Pei Liang was, as expected, rocked by his words.
Wasn’t this the real-life version of one of those melodramatic plots? A newlywed husband suddenly dropping dead, and the widow paying a fortune to find someone who could give her a child so she could claim the inheritance?
Now that was exciting. Pei Liang had been feeling a little undernourished lately.
She put on a false show of embarrassment. “Th-this isn’t appropriate, is it? Your wife’s bones have yet to grow cold, and her body is still laid out before the funeral altar. Wouldn’t that be terribly disrespectful?”
Fu Jue looked at her with an expression that clearly said, You did nothing to save Fu Xin while she was alive, so what are you pretending for now? But his face played along perfectly.
His expression grew even more sorrowful as he sighed. “If there were any other way, a man like me would never resort to this.”
“Your Highness should be well aware of the situation at Xianluo Mountain. Now that my elder sister is gone, if we allow the direct bloodline to end, I, a widower, will inevitably be devoured alive.”
“If Your Highness has even the slightest pity for me, please help me just this once. I’m sure my elder sister, from beyond the grave, would never want her brother-husband to spend the rest of his life alone and adrift, without anything to rely on. She would surely understand Your Highness’s good intentions.”
Pei Liang thought to herself that she still wasn’t sure whether this world contained any supernatural elements. But if it did, Fu Xin would probably be furious enough to rise from the dead on the spot after hearing those words.
She hadn’t guessed wrong. Although Fu Xin had died from poison, it was these words that had struck the final, fatal blow to her heart before her death.
If this were a supernatural world, Pei Liang would probably open her eyes tonight to find Fu Xin at the head of her bed, blood pouring from all seven orifices as she glared resentfully at her and demanded repayment.
Pei Liang glanced at Fu Jue. Even as he spoke, his expressions and mannerisms were flawless.
Dressed in mourning clothes, Fu Jue looked thin and pitiable. No wonder no one at Xianluo Mountain suspected him in the slightest.
It was just like when Pei Liang had transmigrated into that martial-arts world and slaughtered her father and brothers without ever arousing suspicion. It was a blind spot born from the arrogance of a male- or female-supremacist society.
From the perspective of either self-interest or emotion, what he had done appeared to be self-destruction—destroying the very foundation on which he stood, the thing he relied on for his entire life.
No normal person would do such a thing. And because of that arrogance, by the time everyone realized the killer was the last person they had expected, that person had already taken control of everything and claimed it all for themselves.
Pei Liang certainly admired Fu Jue. Compared with General Liu and Su Yue, Fu Jue was even more unscrupulous in his methods, and his entire way of conducting himself carried an icy indifference that placed profit above all else.
Fu Jue didn’t merely talk. His hand had already slipped around Pei Liang’s waist.
But unlike before, he now exuded a helpless, desolate air, as though he truly were a man left bewildered and without support after his fiancée’s death. If there had been an omniscient camera observing the scene, Pei Liang already knew what title it would slap on the recording:
A Widower: AV at the Funeral Altar.
Pei Liang was perfectly clear-eyed about the sort of person Fu Jue was, yet even she couldn’t help feeling the tip of her nose grow warm.
This man really knew what he was doing.
What woman could withstand the air of a grieving widower?
Still, when it came to having a child, Pei Liang respectfully declined.
She steadied Fu Jue’s swaying body and asked with concern, “Master Fu, are you feeling unwell?”
Fu Jue nodded. “Since my elder sister passed, I haven’t slept at all. I’m a little dizzy.”
“Would Your Highness perhaps help me back to my room?”
Pei Liang believed that part. Fu Jue might have been delighted enough to eat three large bowls of rice at every meal, but in front of the elders who centered everything around Fu Xin, he still had to put on the proper act.
Pei Liang said sympathetically, “I know Master Fu is deeply devoted and loyal, but what’s done is done. You must take care of your health.”
“Otherwise, the Sect Master won’t be able to rest in peace even in the afterlife.” As she spoke, she even reproached Fu Xin. “How could the Sect Master bear to abandon such a delicate, crystal-glass-like fiancé?”
