Chapter 11: How Many Men Does She Have?

All the merpeople: “……” Silence is tonight’s Cambridge.

Under the calm sea surface, the mermaid elder De Chang frowned gravely. Finally, as if she had figured it out, she exclaimed in sudden realization: “I understand now. The prince must be under threat. The group of humans who kidnapped him must be cunning and cruel. The prince must be afraid that we can’t defeat them, that’s why he told us not to interfere.”

The merpeople were moved by the prince’s selfless spirit of sacrifice. The more sensitive ones had already started shedding pearls while whimpering.

The mermaid elder De Chang cleared her throat and said: “The prince is so considerate of us, we can’t remain cowardly and watch him being taken away. Once he’s on land, he’ll be stripped of his scales and bones.”

“That’s right. The King has passed away, the Crown Prince is useless and ran to the shore to find women. We only have the young prince left. We absolutely can’t let him fall into human hands.”

“We must rescue the young prince!” The crowd of fish was filled with righteous indignation.

“Elder, what should we do?”

The mermaid elder De Chang pondered for a moment and said: “For so many years, humans have been capturing and slaughtering us at will. To avoid these humans, we’ve been constantly migrating to the deep sea. Yet they dare to cast nets and throw spears when we come to the surface to breathe. Since humans are so aggressive, we don’t need to be tolerant anymore. We must teach them a harsh lesson.”

—

Jiang Yang felt that the beautiful fish man who had eaten the spicy little octopus was like a chicken injected with hormones. The entire fish was so excited, more enthusiastic than ever before.

“Ah Yang, look, I’m wearing the white jade bracelet you gave me.” Chi Mei happily turned his wrist, the sparkling water light reflecting the vivid and intense gleam in his eyes.

Jiang Yang leaned on the edge of the bucket, feeling dizzy from watching the silly fish spinning like a top. She perfunctorily replied, “Mmm, okay, I see.”

It’s just a bracelet. Back when she was in the male brothel, she would throw out jade pendants and handkerchiefs in double digits every day. Why is he so excited? He’s as happy as a fish that’s lost its mind.

With such good spinning skills, if she sold him to an aquarium, the visitors would surely pack the place every show.

Imagining this handsome big fish performing in an aquarium to exchange for small dried fish, Jiang Yang couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

As she was laughing, she suddenly realized that the splashing water sound had stopped. Had this silly fish finally made himself dizzy? Jiang Yang opened her eyes and met a pair of pitch-black eyes staring at her expectantly.

“Holy crap—” Jiang Yang was startled, her heart almost stopping: “Don’t scare people like that, okay?”

Chi Mei’s dimples showed slightly as he smiled. His slightly cool, wet chin gently rested on the edge of Jiang Yang’s hand. He tilted his head slightly, virtually pillowing on her hand, looking like a little fish dependent on its person.

Jiang Yang averted her eyes. Never mind, better not sell him to the aquarium. With that handsome face, selling his looks would be the real way to wealth.

“Ah Yang,” Chi Mei called her softly, his voice low and pleasant.

“Mm.”

The dazzling light on the sea made Chi Mei’s eyes shine like transparent amber: “Ah Yang, do you have other men on land?”

“Why do you ask?”

Chi Mei looked both hopeful and nervous: “I heard that human women practice a one-wife-multiple-husbands system.”

Jiang Yang smiled and asked in return: “Don’t the merpeople practice monogamy?”

Chi Mei pressed his lips together and said dejectedly: “No, we also practice a one-wife-multiple-husbands system.”

“Then why are you asking me this?” Jiang Yang took a peacock feather from the nearby blue-and-white glazed phoenix-headed vase and lightly brushed it across his face.

Chi Mei’s eyes lowered sadly, casting a row of fine shadows under his eyelids. Although it was very normal for a female fish to have many male fish, and for human women to have many men.

But, but he was the merman prince! It’s okay to fantasize a little, right? Who would want to share a wife-master with other fish… Only his stupid brother would be willing. Sigh, it’s really hopeless.

To avoid Jiang Qingzhou’s sharp edge, Jiang Yang had always played dumb. She frequented male brothels and courtesan houses, but when it came to actually marrying someone, she hadn’t taken a single one.

Her convenient father was indeed urging her, arranging young ladies from noble families for her. But how could Jiang Yang dare? If her husband’s family had power and influence, how could she comfortably be a rice worm under Jiang Qingzhou’s nose?

After all these years, Jiang Yang had figured out Jiang Qingzhou’s temperament. She was just a career-oriented woman, men weren’t important.

Jiang Yang could do whatever she wanted, have as much money as she wanted, have whatever man she wanted. If one day she said “I like your husband”, Jiang Qingzhou would probably give him to her directly, and the family would still be harmonious, not affecting their sisterly bond at all. But when it came to career, if Jiang Yang made her feel threatened, it would be over.

That feeling was simply too… too damn wonderful! Who likes to work hard? Hadn’t she had enough of the wage slave life in her previous life?

