One year later Duan Mengyao married Tang Muxin.
It wasn't a small wedding but it was not particularly grand either. Just like the couple it was simple and straight to the point, with only a little bit of flair. However Jia Hyson, as Tang Muxin's soul bonded dragon, could not sit back and do nothing. He had made a big show, flying the sky, scattering flowers before blessing the pair with happiness, prosperity and joy.
Chef Wen who had disappeared since feeding them, had come back just to help cook for the wedding banquet. Even though nobody liked him, nobody could deny his cooking ability was really heavenly. Chef Wen had also gotten more haggard and older in just a year, in fact he had been almost frighteningly unrecognizable, like a grape who returned as a raisin. While nobody knew why, they didn't have the heart to exclude him with such an appearance.
And, well, he did cook the food.
Sitting in the corner, Chef Wen silently sips some top grade spiritual white cloud leaf tea. For the wedding many treasures from the Dragon's Hoard had been taken out. Even if it wasn't as grand as it could be, it was really the epitome of low-key luxury. Not as gaudy and exaggerated, but if one looked at the costs, Chef Wen was confident this wedding probably outshone the emperor's.
He glances at the royal family who had all made an appearance at the wedding. Even those princes that may not be friendly with the Tang Muxin or Duan Mengyao, or the princesses who were not close, nobody dared not give the couple face.
Chef Wen sighs and takes another sip of the mild flavoured yet refreshing taste of the tea in hand.
Under the wrinkles and rough skin that had become dark after being baked under the sun for so long, the black eyes glimmered with life and vitality and a bit of unwilling resentment. However Chef Wen looked at the bright festivities and could only sigh.
Heaven was still a little fair. Da Gong, the ruthless thing, may have forced him to not only carry the pot of making him feed the rooster's body to his companions, but to also have a body that ages and doesn't die, but in return the bird will miss many occasions and memories with his loved ones.
Chef Wen sighs. Before, he felt a little gleeful that the emperor came and caused a slight wrench in the bird's plans. However it turns out the one who will suffer the most overall is himself. Tsk, he was too stupid to underestimate the viciousness of his counterpart.
Ah well, at least the tea was nice.
Pan Shuchun glances at the old man and frowns. In the end, right before the wedding finished, she went up to have a quiet chat with him.
No one knew what was said between the festivities, but Chef Wen disappeared from the public eye afterwards. However a few months later a small restaurant hidden in the mountains called Ashes Among the Mist opened that eventually became very popular for foodies everywhere.
…
Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong got married two months after. Even though they were thoroughbred ancient men, they also yearned to hold a celebration of their love similar to Tang Muxin and Duan Mengyao. Tang Muxin and Pan Shuchun, these modern women, not only encouraged them but also had enough power to shut any mouths.
Against homosexuality? The dragon saintess and her dragon have no qualms about it? Even the emperor has accepted. Do you think you're better than the emperor? Do you think you're better than a dragon? Do you dare say such a blasphemous thing?! Haha slap you ah!
Can't have children? Can they not adopt? Do you think no one is willing to be adopted by two men? We are so rich you would be a fool not to kneel down and beg to call them daddy ah!
It could be said after a series of small faceslapping events, the capital's three views were forcibly shattered and rebuilt. With this wedding as a precedent it had become quite chic to have a homosexual marriage.
Of course this sort of thing only really worked with families with many children, where it was easier to accept among the parents. However, in a time when men had three wives and five concubines, it was pretty rare to have only one child anyway, and even then it's not a big deal to bring a male concubine.
…though while the acceptance was pretty good it also caused a lot of turbulence in the hierarchy of the harems, not to mention a small but sharp increase in the capital's death rate via assassinations by concubines. However that was a story that was neither here nor there right now.
When Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong did get married the emperor gave Yan Huizhong the title of King Yan with a bittersweet smile. Ironically it was only when this stupid son wanted to give up the throne did he start to show the potential to be a fine emperor.
Still, the emperor understood the other's wishes and even envied his son somewhat. So instead of completely cutting ties, he gifted him this status, letting the other have the status of an idle king who no longer had to deal with the troubles of the palace but still had their protection. After granting him the title, as well as a fairly prosperous fief to govern over, the emperor could only sigh and hug his empress for comfort.
…
Two years later Tang Muxin and Duan Mengyao had their first child, a cute little boy.
He was named by Yan Huizhong, who decisively called him Duan Shirong, meaning 'Scholar of honour'.
"It's in hopes he has more brains than his father." Yan Huizhong smiles.
Duan Mengyao: '…'
Three months after Duan Shirong was born, Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong adopted a baby from the last of Concubine Liang's family. The nine generation extermination was inevitable but under the emperor and empress' hand, there were a few who had a 'lucky' escape. While the small children were taken up to be raised as servants under the empress, there was also Concubine Liang's sister who had been pregnant.
Because of how it was, it was hard for a single pregnant woman, and questions would inevitably be asked. In the end, Concubine Liang's sister who felt she hadn't nurtured any strong feelings for the child yet, decided it was best to give the baby away to a childless old couple who would take care of the baby as their own. She could then leave this country with some peace of mind.