Fu Jue: “…”
This shameless woman was genuinely enjoying herself with this act. Fu Xin would have wanted to live, of course, but if she were alive and heard Pei Liang say such things, she would probably die of anger over and over again.
At the thought, a trace of satisfaction surfaced in Fu Jue’s heart as well. Everyone said that his circumstances were dire and that his future was uncertain.
How laughable.
At present, he felt as though he had been reborn.
Fu Jue had no idea what Pei Liang was playing at. He had assumed she was merely putting on a verbal performance to provoke him, but to his surprise, she really did help him out of the room.
And then they ran into General Liu, who had just emerged from the guest room next door.
Seeing the two of them in such an intimate position, with Prince Liang practically holding Fu Jue in her arms, General Liu looked genuinely shocked.
Fu Jue understood at a glance.
He knew that General Liu had a favorable impression of Prince Liang. It was hardly a secret.
General Liu had recently announced publicly that he would never marry in this lifetime, rejecting every introduction and marriage arrangement. At the same time, he had grown extremely close to Prince Liang and supported her unconditionally at court.
The civil and military officials were all saying that Prince Liang had shamelessly used the beauty trap to trick General Liu, a simple and innocent young man.
General Liu was a tall, burly man who had never been popular with women since childhood. How could such a man possibly withstand Prince Liang’s seductive ways, honed through years of experience among the flowers? He had fallen head over heels, abandoning even his proper life for her.
While cursing Prince Liang’s shamelessness, everyone also envied her for effortlessly drawing a military commander who held massive armed forces into her faction. The Second Imperial Daughter had complained about it to Fu Xin several times.
Beyond the verbal abuse, there was also more than a little regret that she herself hadn’t made a move sooner.
General Liu might have been ugly, but for the sake of the throne, anything was worth it. With her exalted imperial birth and gentle, dashing looks, if the Eldest Imperial Daughter could do it, then so could she.
Fu Jue found the Second Imperial Daughter utterly repulsive over this matter.
Did that fool really think that a man who had climbed to the position of a first-rank official could be stupid enough to fall for someone like her—someone with more darkness than decisiveness?
On the battlefield, circumstances changed in the blink of an eye. The slightest hesitation could lead to defeat. Given General Liu’s temperament, he probably looked down most on people who only became clever after the fact.
As for his relationship with Prince Liang…
Fu Jue’s eyes flickered.
It probably wasn’t as antagonistic as outsiders imagined, but it was certain that the two of them had mutual feelings.
The two rooms were separated by only a single wall. With General Liu’s hearing, naturally nothing that happened next door could escape him.
So Prince Liang was—
Once he realized this, Fu Jue made no unnecessary move. He dutifully continued to play the part of a grieving, inconsolable widower.
But General Liu had already noticed something was off. He and Pei Liang stared at each other, eyes wide.
Pei Liang suddenly had a particularly scummy line she wanted to say:
I swear he made the first move. Do you believe me?
But it wouldn’t be appropriate. She only liked General Liu for his looks and his body.
In this world, she truly didn’t dare indulge herself recklessly with respectable men.
So she acted as though nothing were unusual and greeted him. “General, please wait for me a moment. Master Fu is so overcome with grief that he’s about to faint. I’ll help him back to his room to rest.”
General Liu pressed his lips together, then relaxed them. “It’s no trouble. May I help, Your Highness?”
Pei Liang glanced at Fu Jue and asked with an ambiguous smile, “What does Master Fu think? Would you like the assistance of another man, General Liu?”
Fu Jue: “…”
That shameless woman definitely did not mean “assistance” in the ordinary sense. Just as he hadn’t meant it that way earlier.
A look of wounded loneliness flashed across Fu Jue’s face. He said to Pei Liang, “Your Highness should take me to the funeral hall instead.”
“The weather has warmed in recent days. Even if we have taken great pains to preserve Big Sister’s remains, by the time we return to Xianluo Mountain, we’ll have to bury her at once.”
