The Imperial Consort?
Given the nature of her work, Pei Liang had dabbled in all kinds of novel and screenplay genres.
Still, stories of this particular type were rare, so even Pei Liang did not know much about them.
Going by the title alone, it was impossible to tell at a glance whether this referred to the husband of a female emperor or the husband of an imperial daughter.
Fortunately, the original story featured an important character who allowed Pei Liang to place the role, sparing her from complete bewilderment.
To be honest, knowing absolutely nothing about the systems and customs of the world around her was even more inconvenient than having no script at all.
Pei Liang guessed that because she had achieved such a high completion rate and received such generous rewards in the previous world, the difficulty of this one had been raised accordingly.
It had not reached the point of deliberately targeting her, but the steadily increasing difficulty was enough to prove that her earlier guess had been correct.
If the department’s standard, assembly-line strategy was followed, this gradual increase in difficulty would eliminate the players one by one.
In the eyes of those around her, the original host was a stern, even somewhat vicious person. She ought to be furious at the moment as well.
Naturally, no one dared to provoke her. Once she put on this unapproachable air, it could shield Pei Liang from quite a bit of trouble.
Guided by the palace attendants, she arrived at the Imperial Consort’s palace.
From the palace’s furnishings and décor alone, it was clear that its master was not someone of austere, solemn tastes.
The empress had spent her early years campaigning in the south and had accumulated countless ailments in her body. Her health had been poor for the past few years.
After the winter of last year, she had deteriorated rapidly, and for several months she had been bedridden.
That was also why everyone was so eager to confirm the position of the Crown Princess.
But given the empress’s condition, the Imperial Consort should, by all rights, have been deeply worried and devoted to caring for her. Instead, he showed no intention of giving up his pleasures.
Every day, he merely sent someone to make a token inquiry, then went on about his own business. Even the other consorts knew to exercise restraint; in recent months, they had mostly worn plain clothing and modest jewelry.
The Imperial Consort, however, refused to do so. He looked positively delighted, as though eagerly awaiting his wife’s death.
The original story never explained this Imperial Consort’s age or whether he had given birth. However, judging by the way he repeatedly acted later on, seemingly taking revenge on behalf of the Eldest Imperial Daughter…
He was almost certainly her biological father.
That made him a natural ally. Moreover, the Imperial Consort had been the empress’s favorite for many years and had dominated the inner palace with unrestrained arrogance. Aside from the empress’s partiality, he himself was clearly no ordinary man.
For someone who had won every battle in the palace intrigues and remained firmly in the victor’s seat for over a decade, his depth of thought was self-evident.
Even Pei Liang had no choice but to deal with him carefully.
Perhaps because the bond between father and daughter was a close one, the Imperial Consort did not receive her in the main hall. Instead, the attendants led her directly into the inner chamber.
When the curtain was lifted, the first thing she saw was a breathtaking beauty in red. He had a languid, seductive air, with a beauty mark beneath one eye.
It was nearly noon, yet he looked as though he had only just woken up. His clothes were not even properly fastened, leaving a broad expanse of his chest exposed, while his ink-black hair fell loosely around his shoulders.
His bare feet, as white as jade, rested on the chaise longue as he reclined there.
Two young palace attendants had been serving him nearby. When they saw her enter, they rose and left of their own accord.
The man lazily lifted his eyes to glance at her. Judging from his appearance alone, it was impossible to determine his age.
His bearing was graceful and alluring, carrying the mellow fragrance of time, yet his skin was as smooth as polished jade, without a single fine line on his face.
His gaze was deep, as though it concealed invisible hooks. He truly lived up to his reputation as one of the original story’s great antagonists—the Consort Yan, known as the Demonic Consort of His Generation.
Seeing Pei Liang standing there like a fool, Consort Yan let out a scornful laugh. “Look at you, acting so pathetic. Who are you putting on this show for?”
