The Jiang household was in complete chaos.
Never mind the constant stream of probing and judgment from all the sects and factions following the scandal’s exposure.
Nor was it worth mentioning that, upon returning to their sect, every woman in the Jiang family had been dragged out for interrogation, pressured to confess whether she had truly been involved with Jiang Xun.
Even several senior women over fifty had not been spared. Once the men of the Jiang family learned of this, they became so suspicious that they could no longer trust even the barriers imposed by seniority and family ethics.
After all, this was a man who had even been involved with his own mother.
And, just as Pei Liang had said, while Jiang Xun was eloquent and quick-witted, those women were not nearly so capable of defending themselves. Several of them cracked under the pressure and confessed. The servants from the various courtyards also could not withstand the beatings, and naturally, one revelation led to another.
From Jiang Xun’s own mother and his various aunts, to the concubines of his elders—so long as they lived within the Jiang estate and circumstances had allowed it, very few had remained innocent where he was concerned.
Huo Shiliu was even more obvious. The child in her womb was Jiang Xun’s. As soon as Jiang Wu returned to the Jiang estate, he shouted that he would kill the adulterous pair and abort the bastard born of their incest.
Under normal circumstances, if any elder in the family dared lay a finger on Jiang Xun, all the women of the household would have attacked in his defense. Now, however, the entire Jiang family was filled with wailing and shrieking, and those women were struggling to protect themselves.
Sect Master Jiang, who should have been presiding over the situation, was himself too shocked by the scandalous violation of family ethics to react. Naturally, he was even less capable of suppressing the turmoil and restoring order to the Jiang family.
The entire Jiang household descended into chaos. In fact, after hearing this explosive gossip, several legendary thieves from the martial world—men renowned for their peerless lightness skills—were left lamenting that they had missed out on such a spectacle.
Every day, they would coincidentally sneak into the Jiang estate and act as gentlemen of the roof beams. They sought neither money nor valuables. They simply wanted to listen to the gossip firsthand.
Were Sect Master Jiang and the other Jiang masters highly skilled martial artists? It did not matter. The thieves had no intention of confronting anyone directly. They merely kept watch outside the walls or hid on the rooftops, eavesdropping and peeking. The moment anything seemed amiss, they would flee.
They were as slippery as eels. The Jiang family was exhausted trying to deal with them, yet helpless to do anything.
After all, the Jiang family was no longer the disciplined, impregnable fortress it had once been.
So the thieves grew increasingly audacious. Eventually, they even began running into one another on the rooftops, greeting each other and sharing melon seeds.
Later, they started assigning tasks.
“You have the best lightness skills and are the most alert. Listen in on the main branch’s courtyard.”
“You’re the best at hiding. Take the second branch’s courtyard.”
“You’re skilled at disguises. The kitchen and other places crowded with servants are perfect for gathering information. You can blend right in.”
At night, once things had quieted down, they would exchange intelligence.
And what do you know? By working together, their efficiency increased dramatically. They managed to uncover every detail of the Jiang family’s scandal, laying out the entire picture.
Then they sold the information to storytellers and theatrical troupes everywhere, making a handsome profit.
When they traveled outside, plenty of people even sought them out for exclusive revelations. For a time, these good-for-nothing idlers, who had already been somewhat notorious in the martial world, became incredibly popular.
They had found the same exhilarating pleasure that gossip paparazzi would enjoy in later generations.
As the center of the storm, Jiang Xun should originally have been hacked to pieces.
Indeed, all the men of the Jiang family agreed that he should not be spared.
But he was, after all, the leading figure of his generation, and there was no question about his ability or aptitude. Since the Jiang family was capable of annihilating an entire household for the sake of profit, it naturally placed the interests of the clan above everything else.
Thus, chaotic as things were, and violent as the beatings became, the women all suffered terribly, while Jiang Xun himself was ultimately affected very little.
In fact, Madam Jiang secretly released him to help him avoid the storm.
She had managed the inner household for many years. Though she was now under house arrest, she naturally still had her own channels and connections.
The first thing Jiang Xun did after getting out was to visit the Mooncleaving Manor.
He arrived openly and without the slightest attempt at concealment. The Pei family members were somewhat stunned when they saw him.
Then they found themselves admiring the thickness of his skin. After all, not everyone could still show their face in public as though nothing had happened after being exposed in a scandal of such magnitude.
