Chapter 273

Chapter 273: The Unreliable Cub Mom Can’t Tell the Cubs Apart, So the Reliable Dad Becomes the Nanny

Chong Ming’s brows knit, his voice turning cold. “Sui Xuan Chu, is it that I’ve assigned you too little government work, or that your training still isn’t enough?”

Jiang Tea Tea fell silent.

What “dump the mother and keep the kids”? She was the one trying to dump the father and keep the kids.

It wasn’t that his uncle didn’t want her. It was that she didn’t want his uncle.

And she definitely couldn’t tell her roommate that his uncle had tried more than once to register a marriage with her—proposing, confessing, and even asking for more than just words.

Sui Xuan Chu shrank a little under the icy aura, but for the sake of his baby brother and sister, he forced himself upright, chin high, shoulders squared, glaring his uncle down.

“Imperial Uncle, my baby brother and sister are cubs of the Golden Dragon Imperial Clan. They’re legitimate heirs to the Zhen Lin Empire’s throne. If you refuse to take responsibility for their mom, you’re denying they even exist.”

“I’m telling you right now—I won’t accept that.”

“The Golden Dragon Imperial Clan finally has cubs. We have to announce it across the M31 Star System so they have a rightful inheritance!”

It was the first time Sui Xuan Chu had ever spoken to his uncle this loudly. The first time he’d dared to challenge him.

His legs were shaking and his stomach was tied in knots, but the moment he pictured his uncle keeping only the cubs and tossing aside his roommate, it was like he’d swallowed spinach—suddenly he was fearless.

Chong Ming’s golden eyes sank into shadow. His gaze slid past Sui Xuan Chu and pinned Jiang Tea Tea, sharp enough to lock her in place.

Tell him, that look said. Who’s irresponsible? Who’s the scumbag?

Jiang Tea Tea met his gaze and nearly folded. She’d already given birth to two cubs, and now she felt even weaker. She reached out and tugged Sui Xuan Chu’s sleeve.

“Um… roommate, you misunderstood—”

Sui Xuan Chu jerked his head away and cut her off, righteous as ever. “Roommate, don’t be afraid. Even if you don’t know your mother or father and you’re on your own, your charm and your ability are unmatched. You’re more than good enough for anyone.”

“My Imperial Uncle just wants to keep the cubs. He doesn’t want you.”

“Whether I’m your roommate, your friend, your comrade, your classmate, or the empire’s Crown Prince, I will never let that happen.”

Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue stared.

The uncle-and-niece pair suddenly had the same thought: We know way too much.

Why did it feel like something cold was crawling down their spines?

Jiang Tea Tea covered her face and refused to look Chong Ming in the eye.

It was too awkward. Mortifyingly awkward.

And she couldn’t just blurt out that she was the one rejecting him—she had to leave the Commander-in-Chief at least a little dignity.

Seeing her hide her face, Sui Xuan Chu became even more certain. His uncle had to be acting like a jerk—only wanting the cubs and not their mom.

His roommate couldn’t even face anyone anymore. She looked like she was about to cry.

If the Father Emperor and Mother Empress were still alive, they would’ve grabbed a stick and beaten Imperial Uncle for pulling a “dump the mom and keep the kids” stunt.

Sui Xuan Chu pointed at Jiang Tea Tea. “Imperial Uncle, look! Because you want to dump the mom and keep the kids, my roommate is crying—”

Chong Ming cut him off, voice flat and cold. “Who said I’m not taking responsibility? I’ll have the marriage registry come in for overtime right now and register a marriage with your roommate.”

Jiang Tea Tea snapped upright like she’d been struck. Her hands flew away from her face.

“Hey, hey, hey—roommate!” she blurted, frantic to stop him. “It’s me. I’m the one who wants to dump the dad and keep the kids. It’s not your uncle dumping the mom.”

“I’m the one who doesn’t want to marry him. It’s not that he doesn’t want to marry me. Don’t misunderstand. Seriously—don’t misunderstand!”

