Chapter 70: A Happy Smack!

Perhaps feeling that venting his anger in this manner was becoming pointless, Huanlan Haoyang soon ceased his brutal torture of Feng Wujiang, though his pristine folding fan was already stained with fresh blood.

"What about the ginseng fruit? Have you brought it back?" Seeing the blood, Huanlan Haoyang discarded the fan in disgust, looking up at Feng Yi while directing his question at Feng Wujiang.

Since Moli had already escaped, let her flee. In any case, Aunt Lan was unaware of her appearance in the main city, so he would simply pretend the incident had never happened.

With lunchtime fast approaching, he needed to quickly secure the ginseng fruit and take it back to serve Aunt Lan's meal. Otherwise, if Aunt Lan's radiant wrath were provoked, the number of people sent to be buried with her would be rather significant!

"It... it was also lost!"

Just as Huanlan Haoyang was daydreaming about using the ginseng fruit to please Aunt Lan and win some reward for his efforts, Feng Wujiang delivered these scalp-tingling words, making him feel a piercing, bone-chilling cold settle deep within his heart.

"You... you..."

Too furious for words, Huanlan Haoyang could only point a trembling finger directly at Feng Wujiang.

"Jiang'er, what do you mean by it was also lost? Explain yourself clearly. What on earth is going on here?"

The ginseng fruit was an item explicitly demanded by the old Demon Emperor. How could it be lost after just a single morning? Clearly, Feng Yi found Feng Wujiang's utterly disastrous explanation entirely unacceptable.

"To get the full details, you'll have to ask Eldest Brother. When I led my men there, the city was in absolute chaos. Eldest Brother's subordinates appeared to be searching the citizens one by one. Then, Lady Mo suddenly appeared, and the situation became so chaotic that I didn't get a chance to ask Eldest Brother about the ginseng fruit. It wasn't until we were on the way to the Pinju Tower that his subordinates let slip that the ginseng fruit was gone."

"Well! A fine job the lot of you have done! Prepare the carriage to return to the palace!"

After venting his harsh threats, Huanlan Haoyang pointed at the three members of the Feng family, then boarded his grand sedan chair and took the lead, rushing his subordinates back in the direction of the imperial palace.

Feng Yi, who fancied himself capable of reading his son's thoughts, was not so easily deceived. Knowing full well that something was amiss yet powerless to fix it, he could only shake his head, cast a look of disappointment at Feng Wujiang, and lead his troop of wounded men back to their estate.

"Why did you rush out to help him back then?"

It was not until they had retreated from the main city and reached a sparsely populated area that Xiao Junwang turned to ask Moli the question that had been weighing on his mind.

Moli had assumed he would understand her maternal instinct to protect her child, never expecting him to ask such a question. Her immediate reaction was to halt in her tracks, refusing to move further as her gaze drifted toward the sullen little Long'er nestled in Xiao Junwang's arms.

Mindful of certain circumstances concerning Long'er, she remained silent for a few seconds before offering her explanation:

"Long'er is still young. I don't want him tainted by bloodshed or any unwholesome influences. He is my child, and I must protect him!"

"Mother, is that really true? But... you scolded Long'er back then, calling him willful..."

Caught between joy and grievance, Long'er looked pitifully at Moli, his little hands tightly clutching Xiao Junwang's clothes in lingering fright.

"All children in this world are willful, so it is only natural for my Long'er to be willful as well."

Moli harbored no doubts as she voiced her true thoughts.

Willfulness was an innate trait children possessed from a young age. As parents, they could not forcibly suppress such a nature, but they could also employ better methods at appropriate times to curb its excesses.

A moderate degree of stubbornness was acceptable, but going too far was never a good thing.

Long'er was inherently different from other children, being of rare dragon lineage, which meant his cognitive logic was often far more meticulous than that of ordinary people.

Xiao Junwang remained silent throughout Moli's reply, perfectly masking his gloomy emotions behind a facade of cold indifference.

Seeing that Long'er finally broke into a happy smile, he handed the boy over to Moli for her to hold.

"Mother, Long'er will be a good boy from now on! *Mwah!*"

Leaving a resounding, affectionate kiss on Moli's cheek, Long'er wrapped his arms around her neck and happily began to act spoiled.