9.
Meng Fu looked at Li Yue, who had already swum to the corner of the pool. Such a big merman shrank there, his tail constantly slapping the water surface, as if he had been abused, looking a bit pitiful. Even Meng Fu watching felt uncomfortable for him.
Water splashed everywhere, the white roses by the pool tugged at their own emerald green branches and leaves, the white flower buds fell onto the water surface, were smashed by the fish tail, and the petals scattered drifting toward all directions.
Meng Fu called out to Li Yue several times, but he never responded. She furrowed her brows, simply took off her outer clothes, then with a splash jumped into the water, swimming toward Li Yue.
Li Yue’s whole body was burning hot. After becoming an adult, mermen would welcome their own mating period, but previously during mating periods, Li Yue said it had no effect at all—every day he would do what he should, occasionally even going out to patrol and catching those mermen who were disorderly under the excuse of mating period, then lecturing them about the Eight Honors and Eight Shames of the Ocean.
He truly did not expect that his own mating tide this time would come so violently. In his mind, all he could think about was dragging the girl on shore into the water, hiding her inside his palace under the sea, entwining together day and night, never separating. His reason and desire were pulling back and forth in his mind.
If he had known it would be like this, he would not have agreed to let Meng Fu bring him down.
Could it be that that scoundrel Huaiming poisoned him!?
Wait a moment—Li Yue lifted his head and looked at the shore again. Where was the girl on the shore? Where was Meng Fu?
He blinked his eyes, looked around, and then saw that Meng Fu somehow was already in the water, now right in the center of the pool, getting closer and closer to him.
Her clothes were soaked and clinging tightly to her body, her long hair spread out behind her, floating with the waves. Her fair skin under the lantern light revealed a faint pink.
Li Yue’s tongue turned around in his mouth, pressed against his upper palate. Suddenly his abdomen surged with an unbearable hunger and thirst. He hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to look at her again.
He didn’t want to drag the girl into the water, but the girl herself came down.
This was simply too, too much for a merman like Li Yue!
Li Yue took a deep breath, silently reciting the Eight Honors and Eight Shames of the Ocean in his heart, forcefully pressing down those terrible and shameful thoughts.
But just doing this, with just the effort of one fish, was not enough.
He looked at the reflection of Meng Fu on the water surface and said to her: “Don’t come over.”
Meng Fu stopped, silently gazing at Li Yue.
Li Yue raised his head and met her gaze briefly, then quickly withdrew it, saying to Meng Fu: “I’m really fine, you don’t come over.”
His voice was low and hoarse.
A merman’s voice toward humans was already full of natural allure; now listening to it felt even more bewitching and stirring to the heart.
Meng Fu hesitated a little, then steadied herself, and stared straight at Li Yue.
“But the way you look now,” she paused, her body leaning forward slightly, and said to him, “Looks like you very much wish for me to come over.”
Li Yue pressed his lips together without speaking.
His silver tail was already impatiently slapping at the water surface.
He wanted Meng Fu to come, yet didn’t want her to come.
Sometimes during mating periods, mermen would fall into extreme madness. In the end, they might not even know what they were doing.
Li Yue was also unsure whether he would reach that point.
Accompanied by the sounds of water, ripples of various sizes spread on the water surface.
Several small rose branches and leaves fell again.
Broken petals floated to Meng Fu’s chest. Meng Fu lifted her hand to brush away the petals and took another step forward. Her hand was about to touch his tail.
“Don’t move,” Li Yue said in a low voice.
If she kept acting like this, it would truly be hard for him to maintain reason — what if he hurt her at that time?
Meng Fu did not move, lowered her gaze and looked at Li Yue’s tail. The scales on his tail slightly opened, as if enduring great pain.
Meng Fu’s heart seemed to tighten along with his curled-up tail.
She lightly took a breath, her tone gentle, and asked: “Then tell me, what exactly is wrong with you? When will it end? What can I do for you now?”
She thought, if Li Yue needed it, she could immediately think of a way to send him back to the ocean, or she could never keep him here again.
