Chapter 118: Tyrant Emperor x Substitute Bride x Little Mongrel (20)

Chapter 118: Tyrant Emperor x Substitute Bride x Little Mongrel (20)

"Are you sure there's no score tampering?" the AI asked.

"Not at all," the system said. "Just look at my sincere face. If necessary, check my backend logic."

The AI looked again, feeling irritated. "How did he manage to set off all the internal alarms? Even the shareholders have been disturbed."

The system replied, "There's only one word to describe Keke—genius."

The breaking defense value spiked by 2800 in a short period, setting a new record in Keding's performance for short-term explosive scores.

Xiao Shizheng's breaking defense value jumped from 2400 to 5200, marking a particularly impressive achievement among many.

What's even more surprising is that this wasn't directly orchestrated by Keding. In fact, it involved a joint effort with the AI for a charitable mission, making the situation both bizarre and amusing, almost unbearable.

The imperial seal had indeed been taken as a toy by the little dog, which dropped it among the pine needles when its attention was diverted by a young eunuch. The dog then happily ran off to play with him.

Who could resist using a dandelion to entertain the little Beagle?

In the twilight, a hawk silently landed deep in the pine forest, snatching the imperial seal with its talons and flying off.

Perhaps disliking the dog's slobber, it even washed its feet in a nearby lotus pond.

The palace servants wandered around, ignoring the low-flying black bird.

Keding sat in the Chaoxing Tower, remotely directing as if he were piloting a drone, receiving the hawk's delivery.

"Comrade Eaglevsky, you've done an excellent job," the young man said emotionally. "We are curbing the arrogance of imperialism, letting them know this is the empire of the people!"

Because of this, the search turned up nothing that night, with the emperor shouting until he was hoarse.

Keding was waiting for a more favorable opportunity.

He didn't want to prolong it too long, as the jade craftsmen would inevitably create a new imperial seal, and the palace would develop new identification methods.

But he didn't want to return it too easily either.

He had to wait—just a little longer.

Perhaps to win favor, the Imperial Kitchen prepared extra fresh venison and mutton, all to feed the imperial dog, hoping it would mercifully reveal where the imperial seal was buried.

The Beagle ate whatever was offered, its mouth hardly stopping throughout the new day.

The emperor, who had been so angry he bled from the nose the previous day, couldn't bear to step into the Hall of Mental Tranquility. But with the nation's foundation missing, he had no heart for anything else.

From the previous evening until noon the next day, Xiao Shizheng had barely consumed any water or food, his anxiety overwhelming.

He was a tyrant, a lustful man, but these actions didn't weigh on his conscience before the ancestors.

He was the emperor, expanding his lineage to intimidate the court—it was in line with the natural order, what fault could there be?

But now—the imperial seal was gone!

If it were truly lost, after his death, his imperial ancestors would strangle him again!!!

Keding continued to monitor his heart rate and hunger levels, saying, "I thought the dog emperor could go two days without eating, but now his hunger level has dropped to 20."

"The system assessed that by around 5 PM, he'll be so hungry that his stomach will burn, and his appetite will reach its peak." The system continued, "With the amount of muscle he has, his metabolism is already high on a daily basis. Yesterday, he was so anxious he nearly went mad, and his physical exertion was immense."

"What, do you want to drug him, Keding?"

"No," Keding said, "I want to recreate Bicai."

The system paused for a moment. "What do you mean by Bicai?"

"There was once a post on Weibo about a victim," Keding explained, "who didn't keep an eye on their Beagle during a family dumpling-making session, and the dog ate all the dumplings."

"……And then?"

"Then the dog vomited the raw dumplings into the soup pot, leading everyone to wonder why there was a mushroom soup."

The system took a deep breath. "Okay, you don't need to continue."

The imperial dog’s food bowl had been full all day, but after playing with about a hundred people yesterday, it was too tired today and had no interest in going out for a walk, preferring to sleep soundly on its cushion.

Xiao Shizheng, who had passed by several times, desperately wanted to kick the little dog in the chest. He wanted to flay it alive but restrained himself, thinking of his mother.

Fortunately, in the evening, a palace attendant hurriedly reported that an object had been retrieved from the sewage pond, covered in mud but clearly the shape and weight of the imperial seal.

Xiao Shizheng, who had lost interest in everything else, immediately summoned a sedan chair and went there himself.

Eunuch Dong seized the opportunity to speak, "Your Majesty has been hungry all day. Now that the seal has been returned intact, shouldn’t we serve the meal immediately?"

Xiao Shizheng nodded slightly and left, brushing his sleeve.

The young palace maids and eunuchs hurriedly came in to clean and set the table, arranging sixty-six exquisite dishes on the round table behind the main hall.

The eagle landed silently at the entrance of the hall, chirping at the Beagle for a moment before flapping its wings and flying away.

The Beagle yawned and slowly walked over to the short serving cart where the dishes had not yet been served.

Pigeon soup, cow blood soup, and many other dishes were steaming, making them look incredibly tempting.

Xiao Pengzi’s face changed drastically when he saw this and tried to shoo the dog away. "Shoo! Shoo! Get away!"

