Chapter 473: Love Debt
Little Stone is already engaged, but there's still no movement on the second son's side. Clearly, there are quite a few females around him. Sang Luo has even accidentally run into him a few times, seeing him and his friends taking some noble female out to play. Each time, the female beside him is different, but he hasn't brought a single one home.
As his mother, she's still worried about her second son's marriage.
One day, she returned home to find Zhui Zhui kneeling outside the door. She didn't know how long he'd been kneeling, but his orange hair was covered in a layer of frost.
Sang Luo was confused and quickly went over to pull him up. "Silly son, what are you doing kneeling at the door? Get up quickly, don't freeze yourself."
Zhui Zhui shook off her hand and said in a low voice, "Mother, please don't mind me. Let me kneel."
"This…"
Sang Luo really couldn't persuade him, so she went inside first.
A smell of smoke choked her, causing her to cough twice. She covered her mouth, nose, and stomach, afraid to go any further inside.
Seeing her come in, Lan Cang quickly stubbed out the cigarette in his hand, but the smell hadn't had time to dissipate.
He opened the window to ventilate the room.
Sang Luo glanced at the ashtray on the table, which had at least a dozen cigarette butts in it. She frowned. "When did you learn to smoke?"
"…I've always known how, but I'll smoke a couple when I'm troubled." He just hadn't smoked in front of her.
"Don't smoke in the future. I'm pregnant, and it's bad for the baby."
"Okay, I won't smoke." Lan Cang cleaned up the room. Only after the choking smoke smell dissipated did he dare let her in.
Sang Luo turned to look out the window. Zhui Zhui was still kneeling at the door, motionless. "What's wrong with our son? Did he do something wrong?"
Lan Cang became so angry just mentioning him that he wanted to reach for the cigarette pack, but he stopped himself.
"He got a female from a tribe pregnant and doesn't want to admit responsibility."
Like a bolt from the blue, Sang Luo was dumbfounded, thinking she had misheard.
It took her a long time to find her voice. "Zhui Zhui, how could he do such a thing? Is there some misunderstanding?"
After the children grew up, those kinds of things happened naturally. Sang Luo hadn't interfered much with her children's private affairs, as long as they could maintain a sense of propriety.
From a young age, it was clear that Zhui Zhui's personality was more outgoing and cheerful than his brother's. He also had more choices when it came to choosing a partner… But in her heart, she didn't believe her child would do such a thing…
"Whether it's true or not, you'll know if you ask him." Lan Cang's chest heaved violently, truly angered. "He said he doesn't like that tribal female, that her status is too low to be worthy of him, and that he doesn't want to be bound by family."
Sang Luo frowned. Zhui Zhui had grown up as the young master of the main city, with access to fine clothes and delicacies. His range of choices for a partner was far beyond what ordinary males could compare to. These noble sons had no shortage of females around them, and many females even took the initiative to approach them.
They didn't dare to trifle with noble females of the same class, but beautiful and impoverished young females born in tribes would become these young masters' hunting grounds.
"Don't get so angry, you'll hurt yourself. I'll go ask him what exactly happened."
Sang Luo went out and saw that Zhui Zhui was still kneeling, unmoving. She sighed softly, "Get up first."
"Father, he…"
"What's done is done. It's no use kneeling. Your father was just temporarily confused by anger." Sang Luo asked him, "Which family is that girl from? What's her name?"
Zhui Zhui thought for a moment before hesitantly saying, "The Muta Tribe, a dozen miles outside of Ice Breaking City. Her name, I think it's You Huai, or Xing Huai."
"…You don't even remember the girl's name?" Sang Luo was furious. "How did you two meet?"
"Two years ago, there was a fairly large beast tide outside the city. I went to help and happened to see the Muta Tribe being attacked by the beast tide. I helped them resolve the beast tide and supposedly saved her. She told me later, but I didn't pay that much attention at the time. Anyway, by chance, we got to know each other, and she's been pestering me ever since!"
As Zhui Zhui spoke, he became anxious. "Mother, it's not that I don't want to take responsibility, it's just that the child she's carrying is definitely not mine!"
Sang Luo, "How many times did you mate with her?"
Being questioned about such private matters by his own mother, Zhui Zhui blushed with embarrassment and stammered, "Just, just once… I couldn't resist because I drank too much with La Er that time. Normally, there's no way I'd take a fancy to her."
"Did you use protection?"
"…No." His voice was even lower, but he said with certainty, "Mother, she's just an ordinary tribal female. Just that one time, there's no way she could have gotten pregnant with my child!"
The young man said indignantly, "Who knows which male beast's child she's carrying. I think she's just trying to deliberately blackmail me with the child. It's not like Fillo and the others haven't encountered this before."
Sang Luo's forehead throbbed. "No matter what, you should go see her."
"I'm not going. It was hard enough to get rid of her. If I see her, she'll just pester me again. That crazy female even threatens to kill herself every time. I've had enough of her!" Zhui Zhui hurriedly got up from the ground. He had been kneeling for too long, and his legs were so weak that he almost fell again. He grabbed her hand and pleaded, "Mother, I don't like her, and I don't want this child!"
"…Then how do you want to resolve this?"
"Isn't she just trying to get money? We can give her alimony or hush money and have her get rid of the child—"
"Slap!"
A crisp slap rang out.
Zhui Zhui turned his head slightly, a bright red palm print on his face. He was stunned, "Mother…"
This was the first time his mother had hit him since he was a child.
Sang Luo said angrily, "If the child in her belly isn't yours, you have no right to force her to get rid of it. If it really is your child, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, it's still our family's bloodline and must be kept."
Zhui Zhui lowered his head in silence, not saying a word.
She stopped looking at him. "I'll go see that girl tomorrow."
Sang Luo personally went to the Muta Tribe and, after a little inquiry, found the person.
The girl looked very young, with delicate and pretty features. Although she couldn't be considered a stunning beauty, her talent and strength were not bad. A sixth-order beastman was higher than ordinary tribal females and not inferior to many noble females in the city.
However, Zhui Zhui was at the initial Emperor rank. The difference in talent between the two was very large. Strictly speaking, it couldn't be completely denied that they couldn't conceive offspring, but the possibility of pregnancy was extremely small, almost negligible, let alone that the two had only had a one-night stand.
"You're called You Huai, right?" Sang Luo asked softly.
The girl nodded, looking at her somewhat uneasily, "You are, Sang Lan Yun's mother?"
"Yes, I'm that rebellious son's mother." Sang Luo's gaze fell on You Huai's slightly protruding abdomen. She also gently touched her own belly. Her pregnant belly was disguised with illusions, so it looked no different from her usual figure.
Taking out some tonics and prenatal medicine from her space, "Thank you for your hard work. This is a small token of my appreciation."
"I came here mainly to ask about the child in your belly. If it really is our family's bloodline, we will definitely acknowledge the child and give you sufficient compensation. If you want to keep the child by your side, that's fine too. We will still pay child support. What do you think?"
You Huai didn't answer, but after a moment of silence, she asked, "Why didn't Lan Yun come?"
