Heilong-kou (Black Dragon-Mouth/Pass)
Heilong-cheng (Black Dragon-City)
Heilong-yuan(Black Dragon Wall)
Heilong Bay (Black Dragon Bay)
Heilong Ridge (Black Dragon Ridge)
Censorate (Supervisory Court)
Yuling City (Jade City)
Jingui Town (Golden Turtle Town)
Xuanwu City (Black tortoise City)
Qinglong (Azure Dragron)
…
The newborn eggling was lively and energetic, constantly hopping under the bed or dashing around the courtyard.
Yin Jixue had no choice but to temporarily change her plans and return to the Demon Palace to raise the little one. After all, this was the human world—what if someone mistook the eggling for a goose egg and tossed it into a pot?
She sent a message to her mother, saying that the child had already been born, though prematurely, and that she needed to return to the Demon Realm to raise the baby. She promised that once things settled, she would invite the King and Queen to attend the child's one-month celebration in the Demon Realm.
She didn't mention that the child was still in the form of an egg and needed to be incubated before hatching into a baby.
The Empress Dowager grew deeply worried upon reading the message.
"Do you think Xue'er gave birth prematurely? It hasn't even been that long. The child must have been born early—probably frail and sickly."
The Retired Emperor immediately dismissed her concern. "Don't overthink it. That child is of demon blood. I don't think it's a case of premature birth."
After all, the Demon Clan was fundamentally different from the Human Clan, and their daughter had given birth to the Demon King's child. If there was any real issue, the one who should be worrying was the Demon King—not them. The best thing they could do was not cause trouble.
Yin Jixue was completely unaware that her mother was fretting over her and the child's health. Even though she wrote in the letter that everything was fine, her mother's sentimental nature left her prone to overthinking.
It had been more than half a year since Yin Jixue had returned. The Demon Realm was flourishing, and the Office of Censors had everything under control without her.
Feng Xiu and Ruoshui came out to welcome her, eager to finally see the little prince they'd been longing for day and night.
Ruoshui eagerly leaned in. "When was the little prince born? We'll mark the date down."
Yin Jixue replied with a warm smile, "He was born the night before last. We hadn't planned to return so soon, but the eggling is way too mischievous—always hiding away. I was worried someone might mistake him for an ordinary goose egg and take him."
The eggling gave a little hop in Yin Jixue's arms, clearly protesting the accusation of being that careless.
Ruoshui couldn't help but reach out and touch the little prince, who promptly leaped back into Yin Jixue's embrace and played dead.
"Maybe he's just shy. He's got a timid nature and never shows himself when there are strangers around."
Being called timid to his face, the eggling was visibly displeased. He buried most of his body in Yin Jixue's arms, leaving only a part sticking out—which no one could quite tell if it was his head or his butt.
Yin Jixue gently stroked the eggling. "It's okay to be cautious—it means you know how to protect yourself. Here in the Demon Palace, no one can harm you."
At that, the eggling peeked out from the other side of her arms—so the part we saw earlier really was his butt.
It was Saturday, the children's day off.
As soon as word spread that the queen had returned, the first to arrive was Bai Baobao, followed closely by Yanye, who was dragging Lian Ze along. Bai Buer trailed behind at a much more leisurely pace.
Lian Rui, as the apprentice to the Prophet, had no such thing as weekends—she was already interning.
"Mommy!" the soft and adorable Bai Baobao launched himself at Yin Jixue's leg, hugging it tightly. He had been raised by her for as long as he could remember and didn't even recognize his Tiger King biological father when he came around.
Yin Jixue crouched down to hug him. "Baobao? How did you run so fast?"
Bai Baobao had raced over in his beast form and only turned into human form when he was close.
With an innocent little face turned up to her, Bai Baobao said, "They said Mommy and Daddy were back. I missed you so much, Mommy."
Then he nuzzled his little head against her leg.
It had been so long since he'd seen her. Before she left the Demon Realm, the thing he looked forward to most was the weekends when his mom and dad would take him out to play. Even when they went traveling, they would bring him along.
But after he started school and his parents began traveling on their own, he stopped liking to come home. Still, he returned every week—just in case he could catch a glimpse of her.
The eggling in Yin Jixue's arms was stunned—he wasn't an only child?!
Wah, poor Eggy wanted to cry.
He wriggled around in Yin Jixue's arms until he finally caught Bai Baobao's attention.
Bai Baobao tilted his head, sucking his finger, his wide eyes blinking in curiosity. "Is that my little brother?"
Yin Jixue gently pinched Bai Baobao's soft, glutinous cheeks with affection.
"Yes, that's your little brother. Baobao, you have to protect him from now on."
Bai Baobao thumped his little chest proudly. "I will!"
The eggling finally stopped squirming—because Bai Baobao had pressed his chubby face against the egg and started muttering to it.
"Little brother, you have to be good, okay? Don't be naughty. When you hatch, I'll take you out to play. I'm a fierce big tiger, so I'll protect you!"
Inside the egg, the unmoving eggling began to question his dragonhood. His tiny brain just couldn't wrap itself around the fact that he was a dragon… so how come his big brother was a tiger?