Dragon Emperor's Eighth Son

  The hairpin can be very useful. Long Nuyue has been guarding me tightly these days, to the point where there isn't even a decent hard object by my side! I carefully inserted the hairpin into the lock and slowly picked it. In the long, dark night, I have all the time in the world to do this! Ka!

  The metal lock opened! My heart tightened. Trembling, I pressed the lock back into place! Try again! No mistake! At this angle, it can be opened at any time! It turns out that I also have a talent for being a thief, others are stealing gold, silver and jewels, but I am stealing myself out!

  Big sister sent someone to deliver the medicine for me, and I carefully applied it and swallowed the medicine that continued its effect. A glimmer of hope arose in my heart. For four years, I couldn't bear to look back on how Ice Orchid and Long Nü Ya killed the man I loved most and tormented me to this point - how should I repay them?

  Haha! Haha ha! It turns out, I'm not numb, nor am I no longer in pain, but rather, I've been in so much pain that I couldn't feel it anymore! Big sister's medicine is great, my legs are starting to feel something again, and my strength has recovered by more than half.

  The door creaked open, revealing a pretty little face, round big eyes staring blankly at me, pointing at me loudly and saying. "So you're the crippled princess from the Cold Palace! Mother was wrong! You're not ugly!" He said with his head tilted to one side, innocently.

  I frowned, just about to speak, but then I saw a few children of roughly the same age squeeze in behind him. Seeing me, they suddenly started shouting loudly. "Really, really! So why did Mother say she's ugly like a ghost!" A little white-clothed kid shouted loudly, and was about to rush forward when Xiaorong suddenly flashed out silently and shouted loudly, "This is not a place where princes should come! Please return to the palace, Your Highnesses!"

  The man in black turned pale with rage, his finger pointing coldly at Xiaorong. "What is your status that you dare to block the princes' path? If you know what's good for you, scram!"

  The white-clothed youngster stared at Xiaorong with a faint gaze, "How dare you be so arrogant! Could it be that the Demon Dragon Clan has sent a spy?! Brothers, let's go together! I won't believe it, we can't let them get away scot-free!"

  I was stunned, it turned out that these were the children of Long Nu Ya and the princesses of various tribes! The one in white robes was actually the first born, now living in the White Dragon Temple, Yun Feng!

  Others, who were about the same age but slightly younger than Yu Feng, looked just as lovely!

  The brothers received his command and flew up, crawling and grabbing, and actually knocked Xiaorong to the ground. Xiaorong didn't dare move them, so she could only stare at the several of them beating her pretty face until it was half swollen!

  I furrowed my brow, at such a young age, they're already so overbearing, how did Long Nuyue teach them to be like this!

  "Halt!" I cried out coldly.

  He and several others stared at me with cold eyes, the white-clothed one raised an eyebrow, full of a little adult's aura, gritting his teeth loudly and saying, "You dare to order me! You're just a crippled woman, how dare you order me!"

  "You're just a mob, how can I not command you! I've commanded many people before! The entire Divine Dragon Army has heard my orders! How about it? Just you, a mere child, what will happen if I command you!" I exclaimed loudly and hastily.

  He stared blankly, dug his ears, and said loudly, "What did you say? You actually said that you once commanded the entire Divine Dragon Army? Haha! Just a crippled woman like you? What's your name!"

  I laughed loudly, "Clean your ears and listen carefully! I'm not called a crippled woman, my surname is Ye! My name is Ye Hanmei!"

  He didn't expect me to be so bold, and for a moment, he was taken aback by my majestic appearance. The child in black took a few steps forward, standing before me, "So you're the commander-in-chief of the three armies who defeated the Magic Dragon Clan back then, Ye Hanmei? Hahaha! It's really laughable! The elder said that the woman he admires most in his life is Ye Hanmei, how could Ye Hanmei appear here?! And with a broken leg! Are you an imposter?"

