This whole fiasco had started with a failed matchmaking meeting. The trivial details of it had been overheard by someone of the Prince’s exalted station, and everyone present flushed with embarrassment.
General Liu was even more flustered. Did Prince Liang know that she had been on a matchmaking date?
A matchmaking meeting was a matchmaking meeting. She had just been humiliated so thoroughly, and ordinarily, General Liu—who had long since accepted her own unattractive appearance—would not have thought much of it. She would only have worried that her parents might be upset.
But now, in front of Prince Liang, she inexplicably felt ashamed and humiliated. So when he remained silent, she did not say a word or even greet him, which was undeniably rude.
Lady Du, on the other hand, immediately broke into a broad smile upon seeing Prince Liang, hastily concealing the brief embarrassment that had crossed her face.
With the smoothness of an old schemer, she said, “So it is Prince Liang. We have allowed Your Highness to witness such an embarrassing—”
Before she could finish, the smile vanished from Prince Liang’s face. His features hardened, and the pressure he radiated was overwhelming.
“Do I look as though I’m laughing?”
Lady Du’s smiling face seemed to have been slapped. She was left utterly mortified.
She stammered, “Your Highness, please forgive me.”
At first, she had assumed that Prince Liang was merely being verbally discourteous. Though the Du family was no longer as powerful as it once had been, given Prince Liang’s current situation, he surely would not casually make an enemy of an influential noble house.
He ought to be trying to win them over, not offend them.
But the next words left her completely dumbfounded.
“I see that not one of the three of you holds an official position or bears an imperial title, yet you dared to mock a first-rank court official—the Protector-General, General Liu, who has rendered unparalleled service protecting Da Liang?”
“Disrespecting your superiors is an unforgivable crime.”
“Seize them!”
The moment he spoke, the guards behind him stepped forward with icy expressions and took all three members of the Du family into custody.
The Du family was stunned. Strictly speaking, Prince Liang’s reasoning was sound—but this was not how things were done among the noble houses.
Lady Du also knew that picking a fight with a notoriously ruthless prince like Prince Liang was tantamount to courting death. She could only lower herself and beg for mercy.
“Your Highness, please, Your Highness, forgive us! What are we to do?”
“This was a private banquet. Official rank should not be brought into it, Your Highness. Matters of marriage negotiations are naturally prone to conflict. The Liu family cannot simply punish someone for disrespect because a match did not work out. If word gets out, will any respectable family still dare to come forward with a marriage proposal?”
At this, General Liu’s parents hesitated.
It was true. Given the influence of the Du faction, it would be unwise to let a few quarrelsome remarks turn into an all-out feud.
Besides, if word spread that the Du family had been punished merely because a matchmaking meeting had failed—even if Prince Liang had personally intervened—would any decent family dare approach the Liu household in the future?
General Liu’s parents were just about to plead for leniency when Prince Liang gave a cold laugh.
“No wonder a traitor who embezzled disaster-relief funds managed to survive. Your talent for twisting black into white has certainly not faded.”
“What I witnessed was clearly your Du family scheming first. When your plot was exposed, you flew into a rage, not only framing me for having a private relationship with a military officer, but also allowing your wife and daughter to viciously humiliate General Liu.”
“A private banquet may indeed be a place for people to speak freely. But once General Liu made it clear that she would submit a memorial to the throne tomorrow, Lady Du, you should have known that you had already violated the law of the realm.”
“At that point, you should have knelt and confessed your guilt. Instead, you became even more insolent. That only adds to your crimes.”
“Now that I happened to catch you red-handed, you still thought you could use your family’s influence to oppress others. You even tried to hold General Liu’s marriage over her head.”
“A mere presented scholar dares humiliate a first-rank official whenever he pleases and threaten her whenever he wishes. It seems the Du family’s influence runs deep indeed. Otherwise, how could you have grown so arrogant?”
“Wronged! We have been wronged, Your Highness!”
Lady Du was drenched in cold sweat. Behind her, Du's husband and Miss Du had shrunk back like frightened quails.
