A vicious female is trapped in a beastly hell.

Chapter 197 Jialan's Father

Shen Tang also realized, "That male just now, he's not your biological father, is he?"

Jialan addressed him respectfully as "Father," but her tone was cold and distant. Even a biological father would never speak to his son in that tone and call him a bastard.

Jialan shook her head. "No, he is Mother's side-back, Sivar."

"Side or rear?"

"Yes, Mother never established a formal Empress. The position of the Consort is the same as that of the Empress. The affairs of the harem are all managed by Xivar, and the princes all have to respectfully call him Father Empress."

"Then... what about your father? I haven't seen him since I came back." Shen Tang came here not only to pay her respects to the Mermaid Queen, but also to meet this father-in-law she had never met before.

She had even prepared a gift for the meeting, but unfortunately she never met him, and Jialan never mentioned her father.

According to the rumors about Garuda's affection for Jialan, even if his father wasn't the empress, he must have been a favored concubine with immense influence. Yet, it seems no one talks about his existence.

Jialan frowned and said calmly, "I don't know."

"Ok?"

Jialan said casually, "I've never seen my father beast since I was a child, and I don't know who my father beast is. I guess he's long gone."

Seeing Shen Tang's confused look, he pursed his lips and explained, "I heard from the old servants in the palace that my mother brought me back from outside twenty years ago..."

When Garuda went out, she returned pregnant, and no one knew who the child's biological father was.

The queen said that she had conceived the child with a handsome man from another tribe whom she met while she was away. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to bring him back and give him a proper status, and the man died unexpectedly on the way.

Many orcs privately didn't believe it, saying it was just an excuse Garuda used to silence the gossip.

Many people even secretly speculated that His Majesty Garuda had mated with a wild mermaid outside, and that perhaps he had encountered an accident and was forcibly taken and violated by the wild mermaid, which is why he brought back a bastard child.

Otherwise, how could they not have found out the identity of the offspring father beast?

Jialin and the others would also secretly curse Jialan as a bastard, a bastard, a mixed-race child, and an illegitimate child without a father.

Later, the criticism gradually moved into the open.

Jialan had been used to it since she was a child.

I might say I don't care, but I do care to some extent.

Shen Tang's eyes flickered, and she gently comforted him, "Don't care what those people say in private. They're just jealous of the Empress's favor towards you. No matter who your biological father is, you are Her Majesty the Empress's own child, and the rightful prince of the Sea Kingdom. Who in the world doesn't know that you are the Empress's most beloved prince? No matter what they say, they can't change that fact!"

Seeing her comforting smile, Jialan felt a warmth rise in her heart. "Mm."

He took her hand and walked forward, saying, "Let's not think about those worries anymore. I'll show you around the neighborhood."

The boundless coral forest was colorful and vast, with a carpet of aquatic plants rising and falling with the undercurrent. Various fish of different colors and plankton of different shapes swam in the water, many of which Shen Tang had never seen before and could not name at all.

Some coral reefs are over ten meters tall, which is taller than many trees on land.

Jialan transformed into a mermaid and swam with Shen Tang through the coral forest.

The two resembled a pair of fish chasing and playing.

Freedom, unrestrained, relaxed, joyful...

Suddenly, the system's emergency alert broke the atmosphere.

[Warning! Warning! Danger is approaching. Please take cover immediately!]

Shen Tang was taken aback and quickly opened the system map, where she discovered dozens of red dots rapidly approaching.

Sea monster? Or orc?
The person is not good!
"Oh no, there's danger! Run!" Shen Tang grabbed Jia Lan and turned to run away.

Before Jialan could react, he suddenly heard a noise from the coral forest behind him, followed by an ice blade that grazed his cheek, leaving a bloody mark.

His expression turned cold, and he quickly pulled Shen Tang into his arms, turning to look at the dozens of mermaids that had sprung out of the coral forest. They surrounded the two of them, leaving them no way to escape.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Jialan asked coldly.

The gray-tailed mermaid at the head of the group sneered, "Your Highness, a dead man shouldn't waste his breath."

"Give it all to me!"

Shen Tang was horrified. This group of people knew that Jia Lan was a royal prince, yet they still dared to carry out an assassination attempt. They were clearly prepared and their aim was to kill them!

Jialan raised her hand and conjured an ice blade, which pierced the orc's heart and slammed into the coral.

The water surge he created by swishing his tail overturned several approaching orcs, and he carried Shen Tang away to escape.

Shen Tang also used earth-based abilities to raise several earth spikes from the ground, forming multiple barriers in an attempt to block the assassin's speed.

Unfortunately, the mermaid's reaction speed and swimming speed in the water are too fast, and her attacks are greatly reduced in the ocean, making them difficult to intercept.

Those who came were well-prepared and had a large and powerful force.

Two people fighting against dozens of others have no chance of winning; there's no way they can escape.

There were several sixth-tier orcs in the group, and the leading orc was a powerful seventh-tier peak orc!
The mermaid leader quickly caught up with Jialan's speed, transforming his hand into a claw and stabbing at his fish tail.

The beautiful deep blue fish tail was quickly torn open, with streaks of blood floating in the water, and large pieces of scales falling off.

Despite the excruciating pain, Jialan continued the march, but her pace uncontrollably slowed down.

The mermaids behind them caught up and surrounded the two of them again.

"These people want to kill me. I'll find a chance to lure them away later, and you can run away quickly!" Jia Lan knew she was no match for them, so she could only try to cover Shen Tang's retreat.

[Host, don't forget, you still have a bottle of power-breaking potion. Use it now!] the system screamed.

Faced with a life-or-death threat, Shen Tang no longer cared about secrets and quickly took out an enhancement potion from her system space and drank it directly.

Instantly, a powerful surge of energy coursed through his limbs and bones, causing his fifth-tier peak earth elemental power to surge to the seventh-tier peak!

Hundreds of earthen spikes rose from the ground with incredible speed and ferocity, instantly piercing the chests of several mermaids and pinning them to the ground.

This sudden turn of events shocked everyone present.

Jialan stared blankly at the female in her arms, not understanding why Shen Tang's strength had suddenly surged.

She's keeping more and more secrets.

But now is not the time to investigate these things. The two quickly joined forces to deal with the group of assassins!

……

"The assassins we sent were all wiped out?"

Meanwhile, on the other side, upon hearing the news, Sivar, who was waiting for good news, revealed a ferocious expression on his handsome yet otherworldly face.

He sent only top-tier assassins, and even hired a seventh-tier peak dark web assassin at great expense; they had never failed.

With Jia Lan's mere sixth-tier strength, killing him would be enough; how could his entire army be wiped out?
When Jialin heard that the assassination attempt had failed, he was both anxious and angry. "Father, what should we do? This time we alerted the enemy, and it will definitely be more difficult to kill that bastard next time!"

Both father and son had somber expressions. They had thought that everything would be fine once Jialan got married, but they didn't expect her to come back. The Empress still doted on that bastard child, posing a threat to their positions.

To prevent any unforeseen complications, he must be killed!

Jialan, don't even think about leaving alive this time!

Suddenly, Shivar seemed to remember something, and a playful smile appeared on his handsome, devilish face. "My son, do you still remember the rumors from back then?"

(End of this chapter)