There were no true secrets in the capital.
Especially not when the commotion had grown this large—and Pei Liang had made no attempt whatsoever to conceal it.
The Second Imperial Daughter had wanted to keep it under wraps, but once the matter had left her palace, it was no longer within her control.
Thus, after dinner, everyone who mattered had heard that the Eldest Imperial Daughter—stripped of her title and her status as a royal prince—had caused a tremendous scene in the palace, assaulted her younger sister, and even abducted her brother-in-law.
The civil and military officials found today’s gossip particularly appetizing. Many had originally gathered to discuss countermeasures, but before they could come up with anything useful, the shocking news from the Eldest Imperial Daughter’s side was arriving faster than any action they could take.
Everyone could feel that events were slipping out of control—even Chancellor Su.
Su Yue’s mother, Lady Su, asked, “Why do you think the Eldest Imperial Daughter did this?”
“Could it have been retaliation for Mother’s remarks at court?”
Chancellor Su’s apparently mature and steady speech, meant to stabilize the situation, had in fact merely been an attempt to smooth things over. And given Prince Liang’s recent aggressiveness in deliberately provoking conflict, she might well have taken offense at it.
Chancellor Su shook her head. “Did you not hear what Yue’er said yesterday?”
“Now that the Eldest Imperial Daughter has handed over all the management and deployment of Prince Liang’s household to him, it is clear she does not regard him as some ordinary inner-house man, meant only to serve his wife and raise children.”
“If she values Yue’er’s abilities, she would not use him for such a test or display of defiance. It would not be worth it. There must be another reason.”
“Then it must be the Second Imperial Daughter,” another Lady Su said. “His Majesty’s patience with Prince Liang had already reached its limit. No one knows what Prince Liang did in recent days to win her over, but His Majesty has temporarily set aside her plans and instead joined forces with her to attack the First Peak.”
“The Eldest Imperial Daughter is likely taking advantage of this opportunity. First, to reassure His Majesty and consolidate her authority; second, to thoroughly eliminate her rivals.”
The Crown Princess now held her position by right. It would be difficult for the Eldest Imperial Daughter to openly move against her without becoming a target for everyone else and giving them an excuse to unite against her.
So she had cleverly chosen to win the Crown Princess over—and had even succeeded in controlling her.
That alone had placed her in an invincible position. But as for the Second Imperial Daughter...
Over the years, beneath all her pretense, she had made quite a few preparations in secret as well.
“Hadn’t we already noticed that the Second Imperial Daughter intended to take advantage of His Majesty’s dissatisfaction with the Eldest Imperial Daughter reaching its peak, in an attempt to remove her greatest rival?”
“Now, I’m afraid she can no longer stay hidden. The Eldest Imperial Daughter has moved first to deal with her.”
After discussing it, they all felt that this explanation came closest to the truth.
Meanwhile, Pei Liang had no idea that people had interpreted her motives into something so elaborate. The Su family’s speculation was already comparatively reasonable; far more people were claiming that she had long coveted her brother-in-law’s body.
If she had known, she would only have said that these people simply had too much idle time on their hands.
At least today, she had acted for one reason alone: she could not stand to watch it happen.
When they arrived at Prince Liang’s residence, Pei Liang helped Consort Zhou down from the carriage.
Consort Zhou had lost some blood that day, and carriages in ancient times were hardly comfortable. When he stepped down, his head spun slightly.
Prince Liang quickly caught him. “Careful, brother-in-law.”
Consort Zhou fell into a warm embrace, his face flushing red. In a low voice, he said, “I am all right now. Thank you, Elder Sister.”
The servants of Prince Liang’s residence were dumbfounded.
That morning, they had seen their prince off. By evening, she had returned not only as an imperial daughter stripped of all rank, but with another woman’s husband in tow.
Everyone turned to look at the prince consort—no, the Eldest Prince Consort now.
This was about to become utterly outrageous.
Su Yue was not actually surprised by what had happened at court today. After returning yesterday, Prince Liang had discussed matters with his advisers, and every part of the plan had swiftly been set into motion.
