Chapter 203: Chapter 203 - 197: Jia Lan’s Father
Shen Tang also noticed, "That male just now, he’s not your biological father, is he?"
Jia Lan respectfully referred to him as father in word, but his tone was completely cold and distant. A biological father wouldn’t talk to his son in such a way, even cursing the son as a bastard.
Jia Lan shook his head, "No, he is a consort of my mother, Sivall."
"Consort?"
"Yes, my mother has never established an official Empress; the status of a consort is the same as that of the main husband. Sivall manages the affairs of the harem, and the princes must all respectfully call him father."
"Then... where is your father? I haven’t seen him since I returned." Shen Tang came this time not only to meet the Mermaid Empress but also to see this father-in-law she had never met.
She even prepared a gift for the meeting, but unfortunately, she never saw the man, and Jia Lan never mentioned his father either.
Given the rumors of Jialouluo’s favoritism towards Jia Lan, his father, even if not the Empress, would certainly be a prominent consort, yet it seems no one speaks of his existence.
Jia Lan frowned and said flatly, "I don’t know."
"Hmm?"
Jia Lan spoke casually, "I’ve never seen my father beast from a young age, and I don’t know who he is. Perhaps he died a long time ago."
Seeing Shen Tang’s confused look, he pursed his lips and explained, "According to the old servants in the palace, I was brought back by my mother from the outside twenty years ago..."
Back then, Jialouluo went out and returned with a pregnant belly, and no one knows who this child’s biological father is.
The Empress said the child was conceived with a beautiful male from a tribe she met outside, but unfortunately, she didn’t have time to bring him back to give him a title, as he died unexpectedly on the way.
Privately, many beastmen did not believe it, and rumors circulated that this was just Jialouluo’s excuse to silence the public.
Some even speculated secretly, saying that Jialouluo, Your Majesty, had mated with a wild mermaid from outside, and perhaps was forcefully taken by a wild mermaid, which is why she came back with a bastard.
Otherwise, how could they not trace the identity of the father beast of the descendant?
Even Jia Lin and others would secretly call Jia Lan a baseborn, bastard, hybrid, an illegitimate child without a father.
Eventually, these insults gradually made it to the open.
Jia Lan had been used to it from a young age.
He said he didn’t mind, but to some extent, he did care a little bit.
Shen Tang’s eyes flashed, and she gently comforted, "Don’t mind what those people say secretly; they are just envious of the Empress’s favor towards you. No matter who your biological father is, you are the Empress’s own child, and moreover, a legitimate prince of the Sea Country. Who in the world does not know that you are the Empress’s most favored prince? No matter what they say, it can’t change this fact!"
Seeing her comforting smile, a trace of warmth rose in Jia Lan’s heart, "Mm."
He took her hand and walked forward, "Let’s not think about those annoyances. I’ll take you around the place nearby."
Vast and colorful, the Coral Forest stretched to the horizon, with carpets of seaweeds rising and falling with the dark tides, where all kinds of colorful fish and various floating creatures swam, many of which Shen Tang had never seen or couldn’t name.
Some coral trees were over ten meters tall, taller than many trees on land.
Jia Lan transformed into a mermaid form and swam gracefully through the Coral Forest with Shen Tang.
The two were like a pair of fish in pursuit, frolicking joyously.
Free, uninhibited, relaxed, joyful...
But suddenly, the urgent alert sound of the system broke the atmosphere.
[Warning! Warning! Danger is approaching, please dodge immediately, host!]
Shen Tang’s expression froze, and she quickly opened the system map, discovering dozens of red dots rapidly approaching.
Sea beasts? Or beastmen?
The visitors came with ill intent!
"Not good, danger is coming, hurry and run!" Shen Tang pulled Jia Lan, turned around, and ran.
Jia Lan hadn’t had time to react when he suddenly heard a commotion from the Coral Forest behind him, and immediately after, an ice blade flew past his cheek, slicing out a bloodstain.
His face turned cold as he quickly swung aside to shield Shen Tang in his arms and turned to look at the dozens of mermaids springing from the Coral Forest.
They surrounded the two, leaving no escape.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Jia Lan questioned coldly.
The gray-tailed mermaid leading them sneered, "Little prince, the dead don’t need to talk so much nonsense."
"Get them!"
Shen Tang’s heart was full of shock; this group of people knew that Jia Lan was the prince of the royal family, yet they dared to attempt assassination. It was obvious they came prepared, aiming for their lives!
Jia Lan raised his hand, condensed an ice blade, and pierced the heart of a beastman, pinning him against the coral.
His tail stirred the water, flipping several menacing beastmen, and he took Shen Tang, fleeing toward the rear.
Shen Tang also used her Earth Element ability, summoning several earth spikes from the ground to form a heavy barrier to try to obstruct the killers’ speed.
But unfortunately, the mermaids’ reaction and swimming speed in the water were too fast; her attack was greatly reduced in the sea area and unable to intercept effectively.
The attackers came prepared in numbers and strength.
The two of them were up against dozens and had no chance of winning, nor could they escape.
There were several Sixth Rank beastmen in the group, and the leader was a powerful Seventh Rank Peak beastman!
The mermaid leader quickly caught up with Jia Lan’s speed, transformed his hand into a claw, and aimed at his fish tail.
The beautiful deep blue tail was quickly torn and blood oozed into the water, the scales falling off in large patches.
Jia Lan endured the sharp pain and continued swimming, but his speed uncontrollably slowed down.
The pursuers mercilessly caught up and surrounded them again.
"These people want to kill me. When I find an opportunity to lure them away later, you take the chance to run!" Jia Lan knew he couldn’t defeat them and could only think of ways to cover Shen Tang’s retreat.
[Don’t forget, host, you still have a Superpower Breaking Potion, use it quickly now!] the system shouted.
Faced with a life-threatening situation, Shen Tang couldn’t care about any secrets anymore; she quickly took out a strengthening potion from the system space and drank it directly.
In an instant, a vast and powerful force surged into her limbs, and the Peak of Tier Five Earth Power skyrocketed to Seventh Rank Peak!
Over a hundred earth spikes rose from the ground, swiftly and fiercely, piercing through several mermaids’ chests in an instant, pinning them to the ground.
The sudden turn of events left everyone on the scene in shock.
Jia Lan, dumbfounded, looked at the female in his arms, puzzled as to why Shen Tang’s power had suddenly surged.
The secrets on her were becoming more and more numerous.
But now was not the time to delve into these matters; they hurried to join forces and deal with the group of assassins!
...
"The assassins we dispatched were completely wiped out?"
On the other side, Sivall, who was waiting for good news, heard this and his handsome and enchanting face showed a ferocious expression.
He had sent the top assassins and had even paid a heavy price to employ a Seven Rank Peak dark web assassin who had never failed before.
With Jia Lan being only a mere Sixth Rank, killing him should have been enough, so how could the whole force be wiped out?
Upon hearing of the assassination failure, Jia Lin was both anxious and angry, "Father, what do we do now? This time we startled the snake; it will be even harder to kill that bastard next time!"
Both father and son looked grim. They originally thought Jia Lan’s marriage meant there would be no issue, but he came back, and the Empress still showered that bastard with kinship, threatening their position.
They must kill him to prevent further problems from arising!
This time, Jia Lan mustn’t walk out alive!
Sivall suddenly thought of something, and a playful smile appeared on his wickedly handsome face, "My son, do you still remember the rumor from back then?"