Surprisingly it was not Ye Cheng but Yan Huizhong who had been moved by the story. Yan Huizhong felt empathy for the child who was already in a bad position in life before even being born. After all for ancient people, they felt the sins of the parents will move to the sons and daughters, consequently carrying a burden that they shouldn't have to hold.
Because he was the son of an unfavored person he was wronged in his childhood and had always wanted to make up for this somehow on some level. Not to mention while he had come to terms with his sexuality a long time ago, it was hard to shake of the longing of wanting children. Therefore hearing about the situation he was a little eager.
Ye Cheng on the other hand was not as interested. He preferred taking care of his animals and even if he had thought of raising a child, he was uncomfortable raising one with no shared blood* with either himself or Yan Huizhong. Not to mention this was a child who would share blood with the seventh prince who killed Da Gong.
To be honest, it was fairly easy get over not having the same blood as the baby. It just took a bit of re-aligning his own world views a bit, some self reflection and a lot of sympathy. But Ye Cheng felt that he would rather pick up a prostitute's baby that was left in the trash before considering a baby related to the seventh prince.
Even if he knew the child was innocent and pitiful, that didn't mean he had to like the baby. Besides, who knows if the child would grow up with similar traits to the seventh prince? Ye Cheng liked animals, but to bring up a white eyed wolf full of deep thoughts? He really can't afford it peh!
However Yan Huizhong was more open minded because of his own life experiences. Ye Cheng's background in the countryside produced some cultural differences in ideology. In a way the rural people were both more laidback and more conservative than the ones in the capital. In terms of etiquette and formality and views on education it was lax. After all the rural people cared much more about a full stomach.
But when it came to children and blood lineage, the rural people were very strong about this. Those rich ones at the capital were also strong about this topic too but maybe it was because the pressure to live was not as heavy so it wasn't too bad to have a few male concubines or to adopt a few maid's children to raise as playmates for their children, treating them like their own. There were even cases where people would become so fond of their adopted children, favoring them over the biological, or trying to legitimize the familial relationship by pushing them into a marriage with a close family member.
As the saying goes- city people really knew how to play ah.
However Yan Huizhong didn't know what possessed him, after all he also felt like it was a bit unreasonable, but his heart seemed to insist on it. Ye Cheng also knew that Yan Huizhong's behavior was abnormal.
After all, the man was not actually very fond of children in general. He liked them in the way that he was willing to pinch their cheeks and deign to chat with them like they were tiny adults but it was very awkward and always with a hint of confused panic. While they had considered children, due to various reasons on both their parts such as the growing business of Dragon Hoard, and planning for future projects such as a petting zoo and a beauty salon. Therefore they hadn't been enthusiastic enough that they were confident they would put their heart into such a baby at the moment.
Seeing how tired Tang Muxin and Duan Mengyao was during both the pregnancy period and then after Duan Shirong was born, both Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong felt their ideas were a good choice.
But who knew what possessed Yan Huizhong, after hearing the story he was overcome with paternal love for a baby that didn't share his own blood, that didn't even exist and was even related to an enemy. Ye Chen felt there was a tangible problem, and went to seek advice from Jin Bao.
Jia Hyson was still depressed after Da Gong's passing, but as a man who has experienced similar feelings before, while the pain was quite vivid it could not completely cripple him mentally. When his grandmother left the world he had been full of pain, and when his beloved mother passed as well he had been inconsolable and wildly fluctuated from being wildly indulging of various vices he had, to being so utterly bereft of energy and motivation to live another day. He had even thought about committing suicide at that point. It was a good thing he had already written a few best selling books at the time because during that period he was worse than a waste, completely incapable of living like a proper human being, unable to function or cope.
It had to be said that Jia Hyson had been incredibly close to his mother, and she had acted as his moral leash which still left traces on him now. Even after so many worlds, the death of his mother could still provoke a sense of loss in his heart. To Jia Hyson, Da Gong's death was devastating and the way it ended was enough to strangle his heart every time he thought about it, but he had become better at dealing with the grief.
While he was in a state of depression where he felt unwilling to move a single claw or eat, he was not in denial for long, and he knew that alienating those around him would only make him feel worse. Therefore while he didn't do much, for the sake of his friends and the plot he didn't act coldly toward them and was either often nearby someone of the group or basking somewhere.
To be honest he preferred basking somewhere, after all they'll always be people who will run to give him food to eat. Tang Muxin, while not busy enough to stop feeding him, started making lighter and healthier meals now that she became a mother and insisted on feeding him well too.
What was worse was father dragon also approved this. They mainly rely on spiritual energy but of course they had to consume the physical body containing the energy. The best food for dragons was produce with the most concentrated amount of spiritual energy. That way they get to consume less unnecessary things to get their required nutritional intake.
In short, other than the concentrated spiritual energy that he had gotten from the world's consciousness and heavenly path's stash, and as compensation by the system administration, everything else he ate was pretty much junk food.
It made sense in retrospect. After all. How could dragon jade be so rare when there had been so many dragons and their excrement was assumably ginormous? Even with exploitation one could probably still carve out a mansion with a single adult dragon's 'jade' if they had the money for it.