“I…” Li Yue moved his lips, but really couldn’t say it out loud.
He pulled a distance between himself, his tail, and Meng Fu, and said to Meng Fu: “It’s just that thing…”
That thing, which thing?
They had known each other for so long, and this was the first time Li Yue played riddles with her.
What exactly was there that he couldn’t say?
Meng Fu blinked, and grew increasingly eager to know what was going on with Li Yue.
Moreover, Li Yue clearly very much wanted her to come over — he truly was a merman who says one thing but thinks another.
What exactly was he struggling with?
Meng Fu took a deep breath, dived underwater, and before Li Yue could react, she had already swum to his front.
Meng Fu emerged from the water; water beads slid down her cheeks, dripping drop by drop onto the water surface.
She lifted her head, her hands resting on Li Yue’s shoulders, her body closely pressing against his tail, more enchanting than any sea monster.
And Meng Fu also felt that Li Yue’s body grew even hotter, and at the same time, she made another discovery.
Alright, now she seemed to know what was going on.
Meng Fu lowered her head to look.
As expected.
It was just that mermen’s…
Really were a bit different.
“You know now what’s wrong with me?”
Li Yue helplessly let out a breath.
His entire face flushed so red it seemed it might burn.
Whether it was from anger or embarrassment, the hot breath from his mouth sprayed against Meng Fu’s neck.
He half-jokingly, half-genuinely complained to Meng Fu: “I told you not to come over, quickly move away from me.”
Meng Fu’s cheeks also slightly reddened.
She shifted back a little, pursed her lips, and asked him: “Why did it suddenly become like this? Did you eat something wrong?”
Was it that someone in the royal palace looked at him unfavorably and tampered with his pastries? Or was it that in the sea he was ambushed by another merman?
But he had been with her here for a while now. If he had really been drugged in the sea, then the drug effect sure was lasting.
“Really it’s nothing,” Li Yue said, trying not to breathe deeply.
Even though the scorching heat triggered by Meng Fu was almost overpowering, he tried to press it down and said:.”It’s just that a merman’s mating period has arrived. After a few days it’ll pass.”
Mating period…
Meng Fu didn’t know much about merman habits, but she did know the meaning of the words “mating.”
Meng Fu couldn’t help but sneak another glance at him, then thought it improper, quickly shifted her arm sideways, and, looking at the blooming roses at the poolside, asked in a small voice: “Then… do you want to go back to the ocean?”
Li Yue did not immediately answer her question.
Right now, going back to the sea was indeed a good choice for him, but in his heart, he still wanted to stay here.
Even if Meng Fu could not accompany him through this mating period, being able to stay closer to her was also very good.
The fragrance of flowers was thick, shaded around them.
Meng Fu still lowered her head, glanced at him again, bit her lips, stayed silent for a long time, and then asked Li Yue: “Do you want to go find another merman?”
Meng Fu had never asked Li Yue whether he had other partners in the sea.
For some reason, she subconsciously believed she was his only object of affection.
“I won’t.” Li Yue said.
Find what other merman?
Right now, his mind was filled entirely with the girl in front of him.
And this girl still seemed unaware of how dangerous the current situation was, and how terrifying he himself, this merman, was.
He closed his eyes, thinking he should pour a basin of ice water over himself.
He could even use magic directly to freeze this place, but Meng Fu was still here, he had to let her go back to the shore first.
Li Yue had just opened his mouth, intending to ask her to go back to the shore, when he heard Meng Fu ask him: “Is it very hard to endure?”
Li Yue shook his head and said: “No, just endure a while and it’ll be fine.”
He was lying.
Meng Fu didn’t look at his expression; just hearing his voice she already knew.
Under the water, she quietly clenched her hands.
Li Yue felt a shock like cold piercing him, wanting to retreat, but he had already shrunk into a corner with no more space to retreat, his voice hoarse as he said: “I already told you, don’t come over — while I can still control myself, you—”
Meng Fu interrupted him, asking: “Can I help you?”
