This book review left both Yún Xúnlán and the system stunned.

The system, lacking a brain but quick to recover, immediately proposed a guess: “Could it be that his account was hacked? This review wasn’t posted by him, right?”

Yún Xúnlán, being practical, replied, “That possibility isn’t entirely out of the question.”

He clicked on the folded comments below the hot review, wanting to see what other readers had to say.

The first comment was also from this reader, who added evidence in the form of a chat screenshot: 【Look, this jerk of an author said it himself! [Image]】

In the screenshot, the author was responding to students’ questions in a writing class group he had set up—

A student asked: “Teacher, the friendship line in your novel is very touching. I’d like to ask how we can write about a pair of good brothers with deep friendship?”

The author replied: “You might not believe it, but I can’t write friendship either. I just write about a couple and say they only have brotherly feelings for each other.”

Below the screenshot, netizens were in an uproar—

【This is too much! Are we being treated like fools? Refund! Give me back the tears I shed for them!!!】
【Damn it, I always wondered why those two sleep together every day? The male lead and female lead haven’t even slept together, but he’s practically sleeping with his brother! Turns out they’re both guys! A pair of male A’s! I can barely accept O’s, who doesn’t like a sweet little O?】
【To the one above, isn’t it okay to sleep with your brother? Haven’t you ever slept with your good brother?】
【I have, but damn, you sleep with your brother every day? I don’t even sleep with my wife every day.】
【Let’s be precise, the male lead and his brother don’t sleep together every day either. They sleep five days and rest two, it’s not every day.】
……

The system and Yún Xúnlán both fell silent.

Yún Xúnlán voiced a soul-searching question: “Can good brothers really sleep together every day?”

“I don’t know,” the system replied. “But judging by the heated discussion among netizens, good brothers can sleep together, as long as it’s not five days on, two days off—that’s gay, not brotherly. You and Yú Chén only slept together for two days, so it’s not a big deal.”

“It’s a big deal.”

Yún Xúnlán was very clear-headed: “This book isn’t about brotherly love. I can’t continue to follow its method to be brothers with Yú Chén.”

“Well, it’s not all bad. Even if the process is wrong, as long as the result is right, isn’t that enough?” the system countered. “Didn’t Yú Chén swear to you last night? No matter if you’re an alpha, beta, or omega, he’s willing to be your brother.”

Yún Xúnlán hesitated: “But Ní Chūn seems to have started misunderstanding my relationship with Yú Chén. Just now, when I asked him to help me change to a bigger bed, he even asked if I needed to prepare condoms and lubricant, and if I had any preferences for scents.”

Ní Chūn was a very competent attendant.

He was loyal, attentive, and reliable, able to fulfill all the requirements and tasks Yún Xúnlán assigned him, and he did them well. His only flaw was probably his overly rich imagination, which led him to conjure up some unrealistic ideas.

The system felt that Yún Xúnlán had a significant responsibility for Ní Chūn’s thoughts: “This is a normal phenomenon. Think about you and Jiǎn Wénxī. Clearly, there’s only friendship between you two, yet so many people insist it’s love. I heard that in the Xingyun Federation, rumors about you and Jiǎn Wénxī have spread to the point where people say you’ve made him have three abortions for you.”

Yún Xúnlán found this rumor utterly ridiculous: “I just turned eighteen this year.”

“Who says that deep friendship doesn’t give people that kind of illusion?” the system sighed sadly. “Therefore, similarly, even if you and Yú Chén only have pure friendship, people will still misunderstand it as love. If one day a rumor comes out in the Sun Crown Empire that you’ve made Yú Chén have three abortions, I won’t be surprised at all.”

Yún Xúnlán: “……”

Yún Xúnlán reluctantly accepted the system’s consolation, but he was still puzzled by one detail in its words: “It’s fine that Wénxī is an omega, but both Yú Chén and I are alphas. Why is it me making Yú Chén have abortions instead of him making me have abortions?”

The system replied confidently: “You’re not like ordinary alphas. You have a reproductive cavity, so if anything were to happen, it would have to be you who gets pregnant.”

“Even that is almost atrophied, I can’t get pregnant.” Yún Xúnlán shook his head. “So this kind of rumor can’t possibly appear between me and Yú Chén.”

The system concluded firmly: “Regardless of whether it will appear or not, you just need to remember one thing: never pay attention to rumors and slander.”

Yún Xúnlán: “…… Okay, I’ll remember.”

He and the system finally discussed: “So should I still sleep with Yú Chén in the future?”

“Sleep together occasionally, but not every day.” The system suggested again, “If you’re worried about others misunderstanding, why not bring in other guards or attendants to sleep with you too? That way, no one will think there’s anything beyond friendship between you and Yú Chén.”

“No way.” Yún Xúnlán thought for three seconds and decisively refused, “The rumors generated by Wénxī and Yú Chén are already enough to give me a headache. If I add a few more guards and attendants, the outside world will just spread rumors that I’m too promiscuous, not sparing anyone of any gender.”

The system sighed: “That’s true.”

After Yún Xúnlán deleted “The Supreme New Emperor of the Interstellar Journey” from the “Touching Brotherhood” category in his reading app, he turned and dove into the laboratory, focusing on work for an entire day. Only then did he come out, ready to head to the Imperial Military Medical Research Institute to find Doctor Yǔ Jiānuò.

