Chapter 103
Chapter 103: My Love Rival Told Old Loach: I’m Going to Pursue Your Wife
Chong Ming’s raised brow sharpened. “You can be afraid? That’s unexpected. I thought you feared nothing.”
Jiang Tea Tea met his golden eyes with open provocation. “Even a strong dragon can’t suppress a local snake. The person who says I’m sick has too much power. I can’t beat them. Of course I’m afraid.”
Huang Da Zhuang, mouth full of meat, mumbled, “Sister Tea, my idol is a dragon. What snake could ever suppress him?”
Jiang Tea Tea snatched a lamb rib and stuffed it into his mouth. “Eat. Talk less.”
Huang Da Zhuang chewed obediently, instantly forgetting his idol was sitting nearby.
Less than thirty minutes later, the ship arrived above the sixth star system—Hundred-Claw Star, home to the military academy.
The third-place squad—ten-plus people—was escorted off by Adjutant Ai. Faculty and students below craned their necks, watching with envy as the warship sent them down.
After everyone disembarked, the ship circled once in a visible salute of congratulations, then rose back into the sky and left the atmosphere, vanishing into space.
Jiang Tea Tea watched through a window and muttered to Sui Xuan Chu, “Your uncle really knows how to put on a show.”
Sui Xuan Chu glanced around and lowered his voice. “That’s not a show. That’s honor. Being sent back by the Commander-in-Chief—who’s also the Empire’s Prince Regent—is a kind of glory most people never get.”
Jiang Tea Tea gave a short laugh. “I don’t feel honored. I just think your uncle is good at winning people over.”
Sui Xuan Chu didn’t get angry. He just defended his uncle automatically. “You lack basic common sense. It’s normal you don’t understand.”
Jiang Tea Tea pouted. “How long until we reach the capital planet?”
Old Loach was too meticulous. She had to stay alert.
“Once we enter the wormhole space jump, half an hour at most,” Sui Xuan Chu said. “We’ll be back at the capital planet.”
Jiang Tea Tea blinked. “Wormhole space jump? What’s that?”
Sui Xuan Chu was used to her ridiculous questions. Patient as always, he explained, “It links two sets of coordinates in the universe. You use a massive cyclical energy field to warp space, overlap it, shorten distance—jump from one star system to another, from one planet to another.”
“Simply put: from the sixth star system to the capital planet, even at full speed this ship would need five years.”
“With a wormhole space jump, we get there in half an hour.”
The principle wasn’t much different from a spell that “shrinks the earth to an inch”—crossing vast distance in an instant. One consumed magic power. The other used a massive energy field. The essence was the same.
Just as Jiang Tea Tea was about to speak again, Chong Ming’s voice carried from nearby.
“Jiang Tea Tea, are you interested in wormhole space jumps?”
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t even turn her head. “Nope. Not interested. Not a little. Don’t make me learn it. I won’t.”
He was insane.
At dinner, when he saw she was finished eating, he’d sent her a study schedule—pages of it. Command Department. Combat Department. Intelligence. Strategic analysis. An entire list.
After reading it, she was convinced he wasn’t training her to become a Commander-in-Chief candidate.
He was training her to become the Empire’s queen.
Chong Ming approached with a chief engineer from the mecha division. “If you don’t want to learn it, you don’t have to. But if there’s something you are interested in, tell me. I’ll adjust your schedule so you can learn the most in the shortest time.”
“I’m not interested in anything,” Jiang Tea Tea said quickly. “Don’t add more. Better yet, subtract. Subtract a lot.”
Sui Xuan Chu pressed himself flat against the wall, silently chanting: I’m not here. I’m invisible. Nobody sees me.
Chong Ming stopped in front of her, sounding like an elder. “You’re young. Your memory, your stamina—everything is at its best. Learn more now. You’ll need it later.”
Jiang Tea Tea had sold every shred of pride for a few bottles of dragon blood. A contract was a contract; she couldn’t back out.
She could only pray the cubs in her belly behaved, stayed stable, and let her survive the studying—finish the curriculum, finish her contract with the fake heiress.
Jiang Tea Tea reached out and yanked Sui Xuan Chu away from the wall. “Why is it only me? If I have to learn, he has to learn too. He can’t just sit around being useless.”
Sui Xuan Chu’s soul nearly left his body.
Chong Ming’s golden eyes darkened. “Him?”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded hard. “Yes. I looked at his schedule, his plan, his courses. Compared to mine, it’s not even close.”
“What, are you shearing me like a sheep while you let him laze around? Four years later he graduates and becomes a lofty, useless dragon?”
Sui Xuan Chu wanted to scream.