  I burst out laughing. "So, Prince Wang told Hanmei to impersonate Ye Hanmei, what benefits can I get from that? Am I supposed to be intimidated by you guys? Haha! I'm really hilarious, like a little kid who gets angry over nothing!"

  A child in a green dress walked to my bedside, looked up at me with a small face filled with suspicious curiosity, "So to say, you should be Yufeng's mother! So, do you know where Yufeng went?"

  I looked up at the sky and burst out laughing, "What! You're still a child of the Dragon family, do you have any fraternal feelings left? Where did Yufeng go, what does it have to do with you all?! You also said it yourself, I am Yufeng's mother, since I'm Yufeng's mother, I have the right to decide Yufeng's coming and going! Even Yufeng's life and death!"

  The child in blue clothes stared at me blankly for a while, then suddenly shouted loudly, "Ahh! Yu Feng was indeed taken away by her! That wicked woman! Now we, the nine sons of the Dragon Emperor, are only eight! Of course, those taken away by the Demon Dragon Clan don't count! Big brother, what do you say we should do about this!" He asked Yunfeng loudly.

  Yun Feng smiled faintly, "Since she is indeed Ye Hanmei! I have confirmed that the queen in this cold palace is not as ugly and frightening as people say. So, today's matter will end here! No matter what, she is just a woman who has been locked up on her bed with a broken leg. If we bully her and it gets out, it would damage our dragon son's reputation!"

  "Big brother, how can you say that! My brothers and I only came here to investigate the truth of that woman's words, and now that we've found out she's indeed Ye Hanmei, it proves that she's not as ugly and strange as mother and the others said. However, she always speaks disrespectfully to us brothers first! How can this matter be settled so easily today!" The man in green clothes shouted loudly.

  As soon as he spoke, the dolls behind him all shouted in agreement. I gritted my teeth in anger. After a while, I loudly rebuked them, "How dare you! Do you think there's no one at our gate? You want to punish me, this fallen palace concubine?"

  The child of Qingyi stood in front of me, his hands clasped behind his back, and said loudly, "You are just a discarded palace concubine, yet you have always occupied Father Emperor's thoughts! Because of you, Father Emperor has never entered Mother Empress's palace! I, the crown prince, have not seen Father Emperor's face until tonight! The martial arts were all taught by Dragon Elder on his behalf! Such a heinous crime, do you think you should die or not!"

  As soon as he spoke, the children behind him also followed suit, "Yes! I have never seen my father either! I heard the palace maids say that when they were young, although they were girls, they still received their father's favor and were like precious pearls in his palm. But we grew up so big and yet none of us has ever seen the emperor's face! Such a heavy crime is all because of you! So punishing you is also justified!"

  As soon as they finished speaking, a swarm of them rushed up and jumped onto my bed, kicking and biting me, scratching and hitting me! At this time, I had already recovered most of my strength, how could I let them run wild on my head? With one flick and one poke, they fell to the ground with a "wa" sound. The useless ones even pointed at me and started wailing loudly.

  "How dare you be so insolent! Treating the prince like this, aren't you afraid of committing a serious crime?" Yunfeng shouted loudly. His hand, however, rested on the hilt of the short sword at his waist.

  I raised my head slightly and said loudly, "What a heavy crime! It was you few who provoked me first! Xiaorong! Close the door! Longnuyue won't educate his children, I'll help him do it!"

  Xiao Rong had had enough of the arrogant attitude of those few little rascals, so she really stood up, closed the door and stood at the entrance, adopting a defensive posture. Seeing that they could not escape, one of them shouted loudly at me, then rushed forward, and eight people surrounded me. They drew out their short swords from their waists, all pointing at me!

  Long Yunfeng climbed down from my leg, covering his buttocks and shouting loudly, "How do I know! Wicked woman! You dare to tell the Emperor! I...I...!"

  "What are you going to do!" Long Nuyue's voice came from outside, I frowned, Xiao Rong hurriedly walked away from the door, Long Nuyue kicked open the door with one foot and walked in coldly, staring at them with a faint gaze, "What are you going to do! Speak!"