The commotion had drawn everyone’s attention. People from the other private rooms, as well as those in the main hall below, had gathered around to watch.
The three members of the Du family prided themselves on their status. When had they ever suffered such humiliation? All of them were so mortified they wished they could crawl into a crack in the floor.
Pei Liang paid no attention to their pleas for mercy and simply ordered the three of them to be taken away.
He had not had much of an opportunity before, but now he had conveniently killed two birds with one stone.
He could not keep his intelligence expert waiting forever, after all. Even if this would not cripple the Du family, cutting them down a peg or two first would at least let him collect some interest for Fang Jiu and make him more willing to continue his work.
After the Du family had been escorted away, the Liu family was left somewhat at a loss.
Seeing this, General Liu said to her parents, “You two go ahead and eat. I’ll speak with Prince Liang for a few words and be back shortly.”
At a time like this, who could still feel like eating? They had no appetite after sharing a table with that family. Her parents exchanged a few worried instructions with her, then rose and returned home.
At last, General Liu gathered her courage and spoke to Prince Liang.
“Thank you, Your Highness, for coming to my aid just now.”
Pei Liang waved a hand, unwilling to accept her thanks. With a smile, he said, “You needn’t thank me for this, General Liu.”
“On the contrary, I was afraid you would get there first and ruin my plans, so I rudely stole the opportunity from you. You must forgive me.”
Pei Liang had never underestimated General Liu’s abilities. The difficult part of dealing with a petty nuisance like the Du family lay only in its tangled web of interests. Given enough time, he was confident that she could sort through it all and identify the weak point where she could strike.
There was therefore nothing more to discuss. She had not helped him at all; if anything, her actions had been somewhat presumptuous.
After all, there was a particular satisfaction in beating one’s own dog.
General Liu, however, did not think of any of that. Her mind was a chaotic mess. In front of Prince Liang, she felt inexplicably inferior and had no idea what to say.
Then Prince Liang asked, “Why were you even considering marriage with such people?”
It was as though the embarrassment she had been desperately trying to ignore had been dragged into the light. General Liu immediately felt her scalp grow numb with shame.
She lowered her voice. “I’m getting old. It’s only right that I start considering marriage.”
Pei Liang shook his head. “But I see no sign that you long to marry and retire from public life.”
“Your eyes are full of ambition. They are practically overflowing with your desire for power and achievement. You have already found the path by which to realize your worth in this life. Why waste your time dealing with such petty, grasping people?”
General Liu was startled. She abruptly raised her head and met Prince Liang’s eyes.
In his gaze, she was not some existence whose gender had been blurred away. He could clearly see the appreciation of a woman in the other person’s eyes.
At the same time, there was not the slightest trace of the disdain that society reserved for men who were forceful and hungry for power. In Prince Liang’s eyes, her unwillingness to relinquish power—something the world considered unbecoming—was instead worthy of the highest praise.
General Liu suddenly understood that, regardless of the inexplicable feelings Prince Liang stirred within her, he was without question a worthy candidate to become a wise ruler.
A truly enlightened sovereign would harbor lofty ambitions and possess a broad mind. Such a ruler would neither willingly submit to others nor judge a person’s abilities by gender.
General Liu knew about what had happened yesterday, when Prince Liang had beaten the Xianluoshan celestial envoy at his own wedding. Everyone said that Prince Liang had gone mad after losing the position of Crown Princess to Xianluoshan, that he had attacked the celestial envoy in a fit of frenzy and would bring divine punishment upon them all.
General Liu, however, believed that anyone who interfered in the affairs of the human court—even if they truly were divine immortals—could not be entirely free of worldly attachments. Moreover, looking back through Da Liang’s history, not every ruler chosen by Xianluoshan had been a wise sovereign.
Otherwise, the current Emperor would not have spent years waging war and been left with a body full of chronic ailments.
The Emperor had also joined Prince Liang in this apparent act of madness. The deeper meaning was not difficult to discern: at the very least, His Majesty’s attitude toward Xianluoshan was aligned with Prince Liang’s.
