Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Smack That Little Mouth—So Satisfying. Stab the Heart—So Beautiful

The moment Jiang Yi Zhu’s accusation landed, the entire scene went silent, as if someone had hit pause on the world.

The academy leadership felt cold creep from their feet to their scalps. Sweat broke out in sheets.

Was Jiang Yi Zhu insane?

A mere cadet, leaping past everyone to report directly to the Commander-in-Chief—like the entire school leadership didn’t exist?

The surrounding cadets stared at Jiang Tea Tea, mouths hanging open. Their expressions looked more terrified than if they’d just seen a Level 10 aberrant beast.

They couldn’t wrap their heads around it. How big did the bubble in Jiang Tea Tea’s head have to be for her to think she could murder their male idol—the strongest beastfolk in the M31 Star System?

Chong Ming acted as though he hadn’t just been told someone wanted him dead. Hands behind his back, he looked from Jiang Yi Zhu to Jiang Tea Tea without a flicker of emotion.

Adjutant Ai and Major Ma, meanwhile, were deeply grateful for their masks and armor. Otherwise their faces would have cracked with laughter. How did the empire produce a female this stupid?

Jiang Tea Tea broke the silence with a short, amused laugh. “Roommate, I suddenly feel like Zhen Lin Empire’s history books should reserve five whole lines for me.”

Sui Xuan Chu laughed too, nodding wildly despite the blood and scorched hair. “Yes, yes, roommate—go on. In front of all of us, kill Huang Big Dog’s idol, our empire’s Commander-in-Chief and Prince Regent, Chong Ming. Ten lines in history. You take five.”

“From then on, no one can compete with you. Greatest female of all time!”

“Future generations will see your name and give you a thumbs-up, and give Commander-in-Chief a pinky-down. You’ll die without regrets!”

Huang Da Zhuang stood there in a daze.

Sister Tea and Sui Xuan Chu were terrifying.

Should he cheer? Would that be too much?

Jiang Yi Zhu clenched her teeth, voice sharpening. “Sui Xuan Chu, you are a dragon clan member. How can you—just because Jiang Tea Tea is your roommate—sink into filth with her? How is this worthy of the country, the citizens, and the Commander-in-Chief, who serves the nation and the people?”

Chong Ming still didn’t speak.

Jiang Yi Zhu didn’t dare meet his eyes, but she dared to keep splashing mud on Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu. Every word dripped with performative righteousness.

“Jiang Tea Tea,” she said, voice trembling, “you are my sister. The adopted daughter our parents took in. You can’t—just because our parents don’t love you, you didn’t awaken abilities, and your fiance doesn’t like you—become twisted, secretly buy banned drugs, secretly inject banned drugs, develop an anti-human personality, and try to murder the Commander-in-Chief.”

“What you’re doing is wrong. I reported you for your own good. Don’t be stubborn!”

Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes flashed.

Her temper snapped clean in two.

She shifted Sui Xuan Chu’s supporting hand off her arm and onto Huang Da Zhuang’s shoulder.

Then she stepped forward and swung.

Smack.

Her slap cracked across Jiang Yi Zhu’s mouth so loud that even the bystanders flinched and stumbled back.

Jiang Yi Zhu hit the ground hard. Blood sprayed. Two teeth clattered onto the stone.

Jiang Tea Tea followed with a kick, sending Jiang Yi Zhu sliding toward Chong Ming like trash being shoved aside.

Chong Ming didn’t move.

Adjutant Ai stepped in and stopped Jiang Yi Zhu with his boot.

Jiang Yi Zhu coughed, clutching her chest, and spat another mouthful of blood.

Jiang Tea Tea walked up and looked down at her. “Jiang Yi Zhu. If you want to accuse someone, show proof. You’re running your mouth and framing me—who gave you the guts?”

Jiang Yi Zhu’s organs felt like they’d shifted. The pain was bright and burning.

But she had no road left.

If she couldn’t drag Jiang Tea Tea down, her parents—and the Chu Ming family—would never get out of the Police Bureau.

“Who says I don’t have proof?” Jiang Yi Zhu rasped. She wiped blood from her lips with shaking fingers. “The empty banned-drug tube is in your dorm. If Your Highness sends people to check, you’ll see.”

“And your lightbrain has purchase records,” she pressed on, voice rising. “Even if you deleted them, Your Highness can have an information expert restore them.”

Jiang Tea Tea watched her with a calm so sharp it felt like mockery.

She unfastened her lightbrain and tossed it toward Chong Ming. “Here. My lightbrain. Check whatever you want. Search my dorm, too.”

Chong Ming lifted a hand and caught it. The strap was still warm from her wrist.

He lowered his gaze to Jiang Yi Zhu. “Jiang Yi Zhu. Even if we find that Cadet Jiang Tea Tea used banned drugs and attempted to murder me, your parents and the Chu Ming family will still not leave the Police Bureau. Their crimes are already facts.”

“Think carefully,” he added, voice quiet but heavy. “Hmm?”

Jiang Yi Zhu’s face went white.

He knew about her parents’ case? About Chu Ming’s?

Impossible. The Commander-in-Chief ruled and commanded the military—how could he know about something so small?

Chong Ming didn’t wait for her answer. “Even if you don’t think carefully, it doesn’t matter. As a legal citizen of the empire, the law grants you the right to report.”

He paused, golden eyes steady.

“And the law also requires you to bear the consequences of falsely accusing others.”

Jiang Yi Zhu shook. “Your Highness, I—”

“Adjutant Ai,” Chong Ming cut in. “Go check.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Adjutant Ai snapped a salute and left with two guards.

No one moved. No one spoke.

The crowd waited in tense, breathless stillness.

Jiang Tea Tea’s stomach pain, which had finally eased, flared again after her burst of violence. She scanned the area, then retreated to the edge of a flowerbed.

One hand pressed her abdomen. The other sank into the dirt.

Her nails plunged down and became roots—countless thin tendrils slipping into the earth to drink in soil essence and fertilizer.

Sui Xuan Chu, dragging Huang Da Zhuang, hobbled over and sat beside her. “You okay, roommate?”

“I’m fine,” Jiang Tea Tea said through her teeth. “Just got kneed in the stomach. Still not recovered.”

Her eyes flicked to Chong Ming—standing there in perfect composure, holding her lightbrain like a man with manners, despite having been the one to pull the first sneak attack.

Sui Xuan Chu patted her shoulder. “Be glad he held back.”

Jiang Tea Tea shot him a knife-edged look. “What do you mean? If he didn’t hold back, I’d be dead today?”

Sui Xuan Chu grinned, teeth stark white against his scorched face. “Roommate. You have no idea what his combat power is. If he wanted to, our academy’s seventy or eighty thousand people wouldn’t be enough for him to slaughter.”