Coupled with that “divine decree of the First-Fall Mountain God” that had drawn Prince Liang away from the Yue household, once one knew the Emperor’s attitude, it was not difficult to guess the next few countermeasures.
He had been waiting with the other advisers for Prince Liang’s return, only to see Prince Liang carefully helping the Second Princess-Consort down from the carriage.
Su Yue’s mindset had shifted rather quickly these past few days. The Prince Liang he had once known—the shameless, violent man who had ruined Su Yue’s reputation through underhanded means and intended to force the Su family aboard his ship—had, in the span of only a few days, become a blurred impression.
In his place stood the Prince Liang of today.
There was no affection of husband and wife between Su Yue and Prince Liang, yet within Prince Liang’s residence, he had found an opportunity to put his abilities to use. No matter how cautiously he tried to interpret Prince Liang’s respect, trust, and authority bestowed upon him, he could not deny feeling gratitude and surprise.
Logically speaking, he and Prince Liang were merely partners who had reached an understanding. No matter how many men Prince Liang had, Su Yue believed he would not care in the slightest.
And yet, at this moment, Su Yue discovered that an inexplicable sense of crisis had arisen in his heart.
To Su Yue, that sense of crisis was absurd beyond measure.
Prince Liang spotted him then. His expression remained perfectly natural, as though he had not the slightest awareness of how scandalous his behavior was. Smiling, he greeted Su Yue.
“I’ve brought my brother-in-law back to stay here for a while. Make the arrangements. Ignore any gossip outside. Without my approval, no matter who comes, do not hand my brother-in-law over.”
There was unmistakable trust in his eyes, as though this were merely some trifling matter that Su Yue could settle perfectly with a wave of his hand.
Ordinarily, Su Yue greatly enjoyed Prince Liang’s confidence in him and his easy manner. But now...
Trying to suppress the vexation that kept rising within him, Su Yue let his gaze fall on Consort Zhou, only then realizing that he was covered in injuries and appeared ready to collapse at any moment.
Startled, Su Yue hurriedly asked, “What happened to my brother-in-law? Has an imperial physician been summoned?”
Pei Liang pointed behind him. “I already brought one back. Arrange for the medicine to be prepared first.”
Then he turned to Consort Zhou and said gently, “Brother-in-law, have some dinner first, then get some sleep. Don’t think about anything.”
But Consort Zhou was deeply uneasy. The moment he had been taken out of the palace, his whole body had relaxed somewhat.
Yet every problem that followed would have to be borne by his imperial sister. She had never had any obligation to be dragged into this.
So he said, “Could Elder Sister send a carriage to take me back to the Zhou residence?”
“If Mother Emperor asks tomorrow, we can simply say that I could no longer endure the abuse and begged Elder Sister to escort me out of the palace and return me to my family home.”
Pei Liang smiled. “Second would be delighted by that. And then?”
“And then?” Consort Zhou froze.
“And then, though you have suffered every kind of hardship, in the end, to conceal the royal family’s disgrace, all the blame will fall upon you.”
“Second’s prediction would be correct. Your family would see your present condition, embrace you and weep bitterly, curse Second with you in righteous indignation... and what would happen in the end?”
In the end, he would still grit his teeth and swallow his grievances—as long as the imperial family applied even the slightest pressure.
Consort Zhou looked troubled. How could he not understand? But he was a man married into the family; what reason could there be for him to remain in his elder sister-in-law’s household?
Then his elder imperial sister said, “I’ve said it before. Even if they are the imperial family, once they dare to do something, they must dare to take responsibility for it.”
“This rotten habit has been indulged for centuries. Women are treated as though they aren’t even human, and yet somehow men are expected to clean up after them by being sacrificed?”
“My brother-in-law is not the sort to cling stubbornly to the Pei family. If he truly longs for the honor of being a prince-consort, then he would be getting exactly what he wants, and I would have no objection.”
Pei Liang fixed her deep-set eyes on Consort Zhou and said, “My brother-in-law is asking for help.”
