Chapter 60: Fufu Is Her Little Cub
Five tall, handsome male mermaids surrounded Nan Zishi, wanting to chat.
’Wow. This is some kind of VIP treatment!’
Nan Zishi sat at the top of the steps, with the five beautiful male mermaids sitting below her.
Yu Lang said, "Princess, the word ’Consort’ in our Mermaid Clan signifies supreme status. The title ’Princess Consort’ means you are the Prince’s female master. Your status is above his, and you have control over him."
Nan Zishi: "!"
"That’s right, so you don’t need to be afraid of the Prince. He has to listen to you."
Another male mermaid said, "Actually, in our Mermaid Clan, the one with the most revered status is the Fish Princess."
Yu Lang flicked his long hair back, smiling as he continued, "Princess, if you wanted to, you could absolutely become the Fish Princess."
"What’s a Fish Princess?" Nan Zishi pressed.
"The Fish Princess is the supreme leader of the Mermaid Clan."
Yu Lang explained, "Our Mermaid Clan always obeys the commands of females, but there are just too few of them. The females are busy finding mates and have no time to manage the clan. In the end, the male mermaids ended up taking care of everything. The position of Fish Princess has been vacant ever since."
"We were very much in favor of Princess Chuchen becoming the Fish Princess. Oh, by the way, Princess Chuchen is a beautiful female mermaid, the color of a sunrise."
Another mermaid added, "But Princess Chuchen didn’t want to be the Fish Princess. She said it was too tiring."
"Princess, if you are willing to be the Fish Princess, you can possess the entire Mermaid Clan and lead us to a brighter future!"
Nan Zishi quickly waved her hands. "No, no, no, I won’t do it."
’Me, the Fish Princess? Are you kidding me? I’d probably lead the entire Mermaid Clan to its doom!’
The male mermaids swayed their big, beautiful tails, subtly flirting with Nan Zishi through their body language.
"Princess, giving birth to Little Fu Princess must have been difficult for you. When she grows up, she can be our Fish Princess."
"Mmm-hmm!" The other mermaids chimed in in agreement.
Nan Zishi finally voiced the question that had been nagging at her. "Little Fu... is she that golden Little Mermaid?"
"That’s right, Princess."
Nan Zishi quickly waved her hands. "No, no, that’s not right. The mermaid cub I gave birth to should be five years old this year. Little Fu looks like she’s not even two years old right now?!"
The male mermaids glanced at one another before rushing to clear up her confusion.
"Princess, Little Fu really is five years old."
"This is the size of a five-year-old in the Mermaid Clan."
"Look at our Prince Lanxing. He’s three hundred years old, but he looks just like a Land Beastman who has just reached adulthood."
"But Prince Lanxing did indeed just come of age. He only reached adulthood five years ago."
’Lanxing is three hundred years old?!!’ Nan Zishi was inwardly stunned.
She suddenly remembered—Little Fu had said her father was three hundred years old, hadn’t she?
’Back then, I had wondered what old geezer had fathered Little Fu, and what kind of female would have such poor taste as to fall for an old man.’
’Oh, for crying out loud! So the clown was me all along?!!’
’And Little Fu really is my daughter!’
’This adorable, well-behaved child is actually my daughter!’
At this, the mermaids began to discuss among themselves.
"The lifespan of the Mermaid Clan is long, longer than any other Beastman clan.
The Beast God said it was unfair, very unfair.
Perhaps for the sake of fairness, all members of the Mermaid Clan must pass through a lightning tribulation when they come of age."
"Five years ago, our Prince Lanxing had just come of age, and he had to face his coming-of-age tribulation."
"Prince Lanxing’s tribulation was exceptionally long. It rained heavily for many days, and lightning struck him many times. In the end, the Prince was gravely injured. His scales fell off, his powers vanished... he was in such a pitiful state."
"I remember a huge group of us were searching for Prince Lanxing back then, but we just couldn’t find him anywhere."
"Later, we heard he was netted by fishermen and was even sold. He nearly became a Beast Slave."
"It’s really so pitiful!"
As they spoke, the emotional, soft-hearted male mermaids were overcome with empathy for Lanxing. They began to sniffle and sob, large pearls welling in their eyes like tears.
