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Uh
 I hope you like schemes and politics! (I do c:)
In the middle of the night, Qiao Zhiya’s magic began to sneak around in the subconscious again, plotting mischief.
Chu Rong, who had been spiritually prepared for a long time, opened his eyes immediately. He looked down at Qiao Zhiya who was sleeping in his arms but wanted to make trouble, and squeezed his pointy ears with a darkened face, causing the youth to sink down further into the thick quilt. After satisfying his irritation, he took out his space ring from his bathrobe’s pocket, and retrieved a few pieces of emerald jades and ink jades. He gently stuffed them under their shared pillow, and closed his eyes again.
The youth in his arms was still sound asleep, while Chu Rong locked his spiritual power firmly in his head, and slowly fell asleep.
The magical power probed around but couldn’t detect any hint of the spiritual power. It spun around in frustration a few times, before it keenly sensed a strong fluctuation of magical power under the pillow. It rushed over excitedly, absorbing it like a gluttonous little hamster.
Qiao Zhiya slept more soundly, and even let out a few soft snores in comfort.
In the early morning, Chu Rong opened his eyes on time. As listened to the little snoring near his ears, he lowered his head, and couldn’t help pinching Qiao Zhiya’s flushed face. He gently lifted a corner of the pillow, and saw the jades he stuffed in last night. The color of all the jade stones became lighter, and one piece of emerald jade had even started to turn gray. His lips curled up and he snorted.
Sure enough, this Bald Chicken preferred the emerald jade.
“Picky eater.” He put down the pillow. He then glanced at Qiao Zhiya, who was sleeping soundly and even messed up his pajamas. Lifting the quilt, he got up, picked up his bathrobe and draped it over his body.
At breakfast, Qiao Zhiya ate his fried eggs listlessly, his ears flopping down.
Seeing this, everyone except Chu Rong secretly made eye contact, feeling a little regretful in their hearts—this reaction, it seemed that Qiao’s treatment plan last night was unsuccessful.
After breakfast, Chu Yan took Qiao Zhiya to the small study on the third floor on the grounds of reviewing their homework. After closing the door, he asked eagerly, “How is it? How did Erge react in the morning? You didn’t succeed?”
“When I got up, he had already washed up, and he sat on the sofa to finish his paperworks
” Qiao Zhiya was even more shriveled when he said this. He walked to the desk and lay down in visible slump, “Two days before, I can still sense his spiritual power with my subconscious. But I suddenly failed yesterday
 He actually put jades under my pillow, and I stupidly fell for it!” He tilted his head and raised his hand to pull his hair.
He actually forgot about the healing immediately after sensing the fluctuation of the magic stones! Although he was in an instinctive state after falling asleep at the time
but he prioritized absorbing the magic stones before helping the White-Haired Monster to heal the disease. He’s so heartless!!
The dwarf boy couldn’t accept his depravity and hypocrisy, and his mood was very depressed.
Chu Yan was also shocked, and rushed over to ask, “You mean, you failed the treatment last night because Erge put emerald jades under your pillow to seduce you? Then you didn’t wake up in his arms this morning? Didn’t get up ear– erm
”
“He put not only emerald jades, but also ink jades. It’s my stupidity
” Qiao Zhiya instinctively defended Chu Rong, and then continued with a blushing face, “He always wakes up earlier than me. I prefer snoozing when I’m able. Besides, what’s the point of waking up early during the holidays? Eh
 uhm, what’s your last sentence again?”
Facing Qiao Zhiya’s innocent and ignorant eyes, Chu Yan felt that he seemed too evil, so he quickly shook his head to express that it was nothing. Seeing the blond wilt back again, seemingly blaming himself for not being able to heal successfully because of his gluttony, Chu Yan whispered in consolation, “It’s normal that you didn’t succeed in healing last night. You were able to heal successfully on the first night because Erge’s spiritual strength just recovered not long ago. He trusted you and had no defense put up against you, so you’re able to sense him in your sleep. But he saw through your little trick last night and locked up his spiritual power. There is a gap in strength between you and him, and it’s big. If he hides his spiritual power, it’s only natural you won’t be able to detect it, let alone heal it. I don’t blame you for that.”