“If, for the sake of so-called imperial dignity, Liang were to turn a blind eye to someone asking for help—or choose to compromise—then from the moment I made that decision, I would be as good as dead.”
“Otherwise, I’d be nothing more than a useless fool, no different from Second.”
Consort Zhou’s pupils contracted sharply. His heart seemed to stop, then began pounding wildly.
Strength seemed to flood his entire body, and he felt ashamed of the thought he had entertained moments ago.
His eyes grew hot, but he quickly lowered his head. “I—I’ll listen to you, Your Highness.”
Pei Liang smiled. Only then did she say, “Since my brother-in-law loves cooking, you should spend the next few days recovering.”
“I’m sure the kitchen at Prince Liang’s residence will be a pleasant surprise.”
She wasn’t boasting. Although she had been too busy to even handle a kitchen knife yet, she had already made a few changes based on the original layout of Prince Liang’s residence. She had also commissioned some cooking utensils and kitchenware according to her own designs.
Once things settled down, she could have a friendly culinary contest with Consort Zhou.
The young palace attendant who had accompanied Consort Zhou carefully helped him back to the guest room.
Su Yue’s expression was somewhat complicated.
At dinner, he finally couldn’t help asking, “If you wanted to make trouble for the Second Imperial Daughter, you never needed to bring my brother-in-law out.”
“Instead, you’ve turned a situation where you were in the right into one where you seem to be in the wrong. If you had simply let the Imperial Consort take good care of him—”
Pei Liang did not wait for him to finish. She merely smiled. “Does everything have to be calculated?”
She glanced at Su Yue and said casually, “You may not know me very well yet. In truth, I’m a rather willful person.”
Su Yue’s heart sank. Her answer did not make him feel relieved now that her motives had become clear. If anything, it left him even more troubled.
Thinking about it, that did seem to be the case. Watching her act with such seasoned skill and flawless calculation, it was easy to assume that she was an orderly, methodical person.
But in reality, she wasn’t.
Her motives were actually extraordinarily freewheeling. If one examined them closely, one would be shocked to discover that every single one of her actions was simply an expression of her own willfulness—she did whatever pleased her.
She presented that willfulness so matter-of-factly that many clever people ended up outsmarting themselves. In truth, her motives really were as simple as she claimed.
Then had she stood up for and rescued Consort Zhou simply because she felt sorry for him?
That night, Su Yue lay awake, the scene replaying itself over and over in his mind.
Now that he understood Prince Liang’s motives, those details should have been utterly unworthy of further analysis.
And yet the images continued to surface, again and again.
Then, to his shame, Su Yue realized that when Prince Liang had been willing to tear away even the imperial family’s fig leaf of dignity in order to protect Consort Zhou—
he had been jealous.
Su Yue clenched the corner of the quilt tightly, squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. In the darkness, the light in her eyes was frighteningly bright.
*
Since the Eldest Imperial Daughter had willingly handed over such a weakness, those lurking in the shadows naturally made good use of it.
By the next day, sordid rumors about the Eldest Imperial Daughter and Consort Zhou had spread throughout the capital, proliferating at a rate that nearly matched the earlier rumors surrounding Mount Xianluo.
Their aim was to muddy the waters further and lend a few more degrees of credibility to the previous “divine decree” connected to Mount Xianluo.
For an imperial prince so shameless and heedless of human decency, it was hardly strange that the gods would issue an order for her extermination.
At the next morning court session, those who had previously been beaten back step by step found their confidence restored and rallied once more.
After all, even the Empress had ordered an official to publicly reprimand the Eldest Imperial Daughter and commanded her to send the Second Prince Consort back to the palace before the end of the day.
But the Eldest Imperial Daughter treated the order like utter bullshit. She even glared irritably at the Second Imperial Daughter, who had still stubbornly shown up for court.
Then she said outright, “How the hell do you still have the nerve to sit here?”
The Second Imperial Daughter’s face was bandaged, making her look rather ridiculous. The image of the gentle, refined imperial daughter she had once presented was now somewhat shattered.
Yet she had still insisted on attending court. She intended to rally every force she could and crush the Boss’s arrogance today.
