ABRIWMTHM Chapter 64

The meeting has ended.

Shi Xing regained half of his military authority.

Before he could feel happy, as soon as the secretary general Wei Wan called the end of the meeting, everyone was still not moving, and suddenly, Ren Yan Yong’s projection vanished.

Shi Xing was taken aback, and the surrounding officers were equally puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did the equipment disconnect?”

“That shouldn’t be the case, it’s an internal meeting of the Elders Council…”

Before the officers could murmur further, Vice President He Zhuang was the first to bow, “Sorry, this is quite rude. Your Majesty, please wait a moment, I will go check the situation in the President’s office now.”

Chi Yao nodded.

He Zhuang’s figure then went offline, and in less than two minutes, she logged back in and said, “President Ren just accidentally knocked the equipment off; the maintenance robot is still checking it. We’ve already called the technical personnel from the Elders Council.”

Saying this, she projected the scene from her office, where Ren Yan Yong, looking stern, bowed to them, and a robot was repairing the equipment. After showing the two-second image, He Zhuang smiled and shut it off.

“The meeting has also concluded; Your Majesty, do you need the President to log back in using my equipment to bid farewell?”

Chi Yao replied, “No need, you can go help.”

“Okay, thank you very much, Your Majesty.”

He Zhuang elegantly bowed again before her figure vanished.

“Wow, I’ve never seen this before, President Ren could knock over the equipment, tsk.”

“Indeed, I’ve never seen it either. I thought the Elders Council operated under strict protocols, and this kind of situation wouldn’t occur.”

“Hahaha, do you lack ethics!”

A polite voice interrupted, “Normally, such things wouldn’t happen. It might be that the equipment hasn’t been maintained for a long time, so…”

The gathered officers then noticed that Xu Mi Rou from the Elders Council hadn’t logged off yet, and it suddenly became a bit awkward.

After a few seconds of silence, someone finally said, “Well, haha, the meeting has concluded; Your Majesty, I still have military affairs to handle, so I won’t stay any longer. Farewell.”

After exchanging pleasantries and receiving Chi Yao’s acknowledgment, they vanished with a whoosh.

The remaining officers exchanged glances, and feeling uninterested, they all began to report going offline, their gazes avoiding any contact with Xu Mi Rou.

When only a few officers remained, Xu Mi Rou once again bowed and took the initiative to say, “I apologize for the Elders Council’s rudeness today, everyone please don’t take it to heart.”

The officers, awkwardly scratching their toes, repeatedly waved their hands saying it was fine, but still went offline quicker than anyone else.

After the officers left, Xu Mi Rou once again sincerely apologized to Chi Yao before requesting to log off. After receiving his approval, she bowed and gracefully vanished.

Fei Chu fanned himself with his hand, “The Elders Council’s etiquette is quite impressive; it’s making me sweat.”

It’s too complicated; rough military officers can’t stand this.

Chi Yao said, “We don’t require such formalities usually; what’s there to sweat about?”

Noticing the inappropriate tone, Fei Chu quickly closed his mouth and stopped talking.

Afraid that the conversation would lead him to experience the full set of etiquette, it would be counterproductive.

Secretary General Wei Wan chuckled, “I also didn’t expect President Ren to make such a mistake.”

No one could adhere to rules and protocols better than Ren Yan Yong.

Tang Mi joked, “So shocking~”

Hearing this, everyone broke out into knowing smiles, and Wei Wan then cleared her throat to stop them, “Perhaps, let’s not keep talking about President Ren.”

Finishing her words, she looked at Shi Xing and congratulated him.

Shi Xing didn’t feel constrained and returned a smile.

Happy.

He couldn’t care less about Ren Yan Yong’s situation; he had regained military authority, and he was happy.

Simple and genuine.

Chi Yao said, “Alright, let’s disperse now that the meeting is over, no need to crowd here.”

Secretary General Wei Wan added, “I’ll go organize the meeting records; the Elders Council should be following up soon.”

Tang Mi thought for a moment and said, “I’ll take the recordings on General Fei’s desk and encrypt them, setting them to self-destruct after a few plays. I’ll send them to the officers who want to view them in detail.”

Fu Qing said, “I’m going to train.”

Fei Chu said, “I’ll go rest.”

Before long, everyone gradually departed, leaving only Shi Xing and Chi Yao in the projection meeting room.

At this point, Chi Yao turned his attention to Shi Xing.

Seeing Shi Xing’s radiant smile, completely unhidden.

“Are you this happy?” Chi Yao was influenced by Shi Xing’s emotions, and the corners of his lips also curled up.