She was going to die of embarrassment. This scene was almost as bad as the moment she’d nearly given birth right in front of Chong Ming.

Cheng Lin Yue and Cheng Yuan looked like their souls had left their bodies.

No wonder she was his benefactor. Bold and fierce, through and through.

No wonder she was Sister Tea. She could even reject her own male idol.

Sui Xuan Chu only froze for a heartbeat before flipping sides faster than turning a page.

“No, roommate—what’s wrong with my Imperial Uncle? He’s got the looks, the height, the beast form, and the power.”

“He can fight wars, make money, teach me, and govern the empire. He has everything. Why won’t you marry him?”

“And you still want to dump the dad and keep the kids? These are cubs of the Golden Dragon Imperial Clan—imperial heirs of the Zhen Lin Empire.”

“You want them to be illegitimate?”

Jiang Tea Tea’s eyes widened. “Sui Xuan Chu! Weren’t you on my side? Why are you on your uncle’s side now—are you a chameleon or something?”

Sui Xuan Chu glared right back, then stabbed a finger toward the cubs being examined in the machine.

“I’m not on your side, and I’m not on my Imperial Uncle’s side either. I’m on my baby brother and sister’s side.”

“I’m telling you both—whether it’s dumping the mom and keeping the kids or dumping the dad and keeping the kids, my baby brother and sister have inheritance rights. No one can strip them of their power as part of the Zhen Lin Empire’s legitimate imperial family.”

He looked genuinely furious.

How could there be parents this unreliable? One wanted to dump the dad, the other wanted to dump the mom. What kind of nonsense was that?

He sighed hard, like a man carrying the weight of the world. Without him, this family would fall apart.

Fine. His roommate was unreliable, and even his uncle was unreliable. Those poor little cubs had barely been born and they were already going to face the question of whether to follow Dad or Mom.

Follow what? If they pushed him too far, his baby brother and sister would follow neither of them. He’d snatch them up and raise them himself.

Jiang Tea Tea’s lips twitched.

Unreliable? Her?

She was reliable as hell. Those cubs had grown up feeding on her magic power. Without her, all five would’ve been dead long ago.

Chong Ming lifted a hand and pointed at the door. “Out.”

Sui Xuan Chu dug in his heels. “I’m not leaving. I’m staying with my baby brother and sister.”

Chong Ming let out a small sigh, like he was reminding a child of something obvious. “This is Jiang Tea Tea’s bedroom. She just gave birth and needs an exam and rest.”

“You’re shouting in here. How is she supposed to rest? How is she supposed to be checked?”

“And your baby brother and sister need to be examined too. After that, we still have to tailor their food and nutrition.”

“Every minute you waste is a minute she can’t rest—and a minute the two of them go hungry. Is that what you want?”

Sui Xuan Chu’s mouth drooped. His momentum died instantly.

He mimed zipping his lips shut and nodded rapidly. “Okay, my fault. I’ll shut up. I’ll go over there. You guys… keep going. Keep going.”

He backed up until he was standing beside the machine, staring at the cubs inside like his eyes might fall out.

They were so cute. Cute to the point of bursting. Of course they were his baby brother and sister—look at them. They looked like him.

Chong Ming turned to Cheng Yuan, who was still taking Jiang Tea Tea’s pulse. His voice softened. “Healer Cheng. How is she?”

Cheng Yuan swallowed. He desperately wanted to say there were still three cubs in her belly—she could give birth at any time, or she might not. But Jiang Tea Tea hadn’t said anything, and he didn’t dare speak out of turn.

He released her wrist, stood, and reported respectfully. “Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, Miss Jiang Tea Tea’s condition is excellent.”

Chong Ming frowned. “No postpartum treatment? No restorative solution? She doesn’t need to lie in the medical pod for a while?”

Cheng Yuan answered so fast he nearly tripped over his own words. “No, Commander-in-Chief. No need. She drank dragon blood and she’s in very good shape. No additional care is necessary.”