If Consort Zhou remained in Prince Liang’s residence for even a few more days, the whole world would know that she was a cripple who had been cuckolded—whose husband had been forcibly claimed by her own elder sister.
No one would follow such a ridiculous, pathetic buffoon. So even if her dignity took a temporary blow, she would endure it.
At those words, the Second Imperial Daughter gritted her teeth. “Elder Sister, yesterday I pitied you for being stripped of your rank as a prince. I let it pass when you came to my residence and caused a scene.”
“After a night to calm down, I hope Elder Sister will conduct yourself with dignity and not betray Mother Empress’s painstaking intentions. Otherwise—”
Before she could finish, Prince Liang cut in without the slightest courtesy. “What painstaking intentions? Pains taken to clean up after a useless piece of trash who beats her husband?”
“You—”
The Second Imperial Daughter sucked in a sharp breath. She had long expected the Boss to make an issue of this, but there were ways to do such things.
She could attack her, certainly—but if she dragged the imperial family’s dignity through the mud too thoroughly, then even Mother Empress would not spare her.
Yet she had not expected the Boss to be so reckless, laying it out bluntly and making it as ugly as possible without the slightest attempt at tact.
The ministers could not even pretend not to hear it in order to preserve the royal family’s face.
The Empress’s official hurriedly said, “First Highness, silence yourself.”
“His Highness Prince You merely had a minor disagreement with his husband. First Highness is already married herself; surely you understand that married couples inevitably have their quarrels and rough patches.”
“Even if His Highness Prince You has committed some fault, Her Majesty herself will punish her. What First Highness has done is indeed improper.”
“Then has she been punished?” Pei Liang asked. “Let’s not even talk about the past. From yesterday until now, has Mother Empress punished this thing at all?”
“If you beat your husband away and then want him to come back, you ought to show some sincere remorse and beg forgiveness. Even common folk know that much.”
“This thing thinks she can get him back after nothing more than a slap on the wrist, while Mother Empress shields her own daughter and pressures her in-laws instead. What? Does she want the entire world to know that the Pei imperial house is the sort of cruel family that marries men in only to mistreat them?”
“Then from now on, what virtuous, sensible man in the realm would be willing to marry into the imperial family? Marry into your house just to be beaten and tormented? Marry into your house only to be wronged, while his mother-in-law—the Emperor herself—personally pressures him?”
Her barrage was so ferocious that, for the moment, even those who had wanted to criticize her did not dare utter a word.
They stood there stunned, beginning to suspect that everyone attacking Prince Liang was utterly useless. When it came to ruining Prince Liang, she herself was clearly the true professional.
Yesterday, the Emperor had already reached an understanding with her; their cooperation had gone smoothly. Yet today, this thing had gone mad, tearing off the face of the Empress and the entire imperial household and grinding it into the dirt.
If this thing had not possessed the unmistakably genuine face of Prince Liang, they would have assumed she was one of their allies.
The Second Imperial Daughter and the Emperor’s administrative official went pale at her words, cold sweat pouring down their faces.
The official hurriedly sent someone racing off to report to the Emperor, keeping her informed of the situation in court as it unfolded.
At this rate, the Eldest Imperial Daughter was afraid to lose control.
Then the official hastily tried to smooth things over. “As for His Highness Prince You’s punishment, Her Majesty naturally has arrangements in place. First Highness should first see to Prince You’s consort—”
“No chance,” Pei Liang said. “It’s easy to drive a husband away. But if you want to beg him to come back, that depends on the brother-in-law.”
“Trying to placate everyone with empty promises and vague reassurances—where do you get off thinking things are that easy? And does Mother Emperor think she bears no responsibility at all?”
“As sovereign of a nation, she raised such a mean-spirited, stupid, vicious excuse for a person. A prince’s consort has been abused for so long that life was worse than death, and she still has the nerve to plead for her own daughter?”
“If I had a daughter like that, I’d have drowned her in the toilet long ago. Instead of letting her loose in court to disgrace herself.”
