Engagement Annulled? Now The Husbands Kneel and Beg for Her Favor

The caller was Jiang Yi.

When Jiang Qingli saw Jiang Yi’s name on the call, she was actually a little afraid to answer.

When she first arrived in the Lower District, she had solemnly promised her mother that she would definitely ask for help with anything she couldn’t handle.

But when the incident with Ye Linyuan happened, Jiang Qingli had been in a hurry and went off to handle it all by herself.

Now, seeing the call from Jiang Yi, she tensed up.

In her messages with Jiang Yi over the past few days, she had only mentioned the happy things, being vague about what happened with Ye Linyuan.

She hadn’t figured out how to tell Jiang Yi about it, afraid her mother would think she was immature.

After all, in the Empire, females were supposed to be mature and powerful, and Jiang Yi was a prime example.

By comparison, Jiang Qingli felt she had been a bit impulsive.

Jiang Qingli always wanted to look good in front of Jiang Yi; she didn’t want to seem immature.

She bit her lip, conflicted.

A hand ruffled her hair, and Xie Youchen said gently, ”Ah Li, no one will ever think you aren’t good enough.”

Jiang Qingli took a deep breath, took the terminal, and pressed the answer key.

The next second, the holographic images of Jiang Yi and Zhou Yanli appeared before her, and Jiang Qingli realized with horror—

Jiang Yi had made a holographic call!

She quickly pulled the blanket over Xie Youchen’s face, sat up in a panic, and switched the holographic call to a standard video call that only showed her face.

The whole thing took less than three seconds, but Jiang Qingli wished she could find a hole to crawl into.

She waved stiffly at the other two. ”Mom, Third Dad, good evening.”

”Good evening, Xiao Li.” Jiang Yi smiled at her daughter, acting as if she hadn’t noticed a thing. She even gave her an out. ”The network in the Twelve Cities isn’t very good. It was lagging just now. A standard video call is better.”

Jiang Qingli breathed a sigh of relief. ”Yeah, my video call with Xiyue yesterday was laggy too.”

The two chatted for a while before Jiang Yi finally got to the point. ”Xiao Li, even though you didn’t tell me, I still want to congratulate you.”

Jiang Qingli touched the tip of her nose. ”I didn’t mean to keep it from you. I just feel like I didn’t handle it perfectly...”

”Xiao Li, whether you handled it perfectly or not, the fact that you had such courage already makes me very proud of you.”

Jiang Yi looked intently at her daughter’s face. Even with the blurry image quality, she could still see the light sparkling in her eyes.

Jiang Qingli instinctively sat up a little straighter.

With Jiang Yi’s praise, her earlier awkwardness vanished completely. She grinned brightly. ”Mom, your praise is going to make my head swell.”

Jiang Yi said, ”Then our Xiao Li will be the one who floats the highest.”

Jiang Qingli really did feel like she was floating on air now.

’What’s that saying online again? A mother’s praise is what a female pursues her entire life...’

Jiang Qingli rolled over, eagerly telling Jiang Yi the details of that day.

Jiang Yi listened intently, occasionally asking for details and offering timely praise.

They talked for half an hour, and Jiang Qingli still hadn’t had her fill.

On Jiang Yi’s end, someone seemed to knock on the door, and her secretary’s hushed voice asked her to sign some documents.

Jiang Qingli asked, ”Mom, are you busy? It’s almost ten o’clock.”

Jiang Yi opened her mouth to speak, then seemed to think of something and gave a somewhat helpless smile. ”It is getting late. I’ll call you again tomorrow.”

Jiang Qingli nodded. After they said their goodnights, she reluctantly ended the call.

She put down the terminal. The arm wrapped around her waist tightened slightly, and Jiang Qingli suddenly remembered that Xie Youchen was still trapped under the blanket.

She lifted the blanket. The young man’s face was half-pressed against her abdomen, and he looked up at her.

