Chapter 302: The Slum
Mu Tangfeng followed her finger and looked. He might not have known this place before, even though he was born and raised on Capital Star.
But that was the starting point of the Capital Star Insect Clan war over three years ago. In that incident, no one from a noble family had been killed or injured. Only a few perfectly ordinary civilians had died, their names never even making the news.
He replied slowly, "Those are the slums."
Mu Tangfeng used to share the same arrogance as the other noble families. He disdained associating with commoners, let alone people from the slums. During the Insect Clan war, he even preferred fighting on the front lines against the insects to working on civilian evacuation.
But now, thinking back on those few lives, he couldn’t help but feel the fragility of life. Perhaps it was because he now had someone he wanted to protect, and he subconsciously recoiled at the thought of such a thing happening to his own people.
Shi Lan recalled that He Hanshi was from the slums and asked, "Can we go take a look?"
’I want to see what kind of environment He Hanshi lived in as a child.’
Mu Tangfeng hesitated for a moment but still nodded.
This time, his hesitation wasn’t because he thought the slums would be filthy and chaotic, as he once had. He was more worried that Shi Lan would see something that would upset her.
The two of them flew toward the slums. He flew a little higher at first, but the slums were dimly lit, with many areas shrouded in complete darkness. Shi Lan couldn’t see anything clearly, so she asked him to fly lower.
Mu Tangfeng had expected to see the same filth and chaos he’d witnessed the first time he saw the slums. But this time, to his surprise, the slums were much cleaner.
The ground was no longer covered in miscellaneous trash. Down the dim roads, mechanical eyes flickered—there were now patrol drones and sanitation robots.
Shi Lan had also expected it to be terrible. But as they looked around, she found that the slums here were different from what she had imagined. You could only say they were a bit run-down, but not the utter chaos a book had once described.
Of course, the book had only summarized it with those few words, so Shi Lan didn’t know the full extent. Seeing it now, it felt all right.
She couldn’t help but remark, "It’s not as scary as I thought."
Mu Tangfeng frowned slightly. "Actually, it wasn’t like this three years ago during the Insect Clan war. Back then, even with the insects attacking, many people in the slums were still fighting over property and arguing chaotically. The ground was covered in trash and vomit, you could see red bloodstains on the walls from time to time, and there were definitely no patrol drones."
"It seems the Monarch has done some good these past three years, gradually improving this place."
Hearing this, Shi Lan’s impression of the Monarch improved. She hadn’t expected him to be a good ruler who actually got things done.
However, just as the two were about to leave, two males who were drinking together walked by, arms slung over each other’s shoulders. "The Eldest Prince is the best! Speaking of which, I’ve never seen the slums this clean. There isn’t a single glass bottle on the ground."
"The moment he returned from Black Star, he donated a ton of money to improve the environment in the slums. He’s the only one worthy of being the Monarch’s heir."
"Isn’t that the truth? That Second Prince before, he was always paying lip service to ’helping the people,’ but I never saw any benefits. Tsk, the Eldest Prince is the only one who actually gets things done."
The two chatted as they drank. When their bottles were empty, they looked at the clean ground and couldn’t bring themselves to just toss them. Instead, they carried them over to one of the new recycling machines that had been installed in the slums.
From a distance, Shi Lan could still hear their shouts, "Oh my god, you get 10 Star Coins for recycling!!"
"Ahhh! If I’d known, I wouldn’t have smashed all my old bottles!"
A warmth filled Shi Lan’s eyes, and she couldn’t help but say, "So it was Ye Ming. He’s so good. No wonder I always felt like he was so busy before."
At this moment, Mu Tangfeng didn’t say anything bad about him either. The Eldest Prince had probably also witnessed the filth of the slums three years ago and had made a special effort to improve things after he returned.
He was silent for a moment before saying, "I’ll donate money to the Eldest Prince tomorrow, too. To help out."
Shi Lan hugged his wing and stroked it gently. "You’re good, too."
’I have so many assets now,’ she thought. ’I should just discuss it with my Beast Husbands and donate some more money to the slums to help the Eldest Prince improve this place.’
The houses in the slums were still too dilapidated. Some of the buildings looked crooked and seemed in danger of collapsing. A donation could help rebuild them.
The two didn’t linger and returned to He Hanshi’s home.
Shi Lan gave him a goodnight kiss and said goodbye to Mu Tangfeng.
Although he was reluctant to leave, the thought that Lanlan had spent so much of her free time alone with him made him happy and smug.
’Lanlan treats me so differently!’
Back home, Shi Lan couldn’t resist video calling Ye Ming to ask him about the slums right away.
This was the first time the two had ever video called. Seeing his own reflection clearly mirrored in Shi Lan’s bright, dazzling eyes, Ye Ming looked a little bashful. He said humbly, "Actually, rebuilding the slums wasn’t my effort alone. The Admiral also contributed a lot."
Of course, he had to ask his father for permission first. But since it was a good deed, his father had no reason to disagree and had even provided some funds.
Shi Lan immediately said, "In that case, do you still need donations? I was planning to donate some money to help, too."
"But almost all my money came from you guys, so I’ll have to discuss it with everyone first."
Ye Ming shook his head. "There’s no need, Lanlan. You are our female. When Admiral He and I contribute, it’s on behalf of our entire family. You don’t need to provide extra funds. Don’t worry, I still have money. If I really need your help, I’ll let you know then, okay?"
That made sense to Shi Lan. "Alright then. But you have to remember to tell me if you need any help. After all, we’re a family, and I hope I can help share any burdens you have."
"Okay."
Ye Ming’s gaze softened, his green eyes filled with warmth and joy.
The two chatted a while longer. Shi Lan told him what she had done that day, and when Ye Ming asked how she suddenly knew about the slums, she told him honestly that she and Mu Tangfeng had gone to see them.
Hearing this, Ye Ming felt a faint pang of jealousy. ’Shi Lan was actually willing to spend her free time alone with Mu Tangfeng like that.’ But the thought quickly passed. ’I’m usually too busy to be with her, so it’s good that someone is there to protect her.’
He only said, "Then Lanlan, you must be careful. Although the slums are being rebuilt now and seem much more orderly, they’ve actually been decaying from the inside for too long. It will take a lot more time to fix everything. The security is still poor. As a female, you absolutely must not go to a place like that."
"I know."
Shi Lan wasn’t that foolish. There were very few females in the slums, and those who were there were almost all low-level, D-level females. Those females had their own ways of surviving in a place like that.
But she had always lived in a secure environment and was famous for being an S-level female, which was all the more reason she couldn’t go to such a dangerous place.
Seeing her response, Ye Ming relaxed a little.