Pei Liang said nothing. She still wore that icy expression, as though she were barely suppressing a violent rage. Better to let him reveal a little more information first, so she could gauge the nature of their relationship before reacting.
Consort Yan was not bothered by her silence. If anything, he continued to needle her.
“I told you long ago that that old hag was a deeply calculating woman.”
“Until you’re actually sitting in that seat, you can’t afford to let your guard down. Yet you were overjoyed, convinced the position could belong to no one but you.”
“Let me tell you this: nothing is yours simply because you were born to it. Even if it’s hanging right in front of your face, you still have to fight to seize it.”
Pei Liang agreed with that much, though she also understood the original owner’s reasoning.
Of the three Imperial Daughters still in contention, she was the eldest and possessed both literary talent and martial prowess. She was clearly the most suitable candidate to inherit the throne.
The Second Imperial Daughter, though gentle and broad-minded, had a disability. Her left leg was impaired. It was not noticeable while standing, and she could walk slowly well enough, but if she picked up her pace even slightly, the limp became obvious.
She had therefore been excluded from the succession from the very beginning.
As for the Third Imperial Daughter, she was low-born and had shown only mediocre aptitude since childhood. Even now, grown as she was, she remained muddle-headed and timid, thinking of nothing but food all day.
Put the three heirs together, and anyone with eyes could see who ought to be chosen.
Nor had the Empress’s attitude ever suggested otherwise. Before this, she had even dropped numerous hints.
Naturally, the original Pei Liang had been delighted, simply waiting for her appointment. Yet what she received instead was the title of Prince Liang.
Liang.
No matter how one interpreted the character, it carried a faintly mocking edge.
With the original owner’s temperament, she was surely not merely enraged that the position of Crown Princess had gone to someone else. She must also have been enduring the utmost humiliation of feeling betrayed—and ridiculed—by her own mother.
No wonder she had clenched her fists until they bled.
Given Consort Yan’s understanding of Pei Liang, she should have flown into a rage and overturned the table by now.
And yet, she remained as cold and indifferent as ever.
Consort Yan was no ordinary man. His eyes narrowed. The Eldest Imperial Daughter was—
Though she appeared distant and unapproachable, there was no sign of panic or impending loss of control about her. This was not the stillness before a storm.
It was as if, even in such circumstances, she remained entirely composed.
Consort Yan found it hard to believe, though his expression did not change.
He tipped his chin toward the end of the couch, signaling Pei Liang. “Sit.”
Pei Liang sat down accordingly, and a foot as pale and exquisite as carved white jade landed in her lap.
Consort Yan straightened up and draped himself over her in a seductive pose, the rich, sensual scent of a mature man washing over her.
When he spoke, his voice slipped into Pei Liang’s ears. Though they were not actually that close, she felt as though he were pressed against her ear, breathing each note—infused with his distinctive fragrance—directly into her eardrum.
It sent a tingling numbness through her whole body.
Consort Yan said, “You dead thing, you’re surprisingly steady today. I suppose that fall must have hurt.”
That confirmed it. There was no fucking way these two were biological father and daughter.
With behavior like this, given Pei Liang’s extensive experience in reading people, if they weren’t having an affair, she’d twist her own head off and use it as a ball.
Then a wave of absurdity rose in Pei Liang’s heart.
She had only three words for the original owner—
Serves you right.
And you thought you could become Crown Princess? Dream on.
The Empress isn’t even dead yet, and you, you unfilial daughter, are already rushing to claim your own little mother—your little father.
Someone so utterly devoid of reverence and moral restraint shouldn’t even be considered for the position of heir. Never mind the Empress’s fury at being cuckolded; from a long-term perspective alone, it would be foolish to make such a hypocritical, debauched person the Crown Princess.
Did she really think she had hidden it well—that no one knew a thing?
If she had truly managed to keep it concealed without a single leak, that would at least have shown some ability. With that kind of talent, letting her become Crown Princess would not have been entirely unreasonable.
