The Dragon's Flower

(Warning: NSFW in this chapter had been removed and only available at my patreon page. To my nonpatron, stay fluff~)

XH 303* - Eighteen Years Old

Not much to everyone's surprise, 'Xiao Bao' shop was welcomed in Bai land, especially for the elderly patients that could not stand long in line without a shade or rest.

Doctor Bai started implementing number cards for patients to take to indicate their order to consult the doctor, which gave them an estimated time to wait for their turn. They would use the waiting time to enjoy the special meat buns and varieties of snacks from the 'Xiao Bao' shop.

Some also went to the shop just to catch a glimpse of Xiao Hua, the legendary Doctor Bai's foster daughter and the handsome Doctor Long Zhu's wife.

However, there was also some opportunist businessman that wanted to open a shop at Bai land too after seeing the crowd, but Bai Chuan refused. No one could say anything since Bai land was under the authority of Bai Chuan and his descendants. Not even the Four Kingdoms could interfere with Bai land.

Who told Bai Chuan to be a legendary doctor where the whole world praised him up to heaven?

Xiao Hua had told Long Zhu that as a doctor, he must not give them half treatment just so that the patients could come back again. They had to uphold Doctor Bai's name and good reputation.

Long Zhu agreed, with a helpless expression mixed with the feeling of being wronged since he had not thought of that cruel, money-grubbing treatment. Was his impression in Xiao Hua's mind that terrible?

Or did his teacher do something that made her have a rather dark outlook about their profession?

"Why do we still have so many patients?" Xiao Hua grumbled as she gazed out of the window where she could see the crowd before the Bai clinic. If she had not recognized any of the patients, she would have thought Long Zhu had not treated their illness properly.

She thought that with how many patients her husband had treated, there should be lesser people coming, but reality smacked her face!

...Should she recommend increasing the fees?

With the shop taking almost all her time, it felt like time passed by quickly and today was already her eighteenth birthday. Luckily, tomorrow was their rest day where Bai clinic and 'Xiao Bao' shop will be closing. They had extended the holiday to two days, allowing them to celebrate way past bedtime.

The birthday party will be during dinner time, with lavish dishes and specially brewed wine, homemade by Doctor Bai, Yu Zheng, and Tian Chi.

The couple closed their shop earlier, and the trip back to the mountaintop was completed in mere seconds. It was all thanks to the teleportation array made by Duan XiYing, connecting the two places.

Xiao Hua was extremely grateful for it because she does not need to wake up much earlier every day just to walk down the mountain.

Hao Li, Lin Fei, and Han Mei were all invited to the party. They were reluctant to accept at first, but Xiao Hua insisted that they were their trusted employee and it was just an informal feast among friends and family.

Xiao Hua became even more insistent in having them join the party after they had given her presents, even if they were just simple gifts.

Right on time before dinner, Heise teleported right at Bai land with Heng Xin, the Empress Dowager, and the retired Emperors. When Long Zhu announced his plans to migrate to Bai land, Long Yuen had wanted to follow his favourite grandson, but he was also worried about his Emperor grandson, who was still young and needed guidance.

As an Emperor before, he knew it was tough to handle the Kingdom's affairs, and the ministers did not always act supportively. Although it was frowned upon, it was human nature for them to place more importance on their personal benefits.

Long Yuen finally decided to stay beside his Emperor grandson right until he reached the age of eighteen before he retired to the Bai land. He had travelled around the Four Kingdoms for many decades already, and his desire to help others had been fulfilled. It was time for him to enjoy the remainder of his life with his family and friend.

Xiao Hua eyed the 20th Emperor, who had lost a lot of his weight and looked much older than the 19th Emperor. If no one knew the truth, they would have mixed up who was the actual father and son.

Although Xiao Hua's tea had removed the demonic mist from the 20th Emperor's body, the mists had already dealt quite a large amount of damage to him. The most serious was his heart and it was a miracle he was still alive with an incomplete heart without technology's help.

Doctor Bai had helped the 20th Emperor to extend his life, but it was only for a few years. Re-growing a person's limbs and organs were impossible in this time era, even in Le Xiao Ting's original world. The 20th Emperor was spared from the pain with medicine provided by Doctor Bai, and he could only enjoy his life with his wife before he left the world.