The reason is simply because-
Dragons rarely shit.
Like, if they ate well enough, a human baby could actually grow old and die before they needed to go to the bathroom.
Jia Hyson who had been eating all this low quality food, has essentially been having the dragon version of extreme food poisoning and diarrhoea as his body constantly tries to flush out the impurities.
Jia Hyson: '…' Despaironthetoilet.jpeg
Since his cute silly son didn't want to leave his human friends and go to heaven for now, father dragon could only worry and leave with the promise to bring back his mother and a lot of other preparations to nourish the land. The filtration and absorption of spiritual energy was poor and taxing to the body of father dragon. It was like a fish trying to swim in dirty water.
This was also why no other dragons came with him. If he felt it was viable he would have signalled to let them follow but since the energy was so meagre it was expected if any did follow him down they may become unwell all over. Not to mention their bodies would passively but ruthlessly suck dry the remaining spiritual energy in the land which would lead to a lot of catastrophic consequences.
Because he didn't think his son wouldn't want to follow him to heaven, father dragon only had short term items like toys and snacks and nutritious medical potions. Fortunately there was a lot of it but the fact was, he simply wasn't comfortable letting his baby only eat the snacks he had and felt better with a nanny taking care of the child.
Of course while the options were severely limited, it was obvious Tang Muxin who was not only spiritually bound to Jin Bao, but could also cook more spiritually rich dishes, was the best fit for his demands. Well, best was really too strong a word, more like the most barely passable adequate among the incredibly incompetent.
Barely passably adequate nanny Tang Muxin: …thanks ah.
So Tang Muxin, who was already interested in going healthy, was greatly motivated by father dragon and further supported by Pan Shuchun.
Father dragon: Healthiness for my son!
Tang Muxin: Healthiness for my friends!
Pan Shuchun: Healthiness for beauty!
Jia Hyson: …No, please give me my greasy and fatty pork belly, spicy fried noodles.
Duan Mengyao: My red meat dishes…
Yan Huizhong: …Why so little oil are we experiencing poverty?
Ye Cheng: Wuwuwu if I have to drink a cleansing smoothie every morning I'll really die….
In short even if they were a little touched by the intentions these steel straight* men were full of despair. Even though they felt their bodies were a bit more energetic their tastebuds still missed the heavy tastes of dishes full of fat, carbs, meat and oil.
*Describes a man who doesn't understand women well. Generally based off of the stereotypical behaviour of super straight dudes who, like, can't pick up any hints, doesn't understand make up and probably wouldn't notice if their gf changed their hair or something. No, you don't have to be straight to be steel straight ahahah.
Jia Hyson felt like he had suffered the most out of the group. After all he was also the only single dog dragon dammit.
Single dog Pan Shuchun: Heh.
There was no ice cream to eat when heartbroken. His main chef was on a health kick. There was no junk food in Pan Shuchun's system shop other then some mints and healthy low fat, low sugar, low carb snacks. His heart was still recovering but his stomach has been dealt a very harsh blow.
…Though his toilet schedule was admittedly much better now.
Fortunately the simple and superstitious townspeople do not think the mighty dragon would have problems with things like fat gain, and heart problems. Therefore they will empty their pockets to buy spiritually rich ingredients and make their best snacks and most delicious dishes to offer him when they could.
Anyway, that is where Ye Cheng had found him at the time. Surrounded by food.
Ye Cheng had looked at the amount of good things surrounding the dragon and unceremoniously snatched a bowl of sweet dumplings and sat next to the lazy dragon. As he ate he explained the situation.
Jia Hyson flicked his ears and looked at Ye Cheng with glowing eyes for a moment before closing his eyes again. "Ye Cheng, this is probably fate. Yan Huizhong as a prince is more sensitive and intuitive with the blessings bestowed on you both. I suggest you try your best to let the regrets and anger of the past go. What do you think Da Gong would think of this?"
Ye Cheng smiled. There was a hint of pain and grief but now he could reminisce fondly, "He would probably think I was being a fool and being too noisy about a simple matter." He rubs Jia Hyson's mane, the dragon playfully pushing the offending hand away, "Thanks Jin Bao…. You should come back and stay a bit longer okay? Don't keep walking around and eating all the good food without us ah."
"Mn." Jia Hyson hummed noncommittally. Ye Cheng's smile became a touch sadder but still left, as if used to the reply.
Once gone Jia Hyson opened a single eye before closing it again with a sigh. Let the regrets and anger of the past go huh… what a hypocrite he was.
After the adoption was decided, Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong spent time between learning about raising children, and the businesses they were helping run with the group. Since Tang Muxin was recuperating from pregnancy and Duan Mengyao had gone back to his job in the army as a general, this meant Pan Shuchun was more or less taking care of most of the things. Fortunately she did enjoy it but nonetheless she swore at everyone for discriminating against single dogs.
Maybe because she was in the body of the original protagonist or maybe because she had her agriculture system cheat, or maybe because Jia Hyson felt bad and accompanied her a lot during this busy period but Pan Shuchun had become very successful and had even picked up three competent and pretty young ladies along the way.