But the key point was that she had let the Empress find out. Wasn’t that simply a case of having ambitions beyond her abilities?
And someone like that still had the nerve to feel furious and humiliated?
With the Empress’s maneuvering and that so-called title of Prince Liang, she might as well have written, in huge characters and plastered it across her face: *Why aren’t you the Crown Princess? Don’t you have any idea?*
The Empress had probably already decided to eliminate the original Pei Liang by now.
That said, as an outsider, Pei Liang felt no urge to share the Empress’s outrage.
She merely thought that when it came to the imperial family, things truly were extraordinary. Right from the start, they were this thrilling.
Now that she had inherited the original’s mess, she would naturally have to take responsibility for both the good and the bad.
Consort Yan’s toes teased her calf, wantonly caressing it as he said, “What’s wrong? You can’t even be bothered to talk to me anymore?”
Pei Liang had a rough idea of the situation. Instead of retreating, she pressed forward.
“It’s not that,” she said. “I was just thinking about something.”
“Oh? What?”
Pei Liang turned her head and looked straight at him. In a soft voice, she asked, “Tell me, do you think Mother Empress already knows about us?”
As expected, Consort Yan’s expression changed the instant she said this.
He instinctively replied, “Impossible.”
“How is it impossible?” Pei Liang leaned toward him, instantly turning the tables and taking the initiative.
She advanced with an overwhelming air of pressure. “Other than that, I truly can’t think of any reason why Mother Empress would abandon me and choose to establish Third Sister as Crown Princess instead.”
“Prince Liang, are you implying that I’m cold and ungrateful—or that Mother Empress has grown disgusted with me and lost all affection for me?”
“Ever since I was born, I have been the most outstanding among the imperial daughters and sons. I have never once failed to live up to Mother Empress’s expectations.”
“If there is anything I’ve done in this life that could have disappointed Mother Empress—”
She looked at Consort Yan. In truth, she had no idea what other “fine deeds” the original had committed in the past.
The original novel had not devoted much attention to the original Pei Liang. Yet despite the few scattered comments describing her as violent and rebellious, it had also given her no small number of positive evaluations.
Naturally, when someone had every advantage on her side, she would possess not only arrogance but also the composure of a victor.
And beneath that composure, her behavior would hardly be petty.
If she wanted to be even more shameless about it, then regardless of how poor the original’s reputation had been, someone in her position and circumstances would certainly have had a favorable impression of herself. She must have had very little self-awareness on ordinary days.
So Pei Liang wasn’t worried that saying this would expose a flaw.
As expected, she had no need to worry for now. Consort Yan’s expression was remarkably entertaining, and his thoughts at that moment were probably even more complicated.
After several breaths, his expression gradually settled.
Then he let out a rather self-deprecating scoff. “What? Are you blaming me?”
“Blaming me for making you lose your position as Crown Princess?”
Before Pei Liang could answer, a mocking smile had already appeared at the corner of his lips.
“Heh-heh. The women of the Pei family, all of you are really something…”
“So, has Prince Liang come here to call me to account?”
Pei Liang smiled. She picked up one of Consort Yan’s jade-like feet, bent her index finger, and pressed the knuckle against a certain point on his sole. With a push and a twist—
“Mm—” Consort Yan let out a sound that was half pleasure, half pain. Caught off guard, he nearly burst into tears.
His eyes turned misty, softening the depth and shrewdness they had held moments before and making him seem almost pitiful.
“What are you doing? Where did you learn that?”
With that single press, his scalp went numb, and his entire body melted into boneless bliss. The unbearable sensation in the sole of his foot was accompanied by a sharp pain—still within the limits of what he could endure, yet enough to nearly kill him.
But once the pressure stopped, his whole body was left feeling strangely empty.
She had stirred him so thoroughly, yet this was hardly the time for such things. Besides, he could not bring himself to lose face by asking for more.
But Prince Liang pressed again, applying that exquisite, bone-deep torment, and smiled. “How could I?”