  Long Yunfeng raised his head and shouted loudly, "We'll call in the palace staff to come and kill this crippled woman!"

  As soon as the words fell, Long Nuyue slapped his cheek with a palm! "How dare you, White Dragon Concubine! You actually taught him to be like this! Do you know that although she is crippled, she is still your elder! Your mother won't manage you, so let her manage you! I'll make sure you never see your mother again!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, the children shouted in unison, "Who are you! How dare you speak such arrogant words! What do you have to do with our mother?! Just look at how you come and go from the Cold Palace, always just a small palace maid, how can you be so bold!"

  Long Nu's face was extremely ugly, one hand held that child, and he was about to throw it out. I loudly rebuked, "Your Majesty, don't!"

  He stared blankly for a moment, then turned around to look at me, "Don't want anything! What don't you want!"

  The children heard me shout "Your Majesty" and one by one, they widened their eyes, staring at Long Nuyue as if looking at a monster. After a while, they shouted in unison, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

  He glared, his eyes wide with anger, and shouted loudly, "Call the Emperor! Who taught you to shout at people like this? This is utterly unseemly! You're just a child, how dare you come to my door and try to bully me?! All of you, kneel down in front of her! None of you are allowed to get up until she tells you to!"

  His words were urgent and stern, scaring the children so much that they knelt down in front of me, some with weak breath, already wailing in tears!

  He's just a six-year-old kid! Among them, there was a child in red clothes, who looked rather weak. After all the commotion and struggle, he fainted to the ground! Long Nuyue coldly stared at him.

  Several people loudly shouted his name, but Long Nuyue's expression didn't change at all! I furrowed my brow, thinking of what this child had just said, having never seen the Emperor before, and my heart couldn't help but feel a pang. They had only met Long Nuyue for the first time, yet he was already punished like this! There wasn't even a hint of familial affection!

  Looking at their appearance, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. "Alright, alright! Hurry up and let them get up! Quickly send that little guy in red to the doctor! How can he be so weak!"

  Long Nuyue saw me speak, and gave me a very light glance. That one glance contained too many meanings, and for a moment I couldn't think clearly. So I just stared at him steadily!

  "He shouted loudly, 'You haven't even knelt down yet and you want to let them go? What's good about them?! Xiaorong! Go get the imperial physician! Even if she faints, she'll faint right here!"

  I frowned and said in a low voice, "Why make it difficult for the child like this! If you don't love them, don't see them, why did you give birth to them in the first place! Long Nuyue! You treated Yufeng the same way, have you ever cared about him? How can you be so ruthless!"

  His gaze slowly swept over my legs, and he lifted the corner of my quilt, saying in a hoarse voice, "It seems that Ye Yao Nu has come back once, you've indeed recovered a lot! These eight children are no longer your match! What do you want to do next? Run away or continue staying by my side?"

  It's just a small matter! He already knew my injury! I said in a low voice. "Yes! My strength has recovered more than half! But what can a woman with a broken leg and locked feet do? The tendon is broken, the emperor invited Lie Yan to take a look, it's been so many years that it can't be connected well, how can we expect my sister to cure it suddenly? Can't bear to think that the three words Ye Yao Nu represent omnipotence?"

  His eyes stared at me for a moment, as if trying to see from the bottom of my eyes whether what I said was true or false. After half a beat, he spoke in a low voice, "If you can recover your kung fu and not let people bully you, then I should thank her!" As he spoke, he slowly swept his gaze over the children kneeling in a row.

  The latter saw them like this, and they were all frightened to lower their heads. Some trembled with fear, while others simply closed their eyes! Seeing them like this, I suddenly thought of my Jade Wind. If Jade Wind were by my side, seeing Long Nu's anger would probably be just as frightening!

