Chapter 142
Chapter 142: For the Little Brat, Finally Living Together
“Two of the younglings are too small. If they stay like that, will they die?” Jiang Tea Tea pushed herself up and asked, leaning forward to look at the imaging platform.
Cheng Yuan turned the imaging platform toward her. On the screen were five golden younglings. They were small and short, but their bloodlines were extremely pure.
Cheng Yuan pointed at the screen and patiently explained to Jiang Tea Tea: “The five younglings in your belly are all on the small side. These two are especially small.”
He said: “The scan shows these two are about 1.2 to 1.8 centimeters shorter than the other three.”
“Do not look down on that tiny bit of length. It decides whether they can live and be born.”
“It also affects how long their bodies will be after they are born and after they reach adulthood. Normally, dragons of the Dragon Clan are about 12 to 18 meters long when they first become adults. Between the ages of 20 and 30, they grow to between 20 and 60 meters.”
“Dragons grow their beast form every 10 years, based on the level of their abilities. The higher their level, the longer their beast form.”
“Of course, there are special cases. Some parents from the Dragon Clan have very long beast forms. Even if their levels are not that high, the children can inherit this, and their beast forms will not be too short.”
“The main point is this: when younglings are too small and lack the soothing spiritual power of their father’s abilities, even if they are born safely, their awakening will be affected. There is an 85 percent chance they will never awaken any abilities at all.”
“In our time, where people judge strength by abilities, whether it is a beastman male, a beastman female, or a pure human, if they never awaken any abilities, their future will be very hard. The path is especially hard for golden Dragons.”
Every word Cheng Yuan said came from the bottom of his heart. Golden Dragons have a hard time reproducing. For thousands and tens of thousands of years, a pair of golden Dragon Clan husband and wife could have at most two younglings, and usually only one.
The younglings they do have always awaken abilities. The only difference is how strong those abilities are.
If, among Jiang Tea Tea’s five cubs, two of them never awakened abilities, then when they grew up, understood things, and could compare themselves to others, they would feel pressure and shame. They would see themselves as useless and end up with deep mental scars.
Jiang Tea Tea looked at the five younglings on the screen. They were all golden dragons. Not a single one was a little tea tree sprout, not even a tiny tea tree bud.
If there was even one little tea tree seedling or bud, after it was born she could just find a pot, pile in some good fertilizer, toss it in, cover it with rich soil, water it, give it some sun, and it would grow on its own and shine on its own.
Jiang Tea Tea asked: “Cheng Yuan, from what you are saying, I have to stay with Chong Ming all the time from now on to make sure my five younglings can grow up safely and be born?”
Cheng Yuan nodded: “Yes. While the younglings are in their mother’s body, they must receive the soothing spiritual power from their father’s abilities so they can grow strong.”
“Your younglings are different from normal ones. They do not have eggshells. If they had eggshells, they would be laid as eggs and then hatched by their father. During hatching, they could keep growing.”
“Now they can only grow while inside your body. And there is one more thing I cannot tell for sure. I do not know whether your younglings can really be born in 10 to 15 months.”
He could not judge when the younglings would be born, so the younglings would have to stay inside her belly.
He did not know how long they would need to stay.
Because her dragon cubs were going to be born live instead of as eggs, this was already a medical miracle, a top tier special case. There were no other cases to use for reference.
Jiang Tea Tea put her hand on her belly and felt the younglings rolling and moving inside. She asked: “If I drink more dragon blood, will that help?”
Cheng Yuan frowned slightly: “The dragon blood from the younglings’ father can give the younglings energy, but it is still not the same as the soothing spiritual power from his abilities. It is a bit different.”
Jiang Tea Tea sighed: “So I have to accept soothing spiritual power from Chong Ming’s abilities every day?”
Cheng Yuan nodded: “Yes.”
Jiang Tea Tea thought for a moment and said: “Right now I do not want him to know I have five younglings. Pick the weakest youngling’s image and show him only that one. Tell him only that youngling’s condition.”
“Alright, wait a moment.” Cheng Yuan removed the device from her belly, helped her off the examination table, and let her sit to the side and rest.
He and Cheng Lin Yue worked together on the side. He took the results from his own instrument, edited and adjusted the images and data, then uploaded them to the Imperial Palace diagnostic scanner.
In a short while, the diagnostic scanner of the Imperial Palace printed out a complete examination report for a single youngling.
Cheng Yuan first asked Cheng Lin Yue to look over the report and check the details.
Cheng Lin Yue did not find anything wrong in the details.
Cheng Yuan looked through it several more times. After he was sure it was fine, he deleted the data from his own instrument, then put the instrument away into his space knob storage device. He picked up the report and told Jiang Tea Tea: “It is done. Let’s go down.”
