Chapter 32: Playing Chess

“You… you’re imitating me?” Little Rong said angrily.

Jiang Yang shrugged, feeling pleased seeing Little Rong’s face turn red with anger. She raised her eyebrows smugly and said, “So you know your own speech is weird and sarcastic.”

“You—” Little Rong’s fingers trembled. Fortunately, the merfolk don’t have human legs, otherwise he would definitely be shaking with anger.

Chi Mei’s eyes swept over Little Rong’s face, his thoughts unknown. But he stepped forward to block the eye contact between the two.

Jiang Yang couldn’t see Chi Mei’s expression, only his lean back and Little Rong’s suddenly well-behaved expression. It was like seeing a lawless wolf dog encountering a real wolf, with even his fish tail drooping.

“Go down,” Chi Mei said, his voice tinged with coldness as he took the food box from his hands.

“Yes.” Little Rong bowed slightly and swam away quickly.

Jiang Yang leaned casually against the stone pillar, watching Chi Mei sit down beside her with the food box, and said, “Ayang, don’t bother with him.”

As he spoke, he opened the food box. Indeed, it wasn’t filled with sashimi, but round, plump fruits. Some were like green dumplings, round all over with a sprinkling of pale yellow flowers. Others looked like white-skinned peaches with bright red fillings showing through, appearing white with a rosy tint, very appetizing.

“Hah, I’m not bothering with him, just wanted to tease him a bit,” Jiang Yang said, picking up one and taking a bite. Unlike the texture of land desserts, it was soft and sweet like mochi, but not cloyingly sweet. Instead, it had a faint fruity aroma.

“Tease him? Is he a puppy? You like teasing him so much…” Chi Mei mumbled, holding the food box.

“What are you saying?” Jiang Yang turned her head, blinking at him.

“Nothing.” Chi Mei shook his head. “Is it delicious?” He pointed at the breakfast in the food box.

“It’s delicious. If I had known the merfolk’s food was this good, I would have come earlier,” Jiang Yang joked.

Chi Mei lowered his eyes, his smile deep: “It’s not too late to come now. You’ll definitely like it here.”

“Mm.” Jiang Yang suddenly smiled, taking out a peach-like fruit and handing it to him. “You eat too.”

Chi Mei took the peach fruit. It must be said that such a delicate peach was very incongruous with Chi Mei’s cold appearance, like seeing a wolf eating grass, the contrast particularly strong. But thinking of his actual personality, it seemed perfectly fitting again.

Chi Mei held the peach fruit, suddenly laughing softly for some reason, his bright eyes suddenly brimming with dazzling light.

He opened his mouth and took a gentle bite. The soft skin of the fruit was broken, and the bright red filling inside flowed out. The vivid color, like strawberry jam, dotted his thin red lips with a drop of intense beauty, like a ripe fruit waiting to be picked. Groups of glowing fireflies swam past him, clusters of tiny yet brilliant halos passing over the corners of his eyes. The heavy, long hair was gently lifted by the water waves, like a dreamlike illusion.

Jiang Yang was momentarily entranced, until a small firefly landed on the corner of her eye. The intermittent indigo glow flickered at the corner of her eye, and she finally reacted. She picked up a small firefly, which was very quiet and obedient, seemingly unafraid of humans, just quietly being held by her, soft and adorable.

“What are these insects called?” Jiang Yang asked.

Chi Mei had just eaten a peach fruit, his soft red tongue curling the strawberry jam-like filling on his lips into his mouth. He said, “They’re called Little Silver Clouds.”

“Little Silver Clouds?” Jiang Yang’s fingertips gently rubbed its little belly, and the cute little fins swayed comfortably.

Seeing that the group of Little Silver Clouds was about to swim away, Jiang Yang, despite how much she liked them, still let go and released it.

Looking at the cluster of Little Silver Clouds, as dazzling as the Milky Way, Jiang Yang’s lips curved up involuntarily.

After the Little Silver Clouds swam far away, Jiang Yang finally withdrew her gaze, looking at the last small fruit in her hand, she moved the food box towards him: “Want more?”

Chi Mei looked at Jiang Yang, then at the food box, his eyes lifting to gaze at her silently.

Jiang Yang realized, her lips curving into a smile, she picked up a small fruit and brought it to his mouth: “Your Highness the esteemed prince, please have some breakfast.”

Chi Mei smiled brightly and opened his mouth, his pearly teeth gently biting the small fruit, chewing softly.

—

After breakfast, Jiang Yang and Chi Mei stayed in the palace with nothing to do.

Finally, after playing with everything in the palace, Jiang Yang couldn’t bear it anymore and asked, “Don’t you merfolk have anything to do?”

A flash of confusion passed through Chi Mei’s eyes: “What do you mean?”

“I mean, your mother has passed away, your brother has gone to land, you are now the only remaining noble in the entire ocean, the most esteemed prince. Shouldn’t you be responsible for some affairs within the tribe?” Jiang Yang said.

“Affairs?” Chi Mei thought seriously, his black, bright, and clear eyes full of sincerity: “But our tribe doesn’t have any affairs?”

“Huh?” Jiang Yang looked incredulous: “Don’t you need to manage your tribespeople, and things like taxes, and external expansion?”

Chi Mei scratched his head: “We don’t need to manage our tribespeople, they’re all living well, we don’t need to worry about them at all. As for external expansion… the entire ocean is already ours, if we expand further we’d be expanding onto land, and we’re fish, occupying land would be useless… and we can’t fight against humans either. Oh right, Ayang, what are taxes?”

Jiang Yang, marveling at the comfortable living environment of the merfolk, said: “Taxes are… to put it simply, if your tribespeople catch two fish, they have to give one to the Merfolk King first, and the rest is for themselves.”

Chi Mei frowned in incomprehension: “Is that what taxes are? Then our tribe doesn’t have such rules. Our tribespeople eat however many fish they catch, and we royals don’t need the tribespeople to give us fish either. If we want to eat, we can easily have a full meal.”

“So do you just sit in your rooms and do nothing all day?” Jiang Yang asked.

“Not exactly,” Chi Mei said. “Sometimes when there are conflicts between tribespeople, or they’re bullied by sea monsters, or they violate tribal rules, we need to mediate and make decisions. But these things don’t happen often, so when mother and father were still here, they had plenty of time to play with me and my brother, only occasionally being busy for a few days.”

Jiang Yang, who had crossed over to a female-dominated feudal society, was already completely accustomed to the exploitation between different human classes. From Chi Mei’s words, she could already sense the free and easy life of these merfolk in the resource-rich sea, living without pressure, and she couldn’t help but feel envious.

“Ayang, are you feeling bored?” Chi Mei asked nervously, probing.