At present, the Jiang and Pei families were still allied in marriage and mutually dependent. There was no reason for the Pei family to refuse him entry simply because he had arrived uninvited.
And so Jiang Xun demonstrated the true meaning of the saying: If I am not embarrassed, then the embarrassed one must be someone else.
There was not the slightest trace of dishevelment about him, as though the rumors circulating outside had nothing to do with him.
He was still dressed in flowing white robes, his hair bound beneath a jade crown, a long sword at his side. His expression remained calm and composed. Like a lotus standing proudly above the mud, he was still pure and aloof.
As a result, the person leading him through the estate, along with the maids who happened to pass by in the inner compound, all found themselves hesitating.
Was Young Master Jiang truly the lecherous man who had committed such an immoral act?
Yet no matter how they looked at him, he was still that same Jade-Faced Young Master, elegant and radiant as moonlight on a clear night.
What was more, the concubines and secondary wives of Sect Leader Pei and his son were now living under Pei Liang’s authority, since those two violent men were dead.
They had originally assumed their lives would become miserable and difficult. Unexpectedly, their days were even more comfortable than before.
Those who had borne sons had their children taken away by Pei Liang and raised together. He arranged the finest teachers of both literature and martial arts for them, emphasizing different areas according to each child’s talents and strengths.
The former Young Sect Leader Pei had been violent and petty, and had often oppressed his half-brothers. The boys had all lived like pitiful little wretches. Now, however, whenever one of them excelled in either scholarly or martial studies—or even in some other skill—not only would the child receive a generous reward, but his mother would also be given many benefits.
The daughters of secondary wives were treated the same way. Those who wished to learn martial arts were trained together with the others, while those who did not wish to venture into the martial world were provided with teachers in music, strategy games, calligraphy, and painting, as well as household accounting and management.
The concubines’ food, clothing, and other provisions were also far better than before. If any of them wished to remarry, she only needed to speak to Pei Liang, and he would provide her with a generous dowry.
Those who had been forced into marriage were naturally eager to leave.
But many knew that life outside was not necessarily easier than life here, and those who had children chose to remain.
Without a man to serve, and with their current superior being easy to deal with, all they had to do was avoid overreaching and mind their own business. Their own courtyards had become their personal kingdoms, and they no longer had to worry about food, drink, or entertainment.
Once these women had nothing but leisure on their hands, their courage grew.
When they heard from the servants that Young Master Jiang had come, the group who had been gathered together cracking melon seeds immediately hurried out to watch the spectacle.
All of them were worldly women, unlike the innocent young maids who knew nothing of such matters.
Seeing Jiang Xun, they clicked their tongues and sighed.
“With that face, that figure, and such a gentle, considerate manner, it’s no wonder all the women in the Jiang family lost control of themselves.”
“What has Young Master Jiang come to see Eldest Miss about?” one of them asked.
“Has he come to settle accounts? Should we notify the Old Master?”
“I doubt it. Look at him. He doesn’t seem to have come to make trouble. Perhaps he wants to win Eldest Miss back.”
“Shameless! He actually has the nerve?”
“Oh? Didn’t you just say it was no wonder the women of the Jiang family couldn’t resist him?”
“That’s different. With Eldest Miss’s beauty and character, why should she endure such humiliation? Do you believe me? Now that the Jiang family’s scandal has come to light, the only ones who will truly suffer are those women.”
“As for Young Master Jiang, he’ll continue living as freely as ever. In fact, those people in the martial world who once considered him as untouchable as a snow-covered mountain will now be even more brazen about making a move on him.”
“Playing around together wouldn’t be much of a problem. But if the eldest young lady married him as his principal wife, wouldn’t she be wearing a green hat all year round? What a terrible bargain.”
“Exactly. A man like that—even if he married into the Pei family, we’d have to keep him shackled day and night before we could feel at ease.”
“Oh, please! Married into the Pei family? Everyone knows what that little vixen is after. Don’t tell me that after hearing those scandals, she isn’t ashamed—instead, she’s taken a fancy to him?”
The woman’s face immediately showed her guilt.
Jiang Xun had excellent hearing, and the smile on his face stiffened slightly when he heard this.
He did enjoy challenging conventional morality and indulging in thrills, but what he enjoyed was being in control—not being watched and humiliated by a group of men with lewd gazes like some wanton woman.