“Enough!” Though the Second Imperial Daughter had suffered from insecurity all these years, she was still an imperial daughter. Others might pity or disdain her, but they would never show it openly—much less insult her with such crude, humiliating language.
She had once thought the subtle looks she received—whether mocking or regretful—were unbearable. But now that the Boss had opened her mouth, she realized how gentle her former circumstances had been.
Her chest heaved with rage. Trembling, she pointed at the Boss. “And what fine thing are you? Even if what you say makes sense, the Prince Consort should be taken home by the Zhou family.”
“As for what sincerity must be shown, I will naturally discuss it with the Zhou family. What right does an elder sister-in-law like you have to meddle in another couple’s private affairs?”
“Do you know what the rumors outside are saying about the imperial family? You may have no shame, but the Prince Consort still does.”
At this, the Zhou family had no choice but to step forward and state their position. With difficulty, they said, “First Highness, our Zhou family is grateful for Your Highness’s good intentions, but for our son’s reputation, we ask that First Highness—”
Then Prince Liang laughed—a loud, ringing laugh—as if everyone around her were nothing but a circle of fools.
“Hahahahaha! The imperial family’s reputation? You’re naked as the day you were born, covering your faces and actually fooling yourselves into believing it?”
Some people went black before the eyes at those words, swaying on their feet. The more timid ones even began to tremble. Surely Her Majesty would not purge everyone who knew too much today, would she?
Someone tried to step forward and cover Prince Liang’s mouth, only to find that this thing was outrageously strong.
The most elite guards rushed her all at once, but she kicked them away one after another as easily as kicking chicks.
And that was not even the worst part—there were still people desperately protecting her.
The Crown Princess roared, “Insolence! What are you doing? Do not offend my imperial sister!”
Then she simply leaped down from above and started wrestling with someone. What else could the people around her do? With the Crown Princess’s exalted status, surely no one would dare hurt her.
General Liu also thundered, “Outrageous! How dare you offend an imperial daughter?”
Fortunately, the situation soon calmed down. After all, the Empress had never expected this woman to be so reckless and had made almost no preparations.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. But the next moment, they found themselves wishing the chaos had continued until the court session ended.
Because Prince Liang’s big mouth immediately declared, “I say, every last one of you is insane.”
“Back in the day, Mother Empress herself monopolized the former emperor’s consorts and even claimed her sisters’ princely husbands. Your own history is full of scandals, yet you turn around and criticize your daughter, who is pure as ice and jade and knows how to observe propriety, for ruining the royal family’s reputation.”
“I’m not taking the blame for this. Mother Empress can take it back herself.”
She glanced at the Second Imperial Daughter. The Second Imperial Daughter felt her scalp go numb.
Then the Boss said, “You useless wretch still dare to bring up reputation? The whole capital knows that you’ve been married this long without producing a child because you’re incapable of consummation.”
“One more disgraceful rumor—are you going to die from it?”
The Second Imperial Daughter’s vision went black, and a sweet, bloody taste rose in her throat. “I didn’t—”
“You didn’t what? If you were even slightly less certain of yourself and had spared a thought for producing an heir, you wouldn’t have beaten your primary husband half to death.”
The Boss was trying to destroy her future. The Second Imperial Daughter understood that perfectly.
An imperial daughter with crippled legs might still have a chance of ascending the throne, but an imperial daughter incapable of producing heirs had absolutely no chance.
She could not sit around and wait to die. She could not let the Boss turn this rumor into an established fact.
So she hurriedly signaled with her eyes.
Someone immediately stepped forward and shouted passionately, “The First Highness has committed countless outrageous acts in just a few days. Now she has even seized her own younger sister’s husband.”
“She has violated all moral principles and defied Her Majesty. This proves that the divine decree from Xianluo Mountain was genuine.”
“Genuine my ass,” Pei Liang said. “The immortals oversee a nation’s destiny and choose its enlightened ruler. Do they also manage the petty domestic squabbles of the Pei family?”
“Believe me or not, this Highness can immediately offer your father to Chancellor Su as her eighth concubine. Then we can see whether the immortals intervene.”
