Yunyang looked up and nodded quickly.
“Mother used to contact me from time to time, but ever since I asked her where she was last time, neither she nor Father has contacted me again.”
“I can’t tell you the specifics for now.” The Empress sighed softly. “But I can promise you that your mother is safe and in no danger.”
She couldn’t tell Yunyang for now, which meant—
The Empress really did know something.
Still, confirming that her mother was safe was enough.
When the time came for her to say more, the Empress would tell her naturally. There was no need for Yunyang to press her for answers now.
“Thank you, Sister Zhaozhao.” Yunyang looked relieved. “Sister Zhaozhao, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back first.”
“All right.”
Si Zhao rose and saw her to the hatch of the starship.
Just before leaving, Yunyang suddenly thought of something.
She stopped and turned around. “Sister Zhaozhao, is your mental power just a little short of reaching S-rank?”
There was a brief introduction to Si Zhao on the interstellar net. Yunyang remembered reading that although Si Zhao’s mental power was only A-rank, it was infinitely close to S-rank.
Of course, the interstellar net did not disclose Si Zhao’s ability. Otherwise, Yunyang would not have needed to ask Lulu and Sister Zhiwei about it back then.
This was practically common knowledge throughout the Federation, so Si Zhao did not feel offended. She admitted it frankly.
“Why are you suddenly asking?”
Yunyang turned around and walked toward Si Zhao while opening her spatial button.
She placed the Tide Spirit Amber she had obtained from Lin Ruibo into Si Zhao’s hand. “Sister Zhaozhao, this might help you raise your mental power to S-rank. However, your imperial consort will need to help.”
Yunyang briefly explained what the Tide Spirit Amber could do. She remembered that Si Zhao also had a merman imperial consort.
Si Zhao froze. Being unable to break through to S-rank had always troubled her.
Even so, she pushed the Tide Spirit Amber back. “Yunyang, this will be more useful to you.”
There were currently three S-rank females in the Federation, but not a single SS-rank female.
If the Tide Spirit Amber could accelerate the growth of a female’s mental power, then rather than give it to her, Yunyang should keep it for herself. Perhaps in two years, the Federation would have its first SS-rank female.
Yunyang shook her head. “Sister Zhaozhao, it seems that a female can only absorb one piece of Tide Spirit Amber. I’ve already absorbed one before.”
She was merely telling the truth, but Si Zhao read more into it.
Yunyang had failed to absorb this piece, yet had kept it all this time. She had probably intended to give it to her mother.
But now that she knew her mother was safe and had no idea when her mother would return to the Federation, she had given the Tide Spirit Amber to Si Zhao instead.
Seeing that Si Zhao was still hesitating, Yunyang added, “Sister Zhaozhao, it seems to help with ability cultivation too, though not as much as it helps with mental power.”
It could help improve abilities as well…
Si Zhao immediately stopped hesitating, but she was not willing to accept it for free.
She opened her optical computer and transferred a huge sum of Federation credits and military merit to Yunyang. In addition, she sent over the cores of several Zerg in spatial buttons.
The Federation’s rulers inherited their position, so their wealth had accumulated over generation after generation.
The Empress’s savings were beyond anyone’s imagination.
Even though Yunyang was already worth over a hundred million, her eyes still widened slightly when she saw the transfer notification.
Damn…
She had been wrong. To the Empress, money really was nothing more than a string of numbers.
Yunyang left the starship in a daze.
It was already completely dark. Although she had only eaten two meals that day, she had eaten her afternoon meal so late that she did not feel hungry at all. After returning to the villa, she pulled all nine of her husbands onto the sofa.
First, she added Cang Zhuonian as a friend on her optical computer. Then she transferred a large sum of Federation credits and military merit to each of her nine husbands.
All nine optical computers chimed at the same time. After reading the transfer notifications, the men stared straight at Yunyang.
“Female, what is this?”
“Pocket money,” Yunyang replied succinctly.
She had not only given her husbands pocket money; she also remembered to transfer money to her brothers and younger brothers in the Yun family.
When she had moved into her new home, every one of them had sent her a housewarming gift. She had remembered all of it.
Now that she had more Federation credits than she could ever spend, there was no harm in sharing some with her family.
The Yun family members who received Yunyang’s transfers were all bewildered.
What was wrong with their younger sister/older sister?
Had she won the lottery?
Yunyang did not offer much of an explanation. Just as she finished making the transfers, the Federation Bank sent her another notification informing her that she had received a transfer.
Before she could open it, little Qilin squeezed desperately through the crowd of rivals and jumped onto her lap.
“Female, I didn’t have time to prepare much of a dowry. I could only transfer all the property under my name to you. Please don’t think it’s too little.”
Yunyang had accepted all the dowries from her other husbands, so naturally she did not refuse Cang Zhuonian’s.
She pinched little Qilin’s horn. “I don’t.”
Then she ruthlessly placed little Qilin to one side.
She knew her husbands too well. If she let little Qilin stay on her lap, before long, she would have miniature animals hanging all over her.
To prevent that from happening, Yunyang shifted farther into the sofa and crossed her legs. She searched the interstellar net for a movie and watched it with her nine husbands.
It was still too early for her to sleep, and the previous round of choosing companions had already ended. Today was her day off.
Oh, right.
Remembering something, Yunyang opened the spatial button containing the jade tokens and rummaged through it.
She could not find the Qilin jade token, so she simply gave Cang Zhuonian the jade token bearing a deer pattern.
Whether it looked like a Qilin or not was not that important. As long as it could be distinguished from the other husbands’ tokens, that was enough.
To prevent any more misunderstandings, Yunyang explained, “This is your token. Whoever’s token is chosen will accompany me that night.”
Cang Zhuonian understood instantly.
Yunyang returned the jade tokens she had temporarily confiscated to her other husbands, and then the movie began.
She watched with rapt attention. Although the nine husbands were not particularly interested, they were willing to keep her company.
By this time, Cang Zhuonian had already transformed back into human form. He ran his fingers over the pattern on the jade token, then tucked it close to his body after a long while.
“Female, can I still apply to be matched with you through the Marriage Center?”
He wanted to know their genetic compatibility.
While waiting at the treatment center for Yunyang and the two other lords to eat, he had already asked around. His rivals had all become the female’s husbands through matching, and not one of their genetic compatibility rates with her was below ninety-five percent.
He still did not know his own compatibility rate with the female.
He had to apply for a match and have the Marriage Center test them.
Moreover, he had not yet been truly marked by the female. If they successfully matched through the Marriage Center, everyone else would know that he was the female’s husband.
Yunyang did not particularly care, but she still nodded. “Sure.”
Cang Zhuonian did not care that it was already late at night. He immediately sent a matching application to the Marriage Center.
The employee who was just about to clock out: “…”
Was this guy out of his mind?
The employee cursed under his breath as he began processing the application. In order to finish and get off work as quickly as possible, he worked with exceptional efficiency.
A little over ten minutes later, Yunyang received a notification from the Marriage Center.
[Federation Marriage Center: Esteemed Lady Yunyang, male Cang Zhuonian has applied to become your husband. Are you willing to be matched with him?]