Shi Xing nodded vigorously, his eyes crinkling into crescents, “Of course I’m happy, Your Majesty. Aren’t you happy?”

Shi Xing particularly seriously counted on his fingers, “Reasonably regained military power, happy; supported by four legions, with one legion’s attitude unclear, that means only two legions are truly against me, happy; finally, President Ren and the others don’t want to admit it but still have to, um… I’m still very happy.”

“This last point sounds a bit schadenfreude.”

“Just sounds that way, doesn’t it?” As Shi Xing asked this, he couldn’t help but laugh.

This response… Chi Yao looked at Shi Xing, the little boy laughing so hard his eyes nearly disappeared, suddenly reached out to pinch Shi Xing’s face, mmm, just as imagined, soft and plump, young, full of collagen.

“Your Majesty, what are you doing?”

Even though Chi Yao’s action was brief and gentle, it still made Shi Xing widen his eyes.

“I’m just pinching someone’s face to see what it’s made of, suddenly being this arrogant.”

By the end of the third remark, Chi Yao couldn’t help but start laughing too.

Seeing Chi Yao smile, Shi Xing teased, “So what did you get from it?”

Chi Yao, without saying a word, looked at Shi Xing. The two pairs of smiling eyes met for a moment, in the silent atmosphere, sensing something unusual, Shi Xing blinked, and before he could speak, Chi Yao raised his hand and suddenly said, “It’s pretty hard to describe; otherwise, should I pinch it again…”

Halfway through his words, Shi Xing’s body reacted faster than his mind, and he immediately covered his face and shook his head.

Chi Yao’s smile deepened, his hand taking a turn and landing on Shi Xing’s head, rubbing it.

“You still need to practice thickening your skin.”

Turning to press the main switch on the wall, with his back to the stupefied Shi Xing, he beckoned, “Let’s go.”

Hmm, Your Majesty was just teasing him on purpose, right?

Realizing it too late, Shi Xing tapped his forehead, feeling a bit annoyed.

Chi Yao called out again, and Shi Xing ran obediently to catch up.

Shi Xing wasn’t one to keep track of details; this bit of mischief was quickly cast aside by him. The belonging of military authority kept him happy throughout the day.

With everything settled, his appetite opened up at noon, and in the afternoon, while Bi Shu was studying, Shi Xing finished Tang Mi’s class, then during his free time, he ran to Chi Yao’s study, took a basket of crystals, absorbing them while feeling delighted.

Chi Yao wanted to say something, but every time he looked up, he found Shi Xing smiling, and the slightly disappointing words got swallowed down.

It would be better to wait until tomorrow or the day after to talk about it; there was no need to dampen Shi Xing’s spirits while he was so joyful.

Once the moment passed, the other generals, vice generals, and high-ranking officers quickly contacted their friends from the Seventh Army, eager to inquire about Shi Xing’s matters.

Due to too many private inquiries with Tan Bai Shan, he didn’t have the time, so he simply created a group chat, allowing the other five factions to ask about Shi Xing together.

Lu Guang Yu decisively asked, “What level is Prince Shi Xing at right now?”

Tan Bai Shan replied, “Principally 3S, but similar to His Majesty’s 3S, just a benchmark value.”

Tan Bai Shan continued, “The Nest should have tested his talent abilities twice; you can ask the administrators. If they respond, it must be approved by His Majesty. If they don’t say, just don’t ask too much.”

Lu Guang Yu lowered his gaze, pondering something.

The messages in the group were racing fast, with no one noticing his silence.

Questions came pouring in, from Shi Xing’s abilities, personality, and healing capabilities, to his hobbies, preferences, and personal quirks, essentially everything they could consider, were shot towards Tan Bai Shan without reservation.

When Lu Guang Yu glanced back at the chat, it had already drifted into awkward territory.

“So, does His Majesty really like Prince Shi Xing a lot?”

Lu Guang Yu found it hard to imagine that such a question was asked by a general rather than a group of curious relatives.

Tan Bai Shan fell silent for a moment, “If it’s all good now, we can close the group. I’m busy.”

“Don’t! This is a serious question, not gossip. We need to figure out how to approach Prince Shi Xing in the future!”

Someone echoed, “Yes, yes, share His Majesty’s attitude. We’re all unfamiliar; we need to know how to treat Prince Shi Xing moving forward, Tan.”

“Okay then.” Tan Bai Shan thought seriously for a while, “From what I see, he does seem to like him quite a bit.”

“Can you elaborate a bit?”

Tan Bai Shan became cautious, “You all aren’t really sneaking around looking for the Emperor’s private matters, are you?”

“…If you want to say, we wouldn’t mind hearing a bit?”

