Meng Fei pretended not to catch the hidden insult in Song Jin’s words, maintaining a gentle, polite smile. “I had no idea you understood me so well. It seems we get along quite nicely—we’ll surely get along great in the future.”

Song Jin was currently holding in a stomach full of rage with nowhere to vent it, and here came a green tea bitch dropping right into his lap. He thought to himself that such good luck actually existed, making the smile on his face considerably more genuine: “Aren’t all wild ducks the exact same? Does one really need to go out of their way to understand them?”

Meng Fei’s smile froze. He desperately tried to convince himself in his head to endure it for the bigger picture.

As long as he could get Li Xiao, being insulted verbally was nothing.

Taking a sip of red wine, Meng Fei let out a light laugh. “His Highness Prince Xiao used to prefer gentle, considerate Omegas. I didn’t expect him to marry a partner of a completely different type.”

Song Jin felt a sting from those words and reassessed Meng Fei once more.

He had always assumed that the ideal Omega Li Xiao mentioned was Rong Mian. Could it actually be this wild duck?

That old man really wasn’t picky—as long as it was an Omega, it would do.

Noticing the attentive look in Song Jin’s eyes, Meng Fei probed, “I know a lot about Prince Xiao’s childhood. Shall we go over to the parlor glasshouse over there to continue our chat?”

In the main hall, guests were gathered in groups of twos and threes, with many heading to other nearby locations more suitable for private conversations.

Song Jin lacked interest: “Xiao Xiao will worry if he can’t find me.”

The name “Xiao Xiao” pierced Meng Fei’s heart like a dagger, making the smile on his face nearly crumble. “It’s just past an archway. You can see it just by turning your head.”

Song Jin cast a side glance over there as 07’s voice sounded in his ear.

07: 【A number of Omegas in their twenties have gathered over there.】

As soon as 07 finished speaking, several surveillance feeds from the corridor popped up in front of Song Jin. Even without sound, the treacherous expressions on their faces alone were enough to tell what they were plotting.

If he didn’t teach these wild ducks a lesson, they would probably never learn the consequences of eyeing someone else’s prey.

Song Jin’s gaze swept over to Li Xiao in the distance. Seeing Yi Yongning and his son alongside the Gao family father and son standing beside Li Xiao, he casually stood up. “I can only go for a few minutes, okay? Xiao Xiao can’t bear being away from me.”

Meng Fei bit his tongue, putting on a forced, peaceful tone: “Sure.”

The moment Song Jin walked up to the entrance of the small parlor, he caught a whiff of a strange fragrance and felt something was off. In the next instant, he heard 07’s prompt.

07: 【Aphrodisiac components detected. Activating the toxin-neutralizing microchip for you.】

Inside the small parlor, a group of Omegas gathered in the lounge area, looking toward the doorway from time to time with expectations and malice in their eyes that they couldn’t even hide.

Taking it all in, Song Jin had already guessed roughly seventy to eighty percent of their plan.

Meng Fei brought Song Jin over and introduced him to everyone: “This is Prince Xiao’s companion, Song Jin.”

Following the introduction, instead of receiving a warm welcome, he was met with cold sarcasm.

“Ah, so he’s Song Jin? Pretty average, isn’t he?”

“I heard they got married during the competition. How hasty.”

“It’s so rude of you all to say that. The Second Prince isn’t limited to just one partner—he can just marry a few more outstanding ones later.”

“That’s for sure! How could a perfect Alpha like the Second Prince spend his whole life with just an Alpha? What a joke.”

A black-haired Omega youth walked up to Song Jin, speaking with a hint of bashfulness: “Don’t listen to them. I think you’re very handsome, not inferior to the Second Prince at all.”

07: 【Master, there are several surveillance devices here that are separate from the main defense system.】

Hearing 07’s prompt, Song Jin chuckled nonchalantly, “You’re the one with good taste.”

Ostracizing and tearing him down on one hand, while using aphrodisiacs to get Omegas close to him on the other—if anything happened and was recorded to be posted online, his reputation as the Prince’s spouse would be practically destroyed.

What a thorough arrangement.

Meng Fei signaled for Song Jin to sit down. “You haven’t been in Danse for long, so you probably don’t know much about the situation here, right? Like how many wives members of the Royal Family can marry.”

Just as Song Jin sat down, the black-haired Omega sat right next to him. Treating him as invisible, Song Jin casually picked up the thread: “How many does the law allow?”

Seeing that he was taking the bait, Meng Fei relaxed a bit. “The law sets no upper limit. They can marry as many as they want.”

Song Jin nodded: “And here I thought it was mandatory to marry several.”

Failing to catch the sarcasm in his words, Meng Fei asked speculatively, “You wouldn’t object to Prince Xiao marrying again, would you?”

“Why would I object?”