Li Yue’s words stopped.
He stared blankly at Meng Fu, who was getting closer.
What did she just say?
Was he hallucinating?
Meng Fu repeated her words again: “I said, can I help you?”
Li Yue opened his mouth, his mind seemed unclear and dazed, people in mating period could damage their brains, could they?
He foolishly asked Meng Fu: “…How help?”
Meng Fu chuckled softly, then lifted her hands, one by one unfastening the buttons of her clothes.
The clothes slipped off, floating on the water surface, drifting far away along the current.
Her glowing-white skin seemed to emit light.
Her long fingers were wrapped in a thin layer of water shine.
As Meng Fu moved, the droplets gathered into a crystalline bead,falling into the pool with a drip sound, and also falling onto Li Yue’s heart.
Li Yue stared at this scene, his body stiff, completely at a loss for what to say.
Meng Fu didn’t need him to speak at this moment.
She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.
Li Yue truly had no experience in this area.
When he was in the sea, he would occasionally see some shameless mermen having wild battles, but he had always been disgusted, feeling that just one glance would hurt his eyes.
Meng Fu, however, was human.
Compared to mermen, humans were easier to injure.
Li Yue thus restrained himself even more, daring not to act recklessly.
At the beginning, this affair was completely led by Meng Fu.
It was indeed somewhat difficult at first, but very soon she also found it interesting.
She pressed against Li Yue’s body and asked him: “Now, do you feel a little better?”
If mating period must be completed with a same kind, then she truly had no way out.
Li Yue didn’t speak.
His arms encircled Meng Fu’s waist, his pair of eyes brighter than the stars in the night sky.
White rose petals floated up and down with the icy waves. Those murmuring sounds gradually quieted only when the tenderness grew deeper. Even the roses outside the window shyly lowered their heads.
10.
Xie Erwen had been living quite badly these few days.
Indeed, he had come to Kingdom of Lotian for Feng Lai’s sake.
Several months ago, after they learned that Kingdom of Lotian was looking for someone, they immediately dispatched people to first find a fisherman who had been to the seaside, and forced out from him that he had once seen a merman rescue a girl and place her inside a giant oyster shell.
After knowing all this, Xie Erwen was completely relieved — since the one who saved Meng Fu was a merman, they didn’t need to worry about him coming back to claim her.
Xie Erwen dug out more details from the fisherman, then arrived at Kingdom of Lotian and obtained the Queen of Kingdom of Lotian’s trust.
This plan was so perfect — the only thing that Xie Erwen had not foreseen was: he himself would truly fall for Meng Fu.
When he was in Fenglai, no one knew he was the king’s illegitimate son. Even so, many noble young ladies pursued him, but he didn’t like a single one.
He knew there had begun a deception between them..If handled poorly, he and Meng Fu would be finished.
He had long thought it through: after their feelings were mutual, he would confess his background to her.
At that time, she should be able to forgive him.
They could marry, and Kingdom of Lotian and Fenglai could form an alliance and become friendly nations.
Back then, full of self-confidence, Xie Erwen never thought that he would lose favor so quickly.
Even if this Queen preferred newness and abandoned old love, wasn’t it still too fast? And she hadn’t even had him yet, right?
Xie Erwen could not understand — what exactly had he done wrong that failed to please the Queen’s heart, especially when he had even saved her life.
Xie Erwen also once suspected that Meng Fu had already found out his identity, but immediately dismissed the thought.
If Meng Fu truly knew he was from Fenglai, she couldn’t possibly act so calm.
Only — so much time had passed, he still didn’t even know what the man who had gained Meng Fu’s love looked like.
He had to find a way, he must meet that man at least once, at least to understand where exactly he had lost.
And after mating period passed, Li Yue discovered that he could transform human legs, and could walk on land.
When there was nothing to do on shore, he would go out with Meng Fu.
But as a merman, Li Yue still preferred to stay in the water.
Xie Erwen sniffed out rumors from here.
