Favorite of the Beast-world: I Got Rich Through Farming-Chapter 390 - 263: Fox + Hold Me to Sleep, Okay?

「Ten years later, Unicorn King City.」

The palace, built of off-white marble, was magnificent and splendid. Its doorframes and stone pillars were inlaid with intricate floral and acanthus patterns. Outside the walls, the gardens were a riot of color, with flowers vying for beauty. The rich fragrance and bold blossoms caused many a Beastman to stop and admire the view.

The sounds of conversation drifted from the palace’s council hall.

Some time ago, their King, who had been in seclusion for many years, finally emerged. Every morning, he would once again grant audiences to the Beastmen and Elders who came to report on various matters.

"The Choujiang River’s flood season has arrived early again. The water level has been rising steadily with no sign of receding. Your Majesty, we plan to build a bridge to allow for easy passage for all! We humbly ask for your review!" The Beastmen bowed respectfully, presenting a stack of papers.

These were the initial blueprints for the bridge, a project they had spent months racking their brains over. The project could only be implemented after receiving the King’s review and approval for funding.

The silver-haired man on the high throne took the documents from a Beast Servant. He lowered his handsome eyes and glanced at them indifferently, his face showing little expression.

His long, cool, jade-like fingers were idly stroking the small white fox in his lap, which was stretching lazily.

"SMACK!"

A paw had suddenly landed on the documents.

A collective gasp echoed through the great hall. All eyes turned to the small white fox in Ze Sheng’s lap, which had just woken up.

The tips of its claws peeked out from its soft, pink paws.

The Beastmen who had presented the plans broke out in a cold sweat, terrified that the ignorant little fox cub would accidentally tear the blueprints that were the culmination of their painstaking efforts.

"Awoo!" ’There are three things wrong here! They need to be fixed! Otherwise, it’ll collapse the moment it has to bear any significant weight!’

It didn’t know why, but a voice in its head was telling it this was true.

"Awoo!" The little fox lifted its shimmering purple eyes—the very same shade as the man’s. They were round, dewy, and utterly adorable.

It anxiously pawed at his arm with all four limbs.

Ze Sheng’s cold expression instantly softened. He reached out and soothingly stroked its drooping little head, then held the blueprints out and tucked them between its two small front paws. "Do you want to make some changes?" he asked softly.

He even thoughtfully gave it a small charcoal pencil.

The little fox clumsily gripped the charcoal pencil in its paws, its eyes sparkling.

"Th-th-this..." The Beastmen below looked as if their eyes were about to pop out of their heads. This was the fruit of their months of hard work! How could they let a little cub who hadn’t even transformed yet doodle all over it for fun?

"Your Majesty, th-this... this is not appropriate!"

"And how is it not appropriate?" Ze Sheng said, lifting his gaze to look at him with a smile.

The remaining Beastmen stepped forward, their voices filled with anguish. "Once implemented, this project will benefit all the Beastmen in the surrounding cities! And these blueprints are only a draft—the only copy we have. If it gets destroyed, then... then..."

"If it’s a draft, then it needs revision," Ze Sheng said lightly.

’By letting a little cub doodle on it?’

Although they feared Ze Sheng’s oppressive aura, the Beastmen were still unconvinced. One of them inevitably stepped forward and declared loudly, "The six of us spent months creating these bridge blueprints! We established this final design by meticulously poring over the architectural manuscripts left behind by that female years ago! It can’t possibly be wrong!"

"Furthermore, Sindar has spent the last ten years immersed in studying the various manuscripts that female left behind. When it comes to the study of such complex architecture, no one in this world can surpass him! The structures he’s designed have never had a single flaw. E-even if there really were a mistake..." The Beastman’s voice grew quieter and quieter, trembling as he swallowed the rest of his words.

He had caught Ze Sheng’s suddenly icy gaze, and it scared him so much that his face paled. With a THUD, he fell to his knees. "Your Majesty, I... I did not mean to cause offense..." He had only spoken so rashly because his heart burned at the thought of their hard work being trampled upon.

Ze Sheng glanced at him but said nothing, simply waving a hand for a Beast Servant to give them the revised blueprints.

Sindar, the leader of the group, took one look at the three marks drawn on the manuscript and froze. After a moment of careful inspection, his eyes lit up. "Th-these are the areas I was uncertain about! They’ve all been marked?!"

He was in utter disbelief.

It was rare to see the normally quiet and scholarly Sindar so emotional. The others crowded around him, only to hear his voice, excited to the point of near-frenzy. "That’s it! That’s it! If we followed my original design, these spots would have been extremely likely to give way under the weight and collapse. But if we change them to this arched shape, we can maximize the bridge’s load-bearing capacity, and it will be far less likely to fail!"

’It’s absolutely brilliant! It simplifies the complex and gets right to the core principles of force. How could there be such an ingenious design?’

Sindar was so excited he felt like kowtowing to the little fox and begging it to be his master.

"It’s just... a coincidence, right?" The expressions of the remaining Beastmen shifted.

’How could a cub possibly come up with a design like this? At most, it was a lucky guess. After all, all it did was add a few circles and semicircles.’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

No matter how they looked at it, the overly crude doodles seemed to have been drawn at random.

"Hmph, you all don’t get it." Among them, Sindar was the most gifted in academic research. He knew with perfect clarity that the three flaws that had plagued him for so long could not possibly have been discovered by sheer luck.

As for *why* a fox cub was able to find these flaws, that was completely outside the scholarly fanatic’s scope of consideration.

Just as that group of Beastmen withdrew, another Beast Servant came to make a report.

"Demon Beasts are attacking several of our smaller cities again. The City Lords are requesting aid. Your Majesty, the situation is urgent. With attacks on multiple fronts, should we not launch a proactive strike?"

As the Beast Servant below reported the tense situation on the front lines, Ze Sheng’s expression remained indifferent, as if he cared for none of it. He revealed no emotion.

He rested a hand against his forehead, his eyes lowered and a faint smile on his lips. His other hand was entirely preoccupied with teasing the little white fox frolicking on his lap.

He didn’t even notice the small red bite marks appearing on his hand.

"Do you want to go out and play?" he asked with a smile, noticing its listlessness.

The kneeling Beast Servant below didn’t dare make a sound to interrupt.

They all knew the King had changed.

Ever since he returned from his last seclusion with the little white fox by his side, his temperament was completely different.

He rarely paid attention to the outside world anymore; his entire existence revolved around the little fox in what could only be described as utterly indulgent, doting affection.

Rumors were spreading that the fox was his cub, but the Beast Servants who had personally attended him for decades knew better—their King didn’t even have a mate, so how could he possibly have an heir?

...

It was the rainy season, and a violent storm raged through the night. Outside the window, thunder roared, and flashes of lightning periodically lit up the entire sky.

The windows were shut tight and the curtains drawn.

Countless Crystal Stones inlaid in the walls illuminated the dark room.

Ze Sheng, who was just drifting off to sleep, felt something fluffy snuggle up beside him. His heart skipped a beat, and then he sighed.

He opened his eyes and turned onto his side, lazily propping his head on his hand. He extended two long, jade-like fingers and plucked a certain bed-climbing white fox from under the covers. "Instead of sleeping soundly, you run over here?"

The words had barely left his mouth when a young woman’s soft body pressed against him. She threw her arms around his neck and blinked. "The thunder... it’s scary. Can you hold me while I sleep? Please?"

"..."