Chapter 120
Chapter 120: If We’re Going to Fight, Then Fight—Why Did I Run My Mouth and Give Old Loach an Opening?
“Not being polite to me?”
Jiang Tea Tea laughed like she’d just heard the funniest joke in the universe. She weighed the twig staff in her hand, smiled at Li Ao, and said, “Haven’t you heard the saying? Dogs that bite don’t bark. Dogs that bark don’t bite.”
“You bark so much, it just proves you can’t beat me.”
“And do you know why you can’t beat me? Because your abilities are a mess.”
“And why are your abilities a mess? Because you’re greedy. You study other people’s rare abilities and mutant abilities, and the moment you get your hands on them, you want to claim them for yourself.”
“You graft them onto your own body, don’t you, Director Li?”
Li Ao’s expression tightened. His eyes flicked, almost against his will, toward Chong Ming. Shame flashed hot, then turned into rage. He raised his voice, forcing authority into it.
“Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, this is the Military Department. Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming is right behind you. Watch your mouth. You’re not allowed to slander me and throw filth at my name.”
“Everything I do is for the empire. For beastfolk who haven’t awakened abilities, for half-beastfolk, for pure humans—I’m working for their benefit.”
“You, of all people, should understand what it’s like. The stares. The disrespect. The unfairness you suffer when you reach the age you should awaken and nothing happens.”
“I did all this for the empire, for more people like you, and you still try to smear me. How selfish can you be?”
Jiang Tea Tea snorted. “Me, smearing you?” She lifted her chin, eyes sharp and mocking. “If you hadn’t been so desperate to drag me into the Ability Research Institute, I wouldn’t even have bothered using my ability to check how many abilities you’re carrying around.”
Li Ao’s pupils shrank. His voice trembled, half with shock and half with panic. “You can see how many abilities someone has…? You’re not just plant-type. You have invisibility too—”
“Dumbass.” Jiang Tea Tea cut him off without mercy. “Think for once, even if it’s with your toes. Why do you think I’m here? Because I’m useful.”
She leaned in, smile cruel. “Your precious Commander-in-Chief invited me.”
Sui Xuan Chu stood to the side, staring.
…She wasn’t wrong.
When she borrowed his uncle’s name to throw her weight around, she sounded more righteous than he’d ever been.
Wasn’t she supposed to be afraid of his uncle?
So she’d been “afraid” the whole time, only to turn around and use him as a shield the moment it suited her.
Was this what confidence looked like? Was this the backbone of top students?
He wasn’t outstanding. In front of his uncle, he always folded. Always felt small. Always came up short on nerve.
Chong Ming’s lips lifted by the barest fraction. His golden eyes stayed on Jiang Tea Tea—steady, unreadable.
Practical little thing.
When she needed him, she called him Commander-in-Chief, Commander-in-Chief, sweet as syrup.
When she challenged him, it was Old Loach, Old Loach, dripping with sarcasm.
She could glare at him, sneer at him, needle him—
And now she was using his presence to intimidate someone else.
Li Ao didn’t dare meet the Commander-in-Chief’s gaze.
He’d been too impatient.
Chong Ming had frozen the Ability Research Institute for months, only letting him move again today. And the moment Li Ao saw someone as rare as Jiang Tea Tea—a mutant ability user like her—he’d lost his head. He’d forgotten everything and rushed to try to drag her into the Institute.
“So you’re doing it for the empire? For people like me?” Jiang Tea Tea clicked her tongue.
She swung the twig staff again, snapping it down toward his head.
“Director Li, you tell lies so often you start believing them yourself, don’t you?”
Li Ao dodged and tried to gather his ability, preparing to counter—
And then a crushing pressure slammed down on him, heavy as a mountain.
The ability he’d summoned scattered like smoke. His counterattack collapsed before it could form.
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t miss the opening. She struck again.
Crack.
The staff landed square across his forehead. A bloody welt streaked down over his brow and the bridge of his nose.
Feeling the overwhelming pressure pouring off Chong Ming, Jiang Tea Tea followed up with a ruthless kick. She drove her boot into Li Ao’s midsection and sent him sprawling—right to Chong Ming’s feet.