But Nan Zishi was in no mood to pick up pearls. She began to recall what had happened.
She remembered when she’d bought Lanxing. He had been covered in wounds, large and small. His scales were falling off, he was isolated and helpless, filled with despair... He truly was in a pitiful state.
And yet, he had just come of age, just survived a lightning tribulation.
’And I went and bonded with him?!’
Nan Zishi covered her face.
"Oh my god."
’Just think about it from Lanxing’s perspective. Right after his tribulation, when he was gravely injured and had lost all his strength, he was netted by fishermen. He couldn’t escape. And then he was bought by some lecherous female.’
’He, a noble prince, was forced to beg and grovel before her.’
’And what did I do? That very night, I...’
Nan Zishi buried her face completely in her palms.
’Pitiful. Truly, truly pitiful.’
When Lanxing returned, he saw five outstanding male mermaids from his clan gathered around Nan Zishi, talking to her.
A wave of jealousy instantly washed over the blue-purple mermaid.
"Nan Zishi!"
Lanxing instantly swam to Nan Zishi’s side, his gaze warning the five mermaids before him.
The male mermaids didn’t care.
After all, among mermaids, there were only a handful of females to a veritable mountain of males.
To compete for females, they naturally spared no effort.
Even if she was the Prince’s own Princess Consort, they had to at least try to win her over!
Yu Lang said to Lanxing, "Prince, the Princess is lonely all by herself. We’re keeping her company."
"Yeah, yeah."
Lanxing said coldly, "I’m still right here, and you’re already harassing my female master?!"
"But Prince, didn’t you say you wanted to break your bond with the Princess?"
"Then why should you care about us?"
"Exactly!"
Lanxing choked up, his heart suddenly flustered. "I..."
These male mermaids knew when to quit while they were ahead. "Prince, you two talk. We’ll be leaving now."
After the male mermaids left, Lanxing struggled internally but still said coolly, "Nan Zishi, I still have to break our bond."
Nan Zishi nodded. "I get it, I get it."
After she spoke, Nan Zishi asked, "Lanxing, Little Fu is our cub, right?"
He paused for a moment, his blue-purple eyes turning to her. "Yes."
"Then after we break our bond, who does Little Fu stay with?"
A pang of pain shot through Lanxing’s heart. He turned to face her. "You gave birth to Little Fu, but I’m the one who’s been raising her all this time. She can only stay with me!"
Nan Zishi said, "But children are supposed to stay with their mothers."
Lanxing’s expression changed drastically. He said, "Nan Zishi, Little Fu is all I have. You can’t fight me for our cub!"
’In all those overbearing CEO novels,’ Nan Zishi thought, ’it’s always the mom who’s terrified the CEO will snatch the kid.’
’Why is it the other way around for me?’
’Lanxing’s so worried I’m going to take the child!’
Even so, Nan Zishi couldn’t wait to properly meet her own adorable little female cub.
Outside the palace gates, a golden Little Mermaid was playfully chasing small fish.
Nan Zishi swam towards Little Fu. The moment Little Fu saw Nan Zishi, she immediately gave up chasing the fish.
The little one’s face broke into a huge smile, and she opened her arms to Nan Zishi. "Mommy, Mommy, hug~"
"Yes!" Nan Zishi gathered Little Fu into her arms.
"Little Fu, are you really my cub? The one I gave birth to?"
"Mhm~! Mommy~" ’Mommy finally recognizes me!’ The little cub was ecstatic.
Feeling emotional, Nan Zishi gently kneaded Little Fu’s cheeks. She laughed happily and said:
"How did I ever manage to have a cub as cute as you?"
Little Fu’s face was kneaded into various shapes by Nan Zishi, but she wasn’t angry at all. She laughed happily along with Nan Zishi.
"Little one, what’s your name?"
The scene before Lanxing was so tender, he found himself swimming over to the mother and daughter.
"Fu, Fufu~" The little mermaid cub waved her chubby little hands. "Mommy, hug Fufu~"
As Lanxing swam over and witnessed this scene between mother and daughter, his feelings grew complicated.