Hearing the three men addressing Mei Mei with such familiarity, Xia Yu was taken aback. He had originally thought that Mei Mei was merely a noble’s child, but it turned out she was actually a member of the royal family of District 232?
Wait, hadn’t he seen news reports earlier stating that the royal family of District 232 had perished during the rebellion?
So, does that mean Mei Mei is now the sole surviving member of the royal family? The future empress?
Am I the bear of an empress? Xia Yu fell into deep thought.
Upon hearing that the three men had come to pick her up, Mei Mei didn’t feel relieved and go with them. Instead, she nervously hid behind Xia Yu’s back.
Looking down, Xia Yu saw Mei Mei, who had bravely stood in front of him when facing guns but now hid behind him after the threat had passed. He couldn’t help but marvel at the complexity of courage.
At that moment, hurried footsteps approached from a distance—Ah Wei had finally caught up.
Seeing the three men in camouflage uniforms, Ah Wei wasn’t surprised. Those three had ten companions, and they had already arrived at the village.
“Your Highness, they are members of the Royal Guard,” Ah Wei no longer needed to maintain his disguise now that the guard unit had arrived.
Hearing this name, Mei Mei’s tense expression eased slightly—the Royal Guard had always been the royal family’s direct subordinates.
“Let’s return and talk further?” The leader of the three in camouflage said to Mei Mei.
“I want to bring Xiongxiong with me.” The young girl tightly hugged Xia Yu’s waist.
Looking at the over-two-meter-tall brown bear, the three men in camouflage swallowed hard and looked toward Ah Wei.
“Oh, that’s the princess’s pet. It’s very gentle,” Ah Wei lied through his teeth.
Reassured, the three men agreed. They had heard before that Mei Mei owned a bear; they simply assumed Xia Yu was a pet bear.
The three turned to look at Xia Yu. They watched as he quickly devoured the fruit in the basket strapped to his chest before letting his “princess” sit inside.
“What a well-behaved bear,” the three men in camouflage remarked in admiration.
Well-behaved? Ah Wei glanced at them with a cynical inner laugh. In his mind, he recalled the scene from a few weeks ago when Xia Yu had fought off three tigers without a scratch.
Plus, this brown bear actually knew martial arts!
Ever seen a bear that can do low kicks? Or a bear that can perform a guillotine choke?
Thinking about it, Ah Wei couldn’t help but quicken his pace, keeping a safe distance from Xia Yu.
The group soon reached the edge of the village. They didn’t enter the village itself, but instead stopped at a wooden cabin on the outskirts, large enough to accommodate over a dozen people.
“The bear can stay outside,” Ah Wei looked at Xia Yu.
Mei Mei’s expression turned hesitant.
“It’s fine. Let it come in,” the leader of the three camouflage-clad men said indifferently. Wild bears were indeed dangerous, but pet bears posed no threat.
Bears, being canines and omnivores, were often kept by the upper class as pets. Compared to felines like tigers and lions, which were prone to killing their owners, canines like bears were much more docile.
Of course, that was only true if the bear was a pet—not a wild one.
The three men in camouflage misunderstood, but Ah Wei knew the truth: Xia Yu was a wild bear, and a highly capable one at that. If he wanted to, he could kill everyone inside the cabin—including the ten people already there—without leaving a survivor.
After weighing his options, Ah Wei decided it was best to inform them.
“Actually, this bear is wild. It originally lived here,” Ah Wei explained.
The three men in camouflage froze for a moment, exchanged glances, and then burst into laughter. They glanced at the brown bear, which was gently licking honey off Mei Mei’s hand, appearing both cute and obedient, and thought Ah Wei had a great sense of humor.
“This bear once fought off three tigers and came out unscathed!” Ah Wei emphasized Xia Yu’s ferocity.
“Hahahaha!” The three laughed even harder.
The leader of the camouflage-clad men played along with Ah Wei’s “joke”: “Right, and during the fight, this bear used Jeet Kune Do! It was yelling ‘Aaaaah!’ while knocking out all three tigers, right?”
Ah Wei chose to remain silent.
Giving up, he led Xia Yu into the cabin.
Inside, no one was surprised to see the bear. They had people on watch at the windows and had already seen Xia Yu approaching.
Their initial wariness vanished after hearing that this was the princess’s pet bear. Some soldiers even tried to entice Xia Yu with food.
“Come here, good bear, want some of this?” The soldiers couldn’t resist the opportunity for amusement. They held out their rations—flatbreads Xia Yu had never seen before, which actually looked quite appetizing.
Xia Yu initially assumed they were sincerely offering food, so he reluctantly extended a paw to try some. But to his surprise, the soldiers snatched the bread back into their own mouths and burst into laughter.
Ah Wei felt a cold sweat forming and opened the window, ready to escape through it if necessary.
Xia Yu didn’t get angry. Instead, he let out a quiet scoff, took out the honey jar from his basket, pulled Mei Mei’s hand toward it, dipped her fingers in the golden honey, and happily licked it off.
Watching the brown bear enjoying the beautiful princess and sweet honey while they themselves chewed on dry, tasteless flatbread, the soldiers suddenly felt a deep sense of sadness.
They were worse off than a bear!
The soldiers then entered a lethargic state, leaning against walls and not wanting to move at all.
When Ah Hua arrived and saw this scene, she was shocked, thinking that the Royal Guard must have suffered heavy losses in an ambush on the way here, hence their low morale.
After learning it was just a bear that had demoralized them, Ah Hua felt relieved.
With everyone gathered, the group began discussing matters.
Inside the cabin was a long table. Mei Mei sat at the head, with Ah Wei and Ah Hua on either side. Others followed suit, while those who couldn’t find seats stood at the back.
Xia Yu dragged over a small wooden stool and sat behind Mei Mei, attentively listening to the proceedings like a hidden power behind the throne.
At the table, mainly the Royal Guard leader and Ah Wei and Ah Hua were speaking. The others barely contributed, and Mei Mei herself seemed lost in thought, nearly dozing off.
The other soldiers also showed little interest.
Only Xia Yu listened carefully from beginning to end.
He summarized the information from their conversation.
Ah Wei wanted the Royal Guard to send an escort to accompany Mei Mei to the location of the interim government, which had already declared its intention to reestablish the monarchy.
The Royal Guard leader disagreed. He told Ah Wei that three months ago, they had found a prince and handed him over to the interim government, only for him to be assassinated by rebel forces within the government’s headquarters—right next door to the prime minister, who remained unharmed.
The Royal Guard believed the interim government itself was also a faction of rebels. They wanted Mei Mei to establish her own government in a city controlled by the Royal Guard and then wage war against both the interim government and the rebels.
If what the Royal Guard leader said was true, establishing independence might be the best choice. But was he telling the truth? Perhaps he was lying to ensure the Royal Guard could control the future empress.
Precisely because of this doubt, Ah Wei couldn’t make a decision.
He decided to go out himself and investigate the interim government first.
“There’s no time left! The fake government might discover this place at any moment!” the Royal Guard leader insisted.
“That’s your problem. I’m going no matter what,” Ah Wei firmly replied, standing up. “I’m leaving right now!”
He walked straight to the door, opened it—and with a loud gunshot, he collapsed to the ground.
“Close the door!” The Royal Guard leader immediately drew his gun.
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