The Imperial Military Medical Research Institute was the top hospital in the Galactic Empire, bar none.

All the doctors and nurses in this hospital only served the imperial family, officials, military personnel, and their families. Unless there were special circumstances, they generally wouldn’t accept any civilians. So Yún Xúnlán didn’t need to clear out other personnel when he arrived; he headed straight to the consultation room he had previously scheduled, familiar with the route and needing no guidance.

Today, the four who were responsible for closely following Yún Xúnlán—Yú Chén, Fù Yánxī, Guì Yán, and Lù Yōu—were blocked outside the consultation room along with attendant Ní Chūn.

These four were the top four alphas among the nine guards, and it was most appropriate for Yún Xúnlán to be escorted by them when he went out.

However, among these four top alphas, three of them had dark circles under their eyes. One of them stood in front of the psychological consultation room, glancing out the window, his eyes red, nostalgically saying: “Ah, that sea of flowers—”

“That long bench—”

Fù Yánxī was almost in tears: “Perhaps it was here that His Highness the Third Prince saw me crying back then, and specially went to the garden to comfort me, calling me ‘brother’… sob…”

Yú Chén, Guì Yán, and Lù Yōu: “……”

Yú Chén didn’t want to look at Fù Yánxī’s face, nor did he want to hear him ramble about his childhood encounter with the Third Prince. He withdrew his gaze, observing the nose with his eyes and the heart with his nose, just standing guard. But after a while, he suddenly felt a gaze land on him.

He looked back and found the owner of the gaze was Ní Chūn.

Ní Chūn’s expression was complex, his face a mess, filled with the words “want to say but can’t.”

It must be because he found out that Yún Xúnlán wanted to date him, Yú Chén thought. He could understand; when he first realized this, his feelings were also complicated. He had carefully considered for several days before deciding to respond to the prince’s seemingly hopeless feelings.

As expected, Ní Chūn hesitated for a moment before he couldn’t hold back any longer. He walked up to Yú Chén, lowered his voice, and said: “Major Yú Chén, I have something I want to discuss with you privately.”

“Okay.” Yú Chén nodded in agreement and followed Ní Chūn to a corner.

Ní Chūn clasped his hands together, his brows tightly knitted, indicating that he was very nervous at the moment.

Yú Chén watched from the side, his heartstrings tightening. He was concerned about Yún Xúnlán’s visit to the hospital today—was something wrong with the young man’s health?

But Yún Xúnlán was here to see a psychologist, right?

Or was the problem psychological?

He furrowed his brows and asked Ní Chūn: “Ní Chūn, is what you want to discuss related to His Highness the Third Prince?”

“Yes.” Ní Chūn clenched his fists and said solemnly, “It’s very important.”

In the consultation room, Yún Xúnlán was dressed in a white suit, his fingers crossed on his knees, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he raised his eyes to look at the male omega in a soft beige turtleneck sweater in front of him, greeting him: “It’s been almost a month since we last met. How have you been lately, Doctor Yǔ?”

Yǔ Jiānuò shook his head with a smile: “Your Highness, you’ve stolen my opening line again. I’ve been doing well, and you?”

“I’ve been doing very well lately.” Yún Xúnlán replied, “So I think we can shorten our consultation time today.”

Yǔ Jiānuò smiled again, not commenting on Yún Xúnlán’s latter statement, but expanding on his first sentence: “So Your Highness has been doing well recently. Have you encountered something happy? Are you in love?”

Yún Xúnlán answered honestly: “Not really, but I’ve met someone very important to me, and spending time with him makes me very happy. I feel joyful every day when I’m with him.”

Yǔ Jiānuò asked: “Is he your friend?”

Yún Xúnlán replied: “For now, yes, but I hope our relationship can progress further.”

Yǔ Jiānuò listened attentively: “So you want to progress to…?”

Yún Xúnlán said: “A lifelong good brother.”

Yǔ Jiānuò encouraged him: “As long as you put your heart into maintaining and nurturing your friendship, you can definitely achieve it.”

Yún Xúnlán nodded in agreement: “Yes, I feel it’s close. I’m looking forward to that day.”

Although he couldn’t directly observe the specific progress of his friendship with Yú Chén, Yún Xúnlán had experience in this matter—after reaching the peak of his friendship with Jiǎn Wénxī, rumors about them emerged. So, he thought, his relationship with Yú Chén was probably similar.

“By the way, Doctor Yǔ, I want to thank you for the advice you gave last time.” Yún Xúnlán brought up another matter with Yǔ Jiānuò, “Getting a pet really helps alleviate anxiety and stress significantly.”

“Indeed, when you’re feeling down or particularly anxious, petting it can help you relax.” Yǔ Jiānuò asked again, “What kind of pet do you have, Your Highness? How is it going?”

Mentioning his little pet made Yún Xúnlán a bit proud: “It’s going well; it’s about to develop a patina.”

Yǔ Jiānuò paused for a moment: “…Patina?”

“Yeah, I have a tea pet, a little blue sea fish.” Yún Xúnlán touched his holographic wristband, inviting Yǔ Jiānuò to admire his pet, “Doctor Yǔ, would you like to see a picture of it?”

Yǔ Jiānuò: “……”