As she spoke, she turned and glanced at Chancellor Su. “No need to thank me. Your granddaughter-in-law is merely doing her filial duty.”
Chancellor Su looked at the official. He was only a few years younger than her.
God damn it, thank you so much for your filial devotion.
Another official said, “The immortals’ decree naturally has its reasons. Under its guidance, we have already glimpsed the signs of Prince Liang’s vicious nature.”
“We implore Your Majesty not to harbor any false hopes. Destroy this source of calamity as soon as possible.”
Pei Liang put on an expression that seemed to say, What does Prince Liang have to do with my Eldest Imperial Daughter?
She even waved a banner in support of the proposal. “Exactly. This Highness also supports destroying Prince Liang at once. We can take our time investigating whether the Xianluo Mountain Sect Master is truly trapped.”
“But the immortals’ deadline cannot be delayed.”
Hearing this, the Crown Princess immediately said, “Come. Make the necessary preparations for Lady Du.”
Grand Tutor Xu nearly burst into tears. She hurriedly knelt down to stop them.
The day before, when the Du family learned that the Empress intended to do this, they had already pressured Grand Tutor Xu. If she failed to do everything in her power to save Lady Du and simply allowed the Du family to decline, the Xu family would suffer as well.
The rest of the morning court descended into a farce. The official responsible for the Empress’s affairs felt as though she might as well die.
Fortunately, Her Majesty had not presided over the morning court in person. Otherwise, Prince Liang would have angered her to death by now.
But now, reports on the morning court’s progress were being sent to her in real time. The Empress was probably furious beyond measure.
Sure enough, the message relayed from the Empress was yet another round of harsh rebukes for the Eldest Imperial Daughter. Even through an intermediary, one could hear the sovereign’s fury.
Yet the Eldest Imperial Daughter was an odd one indeed. She actually had the messenger pass along a reply for her, openly arguing with the Empress from afar.
A single day’s court session was dragged on until the afternoon, consumed entirely by this messy royal scandal and its endless trivialities.
Everyone was exhausted. Many of them were practically bursting from holding in their urine.
Just as Chancellor Su was about to speak up and try to persuade Prince Liang, Prince Liang suddenly reined in her emotions.
All the earlier frivolity vanished from her face.
She spoke solemnly. “Enough. We can discuss these minor matters later. Let us turn to serious business.”
Other than those belonging to Prince Liang’s faction, everyone else nearly wanted to spit blood.
Who the hell had caused all this in the first place?
Prince Liang then said, “Those whose names I call will temporarily step down from their posts and cooperate with the investigation.”
That was treatment reserved for officials under accusation. Everyone was shocked.
Someone hurriedly protested, “First Highness has no authority to do this.”
“What crime have we committed?”
Pei Liang raised her eyes, her gaze icy. “The crime is treason.”
Someone tried to stir up a commotion, but the people who had seemed like scattered, useless ornaments when they were opposing Prince Liang earlier now handled the situation with absolute efficiency.
Chancellor Su looked at Prince Liang, horror in her eyes.
Then she heard her fine granddaughter-in-law say, “It isn’t realistic to dig them all out in a single night. But if we are merely judging where their loyalties lie, that is quite easy.”
How could Chancellor Su fail to understand?
Today’s bickering had begun over petty nonsense, but with the urgency of the situation at Xianluo Mountain hanging over them, those planted there by Xianluo Mountain would never let such an opportunity slip by.
Prince Liang did not need to ask a single question. Even if some innocent people were caught up in it, they would certainly be people from the Second Imperial Daughter’s camp or rival factions. She had everything to gain and nothing to lose.
And after keeping the civil and military officials trapped here for nearly an entire day, the places she wanted under control should already have been secured.
Though the Great Liang government was complex, once its crucial functions were in hand, even Xianluo Mountain—however far-reaching its influence—would have no way to strike from afar.
Her fine granddaughter-in-law was both warning and threatening her: if Chancellor Su had any tacit understanding with Xianluo Mountain, she had better cut it off completely. This was not the time for her to smooth things over and play both sides.
If she could not sever those ties, then the Su family might one day become what the Yan family had once been.