That was what truly made him feel ashamed.
He quickened his pace and soon arrived at Pei Liang’s courtyard.
People of the martial world were not overly strict about the separation between men and women, and Jiang Xun had visited this place before.
It seemed Pei Liang had given instructions in advance, for he encountered no obstruction along the way. Yet when he reached the entrance, he was stopped.
Two beautiful maids whom Jiang Xun did not recognize stood guard there. Both possessed breathtaking beauty: one was alluring and seductive, while the other was so delicate and pitiable that anyone would feel tenderness toward her. Their every movement was filled with charm. They hardly seemed like maids serving an unmarried young lady.
What unmarried young lady would be given maids like these? They looked more like women deliberately trained to please a man, or like attendants meant to be brought along as part of a bride’s dowry.
As for their purpose, it was obvious enough.
Jiang Xun’s instincts in such matters were remarkably accurate.
If these two maids had only recently been assigned here, then they must have been arranged by Madam Pei. When her son and grandson had both died unexpectedly, that old woman’s methods had naturally involved using the inner household to scheme and win people over.
It was entirely possible that Jiang Xun’s guess was correct: these two girls might originally have been prepared for him.
They clearly did not come from respectable families, so it was impossible that they knew nothing about the arrangement.
Jiang Xun therefore revealed a warm, refined smile. “I’m here to see Junior Sister Pei. Would the two of you be so kind as to announce me?”
Hongxiu and Qingyi exchanged a glance before replying indifferently, “The young lady is practicing her martial arts and must not be disturbed. If Young Master Jiang has urgent business, please wait outside for a while.”
But how long could “a while” be? At the very least, it meant an hour.
Jiang Xun had plenty of ways to deal with women. His expression showed no offense at all. Instead, he nodded thoughtfully. “Since she is practicing, we naturally shouldn’t interrupt her. I’ll wait.”
As he spoke, he looked at Hongxiu and Qingyi. “You two look unfamiliar. When did you begin serving at Junior Sister Pei’s side?”
The two answered truthfully. Jiang Xun thought to himself that he had been right, and his confidence grew.
These two girls definitely knew that they had originally been prepared for him.
Jiang Xun smiled. “You were called upon in a crisis, and the Slashing Moon Manor is in such turmoil. You two must have worked very hard.”
“When I saw Junior Sister Pei in the mourning hall earlier, she looked remarkably well. That must be thanks to the two of you. You deserve a reward.”
Jiang Xun had always been able to say such things without the slightest awkwardness, but his teeth felt a little sore this time. Of course Pei Liang had looked well—she had been far too energetic, energetic enough to shake the foundations of the Jiang family twice over with her slaps.
Two small jade rabbits suddenly appeared in Jiang Xun’s hand. The quality of the jade and craftsmanship was quite good. They were not priceless, but they were certainly not cheap either.
The little rabbits were charming and adorably plump. Few girls could resist receiving such a gift from a handsome man.
He handed one to each of them. “Take these to play with, or wear them as pendants. Consider it a small gesture from your future husband. There’s no need for either of you to refuse.”
Hongxiu and Qingyi exchanged another glance. The excuse was difficult to reject, so each of them accepted a rabbit.
Their expressions remained ordinary. They showed neither delight nor flustered surprise, and not the slightest trace of a blush or a racing heartbeat. They simply tossed the jade rabbits into their purses and left it at that.
Then they resumed standing there like two door gods, saying nothing.
Jiang Xun was momentarily speechless. He thought that these two lovely women must have been thoroughly worn down and mistreated by Pei Liang. In particular, Pei Liang must have given them strict instructions never to behave improperly around an unrelated man.
Jiang Xun had already experienced Junior Sister Pei’s jealousy firsthand. It was not strange that she would do such a thing. It was simply a pity to see two lively beauties who had once been so full of charm reduced to this.
Feeling a little sorry for them, he continued, “I can tell that neither of you is an ordinary maid. What are you skilled at?”
Hongxiu replied, “This servant is skilled in massage.”
Qingyi said, “This maid is skilled in blending fragrances.”
Even though Jiang Xun had come with a specific purpose today, he could not help letting his imagination wander when he heard this.