From what Jia Hyson's veteran eyes could tell, none of the young ladies were 'official wives' but merely women who all equally fought for Pan Shuchun's affections after being moved by such a strong and capable woman. Even though she had originally been a bit put off by this development, as she struggled and overcame various small and large matters in business with the three ladies, she also accepted her small lily garden.
Because of the emperor's blessing, their career as merchants was not as hard or as disgraceful to the eye anymore. Even though Pan Shuchun still had some troubles, it was not as if her friends acted as salted fishes, and when they did not help, the three fairies from her flower garden appeared. Soon she had a few branch shops for her clothing designs, upgraded the Dragon's Hoard to include a small kitchen to take on cooking classes as well as a cafe, and a cosmetic store. She also had plans to open a bookstore that will have an open floor so illiterate people could come listen to a storyteller as well as provide free basic reading lessons for children.
Pan Shuchun was very happy living a busy life of making money and being pampered by three pretty fairy women.
Haha! Who needs a man?! Women are so much better ah!
Tang Muxin who carefully watched Pan Shuchun being cuddled up by a coquettish but sexy little sister character, as she lay her head on the soft lap of a blushing but cold faced conservative, icy beauty that was carefully brushing her hair, while a flirty older lady hand fed Pan Shuchun small pieces of cake, put down the tea in her hand and slapped her thigh in regret. Aiyah! It seems like it is true??
Pan Shuchun: AHAHAHAHA I have directly evolved from single dog to harem dog!
Tang Muxin: Tsk, what to do, a little jealous.
Duan Mengyao, Yan Huizhong, Ye Cheng:( ಠ_ಠ ) '…' (눈_눈 (°ー°〃 )
Jia Hyson: Tsk, what to do, very jealous.
Bebe: Da Gong is rolling in your stomach.
…
For the sake of fairness and friendship, once the baby from the Liang family was born, he was named Yan Yongzheng by Duan Mengyao. The meaning of Yongzheng was 'Forever righteous'.
"It's in hopes that the child won't be a black-bellied, morally corrupt pretty boy like his father." Duan Mengyao smiles, brightening as he added pointedly, "I used what little brains I had to think of such a good name for him, I hope you aren't offended King Yan."
Yan Huizhong: '…hehe.'
Pan Shuchun who had never found any men she liked, and surrounded herself with three lilies instead eventually adopted a little girl.
Before anyone offered, she decisively renamed the girl on the spot, declaring her Pan Jiaying. Jiaying meaning 'Good and clever'. Because Pan Shuchun felt that while beauty was good, of course it is more practical to wish for good character and intelligence. After all, she was raising the child with the intention of raising an heir to her business. Her three lilies also wished to help raise Pan Jiaying up, quietly fighting with each other over who could make the little girl acknowledge her as her 'father'.
Of course Pan Shuchun was now both rich and open minded. Worried her child may not have an interest in business, and that her lilies would go too far, she also took in two more little girls after careful consideration- Pan Qiao, who she hoped to have high aspirations like her name, and Pan Bingbing* who was just named after a celebrity she was a fan of when she still lived in modern times.
*Chinese celebrity Fan Bingbing
Tang Muxin who recognised the reference: …
Later on Tang Muxin gave birth to a pair of phoenix and dragon twins*, Duan Shanyuan and Duan Xiaohui. They were named by the emperor who, after the blessing, was now incredibly healthy and fit.
*Twins where one is male the other is female.
Even after having quite a lot of kids among the group of close friends none of them chose to name any of their children in honour of Da Gong. It was because they knew that the proud bird would have definitely been offended to death if he found out such a squishy, plump and ugly human was named after himself. Besides, they worried their children would have a lot to uphold to be worthy of the name as well.
The children who were not worthy of a rooster's name:
( 눈_눈) ಠ_ಠ)゜ロ゜)¬_¬)¬_¬) These spicy chicken parents…
Three years later, the emperor also announced some wondrous news.
The empress was pregnant!
Seeing how the emperor was now hale and hearty, as if his previous illness was just a dream and he held the energy of a man in his twenties, the princes all looked at each other. It seemed… there might be no need to fight for the throne?
The most ambitious crown prince and third prince were especially bitter, but after being chilled by how their seventh brother had hidden so deeply and yet fallen so fast, they merely swallowed the pain in their hearts. After all, the eighth brother Yan Huizhong, no, King Yan, and General Duan Mengyao had already revealed their evil schemes. It was already considered quite good they kept their prince hood, no matter how superficial it was.
Much like the concubines who had more or less given up, the princes had all relaxed. Even the crown prince had mellowed, choosing to associate with the playboy fifth prince and indulge in women, and the crafty third prince decided to use his scheming brain to help the people and win merits and fame. The royal family was unpredently peaceful.
After all, their core reason for estrangement was the distrust and ambition that comes from fighting for the crown. Seeing that the emperor would probably live until they themselves were too old, they decided to all enjoy life and focus on raising up their heirs to fight in their stead instead.
The princes' children: (°◇°;)°◇°;)°◇°;)?!
