Chapter 112: Why Should I Reward You?
After seeing off the Sand Wolf family head, Xie Qiang was about to contact Sen Ji for the handoff when the youth lying on her lap reached out to press down on her cufflink lightbrain.
“Princess~” His fox eyes sparkled with anticipation. “I helped you get all those extraction rights. Shouldn’t you show some appreciation?”
Show some appreciation?
Xie Qiang understood and said generously, “I’ll give you forty percent of the extraction rights.”
The fox youth’s eye twitched. He muttered unhappily, “Princess, do you really not understand, or are you just pretending…”
Xie Qiang didn’t really want to understand, but she couldn’t stop the youth from wrapping his boneless arms around her shoulders. He leaned close to her ear and whispered seductively, “Princess, squeezing with your hand is so much work. Don’t you want to use your foot to… step hard on my fox tail?”
Xie Qiang: …
Xie Qiang pondered for two seconds. “If I step on it, will you give me twenty percent of the Heavenly Fox family’s total extraction rights?”
Cang Jiu arched an eyebrow. “No.”
Xie Qiang tilted her head slightly. “Then why should I reward you?”
The silver-haired youth immediately burst out laughing. He rested his elbow lightly on Xie Qiang’s lap and propped his cheek up, his fox eyes overflowing with an unerasable smile. “Because I can give the Princess eight percent of all extraction rights~”
Xie Qiang’s slender brows rose slightly. She stood up from the sofa, looking down at the silver-haired youth half-kneeling on the floor, and lifted the hem of her dress.
Cang Jiu’s eyes brightened. Just as his fox tail began to wag, he saw her pull a box of high-efficiency healing ointment from a pocket in the lining of her skirt.
Her pale fingers brushed over the cool ointment, picking up a small dab of white cream. She leaned down to apply it to the youth’s fox ears, which had been rubbed red. She whispered in his ear, “Eight percent only gets you this much.”
Immediately after, she put away the ointment and led the way out of the VIP room. “Alright, let’s head back out and continue the tour.”
The exhibits here were actually quite interesting.
Cang Jiu touched the cool ointment inside his fox ear, his eyelids fluttering as a sated smirk appeared in his eyes.
His Princess was truly both gentle and heartless.
Well then, he would give her nine percent of the extraction rights~
The fox youth followed Xie Qiang, his tail wagging.
…
Xie Qiang was immersed in the art exhibition of the interstellar natives, completely unaware that she and Cang Jiu were being followed by two “tails.”
Cang Jiu glanced behind him with amusement, twirling the silk ribbon in his hair. A touch of mischief rose in his eyes.
He stood behind Xie Qiang, leaning down to rest his chin on her shoulder. He tilted his face slightly. “Does the Princess like these paintings?”
From Hong Que’s perspective, it looked as if he were kissing Xie Qiang’s neck.
In a hidden corner, Hong Que was so angry he was seeing stars. He wanted to rush forward and separate the two, but he was afraid of upsetting Xie Qiang. He could only gnash his teeth and send her a message on her lightbrain.
Hong Que: [Xie Qiang! Push that slutty fox away!!!]
Xie Qiang received the message and looked around in confusion, but she didn’t see Hong Que.
Xie Qiang: [Are you stalking me?]
Hong Que: [No! I was just testing you! It seems you really are flirting with that stinking fox! You said you were going on official business, you big liar!]
Just as Xie Qiang was about to reply, a new message arrived. She opened it and found it was from the First Prince.
Xie Kong: [Imperial Sister, I’m coming to your palace to find you in a bit.]
Hmm…
Xie Qiang replied: [Imperial Brother, I’m not in the palace. I’ll be back very late.]
Xie Kong: [It doesn’t matter. I’ll wait for you ^^.]
Is he that persistent?
Xie Qiang didn’t reply again. She switched back to Hong Que’s chat box and was shocked to find that in just a short moment, Hong Que had sent a five-hundred-word essay.
The entire piece accused her of ignoring him and being a “scumbag.” He claimed he wouldn’t offer his pure body to her, but then said she had to make it up to him tonight by letting him sleep in her bedroom in the central hall.
Cang Jiu rested his chin on Xie Qiang’s shoulder. Looking at the essay on the lightbrain, he couldn’t help but whisper, “Such a jealous Sentinel. If the Princess takes him into her harem, I’m afraid there will be no peace.”
Hong Que: [Don’t listen to his nonsense! I am NOT jealous!!!]
Xie Qiang: [… Didn’t you say you weren’t stalking me?]
Hong Que: [Uh, how can an accidental encounter be called stalking? Besides, Sen Ji is here too!]
Beside him, the blond man propped his hand against his forehead, frowning with exasperation. “Are you an idiot?”
Hong Que didn’t think pulling Sen Ji down with him was idiotic at all. He muttered, “What do you know? If I bring you up, she won’t be angry.”
Sen Ji was stunned. “Why would you say that?”
Realizing he had slipped up, Hong Que immediately raised his voice and blustered, “Because as soon as I show that I’m jealous, she immediately comes to coax me!”
He poked Sen Ji’s shoulder with his finger, taunting, “That’s how much she likes me!”
The red-haired youth’s smugness was truly an eyesore. Sen Ji let out a faint snort of disdain. “Oh? She has my permanent mark on her body.”
“That was to save you, not because she likes you!” Hong Que barked through gritted teeth.
“Oh.” Sen Ji’s tone remained flat. “She has my permanent mark on her body.”
“Can you stop bringing up the permanent mark!” Hong Que’s head was throbbing with anger. “Believe it or not, I’ll go to her palace tonight and plant my mark too?!”
“It seems you didn’t read the rules for the Imperial Husband trials sent by His Majesty yesterday.”
“During the trial period, planting permanent marks is prohibited. The positions will be confirmed based on the order of the marks only in the final stage.” Sen Ji raised his hand to brush off the spot on his shoulder Hong Que had poked. “Since I have already marked Xie Qiang, I don’t need to participate in the trials; I directly ascend to the position of First Imperial Husband.”
And last night was the final chance to mark Xie Qiang.
“What?!”
Hong Que really hadn’t looked at the rules. He scratched his hair in frustration, only to remember that he had painstakingly styled it for the date. Because he had used hairspray, it was now a mess.
He quickly covered his messy red hair and glared at Sen Ji. “So what if you’re the First Imperial Husband? Once you’re in that position, you lose the right to be jealous anyway!”
That one sentence made Sen Ji’s face darken instantly.
Hong Que was happy to see his cold face. He waved a hand and walked toward the gallery exit. “I’m going to get my hair done. You stay here and watch Xie Qiang and other Sentinels be lovey-dovey~”
With his taunting and goading, Sen Ji would surely annoy Xie Qiang and Cang Jiu, and subsequently be disliked by her…
Tsk tsk, he was practically an expert in palace intrigue! He would surely be able to lead his brother to secure the positions of Second and Third Imperial Husbands!
The red-haired youth walked away humming a tune, satisfied. Left behind, Sen Ji watched the youth and the girl leaning on each other in the distance. After his eyes flickered, he finally raised his military boots and strode toward Xie Qiang.
She likes Hong Que?
He has no right to be jealous?
Perhaps he couldn’t bring himself to ask directly, but at least… there was one question he could ask.
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