Taking advantage of others’ inattention, he sneaked in secretly.
When he arrived, Li Yue was reading a book in the water.
Hearing movement, Li Yue lifted his head and looked at Xie Erwen hiding behind the rose bushes.
This man again, why is he still here?
Seeing Li Yue look at himself, even as a love rival, Xie Erwen had to admit that the man in front of him was handsome.
He suddenly somewhat understood how some people could shift feelings so quickly.
But understanding was understanding — Xie Erwen still found it hard to accept.
Could it be that Meng Fu was someone who judged only by appearances? This man would eventually age. By then, would Meng Fu still like him?
Xie Erwen pulled out the sketchbook he always carried, wrote a line on it with a brush, and showed it to Li Yue: “Do you know who I am?”
Li Yue blinked, raised his hand, and pointed at the water surface.
Xie Erwen thought there was something under the water.
He lowered his head, stared hard, and saw nothing. Frowning, he wrote:
“What are you letting me look at?”
Li Yue glanced at Xie Erwen disdainfully — This human was really too stupid.
He said: “Don’t understand? Look at yourself.”
(Meaning: You want to know your identity? Look at your reflection.)
He wasn’t unaware of who he was — look at himself more, and maybe he’d understand.
Xie Erwen took a deep breath, and wrote again: “Do you know what identity I have?”
Li Yue raised his brows slightly.
Why should he know Xie Erwen’s identity?
Is it something amazing?
Could he be more awesome than the great king Li Yue himself?
Lowering his own status.
Xie Erwen was not a fool. He knew that his true identity could not be exposed to Li Yue.
Fortunately, besides being the illegitimate son of the King of Fenglai, he had also been a painter, had been a poet; the little poems he wrote were once popular in Feng Lai.
Even if these were nothing impressive before other nobles, they should be enough for this man in the water.
After all, Xie Erwen thought — a proper man could not possibly spend all day soaking in a pool.
Moreover, the book he was holding was one that even just-literate children read. He believed it firmly and concluded: not only was Li Yue superficial, he was also illiterate — and that Meng Fu had really let him down by liking a man who only had a face.
Li Yue, seeing the words Xie Erwen had written in the sketchbook, flipped through the book until he could recognize all the characters, then raised his head and asked: “Just this?”
Just this bit and you’re bragging?
He had thought Xie Erwen could swallow a whale in three bites. If so, he would have admired him a little.
Xie Erwen was almost driven to shout.
What was “just this”? This illiterate dares use such a contemptuous tone toward him!
He grabbed his brush again, lowered his head, furiously scribbling on the sketchbook without stopping.
Soon he had filled a whole page, but he was not satisfied.
He flipped to the next page and continued venting his anger.
He must let Li Yue recognize his identity clearly.
Someone like him was absolutely not someone who could stay beside Meng Fu for long.
If Li Yue knew his place and left quickly, maybe he could still leave Meng Fu a good impression.
Li Yue, just after passing through mating period, his whole fish was sunk into great happiness.
Seeing Xie Erwen, he wasn’t as angry as before.
Xie Erwen looked like he was planning to serialize a novel here, writing for a long time and still not done.
Li Yue couldn’t be bothered with him, instead turned to look toward the door.
Meng Fu had said she needed to handle political affairs, who knew when she would come back.
Li Yue also dozed off, yawned, closed his eyes, planning to nap a little.
Just when he was drifting off drowsily, Xie Erwen finally finished writing.
Li Yue lifted his eyelid and glanced over — that whole page was densely packed with writing.
He immediately gave Xie Erwen four words: “Too long, not reading.”
Hearing this, Xie Erwen was so angry his chest puffed up, almost falling into the pool.
He opened his mouth, “ah ah” for a long time, but being a mute now, he couldn’t speak.
“In a hurry??”
Li Yue sneered, shook his head, and objectively evaluated: “Your temper’s too bad.”
How could someone’s temper be even worse than his own?
He himself couldn’t even swallow a whale in three bites.