Chancellor Su shuddered. By the time she returned home, a fine drizzle had begun to fall.
There was never any shortage of people willing to do real work. Prince Liang had few reservations when it came to employing talent, so she filled the vacant positions with her own people very quickly.
The next day, gossip from court spread among the common people. For a time, the royal scandal had the populace buzzing with excitement.
Prince Liang, the Second Imperial Daughter, and Consort Zhou all suffered damage to their reputations.
By the usual logic, the two women would emerge more or less unscathed, while Consort Zhou—the sole man at the center of the storm—would likely never have a clean reputation again for the rest of his life.
But perhaps Prince Liang’s declaration—“Do members of the royal family even have reputations?”—had been too ostentatious. Before long, everyone was recalling the romantic scandals and salacious tales of royal families throughout history.
Amid all that, Consort Zhou’s affair did not even rank as particularly noteworthy.
And in the longer view, even if Prince Liang truly intended to claim her younger sister’s husband for herself, it would cease to matter as long as she ultimately emerged victorious.
Marrying one’s brother-in-law was nothing. Since ancient times, emperors had even married their own elders.
The Second Imperial Daughter drew another wave of sympathy—though she was as pitiable as she was detestable, reduced entirely to a laughingstock.
Still, although Prince Liang’s forceful seizure of another man’s husband had drawn no small amount of criticism, men throughout the capital hailed her as a champion of husbands.
How many women could be so responsible and considerate, thinking of men at every turn? When men suffered injustice and oppression, how many would be willing to tear away the imperial family’s dignity just to seek justice for them?
For a time, plenty openly scorned Consort Zhou, yet deep down, even more envied him.
After Prince Liang’s marriage, her standing in the hearts of the capital’s men had, rather than declining, risen still higher. It was enough to make one feel thoroughly exasperated.
Meanwhile, Xianluo Mountain discovered that it could not easily eliminate Prince Liang. Worse still, more than half of its tentacles within the court had been uprooted.
The few that remained did not dare act rashly, lest they be wiped out entirely.
Rumors fermented everywhere. Having survived both the entertainment industry and the world of gossip, Pei Liang’s command of public opinion had long reached perfection.
Countless ordinary people, led and indoctrinated by the rumors, gathered of their own accord at the foot of Xianluo Mountain, demanding an explanation. Was what Daoist Master Qiu had said true?
Had the Little Immortal already become a tool for villains to profit from?
After so many years of operating like a religion, Xianluo Mountain was, for the first time, finding itself powerless when it came to manipulating public sentiment.
Only then did it realize that it had encountered a truly formidable opponent.
Thus, Xianluo Mountain had no choice but to put on the proper posture and announce its intention to enter the capital and seek an audience with the Emperor.
When the Empress received the news, she looked at Pei Liang and smiled.
“At last, you’ve forced them out into the open.”
“That’s not enough,” Pei Liang said.
Knowing that Pei Liang had no scruples, the Empress said, “The Xianluo Mountain Sect Master’s identity is a mystery, but before me, it must be revealed truthfully.”
“This current sect master seems to be somewhat... unusual.”
“Oh?” Pei Liang’s curiosity was piqued.
But the Empress merely smiled. “You’ll understand once you meet them.”
Then she asked, “Presumably, Consort Yan has already told you that Xianluo Mountain has its own methods for making people disappear without anyone noticing.”
“Have you decided how to deal with that?”
“No,” Pei Liang replied.
“No?” The Empress did not believe her.
Pei Liang smiled. “If I say it aloud, it won’t work anymore.”
The Empress seemed to recall something and ground her teeth. “Just like when you exposed my embarrassing secrets right there in court?”
Whenever she thought of that, she wanted to bash that little bastard’s head in.
The mother and daughter had been getting along fairly well lately. Pei Liang was simply too shameless—she had dressed up that disgraceful affair in such lofty rhetoric that even the Empress’s fury over Consort Yan being stolen had faded considerably.
Things proceeded step by step, according to their plan.
On that day, the Xianluo Mountain Sect Master and their entourage entered the capital.
