Chapter 46: Closing the Door Part 1

Yan Xinfeng shifted his position, took a glass of pink drink from the table, took a sip, then frowned and put it back.

Laughter came from afar, interspersed with fragmented conversations. Yan Xinfeng had glanced over there and only managed to meet two pairs of eyes filled with dark mockery.

He curled his lips indifferently, ignoring the dismal sight of himself clearly being isolated at the party. He pulled up the chat interface and sent a message to Wei Tingxia. [Where are you?]

[Imperial Palace,] Wei Tingxia replied. [Watching a monkey wearing a crown.]

Today was Wei Heng’s enfeoffment ceremony. Though not on a grand scale, all royal family members had to attend in full, trapping Wei Tingxia in the palace for fourteen hours.

He then asked: [And you?]

Yan Xinfeng hooked up the corner of his lips and replied: [I’m the monkey.]

[?]

Seeing that Wei Tingxia did not understand, Yan Xinfeng pulled up the camera, snapped a photo of the pink drink on the table, and sent it over.

Wei Tingxia: [Suits you, Princess.]

Yan Xinfeng suspected this was Wei Tingxia’s way of reminiscing about his own Alpha identity, so he never refuted it. Wei Tingxia could call him whatever he wanted.

He looked up at the noble ladies who were still gathered together, laughing while glancing this way. Yan Xinfeng shook his head helplessly, accepting the fact that he had come here to be the monkey, while mentally tallying another point against Vanderveel.

[They seem to be laughing at me,] he said. [Not sure.]

Wei Tingxia tried to comfort him: [It’s fine, I’m being laughed at too.]

Indeed, this marriage brought obvious political support, but both of them would have to endure a round of mockery. There were gains and losses; they could only grit their teeth and accept it.

“What are you doing?”

A voice came from beside his ear. Yan Xinfeng looked up and saw a male Omega with an unfamiliar face approaching.

“Not doing much,” Yan Xinfeng put away the light brain. “A bit bored, just looking around.”

The male Omega smiled. “They don’t like you and are jealous of you, so they’re isolating you.”

He was straight to the point. Yan Xinfeng raised an eyebrow halfway.

“I’m Lin Wenxi, Lin Wensi’s younger brother.” The Omega proactively extended his hand. “When Your Highness was in the Border Military District, he had a good relationship with my brother, so I wanted to meet you.”

Yan Xinfeng also extended his hand. “I’m Yan Feng.”

…

On the other side, Wei Tingxia sensed someone approaching beside him, but faster than the shadow was a foul smell. It involuntarily evoked images of a laboratory, discarded waste medicine, and fresh blood flowing into a sealed container.

Wei Shu said with a sigh, “Big Brother has finally got what he wished for.”

On the high platform, Wei Heng’s expression was one of undisguised pride. He was the Empire’s first prince, and also the emperor with the most real power. The Father Emperor’s favor weighed on him, as if it was about to condense into a crown.

Wei Tingxia said, “Being enfeoffed as a prince brings him one step closer to what he wants most. He must be going mad with joy, right?”

“Second Brother is marrying into the Vanderveel family, and Big Brother is enfeoffed as a prince. It seems Father Emperor still favors his two older sons especially,” Wei Shu laughed. “I’m not so lucky.”

There was a faint self-mockery in his tone, like an unfavored child casually sighing about his situation—somewhat pitiful, but not threatening.

Wei Tingxia gave him a half-smile.

What was he pretending to be, almost turning himself into a plastic bag?

“Is that so?” he asked in feigned surprise. “Whether it’s marriage or status, it’s all given by Father Emperor. Since he can give it, one day he can take it back. As for your role… he might need it even more.”

The meaningful words instantly changed Wei Shu’s expression. Before he could speak, Wei Tingxia continued, “So Third Brother should be cautious in his actions lately. If you can avoid doing things, don’t. It would only stir up trouble and displease Father.”

Wei Shu let out a dry laugh. “Second Brother, what is this…”

Majestic and solemn music rose from all around, cutting off any possibility of further exchange between the two.

Wei Tingxia ignored him and turned away directly, idly pondering how to endure these 14 hours.

To be honest, Yan Xinfeng had no good impression of anyone surnamed Lin, especially Lin Wensi—a blind and stubborn mule.

But having no good impression did not mean he did not acknowledge Lin Wensi’s abilities. Rising from an ordinary soldier to the top commander of the Border Military District was due partly to his own strength and partly to Lin Wensi’s keen political instincts. He did not take sides, but that did not mean he could not see the situation clearly.

This excellent lineage had clearly been inherited; Lin Wenxi was outstanding as well.

“Your Highness is riding high these days,” Lin Wenxi said as they walked into the garden. “A marriage personally granted by Your Majesty is an honor no one dared to imagine.”

Yan Xinfeng smiled and said, “Perhaps to most people, I don’t match up to Your Highness.”

Lin Wenxi was straight to the point. “What’s appearance got to do with it? You don’t look like an Omega, but that doesn’t mean you’re not good-looking. Most gazes fall on you simply because they think you’ve gotten a huge bargain.”