Why was Xie Erwen so prideful?
Xie Erwen lowered his head and started to write in the sketchbook again.
He had so much he wanted to say — but after only half writing, he suddenly stopped.
If this guy came again with “not reading”, he would really die of anger here today.
He closed the sketchbook, his gaze heavy and sunken while looking at Li Yue. At present, this was the only way he could vent his stifled grievance.
At that moment, Meng Fu’s voice suddenly came from the doorway: “What are you doing here?”
Li Yue, in the middle of a small nap, opened his eyes. Hearing her voice, Xie Erwen also turned his body to look.
His expression was extremely aggrieved.
When Meng Fu came over, he quickly wrote on the sketchbook: “You haven’t come to see me in a long time.”
Meng Fu said: “I’ve been a bit busy lately.”
Li Yue snorted coldly and turned his head away.
So, when she wasn’t busy, she would go see him?
Meng Fu walked over, sat down beside him, held his hand, and said to Xie Erwen: she should have always done this.
Xie Erwen saw this scene and only felt as if his heart was stabbed with a knife.
Trembling, he wrote on the paper: “Who is he?”
Meng Fu smiled with her eyes, tilted her head and gently kissed Li Yue’s face.
Thus, the previously unhappy merman immediately became happy again.
Meng Fu asked Xie Erwen: “Still can’t see it?”
Xie Erwen barely understood what the phrase “kill the person, punish the heart” meant.
He confusedly wrote on the paper and asked: “How can you like this kind of person?”
“Hmm?”
Meng Fu found his question very puzzling.
Where was Li Yue bad?
Just by this face alone, Xie Erwen shouldn’t have asked such a question.
Xie Erwen added what had just happened, cruelly, onto the paper.
He expressed that everything he did was for Li Yue’s good, but Li Yue not only did not accept his goodwill, he even scolded him.
Xie Erwen was not afraid of being exposed. Anyway, that illiterate fish Li Yue wouldn’t know what he had just written.
“Won’t you?”
Meng Fu turned her head to glance at Li Yue sitting in the pool, smiled and said to Xie Erwen: “He is not that kind of person.”
Meng Fu understood Li Yue’s bad temperament to some extent.
He really was not such a bad person; he was just that kind of fish.
Xie Erwen looked like he was about to cry, and asked Meng Fu: “You don’t believe me? Would I lie to you?”
Meng Fu pulled her head back, and gave Xie Erwen a look of speechlessness. Had he forgotten how he came to the palace in the first place?
Xie Erwen understood the meaning behind Meng Fu’s gaze.
But even if he understood, he knew that Meng Fu’s heart was biased.
No matter how many flaws he pointed out in that man, even if he said one thousand or ten thousand bad things, she would not believe it. If he stayed any longer, he would only bring humiliation upon himself.
“I won’t disturb you anymore.”
He closed the sketchbook and walked out.
After Xie Erwen left, Meng Fu could now focus on coaxing the merman.
She clapped her hands on Li Yue’s cheeks and rubbed them, saying: “Alright, he’s gone, you can be happy now.”
Li Yue didn’t say anything.
In fact, ever since Meng Fu kissed him, he wasn’t that unhappy anymore.
Meng Fu continued: “Wait two more days, then exchange him for some gold coins. Is there anything you like? I’ll buy it for you.”
Li Yue’s human legs turned back into a fish tail.
His big tail slapped the water twice, cold water splashing onto Meng Fu’s face.
Meng Fu leaned against his back, listening to him hum tunes she had never heard before.
11.
After returning to Bailu Palace, Xie Erwen decided to continue his previous plan.
Love would only slow down his speed of seizing power.
He had to gain Meng Fu’s trust, and secure more benefits for Fenglai.
But what Xie Erwen didn’t expect — right after returning to Bailu Palace, he was softly imprisoned.
At first, he thought Meng Fu was treating him like this for Li Yue’s sake, and that his young boy’s heart died instantly and completely.