He hadn’t shown her any schedule. She was lying with a straight face like breathing.
Surely his uncle wouldn’t believe her nonsense. Surely he wouldn’t pile extra work on him.
Chong Ming’s gaze settled on Sui Xuan Chu. He studied him for a moment, then nodded.
“You’re right, Jiang Tea Tea. His schedule is too easy.”
“By tomorrow evening at the latest, I’ll overlay his plan with yours. You can supervise each other. When I test you, I’ll test both of you together. Saves time.”
Inside, Sui Xuan Chu bled tears. He still had political work to handle; the competition had been the only reason he’d had any freedom.
Jiang Tea Tea released him, satisfied, and smiled sweetly. “Roommate, I did that for you. No need to thank me.”
Sui Xuan Chu ground his molars. “I want to strangle you.”
Jiang Tea Tea stuck her neck out. “Come on. Strangle me. If you can kill me, I’ll thank you.”
Sui Xuan Chu’s fists clenched. His teeth creaked.
Chong Ming’s voice cut through them, low and cold. “Why are you acting like children?”
Sui Xuan Chu snapped straight, instantly becoming a model cadet. “Jiang Tea Tea, thank you for thinking of me. I’ll study hard, make progress every day, and supervise you as well.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s smile turned radiant. If she was going to suffer, the future emperor was going to suffer too. Mutual destruction. Who was afraid?
“Jiang Tea Tea.”
Chong Ming called her right as she was smiling widest.
Her smile vanished. “What. Say it.”
Chong Ming gestured to the man beside him. “This is the chief engineer for the ship’s mecha division. He not only repairs mecha—he designs them. His specialty is custom skeletal mecha.”
“As first place in the 30-school military academy championship, you get a custom skeletal mecha along with the one-million bonus. Before we land, let him measure your body data so he can tailor it.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s guard shot up instantly. “I don’t need a custom skeletal mecha. I’m transferring the slot.”
Chong Ming frowned. “I need a reason.”
Jiang Tea Tea took two steps back, almost reflexively covering her belly. “No reason. I don’t need it.”
Chong Ming’s brow furrowed deeper. “You’re afraid I’ll collect your body data?”
Jiang Tea Tea hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”
Chong Ming studied her for a long moment. “Then we won’t collect your data. We’ll use my body data as the template and customize one for you. How about that?”
Jiang Tea Tea blinked. “I can fight on the battlefield without a skeletal mecha. Why are you insisting on giving me one?”
Chong Ming answered evenly, “Any soldier on the front line—or preparing to go to the front—has a mecha.”
“A mecha is their final shield. The key to surviving. The key to turning the tide. That’s why I insist. That’s why you need it.”
His logic wasn’t wrong.
But neither was she. Her body could not be exposed through data.
Jiang Tea Tea met his eyes. “Fine. Use your body data.”
The chief engineer cleared his throat. “Classmate… the Commander-in-Chief’s metrics are top-tier among beastfolk. You’re a small female—”
Jiang Tea Tea cut him off. “It’s fine. If he can operate that mecha, I can operate it too. If I can’t, I’ll train until I can.”
For a moment, the chief engineer looked as if he’d been transported back to seeing the Commander-in-Chief in his youth—eyes fierce with certainty. A spark of admiration rose in him.
“Very well. If you’re that confident, I’ll build it based on the Commander-in-Chief’s body data.”
“In three months at the soonest—six months at the latest—you’ll receive a custom skeletal mecha of the same model as the Commander-in-Chief.”
Jiang Tea Tea beamed. “Thank you!”
The chief engineer smiled back. “No need. I’ll prepare the work. We’ll meet again in a few months.”
He saluted Chong Ming and left.
*
The warship entered the capital planet’s atmosphere and hovered above the Airborne Command Academy.
Bai Mu Yuan and his squad came to the exit. When they reached the ship’s hatch, they saw Chong Ming and Jiang Tea Tea standing there, as if they’d been waiting specifically to send them down.
The hatch opened. A ramp extended.
One by one, the cadets saluted Chong Ming and descended.
When it was Bai Mu Yuan’s turn, he snapped a salute and stood straight. “Commander-in-Chief, I have an impertinent request. Please be a witness.”
Chong Ming looked at him, voice cold. “Bai Mu Yuan, asking me for an impertinent request is already discourteous and ill-timed.”
“You haven’t even stated the matter, yet you want me to promise something. That’s not in line with a soldier’s purpose: the nation and the people.”
Bai Mu Yuan’s heart lurched under the pressure, but he forced himself to speak.
“My apologies, Commander-in-Chief. I wasn’t thoughtful enough. But I still ask you to witness this—witness my pursuit of Jiang Tea Tea.”