The next day, Li Huating was restless in his office.

He knew something would go wrong the moment he issued that announcement yesterday, but the pressure from above was simply too intense!

Hearing a knock, he shivered, hastily went to open the door.

Seeing it was Qian Fan, he immediately pulled him inside.

Li Huating: “How are things outside now?”

“What else could they be? The students are very upset, demanding to go on strike,” Qian Fan said indifferently. “You can’t blame them for this; you acted too rashly.”

Hearing the accusatory tone, Li Huating angrily retorted: “Then what can I do?! Can I disobey the imperial decree from above?”

To consider those military officers’ words an imperial decree? Qian Fan found it utterly ridiculous.

“What now?”

Li Huating paced back and forth agitatedly with his hands behind his back.

“First, appease them. If that doesn’t work—” his eyes turned fierce, “—then, we’ll treat it as a violation of school rules and mete out collective punishment!”

Qian Fan looked at him for a full three seconds, his gaze gradually turning cold. Just as he was about to speak, the other’s terminal suddenly rang.

Seeing it was another military bigshot, Li Huating’s palms and forehead were sweating. He frantically wiped them.

As soon as he answered, the person on the screen started scolding him.

“Immediately withdraw that notice! Issue a written apology, and the school is not to interfere further in this matter.” The person on the screen had a serious expression, a major general’s sash draped over his right shoulder on his military uniform. “If you keep messing around, I won’t be able to protect you!”

Li Huating’s face instantly went pale. He gestured frantically: “Bu-but Lin—if I withdraw it, I won’t be able to explain myself.”

“Do you think it’s better to offend the Lin family or the Qin family?”

Li Huating’s pupils dilated in shock: “Qin—it’s the Qin family?!”

Rong Shi came out of the restaurant and met Jiang Xingze on the stairs as he was going up.

He slowly walked down, completely ignoring the other man.

As they brushed past each other, Jiang Xingze sneered: “You’re too green to fight with me.”

Rong Shi looked straight ahead and said indifferently, “I never considered you an opponent. Too weak.”

“You—!”

Jiang Xingze was about to erupt, but then he saw another group of students coming out of the restaurant, forcing him to swallow his anger.

At the military headquarters, Lin Feng was busy preparing for the upcoming desolate planet exploration battle.

Just as he returned to his office, his adjutant rushed in.

“Colonel, your, your promotion approval has been rejected!”

Lin Feng’s hand, wiping sweat, paused: “Impossible.”

“It’s true.” The adjutant handed him the newly arrived document. “It happened just this morning. It was—it was that person from the Qin family who vetoed it.”

Lin Feng snatched the document, his vision so blurry he could barely make out the words.

His military rank approval process had taken nearly two years. He had finally opened all channels, and it was just the last hurdle. As long as none of the three marshals objected, it would pass.

Although the Lin and Qin families had different political stances, they had always kept to themselves. Why this sudden move?!

He rushed with the document to find his direct superior, Zhang Deming, the commander-in-chief of the Seventh Legion.

When he entered the office, the other party had just hung up a call. Seeing him enter, he said, “You came at the right time.”

Lin Feng sat down, his face stern: “What’s going on? Are they making a move?”

“Yes, and no,” Zhang Deming’s expression was subtle. “From now on, you’re not to interfere with anything at the military academy.”

“Military academy?” Lin Feng frowned in thought, “Is it related to Rong Shi?”

Speaking of which, Zhang Deming’s face showed a hint of sarcasm, “Your apprentice is truly capable. He wants to deal with Rong Shi but is attacking the Second Prince instead, huh. Now he’s using you as a scapegoat to vent his anger!”

Lin Feng’s brows furrowed even deeper: “Given the Second Prince’s current situation, he wouldn’t have dared to act casually before, and certainly not now. How could it be—”

“But the fact is he did act!” Zhang Deming turned and stood by the window, meeting his gaze. “No matter how difficult his situation, he’s still a prince. How could he let others step all over him? You handled this too carelessly!”

Lin Feng’s mind buzzed. He still couldn’t believe it. He had put in so much effort and spent so much time, on the verge of being promoted to major general, only to be shot down at the last hurdle due to such a baffling trivial matter.

Zhang Deming: “My people heard that last night, the Second Prince personally contacted Qin Chi to stand up for his partner.”

Lin Feng’s eyes sharpened: “Is he truly standing up for his boyfriend, or is he using it as an excuse?”

Zhang Deming turned and met his gaze: “As long as he truly registers his marriage today, then for us, it’s the same either way.”

Jiang Xingze, the subject of school-wide discussion, was holed up in his dorm, tidying his belongings.

If this continued, Li Huating would surely make another move. Anyway, he was going to the front lines soon, and by the time he returned, the storm would have long passed.