“The position of Crown Princess is worth less than a single Imperial Consort Fang Ze.”
Consort Yan gave Prince Liang a long, searching look, then broke into a smile dazzling enough to topple cities. “You do have a talent for sweet talk, but that line surpasses all the thousands that came before it.”
“The women of the Pei family truly are masters at coaxing people. Ah—”
“Go a little easier.”
Pei Liang smiled. “I cannot. This acupoint is somewhat congested. Has Your Consortship had anything weighing on your mind lately?”
Consort Yan regarded her with amusement. “You still have the leisure to worry about me?”
“Now that the old thing knows about us, I do not much care. The Yan family has long since been reduced to a lone ghost—me.”
“Prince Liang, however, is different. Even if His Majesty has already named the Crown Princess, as for the Third Imperial Daughter... calling her a useless fool would be—mm!”
Consort Yan was certain that Pei Liang had done that on purpose. He shot her an indignant glare with his beautiful eyes.
Pei Liang said, “Do not speak of Third Sister that way.”
“Her nature is kind and innocent. Even if she learns a little slowly, one simply needs to teach her patiently. She is no worse than anyone else.”
At this, Consort Yan stared at Prince Liang as though he intended to study a flower out of her face.
After confirming that she truly meant it—that she spoke as casually as if commenting on the day’s weather, rather than making some veiled, sarcastic performance for his benefit—Consort Yan turned his head away and sneered.
“Fine. It seems I am the villain here.”
But then Prince Liang added, “Still, she is indeed unsuited to be Emperor.”
She was far too kind, and always assumed the best of others.
Looking at the original story as a whole, even though the Third Imperial Daughter eventually secured the throne and became a wise ruler, Pei Liang believed that the fundamental problem had never truly been resolved.
Not only had it not been resolved—on closer reflection, there were many deeply unsettling implications.
Consort Yan cast Pei Liang a surprised glance. To be honest, he could not understand the Eldest Imperial Daughter today.
If not for her unmistakable appearance, build, and every familiar little detail, he might have suspected that an entirely different person stood before him.
He knew Prince Liang’s temperament well. She was clever, certainly, but also the easiest person to control.
He had always known precisely how to provoke her anger, how to guide her fury, how to make her react exactly as he wished.
Yet now, it was he who was being led around by the nose.
The other party had only just lost the position of Crown Princess and been saddled with such a humiliating title, yet she could calmly analyze whether the affair had been exposed, even regarding the Third Imperial Daughter with such equanimity.
Consort Yan asked teasingly, “If the Third Imperial Daughter is unsuitable, then what about the Second Imperial Daughter?”
“The Second Imperial Daughter is honest and mild-tempered. She enjoys deep popular support, and her abilities are not lacking. Though she has a disability, it does not hinder her from walking or sitting.”
As he spoke, his gaze flicked toward her.
“At the very least, she is far better than a beast that disregards all human decency.”
The beast that disregarded human decency increased the force of her movements. At once, Consort Yan’s long fingers clenched tightly in the bedsheets; his neck arched back helplessly, his breathing falling into disarray.
Then the beast said, “She won’t do.”
“Her heart is full of poison. She may be good at petty scheming and scrambling for advantage, but don’t expect her to accomplish anything great.”
Pei Liang smiled at Consort Yan, whose face was flushed red. “So it seems I’ll have to trouble myself and take the role after all.”
Consort Yan had never known that someone could become so shameless after being provoked. He gave a derisive laugh. “You should worry about surviving this crisis first.”
“If things are truly as you say, that old woman is probably already considering how to get rid of you.”
“Don’t be too confident in the forces you control. That old woman has spent decades building her foundations; they are beyond anything you can imagine.”
Pei Liang nodded. “That’s true. For all I know, even the confidants I trust most deeply may ultimately be loyal to Mother Emperor.”
Consort Yan was startled. “Then you—”
“Don’t be nervous,” Pei Liang said. “There’s no grudge between a mother and daughter that can last overnight. I’ll find a time to have a proper talk with Mother Emperor and ask for her forgiveness.”
