Xu Sidu’s chest heaved violently, his handsome face turning ashen with rage a rare moment when he couldn’t control his emotions. With his well-defined hands covering his face, he slumped weakly to the floor.
This was the scene his father walked in on. Frowning, the older man struck Xu Sidu sharply with his cane. “What are you doing on the ground?!”
“Have you forgotten all decorum after degrading into a lowly beta?!”
His father had always taught him to maintain aristocratic poise, to remember the weight of the Xu family’s legacy. Yet the moment he presented as a beta, the first to abandon him had been his own kin.
Xu Sidu forced himself up despite the lingering weakness in his legs. He maintained his respect, speaking solemnly, “Father… my apologies. I just heard some unpleasant words.”
The man scoffed. “Unpleasant words? I thought you’d already resigned yourself to a lifetime of them.”
Xu Sidu stiffened, his tall, lean frame trembling slightly. “Are betas truly destined to be trampled upon? Pei Ningyu.”
His father’s voice rose sharply. “If you hadn’t presented as a beta, would Pei Ningyu even dare humiliate you?!”
“Have you considered your own failings? All the effort I poured into you wasted!”
Seeming to realize further reprimands were pointless, the older man fell silent before delivering a cold ultimatum: “Mend your relationship with Pei Ningyu.”
“If he deigns to favor you, it might still be a viable path.”
A viable path?
In his father’s eyes, was he now a beta such a complete failure?
A sudden memory surfaced: a beta he’d seen as a child, one who belonged to his father.
Whenever his father’s rut spiraled out of control, that beta would be sent to his chambers.
A week later sometimes longer his father would emerge, rejuvenated and impeccably dressed, embracing his cherished omega wife and their brilliant child.
Then the household staff would enter to remove the beta.
Once, Xu Sidu had accidentally stepped into that room before the attendants arrived.
The beta lay there, pale and gaunt, skin mottled with overlapping bite marks and bruises especially at the nape, where teeth had torn repeatedly into flesh devoid of any scent gland.
Shamelessly exposed, the beta twisted limply across the bed, vacant eyes fixed on the ceiling, consciousness long shattered.
An alpha’s relentless rut had dragged him through cycles of unconsciousness. Perhaps there had been desperate struggles, broken pleas.
But now, there was no frenzy, no shattered resolve just a hollow shell awaiting the staff’s indifferent disposal.
The household servants would hastily wipe his body with sheets already damp with bodily fluids, indifferent to whether the rough fabric would aggravate his already damaged skin, then wrap the beta in those same sheets and send him back to the basement where he belonged.
That basement was usually kept locked, only opened during his father’s rutting periods.
Then, with each cycle, he’d be sent there again. and brought back, over and over.
The terrifying bite marks on the beta’s nape were densely packed, caught in an endless cycle of healing and being torn open anew.
Xu Sidu’s father finally said, “Pei Ningyu. he belongs to His Highness.”
His tone was laden with implication.
Xu Sidu stared at his increasingly unfamiliar father, lips pressed tight, momentarily at a loss for words.
As the sole heir, he had been raised under his father’s strict discipline, always aware that what his father wanted was a successor capable of monumental achievements.
And now, his father’s only demand of him was to please Pei Ningyu.
–
Having failed to lure Xu Sidu over.
And worse, dragging the matter before Admiral Pei Xu.
Inside the royal disciplinary chamber, even Pei Ningyu’s usual pack of sycophants remained silent, letting the oppressive atmosphere linger.
Yin Xishu kept his eyes lowered, feigning invisibility, doing his best to minimize his presence and protect himself.
Soon, Pei Ningyu’s communicator buzzed an incoming call from Pei Xu.
The timing couldn’t have been worse Pei Ningyu hadn’t even been this furious before.
“Beep”
“Beep”
Pei Ningyu didn’t move, still frozen in place, staring blankly at the wall where Xu Sidu’s holographic projection had appeared moments ago, until the communicator’s noise finally faded into silence.
Then, Yin Xishu’s communicator rang. Not daring to reject Pei Xu’s call, he steeled himself and activated the holographic display.
The cold, formidable, and prodigiously accomplished admiral of the empire appeared on the screen, delivering four succinct words: “Come home. Now.”
It was directed at Pei Ningyu.