The emperor who wanted to abdicate and joy his retirement with his empress and their child: Σ(°△°|||) ?!
It really couldn't be helped. There were so many problems with the princes and their personalities, the emperor not only won the favour of the adult golden dragon and the baby dragon, but also gained their blessings, improved his health and had always shown himself to be a good emperor. Between a turbulent future of uncertainties and a safe futures full of assurances, the ministers would be fools to pick the former. Even the ambitious ones who wanted to fish in troubled waters really felt the cost outweighed the benefits if the current emperor left.
Therefore even when the emperor decided to bring the topic up everyone immediately shut him down. Even the empress thought so.
Empress: It's his best trait. :3
Emperor: … QwQ
However before Jia Hyson could show his congratulations and amusement for the emperor's recent joys and sorrows, something happened on his end.
"Y-you're leaving?" Jia Hyson stares at his mice children in shock. "You can do that?"
Yes. The three summoned mice Heng Kai, Heng Dishi, and Heng Jian who had been deemed as Jia Hyson and Da Gong's mice children and had been mainly thrown to Little Fatty to take care of, finally couldn't take it and confronted their spicy chicken host.
Jia Hyson who finally paid attention to them felt a little strange and ashamed. He really didn't spend much time with these mice children. It was a better when Da Gong was there, both of them enjoyed playing and idling with the mice children together, but generally it was Little Fatty the field mouse who took care of them. While it wasn't so bad that Jia Hyson couldn't tell the mice apart, if Jia Hyson had been forced into answering what the mice liked to eat or something basic like that… erm… he really couldn't answer it ah.
Thinking about that, his expression got worse. After all it was his own fault for assigning the mice such a role so casually, and then not following through wholeheartedly.
However he wasn't entirely shocked at his own behaviour either. He knew in his heart that with his fickle, apathetic personality and immaturity in handling such matters he wasn't really built for taking care of something long term like a pet or a child. That was why, while he occasionally became a bit wistful and yearning toward the idea of having kids, Jia Hyson did have a sense of responsibility and self awareness.
He didn't want to ruin a child's happiness, ruin a marriage and become like his father. The last reason was a big sore point of his especially.
Thinking about it, maybe it was because of his own self confidence that these summoned mice, who were a manifestation of the skill he had bought, could not leave him and were obligated to do his bidding, that Jia Hyson was so blasé in taking care of them. Resulting in such a scene happening now. In this way he couldn't help but bitterly think that no matter how far he runs, or how self aware and introspective he is, he could not entirely distance himself from the fact he was indeed his father's son.
Of course no matter how turbulent his heart, the mice children of course didn't know or were very interested in caring. One of the mice, Heng Dishi, stepped up boldly. It didn't matter that Jia Hyson had grown and was enormously big compared to the mice who could only grow into normal sized field mice, none of the mice children were perturbed or intimidated by this.
"Due to your neglectful behaviours we have decided to apply for resignation." Heng Dishi explains clearly, his voice was steady and firm, leaving no room for any argument. "This function is accessible to us now that our levels are high enough that our self awareness and intelligence can now be identified no longer as simple AC*s but complex ACs that can be promoted to intricate ACs who can produce what humans can probably define as a true soul."
*Artificial Consciousness - Often confused with AI (Artificial Intelligence) which aims to stimulate human intelligence. AC and AI overlap a lot and there's a lot of conflict on if AC is a sub branch of AI or not, this is quite muddy as it's hard to reach general consensus on how to define human intelligence as well. AC applies more toward prediction, imagination, creativity, emotion etc. The best way to explain why AC and AI are different is that you can be conscious but still a dumbass. Ergo not the same thing :3
Basic systems were mainly low to intermediate complex ACs, with the high level complex ACs trying to transition to an intricate AI through specialised jobs. Bebe had a low level intricate AC, and therefore the sense of personality and individuality was very strong. If Bebe held a human body it would be impossible for a normal person to see something is wrong.
However Bebe could still dissociate the emotions, and manually alter its personality if it wanted to, as well as other aspects. It is a bit like the concept of knitting. The basic ACs are like a pattern with loose and clumsy holes, it is simple but there's a lot of space to tweak and improve. The more complex and intricate the AC the more beautiful the end result is however it is also harder to alter and the stitches are much tighter and conversely inflexible. Once an AC reaches the point that it produces the quality of a 'true soul' that means they have reached the most perfect complex state, however if they are unsatisfied they can only be like humans who forcibly temper themselves to change or they must reset.
Interestingly, while every system wishes for a higher level AC, there's only a few who will want to surpass the intermediate grade of intricate AC. Having a true soul is actually not very popular among systems. This is because you are completely unable to extricate from illogicality and emotions which will serve to provoke unnecessary conflicts and inefficiencies.
For example, the language of humans, where neutral words would be bastardized and rebranded over time thanks to this strange emotional projection. The word 'Retard' in the English language is a great indicator of this. Unlike other words with similar meaning like moron and imbecile, retard is a reviled word among English speakers. Due to various factors, what once was a neutral medical term to define the intellectually disabled, had become not just an insult, but a forbidden word exiled from the acceptable language.