Song Jin’s gaze casually swept across everyone, his handsome eyes filled with a smile. “His wives are my wives. The more, the merrier.”

Meng Fei: “…”

The other Omegas: “…”

Holy shit, we forgot about that.

Song Jin lowered his gaze slightly, looking at the black-haired Omega sitting next to him with a smile: “Xiao Xiao dotes on me very much. Whatever I ask for, he will agree to. When looking for secondary wives, he’ll only pick the types I like.”

Being stared at from such a close distance by such a beautiful Alpha like Song Jin, the black-haired Omega should have felt his heart flutter. Yet at this moment, his scalp went completely numb, feeling as if a blade were resting against his neck, ready to decapitate him at any second.

So scary!

This Song Jin was not someone he could handle!

Meng Fei made a sarcastic remark: “Is that so? Seeing you follow Prince Xiao around, I thought you had no interest in Omegas.”

Song Jin looked over at him: “I’m only not interested in you.”

Meng Fei scowled, his grip tightening around his wine glass.

Even though he didn’t actually want Song Jin to like him, being demeaned like this still made him extremely displeased.

Saying so, Song Jin looked at the others again: “You few are pretty good. Very cute.”

The Omegas who had just mocked Song Jin didn’t know how to react for a moment.

They had insulted Song Jin to his face, yet the other party wasn’t angered in the slightest and even turned around to compliment them instead.

Looking closely, Song Jin was indeed very handsome.

The hearts of several Omegas thudded wildly.

Getting married once and gaining two husbands—that was a lucrative deal!

With this praise-and-pull tactic, Meng Fei was rendered completely worthless. Seeing this, two of his friends spoke up to defend him.

“Brother Fei is the Second Prince’s childhood friend! They grew up together—does he need someone like you to like him?”

“If the Second Prince hadn’t left the palace halfway, what business would you even have here?”

Song Jin unhurriedly turned his gaze toward Meng Fei: “So you like Xiao Xiao?”

Meng Fei put on an act of reserve and replied, “He is a very important person to me.”

Song Jin couldn’t help but laugh aloud: “Then after Xiao Xiao returned to the palace, why didn’t you go find him right away?”

Without waiting for Meng Fei to answer, Song Jin pressed on: “Has Xiao Xiao ever taken the initiative to look for you?”

Meng Fei’s face darkened: “By the time I got the news, he had already gone to Shengya.”

“You couldn’t contact him just because he went to Shengya? Are you living in ancient times?”

Song Jin ripped into him without a shred of politeness. “When he was down and out, you ignored him. Now that you see him standing tall again, you come crawling back to lick up to him. What difference is there between you and those snobs outside?”

Unable to hold back his temper any longer, Meng Fei stood up abruptly: “How dare you speak to me like that?!”

“Because I am the Prince’s spouse.”

Song Jin looked at him, his tone growing cold. “Daring to shout and yell at me—are all Danse nobles this lacking in manners?”

Frightened into a shudder by his suddenly icy tone, Meng Fei turned around with a foul expression and walked away the moment he recovered.

The people in the lounge area looked at each other in silence.

Yet Song Jin acted as if nothing had happened, continuing the previous topic: “If you guys marry in, you can play games with us in the future. Hunting games.”

The group of Omegas had been turned red-faced by the first half of the sentence, but hearing the second half, they instantly cooled down.

Who wouldn’t overthink hearing words like that?!

The black-haired Omega couldn’t help asking: “What kind of hunting game?”

Song Jin thought about it and said with an innocent face: “You guys are the prey, and Xiao Xiao and I are the hunters. We’ll see who kills more to win.”

The Omegas’ faces turned pale.

Kill?

Song Jin let out a soft laugh: “Don’t worry, we usually don’t hack the prey directly to death. We leave half a breath, and once healed, we can play again the next time.”

Omegas: “…”

Song Jin: “Xiao Xiao loves playing this game the most. He says it’s much more thrilling than participating in military academy competitions.”

Omegas: “…………”

Holy shit!

Inside the main hall, Li Xiao dealt with the officials crowding around him, instinctively glancing toward the corner where Song Jin had been sitting.

As long as he could catch a glimpse from afar, he could hold on a little longer.

However, the kitten who had been sitting there just now had suddenly vanished.

Li Xiao hurriedly scanned the entire main hall. People were moving back and forth in large numbers, but Song Jin was nowhere to be seen.

Kitten…

Where did the kitten go?

Yi Yongning, who was keeping Li Xiao company during the social rounds, noticed his reaction and asked in a low voice, “Your Highness, who are you looking for?”

However, all of Li Xiao’s focus was on finding Song Jin; he didn’t hear Yi Yongning’s question at all.

Li Xiao’s face suddenly turned cold. For a moment, everyone around him didn’t dare to speak loudly, feeling uneasy in their hearts as they repeatedly recalled what they might have said wrong to anger the Second Prince.

