Chapter 267
Chapter 267: Chong Ming, you old mud loach, how dare you spread rumors that I have a thing with you
Official history might not be correct, but unofficial history is definitely wild.
Those four words “street-side rumors” are even more out of control than unofficial history.
Rumor had it that Old Mud Loach did not like women and liked men instead. That gossip was wild, wild enough, really wild. People really wanted to hear more.
Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes were full of excitement and hunger for gossip. She leaned forward and asked Kong Que: “Lieutenant General Kong Que, let me ask something. A prince of a whole country can just say he is sending himself as a gift? Do they not feel ashamed at all?”
A prince of a country, no shame?
Being treated like an erotic gift and sent to Old Mud Loach, they were not afraid of being laughed at? They did not think it was embarrassing?
Out of the corner of his eye, Kong Que glanced at his own Executive Commander. He saw Zhong Li He raise his head. Those sapphire blue eyes were shining as he looked over, just like Jiang Tea Tea’s, full of interest and craving for gossip.
Kong Que cleared his throat, looked away, and began to talk about the spies he had placed in different nations and the information they sent back: “Miss Jiang Tea Tea, you might not know much about the Merfolk, but you should have studied biology.”
“No matter if it is fish in the river, fish in a ditch, or fish in the sea, other than a few special species that do not have many offspring, most fish give birth to a whole brood at once, dozens or even hundreds of little fish.”
“It is the same for the Merfolk. They are also fish. They are a multiple-birth species. Single or twin births are rare.”
“The marriage law of their nation is the exact opposite of the Insectoid Race. The Insectoid Race has one female with many males. The Merfolk have one male with many females.”
“Besides his official queen consort, the king of the Merfolk has, according to statistics from the Imperial Authorities, eighty-nine Merfolk women whose names are on the Royal Household family list.”
“As for the registered Merfolk princes and princesses, other than the three sons and three daughters born from his six official queen consorts, there are 1,680 more.”
“But the king of the Merfolk does not only have the women whose names are on the Royal Household list. He is very promiscuous, always chasing excitement and playing big. He has many lovers in his own nation who never made it onto the official list, and there are also women from other planets and races in his collection.”
“In the same way, since those lovers are not on the royal list, there are Merfolk little brats who are not written in the royal records. A man who does not even know how many lovers he has or how many children he has cannot be expected to have much feeling for those brats. There is no way he can recognize all of them.”
“So using one unloved brat, a child he does not know, to curry favor with the Commander in Chief of the Three Armies of Zhenlin Empire, the regent prince of the blood, in exchange for weapons, military protection, and patrols over the Border Stars… no matter how you count it, it is a good deal. Do you agree?”
Jiang Tea Tea clicked her tongue in loud disdain: “That abacus is clacking so loud. Not bad, not bad, very not bad.”
“I think so too.” Zhong Li He agreed with her and said to Kong Que: “Kong Que, I have decided to delay going back to Western Kingdom. I want to stay in Zhenlin Empire for another month and a half. I will leave only after I finish watching this gossip and eating all this melon.”
Kong Que had said all this to make his Executive Commander Lord leave Zhenlin Empire as soon as possible, not to make him stay longer.
They had already agreed to leave tomorrow, and they could even have left today ahead of time.
Now he had picked up a rock only to smash his own foot. Not only did he fail to get his Executive Commander Lord to leave, he now had to stay in Zhenlin Empire himself.
Jiang Tea Tea opened her mouth in surprise and asked: “Executive Commander Zhong, from the time you came to attend Zhenlin Empire’s Space Weapons Expo until now, you have been away for a month. If you stay another month and a half, are you not afraid that people in Western Kingdom who disagree with your politics will rebel and pull you down from power?”
Zhong Li He’s voice suddenly rose: “Rebel and pull me down from power? There is such a good thing? Then I should stay in this blessed land of Zhenlin Empire for another three months.”
Jiang Tea Tea: “???”
[What is going on? In the Interstellar Space era, are all lords this wild? They do not care at all about who holds power next? They are not even a little bit afraid that someone will blast them out of office?]
Kong Que: “…”
Miss Jiang Tea Tea had spoken straight into the Executive Commander Lord’s heart.
He had been sitting in the position of Executive Commander for many years, jumping back and forth every day on the edge of losing his temper.
He kept nagging that Kong Que should take his seat so he could go out and have fun, travel around, and become a Star Pirate roaming the sea of stars.
What he hoped for the most was for someone to pull him down, so he could smoothly hand over all his power.
His record said he was qualified to be a lieutenant general, but his rank had been stuck there for more than ten years. He was the one holding himself back, staying in the seat of Executive Commander. No one else was blocking his promotion.
“Pa!”
The sharp sound of a teacup being set down on the table drew the attention of all three of them. They looked toward the owner of the cup, Chong Ming.
Chong Ming stood up, straightened his uniform, and walked toward Zhong Li He: “Executive Commander Zhong, your departure tomorrow has already been reported in the news. The whole M31 Star System knows. If you suddenly stay and do not leave Zhenlin Empire, every sharp-eyed person in M31 will think that you are the male partner I secretly like in the street-side rumors.”
Jiang Tea Tea pressed herself deep into her single sofa. She raised her hand to cover her mouth. She could not laugh. She absolutely could not laugh.
Kong Que lifted a hand to scratch his not-itchy forehead, then stepped aside, giving all the space to Chong Ming.