Consort Yan was both annoyed and amused. “Are you dreaming? Do you think an emperor would forgive something like this?”
Pei Liang’s face showed a hint of difficulty as well. “True enough. Fortunately, all I need is that outcome.”
“As for whether Mother Emperor truly means it, or whether she does so willingly—that doesn’t matter.”
Consort Yan looked at her as if he were seeing Prince Liang for the first time.
Of course, she had always been arrogant and unrestrained. As a member of the imperial family and the person second only to the Emperor, how could she lack the means to be arrogant?
Yet today, she spoke in an even tone, without the slightest hint of excitement or fixation in her eyes.
Everything that passed her lips was treated as though it were of no consequence.
But Consort Yan felt that this was the kind of arrogance that was truly impossible to contend with.
Consort Yan had summoned her here with a plan in mind.
But now there was no need for it. Though he had not voiced it aloud, he knew very well that Prince Liang, as she was now, would not be swayed by anyone.
Consort Yan changed the subject. “Since you know what you are doing, that is enough.”
“Your wedding is in three days. I had intended to advise you that, even in the face of such upheaval, you must not lose your composure before others. But it seems I need not waste my breath.”
Then he added, “I hear that the Su Chancellor’s son is renowned throughout the realm for his talent, and that he is proud and aloof by nature.”
“And yet he still ended up being—”
Hearing this, Pei Liang assumed from past experience that Consort Yan was feeling jealous.
Whether he truly was or not, she ought to show some sincerity in soothing him.
So her movements became even more careful and attentive.
She had trained in martial arts for many years. Across both her lives, her study of the martial path added up to nearly a century.
Her knowledge of the body’s meridians and acupoints had long since reached perfection. What was more, she possessed incomparable precision, and Hongxiu had taught her a set of top-tier massage techniques.
So when it came to giving Consort Yan a thorough “wellness treatment,” she could make a person feel as though they were ascending to heaven—no exaggeration whatsoever.
At first, while Pei Liang was still pressing casually, Consort Yan could savor that soul-melting pleasure and still spare enough attention to speak with her, though he had no energy left for much thought.
And so Pei Liang managed to coax quite a bit of useful information out of him.
By the end, however, when Pei Liang focused on him wholeheartedly, it was no exaggeration to say that this was a pleasure Consort Yan had never experienced in his entire life.
When it was over, his cheeks were flushed, his eyes glistening, his face suffused with a springlike glow. He was drenched in fragrant sweat, limp and utterly weak all over.
Even the sheet spread beneath him on the chaise lounge had been clawed out of shape.
Pei Liang rose, put on her robe, and smoothed her clothes.
Come on—she weighed this much already. How could she possibly give someone a proper full-body treatment while wearing weights? What sort of torture would that be?
Consort Yan had clearly been very well attended to. His voice had become even more alluring.
“You wretch. You claim you’re asking your Imperial Mother to forgive you, yet this is how you seek her understanding?”
Pei Liang turned back and brushed aside the strands of hair dampened with sweat from his face.
Smiling, she said, “Imperial Mother cherishes Father-Consort more than anyone. Now that she lies ill in bed, if she knew Father-Consort were lonely and miserable, she would surely be unable to bear it.”
“As her daughter, how could Liang stand by and watch Imperial Mother suffer further worry amid her illness? Naturally, I must serve in her stead.”
Consort Yan could not help laughing. By nature, he adored madness and excitement.
The former Prince Liang would never have said anything so shameless.
After seeing Prince Liang off, Consort Yan did not summon any palace attendants to come in and clean up for quite some time.
He was still savoring the blissful, bone-deep ecstasy from moments before.
No matter how strange it all was, Consort Yan found that he was now somewhat reluctant to see this intriguing Prince Liang die.
Only after the time it took to burn three sticks of incense did people finally enter from outside.