The cubs weren’t even all born yet—how could he start postpartum recovery? And if some treatment harmed the cubs, he wouldn’t have enough lives to pay for it.

Chong Ming’s gaze lingered on Jiang Tea Tea’s face, heavy and unreadable. She was hiding something from him—and Cheng Yuan was hiding it with her.

“Mm.”

Then he said, “Cheng Yuan, you examined Miss Jiang Tea Tea twice and still didn’t detect two cubs. Explain—”

Jiang Tea Tea spoke immediately, taking it all on herself. “He did detect it. I made him hide it from you. If you have an issue, come at me. Don’t blame him.”

Cheng Yuan went pale. He couldn’t let his benefactor shoulder everything.

“No, Commander-in-Chief. That’s not it. My medical skill wasn’t good enough—I didn’t find it. It has nothing to do with Miss Jiang Tea Tea. If you want to punish someone, punish me. I’ll accept any punishment.”

Chong Ming swept them with a sharp, piercing look. Both went taut, minds racing, bracing for what came next.

But he didn’t press further.

Instead, he said evenly, “Healer Cheng, even if Miss Jiang Tea Tea has a strong foundation and doesn’t need restorative treatment, you will still mix her medicine to help her recover. I won’t have her body suffer complications because of childbirth.”

Cheng Yuan exhaled shakily. “Yes, Commander-in-Chief. I’ll work overtime tonight and do my best to have it ready and delivered by noon tomorrow.”

Chong Ming nodded. He gave Jiang Tea Tea a long, deep look, then stepped to Cheng Lin Yue and stared at the two tiny cubs in the machine.

“How are they?”

Cheng Lin Yue printed the results and handed them over. “Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, the tests show they’re premature. Their bodies are small, and their sex has not differentiated yet.”

Chong Ming scanned the paper quickly. “Meaning what we’re seeing now is basically their ‘still in the eggshell’ stage. For them to grow, differentiate, and determine sex… it’ll take three years?”

Cheng Lin Yue nodded. “Approximately. At least one to three years.”

Jiang Tea Tea asked bluntly, “So my cubs won’t be able to transform into human form for one to three years?”

“That’s what the data indicates,” Cheng Lin Yue said quickly.

Jiang Tea Tea nodded once. “Then what do they eat?”

Dead mice?

When Demon Clan snakes hatched, they ate their eggshells first. After that, they ate mice and insects.

Snakes could become dragons, but she’d never raised a dragon—much less a baby dragon.

Her hatchlings didn’t have eggshells. Was she supposed to catch dead mice for them like snakes?

Well, they couldn’t possibly drink milk.

She hadn’t even finished giving birth. Where would milk come from?

Cheng Yuan cut in. “They drink milk, along with nutritional supplements tailored to their needs.”

“I’ve already prepared dragon cub formula. I also hand-made specialized nipples and bottles for baby dragons.”

As he spoke, Cheng Yuan pulled box after box from his storage button—formula, nutrient powder, bottles. Four large crates in total.

There were more than ten cans of formula alone, not to mention everything else. It was an unsettling amount.

Chong Ming’s gaze swept across the crates, his expression darkening. He picked up a small bottle and turned it over in his hand.

The nipple and bottle were clearly custom-made—handcrafted for a specific purpose.

Jiang Tea Tea was about to get up and look more closely when Cheng Lin Yue opened the device covering the cubs.

The moment the barrier lifted, the cubs shot out. Cheng Lin Yue hadn’t even reached for them yet, and they were already scrambling toward Jiang Tea Tea.

They hit her so fast she couldn’t even rise. She instinctively hugged them, and they burrowed and rubbed against her, nudging insistently like they were searching for food. They made soft, whimpering little sounds.

Sui Xuan Chu’s heart melted. His baby brother and sister were too cute. He wanted them to cling to him and nuzzle him too.

Jiang Tea Tea hooked one cub by the tail in each hand and lifted them, staring like she’d never seen such creatures in her life.

“What are they doing? Are they hungry?”

