Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 220 : The Overwhelming Pressure

Chapter 220: Chapter 220 : The Overwhelming Pressure

In the Heavenly Empire, it was customary for a newlywed couple to go back and pay respect to the bride’s family three days after the wedding.

Early morning on the third day, Xie Jianyu and Zhang Fengxi took a cloud carriage and left for Golden Dragon Palace.

In the Golden Dragon Palace, the Heavenly Emperor and the Empress were already waiting for them in the audience hall.

Xie Jianyu and Zhang Fengxi fell on their knees in front of their elders and spoke their greetings with cupped hands.

"Son greets Father and Mother*."

"Zhang Fengxi greets His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor and Her Majesty the Heavenly Empress."

The Heavenly Emperor smiled at his youngest son and his new husband.

"Stand up, no need to be so formal. This is not a court hearing but a family gathering."

"Many thanks, Father."

Head Eunuch Wang stepped closer to the couple with two tea cups on a tray. Beaming at them, he said, "Congratulations on the most auspicious wedding, Crown Prince and Prince Consort Zhang Fengxi."

Zhang Fengxi chuckled softly.

"Thank you, Head Eunuch Wang."

The newlywed couple offered the tea cups first to the Emperor, and then to the Empress.

The Heavenly Empress took the tea cup from the tray and smirked at Xie Jianyu.

"Crown Prince, it must be tough for you to get married as soon as you turn into an omega," she said as she drank her tea with her pinky finger pointing outwardly.

"I hope Prince Fengxi is not too disappointed."

Xie Jianyu’s forehead knitted in annoyance.

When he was posing as an alpha, he constantly had to push himself to be better than all the other alphas.

Now that he was known as an omega, he was seen as inadequate.

Less omega-like, not gentle enough, and probably not beautiful enough.

Either way, he was never good enough.

To counter the Empress’ unfriendly remark, Zhang Fengxi took Xie Jianyu’s hand and pressed a kiss against his knuckles.

"My wife is amazing in every aspect. I fear that it was I who disappointed him."

"Hahahahaha!" The Emperor’s booming laughter was heard. "Did you hear him, my Empress? You should not underestimate Jianyu."

The Empress harrumphed. She set the empty tea cup on the tray and shot Xie Jianyu a meaningful look.

"We will see."

According to ongoing rumors, the Empress had been working hard to get pregnant again.

She spread a rumor that she went to the Goddess of Fate and Destiny to get an early prediction of the child that she would soon give birth to.

Whether or not she actually obtained a Reading was debatable. Anyway, she told everyone who wanted to listen that her future child was going to be an alpha boy.

Therefore, she advised all the other clans to not harbor any lofty ambition toward the Dragon Throne.

The Xie family ought to keep their claws around the Dragon Throne for one more generation for sure.

In this way, the Empress subtly but surely disregarded the fact that Xie Jianyu won the Crown Prince position fair and square.

There was nothing Xie Jianyu could do against the Empress’ empty propaganda, so he chose to ignore it. Alas, the Empress just had to rub it under Xie Jianyu’s nose.

"Jianyu, ah, between the two of us, who will give birth first?" She taunted.

"Our children can grow up and play together. Won’t it be fun? My child is going to be the future Heavenly Emperor and yours is going to be the future Longjing Palace Master. Hohoho~"

"Enough," the Heavenly Emperor interrupted with a frown.

"Do not put unthinkable pressure on Jianyu."

The Empress clicked with her tongue.

"Your Majesty, ah, we omegas know our roles and responsibilities. I am sure that Jianyu will do his best to get pregnant soon. Won’t you, Jianyu?"

Xie Jianyu was silent.

Zhang Fengxi’s face was as black as a pot bottom.

The air inside the audience hall was too suffocating.

Xie Jianyu heaved a sigh of relief when they finished with the formalities and were finally able to leave.

Zhang Fengxi draped an arm around Xie Jianyu’s shoulder as they went down the long, ivory staircase slowly.

"Don’t take her words to heart, Jianbao. You are perfect the way you are."

Xie Jianyu gave him a shifty smile in response.

"Any alpha son is more perfect than me," he said while covering Zhang Fengxi’s hand with his.

"That is not true," Zhang Fengxi insisted.

He raised an eyebrow at Xie Jianyu, who shook his head obstinately.

"The Xie family needs an alpha son. You will see. If the Empress succeeds, then..."

Zhang Fengxi pressed a finger against Xie Jianyu’s lips.

"I doubt," he said with an ominous voice.

In the previous life, the Empress only got pregnant once and miscarried the baby. The same thing happened in this life.

It was very unlikely for the Empress to suddenly get pregnant again.

Besides, should that happen, Zhang Fengxi was pretty sure that Xie Jianshen was going to do something again.

Speaking about the devil, the Shuiran Palace Mistress made his appearance along with his husband and son.

Jiang Muchen’s face darkened when he saw Xie Jianyu and Zhang Fengxi together.

During the wedding, Jiang Muchen kept giving Zhang Fengxi an evil eye. It was as if he hoped that the groom might just fall dead on the spot.

"Fengxi, I need some private time with my elder brother and nephew," Xie Jianyu said. "Do you mind?"

Zhang Fengxi shook his head with an understanding smile.

A wise general knew when to retreat.

He pressed a kiss against Xie Jianyu’s forehead, gave the three people from Shuiran Palace a respectful greeting and bow, and then left.

Zhang Fengxi decided to take a walk around the Golden Dragon Palace’s orchard. If he was lucky, maybe the fairies in charge would be kind enough to spare him a magical peach or two.

As he walked around the corner of a building, he suddenly heard something.

Two men were speaking to each other in a low voice just some distance away.

The first person was Liu Yichen, the Wuyang Palace Master.

The second person was Ye Penglai from Fuxi Palace.

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Author’s Note :

*The reigning Empress is Xie Jianyu’s stepmother, but by rules, Xie Jianyu and Xie Jianshen still had to refer to her as their mother in public.