AEKMEM chapter 29

As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhou Xiaoran felt like he couldn’t breathe. His neck was gripped tightly.

It was Chu Heng who had grabbed his neck with one hand.

“You…” Zhou Xiaoran’s eyes widened like bronze bells and his face turned red from the difficulty of breathing. At first, he was angry and incredulous. But after seeing the expression on Chu Heng’s face, he trembled with terror, as if he had seen a demon from hell.

“Do you think I’m easy to mess with? Think I can’t lift a knife?” Chu Heng’s face was calm, a calmness that sent a chill down one’s spine.

Before anyone could react, assuming that Chu Heng was merely choking him as a warning, a violent, sinister look appeared on Chu Heng’s face. He grabbed Zhou Xiaoran’s neck with one hand and slammed his head violently into the ground.

Everyone’s pupils constricted sharply. “?!?”

“Your Highness, stop!”

“Your Highness, don’t act rashly!”

“Chu Heng, what’s wrong with you?!”

Realizing what had happened, many people rushed forward in a panic to stop Chu Heng. However, when they got within two meters of him, they were blocked by an invisible force and were unable to move an inch.

Chu Heng had used his power to create an energy “barrier” with a radius of two meters. Beastmen whose level wasn’t equal to Chu Heng’s couldn’t break through this defense.

Those present were powerless to break through the barrier and couldn’t do anything. The only two who could persuade Chu Heng slightly—Emperor Chu Zhengming and Marshal Jiang—were absent, as they had matters to discuss.

They watched helplessly as Chu Heng crouched down, grabbed Zhou Xiaoran’s head with one hand, and roughly lifted the bloodied and mangled Zhou Xiaoran from the ground.

Just as he was about to smash someone again, he suddenly remembered something. He turned to look at An Qiao beside him and said in a low, gentle voice,

“It’s too bloody, Qiao Qiao. Close your eyes and don’t look.”

Everyone: “… ”

Speechless and horrified, they all looked at An Qiao, who was standing beside Chu Heng.

They suddenly realized that Chu Heng had lashed out because Zhou Xiaoran had questioned An Qiao’s identity.

Judging from Chu Heng’s tone, even in his rage, he remembered to tell An Qiao that the scene was too bloody and to close his eyes. Clearly, Chu Heng cherished An Qiao.

“An Qiao, you must quickly persuade His Highness the Crown Prince not to act impulsively!”

“Yes, An Qiao, you must persuade the Crown Prince! If things escalate, they will be difficult to control!”

“An Qiao…”

Everyone looked at An Qiao with hope, hoping he could stop Chu Heng from losing control.

They had never seen Chu Heng so violent and uncontrollable before.

Even when he hadn’t undergone his second awakening, reverted to his ancestral form, and nearly lost his life to the Second Prince’s faction, Chu Heng hadn’t been this enraged. Although he had publicly beaten the Second Prince then, he hadn’t lost control of his emotions. Instead, he had remained remarkably composed.

Now, the violent, out-of-control Chu Heng instills a sense of oppression and dread in them, like facing a large, ferocious beast.

Just as everyone looked at An Qiao with hopeful eyes, he seemed to intend to persuade Chu Heng.

Seeing An Qiao about to speak, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly, however, An Qiao merely raised an eyebrow and said casually, “What’s the use of closing my eyes? I can still smell the blood.”

Everyone present was stunned. “?”

Just as they were shocked and incredulous at An Qiao’s lack of restraint, he spoke again.
“Forget it…”

“Forget it?” Chu Heng’s face flashed with anger. “We can’t just let it go like this!”

“Just forget it? If any cat or dog dares to step on you in the future, Qiao Qiao, and even in front of me, Chu Feiyu dares to mock you, and that Zhou scoundrel dares to slander you out of nowhere!”

Did these people think he was dead? They clearly knew that An Qiao was his crown princess. He didn’t care if they mocked him. But An Qiao was his partner! Mocking or bullying him is absolutely unacceptable!

If Zhou Xiaoran reveals that An Qiao isn’t the original An family young master and he can no longer pretend, will he have to leave?

The thought filled Chu Heng with uncontrollable panic.

Of course, he was still somewhat rational and wouldn’t kill anyone. According to the empire’s unspoken rules, when disputes arise among beastmen — especially when their partner has been provoked — as long as they don’t kill the beastmen who provoked their partner, there won’t be too much of a problem.

—Beastmen possess an intense possessiveness and protectiveness toward their true partners, exhibiting a strong sense of territoriality. When their partners are involved, they often lose their composure.

Therefore, his actions were understandable.

“Can you let me finish?” An Qiao asked somewhat helplessly. “I said ‘Forget it,’ meaning you can hit him a few more times, but don’t kill him to avoid trouble.”

Honestly, beating him half to death is barely a painful punishment. Killing him would be troublesome and would only make things easier for him,” he said slowly.

“If you really want to go all out—” An Qiao paused. “You have to target what he values. For example, find his mistakes, legally and reasonably strip him of his rank as a junior general, revoke his military status, and ensure he can never join the military again.”