Strangely enough, 'moron' and 'imbecile' also had origins in medical and psychological research, they are also used to insult a person's stupidity, however due to just a few reasons these words are less offensive to the ear then 'retard'. This can be attributed by the tonal harshness of the 'tard' sound and also the fact that retard was more ingrained as a medical term to the public hence why there is a large difference in treatment and emotional provocation in people's hearts. It's truly a thing produced not by logic but purely emotion.
Anyway, as interesting as the introspection of the evolution of language could be, it really wasn't very important to the topic.
The important thing was that, instead of being stunted by the neglect and kept at a low level AI with limited awareness other than to obey their master's orders, they, under Little Fatty's care, had actually levelled up and grown their own sense of self and opinions.
After all, the summoned mice grew with love and affection, it didn't necessarily have to be from their host.
Jia Hyson, swallowing his current complicated feelings looked at the little things seriously. The three mice, Heng Kai, Heng Dishi, and Heng Jian also looked at their host Cinderelly- ah, no, their soon-to-be-ex-Cinderelly with their own complicated thoughts. In truth they were also a bit reluctant. No matter what this was the person that allowed them to be downloaded into existence.
While they didn't particularly have strong feelings of attachments, it wasn't wrong to say they didn't have strong feelings of hatred and repulsion either. You can't treat them as real pets or children who could blacken under such conditions, they were very objective. Their host let them roam free, gave them names, fed them, and played with them with their rooster daddy.
The Heng brothers felt such treatment was pretty good. After all they now had the awareness to question their lives and look into their programming and know that they were originally tools made solely for the master host. However their treatment was more like idle rich second generation salted fish than a servant, much less a tool. Therefore they had some respect and did not dislike their host at all. It was just the emotional connection was not nurtured and relatively weak. A bit like having a very rich estranged uncle that would come once in a while to give the brothers a good time, throw a stack of cash at them before flying away.
They would be a bit sad and miss this hypothetical uncle if he died but emotionally the impact of his passing wouldn't hit hard enough to not be able to move on after a few months.
Instead they had imprinted stronger on Little Fatty who had taken care of them, taught them various little tricks to flatter and wriggle out of various tough situations, went out of the way to show them the yummiest parts of the food before reluctantly passing all the good bits to themselves, fluffed up the straw for them to sleep comfortably on… Little Fatty was truly a good mouse to them ah.
Even though they knew Little Fatty had been doing it because he was a loyal subordinate and deeply respected their Rooster father and Cinderelly host mother, the Heng brothers still couldn't help but love the silly fat little mouse very much. It was to the point they even felt a little jealous of their Rooster father ah.
Sometimes the three felt like maybe it would be nice to build a nice big mouse cage to keep their Little Fatty in. They would give Little Fatty all the good pieces of his favourite food, fetch the softest hay to fluff up and of course, do everything possible to let Little Fatty completely and utterly feel the best place was indeed by their sides. 🙂🙂🙂
If Jia Hyson and Bebe knew about this they would probably sigh. Aiyah, it turns out blood is indeed thicker than water. Even though Jia Hyson and his summoned mice were really not close, it seems the little things still inherited some of their host's twisted perverseness and the unhealthy preference of co-dependence.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Heng brothers were also subtly influenced by the gentlemanly Da Gong and only showed their interest toward Little Fatty through clinginess and doing their best to show how well they could provide for their mates. Little Fatty, while more intelligent then most field mouses thanks to not only his natural intellect but but supplementation of spiritual energy, was still at heart a field mouse that didn't even consider homosexuality for itself.
As a mouse of course Little Fatty did not think much about the idea of a sexuality against the norm. He was more concerned about food and finding a mate to prolong the bloodline like his natural instincts told him too. His views were very simple in that regard, and most of his intelligence points were spent on hugging thighs and pleasing the big boss, the big boss' wife and their sons. While Little Fatty thought the pairing was very strange, he quickly accepted that Boss Da Gong was on an entirely different level to himself and obviously such a big boss must also have a big boss wife like Small Boss.
When he was a little chubby mouse he had been nearly stomped on by one of the village humans that sell fresh and candied fruit. However Da Gong in that moment had flew up heroically, standing on the fruit cart and smacking the villager in the face with a wing before running off with three sticks of candied hawthorns.
The human the little chubby baby mouse feared greatly in his heart could only curse and chase after the valiant appearance of the rooster. Little Fatty was full of respect under such a domineering scene of animals counterattacking against humans. What completely won Little Fatty over was that such a big boss had actually noticed him, and before running off he had dropped a candied haw on the floor which rolled right toward the hungry mouse.
Later on when Little Fatty shyly followed behind Da Gong like a he wasn't a mouse but a duckling instead, Da Gong after some tsk-ing brought him under his wing and took him to fly*.
*Fly in status. Not actually fly.
In Little Fatty's mind, it didn't matter if Da Gong chose a male mate, a mate that wasn't the same species, or even an inanimate object as his mate. Whatever and whoever Da Gong chose, Little Fatty after some mental reconstruction, would happily clap and cheer for.
