Chapter 139
Chapter 139: Discussing Marriage Registration After a Fight—How Ridiculous
Otto shoved forward, face contorted with rage. “Commander-in-Chief, your person has gone insane. She’s provoking war between our nations. You’re just standing there letting it happen—aren’t you going to stop her?”
Chong Ming didn’t move. His expression didn’t change. His voice stayed cool. “Stop what?”
“My person is engaging in friendly exchange with Your Highness Asais.”
He let the words settle, then added, “The Insect Clan isn’t that petty, surely. You wouldn’t forbid friendly exchange.”
“And if you truly are that petty…” Chong Ming’s gaze flicked lazily. “Then perhaps I should contact the Insect Clan’s Second Princess. Third Princess. Fifth Princess. Sixth Princess.”
Otto’s chest heaved. His eyes flashed, compound facets threatening to surface.
But he didn’t dare.
If the Crown Princess died in Zhen Lin territory, the Insect Clan would fall into chaos—princesses scrambling for the Crown position. No one would launch a war to avenge her.
And Otto and the rest would be buried with her.
Asais’s hand shifted, transforming into a clawed insect limb. She slashed toward Jiang Tea Tea’s abdomen.
Jiang Tea Tea bent backward and dodged.
Then she seized Asais and smashed her onto the floor.
Jiang Tea Tea stepped down on the claw, pressed, then ground her heel hard.
Crack.
The claw snapped under her sole.
Asais screamed, raw and furious. “Ah!”
Otto and the attendants tried to surge forward—
Chong Ming’s golden gaze slid over them, sharp as an unsheathed blade.
They froze in place.
Jiang Tea Tea kept her foot on Asais’s broken claw and spoke calmly. “Your Highness Asais, I won’t deny it—I’m excellent. Everyone wants to have me.”
“But you can’t have me.”
“This is the consequence of you getting greedy.”
“Next time any bug beside you dares to show their face in front of me and disrupt my life, I won’t just smash your head into a table and break your claw.”
“I’ll break your neck. I’ll cut off your head.”
She leaned closer, voice low and cruel. “Don’t tell me I wouldn’t dare.”
“You can’t even beat me. Everything you ‘have’ exists only because your status is high.”
Asais glared at her with murderous hatred, like she was looking at a corpse that just hadn’t died yet.
Jiang Tea Tea met her gaze without flinching.
Then, before stepping away, she stomped the broken claw again—hard—just to tear another scream out of her.
Asais’s cry came out ragged and humiliating.
Jiang Tea Tea finally lifted her foot and turned toward Chong Ming. “The rest is on you. I’m going to find my roommate and talk some shit.”
Chong Ming nodded. “Go.”
Jiang Tea Tea swaggered out of the lounge, leaving blood, broken furniture, and stunned silence behind.
Otto and the other attendants rushed to Asais, hauling her up from the floor, faces full of fear and grief.
Asais stared at Chong Ming, voice shaking with rage. “Your royal academy was invaded by bugs. What does that have to do with me?”
“You let Jiang Tea Tea injure me. You disregard the friendship between our nations. Aren’t you afraid I’ll report this to my Empress Mother and drag your Zhen Lin Empire back into war?”
Chong Ming’s expression didn’t shift. “The human race has an old saying: the dog that bites doesn’t bark; the dog that barks doesn’t bite.”
“Your Highness Asais, if you could truly persuade your Empress Mother to wage war on the Zhen Lin Empire again, you wouldn’t have crossed multiple star systems just to come here and pick up Eldest Prince Agris.”
Asais’s mouth tightened. “You—”
Chong Ming cut her off, voice low and heavy. “I’ve said these words to you countless times. I’ve warned you about your situation countless times.”
“And you ignored me every time.”
“The things you truly care about…” His eyes sharpened. “Are finding my mate. Finding my cub. Finding my nephew.”
“Kidnapping all three.”
“Using them to threaten me.”