General Liu’s breathing quickened.
She loved the battlefield, where she could charge into combat, kill her enemies, and command with sweeping authority. She loved standing above others in the imperial court.
Those people had been trampled beneath the feet of this plain-looking man. Their eyes were filled with needle-sharp rejection, yet he longed for precisely that.
If it were Prince Liang—if it were her—
General Liu knew he was being somewhat irrational, but he still spoke with the desperation of someone throwing caution to the wind.
“To be frank, I’m not entirely alone. I have parents and family to consider, and they are right. If I were to grow old with no one to rely on—”
He stopped before he could finish, because he had seen the look on Prince Liang’s face.
“If even a peerless hero like you, General, who has devoted his entire life to Great Liang, were to end up old and without anyone to depend on,” said Prince Liang, “then Great Liang would truly be finished.”
Pei Liang had always been overbearing. Even her parents could do nothing to control her, and she had never experienced the helplessness of being forced into marriage.
That did not mean she had never seen the helplessness it brought others.
She smiled at General Liu. Her expression was unusually sincere and solemn.
“If possible, I hope General Liu can be with someone who genuinely admires, praises, and acknowledges you from the bottom of her heart—someone who can stand shoulder to shoulder with you.”
“You are powerful and extraordinary. There are few men in this world who can compare with you. You deserve the very best woman.”
“If you cannot find such a person after searching for a long time, then I, Liang, swear by my honor as a prince: so long as I live, I will ensure that General Liu enjoys a life of peace and happiness.”
Prince Liang did not say it aloud, but from her eyes, General Liu could already see the confidence of someone who would brook no refusal.
She was not making that oath merely as a prince.
She was making it with the self-assurance of the future ruler of the world.
General Liu was struck as if by lightning. For a moment, even his breathing stopped.
Then he lowered his head, preventing Prince Liang from seeing the brilliance blooming in his eyes.
Only after Prince Liang turned and left did General Liu dare to raise his head.
He watched her retreating figure, his gaze somewhat dazed.
“This person has already appeared, hasn’t she?” he murmured.
*
When Pei Liang returned to the prince’s residence, the servants hurried to arrange the meal.
After washing her hands and face, she had them add the dishes she had brought back from Heavenly Fragrance Tower.
Among them was a glutinous-rice-stuffed duck, which happened to be Su Yue’s favorite.
When he glanced at the duck, Pei Liang smiled.
“I had some business to take care of. I remembered how Little Sheng bought this for you before, so I asked them to prepare one while I was there.”
The gesture, which was rather like an act of concern, made Su Yue feel awkward.
He changed the subject. “General Liu only returned to the capital yesterday. How did Your Highness come to know him?”
“His wedding procession happened to collide with mine yesterday. His horse was startled, and I helped rein it in. That was how we met,” Pei Liang replied casually as she took a sip of soup.
Su Yue recalled that the procession had indeed stopped for a while yesterday. He had not wanted to ask what the two of them had been doing earlier, so he praised General Liu as though making idle conversation.
“General Liu is a model for all men.”
As soon as he said it, he felt that, given Prince Liang’s hypocrisy and authoritarian nature, she had probably taken an interest in General Liu only because of his military power and was merely trying to win him over.
His remark was certainly unlikely to please her, so he stopped there.
Unexpectedly, Prince Liang grew animated.
“That’s right. He’s not only strong and ambitious—he’s also handsome and charming.”
“How many people throughout history have risen to the highest positions in the imperial court at such a young age, despite the obstacles imposed by their gender? And the key is that he’s accomplished in both civil and military affairs. He can command armies and devise strategies on the battlefield, and he sees matters clearly in the imperial court as well. Once he becomes accustomed to things, I’m sure he’ll handle everything with ease…”
As Prince Liang spoke of General Liu without pause, her eyes brimming with undisguised admiration, Su Yue stared at her blankly. His feelings grew complicated.
Prince Liang was not entirely without redeeming qualities.
But why did her admiration seem to contain the dazzled appreciation a woman felt toward a handsome man?
