Queen Rong glanced at the old mer. She, of course, knew what the mer was thinking, but she was not in a hurry to deal with him. She turned to look at Ruan Chanchan and said to her, "I hope that you will not take this incident to your heart, Miss Ruan. You have done a great job by helping our tribe when we were in trouble. Do not worry, we will never forget the help that you and your tribe have given us."

When Ruan Chanchan heard her response, she heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed like she did not have to worry about the alliance anymore. With the queen’s promise, Ruan Chanchan was certain that the Killer Whale Tribe would certainly ally with her tribe. This alone killed most of her worries.

"Then I shall thank you for your kindness and benevolence, your majesty," said Ruan Chanchan with a respectful bow of her head.

Hearing her response, Queen Rong did not say anything and simply smiled. She then said gently, "Ruan Chanchan, you must be tired after busying around for the entire morning. You should go ahead and rest a little bit."

Ruan Chanchan was not tired at all, but she didn’t want to refuse the command. She lowered her head and said, "Then I shall take my leave, your majesty." She turned on her feet and walked out of the cave without saying anything further. Once she walked out of the cave, the queen turned to look at the elders who had caused trouble for Ruan Chanchan and narrowed her eyes. "So, it seems like my words are nothing but farts for you all? I told you all explicitly that no one is allowed to cause trouble for Miss Ruan. But it seems like after enjoying my leniency for a while, you have gotten used to it to the point that you are ignoring my commands. Is that not right, my dear elders?"

Though the queen was smiling, her smile gave chills to the elders.

"I —I just thought that there was a scheme behind her actions, your majesty. I was just looking out for the tribe and nothing else!" Elder Huo was furious when he heard that even the queen of the tribe was blaming her. He just wanted to make sure that there would be no trap waiting for them in the future. But the queen was quick to agree to Ruan Chanchan’s request even when she knew the intentions of the woman were not pure. What was the queen even thinking?

"I believe you all are thinking what is going on in my mind. Since Miss Ruan tried to be sneaky with us, I should have cut her head off and then thrown her body in the sea." Queen Rong sat down on the kang, and her eyes widened slightly when she realised how warm it had become. For the first time, she was looking forward to winter, where she would be able to sleep without freezing her arse off.

She then raised her head and looked at the people in front of her. As soon as she finished speaking, Elder Huo rushed forward and said, "Thats right, your majesty. It’s not that I did not want to listen to your commands, but that woman is too sly. She promised that she would help our tribe, but then she went back halfway, and after building this kang, she told us that the most important thing would be supplied by her tribe. Is it not an attempt to lie to us and then sell us something in exchange for gaining an alliance with us?"

Elder Huo was glad that the queen was finally seeing the reason behind his actions. It was not that he did not want to help his tribe; he was just worried that if the tribe ended up forming an alliance with the big bear tribe, then the connection between Ruan Chanchan and the prince would only increase from here. What was more, the only person who could supply the coal was Ruan Chanchan. If that happened, then she would indirectly become an important member of the tribe.

What would happen to his daughter then? Could he still claim that his daughter was the best candidate for the consort? He did not believe so.

Elder Huo wanted to nip the bud before it bloomed, but at the same time, he was worried that if he tried to show too much of his resistance, then he would end up becoming a public enemy. He could only hope that the queen would listen to his pleas and kick that woman out before she integrated too deeply into the tribe. Something that he did not want to!

He pursed his lips and said in a low voice, "Your majesty, I am just trying to make sure that we do not fall into a trap. So we might as well..." he trailed off while making a swiping gesture at his neck as if to tell the queen that it was better to kill Ruan Chanchan than keep her alive.

Rong Xian made a violent movement when he heard the comment of the elder, but he was stopped by the queen, who raised her hand and said in a cold voice, "And why would I do such a silly thing, elder Huo?"

"But your majesty—"

"You seem to have forgotten that Miss Ruan also has the supply of spices that are used in the cooking. Are you saying that I should have refused her request?" The queen asked with a raised brow. "It’s not that I am letting her scheme against us, but I can see the priorities at the moment. The cubs are relying on her to bring more delicacies, and I am not going to stop that from happening lest they end up starving again. We have already lost a lot of cubs, and we cannot allow more of them to die because of our own selfishness."

"But your majesty—"