But young palace maid Xiao Xing pulled him back, her face showing a determined expression.

"Let it lick the food."

"Are you crazy?" Xiao Pengzi’s hair stood on end. "If the emperor finds out, do you think our heads will still be attached to our necks?"

"I can’t hold back my anger!" Xiao Xing’s eyes turned red. "He disrespected my sister and then gave her to a minister as a plaything. My sister hanged herself!"

"We’re all lowly lives. Don’t think too much about it. Isn’t it better to live within our limits?"

"Didn’t you hear what the Imperial Astronomer said? The emperor can’t kill anyone right now and has to bestow grace by exempting taxes for three years!" Xiao Xing angrily said. "You spineless thing, when he scolded you for being useless and stepped on your face, you didn’t say a word. And now, when we have a chance, you still act so cowardly!"

As they argued, the dog sat obediently beside them, occasionally making gurgling sounds in its throat, as if it were about to regurgitate.

Xiao Pengzi was stunned by her scolding and let go. "Do whatever you want! I won’t betray you. Today, I’ll act as if I’m blind and didn’t see anything!"

The moment he moved aside, the dog could no longer hold back and vomited wildly into the soup bowls.

Xiao Xing, crying and laughing at the same time, cursed, "We’re all lowly lives, but is he any better? Where is he higher and mightier than us?!"

The dog obediently barked, vomited, let out a long, satisfying burp, and turned back to sleep.

The pigeon soup, originally shallow, was now nearly overflowing.

Xiao Xing immediately scooped out half the contents, garnished the top with scallions and herbs, and unhesitantly served it.

Xiao Pengzi helped shield the wind, his expression complicated as he looked at the reddish 'venison soup.' "...It’s hard to tell anything," he said.

"What are you waiting for? Finish setting up and run!" the girl pulled him away. "Do you want to get beaten or beheaded?"

When Xiao Shizheng returned, the heavy burden in his heart was finally lifted now that the imperial seal had been found.

He let out a long sigh of relief, and upon seeing the dog still lazily sleeping like a spotted pig, he only glared at it.

It wasn’t lost, just almost misplaced.

The jade craftsmen had personally verified that it was undamaged, needing only to be washed several times with clean water. The jade was genuine, and there was no possibility of it being replaced by treasonous usurpers.

He was so hungry he couldn’t deal with any more useless fools, and quickly sat back down at the dining table, signaling the palace servants to serve him food.

Good, very good.

It’s just a dog, just a dog.

He had even raised leopards and tigers before; this wasn’t difficult.

Gu Xin Qing, you’d better return to me tenfold, a hundredfold.

I will remember everything you’ve done, every debt you owe, and I will make sure you pay for them all!

The palace servants served several dishes, which Xiao Shizheng ate hastily without tasting.

He hadn’t eaten properly for twenty hours, and now that he finally calmed down, his hands were shaking from hunger.

"Serve a bowl of hot soup," Xiao Shizheng said impatiently. "The venison soup."

With an empty stomach, he didn’t bother with the small porcelain spoon, took the bowl, and swallowed it whole, then slammed the empty bowl on the table, enraged.

"The venison isn’t even cooked?! What are you good for?!"

"Are the guards rebelling, and is the Imperial Kitchen rebelling too?!"

The palace servants knelt down in unison, saying they didn’t dare.

Only after the food was in his stomach did Xiao Shizheng realize something was wrong.

Today’s soup was raw and fishy; what was going on?!”

No, wait, this soup was clearly—

He quickly grabbed a ladle, scooped it around, and his face turned pale.

The crimson, fishy venison soup, full of minced meat, how could there be a whole pigeon in it?!”

His mind went blank, as if he had already pieced together the entire sequence of events, but the pain was too much to acknowledge the reality.

No—this can’t be—

Before long, the head of the Imperial Kitchen also hurriedly came to apologize, completely bewildered.

"Emperor—Emperor! The Imperial Kitchen did not cook any deer meat today—" He was already trembling on his legs, his head banging against the floor, not daring to raise it.

It’s bad, it’s very bad, we’re really going to lose our heads!!!

Damn, how can we live through this? How can we plead? There’s no way to talk our way out of this!!

How did the deer meat meant for the dog end up in the soup? Did the Emperor actually drink it?!

There was probably more chaos and pleading in the Hall of Nourishing Heart. The little dog woke up groggily and went over to see what was happening.

Xiao Shizheng clenched his fists tightly, wanting to vomit but unable to in front of everyone, wishing he could just die.

Did he actually swallow it—

"I am tainted, I am tainted!!!"

"This soup is not right," Xiao Shizheng said in a despairingly calm tone.

Everyone was banging their heads, unsure of what to do.

The emperor softly said, "I will have all your heads removed."

And then have each of you sliced into a thousand pieces and displayed at the city market.

As soon as he finished speaking, the little dog lifted its head and barked twice.

"Woof! Woof!"

Xiao Shizheng looked at it numbly, staying silent for a long time.

"Then should I cut off my own head?"

"Will you do it?"