At this critical moment, Pei Ningyu couldn’t help but recall Xu Sidu’s words: “Do you really think you could act so recklessly without Admiral Pei’s influence?”
The last thread of his composure finally snapped.
Pei Xu ended the call immediately. Pei Ningyu turned slowly to Yin Xishu, his voice icy.
“You must think I’m pathetic too.”
“Getting threatened and tattled on by a mere beta.”
Yin Xishu took in Pei Ningyu’s anger-flushed eyes and quickly stepped forward, soothing in a hushed tone, “Doesn’t this just prove how terrified Xu Sidu is of you? Only someone utterly desperate would resort to such a laughable tactic as running to his superior.”
Pei Ningyu snapped, “But even he knew this ‘laughable tactic’ would work on me!”
Yin Xishu was adept at handling Pei Ningyu. He always knew how to twist his words just right, coaxing, “In my eyes, Admiral Pei is merely exploiting his position as your elder brother to pressure you.”
As expected, Pei Ningyu was swayed by this reasoning. His expression softened slightly, and he lifted his gaze, signaling Yin Xishu to continue.
Yin Xishu worked to smooth Pei Ningyu’s temper, guiding him gently, “In truth, you surpassed Admiral Pei’s records back in your first year at the academy.”
“The only difference between you and Admiral Pei is age,” Yin Xishu carefully chose his words, trying to prevent this madman from exploding right now. He spoke slowly, “Had you been born earlier than Admiral Pei, the Pei family would shine even brighter than it does now.”
Pei Ningyu was still brooding, his striking face clouded with frustration as he lowered his gaze. “A lot of people know about the last time I got beaten, don’t they?”
“Because of that Wan Yi, the Crown Princess really ought to discipline her son. It was just a ‘friendly’ exchange between us, yet he got me whipped thirty times with the Solion whip by Pei Xu. So unfair.”
“Just because he’s the elder brother, he thinks he can discipline me however he pleases, beat me whenever he wants, trample on my dignity. Tell me, what kind of logic is that?”
Hearing Pei Ningyu recount his grievances in such a nonchalant tone sent a chill down Yin Xishu’s spine.
He was already thinking about how to handle it if Pei Ningyu decided to go berserk here.
Yin Xishu couldn’t afford to offend Pei Ningyu, nor did he dare cross Pei Xu. Bending slightly, he patiently coaxed, “Perhaps it’s just concern taken too far.”
He maintained his good temper, listening to Pei Ningyu’s impatient remarks, though his mind was already racing through eighteen different scenarios, trying to decipher Pei Ningyu’s thoughts.
.An alpha’s sense of territory and boundaries is far more acute. With Pei Ningyu’s imminent differentiation, Pei Xu still micromanaged him as if he were a child how could that possibly work?
Especially since Pei Xu had grown up in a politically complex family with an early deceased father, becoming the empire’s youngest and most rigid “hawkish” admiral after graduation, enforcing only authoritarian, suppressive methods of discipline.
Once, Pei Xu had even kicked Pei Ningyu so hard he broke his leg. That time, it was because Pei Ningyu had clashed with a commoner.
The incident had caused such an uproar that Pei Ningyu was publicly shamed on the StarNet for days, the scandal trending relentlessly.
The headline blared, “Privileged Heir Bullies Commoner, Sends Him to Hospital Involving High-Ranking Military Official.” Though the matter was eventually dropped after the Crown Prince’s intervention, Pei Ningyu still faced punishment from Pei Xu.
The conflict between Pei Ningyu and Pei Xu couldn’t be more obvious.
And Pei Ningyu’s temperament was just like that.
So rotten.
Someone as upright and old-fashioned as Pei Xu must find Pei Ningyu a real headache.
Under Yin Xishu’s soothing words, Pei Ningyu’s expression softened slightly, but the lingering resentment remained. A cold smirk curled his lips, his voice laced with suppressed fury, those dark eyes sending shivers down one’s spine as if he were brewing some sinister scheme.
He couldn’t let others keep thinking he feared Pei Xu.
Otherwise, reckless fools like Xu Sidu would only multiply, and soon everyone would dare to slight him.
Suddenly, Pei Ningyu seemed to remember something, his smirk widening. “By the way, how long has that beta’s child been gone?”
Yin Xishu exhaled in relief, shooting a glance at his subordinate before answering smoothly, “I’ll call him back right away.”
