude, with only the rich raising pets and doctors researching their medical usage, the ignorance is of course much greater. Ye Cheng and Eunuch Shi to some extent were considered anomalies as animal lovers.
Not to mention, the truth was the emperor actually wasn't very fond of snakes. When he was younger he had one planted in his bed by one of his brothers, causing some trauma in him that was never fully healed.
The dragon's body is serpent like and all the paintings and sculptures show the creature to be very fierce and scary. He couldn't really muster up much positive feelings over the image even though he must have them decorated everywhere. However he is used to it.
But the difference between two dimensional images and three dimensional living breathing objects were very different. A real life dragon is very exciting, and it was true he would really want to see one in real life but he was also a little worried his fear of snakes will suddenly flare up if he sees the creature for the first time.
The emperor felt like he would've lost his domineering momentum if he looked at the dragon and pissed himself.
However now that he fully laid eyes on the dragon for the first time he felt like this dragon wasn't scary at all.
In fact… it was a little cute?
No… it was really cute?
No….. it was super fucking cute!!!!
What happened next made everyone speechless.
The emperor who, a moment ago was exuding a terrifying aura that had completely surprised the protagonist group and brought almost everyone half to tears, just glanced to the side for a few seconds and was immediately on his knees, utterly conquered by the cuteness.
"AHHHHHH!" The emperor screams in the highest pitch a middle aged man could muster. The more he looked at the dragon the more his heart sped up and feel like the dragon was just so super adorable. Like so cute he could stab his own chest and it wouldn't hurt as long as he keeps looking at this gorgeously cute creature. "IT'S SO CUTE! CAN ZHEN TOUCH YOU?! AHHH LOOK AT IT BLINK OH MY GOD IT'S LITTLE ITTY WHISKERS MOVED AHHH IT'S EARS!!!" (」,,,> ♡ <,,)」(」,,,0 ♡ 0,,)」(」,,,> ♡ <,,)」
Jia Hyson: '…'
Everyone: '…'
Bebe: 'Well you did ask for a cuteness so cute that even the emperor will bow to your appearance ah.'