  I couldn't help but burst out laughing. He saw me laugh and stared at me blankly for a moment before muttering, "Ever since I pulled your tendon, I haven't seen you smile once, today's the first time! These singing kids are always useful, forget it, no punishment then!" After saying that, he turned his head and shouted loudly, "Did you all hear? Get up!"

  The children saw him speak, and one by one they stood up, standing upright, neither walking nor standing. At this time, Long Liejiao hurried over, seeing the children standing beside me, and was stunned for a moment, "What? Didn't you just say that Lie Feng had fainted? Ah! Let me take a look!"

  Several people saw him and loudly said, "Second Uncle! Second Uncle! Quickly take a look at Lie Feng!" After speaking, they surrounded Long Lie Yao in a circle. I couldn't help but stretch my neck to see the situation of that child clearly, Long Lie Yao picked me up with one hand, letting me see more clearly.

  "How can this child's body be so weak! Fainted with just one scare!" I frowned and said lightly.

  Long Nu snorted coldly, "It's a congenital illness. When the child was in its mother's womb, she didn't take good care of it, that's why it ended up like this!"

  I frowned, and he looked back at me. "As a child of the imperial family, you must take good care of yourself! What's with this 'Dragon Son' nonsense? You're already five or six years old and still haven't seen the Dragon Emperor?! It's really laughable!"

  Long Lieya shook his head, "The children of the Dragon Clan have been taught by the elders of the Dragon Clan since they were young. The Dragon Emperor is busy with state affairs, and besides, if he had been close to the princes since childhood, it would have made them dependent and not independent in character, which would be detrimental to their future as kings!"

  I furrowed my brow, so they had been instilled with this reasoning since childhood? These few children, as long as they were capable, could obtain the world, all of it. If it weren't for my Yu Feng being taken out of the palace by me, would he also have participated in their Nine Dragons' struggle for the throne? In their eyes, only the strong could obtain the world! So, did Dragon Emperor know that Long Nu Jia was actually the strongest among his nine brothers?

  "Come over here, all of you! You're not even worthy to be by your mother's side! How can you not distinguish right from wrong?! I've said it before, that I'd send you here for her to discipline. If not for being delayed by other matters, this would have been done long ago. Today, you coincidentally stumbled into the Cold Fragrance Garden, and from now on, call her 'mother'! What you cursed at her today is just right for her to take revenge!" Long Nuoye said coldly, his arms crossed over his chest.

  Long Lie Feng had just woken up and heard Long Nu Ya's decision, so he let out a loud cry, "I want my mother! I want my mother! Father Emperor is being unfair!"

  He coldly opened his eyes and loudly shouted, "Say that again! I don't mind letting the Fire Dragon Clan be reborn!"

  "He's going to kill him! I exclaimed loudly, "What's wrong with the child wanting his mother?! Long Nu Jia! Don't be alarmed! Ah! Lie Wu Wang Ye, is he all right?!"

  Long Lie's eyes narrowed in a comical manner, and after a brief moment, he said loudly, "Of course not! But this heart-wrenching illness is probably going to be hard to cure for the rest of his life! What a pity!"

  Long Yunfeng shouted loudly, "What's so strange about this! My brothers and I all have this heart-paining illness! It's just that Lie Feng's is a bit more severe!"

  At such a young age, she already has this kind of painful illness, my heart couldn't help but skip a beat. I said in a hoarse voice, "They're already pitiful enough, don't make things difficult for them, forcing them to call me 'mother'!"

  "Long Nu glared at me with narrowed eyes, 'So you're afraid of teaching them everything you've learned in your life, that's why you don't want to teach them? My dragon children may be born with deficiencies, but they are all quite talented! If you miss out on such good disciples, you might regret it for the rest of your life!'"

  I stared at him intently and finally somewhat understood why he was doing this. He wanted them to follow me to learn military tactics and arithmetic! I almost burst out laughing!

  "That! Father! I have no objection to learning military strategy from her! It's just that asking me to call her mother is a bit too much!" Long Lie's face turned pale as he scratched his head, showing a reluctant expression.

