King Yu sat with commanding ease, smiling at the old comrades who had conquered the realm alongside him. He drank cup after cup, refusing no one, and brought the banquet to a fever pitch.
"You do spoil them."
Zhou Xiaocui was now breathtakingly beautiful, with skin like snow and a seductive grace that was as alluring as it was dangerous. She looked nothing like the village girl she had once been. Bolstered by her status as queen of a dynasty blessed by fortune, she faintly radiated the terrifying aura of peak Void Refining.
She was a venomous scorpion.
The "Scorpion Queen" was feared far and wide. Countless gods and powerful figures dreaded her, and countless bones lay at her feet.
Yet now, as she looked at King Yu, her gaze held nothing but tenderness, pure and unalloyed.
As though, before him, she was still Xiaocui of the Zhou family from all those years ago—the girl who had fallen in love with him at first sight when he was young and had never changed.
"We survived a hundred battles. Building all this was hard, and only now have we come this far."
"How could I bear to be harsh with them?"
King Yu sighed. His gaze softened. "Cui, I know. In the future, I'll establish rules, define the dynasty's interests, and make clear the order between high and low, so our legacy will endure for ten thousand generations. Then our children can grow up happy, without the hardships we faced when we were young."
"And we'll have more children. They'll all be dukes and marquises, princes and royal grandchildren."
His eyes, full of affection, settled on Zhou Xiaocui's slightly rounded belly.
"Bah!"
"Who said I'd have more children for you?"
A faint blush touched the Scorpion Queen's cheeks, and she turned