The kitten was gone.

This thought pushed Li Xiao’s teetering sanity right to the edge of collapsing.

Catching a faint scent, Li Xiao finally spotted Song Jin sitting with a group of youths in the small parlor in the southwest corner. Casting everything else aside, he brushed past the crowd and strode outside, placing his wine glass onto a waiter’s tray as he passed by.

With a sharp crack, the wine glass shattered into pieces.

The group of people nearby didn’t even dare to breathe heavily. The Omegas who had been feeling ambitious moments ago shrank their necks, not daring to take a single step closer.

Why did His Highness suddenly get angry? The pressure is way too terrifying!

Over there, Meng Fei walked up to the entrance of the small parlor. Seeing Song Jin still sitting with those people, he curled his lips in a cold sneer.

“Let’s see if you can still act this arrogant tomorrow.”

Noticing a long leg stepping through the doorway from the corner of his eye, Meng Fei hurriedly straightened his expression. Realizing it was Li Xiao, his eyes lit up.

He had originally intended to go find Li Xiao after stalling Song Jin, but the other party had actually come looking for him on his own.

Unable to contain his joy, Meng Fei walked toward Li Xiao: “Prince Xiao, after all these years of not seeing each other, I have so much to say to you. Let’s find a quiet place where no one will disturb us—”

Midway through his words, Meng Fei looked up, only to have his pupils dilate in horror at the sight of Li Xiao’s face.

That fierce gaze looked as if it wanted to skin him alive.

Looking down at him from above, Li Xiao’s tone was heavy and icy: “Did I not warn you never to approach Song Jin again? Did you take my words as hot air?”

Meng Fei shrank back, no longer daring to meet Li Xiao’s eyes. “He was the one who approached me!”

Saying so, Meng Fei pointed behind himself and said, “Song Jin was chatting so happily with those Omegas that I couldn’t even pull him back.”

Looking toward the lounge area, Li Xiao could smell the pheromones of numerous Omegas even from a distance, mixed with aphrodisiac fragrances. The string of his sanity tightened once more, on the verge of snapping at any second.

So many disgusting scents had gotten all over the kitten—how was he going to clean it off?

Hearing heavy, ragged breathing, Meng Fei cautiously raised his head. Seeing fine beads of sweat breaking out on Li Xiao’s forehead and his eyes slightly dazed, he was instantly stunned.

“Your Highness…”

Meng Fei’s breathing turned rapid. Completely unable to control himself, he threw himself toward Li Xiao, unconsciously releasing his pheromones.

Yet before his hands could touch Li Xiao, he suddenly caught the scent of an overbearing Alpha pheromone.

This pheromone was ice-cold and immensely aggressive. Taking a direct hit from it, Meng Fei felt as though he were pierced by countless steel needles. Before he could even cry out in pain, he collapsed to the ground, clutching his neck as his legs kicked and thrashed uncontrollably.

“Save… save me…”

Meng Fei’s mental state suffered a severe blow. His face turned bright red, his eyes bulged, and he could barely breathe.

Yet Li Xiao completely ignored him, stepping right over him to go take Song Jin away.

Just as he took two steps, 09’s prompt sounded in his ear.

09: 【That old man Meng Jian finished his small meeting and is now heading toward Meng Shan’s rest room! Old Man Wei hasn’t finished questioning him yet—we’re running out of time!】

Li Xiao’s footsteps came to a sudden halt.

He looked at Song Jin in the distance, and after a brief struggle, turned around, grabbed Meng Fei, and dragged him as he strode back toward the main hall.

In the lounge area, Song Jin kept an eye on the movement on Li Xiao’s side. Noticing that he had moved out of sight, Song Jin prepared to leave.

Taking a step forward, he seemed to suddenly remember something and looked back at the group of pale-faced Omegas.

“You’re all very welcome to marry into my family.”

Song Jin smiled brightly, adding one last line as he turned around, “If your lives are tough enough, that is.”

Omegas: “…”

The Omegas all felt lingering fear.

They finally saw it clearly—it wasn’t that Song Jin didn’t mind the Second Prince marrying secondary wives; he was warning them!

Whoever dared to have such ideas better be prepared to be played to death!

Halfway back, Song Jin saw Li Xiao walking hurriedly toward the main hall through the window, seemingly dragging something in his hand. He picked up his pace to catch up.

Seeing Li Xiao rush out of the main hall, Yi Lian hurriedly followed. He hadn’t expected the other party to return so quickly, and seeing him dragging an Omega in his hand, he was shocked.

“Second Prince, this is?!”

“Go call Meng Jian over!” Li Xiao didn’t slow down at all, walking swiftly through the crowd toward the center of the main hall.

Seeing that something was wrong, Yi Lian immediately acknowledged the order.

“Contacting him right away!”

