8.7

The news of Farley's infertility soon spread among all the upper echelons of the capital planet. The Queen was furious once she caught wind of the rumors. She send her people to find out who would actually dare to spread such frivolous rumors about the royal family. Once she found out who it was, they would pay a heavy price.

However, even after investigating it for a while, the Queen was unable to find out who was spreading this rumor. What was even worse was that the rumors didn't die down. They intensified as time passed.

Even though Tang Ao and his father had been in the South for all these years now, they hadn't been standing idly by. They planting their own people throughout the capital planet over the course of the decades they had been all but banished to the South. The current king only knew how to partake in hedonism, so his capital planet had long been deeply infiltrated by Tang Ao and his father's people without his knowledge.

The Queen's means were focused on dealing with the King's numerous lovers and keeping the palace, as well as the Prince's, firmly in her grasp. However, as a woman, she unfortunately lacked a certain courage and knowledge that was passed down from King to Prince and was unable to control the entirety of the nation as she did the palaces.

It was during this time of turmoil that Tang Ao offered to bring a famous doctor from the South in order to examine Farley and take care of his health.

The Queen was angry at Tang Ao's offer and intrusion. However, after she calmed down a bit, she felt that the best way to dispel these rumors was to allow Tang Ao's doctor examine Farley.

The queen had her doctors give Farley an extensive check up every six months. She believed that knew Farley's physical condition better than anyone else. She wasn't afraid of letting Tang Ao's doctor come take a look.

Furthermore, Tang Ao was a special person. It was more convincing to the public if it was him who proved that Farley was in perfect health. He'd be more credible than anyone from the royal family since they all had something to 'hide or lose'. Tang Ao quickly brought the doctors and their medical equipment from the South after the Queen agreed. They all went to Farley's palace for his examination.

The Queen arranged for many palace doctors to observe Farley as he underwent the examination from Tang Ao's medical professionals in order to make sure that they wouldn't tamper with any of the results. She still didn't trust the man even though she wanted to use him to quell the rumors.

Farley had to undergo what was basically a public physical to see whether or not he was infertile. And even worse, he had to announce the results to the people of the entire empire. This was very embarrassing and shameful matter for Farley. He was an extremely prideful man. However, he still had to accept the physical. If not, then people would assume that he was attempting to cover something up and slap the label of 'guilty of infertility and impotence' on him without a second thought.

Tang Ao brought the best of the best doctors and the top equipment form the southern planets. The results would be available immediately after the physical examination was complete.

Within half an hour, the doctor completed the examination and handed the results over to Tang Ao. Tang Ao took a glance at the results and then handed it over to the Queen.

The Queen stared in shock at the test results in her hand. She was trembling. Then she threw the results on the table and loudly denounced, "Impossible! This is completely impossible! You must have done something. These results have to be fake!"

Tang Ao calmly said, "If Your Royal Majesty finds that my doctors or the testing equipment that we have to be inadequate, then you can have your palace doctors run those tests again."

There was no doubt that the Queen would have the palace's medical team run Farley's physical once more. Furthermore, the needed to do it immediately. If the palace doctors' results were different from those that Tang Ao brought, then she would have evidence to prove that Tang Ao had ulterior motives against the crown.

The queen sat with a calm and collected face as she waited for the results of the second opinion. Tang Ao sat down as was just as calm and collected as the Queen while he waited with her. The Queen glanced over at Tang Ao. The more calm Tang Ao was, the more uneasy she felt.

The Queen soon received the palace doctors' exam results. She looked at the results and then her eyes rolled back and she collapsed. The servant closest to her immediately rushed forward to help her. Tang Ao stood up and caught the physical results that fell from the Queen's hands.

Tang Ao left Farley's palace after he took a look at the documents. He carried both of the results in hand and ignored the fainted Queen. Tang Ao exited the palace with the disorderly servants, doctors, and ministers who were panicking behind him.

—

The first thing the Queen thought of when she woke up was how to suppress this information. She needed to figure out how to keep Tang Ao quiet about Farley's infertility. It was unfortunate for her that before she could even think of anything, she was told that Tang Ao had long uploaded the results to the interplanetary web. Everyone in the entire nation knew that Farley was infertile.

The Queen nearly had a breakdown. Farley wouldn't believe that he was infertile either. He forced the doctors to check and re-check him over and over again, but the results were all the same. Furthermore, the palace doctors informed him that not only was he infertile, but he was also impotent. Farley screamed and smashed all the medical instruments he could get his hands on. He even attacked and injured the medical staff that helped examine him. Farley nearly went insane.

He was an infertile Prince. Farley became the infertile Crown Prince to be exact. Would he still eligible for the throne if he wasn't able to bear children? This became one of the most heated topics in the nation. The others who were next in line for the throne and who had been keeping tabs on the empire were ready to make their moves. They all began scheming new plans for the future.

Everyone was paying attention to what the Queen was going to do. However, Tang Ao suddenly announced that he was going to get married and hold his wedding on the capital planet at the same time everyone was waiting with bated breath about the Queen's next steps.

Tang Ao didn't reveal any information about he marriage beforehand. People felt a little puzzle because he had announced his marriage so suddenly. It seemed like it had come out of nowhere. However, the dignitaries and members of the royal family who had just returned from Farley's wedding had a reason to come back to the capital once more.

Tang Ao's wedding ceremony was much simpler than Farley's. He didn't have to go to the temple or the palace. All he had to do was hold a simple banquet in his residence and entertain some important guests.