As his personal attendants helped Consort Yan tidy himself up, the sight of the fragrant, disordered scene made their cheeks burn and their mouths go dry.
Who knew how intense and uninhibited Consort Yan and the Eldest Imperial Daughter had been just now?
Oh, no—she should be called Prince Liang now.
When Pei Liang left Consort Yan’s palace, her personal attendants were already waiting outside.
Two personal attendants had accompanied Pei Liang into the palace. By coincidence, one was called Qingyi, and the other Hongxiu.
But unlike the two delicate, willow-slender beauties from before, these two ladies were hardly frail or pitiable in appearance.
They were tall, powerfully built, with solid, well-proportioned muscles—rather like glamorous female bodyguards.
Their features were likewise spirited and valiant. To be honest, Pei Liang found this style appealing as well.
She was quite satisfied with them.
As Prince Liang’s trusted aides, the two naturally knew of her affair with Consort Yan.
At present, their mistress had lost her position as heir apparent, while the Emperor had bestowed upon her such an ambiguous title. It was only understandable that she was furious and desperately needed an outlet.
Still, at such a delicate moment, waiting outside had left them both trembling with anxiety.
When Pei Liang emerged, they asked, “Your Highness, shall we return to the residence?”
“Let’s go back,” Pei Liang said.
From Consort Yan, she had indirectly learned that Prince Liang, with her wedding fast approaching, had already been granted her own residence and moved out of the palace.
The Second Imperial Daughter and the Third Imperial Daughter, meanwhile, still lived within the palace.
Pei Liang’s most urgent task now was to get a firm grasp of the network of relationships surrounding the original owner of this body, as well as the resources at her disposal.
Everything else came second.
And now that she had missed out on the position of Crown Princess, the advisers in her residence had surely received the news as well.
This was the perfect chance to gather information and screen them. Since the Empress had already decided to move against her, time was no longer on her side.
Yet before she could even leave the palace, she was intercepted by a pitiful little thing staring at her with pleading eyes.
Pei Liang looked at the Third Imperial Daughter before her. This younger sister had always been an invisible, pitiable figure in the palace.
Her birth father had been of low status and had died young. She was slow-witted and not particularly favored by the Empress.
In a place like the imperial palace, where everyone trampled the weak and fawned over the powerful, even as an imperial daughter, her circumstances were worse than those of a favored prince.
Still, it was not as if the original owner of this body or the Second Imperial Daughter had bullied her.
The original owner had regarded herself as the future Empress. Why would she bother competing with two useless sisters who posed no threat to her?
She might have been wary of the Second Imperial Daughter, but as for the Third Imperial Daughter, she had not thought her worth a moment’s consideration.
Naturally, it had been easy for her to play the role of a generous elder sister, maintaining the appearance of sisterly affection.
The Second Imperial Daughter had always presented herself as gentle-tempered, and often showed concern for this younger sister.
Thanks to the two of them, the Third Imperial Daughter’s life had been fairly decent these past few years. Though she was not valued and inevitably endured the Empress’s and her tutors’ reprimands and scorn, she ate happily, laughed easily, and never took such things to heart.
At this moment, the Third Imperial Daughter truly respected and adored her eldest sister. She had never expected their mother to make her Crown Princess, thrusting her into the eye of the storm.
Earlier, her eldest sister had ignored her. Now, after finally managing to stop her, Pei Le did not dare hesitate and fumble for words as she had before.
Her eyes brimmed as though she were about to cry. “Elder Sister, I don’t want to be Crown Princess. Let’s go see Mother right now.”
“I’ll beg her. I’ll kneel and beg her to take back her decree and name you Crown Princess instead.”
This child... Though Pei Liang had long known that she was, at this point, an utterly innocent child, hearing those words still made her want to rub her forehead.
Sure enough, Hongxiu and Qingyi’s expressions changed at once.
They were Prince Liang’s trusted attendants, and their mistress’s humiliation was their own.