But instead of disciplinary action against the students, he received a notice of revocation and an apology letter.

Jiang Xingze abruptly stood up, reconfirming several times, then sent a trembling communication to Lin Feng.

The call was answered after a long delay.

“Colonel, Li Huating has withdrawn the notice again, what on earth—”

He hadn’t finished speaking when Lin Feng interrupted him, his face looking even worse than Jiang Xingze’s.

“Enough! This matter ends here! Don’t provoke them again.”

Hearing his tone shift, Jiang Xingze anxiously asked, “But if I’m disciplined, then this desolate planet—”

“You still want to snatch military merits?” Lin Feng sneered, “Because of your petty matters, my promotion approval was freaking rejected!”

Jiang Xingze’s pupils constricted, his face pale: “How could that be—”

Lin Feng was utterly impatient: “I’m telling you, if you behave yourself, we’ll remain paired. If not, get lost!”

The virtual screen went black before his eyes, the window disappearing instantly.

Jiang Xingze slumped into his chair, taking a long time to recover.

Impossible! Where did Rong Shi get such immense power?! It must just be a coincidence!

Seeing the apology letter issued by Li Huating, students all over the school celebrated like it was New Year’s, leaning out of windows to cheer, some even shouting “Long live the Empire!”

“Middle school syndrome is a real illness,” Qin Luo heard so much that his toes curled into imaginary mansions. He glanced at his terminal and turned to Song Yu, “The motive has already been spread.”

Song Yu twirled his pen, looking at the physics problem in front of him, and casually said, “Don’t make it too obvious. Keep everything else as is.”

“I know that!” Qin Luo grinned, “They’ll definitely be dumbfounded and want to confirm it immediately.”

Song Yu tilted his head to look at the bunny plush toy on his bedside table, lost in thought for a moment.

A moment later, he chuckled: “April 1st, a good day for marriage.”

Dozens of virtual windows, near and far, projected into the living room. Rong Shi moved among them, and with a wave of his hand, a photo of a hospital appeared before him.

A small metal sphere, hugging a ping-pong ball-sized energy stone, licked it as it spoke: “Recently, I’ve had ample energy. I retrieved surveillance footage from within a fifty-kilometer radius over the past six months and found that Lin Mo and Lin Dang have both visited this omega-exclusive hospital. Half a month before the new students started school, they also went there successively.”

The image showed an ordinary hospital, perhaps because it served omegas, its metal exterior walls were painted a soft sky blue, with the words “Imperial Central 88th Military District Hospital” at the top.

Rong Shi’s gaze stopped at the hospital icon before the word “Imperial”.

He had never been to this hospital in his previous life, but this icon seemed inexplicably familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

“Have you seen this symbol?”

01 floated around: “Yes, I’ve seen it countless times when filtering surveillance footage.”

Rong Shi: “Before.”

01 spent two seconds self-checking its memory: “No, I haven’t.”

01 was by Rong Shi’s side when he was thirty-two. It automatically monitored and recorded, storing anything he had seen.

If he had seen this icon, it would have been before he was thirty-two.

He needed to find time to visit this hospital.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Rong Shi walked towards it, casually snapping his fingers, and all the virtual windows vanished.

He opened the door, and Song Yu’s handsome face appeared before him.

Just then, a group of students rushing to class passed by in the corridor. Song Yu smiled and greeted: “Wife, good afternoon~”

The passing students were startled, their scalps tingling: “…” What kind of hellish greeting is that?

Rong Shi: “…” His hands were itching.

Song Yu entered, about to speak, when his peripheral vision caught something blue flashing behind the sofa. He couldn’t help but take another look.

“What’s wrong?” Rong Shi asked indifferently.

Song Yu retracted his gaze and calmly sat on the sofa: “Today is our big day, what else could be wrong?”

01 hid behind the sofa, trembling while hugging the energy stone.

It had been too engrossed in licking just now and forgot to return to its owner’s decorative button. QuQ

Rong Shi sat on the single sofa nearby, opened his personal terminal, and brought up the Imperial Civil Affairs Center’s official website.

Two alphas handling affairs, especially one being a former military officer, getting married was like going to war. They filled out the information in less than two minutes.

A gentle AI female voice sounded on the virtual screen.

[Submitting for backend review—review passed—the test questions have been sent to the bound terminals. Marriage registration will be completed after the test is finished.]

Song Yu felt a slight tremor on his wrist. With a light swipe of his finger, the Civil Affairs Center’s marriage test software launched.

The camera was forcibly activated, and the first question appeared on the screen.

[Question: What is your partner’s favorite fruit?]

It was stipulated that no hints were allowed. If detected by the system, the test would be terminated early.

