185: They are all gamblers

The familiar fragrance in the room faded, and no one spoke again.

All the cards had been played, yet Tu Nan was not flustered.

Whether it was Hain or Kong Jiamu, their feelings were insignificant compared to the future of the Empire.

Even The Emperor's own slight displeasure was equally not worth mentioning.

As long as he was this Emperor, he would naturally choose this unique path.

She was actually quite certain.

Why?

Everyone knew the story of how this Emperor rushed straight to the front lines during his coming-of-age ceremony.

Was that truly a sense of responsibility?

Tu Nan smiled. No!

What she saw in it was The Emperor's ambition and madness.

A man of great status does not put himself in unnecessary danger.

His long-distance raid did indeed yield a rich reward in the end.

A total victory across the lines, the defeat of the Star Worms, the punishment of derelict generals, and the winning over of the people's hearts. Everyone was cheering, excited that a wise ruler had finally appeared in the Empire.

Was it really so?

High-ranking Male Beasts had become so few that they only appeared in the upper echelons of the Empire; this was why they had almost all gathered in the Capital City for The Emperor's coronation ceremony.

If there were enough high-ranking combatants to fill The Emperor's Golden Hall... how could the sudden battle situation on the front line have turned out that way?

The Emperor needed to hold the line at the front at that time.

Doesn't that prove he didn't have absolute control over the battle situation ten years ago?

Or rather, the Imperial Family's control at that moment had weakened to the point where he needed to suppress it with martial force.

A Breakthrough in the heat of battle.

What if he hadn't achieved that Breakthrough?

What if he had sacrificed himself on the front line?

Tu Nan only gambled her own life, but he had staked the fate of the Imperial Family and the future of the Empire.

He said Tu Nan was bold. But clearly, he was the biggest gambler of all.

Tu Nan not only discovered the predicament of the Empire's high-level martial power's lack of follow-through, but she also proposed a reachable hypothesis... and at the same time, she accurately predicted The Emperor's Heart-Nature.

There was no reason for her not to get the result she wanted.

The Emperor, he will definitely agree to this plan proposed by Tu Nan.

***

"Have James come over."

The Emperor finally broke the silence and had Yuan Zhe summon the Medical Officer.

It worked.

A faint smile appeared on Tu Nan's face.

The Emperor snorted coldly. "Be careful; if the doctor cannot prove your words..." He left out the threat that both parties understood perfectly well.

"Your Majesty, I would not tell such an obvious lie," Tu Nan grinned, looking quite vexing.

Without waiting for The Emperor's approval, she stood up on her own, smoothed her skirt, and stepped to the side.

"Kneeling for a long time isn't good for the Children either~"

Tu Nan was testing The Emperor's limits, acting affectedly, almost coquettishly.

The Emperor was instantly displeased, but he indeed held back.

But that didn't mean he could truly be at peace.

On the contrary, because he already intended to spare this Female Beast's life and saw that she would continue to appear before him, he showed even more disgust toward her flippant attitude.

However, he wasn't given time to show it, as Doctor James requested an audience.

He arrived quickly, almost as soon as Yuan Zhe had stepped out to give the order.

"Your Majesty!" The old doctor saw Tu Nan standing to the side as soon as he entered and was overjoyed.

His duty as a doctor and his passion for scientific research finally outweighed his caution as a subject; the old doctor suddenly burst into tears and threw himself at The Emperor's feet... which happened to be the small patch of floor Tu Nan had just vacated.

"Please, you must promise me to leave this Young Miss in my care."

He completely ignored Your Majesty's dark face and Yuan Zhe's hinting glances, only caring about using his gathered courage to finish his words in one breath.

"The Children she is carrying have very strange genetic sequences, simply unheard of. Two of them! I must see these Two Children born safely!"

"Ah... one is not very healthy, but it's fine, I'll find a way. Leave them to me, Your Majesty."

"You may."

"My life's wish is... huh?" Old Doctor James suddenly realized he seemed to have missed something and looked up blankly.

He finally saw that The Emperor was not angry, but seemed to be enduring something.

He also finally caught his old friend Yuan Zhe's exasperated expression... and the gesture... was he telling him to get up?

Although he didn't understand, he obediently stood up.

What? Was that "catching an affair" expression on The Emperor's face that day something he had misread?

The old doctor felt like he might have done something stupid.

"Very well... since you requested it." The Emperor had already obtained the answer he wanted from the Medical Officer's thirst for knowledge. In that case...

"Tu Nan is also quite interested in this research; she has some other ideas."

The Emperor motioned toward Tu Nan.

"You, from this moment on, are a Royal Specially Appointed Third-Class Female Official, and will conduct Special Fertility Research at the Medical Institute with Medical Officer James."

"The appointment documents will be provided to you later." He thought for a moment, then turned his head to order the person behind him.

"Mhm... this research needs to be kept secret. Yuan Zhe! Arrange the confidentiality work to ensure that all people, matters, and items related to this project have no way of being leaked."

"Understand?" He hinted, "No inappropriate person should know about this."

Yuan Zhe nodded and accepted the task assigned by The Emperor.

James was horrified... he actually assigned Yuan Zhe to lead?

One must know that Yuan Zhe had mostly stayed by The Emperor's side all these years and rarely took responsibility for specific matters. However, his status as the Chief Steward was there, and having managed the palace for many years, he was a truly powerful official in the palace whom no one dared to underestimate.

This matter... was actually at such a high level?

He secretly peeked at his old friend several times; this... seemed even more serious than The Emperor being cuckolded?

"Mhm, you said the genetic sequences of the Children in her belly, what's wrong with them?" The Emperor was still very concerned about this. Setting aside Tu Nan's speculations that would only bear fruit in ten years, these Two Children would be born in a few months.

James took a report from his robe and respectfully handed it to The Emperor.

As The Emperor began to flip through it, he explained simultaneously.

"Look, the two samples you provided, I confirmed that day that they are indeed the biological fathers of these Two Children. But those two, one is a Peacock and one is an Orca, yet... these Two Children are different from them."

He cast a discreet glance at The Emperor.

How should he put it... it was too easy to guess who the Peacock and Orca samples provided by The Emperor at any time were. But since The Emperor didn't say it explicitly, he could only pretend not to know!

"In what way are they different?" The Emperor asked.

"I can only determine that one is a Bird Beast and one is a Water Beast. There are no previous samples in the Gene Database." The old doctor eagerly made a request: "Your Majesty! May I have access to the royal Gene Database? Both of these sequences are very exquisite and complex; I have a premonition that this is definitely not simple!"

Standing to the side, Tu Nan gained a certain understanding of the level of the Royal Medical Institute.

As a researcher, Lance must already be at the top of the pyramid, yet he didn't see this much. This ordinary-looking white-haired old man, under the same condition of not having access to the royal gene data, went a step further and accurately stated that there was something unusual about her Children's genes.

Under The Emperor, there are indeed hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

Just as well, she would use this favorable momentum to push the research forward.

Tu Nan had already made up her mind.

Even if she filled in all the genes, the System would only give her another fifteen years.

She would not waste it.

Coming here as a Foster Mother, she had met Ji Yu and encountered Lance; she saw the inequality, injustice, and suffering.

As she had told The Emperor, she didn't want her Children... to always live in a world like this.

Doing everything she could, she would give it a try.

To change it.