Although he had never regarded himself and her as a genuine married couple, Su Yue still found himself experiencing a strange emotion.
By all accounts, life after marrying into the prince’s residence had been far easier than Su Yue had expected.
Prince Liang did not touch him. Apart from spending the wedding night together, she had slept in the study next door from the second night onward.
He no longer had to lie awake in fear each night.
Moreover, on the very day after returning from the Eastern Palace, she had eagerly thrown the entire management of the residence into his hands. Even major sums of money, other resources, and the deployment of the prince’s personal guards were all left for him to decide as he pleased.
Not only that, whenever her advisers met to discuss affairs, she would bring him along.
And so Su Yue heard, with his own ears, every bit of Prince Liang’s ambition to seize the throne. She made no attempt to conceal it whatsoever; she might as well have stated it openly.
Su Yue was completely dumbfounded. Surely she did not think that by marrying him, the Su family would have no choice but to obey her?
But the moment that thought arose, Su Yue crushed it.
Because, in his opinion, Prince Liang’s strategy was actually highly feasible.
That was what truly made his scalp prickle and cold sweat break out all over him.
He had worked up the courage to ask why she had brought him into her plans so hastily. Was she not afraid that he would inform his natal family?
Prince Liang merely replied, “You’re not a fool. The prerequisite for informing them is that, after weighing everything, you decide the chances of success aren’t high enough to justify taking the risk. You would do it only to protect yourself.”
“But if victory is worth taking the risk for, then with your ambition, why would you pass up power that is practically within your grasp and instead do something both arduous and unrewarding?”
“No matter what we are to each other, we are now bound by the same interests. If I fall, what will you gain? A consolation title as a county lord? The status of a widower? Or the chance to marry someone else?”
“As far as I know, you have no one in your heart, do you? Then, standing aboard this express train to power on my side, what reason do you have not to work?”
Su Yue was left speechless, somewhat resentful that she had seen through him at a glance.
At the same time, however, he felt relieved.
Unlike his grandmother and mother, he did not share the family’s cautious style. The Su family had already reached the highest position it could attain, so maintaining stability was what mattered most. As a result, his grandmother and mother had grown increasingly conservative in their methods.
But he was different. He possessed ambition, yet his gender and family held him back at every turn. Even in front of his grandmother, he did not dare reveal too much of his sharpness. Otherwise, given her caution, she would certainly marry him off to some secluded family of respectable scholars, far from the center of power.
She would ensure that he never had the chance to bring risk to the family.
Prince Liang, however, was different. She saw all of his ambition and hunger for power, as well as his admiration for General Liu, who had risen to the highest ranks of the imperial court. And she had offered him a promise:
“If you prove your abilities to me, then perhaps I can arrange for you to hold an important office as well, and leave your name in history.”
Su Yue naturally could not defect to Prince Liang all at once—not when he had originally looked down on her so thoroughly.
But he could not deny that the longer he stayed in Prince Liang’s residence, the more shaken his resolve became. The strategies, abilities, broad perspective, and ambition that Prince Liang gradually revealed—all of it stirred his heart.
Of course, that was a matter for later. At present, Su Yue was preparing for their third-day return visit to his family home.
Ever since their wedding, Prince Liang had given him every honor and courtesy he was due, without the slightest omission.
Those gestures had gradually made up for the consequences of the panic and humiliation he had suffered after losing his chastity and being forced into marriage.
By this day, Prince Liang had already prepared several carts of lavish gifts. She and Su Yue shared a carriage as they made their way to the Su residence.
The entire Su household had been waiting for them since early morning.
The whole family had been too anxious even to eat breakfast properly, and the gatekeeper had been sent to inquire about their arrival at regular intervals.
Mrs. Su asked anxiously, “Surely they aren’t going to refuse to come back?”
The moment she voiced this concern, Su Yue’s elder sister flew into a rage.
“Would Prince Liang really deny Yue’er even this basic courtesy?”
Hardly had the words left her lips when someone came in, beaming, to announce, “They’re back—the young master and the others are back.”
