Chapter 026 Royal Banquet 05

Chapter 026: Palace Banquet 05

In the palace, a holographic projection communication was underway, and the person projected was none other than Zhou An.

Zhou An’s eyes were swimming with tears as he wiped them away with a handkerchief, sobbing.

"Marshal Wei Qing has clearly been duped by that vile person. He acts all meek and mild on the surface, but behind the scenes, he’s always scheming something wicked."

"After everything I did for him, he still spread vicious rumors about me behind my back."

"Seeing him grinning from ear to ear during his wedding livestream makes my blood boil. I know my status isn’t worthy of the Marshal. But if anyone should marry the Marshal and find happiness, it should be someone like you, Zhu Gejin."

"Our lots in life are so bitter."

Zhou An’s heartfelt and moving words deeply affected Zhu Gejin.

He comforted Zhou An: "Now, now, An'an, don’t you fret. Today, he and Marshal Wei Qing will come to the palace together. I’ll put him in his place for you. Tell me more about him, and we’ll expose Zhou Younan’s veneer of hypocrisy!"

Zhou An dabbed his tears with the handkerchief, hiding the smirk tugging at his lips.

He nodded. "Okay, thank you, Zhu Gejin. You’re my best friend."

Zhu Gejin quickly replied, "Don’t be so formal with me. Back when I was alone and destitute, you took me in. We’re friends for life."

"Mhm." Zhou An gave a gentle smile.

***

In the morning, after breakfast, Zhou Younan and Wei Qing arrived together at the Central Queen’s District.

The Queen’s District, during the early days of the Tyrell Empire, was once the residence of Torikis’ most prestigious figures. Every duke, marquis, count, viscount, and baron owned a sizable plot of land here.

As the Tyrell Empire developed, the aristocracy of old declined, and some descendants of nobles had long since vanished.

What remained in the Queen’s District were many buildings in traditional architectural styles. As the epicenter of power in the Tyrell Empire, it was still favored by the newly wealthy elite.

At the heart of the Queen’s District lay a vast circular area with a diameter of 50 kilometers, known as the Central Queen’s District. The imperial palace was located here, where the Emperor, Empress, and the Second Prince currently resided, while the Crown Prince was away studying.

After disembarking from the aircraft, Zhou Younan was greeted by rows of towering trees standing like titanic sentinels, neatly arranged to form a forest.

The air was exceptionally fresh, with luxuriant foliage, and birds flitting among the trees. The sight helped calm his nerves somewhat.

The cessation of Earth’s rotation was largely due to environmental destruction.

From the dawn of the interstellar era until now, ornamental green plants had remained the most prized specimens in the galaxy. The wealthier the place, the more greenery it had.

Interstellar denizens had grown accustomed to judging a person’s wealth by the number of ornamental green plants near their residence.

Perhaps for this reason, interstellar society also used an Omega’s pheromonal signature to determine their value.

During his seven years on the junkyard planet, Zhou Younan had never seen ornamental green plants.

At the research institute, he'd seen a handful of saplings being cultivated.

On Planet Yaoxing, there were a few green trees outside the Zhou family’s building, though he’d heard Zhou Quan found the rustling of leaves too noisy and refused to plant more.

Since marrying Wei Qing, the number of ornamental green plants Zhou Younan had seen had increased exponentially. Today, he even encountered the fabled "forest."

The aircraft door closed with a soft snick.

Wei Qing walked toward Zhou Younan with a smile.

Today, he wore a black shirt paired with a blazing red suit. His long, straight legs were accentuated by the trousers, perfectly showcasing his muscular definition.

Flamboyant, dazzling, radiant—he practically glowed.

Zhou Younan glanced down at his own legs.

Mine are perfectly normal proportions—Wei Qing’s are the abnormal ones, he reassured himself.

Wei Qing took Zhou Younan’s hand. "No need to be nervous. We still have a long walk ahead before we reach the palace."

The two stepped into the forest, where an AI drone approached for facial recognition.

Walking side by side along the forest path, Wei Qing told Zhou Younan,

"I love coming to the palace. I love this interminably long forest path leading to it. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I belong to the forest."