Madam Pei truly knew how to read people’s hearts. Even for someone as experienced and worldly as Jiang Xun, having beauties like these serve him in his chambers—one easing his body with massage, the other adding fragrance to the room—would be the height of indulgence.
That was what he was thinking inside, but not a trace of frivolity appeared on his face. Instead, he wore an expression of pure appreciation.
“No wonder Junior Sister Pei looks so healthy and full of energy these days. It turns out the two of you possess such remarkable talents. Junior Sister Pei is truly fortunate—ah, look at me. I should say that anyone who had the two of you serving in their chambers would be extraordinarily blessed.”
Although there was nothing frivolous in his expression or words, what sort of status did he have? He was Pei Liang’s fiancé. Though the Jiang family had recently been caught up in a scandal, Pei Liang had not made a great fuss about breaking off their engagement.
Thus, barring any unexpected turn of events, he would be their future master. The master of their chambers would no longer be only the eldest young lady, but the eldest young lady and him.
Any woman who knew she had been prepared for him would have to be exceedingly slow-witted not to read something into those words.
Jiang Xun’s charming eyes watched closely for their reaction, but neither woman showed the slightest hint of shyness or secret delight.
Instead, they nodded as though it were only natural. “That’s right. The young lady herself said she can’t do without us. Even after she marries, our positions will remain secure. Not even the future son-in-law will be able to take our places.”
Something seemed wrong.
Jiang Xun frowned, yet he could not put his finger on what it was.
Seeing that the two women remained completely unmoved, he increased his efforts. “However, I have some knowledge of medicine. Miss Hongxiu, although your complexion is rosy, you seem to have a slight fever?”
“As for Miss Qingyi, that goes without saying. You appear to have been weak and frail since childhood.”
As he spoke, he gazed at them tenderly. “The work you do each day may be trivial, but you are the ones who allow Junior Sister Pei to live without worries. You must take good care of yourselves. Don’t neglect your own health simply because you are busy.”
For an ordinary woman, those words would have moved her beyond words. Some might even have burst into tears.
Jiang Xun had traveled the martial world for many years, and his tricks had never failed him.
Yet the two women before him not only failed to show any gratitude—they seemed even more impatient.
Hongxiu, whose temperament was more outspoken, could not help rolling her eyes. Still, the two observed the proper etiquette and gave him a perfunctory reply. “Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for your concern, Young Master Jiang.”
At that moment, Pei Liang’s voice came from inside the room. “Who is outside?”
Jiang Xun hurriedly called out, “Junior Sister, it’s me!”
“Senior Brother Jiang? Come in.” Her voice came from within, followed by a call to Hongxiu and Qingyi. “You two may go rest.”
Jiang Xun felt rather pleased when he heard that.
At such a short distance, he did not believe Junior Sister Pei could have failed to hear what had been said outside. She was merely putting on a show of authority for him.
Before he had even exchanged more than a few words with them, he could no longer bear to stay inside.
He smiled at the two girls and said, “I’ll see you both later.”
Hongxiu and Qingyi gave him a formal bow before leaving.
But just as Jiang Xun was about to step through the doorway, he heard the two women muttering as they walked out of the courtyard—
“Tsk! What a stingy, phony bastard. He can fool some little maid, but does he think he can fool us?”
“Exactly. The gemstones and jade pendants, the ornaments and trinkets that Eldest Miss has rewarded us with—we could never use them all even if we tried. Who’d want this lousy rabbit?”
“Can I throw it away? It’s such a poor-quality piece. He actually had the nerve to give it to us. I’m worried it’ll bump against the little treasures Eldest Miss gave me and scratch them if I keep it in my purse.”
“Probably not. He hasn’t been thrown out yet, after all. Just give it to one of the younger maids to play with.”
“Did you hear the way he spoke? Putting on that fake, falsely concerned act. I wonder how stupid the women who fall for him must be. A few sweet words, and they’re hooked, even though those words can’t feed them or buy them anything. Now that the truth has come out, who’s the one suffering? He’s the one who gets to walk away free and easy.”
“How could I not have heard? Hmph! That’s what a cheap bastard he is. He says all the right things, but once you’re dead and cold, he’ll wrap you in a straw mat and throw you out. You probably wouldn’t even live long enough to get two ounces of medicine.”
