"I really don't know..." Zhu Qing replied in a small voice.
"Is it related to Dragon Clan secrets?"
Zhu Qing shook her head.
"Then just tell me." Yang Kai reached out and carefully scooped Zhu Qing onto his palm, cradling her as though she were the most delicate piece of porcelain. He threatened, "Withholding information—be careful, or I'll have to punish you according to household law."
"What household law..." Zhu Qing's eyes went wide, her expression blank with confusion, but she quickly caught on to what Yang Kai meant. A flush of embarrassment spread across her entire body. She glanced up at him and saw that his gaze had gone distant, his breathing growing heavier. She sighed inwardly, knowing that fortune was upon her whether she willed it or not, and calamity was not the sort of thing one could avoid.
She held the book up to cover half her face and said in a low voice, "All things carry yin on their backs and embrace yang. When yin and yang unite in harmony, their essences merge, and qi fills the body with balance."
Yang Kai paused for a moment, then a peculiar expression crossed his face. With a half-smile, he said, "Are you saying..."
Zhu Qing's entire face was hidden behind the book, concealing her expression, though the pretty face behind it was certainly burning like fire. She hurriedly added, "I just said that off the top of my head—don't take it seriously."
"Do dragons practice dual cultivation too?" Yang Kai's grin grew even wider, splitting into an enormous, almost grotesque smile, as though he could swallow Zhu Qing whole in a single bite.
If that were really the case, then the days ahead would be far too blissful.
"That's not it at all. It's just..."
"Just what?" Yang Kai extended a single claw and gently pushed the book aside, bringing his face much closer in a way that felt utterly overwhelming.
With nowhere to retreat, Zhu Qing said with an expression of deep reluctance, "It's just that even for human women, Yin... yuan-yin essence provides enormous benefits to a man's cultivation. The higher one's realm, the more pronounced the effect—and we of the Dragon Clan are no exception."
Yang Kai said, "You're saying the reason I'm like this is because of your... first time?"
Zhu Qing nodded gently. Having Yang Kai say such words directly to her face left her wanting to crawl into a hole and disappear. "Will it have no further effect after this?"
"None." Zhu Qing shook her head.
"I don't believe it!" As he spoke, Yang Kai grabbed Zhu Qing and darted to the side. With each long stride, the Dragon Transformation Technique dissipated, and his massive frame rapidly shrank.
"What are you doing?" Zhu Qing cried out in alarm.
"If it has no effect, a quick test will settle it." Yang Kai had already returned to his normal form. He swept Zhu Qing up in his arms.
Pressing against Yang Kai's chest and feeling the scorching heat radiating from him, Zhu Qing panicked and blurted, "It really doesn't work anymore—I'm not lying to you!"
Yang Kai chuckled with a lecherous grin. "I already said I want to test it. Stop squirming—it's no use."
With that, he tossed Zhu Qing onto the great bed. She cried out in surprise, and Yang Kai pounced on her like a ravenous dog. Even though she had experienced this before, Zhu Qing still wasn't accustomed to it—her heart hammered wildly in her chest, as though it might leap out of her mouth at any moment.
The man atop her was aggressively forceful, an unstoppable momentum that shattered her already fragile defenses into pieces.
Clothing grew disheveled. Zhu Qing tilted her head to the side, her beautiful eyes squeezed shut, both hands clutching the bedsheets as though she were marching to the execution block, utterly terrified.
Suddenly, Yang Kai seemed to remember something. He turned his head toward the side and pointed a finger, enunciating each word with deliberate force: "Get... out."
The little black puppy had been startled awake at some point. It had been quietly napping these past few days—calm, well-behaved, and obedient. But now it raised its head, its wide dog-eyes fixed unblinkingly in the direction of the great bed, its breathing held as it watched with rapt attention.
Those canine eyes burned with curiosity and bewilderment.
At Yang Kai's words, it whimpered reluctantly and rose to its feet, tail tucked, shuffling slowly toward the door. When it reached the threshold, it couldn't help but glance back one last time, eyes filled with a pleading expression, as though begging Yang Kai to let it stay.
Yang Kai let out a huff. The puppy could only lower its head and nudge the door open with its snout, squeezing through the gap. Even as it left, it was thoughtful enough to pull the door shut behind it.
Outside the palace hall, several women of varying ages stood ramrod straight, their faces so frosty that one could scrape a layer of ice from every cheek.
The princesses had endured quite enough. Days ago, Yang Kai had ordered them to wait outside the hall, and they could only obey.
They had never imagined they would be made to stand here for days on end. During all this time, there had been no summons, no instructions whatsoever from Yang Kai—yet they had been forced to remain outside obediently, rooted in place like wooden posts.
They had spent their lives in comfort and luxury, and never had they been subjected to such indignity. Every one of them cursed Yang Kai under her breath, wishing he would drop dead and be done with it.
Only the youngest princess remained innocent and oblivious, utterly unaware of what was happening. All she knew was that their father, the emperor, had ordered them here to obey the man in the hall and fulfill his every request.
She was still young, her purity unmarred by the treacherous world of royalty. She didn't feel the slightest bit wronged—just exhausted from standing for days. Now she was leaning against one of her sisters' shoulders, dozing off, her head nodding with sleep, nearly toppling to the ground several times.