Tan Bai Shan: “.”

Tan Bai Shan nodded, then disbanded the group chat and logged off.

Such questions were being tossed around; it seemed there were no serious matters left to address.

Tan Bai Shan left, and soon after, Lu Guang Yu was pulled into another group chat where everyone was earnestly analyzing the news they had just heard.

[He’s already at 3S level; it’s unimaginable.]

[Er Ya is probably only at 2S, but she only treats His Majesty and flatly refuses to treat anyone else in the Empire.]

[In that case, little Prince might actually be able to heal His Majesty.]

As soon as that last sentence was uttered, everyone instinctively held their breath.

Lu Guang Yu felt complicated feelings.

After a moment, another officer pointed out, [How to treat Prince Shi Xing really does need careful consideration.]

If…

Thinking about the uncertain possibilities of the future, the officers fell silent again.

After a long while, someone typed, [Let’s hope so.]

These four words struck the chords of everyone’s hearts, and others quickly agreed:

[Hope so.]

[Definitely hope so.]

[It must be.]

After a joyous day, come nighttime, Shi Xing began to worry again.

Nothing in particular, except for the first day; after that, anxious about military authority issues, Shi Xing subconsciously overlooked the awkwardness of living with Chi Yao.

And now that the military authority had been settled… that point had begun to become too prominent to ignore.

Shi Xing rolled around on his bed, then again, and finally sluggishly made his way to the door of Chi Yao’s master bedroom.

Taking a deep breath, then another…

With one final burst of courage, and then it weakened, finally…

On the fourth try, Shi Xing still didn’t push open the bedroom door, after thinking about what he should say, what he should do, how they would interact, and so forth, Shi Xing started to worry again about how he was supposed to fall asleep without the annoyance of military authority issues.

As fate would have it, he could even hear his own heartbeat.

Shi Xing felt suffocated.

But just when he was contemplating again, he suddenly heard two coughs, which interrupted his thoughts.

It did not sound like a casual cough; rather, it seemed he was trying hard to suppress something.

Wait, did His Majesty not feel him standing at the door? If he felt it then…

Shi Xing pushed the door open.

As the door opened, he saw Chi Yao bent over, sitting on the edge of the bed, head down, brows tightly furrowed.

The flow of the air brought answers.

Feeling the fluctuations of mental power around, Shi Xing understood what was going on; Chi Yao’s mental sea was unstable once again.

Reaching inside the bedroom space, Shi Xing’s heart sank again, still not revealing any aggressive mental power leaks.

It was becoming more and more frequent.

It took a while for Chi Yao to notice Shi Xing standing in front of him.

“You’ve come.”

He intended to say this casually, but the hoarse tone revealed his true condition and feelings at that moment.

“Your Majesty, your mental power is leaking.”

“Mm.” Chi Yao closed his eyes, furrowing his brow even tighter, looking down.

“Is it very uncomfortable?” Shi Xing asked worriedly, his tone growing softer.

“A bit.” After a moment of silence, Chi Yao didn’t deny it.

Shi Xing extended his hand, the calming mental power of a Blue Star human radiating from his fingertips, gently flowing into Chi Yao’s mental sea… but it didn’t help much.

Chi Yao grasped Shi Xing’s fingers, interrupting the release of mental power, and shook his head, “It’s just entering a chaotic cycle; don’t use your mental power, it won’t help.”

Shi Xing felt a sense of realization, tightening his grip on Chi Yao’s hand, following from his wrist, to his knuckles stretching into his sleeves. When Chi Yao tried to refuse, he knew it was already too late; Shi Xing felt the stickiness on his skin.

The next moment, Shi Xing’s hand pressed against his neck, crouching down completely.

Chi Yao smiled lightly, without much spirit, a bitter smile similar to being discovered.

Shi Xing crouched, meeting Chi Yao’s gaze, his pupils unnaturally constricting for a few moments, he then struggled to say, “Your Majesty, you’re sweating a lot.”

Chi Yao closed his eyes and didn’t answer, which was to accept it tacitly.

After a moment, the hand was placed on his face, touching the cool sweat on his cheek.

Shi Xing pursed his lips, his tone somewhat pained, “You lied to me; it’s not just a little bit uncomfortable. It’s clearly very uncomfortable.”

People with mental sea problems will indeed feel discomfort; Chi Yao has coexisted with his fractured mental sea for a long time and has exceeded the endurance most people could handle, but…

Usually, he could act as if nothing was wrong; yet now, he couldn’t even put on a façade.

Shi Xing didn’t believe it was just a little discomfort.

It must be very unbearable.

Chi Yao silently smiled, “You don’t have to be this clever.”