But on the third day, Meng Fu brought Li Yue together with her to Bailu Palace, and only then did Xie Erwen realize: Meng Fu had long known his identity. All along, it was just him being clever by half and infatuated by himself.
After Li Yue appeared, Meng Fu reconsidered how to deal with Xie Erwen.
Since she couldn’t use trickery anymore, then exchanging him for some benefits from the King of Fenglai was still possible.
If the King didn’t care about Xie Erwen, then she could stir up the father-son relationship between them.
In any case, she wouldn’t let them have peace.
The old King of Fenglai still cared about this son.
When he learned that Xie Erwen wanted to risk himself to sneak into Lotian alone, though he disapproved, Xie Erwen insisted on going to prove himself.
Now, indeed, it had overturned.
After receiving the news about the Queen of Lotian’s treatment of him, the old King immediately sent people carrying gifts to redeem Xie Erwen.
At that time, his other four sons were fighting over succession so badly that their heads were broken and bleeding.
When they learned that the old King secretly spent a huge sum to redeem Xie Erwen, they suspected something was wrong. After digging deeper, sure enough — there was a illegitimate son.
The four princes immediately joined forces, preparing to first get rid of Xie Erwen.
In recent years, Xie Erwen had not accumulated much in terms of connections and resources in Fenglai, but he had the old king’s favor”, and was very good at acting weak in front of the old king.
Every time his brothers schemed against him, he would run to the old king to complain, and in the end he did not suffer any losses.
But all of this temporarily had nothing to do with Meng Fu.
During the New Year, Meng Fu and Li Yue went together to the deep sea.
The mermen who had once lured ships on the surface to crash into reefs, upon seeing her and Li Yue, were like mice seeing cats — they fled fast, leaving behind strings of different-sized bubbles.
At this moment, Meng Fu truly believed: there was no one under the sea who dared to exclude Li Yue.
Li Yue didn’t care about them.
He just focused on introducing the various underwater sceneries to Meng Fu, and the strange-shaped creatures.
The mermen hid in the shadows, secretly observing them, and also sending messages to mermen not present, telling them to hide away and not bump into His Majesty.
However, during the information transmission, a small accident occurred, and the meaning gradually changed.
“His Majesty has returned!”
“His Majesty has brought a human back!”
“His Majesty snatched a human back!”
“His Majesty is going to eat people!”
The rumor step by step spread out, and eventually evolved into: “His Majesty is going to eat the mermen!”
The mermen who were not present were greatly shocked.
Although they had never seen a merman eat another merman before, putting it on Li Yue somehow didn’t feel wrong either.
Who would become the first dish of His Majesty?
They thought and thought — none of them wanted to sacrifice themselves, so they decided to push forward the merman they hated most: Huaiming.
He was an old unlucky egg anyway.
The mermen moved quickly.
After selecting the fish, they delivered Huaiming right away.
Li Yue was sitting behind a coral bush, hugging Meng Fu and talking, when suddenly Huaiming fell from the sky upon them, really spoiling the mood, and his head was also very bright and shiny.
“What are you doing here?”
Li Yue grasped Meng Fu’s hand, his face full of unhappiness as he asked.
Huaiming said: “They said you want to eat mermen, so they want you to first taste me.”
Li Yue: “…”
“You’re sick, right.”
Li Yue said, looking at Huaiming’s still shining head, and asked: “Did you feed them the wrong medicine?”
“Sea God above, this has nothing to do with me!”
Huai Ming immediately swore.
He was completely innocent — he had just been home properly brewing medicine, when suddenly a large group of mermen tied him up tightly and delivered him to Li Yue.
All along the way, he had thought he was being asked to make medicine for Li Yue.
It scared him to death — fortunately, it turned out he only wanted to eat a merman.
Meng Fu: “…”
“Hurry up and leave, hurry up and leave.”
Li Yue, full of disdain, waved his hand.
Huaiming’s head was not only bright — it even flashed — truly too much interference for them.
Huai Ming didn’t want to stay there either.
Li Yue had returned.