Perhaps from the stuffiness, the young man’s stern face was unnaturally flushed, the corners of his eyes were slightly damp, and the dragon tail growing from his spine was coiled by her calves, poised to strike.

Jiang Qingli caressed his face, feeling a little apologetic. ”Was it too stuffy? Why didn’t you lift the blanket earlier? The camera wasn’t pointed at you.”

She said, a bit frustrated, ”We might as well just tell Mom. They definitely wouldn’t disapprove...”

After they got together, although they had agreed to keep it a secret from everyone else, Jiang Qingli had wanted to tell her mother and fathers directly.

Xie Youchen lowered his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he gave the same answer. ”I’m sorry, Ah Li.”

”Once I have full control of the Xie Family, I will go to their door and personally atone for my transgression.”

Jiang Qingli thought the phrase ”atone for my transgression” sounded a bit severe.

But seeing how serious Xie Youchen was, she still nodded. ”Alright.”

She caressed Xie Youchen’s face again and said, ”Your face is so red.”

’Did he get overheated?’

’An S-rank male shouldn’t be that fragile.’

The young man propped himself up on one arm. His Adam’s apple bobbed as his lips pressed against hers. ”It’s just because...”

”...the blanket is filled with your scent.”

...

「In the study.」

Jiang Yi finished signing the documents and handed them to her secretary.

She turned her head and saw Zhou Yanli sitting on the sofa. Though he was smiling, there was a faint hint of anger in his eyes.

”Alright, what’s there to be angry about?” Jiang Yi said, amused. ”Didn’t we watch that boy, Youchen, grow up?”

”I have no intention of standing in their way.” Zhou Yanli frowned. ”It’s just that the Xie Family has been making a lot of moves lately. I’m worried he’ll drag Xiao Li into it.”

”Don’t worry,” Jiang Yi said. ”I’ve already arranged for people to handle it.”

Zhou Yanli looked up. ”Female master, you knew they were together all along?”

”Mm, I’m not blind.”

Jiang Yi smiled, her expression gentle and tolerant.

”Girls will be girls. They always have a playful side.”

”As her elders, all we need to do is be there to back her up.”

-

「One week later.」 The test subjects gathered outside the Research Department.

After the five of them arrived, they didn’t see Ye Linyuan.

Q-29 was a little anxious. ”Is the boss really willing to have the program implanted in his wristband and be linked to Advisor Jiang? Isn’t that too much of a restraint for him?”

To prevent another riot among the test subjects, the military had ordered that a monitoring program be implanted in their wristbands, to be removed only after ten years without any incidents.

For Ye Linyuan’s program, administrative control was linked to Jiang Qingli’s system.

In other words, if he were to rebel, Jiang Qingli would have the right to eliminate him directly.

Ye Linyuan hadn’t given a direct answer during the first meeting.

The military was aware of Ye Linyuan’s power, but they didn’t seem to be too insistent on this point.

Therefore, none of them thought it was likely to happen.

Just as their time was almost up, a figure suddenly appeared in their line of sight.

”How noble,” W-103 said.

”What’s gotten into you now?” Q-29 said, exasperated. He then explained to Ye Linyuan, ”Boss, the other day when we went back to our old place, he swiped a hard drive full of novels. He’s been reading stories about charming Beast Husbands all day. His brain is fried, so please don’t be mad.”

”My brain isn’t fried!” W-103 snapped. ”What’s it to you if I exclaim that love is a noble thing!”

After he finished yelling, he realized they were in a public place. A few researchers, attracted by the noise, looked over, and his face instantly flushed beet red with embarrassment.

Just then, someone came to greet them and lead them to their physical exams. W-103 covered his face and dashed into the lab. The other three, older test subjects followed him with amused expressions, telling him not to run off.

After the implantation procedure was complete, the group walked out of the Research Department.

In the distance, they saw a girl in a military uniform standing not too far away, waving at them with a brilliant smile.

Ye Linyuan watched her, W-103’s words from earlier echoing in his mind.

He suddenly had a thought.

’It isn’t love that’s noble.’

’She is.’