Little Stone was already engaged, but her second son was showing no signs of settling down. It wasn’t for a lack of females around him; Sang Luo had accidentally stumbled upon him and his ne’er-do-well friends taking so noble female out on the town several tis. Each ti, he was with soone new, yet not a single one had he brought ho to et them.
As his mother, she was worried about her second son’s marriage prospects.
One day, she returned to see Zhuizui kneeling outside their door. She had no idea how long he had been there, but a layer of frost had ford on his orange hair.
Sang Luo didn’t understand what was happening. She hurried over and tried to pull him up. "My foolish son, what are you doing kneeling out here? Get up, you’ll freeze."
Zhuizui brushed her hand away and said in a low voice, "Mom, stay out of this. Just let kneel."
"This..."
Sang Luo couldn’t persuade him, so she had no choice but to go inside first.
The sll of smoke made her choke and cough. She imdiately covered her mouth, nose, and stomach, not daring to venture any further into the room.
When Lan Cang saw her, he quickly stubbed out the cigarette in his hand, but the sll hadn’t had ti to dissipate.
He opened a window to air out the room.
Sang Luo glanced at the ashtray on the table. There were at least a dozen cigarette butts in it. She frowned. "When did you start smoking?"
"...I’ve always known how. I just have a couple when I’m stressed." He had just never smoked in front of her.
"Don’t smoke anymore. I’m pregnant, and it’s not good for the baby."
"Okay, I won’t." Lan Cang tidied up the room, waiting until the acrid smoke sll had dissipated before daring to let her co inside.
Sang Luo turned to look out the window. Zhuizui was still kneeling motionlessly at the main gate. "What’s wrong with our son? Did he make a mistake?"
The re ntion of him made Lan Cang’s anger flare. He reached for his cigarette pack, then stopped himself.
"He knocked up so female from a tribe and refuses to take responsibility."
It was like a bolt from the blue. Sang Luo was stunned, thinking she must have misheard.
It took her a long mont to recover her voice. "Zhuizui... How could he do sothing like that? It must be a misunderstanding, right?"
As children grow up, certain things happen naturally. Sang Luo had never interfered much in her sons’ private lives, trusting them to act with discretion.
’I could always tell that Zhuizui’s personality was more extroverted and cheerful than his brother’s. When it ca to choosing a partner, he always had more options... But I can’t believe my own child would do sothing like this...’
"Go ask him yourself if you want to know if it’s true." Lan Cang’s chest heaved; he was truly incensed. "He says he doesn’t like the tribal female, that her low status makes her unworthy of him, and that he doesn’t want to be tied down by a family."
Sang Luo’s brow furrowed. Zhuizui was a Young Master of the capital, raised in the lap of luxury. His options for a partner far exceeded those of an ordinary Male Beast. These sons of nobility never lacked for female companionship; in fact, many females actively threw themselves at them.
Having run with the city’s other noble sons since he was young, he had picked up so of their hedonistic and profligate ways.
They wouldn’t dare to trifle with noble females of their own class, but the poor, beautiful young females from the tribes had beco a hunting ground for these young masters.
"Don’t work yourself up so much; it’s bad for your health. I’ll go ask him what really happened."
Sang Luo went back outside. Seeing Zhuizui still kneeling without moving, she sighed. "Get up."
"Dad is..."
"What’s done is done. Kneeling won’t help. Your father is just blinded by his anger right now." Sang Luo then asked, "Which family is this female from? What is her na?"
Zhuizui thought for a mont before answering hesitantly, "The Muta Tribe, more than ten li outside Ice-breaking City. Her na... I think it was You Hua. Or maybe Xing Hua."
"...You don’t even rember the girl’s na?" Sang Luo’s anger flared. "How did you two et?"
"Two years ago, there was a pretty big Beast Tide outside the city. I went to help out and happened to find the Muta Tribe under attack. I took care of the Beast Tide for them, and I guess I saved her in the process. At least, that’s what she told later; I wasn’t paying much attention at the ti. Anyway, we t by accident, and ever since then, she’s been clinging to !"
As he spoke, Zhuizui grew more agitated. "Mom, it’s not that I don’t want to be responsible! The child she’s carrying is absolutely not mine!"
Sang Luo asked, "How many tis did you sleep with her?"
Being interrogated by his own mother about such a private matter, Zhuizui blushed, embarrassed. He stamred, "J-Just once... I drank too much with Lar that night and lost control. Normally, I wouldn’t have given her a second look."
"Did you use protection?"
"...No." His voice was barely a whisper, but he added with conviction, "Mom, she’s just an ordinary tribal female. It only happened once! It’s impossible she’s carrying my child!"
The young man said indignantly, "Who knows what other Male Beast’s child she’s carrying? If you ask , she’s just using this baby to blackmail ! It’s not like it hasn’t happened to Fei Luo and the others before."
Sang Luo’s temples throbbed. "Regardless, you should go see her."
"I’m not going! It was hard enough to get rid of her. If I see her, she’ll just start clinging to again! That crazy female threatens to kill herself every ti! I’ve had enough of her!" Zhuizui scrambled up from the ground. His legs, weak from kneeling for so long, gave out, and he almost fell. He grabbed his mother’s hand, pleading, "Mom, I don’t like her, and I don’t want this baby!"
"...Then how do you propose we solve this?"
"She just wants money, right? We can give her child support, or hush money. Make her get rid of the baby—"
SLAP!
A crisp slapping sound echoed through the air.
Zhuizui’s head was turned to the side, a bright red handprint blooming on his cheek. He was stunned. "Mom..."
It was the first ti his mother had ever hit him.
Sang Luo was furious. "If she isn’t carrying your child, you have no right to force her to get rid of it. And if it *is* your child, then regardless of whether you want to acknowledge it, that child is our family’s blood and must be born."
Zhuizui lowered his head in silence, not saying a word.
She looked away from him. "I’m going to see this girl tomorrow."
Sang Luo went to the Muta Tribe herself. After a few inquiries, she found the young woman.
The girl looked very young, with delicate, pretty features. While not a stunning beauty, her innate talent and strength were quite good. She was a Sixth Rank Beastman, a level higher than the average tribal female and on par with many of the noble females from the city’s great families.
However, Zhuizui was an Initial Emperor Rank. The gap in their innate talent was enormous. Strictly speaking, one couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of conception, but the chances were so small as to be negligible—especially since they had only been together for one night.
"Your na is You Hua, correct?" Sang Luo asked in a gentle voice.
The young woman nodded, looking at her with so unease. "You’re... Sang Lanyun’s mother?"
"Yes, I am that rebellious boy’s mother." Sang Luo’s gaze fell to You Hua’s slightly swollen abdon. She gently touched her own belly; her baby bump was concealed with an Illusion Technique, so her figure looked the sa as always.
She took so supplents and fetus-preserving dicine from her storage space. "This must have been difficult for you. Please, take this as a small token of my goodwill."
"I ca here today mainly to ask about the child you’re carrying. If it is truly of our family’s bloodline, we will absolutely acknowledge the child and give you ample compensation. If you wish to keep the child and raise it yourself, that is also an option; we would still provide child support. What do you think of this arrangent?"
You Hua didn’t answer right away. After a mont of silence, she asked, "Why didn’t Lanyun co?"
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