Volume VI: Stealing is Robbing - Chapter Nine: Storm in the Sea of Jealousy (Part Two)

Chapter 9: Waves of Jealousy (Part 2)

After Jing'er's mother and Jing'er left together, Kuangchi finally turned his head and asked, "Jing'er, what was the relationship between that guy named Wu and you just now?"

It was truly a case of touching upon a sore spot. Kuangchi immediately regretted asking the question the moment it left his mouth.

Jing'er simply ignored Kuangchi, turning her head away with a look of extreme annoyance, and focused entirely on eating her food without even sparing him a glance. Finding himself rebuffed and embarrassed, Kuangchi had no choice but to shift his attention back to the table.

However, it was clear that Jing'er felt somewhat uneasy after not receiving any further questioning from Kuangchi. After a moment, she glanced at Anna—who was pretending not to notice—and said to Kuangchi, "Do you really want to know who he is?"

Kuangchi thought for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "Better not to know."

Jing'er seemed to ponder this as well, and nodded. The two exchanged no further words.

After being assigned quarters in the imperial palace—places seemingly dedicated to hosting distinguished guests—Kuangchi and his companions vanished from sight for several consecutive days.

Several days later, as soon as Jing'er arrived, she pulled Anna aside and said directly to Kuangchi, "Fatty, change your clothes and accompany me to a cocktail party. I'm taking Anna down to get dressed up first."

With that, Jing'er and Anna disappeared from sight. Left behind, Kuangchi looked himself up and down in the mirror for a while, ultimately deciding to do nothing. Given his current physique, no matter what he wore, he would still look like a ball.

When Jing'er returned with Anna—who was dressed in a pink, sleeveless, long evening gown, a delicate pink crystal necklace around her neck, and two hollow-carved bracelets of an unknown material on her arms that closely matched her fair and smooth skin, looking utterly adorable—Kuangchi was still sitting in the same spot motionless, staring blankly. For a split second, Jing'er was slightly startled, but then she remembered something and said without preamble, "Fatty, hurry up. It's almost time for the cocktail party."

At that moment, however, Kuangchi was staring unblinkingly at the blushing Anna. It wasn't that Anna wasn't pretty; rather, she was far too pretty, which instantly put Kuangchi in a very foul mood. He turned directly to Jing'er and demanded, "Jing'er, where are we going? Look at how you've dressed Anna up."

Looking nervous, Anna quickly checked herself over and asked, "What's wrong? Does it look terrible?"

With a pained expression, Kuangchi hastily replied, "It looks great. But if you dress up like this for other people to see, don't I lose out?"

Both girls burst into laughter. Finally, Jing'er rolled her eyes and retorted, "Look at how narrow-minded you are! Alright, hurry up, it's almost time for the party."

Stepping onto the air-cushioned shuttle parked at the entrance, the three took their seats, and Jing'er explained, "Later at the party, you must not get into conflicts with anyone. That place is the Empress Dowager's private residence."

Kuangchi froze, asking with mild curiosity, "The Empress Dowager? Your father's mother?"

Jing'er nodded.

The location of the cocktail party mentioned by Jing'er was at the peak of a towering mountain adjacent to the imperial city. The entire mountain was enveloped in drifting clouds and mist, placing the summit high above a sea of clouds. The pavilions and towers nestled on the mountain appeared suspended in mid-air, a veritable fairy realm on earth.

At a wide plaza situated halfway up the mountain, Jing'er led Kuangchi and Anna out of the shuttle, saying as they disembarked, "Everyone out. Air-cushioned shuttles are not permitted inside the Mist-Veiled Pavilion."

Of course, Kuangchi and his two companions were not the only ones on the vast plaza. Shuttles constantly landed and took off; as soon as people stepped out, the vehicles sped away. Looking at the empty plaza, Kuangchi felt a growing sense of puzzlement.

Soon, Jing'er led them toward a stone staircase several meters wide at the front of the plaza. Many other guests, presumably also attending the cocktail party, were heading up the stairs, all dressed in formal attire. Although everyone in modern times practiced martial arts and such a flight of stairs was nothing physically demanding, walking up the mountain steps in formal attire still felt rather surreal to Kuangchi.

Whenever anyone passed by Jing'er, or when she passed by them, they would offer a greeting. Curiously, however, none of them bowed, making it clear that formal court etiquette was not required here.

Because of the thick clouds and mist, visibility on the upward stone stairway was limited to a hundred meters or so ahead; beyond that lay a boundless white sea of clouds.

After walking for a while, seeing that there still seemed to be no end in sight, and noticing Anna's excited yet somewhat strained expression, Kuangchi muttered a few words under his breath.

Being even shorter than Kuangchi by a couple of inches, wearing a long gown, and lacking long legs, Anna practically hopped and skipped her way up the steps. Although Anna found it great fun, Kuangchi's heart ached for her. Without further ado, he scooped up the happily bouncing and giggling Anna and hoisted her onto his back.

Following Anna's startled gasp, everyone around them turned to look. Jing'er, in particular, gave Kuangchi a very peculiar look. Meanwhile, Anna giggled and playfully protested on Kuangchi's back, demanding to be put down.