He needed to hurry home and wash his own cooking pots and pans, so he wouldn’t have to hear Li Yue nagging him again.
Annoying fish.
After Huaiming left, Meng Fu asked Li Yue: “Why does his head flash like that?”
“He took the wrong medicine,” said Li Yue.
Meng Fu laughed once, stood up and looked around.
The mermen hiding behind the seaweed, as soon as they met Meng Fu’s gaze, immediately turned and fled from the area.
Far away, the exquisite crystal palace stood tall.
Meng Fu vaguely remembered seeing such a scene once in a dream.
Thinking about it, she turned back to ask Li Yue: “Is there no Sea King here?”
Li Yue thought for a moment, and said uncertainly: “Maybe now I’m the Sea King?”
After saying it, Li Yue felt it wasn’t quite right, corrected himself: “Maybe not.”
He extended his hand — the scepter symbolizing the Sea King appeared in his palm.
He extended the other hand toward Meng Fu and invited her: “Come, let’s go look at our palace.”
He led Meng Fu stepping into that dazzling crystal palace.
The walls were decorated with jewels, glittering brilliantly under the lights.
Countless mermen arranged neatly in two lines.
When Meng Fu and Li Yue approached the throne and sat, they bowed and sang the ballads passed down from ancient times.
12.
After the New Year, Meng Fu returned to Lotian.
Several neighboring countries that had been eyeing Lotian covetously joined forces with Fenglai, and sent troops to attack Lotian.
The Queen of Saratesis, after receiving a thick gift, chose to stay neutral.
Between countries, there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. It wasn’t like little kids playing house, where you stay friends for life.
Meng Fu understood this very well, so she was not surprised.
The other side merely made the decision a Queen should make.
The enemy forces came with great momentum.
But Meng Fu had not been unprepared.
Several border armies were all seasoned troops.
At the same time, Meng Fu allied with several small nations near the enemy’s rear.
They conducted harassment raids, while also secretly inciting alliances.
Though Lotian’s infantry was at a disadvantage, after such operations, they not only resisted the enemy attacks, but occasionally even beat the invaders to lose men and fall into disorder.
Seeing the tide turning badly, Fenglai hurriedly sent word to the Holy See.
The Pope quickly reached an agreement with Fenglai: if Fenglai won this battle, the Holy See would receive considerable benefits.
In recent years, Lotian’s royal family had been noticeably less devout toward the Church. The Pope thought by personally crowning Meng Fu he could change things — but Meng Fu let him down.
She would pay the price for her mistake.
The red-robed archbishop of Lotian, after receiving the Pope’s order, immediately denounced Li Yue in front of tens of thousands of soldiers, proclaiming him an “evil demon.”
He swore: under Li Yue’s leadership, Lotian would march toward ruin.
Once his words were spoken, the entire army uproared.
In battle, nothing was worse than shaking morale.
Originally, Lotian’s morale was high.
Now there was a real danger that this accusation could cause them to collapse, with the blame thrown onto Li Yue.
Meng Fu gripped Li Yue’s hand and calmly asked: “On what basis does the Archbishop claim he is a demon?”
The Archbishop solemnly declared: “Throw him into water. If he floats up, then he is a demon. If he sinks, then it proves he is a good man.”
He knew that Meng Fu and this lover were extremely affectionate, and naturally would not want to sink him into the water.
Li Yue: “…”
To tell the truth, not only could he float up, he could even perform a grand merman transformation show.
Meng Fu glanced at Li Yue, then smiled and said: “Your Grace the Archbishop, this method of yours isn’t bad — I happen to be suspicious that you are possessed by a demon, which is why you would come out at this time to disturb army morale. Why not first prove your own innocence?”
Meng Fu paused, saw the Archbishop’s face dramatically change, and very thoughtfully added:
“Don’t worry, if you are unfortunately lost, I will surely give you a grand burial.”
The Archbishop, meeting Meng Fu’s eyes, immediately realized that this Queen was serious about throwing him into the water.
