Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 360: Dragon Nature...

Lu Xingzhou had actually guessed it; this was the typical tactic of a domineering CEO, hoping to win the heart of his beloved and keep her by his side.

Although it was made very roughly, and you could guess it at a glance... the thought behind it still made me feel quite complicated.

From forcibly abducting people to lowering one's pride to "treat each other as equals," and now to the clumsy "husband-chasing offensive," domineering CEO literature reflects reality.

While it could be described as a two-way street, it certainly wasn't until tonight. Lu Xingzhou had never been interested before; at most, he admired her beauty, but he knew this was far more dangerous than the little vixen he had been with, so he dared not make any advances.

But tonight, a ripple of emotion was stirred within me.

I don't know if it's because of the ambergris fragrance or because of this clumsy attempt by the domineering CEO to pursue his husband.

It still stems from her magnanimity, unlike the tyrannical demon emperor one might imagine.

As for the fireworks themselves... I wonder which incompetent person came up with the idea. Male CEOs use this tactic to woo women, but what woman wants this kind of thing when she's pursuing a man?

But Lu Xingzhou liked it.

It's not that I like the romance of fireworks, it's that I see her heart.

The two didn't talk much that night, just strolled slowly through the night in the city.

Demons are subject to a curfew.

After all, a few drinks and a few drops of yellow urine at night can easily turn the savage monsters into trouble. Fights and brawls are commonplace, and killing monsters and stealing treasures is a given. Without a curfew, the atmosphere in the demon capital would be chaotic.

The curfew started quite late, and since we had already eaten dinner quite late and had also eaten a lot of snacks, it wasn't until almost 9 PM that the place gradually became deserted.

Only the fireworks, tirelessly blooming in the sky, became a backdrop set just for the two of them.

Lu Xingzhou stopped and looked up at the fireworks for a long time before suddenly smiling: "Aren't you busy?"

"Huh?" Long Qinghuang was examining the temperature of his palm when she heard this and looked up in confusion: "What?"

"You must have a lot of national affairs to attend to, especially in this post-war period, with many new situations and arrangements. Is it really okay to waste an entire evening with me without even exchanging a few words?"

Long Qinghuang smiled slightly: "Didn't you say that I should be obsessed with male beauty?"

Lu Xingzhou laughed: "So obedient?"

Long Qinghuang tilted her head and looked at him: "Isn't it better to listen to the strategist?"

What if I lied to you?

Long Qinghuang laughed too: "Are you lying to me about not handling affairs? Or... about seducing me?"

After saying that, he finally let go of his hand and walked back with his hands behind his back: "When we first met, your little liar was already helping you seduce people. I also told her that if you behave well, I might give you a chance."

Lu Xingzhou chuckled to himself.

She's clearly pursuing her husband, yet she still says things like that.

The arrogant dragon girl is becoming more and more interesting.

"As for tonight..." Long Qinghuang looked up at the dark sky and smiled brightly, "Half a day is wasted, with a beauty by my side... Why say too much? Isn't it good to just stay here?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "Okay."

"Go back, it's getting late," Long Qinghuang said with a smile. "I'll come find you later."

After saying "I" all night, I finally changed to "朕" (the imperial "I").

The demand that it was "only for the Dragon Girl" couldn't last even one night for her; she refused to cooperate with the performance.

The Dragon Girl is the Demon Queen.

…………

"Master, you've been all smiles since you came back." A'nuo sat to the side, resting her chin on her hand. "Sister Long is even better than you imagined, isn't she?"

"Ah."

“I thought she was a good person, not a bullying dragon.”

Lu Xingzhou rubbed A Nuo's face: "That's for you."

"If you're willing to have a baby with her, nothing will happen. You're just being stubborn. It's strange, you clearly want to have a baby yourself, so what are you doing?"

Lu Xingzhou hesitated for a moment, then his words turned into a threat: "If you really have a bunch of little dragon people, your favor will be divided up."

Ah Nuo glanced at him sideways.

Lu Xingzhou looked at him strangely: "What's wrong?"

"How could you say such ordinary words, the kind of words a mortal would use to coax a child to refuse a stepmother..."

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

“Speaking of this…” Anuo scratched his head curiously: “Are all the many subspecies of dragons born from other creatures?”

“Yes,” Lu Xingzhou said, “It seems that dragons and other creatures don’t have reproductive isolation; there are all sorts of hybrid varieties.”

What is reproductive isolation?

“Uh…” Lu Xingzhou thought that the child was not that young, and he should teach him some basic biology knowledge. So he said, “It’s just that different species generally have a hard time having children. For example, do you see people raising cats and dogs? Will they hybridize and produce new things? But dragons don’t seem to have this problem. They can have children with anyone.”

Anuo paused, then suddenly rested her chin on her hand with a hint of melancholy: "Different species... can immortals and humans be together?"

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

What's this little thing thinking? If an immortal is a human ascending to immortality, then of course there's no problem, but if you're a pill... no, why are you thinking about this, little thing? Lu Xingzhou was speechless: "Alright, alright, stop thinking nonsense."

Anuo suddenly said, "There are so many dragon subspecies, but I see that the ones around Sister Long, like Long Lie and Long Yun, are all purebred dragons. Is it that it's difficult for subspecies to enter the higher levels?"

Lu Xingzhou nodded and said, "That's roughly it. Dragons and phoenixes are, after all, a noble group born with great power, and they will naturally have a sense of superiority in bloodline. It would be more difficult for those with impure bloodlines to enter the upper echelons."