“Miss is still the best. She found us a miracle doctor, nourishes us with precious medicinal herbs, and asks after us every single day. Only after following Miss did I realize that all men are worthless. Aside from being good with their mouths, they’re useless.”
“Exactly! But do you think that Jiang fellow might really become our brother-in-law? If Miss finds a good man, then fine. But if it’s him, I won’t be happy about Miss sharing her affection with him.”
“Bah! Stop imagining the worst all the time. He isn’t worthy!”
Jiang Xun: “…”
Their voices were not particularly loud. Once they had left the courtyard, an ordinary person would no longer have been able to hear them. But how could ordinary hearing compare with his?
It felt as though thunder had exploded inside his head. At last, he understood what had seemed so strange before.
These two maids did not regard themselves as women who would one day become his concubines. They had already taken themselves for Pei Liang’s personal attendants.
When they looked at him, their attitude was that of concubines sizing up their future mistress—jealous and disdainful. No wonder they had treated him so strangely.
Jiang Xun’s mouth twitched as he entered Pei Liang’s room. She was reclining halfway on a couch, reading a book.
When she saw him enter, she made no move to rise and greet him.
There had been far too many twists and turns during the funeral. Only now did Jiang Xun suddenly realize that aside from that face, Pei Liang bore not the slightest resemblance to the person he remembered.
Of course. The Junior Sister Liang he knew would never have had the ability to bring the Jiang family to such a state.
Jiang Xun suppressed the murderous intent that he could barely keep in check and walked up before Pei Liang. Then, without hesitation, he dropped to his knees.
“Junior Sister, I’m sorry!”
Pei Liang raised an eyebrow. In truth, she was not surprised by Jiang Xun’s visit.
With relations among the three families having deteriorated to this point, the Jiang family still had to fight desperately to preserve the marriage alliance.
It was the only way they could continue keeping the Pei family tied to the same war chariot.
Pei Liang knew far too many secrets capable of costing lives. If Pei Ye were not around, the Jiang family might have found a way to swallow the Pei family whole at an opportune moment, then sent her to her death.
But with Pei Ye backing and protecting her, and the entire Zhanyue Sect at her command, that convenient path was no longer available.
Once the Pei and Jiang families severed ties, the secrets in Pei Liang’s hands would become a noose around the necks of both the Jiang and Cao families. She could send them plunging into ruin at any time. Although the Pei family might not emerge entirely unscathed, it would only have to pay a very small price.
Hearing Jiang Xun’s apology, Pei Liang smiled.
“Senior Brother needn’t bow so deeply. This isn’t in front of our fathers’ memorial tablets, and there’s no audience around. It’s just the two of us, so there’s no need to put on a show.”
Jiang Xun’s expression stiffened, though he continued to maintain a sincere look.
“Junior Sister, is it because you resent me for being intimate with other women?”
The moment Pei Liang heard that, her face lit up with delight. She even looked as though she had just witnessed something fascinating and was still savoring the entertainment.
She said earnestly, “Of course not. How could I resent Senior Brother? Don’t look at me like that. You know my temperament. Whether I’m happy or unhappy, it’s always written plainly on my face.”
“See how happy I look?”
Jiang Xun’s heart gave a violent jolt. For an instant, his hand nearly moved to the hilt of his sword.
But Pei Liang continued as though she had completely failed to notice his mood. Her face was bright with gossip.
“There were too many guests that day, so it wasn’t convenient for me to ask for details.”
“Now that there’s no one else here, can you tell me about it?”
Jiang Xun had a bad feeling. “Tell you about what?”
Pei Liang gave him a look that said, Really? You’re still pretending in front of me?
“Obviously, about the thrill of having affairs.”
“No wonder you’re Senior Brother Jiang. You did what everyone else wanted to do but didn’t dare.”
That included her, of course. Just look at how stiff and conventional she had been after being raised by her original family. Even when she kept a pretty boy, she had followed every rule.
And then there was Jiang Xun. The moment he wanted something, he went after it. He lived entirely for his own pleasure, with ethics, morality, and the law all tossed aside.
Pei Liang might not be shameless enough to imitate him, but as a veteran lecher herself, how could she not be interested in erotic romances and steamy smut?
If she ever played around with a pretty boy in the future, wouldn’t she have countless new ideas? Just the category of role-play alone could provide material for several different scenarios. Wouldn’t it be a waste not to listen?