Unable to suppress their anger, they said, “Enough, Your Highness the Crown Princess. Do not go too far.”
“You have already taken the position of heir apparent. Even though our mistress is your elder sister, she now understands the distinction between high and low and will not rely on her seniority. There is no need for Your Highness to humiliate our mistress like this.”
Realizing that she had apparently said something wrong again, the Third Imperial Daughter grew so anxious that she was nearly in tears.
She hurriedly looked to Pei Liang. “Elder Sister, I didn’t—I didn’t mean it that way.”
Pei Liang sighed, then smiled at the Third Imperial Daughter and patted her head.
Pei Le froze. Under her elder sister’s calm smile, the panic in her heart eased somewhat.
Then she heard her elder sister say, “Would you like to leave the palace and have some fun?”
The Third Imperial Daughter’s eyes lit up. She nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes, yes!”
Qingyi and Hongxiu exchanged a glance, both worried.
Could their mistress be planning to use this opportunity to get rid of the Crown Princess?
Honestly, she was entirely capable of it. And even if she did not kill the Crown Princess, she might arrange some accident that left her crippled for life.
The two attendants followed behind the two princesses, pondering the deeper meaning behind their mistress’s actions.
No one had expected the Third Imperial Daughter to become the Crown Princess. Even now, the news had yet to spread throughout the entire palace.
Naturally, none of the proper privileges and arrangements had caught up with her yet. Those who had seen her sudden rise and wanted to curry favor with her had not even had the chance to find her before she had run off with Prince Liang.
In the past, the Third Imperial Daughter had been young and, moreover, unfavored. She could not simply leave the palace whenever she pleased.
But Prince Liang was different. If she wanted to take someone in or out of the palace, who would dare stop her?
So, when some people saw the Crown Princess leave with her, those who knew the circumstances hesitated, but ultimately did not dare interfere. They could only report the matter to the Empress.
By the time the Empress learned of it, the two had already left the palace.
Their grand procession first returned to Prince Liang’s residence, where the advisers had been waiting for her for quite some time.
Yet the newly appointed Crown Princess had returned with her as well, making things rather inconvenient for the moment.
Pei Liang shed the cumbersome garments weighing dozens of pounds and changed into ordinary clothes. She also had someone bring the Third Imperial Daughter a change of clothes.
When the Third Imperial Daughter emerged, Pei Liang looked her over and realized that, without all the excessive adornments, she and the original owner of this body actually bore about a thirty-percent resemblance to one another.
They were blood sisters, after all. It was only that one possessed a domineering, uninhibited air, while the other was timid and insecure. At first glance, no one would think they looked alike at all.
Pei Liang smiled. “Looking at us like this, we really do seem like ordinary sisters.”
At her words, the Third Imperial Daughter smiled shyly, her face even turning a little red.
The steward joined in with a smile. “Your Highness, the Third Princess is wearing clothes from your younger days. They suit her quite well.”
Confident in her martial prowess, Pei Liang had not brought many guards with her—only Qingyi and Hongxiu, her two personal attendants.
The two of them assumed she had done so to make it easier to act, and thus did not try to dissuade her.
However, while on the road, they quietly asked, “Your Highness, since you will be accompanying Her Highness the Crown Princess for amusement today, shall we postpone the visit to the Su family until tomorrow?”
The Su family?
At such a moment, for them to mention it specifically... it must be the Su family Consort Yan had mentioned—the family Pei Liang’s original self was about to marry into.
Since she needed to understand the situation first anyway, she nodded.
Hongxiu, standing beside her, said rather smugly, “That young master of the Su family was so fiercely unyielding back then, but after our princess saw his body, didn’t he still have to obediently marry into the household?”
“Fortunately, Your Highness had the foresight to settle the marriage with the Su family before the Crown Princess’s investiture. Otherwise, that old fox of the Su family—”
Wait a moment! She had tarnished someone’s reputation and then forced him into marriage?
Just how many outrageous things had the original owner done?