Let Jiang Qingzhou work hard if she wants to. She didn’t want to work hard anymore. Heaven didn’t let her be reborn into a female-dominant noble family to make her work like an ox or horse. It was to compensate for her previous life as a wage slave. In this life, she just wanted to lie flat! Be a slacker!

“So, Ah Yang, how many men do you have on land?” Chi Mei asked dejectedly, a mist forming in his eyes.

Although the merpeople also practiced a one-wife-multiple-husbands system, there was no hierarchy like primary husband, secondary husband, or minor attendant. Everyone was equal. Chi Mei had been pampered by the Merman King and the Merman King’s husband since childhood, and didn’t know how to get along with men on land.

To get along well with Jiang Yang’s men in the future, he started counting on his fingers, calculating in his heart how many welcome gifts he should prepare when Jiang Yang brings him home.

Jiang Yang tapped his silly fish head with the peacock feather: “None, not a single one.”

“Really?!” Chi Mei’s eyes brightened, a wave of surprise and passion rushing towards her. Great! His fish heart soared. He knew he hadn’t misjudged her.

—

The next day, the ship arrived at the country of Nalong. Nalong was a small tropical country with weak military power. They surrendered without a fight as soon as they saw the cannons on Jiang Yang’s ship.

Jiang Yang couldn’t speak Nalong’s language, but between countries, the law of the jungle was well understood. Without Jiang Yang even opening her mouth, they proactively offered gold, silver, and jewels as a gesture of goodwill. How sensible!

Lan Qian smiled beside her: “How about it, Second Young Miss? Our business method is not bad, right?”

Jiang Yang nodded. Robbing by imperial decree was indeed not bad.

The ship docked, and boxes of spoils were being loaded onto the ship. Jiang Yang walked around the dock. The people here had darker skin tones, some a healthy wheat color, some even deeper brown, a bit like the trendy tanned gyaru from modern times.

And because it was tropical, people’s clothing was also lighter. Women’s attire was similar to that of Dai ethnic women, while men wore trousers wrapped around the waist several times, with a low-cut top on the upper body, revealing deep cleavage.

If it was just this, it would have been fine. In her previous life, Jiang Yang had seen see-through clothes and fishnet shirts, this was nothing.

But the most fatal thing was that the men here had incredibly good figures. Robust and sturdy muscles, washboard abs, wheat-colored skin, big chests about to burst out of their low-cut tops, the hot sea breeze making their faces flush red… Although it was ordinary local clothing, when worn, it exuded a kind of inexplicable sensuality.

The sailors had been at sea for several months, and being young and vigorous, they were like dry wood ready to catch fire. Having not seen men for too long, even a pig would look handsome to them. Naturally, they wouldn’t let these tanned, big-chested beauties go. Under the experienced lead of the first mate, they began their leisure time.

However, to ensure safety, the ship’s crew went ashore to play in batches.

Jiang Yang bought three coconuts from a roadside stall, had the vendor open one, and struggled to carry them back to the ship.

“Second Young Miss, let me, let me.” Lan Qian hurriedly helped her carry the coconuts when she saw the situation.

“You came at the right time, I bought this for you.” Jiang Yang handed her one and walked towards the ship with one in each hand.

Lan Qian was deeply moved as she held the big coconut. Suddenly, she looked at the coconut, then at the coconuts in Jiang Yang’s hands, and fell into deep thought.

Jiang Yang came to Chi Mei’s side with the coconuts: “Here, didn’t you want to drink coconut water?”

Chi Mei happily accepted, hugging the big coconut and immediately taking an eager sip of the sweet coconut water: “I haven’t had coconut for so long. The coconut trees are too tall, I can’t climb up, and I don’t know when the coconuts will fall. Even when I finally saw a few floating in the sea, they were spoiled when I cracked them open.”

“Then I’ll have people buy more later. You can have as much as you want.” Jiang Yang said with a low laugh. Compared to Chi Mei’s unrestrained coconut drinking posture, Jiang Yang was much more refined, slowly pouring the coconut water into a cup and sipping it bit by bit.

“…Mm.” Chi Mei smiled shyly, his dimples soft and tinged with a light blush. He continued drinking the coconut water bashfully, but although the coconut looked big, there was actually very little coconut water inside. It didn’t last long.

Chi Mei felt like he had only taken two sips before it was finished. He glumly put the coconut aside and lay on the edge of the bucket, staring blankly at Jiang Yang.

The eyes of merpeople are deeper than those of ordinary people, so when being looked at, there’s always a feeling of being gazed at with deep affection. Jiang Yang felt uncomfortable being stared at, feeling as if a flame was burning on her face under his gaze.

This intense feeling made Jiang Yang pause as she was drinking coconut water. She had never felt such obvious emotions from a fish, or even a person. Under this gaze, it seemed that all language was pale and powerless.

She uncomfortably put down her cup, and when she saw the empty coconut shell beside the beautiful fish man, she instantly understood where this eager emotion came from.

She couldn’t help but laugh, offering him the more than half cup of coconut water she hadn’t finished: “If you want to drink it so badly, here you go.”