Ah Nuo pointed out: "So your Little Dragon People will face a lot of resistance."

Lu Xingzhou ruffled her hair in annoyance: "This isn't what you think... Besides, who said I wanted to have a little dragon? You've always made that up yourself. Alright, alright, go to sleep."

“Not honest at all,” Ah Nuo muttered. “We teach children to be honest from a young age, but the adults are the ones who lie the most. If you’re so capable, then don’t make me help you out.”

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

This kid is impossible to take care of.

Who wouldn't want nuclear weapons as a support weapon?

While Lu Xingzhou was being berated by A Nuo, Long Qinghuang was also sleepless that night.

Her Majesty the Empress changed into a silk robe, but did not even go to bed. Instead, she sat at the table, holding the large, sparkling gemstone that Lu Xingzhou had given her, and gazed at it for a long time with a smile on her face.

The brilliance of the jewels illuminated the palace, highlighting that noble and resolute face, which at this moment resembled a peony in the warmth of spring.

For a thousand years, she had been single, and no elder had ever told Long Qinghuang that being curious about a male was dangerous, and being obsessed with a male was even more dangerous. Yet, she had already committed both of those offenses.

The obsession with what one desires and the attraction one feels are not the same thing, but they are easily confused by one's own mind and cannot be distinguished.

If the other party is a master-level expert, sometimes tough and sometimes docile, sometimes giving gifts and sometimes "helping the girl he likes," then that's enough to make that confused heart a complete mess.

Now the mother dragon feels that she really wants this human to be her queen.

But he was stubborn.

Ironically, this tough-mindedness is also quite endearing.

It wasn't like Chen Yu, who would sell everything for his life, nor was it like some of the dragons in the clan who groveled and fawned over others in order to become empresses, losing all sense of shame.

A completely different kind of attraction.

Dragons are inherently lustful... in other words, they are easily aroused and have abundant desires. Therefore, dragons generally have affairs everywhere, leaving offspring with different creatures, and are not very faithful. In some ways, they are similar to the "Charming Maidens' Pleasure Sect," but while the "Charming Maidens' Pleasure Sect" is driven by lust without affection, dragons are mostly promiscuous and like everyone.

Long Qinghuang is much better than ordinary dragons because she is too arrogant.

Forget about being promiscuous, she didn't even fancy a single one. Her own clansmen with strong political influence were originally her first choice, but unfortunately, none of them had any backbone, and they were all useless. How could such a noble bloodline produce so few outstanding individuals? As for the beautiful fox clan members, they didn't even dare to breathe or look her in the eye. How could such useless people possibly catch the eye of the proud Long Qinghuang?

She's not even worthy of being a concubine.

Ye Tinglan, who was truly recognized as powerful and unmatched by anyone, turned out to be a woman...

So I've been single for a thousand years.

But that's the nature of a dragon; once it sets its sights on someone, its passion surges and overflows. It had wanted to abduct Lu Xingzhou back in the Frozen Moon and Cold River, and now that desire was firmly rooted and impossible to suppress.

That's why I couldn't help but blurt out a question about whether ambergris smells good... No misunderstanding, that was blatant flirting, but I didn't continue the conversation out of respect for the Queen.

With no one in the palace, Long Qinghuang bit her lower lip and squeezed her long legs together, grinding them together imperceptibly.

It suddenly became sticky.

Is dragon nature really that lewd? Long Qinghuang used to think no, that it was all nonsense... but now she has come to her senses.

Heaven have mercy, I was originally sitting at the table to write down information about those clansmen for Lu Xingzhou to see, but now I haven't written a single word, and I've just been staring at the gifts he sent me.

It's actually that lewd.

Long Qinghuang bit her lower lip and turned to look in the mirror.

The noble demon queen in the mirror had seductive eyes that even she found breathtakingly beautiful.

So beautiful, of course he was attracted. The narcissistic mother dragon thought again, he said he could conquer him, as long as it was possible... so why not just be straightforward and try conquering him directly using this method?

I can't think about it anymore; important things need to be done.

Long Qinghuang tried to convince herself that this information would be the main topic of conversation when she saw him next time, and hurriedly finished it before dawn.

As dawn broke, Long Qinghuang, clutching the documents, eagerly went to the Empress's palace.

The young palace maid guarding outside was dozing off, her head bobbing up and down. Startled by the sound of the door opening, she turned around and saw the noble and aloof Emperor dash into the room.

Little palace maid: "..."

It’s over.

Is the morning court session still going on today?
The palace was very large and divided into rooms. Anu slept in a small room on the side, while Lu Xingzhou, who had been tired recently, was sleeping soundly in the main room.

Suddenly, a fragrant aroma wafted to his nose, an aphrodisiac scent. Lu Xingzhou, caught off guard in his sleep, was drawn into the dream by the aphrodisiac and soon dreamed of things he shouldn't have.

Unfortunately, under this aphrodisiac-like familiarity, he couldn't dream of Long Qinghuang, but rather of the little demon girl Hehuan.

Pei Chuyun, dressed as a maid, was twirling a tuft of hair in his face.

"You're being naughty again." Lu Xingzhou pulled the little maid in his dream into his arms: "Don't you know that the way a little maid wakes her master up is by giving him a good morning bite?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: That's all for tonight, time to rest.

(End of this chapter)