NOVEL NEXT 04
Chapter 4 Marriage in Form Only, Talking about Feelings, Hurting Favorability…
Early the next morning, Yi Er arrived on time to pick up Qi Yao. Qi Yao had cleaned himself up like a prospective son-in-law going to meet his future mother-in-law, except he didn’t bring a gift. Coupled with the hundred thousand star coins in the terminal, he felt restless.
The nutrient solution he drank last night didn’t taste good, probably expired, and it was a bit harsh on the throat. But it somewhat filled his stomach, so the hundred thousand star coins remained untouched in his account.
Sitting in the aircraft, Yi Er glanced at Qi Yao’s clothes and said casually, “Is that the outfit from yesterday?”
“…Yes,” Qi Yao admitted. He wore the expensive outfit again today because he didn’t want to appear too shabby when meeting the Empress and Emperor.
“What’s wrong?” Qi Yao asked.
Yi Er withdrew his gaze. “It suits your temperament.”
“Thank you.”
Qi Yao expected Yi Er to say something unpleasant, but to his surprise, it was a compliment. This eased his anxious heart a little.
Not much else was said. Although Qi Yao and Yi Er’s relationship wasn’t exactly unfamiliar, it wasn’t entirely familiar either. At most, it could be considered a verbal engagement… a kept relationship.
Yes, a kept relationship.
Qi Yao found an appropriate term for their relationship, and his anxious heart settled.
For the sake of favorability, for a happy ending, he would be an obedient rice bug!
They soon arrived at the Imperial Palace. Yi Er instructed Qi Yao, “When you meet the Empress and Emperor later, just answer whatever they ask.”
“Okay.”
Handling a meeting with parents didn’t require Yi Er’s instructions; Qi Yao could manage it himself.
And regarding Yi Er’s background, Qi Yao knew a little bit.
Although the Empress Dai Na was Yi Er’s aunt, he was more like a female father figure to him. When all eligible males received Yi Er’s marriage decree from the Empress, the original owner of Qi Yao’s body tried various means to learn about Yi Er’s situation.
When Yi Er was ten years old, his female father died in battle. Yi Er’s aunt, unable to bear seeing him without a female father’s care, took custody of him from his father. There was probably some monetary exchange involved, as Yi Er’s father reportedly lived much better after Yi Er left him.
Of course, these were all summarized from various sources of information. Most descriptions of Yi Er’s life focused on his illustrious military career. He was promoted to a major general at the age of eighteen and reached the rank of general in six years. With a military career spanning fourteen years, every time Yi Er returned from the battlefield with injuries, he brought back a string of honors.
In fact, when one carefully thought about it, the information about Yi Er circulating on the star network and the rumors about his background should have only surfaced when the decree for his marriage came out. Whether true or false, they were all what the Empress wanted people to see, not necessarily what they wanted to see.
For example, Qi Yao really wanted to know why Yi Er was different from the local females, both in character and in attitude towards males. But if he was truly rebellious, why would he deign to form a relationship with him, a mere common male?
It was too contradictory.
– The Empress and Emperor were already waiting in the palace. After Yi Er brought Qi Yao, the Empress dismissed Yi Er and asked Qi Yao to stay alone. To be honest, facing the imposing Empress and the beautiful Emperor alone, Qi Yao felt nervous due to both class oppression and aura suppression.
After the Empress and Emperor scrutinized Qi Yao, the young Empress Dai Na, seated on the throne, spoke, “Yi Er has informed me that you lack the worldly desires for him, so he requested to marry you.”
…Worldly desires, Qi Yao dared not have.
Dai Na continued, “But I cannot let him decide his marriage based solely on his words. Therefore, I need to conduct some assessment tests on you.”
“Assessment tests?” Qi Yao inquired.
Dai Na’s gentle face formed a friendly smile. “Multidimensional assessment tests to see if you and Yi Er are compatible for marriage. If the match is successful, I will approve your union.”
The Emperor Si Niya gestured to a nearby female attendant, who led Qi Yao to a special testing chamber behind the palace, equipped with sophisticated testing equipment.
The system had just briefed Qi Yao on multidimensional assessment tests. In simple terms, for the zerg race, reproduction was the top priority. To produce high-quality offspring, both the male and female zerg’s abilities needed to complement each other. Factors like mental power, pheromones, breeding value, physical fitness, etc., had to be compatible between partners. If one was significantly lower than the other, not only would the marriage be discordant, but the reproductive rate would also be greatly reduced.
Qi Yao followed the instructions of the female attendant, and several tubes with chips attached to his body. The rich pheromones spread in the chamber, the majestic mental power surged toward the sensors, and the chips connected to the body extracted genetic data from the skin.
In front of Si Niya and Dai Na, the values on the light screen panel kept soaring, and after half a minute, the data froze.
Qi Yao: Male zerg
Age: 22
Mental power: S class
Breeding value: S class
Physical fitness: A class
Molting period: Not yet undergone secondary molting
Pheromone compatibility: Matches the test female zerg
Next to it, Yi Er’s assessment values were displayed.
Yi Er: Female zerg
Age: 24
Mental power: SS class
Breeding value: S class
Physical fitness: SSS class
Molting period: Not yet undergone secondary molting
Pheromone: Matches the test male zerg
Comprehensive assessment test results: Male zerg Qi Yao and female zerg Yi Er have a multidimensional assessment test match rate of 100.25%, recommended for union.
Si Niya and Dai Na stared at the result, lost in thought.
Is Yi Er really going to marry this lower-class male zerg from the lower district? His mental power and physical fitness are far inferior to Yi Er’s.
Dai Na comforted Si Niya, “As long as Yi Er likes him. Besides, Qi Yao hasn’t undergone secondary molting yet, but his mental power is already S-class. After the second molting, he might grow into a top-tier male zerg with mental power reaching SSS class.”
In the zerg race, all zergs go through two molting stages. The first molting occurs during the larval stage and is easy for any zerg to pass through, granting intelligence. The second molting occurs during the adult stage and is much more painful and difficult to endure. If not careful, one could become berserk. Therefore, lucky zergs find an opposite-sex zerg to comfort and soothe them during the second molting.
However, due to the severe gender imbalance in zerg society, many unfortunate female zergs endure the second molting alone. Though the process is arduous and painful, after enduring it, they emerge as a new zerg.
Si Niya sighed heavily. “Let it be.”
Dai Na hugged Si Niya gently and said softly, “My Lord, you’ve worried too much.”
Yi Er and Qi Yao also received the same result and were equally shocked: a match rate of 100%! However, they tacitly refrained from expressing any opinions because Yi Er had previously stated that Qi Yao was merely a tool zerg he didn’t want to continue blind dates with. Theirs was a sham marriage, where they wouldn’t interfere with each other after marriage, living their own separate lives.
Forming a marriage of convenience while discussing feelings only hurts the affection.
However, Yi Er hadn’t even undergone secondary molting, yet his mental power was already at SS level? If he were to complete the second molting, wouldn’t Yi Er’s mental power reach SSS level?
And his physical fitness, with three S’s, did he grow up drinking chicken blood?
Qi Yao stared at the bare numerical panels, silently feeling ashamed: I am so weak.