“I want to spend some proper time with Big Sister before then.”
He turned to General Liu and continued, “General Liu is an unmarried man, and it would be inappropriate for you to be around an unrelated woman’s corpse. There’s no need to trouble yourself.”
“I’ve seen thousands of corpses on the battlefield,” General Liu replied blandly. “Master Fu needn’t concern himself with that.”
“Besides, General Liu is traveling with His Highness Prince Liang today precisely to guard against another attack by the assassins. The distance between the General and His Highness just now already gave the assassins an opportunity. If my negligence were to place His Highness in danger again, even a thousand deaths would not atone for my crime.”
Pei Liang hurriedly said, “General, you’re being too serious. Protecting me is already an act of kindness on your part, and I’m deeply grateful. How could I take it for granted?”
Fu Jue glanced at Pei Liang. This was the first time he had seen firsthand, rather than heard through rumors, how Pei Liang treated General Liu.
He had known from the beginning that Prince Liang was naturally flirtatious, but beneath that flirtatious nature lay a trace of frank, sincere tenderness.
That was why, despite having an affair with Consort Yan or forcibly taking his younger brother’s wife, this woman was never hated by the people involved. They even seemed to enjoy those immoral relationships.
He had seen how Consort Yan and Prince Liang interacted, and he had also seen Prince Liang traveling with Prince Liang’s husband. Yet this woman treated General Liu differently from the other men.
The things this shameless woman said in front of him were things she would never say before General Liu. And yet, in her eyes, there was undeniably genuine appreciation for the opposite sex.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Fu Jue paid no attention to the blatant implication in General Liu’s words that Xianluo Mountain was suspected of having arranged the assassination.
He merely raised his head and offered a feeble smile. “General Liu is overthinking things. My current predicament is partly due to His Highness, so naturally she has to protect me to some extent.”
General Liu frowned. “Master Fu, mind your words. The Sect Master’s death has shocked the entire kingdom. Prince Liang is naturally no less affected.”
“Besides, as the chief investigator of this case, Prince Liang has been working herself to the bone these days and bearing tremendous pressure. Even if Master Fu is in a difficult position now, how can you take your anger out on His Highness?”
Pei Liang had a bad feeling. Sure enough, Fu Jue’s next words were, “Though Big Sister’s death was caused by outside factors, if His Highness hadn’t taken me in front of Big Sister that day, Big Sister would not have become so enraged that she vomited blood and needed medicine.”
“In the end…” He glanced at Pei Liang, his expression full of remorse. “It was Big Sister we wronged—His Highness and I.”
General Liu was utterly stunned. He looked at Pei Liang in disbelief.
What could Pei Liang possibly say in her defense? Back then, relying on the loophole in the situation, she had indulged in stirring up trouble and enjoyed herself immensely. Now that Fu Jue had turned her own actions against her, she suddenly felt as though she had stepped into empty air.
When General Liu saw that she did not deny it, his face suddenly flushed crimson. Then he turned and walked away.
Pei Liang was practically speechless with helplessness. But honestly, given her relationship with General Liu, trying to explain herself would have seemed even stranger.
All she could do was give Fu Jue a helpless look. “Aren’t you afraid this will get out and the people of Xianluo Mountain will discover that the child you’re carrying isn’t Fu Xin’s?”
Fu Jue chuckled. “That’s why I’m asking for Your Highness’s help.”
As he spoke, Fu Jue abandoned his earlier feeble, tottering act and pulled Pei Liang forward. He led her all the way into the main hall.
The hall was draped in white mourning banners. It was unmistakably the mourning hall where Fu Xin’s body lay.
After entering, Fu Jue sent everyone inside away, leaving only the two of them in the hall.
“Your Highness isn’t going to see Big Sister off?” Fu Jue asked.
Pei Liang waved a hand. “Fu Xin and I shared a husband. We don’t need to bother with such empty formalities.”