“Of course,” he changed the subject, a trace of genuine yearning appearing on his face. “My brother often praises Your Highness. He even mentioned it yesterday. When I first saw Your Highness, I was filled with longing too.”

How could there be such a beautiful person in the world? He had transcended the limits of gender. Just standing there evoked a ray of sunlight blazing down on a scorching summer day—fervent, brilliant, almost painfully piercing.

Lin Wenxi was still immersed in the memory when a light cough came from beside him. He snapped back to reality and realized that the person standing next to him was Wei Tingxia’s fiancé.

He smiled embarrassedly. “Ah, just pure admiration.”

Yan Xinfeng was long used to it. “It’s fine. Everyone knows he’s good-looking.”

The Wei imperial bloodline was excellent, but Wei Tingxia’s face was like a mutation, leaving everyone else far behind.

Lin Wenxi nodded with a smile, then changed the subject again. “I can tell you two have a good relationship.”

“Where’s the good?” Yan Xinfeng raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t even seen us together.”

“It’s your eyes,” Lin Wenxi said confidently. “When I mentioned Your Highness, your eyes… were very gentle.”

That was the look only shown when loving someone. Yan Xinfeng’s heart stirred slightly, a flush of embarrassment rising at having his feelings pointed out. As he pondered how to respond, Lin Wenxi slowly added thoughtfully:

“Although I’ve always stayed on Capital Star, my brother doesn’t hide everything from me. I know Your Highness is about to do something big. If there’s any way the Lin family can be of use, please do mention it.”

With that, he looked up and stared straight into Yan Xinfeng’s eyes. “They don’t like you, and they don’t like me either. They don’t like you out of jealousy, and they don’t like me because they think I’m unworthy. I don’t want to deal with this crap anymore.”

He wanted to join the grand tide that was coming and seize a victory for himself.

…

…

That evening, Yan Xinfeng mentioned this conversation to Wei Tingxia.

At the time, Wei Tingxia was stretching. They did not live together yet, so they could only video call, just like they were dating.

“He said that?” Wei Tingxia bent downward, pulling his calf taut. “Interesting.”

“Yeah, too interesting. He kept praising how good-looking you are.”

Wei Tingxia caught the sour note in his tone and wiped his sweat. “Are you jealous?”

“No,” Yan Xinfeng denied immediately. “Why would I be jealous?”

Wei Tingxia chuckled lightly. “Because I’m too great, and you’re worried you don’t measure up.”

“…”

Yan Xinfeng’s expression was absolutely worth twenty more sets of, but Wei Tingxia had other matters. He took the communicator into the bathroom, set up the device, and began undressing.

When he took off his top, he glanced at the camera—Yan Xinfeng on the other end of the screen had turned completely red.

“Wow.” Wei Tingxia sighed. “I’m often curious about your personal tolerance.”

He continued on the previous topic. “People from the Lin family are all interesting, but I don’t think Lin Wensi would tell his younger brother on Capital Star everything. Too dangerous.”

“You mean…”

“He probably only told part of it. Him approaching you is partly to declare his stance and partly to test the waters,” Wei Tingxia said. “Both of you are ostracized in noble circles, so it’s easier to become friends. If he can connect with me through you, that would be ideal.”

Yan Xinfeng rolled his eyes. “That’s why I don’t like Capital Star.”

Too many schemes; it gave him a headache.

“No choice, dislike it or not, in a couple days you’ll be married over,” Wei Tingxia waited for the water temperature to adjust, meanwhile unfastening his belt. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.”

Yan Xinfeng: “…”

Yan Xinfeng: “You’d better.”

“The young master has already done premarital sex with me; if I don’t take responsibility, I wouldn’t qualify as an Alpha.”

With that, Wei Tingxia waved at the device. “Bye!”

The call ended, leaving Yan Xinfeng staring blankly at the black screen. The reflection on the screen showed half his face; even in black and white, the faint red was still discernible.

Twenty minutes later, an unregistered communication appeared on the screen, not logged in the system.

Yan Xinfeng opened it, and a familiar voice came from the other end.

“Leader, we have a discovery.”

“What discovery?”

Scarface said, “We’ve just finished screening. Among this batch of all rescued test subjects, one has a very special identity. He’s not an active soldier or a resident from another planet.”

“Then who is he?”

Scarface’s tone was grave. “Before he became a test subject, I found him in official registration footage. He was one of Wei Shu’s guards.”

The name Wei Shu hit like a heavy drum, deafening. Yan Xinfeng unconsciously clenched his fist. When he spoke again, his voice was like a taut bowstring. “What’s his condition now?”

“Conscious, but his physical state is extremely poor. According to the doctor, his transformation is irreversible, and the hormone disruption has severely damaged his own gland. In short, even if treatment succeeds, he won’t recover to his original level.”

Everyone in this batch rescued was like that.

After returning from Tansvika Planet, Yan Xinfeng had secretly gathered a group of resistance fighters near Capital Star to scout locations, then blast and rescue people.