Chapter 125: Chapter 125: The Beast Emperor’s Past

Han Li wanted to hug Yu An, but before he could get his hands on her, Mo Yan scooped her away.

"You’re too strong. Don’t hurt An’an."

He had no choice but to hug the tip of his own tail and grin foolishly, telling everyone he saw, "I have a cub now!"

Lan Ying crossed his arms, saying disdainfully, "Pathetic. As if the rest of us don’t have one."

As soon as he said that, everyone’s gaze fell on Ao Wu.

A chill ran down Ao Wu’s spine. His face darkened as he snapped, "What are you looking at? An’an and I will have one sooner or later!"

The others shook their heads and walked away. Feng Xuan even patted his shoulder and comforted him, "It’s alright. I have two cubs. I can give you one."

Ao Wu slapped his hand away. "Get lost! I don’t need it!"

’Even Han Li has a cub now, but he doesn’t. How depressing!’

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Endless Sea, on a small floating island adorned with clusters of flowers, two people were chatting while guarding an empty flowerbed.

"No cubs have been born in the clan for years. It’s so boring for the two of us to be guarding this place all day."

"Sigh, so what if it’s boring? What if a cub is born and we’re not here? Wouldn’t the cub be in danger?"

"...You’re right. Sigh. If it weren’t for that great war, our Dragon Clan would have at least two cubs born every year. But now... sigh!"

The two chatted idly. One of them yawned, and with a casual glance, he suddenly saw a tender sprout emerging from the flowerbed.

His eyes widened instantly. He pointed at the spot as if having a seizure. "You, you, look!"

His companion was startled. "What is it? What did you see... AHHH!!!"

"A cub, it’s a cub! A cub is about to be born! You stand guard, I’m going to tell the Clan Leader right now!"

...

Yu An hadn’t shown herself, either staying in her space or in her room. Mo Yan and the others, however, would occasionally go out and tell people that Yu An still hadn’t been found.

Yu Yun hadn’t made an appearance either, claiming to be ill. Ao Wu had once snuck into the Princess Mansion at night but found no trace of her whereabouts.

"What about Granny Gu? Have you found anything about this person?" Yu An wrote.

All that came out when Yu An opened her mouth were bird chirps, but thankfully, she could communicate by writing.

Ao Wu shook his head. "I didn’t see any Granny Gu when I went. There are only young people in the Princess Mansion, no old ones."

"I found something," Feng Xuan spoke up. "Yu Yun has an old governess with the surname ’Gu’. Apparently, she saved Yu Yun’s life when she was little and has been serving her ever since."

"When Yu Yun moved to the Princess Mansion, she brought the old governess with her. But the woman is so old now she can barely move and needs constant care."

’At the time, Yu Yun’s first reaction was to think Granny Gu had entered. Clearly, she thought Granny Gu would be her savior. But the person Feng Xuan described could hardly get out of bed, let alone rescue someone from the Ghost Market.’

"An’an, when I got you out of there, Yu Yun had been blown to bits. She must be dead, right?"

Yu An spread her wings and wrote, "Who knows?"

’The only thing that pained her was that the mission to sell mashed potatoes had failed. And despite the accident this time, the mission hadn’t even been paused!’

As they spoke, a commotion suddenly erupted outside. Mo Yan’s voice rang out, "Your Majesty, the Princess is not here. Your people have already searched once!"

He deliberately raised his voice so the people inside the room could hear.

Yu An still couldn’t change back into her human form. She was about to retreat into her space to hide, but just as she was about to enter, she suddenly remembered the words she had heard while unconscious.

She had asked Chun Nuan what the relationship between Yu Huang and Yu Tinglan was really like. Chun Nuan told her the truth: the two sisters were very close as children, but they became enemies when the position of Beast Emperor was at stake.

To be precise, it was Yu Tinglan who made the first move. She colluded with outsiders to besiege Yu Huang, causing Yu Huang to disappear without a trace.

The accounts from Bai Ruo, Su Lian, and Chun Nuan were all slightly different, but one thing was the same: all three pointed the finger at the Beast Emperor.

Thinking of this, she came back out, only to immediately run into Mo Yan telling the Beast Emperor that she wasn’t there.

Well... this was awkward.

The atmosphere froze for a few seconds. Mo Yan strode over, shielded her behind him, and said without batting an eye, "Your Majesty, the Princess is truly not here..."

The Beast Emperor’s expression was unreadable. "Stop hiding her. Yu An is right behind you."

Mo Yan: "..."

The others: "..."

The Beast Emperor strolled to the table and looked down at Yu An. "Shall we talk?"

Yu An was about to speak, then remembered she couldn’t.

The Beast Emperor seemed to guess what she was thinking and smiled slightly. "You don’t need to speak. Just listen."

After seeing Yu An nod, Mo Yan and the others left, leaving only the Beast Emperor and Qiuyue in the room.

"I am not your Female Mother," the Beast Emperor said, getting straight to the point. "You should know this by now."

Yu An nodded, then listened as the Beast Emperor continued, "My sister’s and my relationship isn’t as terrible as you’ve heard. On the contrary, we were very close."

"When they took my sister away, I couldn’t stop them. The only thing I could do was cultivate the next Beast Emperor’s heir, one even more outstanding than my sister, to send in her place."

Yu An didn’t understand what she meant and tilted her head in confusion.

The Beast Emperor sighed. "This is a secret known only to the successive Beast Emperors and their heirs. Whenever the Imperial Family establishes an heir, people come from the other side of the Endless Sea to take the heir away and test their talent."

"Those with good talent are kept. Those with poor talent are sent back."

"My sister’s talent was so exceptional, you didn’t even need to test it to know it was top-tier. She was certain to be kept."

A shadow of sorrow passed through the Beast Emperor’s eyes. "I fought for the title of Beast Emperor because I wanted to go in my sister’s place, but she wouldn’t agree."

Both sisters had excellent talent; whoever went would be kept. Yu Huang believed that if she were the one taken, her chances of survival would be higher than her younger sister, Yu Tinglan’s.

Having no other choice, Yu Tinglan used her power to temporarily imprison Yu Huang, intending to take her place. But her plan failed. In the end, that group took Yu Huang away.

Before they left, someone told Yu Tinglan that if someone with even better talent than Yu Huang appeared, it might be possible to trade them to get Yu Huang back.

"That person had to be from the Imperial Family. Except for Lei Wang, I imprisoned all the others."

Yu Tinglan didn’t kill her brothers and sisters. Instead, she selected good Beast Husbands and Female Masters for them, forcing them to produce offspring.

Unfortunately, after all these years, the only one in the Imperial Family with the best talent was Yu Yun.

Exhaustion was written all over Yu Tinglan’s face. "Her talent couldn’t compare to my sister’s, but... what if?"

’What if those people took a liking to Yu Yun, took her away, and then returned Yu Huang?’

Yu An opened her beak. She wanted to ask the Beast Emperor if her previous intention to make her the heir was also for this reason.

"Yes," Yu Tinglan admitted freely. "My sister gave birth to you after she was taken. I don’t know what method she used to send you back."

"I tested your talent. The talent-testing sphere I bought was shattered by your power. I also considered using you to get my sister back."

Yu Tinglan said slowly, "You are my sister’s child, her treasure. But to me, you are far less important than my sister."

Yu An took a step toward her, tilting her head up to meet her gaze. ’Why did you change your mind, then?’