Jiang Tea Tea let out a quiet breath. In his exam of her body, he had only found problems with the younglings. He had not found anything strange about her body compared to normal people. That was very good news for her.
In the hall on the first floor, Chong Ming saw them coming down. He stood up and looked at them. Their faces looked heavy, as if the situation was not very good.
Chong Ming walked over and said in a calm, discussing tone: “Jiang Tea Tea, you and Cheng Lin Yue will stay in the Imperial Palace tonight. Tomorrow I will have someone send you both to the Academy.”
“Right now you and she should go rest. I want to talk alone with Healer Cheng Yuan. Is that alright?”
Jiang Tea Tea instinctively looked at Cheng Yuan, mainly to remind him not to blurt things out and not to reveal the matter of the five younglings.
Cheng Yuan nodded to her and said: “Schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea, it is already very late. You should rest. Go. I will speak with Commander in Chief Chong Ming about your problem.”
Jiang Tea Tea smiled: “Alright, I will go rest with Cheng Lin Yue first.”
Chong Ming called out toward the door. Two male and two female stewards entered and made respectful inviting gestures to Jiang Tea Tea and Cheng Lin Yue.
Jiang Tea Tea walked out as if she were used to this. She lifted her foot and left.
Cheng Lin Yue was like a wandering star person entering the big capital planet, tense, curious, and cautious. She stuck close behind Jiang Tea Tea.
Of the four stewards, two walked in front to lead the way, and two walked behind them to protect them.
Jiang Tea Tea walked with Cheng Lin Yue in the middle. Her steps were calm and unhurried, like she was strolling through her own mountain estate.
Chong Ming looked at the examination report for Jiang Tea Tea’s youngling. In the color image he saw a golden dragon cub.
It was small, weak, and thin. It had none of the length and thickness a golden dragon youngling should have. It looked extremely frail. Its eyes were still closed, and it did not have dragon horns yet.
After a moment, Chong Ming looked up at Cheng Yuan and asked: “There is only the youngling’s examination report. Why is there no full-body examination report for her?”
Cheng Yuan answered calmly: “Commander in Chief, all of her discomfort comes from the youngling in her belly.”
“Because of violence, the youngling failed to form a shell and is living in her uterus like an unhatched egg. It is using up her abilities.”
“On top of that, it does not have the soothing spiritual power from your abilities. That is why the youngling has become weak and shorter than a normal youngling.”
Again, Chong Ming thought of that kick he had given her. If not for that kick, the youngling in her belly should have formed normally as an egg. In 10 to 15 months, the egg would have been laid and then hatched.
Cheng Yuan paused for a moment, then went on: “According to this report, the youngling in schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea’s belly is in a bad state. It urgently needs the soothing spiritual power from its father’s abilities.”
“So, Commander in Chief, there is nothing wrong with her body. The problem is only with the youngling. Even if she goes through intensive training at the Academy, it will only make her physically tired. It will not affect the youngling in her belly too much.”
“In other words, this is a very sensible youngling. It knows it absorbed too much of the mother’s abilities at conception, so while it grows, it tries its best not to take more of her ability power.”
A golden Dragon having five younglings in one pregnancy was unheard of. It was the first and only case in history.
In these seven months, the mother of these younglings had been jumping up and down, had her belly kicked and hit, and yet the younglings had survived. That was a miracle among miracles.
Two of the younglings were too small, and the others were a bit more normal. This could not even be called a miracle anymore. It was more like the favor of the Beast God.
Cheng Yuan did not dare imagine what Commander in Chief Chong Ming would be like if he knew schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea was carrying five younglings.
But he had promised schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea that he would keep her secret, so he would keep it. Even if the truth came out later, he believed schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea would be able to protect him and his niece and would not let Commander in Chief Chong Ming blame them.
Chong Ming read through the report again, folded it, and put it into his space knob storage device. Then he said to Cheng Yuan: “Healer Cheng Yuan, your medical skills, your teacher, and the many cases you have treated on Changsheng Star are all excellent.”
“Since schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea trusts you and your niece, schoolmate Cheng Lin Yue, you will temporarily join the royal medical team. The two of you will be in charge of Jiang Tea Tea’s health.”
“When the youngling in her belly is born safely and the Ability Research Institute has been cleaned up, I will transfer you there to take charge.”
Cheng Yuan had thought he might join the royal medical team to take care of schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea, but he had never thought he would be put in charge of the Ability Research Institute.
He refused: “Commander in Chief, since the Ability Research Institute was founded, every Institute Director has had a very strong background.”
“I am someone with no background or status. Even if I went, I would not be able to control the people under me who do have backgrounds. So I have to refuse.”
The Ability Research Institute was very deep water. Other than Institute Director Li Ao, almost every other staff member in every department had some kind of backing.