She lifted her chin, black eyes locking onto gold, and spat, “Captain Hindsight!”
So he’d decided to help her now?
What was the point? Like taking off your pants just to fart—completely unnecessary.
Sui Xuan Chu shuddered so hard his hand twitched.
His roommate was terrifying.
He wanted to drop to his knees and call her a hero.
And he also wanted to drop to his knees in front of his uncle and beg: Please, Imperial Uncle, don’t take it personally. Don’t argue with her.
Chong Ming didn’t even look at Li Ao. He simply lifted his boot and placed it on Li Ao’s hand, grinding it into the floor and forcing him to stay facedown.
His attention never left Jiang Tea Tea as he spoke in a low voice, calm and cold.
“Adjutant Ai. Find someone else to brief Insect Clan Crown Princess Asais on Eldest Prince Agris’s physical condition and psychological status.”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief.”
Adjutant Ai answered, then glanced at the researcher Li Ao had brought. The researcher immediately stepped forward, took the two cases Li Ao had carried in, and followed Adjutant Ai out.
After they entered the lift, Chong Ming said to Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu, “Both of you. Go to my office and wait.”
Jiang Tea Tea didn’t move. “Before I go, I want to know how you’re going to deal with him.”
Chong Ming asked back, “How would you like to deal with him?”
Jiang Tea Tea laughed without humor. “What, I get to do whatever I want? I have the power to ignore the law?”
Chong Ming replied solemnly, “Even I can’t ignore the law.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s face twisted. “Then why the hell did you ask?”
Sui Xuan Chu’s eyelid twitched.
Yes, yes—his uncle couldn’t “ignore” the law.
But he was the empire’s top authority. Even if Sui Xuan Chu became Emperor one day, as long as Chong Ming didn’t retire, his power would still outrank Sui Xuan Chu’s. He could even participate in rewriting the empire’s laws.
He couldn’t ignore the law.
He just stood above it.
Chong Ming didn’t get angry. His voice remained steady. “Listening to citizens’ opinions is part of my duty, as Commander-in-Chief and Prince Regent.”
“You are a lawful citizen of the empire. If you have opinions, I’ll listen—then take whatever is useful.”
When people were too speechless to respond, they laughed. Devils laughed too.
Jiang Tea Tea laughed out loud, then threatened him with a glare. “Fine. Just wait. I’ve been feeling unwell lately, I’m not fully recovered. Once I am, you’ll be the first one I kill.”
Chong Ming arched a brow. “To help you kill me sooner, should I find you a healer?”
“No.” Jiang Tea Tea refused instantly. “I’m afraid you’ll hand me over to Director Li.”
She was afraid of Li Ao’s Ability Research Institute.
Afraid of ending up like Cheng Yuan—trapped there for ten years.
Chong Ming paused, then said, “If you’re afraid I’ll hand you over to Director Li, then have your teacher, Jin Lao, examine you. Or have your classmate Cheng Lin Yue. Or her uncle, Cheng Yuan.”
“Once you have a report, let me see it.”
Jiang Tea Tea froze.
Wait.
He didn’t seem to know she was carrying cubs.
And he didn’t seem to know she was the one from First Hotel—the one who’d slept with him.
Which meant… when he’d contacted her and threatened her into coming here, he’d been trying to bait her out.
Her expression flipped so fast it was almost comical. “So can I take my roommate and leave the Military Department now to go find Cheng Lin Yue and her uncle?”
Chong Ming clearly caught the sudden brightness in her mood.
And he answered by pouring cold water over it.
“The matter between you and me at First Hotel hasn’t been resolved. There’s no need to rush off to Cheng Lin Yue and her uncle.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s heart dropped like a stone. “You—”
Chong Ming’s mood lifted slightly, the deep timbre of his voice softening by a hair as he looked at her. “Classmate Sui Xuan Chu. Take your roommate to my office.”
“I’ll give you fifteen minutes to coordinate your stories.”
“I hope you can use those fifteen minutes to make your statement seamless—convincing enough that I believe it.”
“And convincing enough that you don’t disappoint me.”