He shouted loudly: “I am a servant of God! How could I be possessed by a demon!”
Meng Fu smiled faintly and said: “Don’t be so self-confident. Maybe the demon is too strong? Just sinking into the water — if you prove your innocence, then even if your body dies, your pure soul will return to the Father’s embrace.”
After speaking, Meng Fu’s expression sank, and she said to the soldiers behind her: “Come — take the Archbishop down.”
“Wait a moment!”
The Archbishop quickly shouted, “I have other methods!”
While speaking, he pulled out from his bosom a half-meter long white magic staff, deeply inhaled a breath, and lightly tapped the head of a soldier with the staff.
At once, a burst of white light appeared on the soldier’s head.
Li Yue propped up his chin, thinking that Huaiming would probably like this gadget.
The Archbishop said: “This staff is blessed by the gods. If an ordinary person is tapped, white light will appear like this. If a demon is tapped, anblack mist will appear.”
What he said was complete nonsense — the magic circle engraved on the staff was made by the Pope. Whether it showed white light or black mist was entirely under his control.
“Your Majesty, dare you let him be tested before me?” The Archbishop asked.
Under all these pairs of eyes, if Meng Fu retreated, it would be as if admitting Li Yue had a problem. But since the red-robed Archbishop dared say this, it proved his staff must have tricks.
Without Meng Fu needing to say anything, Li Yue simply said: “Alright, come on.”
The Archbishop immediately lifted the staff high. The handsome man still didn’t know what awaited him.
The Archbishop tapped the staff down onto Li Yue’s head — but there was no reaction.
No white light.
No black mist.
The Archbishop was dumbfounded.
He tried several gestures, tapped several others’ heads — still nothing happened.
Li Yue waited for a while, but nothing happened.
He lazily asked: “Can you even manage it?”
The Archbishop was busy fixing his staff, completely ignoring him.
Li Yue said: “If you can’t, let me. Truly a bunch of useless scraps. Still dreaming of casting out demons? Might as well hurry home and farm fields. At least you could contribute something to the country.”
The Archbishop opened his mouth to retort, but Li Yue was one step faster — he snatched the staff out of his hand.
The Archbishop stared at his own empty palm, utterly confused — what had just happened? The demon had taken his staff? Oh heavens, the world was doomed!
Li Yue looked down at the staff.
Though he disliked magic attacks, that didn’t mean he couldn’t use them.
He turned and smiled at Meng Fu, then waved the staff.
In an instant, soft white light spread from beneath his feet, soon engulfing the entire army.
Within the white light, the soldiers still seemed to hear the purest and most beautiful sounds in the world.
Seeing this, Meng Fu immediately seized the opportunity and shouted loudly: “God bless Lotian!”
“God bless Lotian!”
the guards beside her echoed.
“God bless Lotian!”
The generals and soldiers in the front row shouted along.
“God bless Lotian!”
All the soldiers under the divine light roared out.
“God bless Lotian——”
The warm sunlight poured down from between the clouds, spring winds sweeping across ten thousand miles of plains, bringing the best news.
The red-robed Archbishop immediately collapsed limply to the ground.
Meng Fu clapped her hands, and soldiers came forward to drag him away.
The morale of Lotian’s soldiers greatly increased.
In the following battles against the coalition army, they won several victories in a row.
At the same time, internal divisions appeared among the coalition forces, soon splitting them into shattered into pieces.
The army of Lotian chased them all the way back to their homelands.
Meng Fu dispatched emissaries, demanding heavy compensation from them.
This war concerning the life and death of Lotian finally came to an end.
After returning to the royal city, after receiving the compensation and performing the evaluation of merits and the giving of rewards, Meng Fu began preparing for her wedding with Li Yue.
In the circular square, hundreds of white doves flew into the sky, thousands of red roses bloomed passionately, white veils fluttered in the wind.
The mermen’s beautiful songs resounded over the royal city, and the people cheered together, offering their most sincere blessings to the new couple.
May love be eternal.