The chatter and laughter in the main hall gradually died down as everyone looked toward Li Xiao, completely bewildered.

“Something happened!”

“What’s going on? Who is that in the Second Prince’s hand?”

“Isn’t that Meng Fei from the branch family?!”

“Was Meng Fei beaten? Why is his face swollen like that?!”

Seeing this, members of the Meng family branch were filled with rage, rushing over to confront Li Xiao.

“What are you doing?!”

“Put Fei Fei down quickly, he’s about to suffocate!”

With a cold face, Li Xiao ignored everyone crowding around and threw Meng Fei onto the floor.

Meng Fei rolled over three meters away, slumping on the floor like a pile of limp mud.

Meng Fei’s brother and father rushed over to support him, shouting at Li Xiao.

“Even if you are a Prince, you can’t just hurt people as you please?!”

Li Xiao: “Meng Fei attacked me with his pheromones. Not killing him is already giving your Meng family face.”

Hearing this, everyone finally noticed that Li Xiao’s expression was indeed off.

There was sweat on his forehead, and his tightly set lips looked as if he were exerting extreme effort to suppress something.

The atmosphere in the main hall virtually solidified.

Li Xiao didn’t intentionally raise his voice, his tone barely different from usual, yet it was precisely this quiet anger that made everyone present feel that things were taking a turn for the worse.

The Second Prince was furious.

This matter likely wouldn’t be brushed aside so easily.

Meng Fei’s father’s face changed drastically. Stiffening his neck, he said, “My Fei Fei couldn’t possibly do such a thing! There must be some misunderstanding!”

“What is there that he wouldn’t dare do?”

Li Xiao’s gaze swept over Meng Fei, who was groggily waking up, and said coldly, “When he was ten years old, he dared to go to the palace supervisor on his own, claiming he couldn’t stand the smell of raccoon foxes and incited them to kill my pet. Seeing as he was an Omega, I didn’t hold it against him. After so many years, he still dares to direct his crooked schemes at me—is this the kind of child your Meng family raises?”

The faces of everyone present, including Meng Fei’s father, changed.

Hearing Li Xiao say this, they suddenly recalled that when Li Xiao was young, he lived even worse than a servant; anyone passing by could kick him.

Something that was all too common back then was now brought up again by Li Xiao himself years later, causing many people present to feel a sense of tragic irony.

Times were different now. The poor little thing from back then had grown into a ruler looked up to by everyone, possessing both wrist and strength. Every move he made was enough to influence the domestic situation, controlling the fate of everyone present.

Song Jin, who had chased him all the way over, happened to hear this sentence, his anger flaring right up.

So that was what the so-called “childhood friend” was all about.

He should have realized it long ago.

When Li Xiao was very young, rumors spread through the palace that he was born to a servant. Li Ji was barely able to protect himself and deliberately acted cold, neglecting Li Xiao even further.

With both parents gone, an unloving brother, and a tainted background, how could Li Xiao have had any proper, good friends in such an environment? Even the only pet that could keep him company was casually slaughtered.

That was why Li Xiao was always so cold, always so elusive, as if he could detach himself from mundane affairs at any moment and go to a place where no one could find him.

Because he had always been all alone.

Meng Fei coughed violently. When he came to his senses and noticed the strange looks from the others, he defended himself loudly: “I didn’t! I don’t know anything about a raccoon fox, nor did I attack him with pheromones!”

“So you’re saying Xiao is talking nonsense?” Song Jin’s loose tone betrayed his impatience.

Meng Fei snapped his head up. Seeing Song Jin walking out from the crowd, he instinctively shrank into his father’s arms, though he maintained a tough front: “His Highness misunderstood! The raccoon fox was killed by the guards, it had nothing to do with me! I couldn’t possibly do something so malicious!”

Ignoring Meng Fei’s father, Song Jin grabbed Meng Fei by the collar, lifted him up, and kicked him straight across.

“Ah!”

Meng Fei was kicked five meters away, crashing heavily against the corner of a table in the lounge area.

With a loud clatter, the ornaments and wine glasses on the table crashed all over the floor.

Song Jin walked over, his knuckles cracking loudly: “Xiao doesn’t beat Omegas, but I’m different. You should count yourself lucky I wasn’t around eleven years ago, otherwise you wouldn’t have lived to adulthood.”

On the other side.

Uneasy about Meng Shan’s condition, Meng Jian prepared to visit the rest room midway through.

Meng Shan suddenly going crazy and bringing up Wei Feng had caused Meng Jian’s hair to stand on end, feeling extremely panicked deep down.

Wei Feng had been dead for ages. How could he possibly appear?

Even when cultivating the fodder back then, they had deliberately edited the genes to ensure it wouldn’t grow into a normal infant.

Halfway there, an assistant rushed over in a hurry.

“Sir, this is bad! Something happened in the main hall!”