His face was undeniably beautiful, aloof, and cold. His tone was equally detached and calm. Yet his words were ruthless, sending chills down one’s spine.

After An Qiao spoke, everyone fell silent.

They had thought An Qiao was gentle and fragile, but looking at him now, weak as he seemed, he was actually a ruthless, deadly predator!

Chu Heng’s emotions were already difficult to control, and An Qiao added fuel to the fire with his careless words, stirring things up recklessly!

**

An Qiao didn’t care what others thought of him.

One by one, they came to provoke him with sarcastic and mocking remarks as if he were an easy target.

If Chu Heng hadn’t acted first, he would have retaliated.

Chu Heng then smashed Zhou Xiaoran several times, brutally and decisively. Although he managed to avoid killing Zhou Xiaoran, he was bleeding profusely from his head, coughing up blood, and nearly died.

As Chu Heng beat someone bloody, An Qiao stood calmly by, dressed in a pristine white robe with flowing silver hair. He watched the spectacle with a cold expression, as if the bloody violence were utterly insignificant to him. Not even a muscle twitched.

Those present were chilled to the bone by this scene.

These two lunatics!

“Stop! Chu Heng, what are you doing?!”

Upon receiving the news, Emperor Chu Zhengming rushed over. His face was cold, and his anger was barely contained. He shouted, “Stop!”

Seeing that Chu Heng seemed unwilling to stop beating the person upon hearing his words, Chu Zhengming nearly lost his composure in his rage.

“An Qiao, tell Chu Heng to stop,” he said, turning to An Qiao.

On his way there, he had learned of An Qiao’s immense influence on Chu Heng. Moreover, Chu Heng’s outburst was all because of An Qiao.

“Sorry, I can’t persuade him,” An Qiao replied calmly. “How could Chu Heng, a dignified crown prince and marshal of the army, listen to a useless parasitic vine like me?”

Everyone: “… ”

Daring to speak this way even to the emperor was unbelievable.

Although An Qiao called himself a “useless parasitic vine” and was indeed weak after a failed awakening, he relied on Chu Heng. Which “useless parasitic vine” would be so arrogant and reckless as to not be intimidated by the emperor?

Though he was a “useless parasitic vine,” with Chu Heng protecting him and almost blindly obeying him, just a whisper from him could bring disaster. His potential for damage was enormous!

Emperor Chu Zhengming rubbed his temples in anger to calm down.

After all, An Qiao was his nominal son-in-law, so he couldn’t show him any displeasure.

He glared coldly at Chu Heng and snapped, “Chu Heng, are you planning to create a huge mess and send your crown princess to a remote planet to starve?”

Emperor Chu Zhengming’s “threat” finally calmed Chu Heng down a bit.

After kicking Zhou Xiaoran twice more, he dispelled the surrounding energy “barrier.”

“What on earth happened?” Chu Zhengming was incredibly annoyed.

He had only been gone for a short while, and Chu Heng had already caused such a huge commotion.

Chu Heng sneered. “Zhou Xiaoran maliciously stirred up trouble between me and Qiaoqiao. He even publicly questioned Qiaoqiao’s identity. I was so angry that I beat him up.”

“Just beat him up?” That’s almost beating someone to the point of losing half his life, isn’t it?

However, Zhou Xiaoran made many small moves; no wonder Chu Heng was so angry. For beastmen, losing control of their emotions when it comes to a partner they truly like is normal.

“Let’s put aside the matter of you beating someone up for now. Major General Zhou said he has evidence proving your princess is not An Qiao. What’s going on?”

“He was jealous of me and wanted to cause me trouble. After An Qiao lost his memory, he was a different person. That’s why Zhou questioned An Qiao’s identity.”

Chu Heng spoke nonchalantly, as if he truly believed that Zhou Xiaoran was unreasonably questioning An Qiao’s identity. But only he knew how nervous he truly was, terrified that An Qiao would be exposed as not the original young master of the An family.

What would he do if An Qiao abandoned everything and ran away after his identity was revealed?

Regardless of whether Zhou Xiaoran had concrete evidence. Fortunately, Zhou Xiaoran was now barely conscious from the beating and unable to speak.

This was also one of the reasons why Chu Heng “impulsively” beat Zhou Xiaoran.

“Your Highness, you beat Major General Zhou until he was almost unconscious just to prevent him from revealing the truth in public, didn’t you?”

At that moment, someone from the Zhou family stepped forward.

As if afraid that Chu Heng would object, he quickly continued, “By testing the purity of the elven bloodline in the Crown Princess, we’ll know if Major General Zhou is telling the truth.”

“If the crown princess is truly An Qiao, then even though his bloodline awakening failed, the elven bloodline within him remains. Does Your Highness dare publicly allow the Crown Princess to test the purity of his bloodline?”

The purity of the elven bloodline refers to the amount of elven genes in the body.

It is rumored that if the bloodline is pure enough, it can revert to an elven state.

However, the elven genes within an ordinary elf are generally extremely diluted.

For example, the eldest son of the An family was said to have had the highest concentration of elf genes in the history of the empire. Nevertheless, elf genes in the body remained very rare.

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