Chu Ci had not taken the matter to heart, but after Wu Zhou received his affirmative answer, his mood brightened at a visible pace.
He really did have a child's temperament...
Seeing the smile at the corners of Wu Zhou's lips, Chu Ci could not help laughing.
Strangely enough, ever since his heart-to-heart with Wu Zhou, no one had slipped anyone aboard his spaceship again.
Chu Ci did not look into it. He simply assumed that those people had come to their senses and chosen to respect his wish not to marry and have children.
Chu Ci had not yet disconnected his mental link with Lele, so Lele saw his thoughts clearly.
[Um... have you ever considered... that this isn't as simple as you think...]
Lele hesitated.
"Hm?"
Chu Ci was a little bewildered.
[Never mind. It's nothing.]
Thinking of Wu Zhou's handsome, sinister face, Lele felt an inexplicable fear. Following the principle of "the less trouble, the better," it chose to take the truth to its grave.
Chu Ci had been busy handling other matters during that time and did not know the full story, but Lele did.
Those people had not come to their senses at all. Wu Zhou had simply warned every last person who was on good terms with Chu Ci.
During those warnings, some had questioned Wu Zhou's domineering behavior. From start to finish, Wu Zhou had only one thing to say: "Beat me, and I'll listen to you."
That was Wu Zhou's eighth year on the interstellar battlefield.
He had arrived on the battlefield at nine and was now seventeen. By interstellar standards, he was not yet an adult.
Before then, Wu Zhou had never displayed his strength. None of them wanted to be accused of "bullying a child." Besides, however unfavored Wu Zhou might be, he was still genuine royalty, unlike people of humble origins like them.
"Don't dare?"
The handsome youth raised an eyebrow slightly and taunted, "I thought everyone under Master was formidable..."
They all had hot blood running through their veins. At Wu Zhou's taunt, someone finally could not hold back. "I'll do it."
"All right."
Wu Zhou had no experience fighting on the battlefield himself, and everything he knew had been taught to him by Chu Ci. Everyone thought it would be easy for a battle-hardened soldier to defeat a seventeen-year-old child, but the result was the exact opposite...
Wu Zhou won.
He ended the fight in just thirty seconds.
The military camp was different from the imperial court. They believed in "ability above all." Chu Ci had been only fifteen when he became a young general, and not a single person in the camp had objected, because Chu Ci was strong enough.
Wu Zhou had undoubtedly stirred their competitive spirit.
Lele had the good fortune to watch the entire affair. It remembered very clearly that twelve people had challenged Wu Zhou that night. Every one of them was a renowned figure on the battlefield, but all of them had lost to Wu Zhou.
"...Do you have any objections now?"
Wu Zhou looked down at them from above.
Despite having fought so many people, his expression looked as indifferent as ever. That was the first time Lele had truly felt the oppressive presence of someone who stood above others.
As expected of royalty.
Even as the least favored young prince, he could not conceal the innate dominance of his bloodline.
After fighting so many people in succession, Wu Zhou's face bore wounds of varying sizes, and bright red blood seeped from the corner of his thin lips. He regarded the bedraggled people before him with cold eyes. "If you have no objections, then I hope I won't see any women around Master in the future..."
Even after so much time had passed, Lele still clearly remembered Wu Zhou's sinister gaze.
At the time, Lele had even had a faint premonition... if anyone truly had the audacity to keep pushing women toward Chu Ci behind Wu Zhou's back, Wu Zhou would kill him without hesitation.
"What?"
When Lele stopped halfway through what it was saying, Chu Ci frowned in displeasure. "What was that all about?"
Lele did want to tell Chu Ci about it, but at the thought of Wu Zhou's indifferent gaze, it cut its losses in time.
Prince Wu Zhou was so capable that he might find its master someday. If he learned that it had told him about this... Lele could already imagine how miserable its fate would be.
For its own safety, it had better keep its mouth shut.
While the two of them were talking, the taxi had slowly arrived downstairs from the original owner's home.
Chu Ci's phone had run out of battery long ago, which was why Grandma had gone downstairs to look for him. Luckily, Chu Ci had the cash Grandma had given him, allowing him to take a taxi back without trouble.
"Teacher Chu."
Not long after Chu Ci got out of the car, he heard a familiar voice.
They lived in a fairly remote, sparsely populated area, so when Chu Ci looked toward the voice, he immediately spotted Ye Qingzhou's tall, graceful figure and smiling eyes.
Ye Qingzhou was carefully supporting Grandma.
When he saw Chu Ci, he gave him a friendly wave.
"Is that Cici?"
Grandma's eyesight was poor. Hearing Ye Qingzhou call out "Teacher Chu," she grew excited. "Is Cici back? Where did you go just now? You didn't run into any danger, did you? Weren't you going to the nearby market? Why did it take you so long?"
As the questions came one after another, Chu Ci hurried over and took Grandma's arm. He explained gently, "Grandma, I got a last-minute notice from the company, and my phone died before I could tell you. I didn't run into any danger. See? I'm perfectly fine."
"Grandma, I told you he'd be fine."
Ye Qingzhou lowered his eyes to Grandma and reassured her gently, "You can stop worrying now, right?"
"Yes, yes, I can."
Grandma said kindly, "Since you're Cici's good friend, why don't you stay for dinner tonight? Didn't you have something to discuss with him? Go upstairs and talk."
At the words "good friend," Chu Ci's mind went blank for a few rare seconds.
If he remembered correctly, he had only known Ye Qingzhou for a dozen hours or so. They were already "good friends"?
Still, he really did owe Ye Qingzhou thanks for his help today. If Ye Qingzhou had not appeared downstairs from his home in time, there was no telling what might have happened to Grandma.
With that thought, he thanked Ye Qingzhou.
"...Thank you."
"We're good friends, after all."
Ye Qingzhou raised an eyebrow slightly and went along with Grandma's words. "There's no need to be so polite between good friends."
Watching Ye Qingzhou's pretty pink lips open and close, Chu Ci inexplicably thought of a question. "Do you also k- with your other good friends..."
He did not finish saying "kiss."