Zuo Qi’an looked way too cute like this!
From his long silver-white hair, a pair of pointed ears poked out from the top of his head, showing a tender pink color in the natural light—so adorable that she couldn’t help wanting to ruffle them.
But the moment her hand reached out, it grabbed nothing but air.
Thankfully no one was around, or she would have died of embarrassment.
She had really been watching too intently—she’d forgotten that the scene floating before her was Zuo Qi’an’s memory.
Refocusing her attention, Sheng Anlan continued watching.
Little Sheng Anlan looked at the child before her, eyes crinkling into a smile, and took something resembling a lollipop from a nearby table, handing it to Zuo Qi’an. “Here, you can have this. It’s a chocolate-flavored lick stick, a newly recreated ancient food made by the palace people.”
Sheng Anlan had just tried one herself. At first she’d thought it was a lollipop, but the taste turned out to be far from it.
Only after searching with her Optical Computer did she learn that lick sticks were a snack of the Interstellar Era. They were somewhat similar to modern lollipops—also a ball-shaped coating wrapped around a stick.
However, on this planet there were hardly any plants, making it very difficult to extract fresh syrup. So these lick sticks were merely clumps of congealed chemical reagents with similar compositions; one could only taste additives, without any real plant juice flavor.
But because of their rare plant-like aroma, many interstellar people still loved them. After all, on this desolate planet with barely any vegetation, the scent of plants was a true luxury.
Still, who gives chocolate to a dog?
Sheng Anlan watched with a face full of confusion.
Little Sheng Anlan held the lick stick out in front of Zuo Qi’an. He glanced at the brown thing but didn’t immediately reach out to take it.
He had never actually come into contact with chocolate, but the warnings had been passed down from generation to generation among his ancestors: this was something they must never eat casually. From childhood, they had seen pictures of it and smelled its scent, so it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar.
Zuo Qi’an hesitated, wondering how best to phrase his refusal.
But before he could speak, the haughty Princess, seeing him delay in taking it, threw the lick stick straight onto the ground.
As a rare Female caste member and a Princess of the royal family, Sheng Anlan had been pampered in everyone’s palms since childhood. How could she tolerate being treated “like that” for so long?
Seeing Sheng Anlan’s anger, Zuo Qi’an realized she had misunderstood him, and hurriedly bent down to pick it up, wanting to explain.
But just as his hand reached the ground, a pair of purple crystal shoes stepped down on the lick stick first.
The little Princess, spoiled and willful, looked down at Zuo Qi’an as he bent to pick it up and said with a cruel smile, “I offered it to you just now and you refused. Picking it up now is useless.”
Zuo Qi’an stared at the brown fragments crushed on the ground and wanted to explain, but she had already turned and walked away.
So the original owner, Sheng Anlan, wasn’t all that bad after all—just a bit spoiled.
Just as Sheng Anlan finished muttering this, the memory in her mind shifted to another scene.
A dog-type Sub-female with gray hair and round ears showing atop his head, dressed in a white attendant’s uniform, appeared before her.
After learning that Qiao Mo was a Sub-female, Sheng Anlan had searched for information using her Optical Computer.
Sub-females were beings ranked just below the female caste, more numerous than females. They had a certain degree of fertility, but their offspring with beastmen were mostly low-ranked beastmen or sub-females, and they lacked the ability to soothe a male beastman’s Mental Power.
The sub-female carried a drink over and handed it to Zuo Qi’an, smiling with her eyes. “Would you like some silver vine water?”
Zuo Qi’an wasn’t particularly interested in food, but seeing the silver vine water before him, he couldn’t help taking it.
No canine beastman could resist the allure of silver vine.
It smelled especially refreshing, making him like it involuntarily.
Many people thought catnip was highly attractive to feline beastmen, but in fact, silver vine was just as irresistible to canine beastmen and sub-females.
It entered his mouth cool and crisp, carrying a distinctive fragrance that left him feeling relaxed all over.
The round-eared sub-female watched him drink, then smiled with curved eyes. “Tasty, right? I love it too.”
The presence of someone like himself gave Zuo Qi’an, newly arrived in this unfamiliar environment, a bit of goodwill. Hearing her words, the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile, and he was just about to say something—
“Crash—”
A snow-white hand knocked the cup out of his hand and sent it smashing to the ground. The cool silver vine water splattered across the floor, and his sleeve got soaked.
He followed the hand to its owner. Sheng Anlan, dressed in golden robes, was glaring at him arrogantly. “Drink, drink, drink! I offered you a lick-stick and you refused it, but a cup of lousy water makes you this happy?”
With that, her gaze swept coldly over the sub-female. “And what do you think you are, daring to approach my Beast-husband without permission? You overestimate yourself! Someone, drag her away and give her thirty lashes.”
“What are you doing? She only gave me something to drink.”
“If she gives you something, you take it, but when I give you something, you won’t even touch it—Zuo Qi’an, what is that supposed to mean?”
Zuo Qi’an hadn’t expected Sheng Anlan to hold a grudge over this. He immediately turned to her and said, “Give me a chocolate lick-stick right now and I’ll eat it. If I do, will you let her go?”
Hearing the word “chocolate,” the sub-female, who was being dragged away by beastman attendants, shook her head frantically—eating that stuff could kill someone. “Royal Husband Zuo, don’t worry about me. I can take a few lashes.”
Sheng Anlan had actually been considering Zuo Qi’an’s words, but the moment she saw the undisguised disgust in his eyes, her fury ignited. “What are you all standing around for? Drag this person away and whip her for me.”
Seeing the sub-female being dragged off, Zuo Qi’an glared at Sheng Anlan in fury. “Didn’t I just agree to eat the lick-stick? Why are you still whipping her?”
“Didn’t you hear her? She said she was willing.”
Seeing that Sheng Anlan wouldn’t budge, Zuo Qi’an ran over, trying to rescue the woman from the attendants’ grasp, but a wall of people blocked his way—he couldn’t get through at all.
He could only watch helplessly as the sub-female was dragged away and given thirty lashes.
This was the Princess Mansion; his strength was simply not enough.
After teaching the sub-female a lesson, young Sheng Anlan strode off triumphantly, while Zuo Qi’an stared after her with loathing in his eyes for a long time.
Watching this, Sheng Anlan shook her head repeatedly. This young Sheng Anlan was far too vicious for her age.
Just because Zuo Qi’an had accepted something from someone else but refused hers, she had a servant whipped.
Yet this wasn’t even the most vicious thing she witnessed. What came next left her utterly astounded.
In the vision, Zuo Qi’an, feeling guilty over the sub-female’s whipping, would visit her from time to time and bring her gifts.
At first things were quite peaceful, but somehow Sheng Anlan found out, and she stormed into the Sub-female’s quarters, her face full of fury.
Seeing Zuo Qi’an—who had never once smiled at her—chatting happily with the maid, she burned with rage and ordered someone to bring over a strange-shaped serpent. She flung it before the Sub-female and said, “Since you love being with your Beast-husband so much, then today you shall tame this snake!”