After listening to the explanation, Qiao Zhiya became even more wilted. He was so depressed that he almost cried, and said in a low voice, “Sure enough, it’s because of me. I’m still too weak
” So weak that he couldn’t even find the White-Haired Monster’s very familiar spiritual power, and couldn’t resist the temptation of the magical stones

Chu Yan couldn’t take it anymore.
‘No wonder Erge likes Qiao Zhiya so much. If there’s a lovely person who sincerely cares about me, I would also be tempted! Ahh, I’m so jealous of my own Erge! How can that stinky iceberg meet such a simple and lovely Qiao! It was as if it was predestined by God that Qiao just happened to be able to treat Erge’s illness. God, this is unfair!! Send me my predestined lover too!!’ 1God: you’re just blind of your fate, sweetie.
Unable to see Qiao Zhiya’s gloomy mood, he dragged the blond up and started pouring chicken soup2motivational words. You know, like the series “Chicken Soup for the Soul”. I used to have them back when I’m younger lol.: “Qiao! Failure is the mother of success! I think Dage is right, you have to take your time to heal a disease. If you fail once, then try twice! If you fail twice, then try thrice! If you fail thrice, then continue until success! Weakness is not an excuse to give up, as long as you work hard to become stronger, you will get it. What, you’re afraid that Erge will leave you in the future if you’re too weak?”
After listening to his encouragement, Qiao Zhiya
Although he felt that something was wrong, after thinking about it, it seemed to be so reasonable. He quickly cheered up, tightened his face and seriously said, “Yes! You are right! The root of the problem is that I am too weak, so Chu Rong won’t let me heal him because he was worried. The solution is simple, I just need to work hard to get stronger! Xiao Yan thank you!!”
‘Hey! The point is not to get stronger! You should comfort him by cuddling together instead!!!!!!’
Chu Yan roared in his heart, but seeing Qiao Zhiya’s innocence and full of fighting spirit, he swallowed his words silently. He patted his future sister-in-law on the shoulder, then nodded, “Yes, that’s right! You work hard to get stronger. Don’t stop trying, keep going! I believe in you.”
The rest of the Chu family watched the two young men who had finished filling the chicken soup rush into the training ground, training in full swing, with confusion plastered on their faces.
“Aren’t you going to review your homework?” Chu Huai questioned.
Gu Yan’an put the refreshments on the table, sat down beside him, looked towards the direction of the training ground, and said with a smile, “Xiao Yan’s temperament means that he’s not suited for theoretical learning. He learned better by practicing, so let’s just let them learn at their own pace. Plus, he’s still growing, he might be restless from his pent-up stamina.”
Chu Rong, who was sitting on the side, heard the word “still growing” and remembered Qiao Zhiya’s “has stopped growing” physical examination results. He frowned, and his good mood suddenly turned sour.
“The Empire wants to send a few children to our school.” Chu Huai changed the subject, bringing everyone’s attention back to the business. With a cold face, he glanced at his second brother with a hidden meaning. “I heard one of them is the son of Netaxi, the number one warrior of the Empire. I heard he’s about the same as Xiao Yan.”
Although there have been rumors about this matter, when he finally heard the exact news at this time, Chu Rong’s mood became worse. He asked with a deep frown, “Who else?”
“There is also the most precious pair of twins of the Imperial family, Imperial Prince An Ting and Imperial Princess An Lin.” Chu Huai picked up the floral tea, and traced his finger across the teacup’s rim. “You defeated Netaxi before, right? Now, his son and the two troublesome Imperial Royals are here. A little bird told me that the princess said that she fell in love with you at first sight. Sigh, Your Excellency An Lin, your calculations are too obvious
”
Gu Yan’an frowned when she heard her husband’s lament, and said: “The president is not afraid of this
 situation? This is akin to luring wolves into the pasture
 I’m getting more and more confused about his thoughts.”
