Xiamier raised an eyebrow, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Her tone held a hint of defiant teasing: “I didn’t ask you to handle it, did I? You’re still such a workaholic, and you blame me? You slept for so long for nothing.”
“Xiao Xiazi, you’re actually talking back now?”
Bai Ye’s voice drifted down, helpless yet amused, carrying a touch of indulgence.
“Tch, if you want to do it all, then fine, do it all.”
Xiamier turned her head away, her cheeks puffing out slightly.
“Come here, Xiao Xiazi!”
Bai Ye rested her hands on her hips and beckoned her over with feigned anger.
Xiamier glanced up at her, a lingering trace of petulance in her eyes: “Why should I come over? Just because you’re my mother?”
“Hey! You brat! You’re looking for a beating, aren’t you?!”
Bai Ye was truly exasperated by her stubborn attitude.
She stood up immediately, strode over, and reached out to pinch Xiamier’s ear with precision.
The grip wasn’t heavy, but it carried an undeniable authority as she pulled her straight toward the desk.
“Kneel!”
Bai Ye’s voice deepened, tinged with a flicker of suppressed anger.
Xiamier hissed in pain but kept her neck stiff, refusing to bow her head.
Her ear turned red, but a stubborn light burned in her eyes.
She raised her voice, each word landing with weight: “Why should I kneel? I am the Dragon Emperor of the Dragon Race now!”
“Three….” Bai Ye didn’t buy it at all.
With a cold expression, she began to count, drawing out the final syllable with an overbearing sense of command.
“Coming!” Xiamier’s voice instantly withered, her pride as the Dragon Emperor vanishing without a trace.
She dropped to her knees almost instantly, but just as they were about to hit the floor, Bai Ye caught her.
Bai Ye glared at her irritably: “You’re actually kneeling? I told you to admit you’re wrong, not to perform a grand salute!” “I’m not wrong, so what should I admit? This is ridiculous….”
Xiamier rubbed her reddened ear and muttered under her breath, her tone still holding a stubborn streak.
The next second, a fist landed on Xiamier’s head.
The force wasn’t heavy; it was more like a disciplinary tap, but it made her head ring.
“Still talking back?” Bai Ye raised an eyebrow, her fingertips still hovering over Xiamier’s head, her gaze threatening.
“Keep being stubborn, and you won’t be allowed to touch my darling granddaughter ever again!”
“Tch….” Xiamier’s voice was as low as a mosquito’s hum.
She scuffed the floor with her toe, leaving a faint mark, but still refused to fully give in.
Bai Ye was amused by her unyielding attitude but also felt frustrated.
She simply rolled up her sleeves and lifted Xiamier with one hand: “Xiao Xiazi…. I think if I don’t show you what motherly love is today, you’ll never change that mouth or that personality of yours!”
“Bai Ye! W-what are you doing?!”
Suspended in the air with her toes off the ground, Xiamier finally panicked, her tone laced with alarm.
“Ho! You even dare to call your mother by her full name now!”
Bai Ye raised an eyebrow, her grip tightening as she pinned Xiamier against the wall.
“Today, I’ll let you experience the same tricks I used to deal with you when you were a little brat!”
As she spoke, Bai Ye produced a feather duster from out of nowhere.
She raised it and began to swat at Xiamier.
“Ah—!”
Xiamier’s scream erupted in the room.
The feather duster felt light against her body, not painful, but so itchy that it made her whole body go numb.
She was almost laughing to the point of tears.
She struggled as waves of itchiness surged from her waist and abdomen, making it impossible to form a coherent sentence: “S-stop swatting! It itches! It’s killing me! Mother, I’m wrong! Mother, I’m really wrong!”
“Hehehe, today…. you’re dead meat!”
Bai Ye lowered her voice on purpose, the playfulness in her tone impossible to hide.
However, she secretly softened the force of the feather duster.
“If I don’t smooth out that stubborn temper of yours, I’m not your mother!”
“There’s such a good thing? Then bring it on! I promise I won’t make a sound!”
Xiamier blustered, keeping her neck stiff, though a flicker of panic crossed her eyes.
“Fine!”
Bai Ye tossed the feather duster aside decisively.
With a flick of her wrist, she pulled out a dragon crystal rod that shimmered with a cold, silver light.
The rod was translucent, with the unique patterns of dragon crystal flowing under the light.
“Wait!” Before Xiamier could react, Bai Ye swung the rod toward her with force, only to stop it a mere inch away from her clothes.
Xiamier tensed up instantly, her eyes wide as saucers.
She didn’t even dare to breathe, her earlier bravado crumbling into dust.
“Why’d you stop talking back?”
Bai Ye raised an eyebrow, lightly tapping Xiamier’s forehead with the dragon crystal rod, her tone full of mischief.
“Didn’t you promise not to make a sound?”
Xiamier’s face turned beet red.
After a long silence, she finally squeezed out a whimper:
“Mother…. you’re cheating! This rod [swallows hard] can you really just use this rod like that? One mistake and I’d actually be dead!”
Bai Ye chuckled at those words, her fingers lightly tracing the cool surface of the crystal rod.
The teasing in her eyes was thick and undeniable:
“So you know fear now? Where’s that fearless Dragon Emperor pride from a moment ago?”
She deliberately moved the rod closer to Xiamier.
The unique pressure of the dragon crystal radiated out, making Xiamier shrink back, her eyes welling up with a hint of red.
“This rod was used to beat you until you were crawling on the floor looking for your teeth back then. Did you forget?”
Bai Ye flicked the rod with her finger, the crisp sound echoing in the room.
“Only you have the guts to challenge me.”
Xiamier’s face grew even redder, and her nose felt a bit stingy, but she still stubbornly turned her face away: “T-that was when I was a kid! I’m the Dragon Emperor now!”
“What about being the Dragon Emperor?”
Bai Ye raised an eyebrow and pinched Xiamier’s puffed-out cheek.
“I gave birth to the Dragon Emperor, so I can still whip you into shape just the same.”
Bai Ye narrowed her eyes, her tone carrying a mock-serious threat:
“Speaking of raising kids…. if my darling granddaughters turn out like you, I’ll truly beat you to death! Do you hear me!”
Xiamier’s fur stood on end immediately.
She stiffened her neck to argue, but her voice unconsciously softened:
“With Xiao Yibao’s silly personality, do you think that’s possible? What was I like as a kid compared to what Xiao Yibao is like now?”
At those words, Bai Ye couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
She flicked Xiamier’s forehead: “Oh, getting protective already? I think you just want Xiao Yibao to stay silly forever so you can bully her as you please, right?”
Xiamier’s face flushed crimson, her ears turning a faint red.
She swatted Bai Ye’s hand away and said moodily:
“I do not! Xiao Yibao is so well-behaved; I don’t have enough time to dote on her as it is!”
“Then change for me!”
Bai Ye withdrew her smile, her tone suddenly becoming much more serious.
She tapped the dragon crystal rod against her palm.
“As a mother, if you don’t set a good example, what exactly are you trying to do!?”