This was his first time getting married, and Song Yu didn’t know there was a pre-marriage test. He glanced at Rong Shi, who was looking at him expressionlessly, and confidently said, “He doesn’t eat fruit. He only loves roast meat.”

Rong Shi: “…”

After a warning sound, the AI female voice rang out.

[Incorrect answer!]

[Question: What month and day is your partner’s birthday?]

Song Yu covered his mouth to clear his throat, subtly glancing at Rong Shi.

Rong Shi sat with his hands crossed in front of him. His right finger moved once, and his left moved four times.

Song Yu confidently looked up: “April 1st.”

[Incorrect answer!]

Rong Shi: “…” It’s the other way around, you fool.

[Question: What is the period of your partner’s susceptibility?]

Song Yu: “…”

He lowered his head slightly, and while his bangs obscured his vision, he quickly glanced at Rong Shi.

However, Rong Shi sat there like a Buddha, completely unresponsive.

Rong Shi: “…” The period from when he was eighteen years old; he couldn’t remember it at the moment.

It was okay to get it wrong, but he absolutely couldn’t lose his momentum. Song Yu calmly guessed: “Two months.”

[Incorrect answer!]

[You have answered three consecutive questions incorrectly. The test has ended prematurely. Your understanding of your partner is 0. The marriage application has been rejected.]

Song Yu, Rong Shi: “…” Damn, is getting married this hard?

There was a five-minute cooldown for individual attempts. To save time, Rong Shi took the second round.

Song Yu directly told him the answers to those three questions.

The camera forcibly opened, facing the screen. Rong Shi suddenly felt like he was back at the military academy entrance interview.

[Question: When you and your partner are walking in the park, and your partner says “my feet hurt,” what is their true intention? A. Wants you to carry them. B. Wants to rest on a bench. C. Wants to go home.]

Rong Shi: “…”

Rong Shi: “…………”

Song Yu covered his face: “…” Damn it.

Rong Shi said with a blank face: “B.”

[Incorrect answer.]

[Question: When you and your partner are out shopping, and your partner says “it’s okay if we don’t buy it,” what is their true intention? A. Don’t buy it. B. Doesn’t matter whether you buy it or not. C. Wants to buy it.]

Song Yu’s eyes lit up. He knew this one!

He cleared his throat, pushing his hair behind his ear, doing the same motion three or four times.

Rong Shi didn’t even look and confidently answered: “B.”

Song Yu: “…” You idiot.

[Incorrect answer.]

[Question: Your partner’s susceptibility period has flared up and they need omega pheromonal comfort. What will you do? A. Help them find a professional omega practitioner. B. Find what omega? My partner belongs to me.]

This question is easy! Before Song Yu could even laugh, he heard someone answer dryly: “A.”

Song Yu: “…” Would you die if you insisted on choosing B? It’s amazing how you perfectly avoided all the correct answers!

[Incorrect answer.]

[You have answered three consecutive questions incorrectly. The test has ended prematurely. Your understanding of the partner relationship is 0. The marriage application has been rejected.]

Rong Shi: “…”

Song Yu was so angry: “What were you thinking when you chose A for the last question?”

Rong Shi: “Alphas cannot help alphas through their susceptibility period. Eliminating incorrect options, only A remains.”

Song Yu: “…” What the hell kind of elimination method is that.

After ten rounds of testing back and forth, they finally realized that with their knowledge base and luck at guessing, they couldn’t pass this stage.

To get a fake marriage, the two top students, after finding a historical question bank, sat on the carpet and crammed until almost dawn, finally catching the tail end of April 1st and successfully answering the questions.

Seeing the system move to the next stage, Song Yu leaned back on the sofa, his arm covering his eyes, utterly exhausted: “Damn, getting married almost killed me. It’s a miracle anyone in the Empire ever gets married.”

Rong Shi rubbed his temples, his patience almost depleted.

[Please perform the action in the random picture and take a group photo.]

The two looked over together. In the photo, two people stood shoulder to shoulder, making peace signs.

Song Yu: “Damn, that’s so tacky. Change it!”

[Command error. Time-out in thirty seconds. Thirty… twenty-nine…]

Song Yu: “…”

He hastily moved next to Rong Shi, extended his left hand to make a peace sign. Seeing Rong Shi’s grim face and no reaction, he urged: “Hurry! Don’t make us go back to answering questions.”

At the mention of answering questions, Rong Shi’s expression worsened. He looked away with a cold face and, just before the countdown ended, quickly made a peace sign.

[Verification passed. Congratulations to both of you on successfully registering your marriage.]

__

Author’s notes:

Song Cat: The confidence of a top student was destroyed overnight.

Rong Rabbit: … [Suddenly exposed my weakness, at a loss.jpg]