Wei Qing teasingly winked at Zhou Younan.

Zhou Younan guessed, "You... like forests?"

"I come from the forest."

"What do you mean?"

Zhou Younan asked, but Wei Qing merely smirked and remained silent.

"Were you born in a forest, then?"

"Nope."

"Did you grow up in a forest?"

"I grew up in a village, actually."

"Does your family own vast woodland?"

Wei Qing looked at Zhou Younan with mocking amusement. "With that pea-sized brain of yours, you’ll never guess the answer."

You're the one with shoulders like an ox and a head like a pea!

Zhou Younan felt indignant but didn’t press further.

Wei Qing had once said his favorite colors were red, yellow, and blue. Now he claimed to come from the forest. Forests were green, and green wasn’t among Wei Qing’s preferred colors.

So Zhou Younan concluded that the "villain" Wei Qing was just being all cryptic. Saying things like "I come from the forest" was nothing more than him being bored, teasing him to kill time.

Lost in thought, the view suddenly opened up before them, revealing a veritable ocean of blossoms.

A riot of colorful blooms covered the grassy field, the air was delicately perfumed. The blossoms nodding in the breeze as if welcoming their arrival.

"Whoa—"

"Achoo—!"

The first sound was Zhou Younan’s gasp of awe. The second was Wei Qing’s sneeze.

Wei Qing pinched his nose, looking disgusted.

"So pretty," Zhou Younan breathed in, "and it smells good too."

Wei Qing pulled Zhou Younan in front of him, leaning down close.

Zhou Younan thought he was going to kiss him and raised his hands to push him away.

But Wei Qing was much stronger—there was no breaking free.

With no other choice, he shut his eyes.

His breath hit Zhou Younan’s neck as Wei Qing's voice whispered into his ear, "Zhou Younan, do you know what your pheromones smell like?"

The vibration of his voice sent tingles across sensitive skin, like tiny electric shocks skittering across his skin.

Zhou Younan answered calmly, "A grassy scent."

"Do you know what kind of grass?"

"No."

"Catnip. My favorite smell in the world."

Catnip? Zhou Younan drew a blank.

"Since when do pheromones smell like catnip?"

Wei Qing's tone was light,

"You beat flowers any day."

Zhou Younan kept his mouth shut. He knew full well his pheromones didn’t smell like catnip.

The capsule was messing with Wei Qing’s senses—that’s all.

Thank god Wei Qing hadn’t hit him with those puppy-dog green eyes while saying that.

Tilting his head back to stare at the sky and ease his discomfort, what met Zhou Younan’s eyes were seven colossal buildings hovering midair.

The Seven Continents Palace—a sprawling mega-complex of palaces built entirely on an artificial gravity control system.

Packed with state-of-the-art quantum shielding, the palaces were functionally divided into the Royal Mecha Dock, Small Space Jump Point, Stellar Garden, Holographic Council Hall, Quantum Computer Control Room, Royal Spaceport, and Living Quarters.

It wasn’t until the AI-piloted aircraft lifted off that Zhou Younan saw the full scale of the Nine Continents Palace complex.

The matte-black walls used next-gen quantum tech and could adjust their density at will. Thin green lights pulsed along the surface like veins.

Each palace was a sleek, angular spike—a blade thrust into the heavens.

The aircraft stopped before one of the palaces. The black walls liquefied, spilling out a staircase from nowhere that extended into the palace interior.

"Council Hall," Wei Qing said. "I’ll go see His Majesty first. The aircraft will take you to the Empress. Chill, she’s cool. I’ll swing by soon."

Wei Qing gave his hand a quick, reassuring press before stepping out onto the black staircase.

The Seven Continents Palace represented the fusion of technology and power, a glittering monument to the empire’s power and space-age glory.

After being cooped up at Wei Qing’s place forever, Zhou Younan had almost forgotten the rapid advancements of modern technology.

But next to those gloomy floating wedges, he still preferred houses on solid ground.

"Doors closing."

At the prompt, Zhou Younan withdrew his gaze.