Zhong Li He pointed at himself: “I am your scandal partner? I am the man you like? You and I have a thing? Beast God above, how blind would my eyes have to be for me to fall for you?”
Chong Ming spread his hands: “Whether you like me or not is secondary. I do not like you either. But our secret gossip CP has been shipped by plenty of common citizens all across the M31 Star System.”
Jiang Tea Tea: “!!!!”
[Holy crap. Chong Ming really deserves the nickname Old Mud Loach. He hides his skills deep and even starts shipping himself with Zhong Li He.]
[Oh my god, this is so exciting. I have to go online later and search them up. Maybe someone has already written fanfiction about the two of them.]
Zhong Li He stood up and faced Chong Ming: “There is no CP of you and me on StarNet. Stop splashing dirty water on me.”
“Oh, I get it now. You want to use me as a tool. You want to use my hands to smack down that princess Cong Bei from Sky Vault Star, who keeps thinking about you, and scare off the Merfolk prince, so you can keep hiding her.”
Chong Ming raised his brows and snapped back without holding back: “Who is splashing dirty water on you? Stop trying to stick gold on your own face. I just want you to leave quickly.”
“Sky Vault Star and the Merfolk have no say with me at all. Letting them come and agreeing to receive them is only for appearances.”
The two men, who together were three hundred years old, went back and forth, still very childish. It was completely a “you do not deserve me, I do not deserve you” kind of scene.
Zhong Li He became stubborn: “You tell me to leave, so I should leave? I just will not leave. I want to see what you can do to me.”
Chong Ming had plenty of ways to deal with him: “You do not have to leave. When the princess from Sky Vault Star and the Merfolk prince arrive, you will come with me to receive them.”
Zhong Li He spat in his direction: “In your dreams. I am the guest. I am just here to eat melon. You want me to go receive them with you? Listen to yourself. Is that something a human would say?”
He did not want to become the melon other people ate. He did not want others to misunderstand that he had improper thoughts about this old dragon Chong Ming.
Beast God above, that beast form he released was longer than his own life, all golden and bright without even a single gorgeous feather. Who would like him?
Chong Ming turned his open hand, then dropped it, clearly sending him away: “If you will not go receive them with me, then you can leave now.”
Zhong Li He had not finished eating the melon yet. How could he leave? He refused: “I will not…”
Chong Ming’s gaze went past him to look at Kong Que behind him.
Kong Que’s eyes rolled once, then he said respectfully: “Executive Commander, I feel a little unwell.”
Zhong Li He turned around at once and asked with concern: “You feel unwell? Did we not just check your supernatural abilities and Spiritual Sea here? Where do you feel unwell?”
Kong Que replied: “Maybe it is because my supernatural abilities jumped up three levels at once. The tests did not show anything wrong, but my body has not fully adjusted yet.”
“So troublesome.” Zhong Li He complained, but his hands were already moving. He took the coat from Kong Que’s arm, put it on himself, and supported Kong Que: “I will take you back to rest.”
“Okay. Thank you, Executive Commander.” Half of Kong Que’s weight leaned on him, as if he really did not feel well. Even his voice was a little weak: “Miss Jiang Tea Tea, if you come to visit Western Kingdom in the future, you can contact me directly. I will come with the Executive Commander to pick you up.”
“Thank you, Commander in Chief Chong Ming, for your hospitality. We will leave with the Executive Commander first. I hope our friendship will last forever.”
Chong Ming nodded: “Long live friendship.”
After he spoke, he tapped on his light-brain wrist terminal and called in Deputy Officer Ai and Secretary Wen. He ordered them not only to send the guests out of Imperial Military Headquarters but also to escort them all the way back to their hotel, watch them board their ship, take pictures, post an announcement, and inform the entire M31 Star System that they had left.
Zhong Li He did not want to leave at all, but for Kong Que’s sake he still went.
When they boarded the flying device, he noticed that it went straight to his own warship.
The ship door closed, the vessel lifted off, left Zhenlin Empire’s capital planet, entered space, and then made a Space Jump.
By the time Zhong Li He reacted, they were already halfway through their journey. He slapped Kong Que on the face: “Kong Que, your courage has grown. You even dared to lie to me!”
Being hit, Kong Que did not feel insulted or hurt. There was even a faint light of excitement in his eyes. He answered respectfully: “My Executive Commander Lord, you do not want to stay as Executive Commander. You want to be a Star Pirate roaming the sea of stars. Besides training me to take your place, you can also train some other people.”
“There are a few good children in the Phoenix clan. Right now they have both military merit and strength. I have all their files here. Will you take a look?”
Zhong Li He snorted coldly and did not hide his favoritism: “No matter how good they are, they are not you. They cannot compare to you. The one I have my eye on is you. I do not like the others.”
Kong Que lowered his gaze, hiding the dim, secret light in his eyes, then looked up at Zhong Li He with deep, devout trust and admiration: “I know Executive Commander Lord has trained me, likes me, and treats me with great favor.”
“But the reason I worked so hard to become this excellent is because the person I am chasing is Executive Commander Lord. If Executive Commander Lord is not sitting in the Executive Commander seat, then I do not want to sit in my own seat either.”
“Executive Commander Lord wants freedom. He wants to be a Star Pirate roaming the sea of stars. I also want to serve as his vice captain at the helm, and be his shield charging in and out of battle.”