The Empress Dowager wanted them to move to Bai land with a relaxing environment but her husband refused. He was born in Guilin, and he wanted to die in it too.

For tonight's party, Xiao Hua provide the 20th Emperor a different chair than the others to sit on, made of Saint Rabbit's fur so that it will be easier on his body, and he seems to be liking it well. Even the Empress Dowager looked interested in it.

Much later, Long Lian and her husband, Tian Liang, finally arrived after the birthday feast already started. Long Lian and the fierce King of Munzhu finally got married five months ago, after Long Lian's worries on her relationship with Tian Liang were all solved.

Tonight, the small, humbly decorated house was lit brightly, filled with more laughter than usual and the smell of delicious home cooking made it more welcoming.

"Now that my little cousins develop more of their features, they look exactly like my uncle," Heise told Xiao Hua, eager to tell her about his cousins, the two-year-old and one-year-old boys of Prince Heng and Wan Ting. "Their mother complained that none of them inherited her looks, but I know she's secretly happy that her sons looked more like their handsome father."

"Are you hinting that I look ugly?" Xiao Hua pinned Heise a cold gaze. She would come to this conclusion because Heise knew Wan Ting was Le Xiao Ting's lookalike and always found chances to throw shade at Xiao Hua.

Heise snorted. "If you look ugly, what will the really ugly people feel?"

Xiao Hua sneered. "How do you feel?"

Before the duo came into blows, Long Zhu pulled his wife away, steering her to the birthday cake Bai Chuan had risked penalty to make just for her. She only happily eats it after Yu Zheng assured her that he will wipe off the penalty for Bai Chuan.

Tian Liang suddenly sought out Xiao Hua for a chat, which she suspected that he would be up to no good. And she was right.

"You are already eighteen years old. Surely you won't continue being willful and ignore your duties by not giving your husband an heir?"

Once again, Long Zhu had to steer Xiao Hua away before she could punch Tian Liang's face, which she might just succeed with her higher cultivation. Xiao Hua would only get this angry because she knew Tian Liang believed Long Lian did not want a child that early because of her sister-in-law.

Xiao Hua felt so wronged that she was forced to carry the crime when she had not committed it!

Your wife doesn't want to make a child with you, that means half of the problem lies with you, stupid brick head!

Feeling injustice, she went to Long Lian and spewed out every benefit of waiting to bear a child after she was much older and Heise became her assist just to piss off Tian Liang.

It was thanks to the elders that the feast did not end up with a fistfight.

By the time the visitors left, it was already very late and everyone went to sleep after cleaning up. As a sixth rank cultivator, there were many times she felt her energy was endless, but she could not resist her habit of sleeping every day.

Xiao Hua was washing her face when her husband came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and sticking himself on her back. She enjoyed the warmth radiated from her husband, as tonight was quite chilly on top of the mountain.

"You want to extend the time?"

The speed of rubbing her face with her towel slowed down. The young couple had discussed children two years ago and agreed that parenthood was too early for them, even though both of them were spiritually in their early thirties. Being ready for parenthood had nothing to do with age, but more with their attitude towards it.

As a concerned father, Bai Chuan agreed in waiting for Xiao Hua to grow older before having children so that the mother and child would be healthy. He even imparted the contraceptive medicine to Long Zhu, so Xiao Hua had been oven free without worries.

They all agreed to wait for Xiao Hua until she was eighteen to talk about children. If Tian Liang had not mentioned children, Long Zhu would have waited a bit longer before asking his wife.

"Is the clinic workload heavy?" Xiao Hua asked instead of answering Long Zhu's question.

Long Zhu feels his heart lighten a little with that question. That means she was not really against the idea. If she was, she would use excuses instead. "Not much now with Hao Li's help. It's stabilized. But I can reduce the number of patients per day and no one would complain."

There had been some maternal patients that had been asking about his heir lately. He can use the reason of needing to take care of his child to reduce the number of patients he will treat per day.

"'Xiao Bao' does not really need my attention since XiYing and Lin Fei handled most of the work for me." Xiao Hua smiled when she could sense the man she loved was trying to regulate his breathing in order not to betray his increasing expectation.

But her husband was too careful, not willing to easily accept her hint without her being frank of it. So Xiao Hua took one of his hands and slipped it into her inner robe.

This should be frank enough, right?

Since that day, Long Zhu stop brewing contraceptive medicine for Xiao Hua.