Jing'er looked around, then glanced at Kuangchi and Anna, let out a soft sigh, and said nothing more. She simply continued quietly walking toward the summit.

The mountain appeared to be quite tall. Along the way, small wooden rest pavilions appeared at intervals. Inside each pavilion, small groups of people would be chatting and laughing, though every single one of them cast extremely strange glances at Kuangchi as they passed.

After passing over a dozen small pavilions in one breath, the group finally came upon an empty one. Driven by curiosity, Anna kept urging Kuangchi from his back to carry her inside.

Ignoring Jing'er, Kuangchi carried Anna straight into the small wooden pavilion. To Kuangchi, a wife was at times far more important than anyone else.

With a strange expression, Jing'er had no choice but to follow them inside.

Once inside the pavilion, Kuangchi finally set down Anna, who was still clamoring to get down. With a mixture of affection and mild reprimand, he said, "Anna, what kind of behavior is this, shouting and squealing like that? You're not a little child anymore. You must realize you are now the Third Young Madam of the Kuang family. You need to learn noble etiquette. Does a noblewoman go around shouting like that?"

Before Anna could reply, Jing'er chimed in with a touch of jealousy, "And is piggybacking Anna in broad daylight an example of noble etiquette? You can't even follow the rules yourself, yet you have the nerve to lecture Anna."

With that, Jing'er turned directly to Anna and said, "Anna, don't listen to the fatty. Frankly, he acts less like a noble than anyone else."

Paying no heed to Kuangchi's words, Anna flashed him a sweet smile and scampered off toward the woods beside the pavilion.

The planet of Oblivion had no trees, and Anna had only been to the surface a few times in her life when Kuangchi was around, or just before leaving Oblivion. Neither Kuangchi nor Jing'er could fail to understand just how fascinated Anna was by the surface world and trees. Furthermore, to the people of Oblivion, Anna was essentially still a child. Seeing her happily run off into the nearby woods on her own, neither of them paid it any mind.

As she watched Anna darting back and forth among the trees, Jing'er suddenly asked, "Fatty, when do you suppose the Martial Sovereigns of your family will arrive?"

Kuangchi looked around, and after confirming that no one was in the vicinity, he replied, "How would I know? But judging by the Demon Gate's emphasis on the spaceship, and the attitude of those three senior Martial Sovereigns of our family, it's clear they'll track us down very soon. Why? Has something gone wrong again?"

Jing'er shook her head with a smile and said, "It's just that I'm feeling rather poor right now, and I want them to arrive quickly. Once they're here, won't I have money?"

Kuangchi couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head as he replied, "Surely an imperial princess isn't so poor as all that."

Jing'er cutely crinkled her nose and smiled. "I want to save up. I want to go to the Qingye Underground Auction House."

Pausing for a moment, she added with a sly grin, "Actually, the ones in the greatest hurry aren't me; they're my sister and my father. Cutting off their financial source sooner rather than later is much more advantageous for my father and my sister."

This time, Kuangchi didn't laugh. He fell silent for a moment of deep thought before asking cautiously, "Are you certain this trip won't be dangerous?"

Jing'er nodded heavily. "When you make your move, my father will send people to inspect the troops of the Eighth Corps. The star system where that underground processing plant is located does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Corps; it belongs to the imperial family's private fiefdom. According to our imperial laws, imperial military forces are strictly prohibited from entering a royal fiefdom without a joint clearance document from the Ministry of War and the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Under such circumstances, even if the Eighth Corps gets wind of it, they wouldn't dare make any major moves. With the strength aboard the ship combined with several Martial Sovereigns, dealing with a tiny underground factory should be a breeze, right?"

Pausing briefly, Jing'er continued with a smile, "At most, they might dispatch a squad or two, which we can casually wipe out along the way. By then, the special envoy dispatched by my father will certainly arrive to investigate, and that's when we can settle accounts with the Eighth Corps. That way—"

Before she could finish her sentence, a sudden shriek pierced the air from the woods.

Hearing Anna's scream, the two instantly sprang to their feet, and Kuangchi bolted directly toward the source of the sound.

Bursting into the grove, he was greeted by the sight of three young men standing in front of Anna with lewd grins. Anna was clutching her chest in terror, pressed tightly against a thick tree trunk that required a grown man's arms to span.

Kuangchi rushed to Anna's side like a gust of wind. Before the three young men could even react, Kuangchi's fists slammed brutally into their jaws. All three were sent flying backward several meters through the air before crashing heavily to the ground. Kuangchi then glared with murderous eyes at the three stunned youths sprawled before him.

Seeing Kuangchi arrive, Anna let out a cry of relief and threw her arms around him. Just as Kuangchi was about to speak, Jing'er ran up looking panic-stricken.

At the sight of the three men on the ground, Jing'er's brow furrowed deeply.

Recovering their wits at last, the three men on the ground coughed and spat out several blood-stained teeth. They struggled to their feet, massaged their swollen, bun-like faces, and stared coldly at Kuangchi.