He paused, then added with contempt, “Your Highness Asais—your thinking is childish. Low. Pathetic.”
Asais’s heart dropped.
For a moment, the pain in her head and the pain in her claw didn’t exist.
Chong Ming knew everything.
He had seen every move.
Asais forced a laugh and reached for denial. “Commander-in-Chief, the Insect Clan has billions upon billions of operatives. Anyone could be interested in your mate, your cub, and your nephew.”
“I don’t know who sent people. But don’t you dare pin this on me.”
“I came here to befriend you. I came here to bring my imperial elder brother back. Nothing else interests me.”
Chong Ming lifted a brow. “Is that so?”
Asais’s voice went firm. “Of course.”
Chong Ming replied evenly, “You have four days left before you return to the Insect Clan. The star system you promised me earlier? Too little.”
“Add more.”
“Four days from now, if you’ve added enough chips, I’ll let you take Eldest Prince Agris away safely.”
“If you don’t…” His voice cooled. “Then you return alone. And what awaits you after you go back?”
“Only Beast God knows.”
Asais clenched her teeth. “That’s extortion. You’re raising the price on the spot.”
Chong Ming corrected her. “It’s robbery.”
“Give or don’t. Four days from now, answer me.”
He glanced at her blood-smeared face. “It’s late. I don’t have time to watch you bleed and rage without even the grace expected of a royal heir.”
With that, he turned and left.
His attendants followed in a steady, unhurried line—like a parade meant to humiliate the foreign Crown Princess left standing broken in their empire.
Outside the lounge, Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu had been talking when Chong Ming emerged.
Their conversation died instantly.
They straightened without thinking and fell in behind him.
They boarded a flyer from the hotel rooftop, fighter craft in the lead and the bodyguard team escorting. In the deep night, their formation moved like scattered starlight across the sky.
Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu sat opposite Chong Ming.
The flyer’s interior was spacious and luxurious.
Chong Ming pulled out a Lightbrain tablet and started reading immediately.
Beside him, Sui Xuan Chu sat like a chastened child—knees together, back straight, hands neatly on his thighs. All his usual swagger had vanished under his uncle’s presence.
Jiang Tea Tea, by contrast, lounged like she owned the flyer, eyes roaming with interest.
She scanned the cabin once, then frowned. “Wait—roommate. This doesn’t look like the route back to the Royal Military Academy. Look.”
Sui Xuan Chu swallowed and peered out the window. After a moment, he nodded. “Yeah. This isn’t the academy route. It’s the route to the Imperial Palace.”
Jiang Tea Tea sat up sharply and fixed Chong Ming with a glare. “Chong Ming. Why aren’t you taking us back to school? Why are you taking us to the Imperial Palace?”
Chong Ming lifted his eyes from the tablet and met her gaze. “Two days ago, at the Military Department, you agreed to let Cheng Lin Yue and her uncle, Cheng Yuan, examine you.”
“Cheng Yuan arrived on the capital planet today. He’s at the Imperial Palace.”
“I had someone fetch Cheng Lin Yue as well.”
He spoke like it was the most natural thing in the world. “No need to delay. Tonight we do the checkup. We check your health, your abdomen, and the cubs. We find out what nutrients you lack and make a plan to supplement properly.”
Jiang Tea Tea’s alarm bells screamed.
A checkup meant he’d know how many cubs she carried.
If he saw too many… if his eyes turned red with envy… what then?
Chong Ming watched her expression shift and seemed to read the fear behind it. His voice stayed low and steady. “I only want to know whether you’re healthy.”
“And whether the cubs can survive the full ten to fifteen months.”
“If they can survive and remain healthy, they’re yours. I won’t fight you for them. I won’t steal them.”
“You don’t need to guard against me.”
He paused, then added firmly, “I only want to fulfill my responsibility as their father.”
Then, like it was an afterthought, he continued, “Of course, if you want me to take responsibility—if you’re willing to register marriage with me—we can have the marriage registry come work overtime.”
“We can register tonight.”