Because the Ability Research Institute was a cushy job with very generous funding, some half-trained doctors from the medical department used their connections to get in.
Once they got in, they drew high salaries and had impressive social status. If they took a liking to someone’s abilities or wanted to study someone, they would find ways to drag that person into the institute and do whatever they wanted.
Some people also used the Ability Research Institute as a springboard to jump to even better positions, to secure glory and status for themselves and their families.
Chong Ming’s deep voice grew a shade heavier: “Do not be in such a hurry to refuse. I mean that after the Ability Research Institute is cleaned up, you will take over.”
“Everything you just described, I already know. Before, the timing was not right. Now the timing is perfect. A large cleaning is already in progress. And it is not only the Ability Research Institute as a single department. It includes all the departments and backgrounds connected to every staff member inside the Ability Research Institute.”
“It cannot be cleaned up in one day. It will take at least a year to a year and a half. Is that alright?”
Cheng Yuan thought for a moment and said: “If I can overcome my fear of the Ability Research Institute during this year and a half, then when you finish cleaning it up, I will agree to take over.”
“But if I still cannot overcome the ten years of fear I carry toward the Ability Research Institute, then please find someone else for that post.”
He was terrified of the Ability Research Institute. As for Li Ao, he hated him so much he wanted to tear him into pieces. So he could not easily agree.
Chong Ming nodded: “Alright. I can also introduce you to Elder Jin, Elder Qiu, and Elder Sha. Besides serving on the royal medical team, you can keep learning from them.”
The big shots the Commander in Chief mentioned were all high level figures in the healing world. Being able to learn from even one of them would already be like touching the ceiling of the field, let alone all three.
If not for coming to the capital planet this time to examine schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea, Cheng Yuan knew that in eight lifetimes he would never enjoy treatment like this.
Cheng Yuan said gratefully: “Thank you, Commander in Chief.”
Chong Ming answered with a low “Mm”: “Go rest.”
Cheng Yuan agreed, stepped back two steps, then turned and left the Healing Room of the Imperial Palace. Outside, there were Imperial Palace enforcement officers waiting to escort him back to his lodging.
Jiang Tea Tea and Cheng Lin Yue were not staying in the same place. They each had their own quarters. Jiang Tea Tea’s place was especially large. There was a rock garden in the courtyard and a big pool. The furnishings inside were simple, but they looked very expensive.
The bed was a half circle, like a nest. It was inlaid with all kinds of gemstones that sparkled brightly.
On some of the shelves in the bedroom there were also all kinds of very large gemstones. Some were as big as a fist, some as big as pigeon eggs or chicken eggs. Every gemstone looked priceless and so bright they almost hurt the eyes.
“Schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea.” The Imperial Palace steward who had brought her over stood in the hall outside the bedroom and called toward her inside: “The kitchen has sent over a late-night snack. Do you want to eat something?”
Jiang Tea Tea ran out of the bedroom: “Yes, I do.”
She had been busy all night and was very hungry.
The steward held out her hand and made a polite “please” gesture: “This way, please.”
Jiang Tea Tea followed her into another hall.
The table in the hall was covered with all kinds of delicate dishes, meat and vegetables, snacks and fruit.
After Jiang Tea Tea sat down, the steward asked respectfully: “Schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea, please take a look. If there is anything else you want to eat, I will have the cook make it.”
Jiang Tea Tea waved her hand: “No need. This is enough. You can go out.”
The steward answered: “Yes. I will be right at the courtyard gate. If anything happens, just come out and you will see me.”
Jiang Tea Tea said: “Alright, thank you.”
The steward replied that there was no need to be polite and backed out with respect.
This was the palace where His Highness Chong Ming lived. The fact that schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea could stay here meant she was the future consort of the Prince of the Blood.
As one of the Imperial Palace stewards, being called here to serve and care for schoolmate Jiang Tea Tea was the highest honor.
Jiang Tea Tea patted her belly and started enjoying her late-night snack. The dishes were balanced with meat and vegetables, plus desserts. The amount was not too much and not too little.
She ate until she felt very comfortable and the food tasted delicious. Just when she was about to finish, Chong Ming walked in wearing a military uniform, holding a tray. He took away her empty plates and put the few dishes on his tray down on the table.
Jiang Tea Tea hurried to chew and swallow the food in her mouth, then looked at him and said: “Old mud loach, men and women should keep a proper distance. What are you doing coming to the place I live at this hour of the night?”
Chong Ming sat down across from her and handed her a handkerchief. He corrected her: “This is the palace where I stay when I am in the Imperial Palace. At night, I will live here with you.”
Jiang Tea Tea had been about to take the handkerchief to wipe her mouth. When she heard what he said, her eyes went wide and she exploded: “You are going to live with me? What kind of relationship do we have that you think you can share a room and a bed with me? Do you not want your face anymore?”