Furthermore, because he was the Prince of the South, he didn't even need to register his marriage on the capital planet. All they needed to do was sign some paper work and send it all back to the southern planets. All the formalities would be completed for them there.

The wedding guests who attended Farley's wedding were stunned when Qiao Chen appeared before them. They were pensive at first because the person holding Tang Ao's hand seemed very familiar. However, once they realized that this was the same person who had just been wed to Farley, they were all shocked and surprised.

If Qiao Chen and Farley's wedding had a weird atmosphere, then his and Tang Ao's wedding had an even weirder one.

Who would have thought that Jovin would be married twice and in such a short amount of time too? He first married Farley, and now he was marrying Tang Ao. What was even more shocking was that both of these men were very important figures in the empire.

All the guests were very confused. They heard that Jovin had been poisoned and was supposedly at death's door. However, the person before them didn't look like he'd been poisoned at all.

Qiao Chen returned to his room to take a break halfway through the banquet. No matter how strong he was psychologically or mentally, he still couldn't stand to be stared at by those nobles for too long. Their gazes held a constant probing look and their eyes showed how weird and confused they were.

Qiao Chen rested on the sofa in the room for a bit before he decided to go take a bath.

However, as Qiao Chen was washing up, the soul downloading program booted up. Qiao Chen was a little confused. Tang Ao should have been at the banquet right now. There shouldn't anyone around either. Why would the program begin so suddenly? Qiao Chen's imagination ran wild and he started wondering if a certain someone ended up drinking too much and suddenly decided to profess his love for him while inebriated.

Qiao Chen was lost in thought when a hand suddenly stroked his back. This quickly startled him out of his thoughts and he quickly turned to see Tang Ao's face in the mist. Once he realized that it was Tang Ao, Qiao Chen relaxed.

"You- why did you come in?" Qiao Chen asked. He looked at the stark naked Tang Ao and was surprised that he hadn't noticed his presence at all. He didn't know how long it had been since that man had started watching him. 'Ah, no wonder the program booted up out of no where…'

"For a while now." In fact, Tang Ao was stood at the door waiting for Qiao Chen not long after he entered the bathroom. He wanted to wait until Qiao Chen finished, but couldn't wait anymore.

"What do you want?" Qiao Chen slowly backed away and asked. "We discussed this already. This is a fake marriage. Don't tell me you want to put on a show now too."

In order to take the next step of their plan, they agreed that they were going to fake the marriage initially. Once they succeeded in doing everything they needed to do, they would decide on whether or not they were going to truly get married. 'However, it seemed as though some steps were going to get skipped…' Qiao Chen looked at Tang Ao's eyes and knew he wouldn't be able to escape tonight.

"We're going to be married either way. We can take this fake ceremony as real and use it to consummate our marriage in advance… Actually, I've decided to cancel our agreement that this will be a fake marriage. Let's just agree that we really are married now." Tang Ao said in a low voice. He trapped Qiao Chen between his arms and the wall. Then he lowered his head and began scattering kisses from Qiao Chen's cheek and lowered down to Qiao Chen's neck. He gently nibbled and licked as he slipped his hand in between Qiao Chen's leg and rubbed.

"Hnng~" Qiao Chen held onto Tang Ao's arms and moaned. He didn't even have the strength to stand anymore. "You said that you decided to change the agreement, but have you asked me for my opinion?"

"You'll agree." Tang Ao replied. Then he picked up Qiao Chen and carried him to the bedroom.

Tang Ao pushed Qiao Chen down onto the bed and got on top of him. Then he kissed and touched up and down Qiao Chen's body. He teased and teased Qiao Chen but didn't go any further than that. Qiao Chen's quickly body burned with desire.

Qiao Chen kicked at Tang Ao. He was getting frustrated and complained, "What the hell do you want? Are you going to keep going or not?"

"Then are you agreeing? Because continuing means that we'll really be married now." Tang Ao chuckled. He caught Qiao Chen's leg and pulled it up. He began lovingly kissing Qiao Chen's ankle and moved to his calf. Then, he teasingly moved lower and lower down to Qiao Chen's thigh. Finally, he stopped in between Qiao Chen's legs.

"Ah! Anh!" Qiao Chen moaned loudly. He couldn't stand being provoked like this. He had no choice but to beg for mercy. Qiao Chen gasped, "Agree. I consent. Don't do it so—Don't. Ahhhn~"

.......

Qiao Chen was still recovering from the passion and basked the afterglow. He lay in Tang Ao's arm panting. Tang Ao still hadn't stopped touching him and still gently stroked Qiao Chen back while he affectionately sprinkled kisses from Qiao Chen's cheek to the corner of his lips.

"This wedding doesn't count. Once everything is stable, we'll have another wedding. It'll be bigger and better than this one." Tang Ao promised. Even though they had already registered and were married under the eyes of the law, Tang Ao was dissatisfied. The wedding was too simple for his beloved. It was all because they had previously agreed to that temporary fake marriage.

"Hm." Qiao Chen agreed offhandedly. He didn't really care about the wedding ceremony at all. It Tang Ao wanted to redo the ceremony, then there'd be another one.

"There is a question that I've always wanted to ask you." Tang Ao said.

"Hm?"

"Why did you choose to help me?"

Qiao Chen laughed and replied, "Because I fell in love with you at first sight."

Even though Qiao Chen's tone indicated that he was joking, Tang Ao believed it was true. He felt very happy too, because that was the same reason he realized for himself as well. They had both fallen for each other at first sight.