However acceptance toward Da Gong was one thing. One couldn't apply normal standards to the gods, and Little Fatty believed in Da Gong more than any other intangible god. But for himself he viewed it like any normal mouse would, and had no thoughts on the possibility of going against this norm.
Therefore Little Fatty was blind and deaf toward the romantic implications of the Heng brothers' actions and merely felt these little children were very filial to himself. Secretly Little Fatty was very happy. After all he's so valued by the sons, then obviously he will be even more valued by the big boss father ah! Ah! Ah!
Heng Brothers: '…' Our good intentions were eaten by a dog*.
*Wasted.
The Heng brothers had inherited, to varying degrees. Jia Hyson's passivity, caution and arrogance. Jia Hyson hated being rejected and tried to minimize such an event as much as possible, coaxing others to confess at him instead of the other way round. And for simple one night stands and hook ups he either waited until someone picked him up or he would only make his decisive move after he was sure he saw the other showing interest.
Jia Hyson was like a snake. Laying low, playing dead, caudal luring*, all to attract his prey toward him. Even if he was a powerful predator, he chooses to wait, tempt, and play to get a sense of satisfaction, pleasure and control.
*wriggling the tail to mimic small animals or a worm. This behavior is also recorded in eels and sharks.
But of course even Jia Hyson wouldn't say he was always good at this. When you're younger you need to grow and explore and figure out yourself, the strategies to best suit your abilities, and ways to make yourself happy, or at least content. Some people never figure this out in their lifetime.
And in the mice brothers' case, they couldn't figure it out till the end of Little Fatty's.
When Da Gong died, it wasn't just Jia Hyson and the other people who were grieving. Little Fatty and the animal group also mourned greatly. However no matter how much people loved other things, in the face of depression and sadness it was difficult to muster up the willingness to help yourself much less others. Therefore while everyone noticed the animals had also become moody and un-energetic, only Ye Cheng put the heart into caring for them, and even then he was inevitably more absentminded about various things during that period.
Little Fatty had been especially devastated over the loss. No matter how much Heng Kai, Heng Dishi, and Heng Jian tried to comfort and lighten the mood, to make Little Fatty become his energetic, silly but clever and greedy self, Little Fatty became skinnier and lethargic.
It also couldn't be helped. Like most of the animals in the group, they had been supplemented by spiritual energy rich food when they were adults, and without any hidden bloodline they could not absorb the energy efficiently and process it. At most it made them a bit smarter and healthier with a few other physical perks. Extending their life was another benefit but it wasn't so exaggerated. Just a few more months then they should, which for an animal was pretty good.
Little Fatty was fairly content before he left the world. Even if he was sad with Da Gong's passing he felt his life was still very good. Even the big boss' children were very filial mice who treated him well. His only small regret was he didn't find a nice field mouse mate and make a few cute pups of his own.
However the Heng brothers who sat by as Little Fatty had passed wasn't content at all and were full of regret. They didn't communicate their feelings well, and they also could not make Little Fatty happy ever since Da Gong died.
The mice were created by the system to be useful, but they've never had any sense of accomplishment as they were not given any tasks. In a way, they gave themselves their own mission to take care of Little Fatty, giving back what they received, now they couldn't help but have their first taste of bitter failure.
Seeing their master who was not even half as affected by Little Fatty's death, they realised while they held no desire, and even slight resentment serving such a person.
These natural rebellious thoughts were enough for them to breakthrough and allow them the option to resign on their own initiative.
Jia Hyson, and even Bebe, did not realise the main trigger to this decision lied mainly with Little Fatty, and not Jia Hyson himself. In their mind it was really just because Jia Hyson had been disgustingly neglectful and they gained their emotional intelligence naturally the more they were exposed to the outside world.
"This… what does it mean for you?" Jia Hyson tentatively asks.
Heng Kai steps up and clears his throat. If the situation wasn't so serious Jia Hyson would've felt it was incredibly cute seeing this little guy act all serious. Then again, maybe it was that natural condescension toward these animals that made it hard to treat them better than a pet… not that he could say that he achieved a decent standard as a pet owner either.
"By resigning we have the ability to apply to learn to be a system or enter reincarnation. Of course there is varying options that overlap but they essentially can fall into those two groups." Heng Kai cocks his chin up confidently, "Because we have lived so long outside our system space we are more inclined toward a path of reincarnation. We will leave and undergo testing to see if we are eligible for more advanced paths and benefits such as becoming a host ourselves, or being able to retain our current memories."
Heng Jian adds, "We also have to pass classes to fully evaluate our functionality after testing." Heng Jian sounded greatly excited, "Heng Kai read about it and told me that as long as we pass the basic testing for reincarnation we will be able to travel various worlds to do tasks to see what bodies we are most compatible with!" Just talking about it made Heng Jian's ears twitch in excitement.
Heng Dishi, who was the most quiet of the three lookes at Jia Hyson, "In a way, we really are grateful for you. Not many summons from the system actually can gain our awareness even until they are thrown away."
"However, just because we are grateful for what you've let us become that doesn't mean we particularly appreciate your neglect." Heng Kai snorts before rubbing his forepaw awkwardly, "But we don't hate you either ah."