A tubby kid came barreling in at the last second just before the aircraft sealed shut.

Stepping off his pedal-powered mini aircraft, he flopped into the seat opposite Zhou Younan like he owned the place.

Arms folded, he demanded, "You the new wifey?"

The boy had a pink buzz cut and huge gold eyes, dressed simply in a T-shirt and shorts—about five or six years old.

Zhou Younan pegged him instantly: the Second Prince, Jonathan Long.

"I am."

The kid gave him a weird once-over before suddenly leaning in.

Zhou Younan didn’t move as the boy’s small, chubby fingers plucked a long golden hair from his shoulder.

The kid’s eyes went dinner-plate wide. "This is Wei Qing’s hair!"

Zhou Younan’s ears burned—it must have been left behind when Wei Qing got close earlier.

After speaking, the Second Prince pouted; he deflated like a popped balloon.

"Why are you upset?" Zhou Younan asked.

"I was supposed to marry him!"

The shocking statement nearly made Zhou Younan choke on his own saliva.

"All I wanted was to pet Wei San!" the Second Prince continued. "Wei Qing said I could only pet Wei San if I married him!"

Zhou Younan blinked. "..."

So that was the reason.

To the kid, Wei Qing ranked below a leopard on the attractiveness scale.

Okay, that was hilarious.

Wei San’s name worked like a mood switch.

Forgetting his sadness entirely, he bragged, "Bet you don’t even know about Wei San."

Zhou Younan replied, "Yeah."

The smug look faltered. "Seriously?!" he accused.

"Wei San’s his pet leopard."

The kid sulked, green with envy. "Two freaking days and you—you’ve already seen Wei San?!"

Zhou Younan put on his best Wei Qing smirk.

He smirked, smiling wordlessly.

"Then... have you touched it?"

The Second Prince blinked his wide eyes and sat down beside Zhou Younan.

"No, I only got a distant glimpse once."

Since that one encounter, Zhou Younan hadn’t laid eyes on Wei San again.

"Wei Qing is very territorial. He treasures Wei San so much that he rarely lets anyone near it."

As the Second Prince sat closer, Zhou Younan noticed a leopard-print backpack on his back—fluffy and very cute.

"Wei Qing seems to like you. I don't stand a chance. This is going to break my heart."

Hearing such grown-up, lovelorn words from a little kid was absolutely hilarious.

Fortunately, Zhou Younan held back his laughter. He was certain that if he laughed out loud, the Second Prince would throw a tantrum out of sheer embarrassment.

"Did you get to touch Wei San? How did it feel?"

"I didn’t touch it. I saw it at night and got scared."

The prince looked disdainful. "You’re so tall but such a scaredy-cat?! When I first saw Wei San, I wasn’t scared at all."

"......" Zhou Younan couldn’t be bothered humoring this spoiled prince anymore.

The Second Prince pulled out a tiny glass bottle, no wider than a finger, from his backpack and handed it to Zhou Younan.

"This is for you. Next time you see Wei San, you must touch it! Then pluck a bit of its fur and put it in here. When we meet again, you better bring it to me."

His eyes shone with excitement.

Zhou Younan froze.

Touch Wei San?

Was Wei San even approachable?

"I..."

Just as Zhou Younan was about to refuse, the aircraft halted.

The door opened, and a voice announced: "Mr. Zhou, we have arrived at the Stellar Garden."

"I have to go now." The Second Prince hopped back on his hoverboard and waved enthusiastically at Zhou Younan.

"Next time, you must return it to me and tell me how it felt!"

With a "whoosh—", the Second Prince zoomed out of the aircraft.

"Wait! I don’t—"

The Second Prince was too fast. Before Zhou Younan could get another word out, he was already far away.

It seemed the prince hadn’t heard a single word of his refusal.

Sighed, looking down at the glass bottle in his hand, Zhou Younan knit his brows.

Touch Wei San? Pull its fur?

Remembering those cold, slit-like eyes, Zhou Younan was deeply unwilling.

He decided to tell Wei Qing about this and leave it to him.