Fu Jue smiled. “Big Sister still cannot rest in peace. If Your Highness truly shared such a bond with her, perhaps her final wish would be to see you one last time—to have you take care of us, this orphan and widower.”
Once again, Pei Liang felt that being with Fu Jue was a constant assault of mental stimulation and provocation.
It did cost Fu Xin rather a lot, though. If she could hear them now, ten Fu Xins would have died of rage.
But since Fu Jue insisted, Pei Liang naturally went along with it and walked over.
There was no denying that Fu Xin looked much more pleasing dead than she had alive. Her eyes had already been sewn shut, and her face had turned bluish from the poison, giving her a rather sinister appearance.
Still, without that little mouth of hers constantly yapping, a little ugliness hardly mattered.
Then Pei Liang suddenly noticed that Fu Xin was holding something in her hand: a finely crafted white jade box.
At Fu Jue’s urging glance, Pei Liang picked it up and opened it.
Contrary to what she had expected, it did not contain some priceless burial treasure. Instead, there were several tiny strips of paper rolled to the size of cigarettes.
She took one out and unrolled it. After reading the contents, her eyelid twitched involuntarily.
Then she looked at Fu Jue. “Master Fu, this gesture is truly more than I could have hoped for.”
Fu Jue wrapped his arms around her waist, buried his head against her chest, and let out a sigh. “I understand Your Highness’s ambitions.”
“Xianluo Mountain’s bloodline is now in decline. Its internal factions are fighting among themselves, and the person in charge is an incompetent fool. It is absolutely no match for Your Highness.”
“Still, no matter how weak Xianluo Mountain becomes, it is the place upon which I depend for my livelihood and safety. Most of its several thousand disciples are innocent. Xianluo Mountain and the imperial family were never enemies to begin with.”
“From this day onward, Xianluo Mountain will serve Your Highness and help you achieve your great ambitions.”
That submissive attitude, along with the predictions in Pei Liang’s hand concerning the natural disasters that would strike Great Liang over the next three years, was more than enough to demonstrate Fu Jue’s sincerity.
The two of them had already established a cooperative relationship earlier. Although Fu Jue’s swift elimination of Fu Xin had been somewhat startling, from Pei Liang’s perspective, this was practically the gift of a black widower who had murdered his wife and presented her inheritance to her.
Naturally, she had no reason to refuse.
Pei Liang smiled at Fu Jue and brushed her thumb across his lower lip. “I do like clever men.”
Fu Jue took her hand and guided it deeper. “Then will Your Highness help me with the favor I just asked?”
If she agreed, the next heir of Xianluo Mountain would carry imperial blood. Combined with Fu Jue’s allegiance and the efforts of his generation to rebuild the sect, Xianluo Mountain would be completely brought under imperial control. That sort of bargain was one no sensible person would refuse.
Pei Liang smiled, and the interest in the depths of her eyes grew stronger. Her lips, however, said, “Whatever Master Fu asks, Liang will naturally do everything in her power to help.”
She was an experienced player, and Fu Jue had been the one to make the first move. But no matter how much he might have figured out on his own, he had lived in a relatively sheltered environment until now. In theory, how could he possibly withstand her?
He panted softly. “Your Highness, shall we go to a room?”
At that, Pei Liang leaned close to his ear and chuckled. “How boring would that be? Since Fu Xin died unable to let go of you, then as the Prince who shared life-and-death ties with her, I naturally have to reassure her in front of her.”
“So she can see with her own eyes that, even after her death, her husband has someone to care for him.”
That was certainly one way to describe their “shared life-and-death ties”—after all, Pei Liang had beaten her half to death and nearly angered her to death twice.
Even someone as calculating as Fu Jue nearly lost control of his expression for a moment when he heard Pei Liang’s words and realized that she truly intended to indulge in such a depraved spectacle.
Pei Liang shoved Fu Jue down onto the lid of Fu Xin’s coffin.
And with that, the complete set was assembled: widower, mourning hall, and an adult video.
It was merely a blind spot in their vision; a cold glint flashed across Fu Jue’s fingertips,
