Divine Emperor of Death

Chapter 4960  A Cougar?

Mingzhi leaned back on her chair, putting her leg over the other unapologetically. Her expression didn't change at all.

"I'm not asking my daughter Lydia. I'm asking you, Lady Alicia. Can't let a cougar escape our oversight."

"…"

Lydia's jaws opened and closed, absolutely speechless.

Naturally, she preferred others treating her like she was Lady Alicia more than Lydia, but not in this way. Besides, what did Mingzhi mean by cougar?

What's a cougar?

A magical beast, of course, but in this context, it sounded like something else.

She felt like she vaguely understood it before forcefully sitting back on her chair, before she took a deep breath and answered.

"I love him as a sister."

"Are you sure you can stay that way? No matter how I see it, you two are very close, so I have to make sure that it doesn't change in the future."

"Then you should know we do not share such feelings with each other," Lydia answered coldly.

Mingzhi nodded. She paused for a moment before continuing, "I won't ask you to forgive me for being rude, as it is my task to maintain the law and protect the family members from being taken advantage of. When I conduct an investigation, I haven't spared anyone from being faced with the uncomfortable questions, so you can be reassured that you are not targeted."

Lydia nodded, her expression easing, "This is nothing compared to what I had to go through to confirm that I was still chaste back then."

"…"

Mingzhi went speechless, but she didn't let it show on her face. She took the report and found a line.

"Speaking of which, it's written here that your fiancée is one of the suspects who could've poisoned you along with the other suspects, such as your maid, your master, your martial uncle and martial aunt, and the ones who prepared the feast of the day of ascension. You are not aware of who as it could be anyone, and suspect lightly poisoning themselves to avoid suspicion. Regardless, how far have you gone with your fiancée in terms of intimacy?"

"Nowhere." Lydia quickly replied, "Nearly every marriage in the Starshroud Family is a marriage of convenience. I have yet to marry him, much less touch him, but he did have access to my palace and was close with my martial aunt, so I couldn't rule him out. I wouldn't know who poisoned me unless I go back and see who is all still alive from my peak..!"

Lydia was calm initially, but by the end, she was clenching her fists, her lips quivering.

Mingzhi saw her emotions spike with hatred and fury before she made an effort to calm herself.

"I will do my best to investigate this from the outside. I will send a spy into the Starshroud Family."

The Starshroud Family's location was already recorded from Lydia's account.

"…"

"Thank you." Lydia softly uttered as she calmed down.

"Don't mention it." Mingzhi barely hid a smile, "Your problems are our problems. We will burden ourselves with it even if you don't want to disturb us."

"…" Lydia's lips couldn't help but curl in amusement and delight.

This budding Davis Family was truly adorable. The unity was still strong, unlike families that couldn't give two shits about each other and are only looking to take advantage.

Mingzhi wanted to ask a few more questions, but felt it was enough. She deactivated Heart Intent and started rolling back the scroll that unwound far back into the corner.

"That concludes the end of the Threat Assessment Test, but before that, is there anything else you want to reveal by yourself before we chance upon it later on and it becomes a problem?"

"…" Lydia paused for a moment, her expression turning into one of contemplation.

She looked incredibly hesitant before pouting and sighing.

"Are incestuous relationships banned in the Davis Family?"

In the end, she asked a question which made Mingzhi pause, her heart skipping a beat. She quickly activated Heart Intent again, the heart sense encompassing Lydia as it detected a faint amount of amusement and guilt from her.

Mingzhi became curious. This question didn't seem to come from a place of self.

She took a light breath and answered her question.

"There's no explicit ban considering Davis is married to Tia, his little aunt, but it is obviously highly frowned upon to marry your siblings or even parents, for that matter."

Mingzhi didn't say anything about Alexi and Arianna. It was not publicly known that he had married his mother. Only a few knew about it, and in public, she was considered his aunt, still allowed within the lines of marriage, barely legal.

Besides, the Davis Family really didn't control which relationships were legal or not, since there were also laws from other families and powers. Alexi Ethren wasn't the only case from the population of three hundred million people in the sanctuary. She learned that when people lived for really a long, long time, their tastes and wants start heading in the wrong direction.

If they started culling these relationships, then they might have to target people just for having a one-night stand with their immediate family, which seemed to be high in number.

She had come across a lot of people when overseeing state affairs, and when her Heart Intent recognizes their emotions when they look at their immediate family, she could immediately tell if they had shared a bed or not, since the emotion of affection one shows to their partner is very different from that of a platonic one.

By Level Two Obscure Intent, it becomes rather obvious.

She was long desensitized, so she didn't care as long as it didn't happen in her family.

Lydia's lips curled into an amused smile.

"In that case… I think you need to pay attention to our surroundings more."

"…" Mingzhi sucked in a cold breath, "What do you know?"

"I can only warn, not snitch."

Lydia stood up before turning around and waving her hand.

"You-" Mingzhi pointed at her, "Are you kidding? Is it in our Davis Family?"

Lydia paused before turning to look back at her.

"I don't know. When you're a kid, people let their guard down when you're nearby and accidentally show their unseen side. For example, I remember father and mothers being very intimate when we went on vacation."

Mingzhi blushed, but she clenched her teeth as she couldn't tell who she was talking about, and she couldn't force a confession from Lydia either.

"Is it fun watching me worry over this?"

"Mother Mingzhi made me scared every single time we met, so this is the least I can do to get back at you~"

Lydia laughingly turned around and left in a good mood as though she got the last laugh.

"Aha, so funny…" Mingzhi smilingly harrumphed.

'Seriously though, who is engaging in an incestuous relationship!? It better be a one-time thing, or I will have to take action, but I still have to find out…! But before that, I have to report this to Davis!'

Mingzhi did not doubt anyone from the Davis Family since she regularly came across them, so she guessed this matter should concern the Loret Family, Alstreim Family and other families who attended