Venerated Venomous Consort

Thousands of needles pinpricked every inch of her skin. The tremendous pain was certainly unbearable, and soon, she started squealing in pain.

Di Fuyi paid no attention to her. Instead, he turned to the courtier and started questioning the man, “I have told you before that the Universal Net should only be used against dangerous people and that it could never be in someone else’s hands. I also said that if you disobeyed me, you would be beheaded. Did you really think that Hua Xuyue is someone dangerous?”

“No, she is not. I have let you down, sir. I shall call upon death to myself for what I have done,” the man said firmly while trying to slice his neck with the sword in his hand.

Swiftly, Di Fuyi flicked the sword away from his neck. “You have always been loyal to me. For that, your life is spared. Instead of your life, leave an arm and go. Never repeat the mistake, or I will not let it go so easily.”

The man kneeled and bowed before Di Fuyi for sparing his life. Without hesitating, he cut his arm off as his punishment. The punishment acted as a deterrent to the others. All the other men in his troop were frightened and swore to never disobey the king’s command, even to the slightest bit.

Before Di Fuyi left, he gave Princess Yuanyuan, who was still crying for help in the net, a quick look. “She will stay under the net, for the same amount of time she did to the infant. Let her go when the time is up.”

“Yes!”

Di Fuyi thus left, along with the baby in his arms. No one dared to go against his order any more. For 20 solid minutes, Princess Yuanyuan never stopped crying for help, while struggling in pain. When she was finally released, she became so weak that she could not even stand.

In the Devil Palace, Di Fuyi was looking intensely at the baby on the bed. Their eyes met. Di Fuyi looked pensive, as if absorbed in thought. The baby, on the other hand, looked as innocent as ever. He seemed like a good and obedient baby. After a while, the baby finally broke the silence, “Aren’t you going to look for my mother?”

Smilingly, Di Fuyi asked, “Is she really your mother?”

The baby hesitated. “Why do you ask?”

Di Fuyi answered calmly, “I have checked her pulse. It did not show any sign of her being pregnant. Obviously, she did not give birth to you. Now tell me, who are you?”

“You knew it from the beginning, and yet you took me away from her. You even claimed that I was your son and the precious prince of the Devil Kingdom.” He regarded Di Fuyi’s conduct with a sigh.

With a tight smile, he continued sarcastically, “What do you think?”

The baby answered hesitantly, “You were using me to get the attention of your opponent, weren’t you? You acknowledged my identity and showered me with affection so publicly. It was all an act to mislead your opponent that I am all you care about. You used me to distract the crowd from thinking of Princess Yuanyuan’s, didn’t you?”

Impressed, Di Fuyi looked at the baby in disbelief. Gently, he rubbed the baby’s head and said, “What a smart baby! I like you. If you behave, I will raise you like a prince.”

The baby tilted his head to avoid Di Fuyi’s hand from touching him. “You are only trying to use me. What a wicked man! The only person that you truly care about is my mother, right? As a baby with a dubious background, you are concerned for her safety, that I might harm her at every opportunity. You took me away from her just to keep her safe, didn’t you?”

Di Fuyi examined him and started to doubt if the baby was really a baby. He clearly outsmarted the grown-ups. “Yes, she clearly has no guard against children, especially adorable ones, like you. She will definitely do her best to fulfill your wish, even at the expense of her own safety. Therefore, it is better for her that I keep you by my side.”