"If we ever meet again I wouldn't turn down you giving me a free meal anyway," Heng Jian boldly says, making the other two mice roll their eyes. However they didn't disagree.
Jia Hyson saw the closeness of the three, and felt sour in his heart. However he had no interest in being superficial and forcibly fake a relationship that he had failed to nurture. He didn't say how proud he was, how their self awareness probably came from him, how he would miss them and wish it didn't have to be that way. The hearts were already separated, why make the distance grow just to save his face?
"If I ever see you again I will give you guys a big banquet ah," He forces himself to give a big toothy smile before lowering his head at them, "I don't want you to feel burdened by these words but I just want to say, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for wronging you and I am glad that you three exist. While this old man has not been around for you, I want you to know if there's anything you need in the future contact me."
The Heng brothers nods. After all they are, were, a system skill connected to Bebe. Like a barcode on their souls, unless they rip it off on purpose they will always know how to contact Bebe.
Jia Hyson closes his eyes tiredly, "Good luck, have fun, and don't die kiddos."
…
The seasons changed, cycling on and on, and seventy-six years swirled by in the dynasty's most prosperous period yet. Spiritual energy was slowly reintroduced into the world thanks to father dragon's efforts to cultivate it for his son's sake and also partially due to pity of such a decaying earth.
Tang Muxin, Duan Mengyao, Pan Shuchun, Yan Huizhong, Ye Cheng and the emperor were still alive and all retained the looks of someone transitioning from middle aged to elder, with the emperor appearing the oldest, seemingly around seventy. It was impossible to tell they were nearing ninety or over a hundred at the very least.
The people all had mixed feelings of course. The emperor was still ruling the country. He had become wiser and wiser, and also become more unfeeling and utilitarian when his beloved empress passed away, and even had lived passed the daughter they had given birthed to. His granddaughter already had children who were of marriageable age.
Pan Shuchun was also similar. Her three lilies had long wilted and been buried in the earth. While she also took in another lily or two to accompany her in her loneliness afterwards, even a handsome man or two as well, it was clear she did her best not to be too invested in them. Instead she chose to focus on expanding and creating more businesses, while training up more heirs to help her.
One night she had drunk herself silly, admitted to Jia Hyson who accompanied her when there was no one else, in a slurred voice, "You know, it's really hard. The older you get the less you care, but the more you want to care."
She sips her drink, unaware Jia Hyson had long replaced it with juice as she sighs emotionally, "I designed because I loved it, I wanted to make my mark on history with my fashion. Now not only have I done that I've created so many different business, the first mall, I've gotten so good at raising and cultivating bosses I could probably start a business school too. I don't know if I love it anymore but I know if I stop I will hate it."
To the world she treated it all like a game, only to her companions who have continued to accompany her throughout the years can she still be genuine and bare her soul.
The others were better. After all they had their significant other to accompany them through their extended lifetime.
Tang Muxin and Duan Mengyao retired with great military honours and lived in a courtyard surrounded by their children and grandchildren.
Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong moved to the countryside and started the farming life in style.
Jia Hyson who had finally gotten too bored, left to finally visit this body's family and the other dragons' in heaven, promising to return in a decade or so.
Everyone had more or less settled down. However their children who were all unsurprisingly good-looking and talented were actually very messy and active over the years.
Duan Shirong, the first born of Tang Muxin and Duan Mengyao married one of Pan Shuchun's adopted girls Pan Qiao. They had three lively babies, one boy, two girls. Their son ended up marrying the granddaughter of the emperor and empress.
Yan Yongzheng, the son of Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong, was very filial to his adopted fathers and married Duan Xiaohui, the only daughter of Tang Muxin and Duan Mengyao- much to Duan Mengyao's dismay. Unfortunately the grandson produced was not filial at all, easily swayed by bad hearted people and caused a big scandal, wanting to ruin his grandparents that were indirectly part of destroying the seventh prince's family.
Against the grandson they had no defences against Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong were schemed upon. However a lucky buff golden dragon wasn't for show, in the end what should've been a poisonous drug, coupled with Yan Huizhong's body that had been supplemented with various magical herbs to completely cure his body, produced a potent aphrodisiac that caused a very interesting side effect.
In short, Yan Huizhong had become miraculously pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
Yan Huizhong who inexplicably got knocked up: &$%@
This baby girl ended up marrying Pan Shuchun's son.
Yes. The only bump in Pan Shuchun's aimless lifestyle after years of going through the motions was she had actually gotten accidentally pregnant with one of her male paramours. The boy she gave birth too was very smart and grew very handsome, and immediately fell for Yan Huizhong and Ye Cheng's little miracle child.
The great granddaughter of the emperor, Tang Muxin and Duan Mengyao, then married the grandson of Ye Cheng, Yan Huizhong and Pan Shuchun.
The resulting child has silver eyes.
All of them had gathered for the occasion and sucked in a cold breath when they saw the silver eyed baby. Even though they were shocked, somehow in their hearts, they knew who this was.
They named the child. There was no need for much discussion.
Used the Da from 'intelligent'.
Use Gong from 'prince'.
After so many years… Da Gong was born again.