“He is old, his term of office is about to expire, and he only has two children, a son and a daughter. His son is very mediocre and incompetent. His daughter is good, but how could the Four Great Families allow him to raise his daughter as his successor3no, it’s not because of misogyny, even if the President wants to raise his son instead, they will also prevent him as much as possible. so easily? Although the Xiang family and the Wei family are biased towards him, they definitely have an interest in inserting their people as the President. He was about to lose his favorable situation, so he wanted to create a diversion to get the Four Great Families’ attention. It just so happens that the Empire is interested, so they hit it off.”
Chu Huai explained in a dry tone. Then, he glanced at his younger brother, and spoke to him with a sudden gloating tone, “Lao’er over here is the perfect target for the President’s hatred. He has it all: position, money, ability, and a gold medal4as in a medal honored to him for his sacrifice in defeating the Zerg Queen, so he gets an exoneration if he ever gets a death penalty. to avoid death. The President failed to beat him before, so this time he should be aiming for revenge. Sure enough, incompetent people in power are the most afraid of a tiger pretending to be a pig5a strong person pretending to be weak.. Since Lao’er is too strong, he must be gone to ensure his position.”
Chu Rong, who was compared to a pig, had a completely dark face full of irritation. He almost growled, “We must try to find a way to prevent them from coming.”
“Well, seeing your
 excitement with this prospect, of course the Xiang-Wei family will be eager for those Imperial exchange students to come over. The president has calculated too well, knowing that a few juniors won’t attract the vigilance of the Xiang-Wei family. Instead, he knew that it will only make them wanting to use this opportunity to hold you back. Besides, this might deepen the conflict between our family, and might also allow the Xiang-Wei family alliance to plot other things. If they had the time, there’s a huge chance that it’s impossible for us to stop. And as for the Ning family, they’re always neutral, so they shouldn’t further muddy the water.” Chu Huai took a sip of his floral tea, keeping a smile on his face all the time. His serene expression made it as if this situation wasn’t a big deal.
And in fact, it really wasn’t a big deal.
“Then let them come.” Chu Rong put down his teacup a little too hard, making a shrill “clang!” sound of porcelain hitting each other. He shifted his gaze towards the training ground, and said coldly, “It’s good to teach those people a hard lesson when they come here. Let’s give them our warm greeting.”
Chu Huai prevented Gu Yan’an from trying to comfort his younger brother, and replied, “Well, they should come next year. I think they wanted them to enroll as freshmen of the Advanced College branch of the Federal Military Academy.”
Since today is currently in the middle of the year, the exact time should be a little over half a year from now.
Chu Rong nodded to express his understanding. After greeting his brother and his sister-in-law, he got up and walked towards the training ground, his unhappiness was written all over his body.
After he walked away, Gu Yan’an cast a sidelong glance at Chu Huai, and asked, “Why are you purposefully angering him? I never knew you’re such an older brother.”
Seeing that she was unhappy, Chu Huai leaned over to coax her, and explained his reasoning, ” I didn’t mean to annoy him, but I wanted him to recognize the essence of this conflict – a honey trap. Everyone wants to dig a pit for us using his marriage as the initial crack. He has to know it.”
“He wasn’t aware of this before?” Gu Yan’an retorted angrily, and didn’t feel coaxed at all. She continued grilling her husband for answers, “The President’s daughter is one, and the Empire’s Princess is another. Even some members of the Four Great Families are into him for this reason! I don’t even know how many of them in total, since there must be some still in hiding. Are you trying to annoy Erzi6äșŒć­; second child to death?” She didn’t believe that her husband couldn’t prevent these annoying flies from bothering Chu Rong’s love life.
Chu Huai hugged her, and waited for her to vent her emotions before continuing, “The thing is, he might now but didn’t care before. But now he has Qiao Zhiya, so he must be more aware of this situation. Just as you say, the President’s daughter and the Imperial Princess both have this ambition, do you think I could easily prevent them? Besides, even if I succeeded in holding off a couple of them back, there’s still too many of them. It’s not effective to deal with them my way.”