Hungry or not, she had no idea how to mix formula. How much water? Hot? Cold?

Chong Ming nodded. “Probably.”

Jiang Tea Tea blinked. “Then hurry and mix it. What are you standing there for? Don’t tell me you expect me to do it—I can’t!”

Sui Xuan Chu opened his mouth on instinct, ready to volunteer—anything to get closer. Then reality hit.

“I… I can’t either.”

Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue exchanged a helpless look. They’d never fed dragons either. But for the Young Highness, they could learn.

Chong Ming tightened his grip on the bottle. “Healer Cheng, Cheng Lin Yue, Sui Xuan Chu—you’re not going back tonight. Second floor, guest rooms. Each of you pick a room and stay.”

“Yes,” Cheng Yuan and Cheng Lin Yue answered at once, quickly packing up the machine and equipment.

They ran through the formula, nutrient powder, and feeding ratios with the Commander-in-Chief, then hurried out of the bedroom and down to the second floor.

Sui Xuan Chu left last. Even with one foot out the door, he couldn’t resist turning back.

“Roommate, my uncle has the face, the height, the abs, the money, and the power. Think it over again. Don’t make my baby brother and sister grow up with a single parent!”

Then he pivoted to Chong Ming with shameless enthusiasm. “Uncle, put some effort in. My roommate is young, beautiful, capable—and she even had twins in one shot. She’s a miracle for the Golden Dragon family. You can’t let a miracle slip away. Uncle, I’m rooting for you!”

Chong Ming flicked a hand. A surge of energy slammed toward Sui Xuan Chu.

Sui Xuan Chu yelped and bolted, all bravado evaporating.

The room finally quieted, leaving only Chong Ming, Jiang Tea Tea, and the two cubs.

“Take them to bed and rest,” Chong Ming said. “I’ll clean up, mix the formula, and I’ll be right there.”

Jiang Tea Tea nodded. “Oh.”

She grabbed the cubs by their tails again, stood, and marched toward the bed.

The cubs seemed to think Mom was playing. Dangling by their tiny tails, they stretched their bodies upward, trying to grab her hand and cling to her.

Jiang Tea Tea swung them along the whole way, then tossed them onto the bed.

The two cubs immediately wriggled toward her belly, coiling there as if saying hello to the other three—like they knew exactly where they’d been nurtured, and even after coming out, they still wanted that spot.

Chong Ming had hatched dragon eggs before. He’d raised cubs. He’d raised Sui Xuan Chu.

After he broke his own shell, he’d been bigger, longer, and thicker than these two. But a cub was a cub. You fed them and raised them the same.

He moved with practiced ease, mixing nutrient powder into the formula, shaking it smooth, and preparing the bottles.

When he climbed onto the bed, he found Jiang Tea Tea sitting cross-legged, one hand propping her chin, the other holding the cubs by their tails like they were unruly fish.

The moment she saw him, her expression lit up like she’d found salvation. She tossed the two cubs into his arms.

“Feed them,” she ordered. “They’re so hungry they’re about to start chewing on each other.”

They’d already started fighting again over a tiny patch of space on her belly, chirping at her like they wanted her to judge who was right. She’d grabbed their tails and yanked them apart by force.

What kind of babies started brawling the moment they were born?

Chong Ming caught them, one in each hand. He pulled out a U-shaped feeding holder, settled the cubs into it, and gently pressed the small nipples into their mouths.

The moment they tasted milk, they went obedient. Lying on their backs, they held the bottles with their front paws, braced them with their hind paws, little tails sticking up as they drank with soft, content gurgles.

Chong Ming’s gaze lifted from the cubs to Jiang Tea Tea. “Two cubs. Which one is Old One, and which one is Old Two?”

Jiang Tea Tea’s smile froze.

She couldn’t tell them apart at all.

She forced a dry laugh. “Uh… Old One, Old Two… why don’t you look? Whichever one’s thicker and longer is Old One. And if that doesn’t work—get a scale. Whoever weighs more is Old One!”