  Long Nu Ya's phoenix eyes blazed with anger, and she shouted loudly, "She is the emperor's consort, what's wrong with calling her Mother?! By seniority, all of you should address her as Eldest Aunt! She entered the palace earlier than any of your mothers!"

  Long Lieya rubbed his nose and whispered to the children, "Alright, alright! Hurry up and call your mother! It's not easy to see Father Emperor, but you're making him angry like this. Aren't you being too foolish? What are these concubines doing all day? They have nothing better to do after eating their fill, can't they teach them to read people's faces?"

  Upon hearing this, Long Lie Feng let out a loud wail and burst into tears. As he cried, the other children followed suit, and soon they were all crying together! Through their tears, I saw his lips curve upwards slightly! Well played, Long Lie Feng! At such a young age, you're already so cunning! Although your body may be somewhat lacking, you are not one to be underestimated!

  "Alright!" I nodded, "I agree to take them as apprentices! Just don't call me Mother, that's all! They have their own mothers! I have my own children! That's it!"

  He frowned and stared at me blankly, "You promise you won't smoke them?"

  I snorted coldly, "Do I look like such a narrow-minded person?"

  Long Lieya and Long Nuyue stared at me in unison, disapprovingly, reminding me of Yu Feng! Back then, Yu Feng was the one I had beaten to a pulp! Frowning, he shouted loudly, "Alright! Kids, let's all head back today! Starting tomorrow, I'll teach you the art of military tactics and arithmetic!"

  Only when those idle people frequently come and go from Lengxiang Garden can I have a chance to escape!

  They have been following my orders, not daring to respond, only carefully staring at Long Nuyue. Long Nuyue also didn't bother with them, just fixedly staring into my eyes. Seeing their pitiful appearance, Long Lieyue softly said, "Don't you hurry up and thank Master! Quickly return! Otherwise, you'll have to kneel again as punishment!"

  They immediately shouted loudly, "Thank you! Broken leg bad master! We're leaving first!" After that, they rushed out in a swarm. Long Nuyue roared loudly, "What are you talking about? What broken leg bad master? How detestable!"

  Just as I was about to chase them out, I burst out laughing! He paused for a moment, stopped in his tracks, and stared at me blankly. Long Lie Yan looked at him, then at me, let out a long sigh, and slowly backed out.

  His face was red, but his eyes were shining brightly. He walked over slowly and gave me a big hug. "You've smiled twice today! Alright, I won't punish them!"

  "Quietly leaning against him, she said in a low voice, 'I had no idea they had never seen you before! I thought you would treasure them! Why is it like this?!'"

  His face was gentle, and he said in a low voice, "I don't want to give their mother an excuse to get close to me! My child, you are the only one I have ever had! Those born by others have nothing to do with me!"

  My face suddenly softened, and I slowly stroked his slightly golden hair with my hand, saying in a hoarse voice, "Nu Ya! You!"

  He didn't speak, his lips pressed against mine. In the midst of our lip and tongue battle, I faintly felt his strong heartbeat. His lips were cold, but his face was hot. He stretched out his hand and grasped the pearl at his neck. His whole body shook violently. He stared blankly at me. "Hanjun! Do you want this pearl? If you do, I'll give it to you!"

  He said, then hastily wanted to pick it off. Reached out to stop him, put his hand on my waist, "Can you feel it?" I smiled calmly, but saw his face suddenly turn pale!

  "There's a pearl in my belly!" I laughed, looking at his pained expression, and feeling incredibly delighted inside!

  He took a deep breath, and after a long pause, he said in a hoarse voice, "It turns out that the most painful and helpless thing is to compete with someone who has already died! Long Yunya! This time, you win!" After finishing speaking, he grabbed my chin, pulled open the quilt, and said in a gloomy face and a hoarse voice, "Although your legs have become like this, why can't I still feel at ease? Lately, I keep dreaming that you escaped with these useless legs! When I woke up, I made a decision: even if I have to break your legs again, I won't let you escape!"