Gu Yan’an stopped talking. She wasn’t stupid, she understood the current situation very well. She does agree that letting the opponent come in public like this is much more favorable than cornering them and forcing them to come in secret.
Seeing that she understood his reason, Chu Huai patted her and comforted her, “So don’t worry, no one can force Erzi to do what he doesn’t want to do, marry someone he doesn’t want to marry. Remember when his spiritual power exploded during the fight with the Zerg Queen? The moment he fell, everyone immediately rushed over to finish him off. And even now, they’re still plotting against him because they still think he’s not getting better. But now
 thanks to Qiao, his spiritual pollution is recovering. Once he’s fully recovered, I’d like to see if those unscrupulous people could still sing.”
There’s currently four Marshals in the Federation. One of them is from the Wei family, one of them is from the President’s wife’s natal family, one of them is Chu Rong, and the last was a commoner – he’s theoretically neutral.
The one from the President’s wife’s natal family was too old to actually come to the front line. The one from the Wei’s family was concealed by the family and has only been in office for ten years, and has never fought a real battle, so he’s useless. The one born as a commoner was in his prime and had strong strength, but he came out from the previous Marshal Chu’s platoon. He was neutral on the surface, but he secretly favored the Chu family. The president hated this.
During the last war, Chu Rong won a gold medal because of his achievement in finishing the Zerg Queen. He had high prestige and status, but there was only one problem: his spiritual power was polluted.
In the past, everyone dared to plot against Chu Rong because they thought that he would fall at any time. Plus, they thought that the Chu family’s power in the military headquarters seemed strong, but in fact it might disperse at any time, so they had nothing to fear. Some people want him to die early so that they can share his things, while others want to monopolize his things before he dies.
Xiang-Wei’s family is the former, and the President is the latter. The ridiculous thing is that they are still in the same camp.
They all thought that they still had time to plot against them, and feel that they’re already halfway to winning. But they didn’t know what Chu Rong was actually recovering, and their plans would come to nothing.
The Chu family’s things have always been given to their own family members only. But now, Chu Rong’s illness was gradually improving, and those calculations were just jokes in the face of his steady strength.
“The president can be changed, and the Four Major Families can be defeated. They seemed to forget that the pillar of the Federation is the people, not them. Such fools are blinded by greed.” Chu Huai said slowly. When he looked at Chu Rong who was coming out of the training ground with Qiao Zhiya, he was smiling like a fox. “I really want to see the expressions of those people when they know that Lao’er condition is getting better, and go against their wishes and find an Exoplanet Native who has nothing to do with them as a partner. It will be very exciting.”
Gu Yan’an also looked over at Chu Rong. Then, her gaze landed on Chu Yan who was howling and chasing after him. She sighed as if she was burdened. “Xiao Yan should grow up fast too
”
Before, Chu Rong was convinced that his pollution wasn’t curable, and he was afraid that he would fall into someone’s plot and die. So, he kept whipping up Chu Yan to shape. He was strict with Chu Yan’s training, because he was afraid Chu Yan couldn’t defend himself when Chu Rong was gone. But now, he knew that he was going to be cured. He immediately became more lax about Chu Yan’s matter, no longer hounding him into training 24/7.
However
 with the Empire’s threat looming over them, Chu Yan might not have a long time to remain as a naive young man.
Chu Huai glanced at her, raised his hand to help her tuck her hair behind her ears, and smiled softly.
Everything will eventually be alright, he knew this.
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1God: you’re just blind of your fate, sweetie.2motivational words. You know, like the series “Chicken Soup for the Soul”. I used to have them back when I’m younger lol.3no, it’s not because of misogyny, even if the President wants to raise his son instead, they will also prevent him as much as possible.4as in a medal honored to him for his sacrifice in defeating the Zerg Queen, so he gets an exoneration if he ever gets a death penalty.5a strong person pretending to be weak.6äșŒć­; second child