Chapter 661 --661

Chapter 661: Chapter-661

Chijen stared at his terrifying parents for a long, deeply defeated moment. He looked at the massive stacks of gold taels, the property deeds, and the terrifyingly illegal orders his new father had just handed him.

He let out a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of a dying star.

"Yes, Mother. Yes, Father," Chijen mumbled, slinging his yellow bunny satchel over his broad shoulder. He turned around and trudged out of the courtyard, fully prepared to go commit state-level tax fraud for his new family.

Samuel watched the thirty-year-old man’s back disappear through the moon gate. As soon as Chijen was completely out of earshot, the playful, unhinged energy vanished from Samuel’s face.

The genius scholar slowly turned his head to look at Heena, his golden eyes narrowing with sharp, calculating intelligence.

"Wife," Samuel started, tapping his elegant fingers against the stone table. "Do you not think you need to tell me something?"

Heena paused, innocently blinking her dark eyes. "How are you?"

"I am fine, Wife, but do not change the subject," Samuel sighed, pouring himself a fresh cup of tea. "Do you not think you should tell me about our dear son’s actual past?"

"Everyone has a past, Mr. Son-in-law," Heena replied philosophically, reaching for a pastry. "But now, we are his present. We should focus on his bright future."

"Come on, Wife, I am not asking for a philosophical proverb," Samuel deadpanned.

Samuel was a certified genius. He knew exactly why this situation made absolutely no logical sense. He raised his hand, ticking off his deductions on his fingers:

The Age Deficit: "No highly educated, thirty-year-old man would willingly allow himself to be legally adopted by a woman younger than him and actually call her ’Mother’ without putting up a fight."

The Competence: "He isn’t just an idiot off the streets. He flawlessly cited imperial land law and mathematically humiliated the Minister of Rites’ son. He is a genius in his own right."

The Motive: "If he just wanted to attack the Prime Minister’s faction, there are a hundred safer ways to do it than legally binding himself to the Vanguard military."

Samuel picked up his teacup, looking at her over the rim. "I know this guy is incredibly smart. So, what is his real background? Because it cannot possibly be normal."

Heena chewed thoughtfully on her pastry. She realized there was no point in hiding it from her husband, especially since they were about to use Chijen to bankrupt the government.

"Well," Heena said cheerfully, completely changing her tone. "I think Grandmother mentioned she is baking a chocolate cake in the kitchens right now, so we should wrap this up quickly."

Samuel took a long, elegant sip of his hot tea, waiting for her to continue.

"Anyway," Heena shrugged casually, as if she were discussing the weather. "His father was an absolutely brutal mass murderer, and his mother was a notorious capital prostitute."

PFFFFFT!

Samuel violently violently spurted his hot tea straight across the stone table. The genius scholar doubled over, coughing and hacking as his brilliant brain completely short-circuited trying to process the absolute, apocalyptic scandal his wife had just casually dropped on him.

"What the heck?!" Samuel choked out, his golden eyes wide with sheer, unadulterated shock.

Samuel desperately grabbed a silk handkerchief from his robes, aggressively wiping the spilled tea from his chin and the stone table. His brilliant, hyper-analytical brain, capable of memorizing thousands of ancient texts in a single night, was currently experiencing a massive, system-wide failure.

"A mass murderer?" Samuel wheezed, his chest heaving as he stared at his completely unbothered wife. "And a notorious prostitute? Wife... we just legally adopted the most scandalous biological disaster in the history of the capital!"

Heena swallowed her bite of pastry and casually brushed the crumbs off her dark military gown.

"Technically," Heena corrected, holding up a finger, "his mother was a highly sought-after courtesan who catered specifically to the civil court officials. And his father was a brutal underground enforcer who snapped one day and slaughtered a dozen corrupt debt collectors. They were both executed when Chijen was just a teenager."

Samuel sank slowly back into his mahogany chair, pressing his fingers against his temples to stave off a rapidly forming migraine. "And the Ministry of Rites allowed him to take the imperial exams?"

"Of course not," Heena scoffed. "If the civil court knew his background, they wouldn’t even let him clean their boots. Chijen forged his identity, grinded his way through absolute poverty, and took the imperial exams a decade ago. He didn’t just pass, Mr. Son-in-law. He scored first place."

Samuel stopped rubbing his temples. The migraine instantly vanished, replaced by a sudden, razor-sharp spike of political intrigue. His golden eyes locked onto Heena.

"What the heck do you mean?!" Samuel shouted, aggressively wiping the spilled tea from his pristine silk robes. "Are you telling me we are actively hiding a treasonous criminal’s spawn in the Vanguard estate?!"

Heena casually picked up a napkin and dabbed at a stray drop of tea on the table. "Well, he is not exactly a traitor. That implies he actually cares about the government."

Samuel shot up from his stone chair, his aristocratic composure completely shattering. He began to pace frantically back and forth across the courtyard, running his elegant hands through his hair.

"God damn it!" Samuel yelled to the heavens.

"Oho," Heena raised an eyebrow, looking genuinely amused. "You are swearing, Mr. Scholar."

"Forget about my swearing!" Samuel spun around, his golden eyes wide with sheer political terror. "Wife, do you not understand the gravity of this?! If anyone—literally anyone—finds out about this, the entire Vanguard family will be executed for harboring enemies of the state!"

"Well, maybe," Heena shrugged, reaching for a plate of freshly baked cookies.

"It is not a maybe!" Samuel shrieked, his voice cracking. "And wait, why the heck did you even adopt him?! Out of all the orphans in the capital, could you really not find a single one who wasn’t the byproduct of a mass murderer and a brothel worker?!"

"Well, he is quite good at business and calculating compound interest, as you saw today," Heena reasoned calmly, taking a bite of a cookie. "Besides, Grandmother was the one who brought him here. Blame her."

Samuel resumed his frantic pacing, muttering to himself like a madman.

"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God," Samuel chanted, his genius brain rapidly running through a thousand apocalyptic scenarios. "If any noble finds out that our adopted so-called ’infant son’ has this kind of background, they are going to throw a massive accusation of treason at us! We are going to lose our military tally! We are going to lose our pristine reputation!"

Heena chewed her cookie thoughtfully. She swallowed, dusted the crumbs off her hands, and looked at her hyperventilating husband.

"Well, it’s fine," Heena said dismissively. "The civil court is always throwing petitions at me anyway. What’s one more?"

Samuel stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at her, completely flabbergasted by her tone.

"They are throwing petitions at you now," Samuel said, his voice dropping into a desperate hiss. "If this gets out, they will throw knives at you! Are you completely crazy?!"