Pei Liang asked, “How did Senior Brother manage to have affairs with so many people at once and still coordinate everything perfectly? Your entire extended family lives under the same roof.”
“Didn’t it get awkward when all those women sat together at the same table every day? I’m not bragging, but I have firsthand experience with this.”
“In a situation like that, as long as everyone is in the same place, peaceful coexistence is impossible. So you must have kept most of them in the dark, making each one believe she was the only woman you were seeing.”
“But the Jiang family is wealthy and powerful, and every courtyard is full of servants coming and going. Other people might not notice, but the maids attending those women personally surely would have discovered something. How did you get so many people to keep your secret at the same time?”
“Senior Brother, tell me. Come on, tell me!”
By the end of her questioning, Jiang Xun could actually see an urgent desire for answers on Pei Liang’s face.
Pei Liang, for her part, felt deeply aggrieved. In her previous life, she had kept pretty boys, and after a breakup, she had settled everything cleanly—money and goods exchanged, no hard feelings. Yet she had still needed to hire an expensive assistant specifically to deal with the ridiculous jealousy and rivalry between her exes and current partners.
Now things were even worse. If she looked at someone for a moment too long, they would become jealous and pick a fight with her.
Pei Liang was simply envious—envious of Jiang Xun’s skills.
Whether it was his ability to coordinate a whole group of lovers or his mastery of time and space within a limited setting, she felt she would benefit endlessly if she could learn even one of those skills.
Thus, she stared at him with eager anticipation.
Jiang Xun, however, took several deep breaths, as though he had reached some kind of breaking point.
Then he revealed a smile that made no attempt to conceal his malice.
“Very well. Since Junior Sister Liang is being so candid, it would hardly be satisfying for me to continue hiding behind evasions.”
“Let me ask you this, Junior Sister. Given the situation as it stands, what exactly do you intend to do?”
When he finished speaking, he gave a disdainful laugh, his face suddenly revealing an air of supreme arrogance. “Junior Sister humiliated me before everyone under heaven, but you can see now that the impact this has had on me is nowhere near as great as you imagined.”
“If there has been any change at all, perhaps it is that the women who once thought they had no chance of competing now feel they have a sliver of hope.”
“If Junior Sister truly cares, why not spare a thought for those unfortunate women whose private affairs you exposed? My mother is still in a relatively good position. As the matriarch of the Jiang family, she will be safe as long as I remain alive.”
“But the other women are truly pitiful—especially my younger uncle’s wife. You and she were once quite close, and you looked out for each other. Yet because of two offhand remarks from you, she is now living a fate worse than death, and has even implicated the innocent life in her womb.”
“Junior Sister!” Jiang Xun said maliciously. “While you are here treating this matter as a source of amusement, someone is dying because of you.”
“I wonder whether Junior Sister can still laugh now—or whether you still wish to hear about my so-called state of mind.”
Pei Liang raised a brow. People always said that men with either very full pockets or very full crotches were equally arrogant.
Jiang Xun possessed both, and he had always been invincible where women were concerned. When it came to arrogance, he was probably one of the very best.
Pei Liang would bet that, besides coming to confirm whether the Pei family was still on the same side, Jiang Xun had another reason for showing up.
He could not tolerate the thought that his fiancée felt nothing but utter disgust and betrayal toward him. He desperately needed to confirm it.
Even though he hated her enough to kill her, he absolutely refused to admit that Pei Liang—who had once been hopelessly in love with him—had cast him aside overnight, personally knocking him from his lofty perch.
He would rather believe that, after learning how freely he had given his affections to other women, she had acted out of jealousy and fury.
Thus, once he confirmed that Pei Liang truly had no feelings for him at all, and that she looked at him as though he were nothing more than a performing rat, the Jade-faced Gentleman could no longer maintain his gentlemanly composure.
At heart, he was nothing more than a selfish, cunning petty man skilled at shifting the blame.
But if one’s mind was not clear, it really was easy to get drawn into his reasoning.
Pei Liang smiled, stepped closer to Jiang Xun, and patted his cheek with her hand. “Senior Brother, you may have misunderstood my motives.”
“Apart from other considerations, I did it simply because I thought it would be fun.”
“It was fun to watch the Jiang family fall into chaos and turn against itself. It was even more fun to watch Senior Brother lose his reputation while still having to pretend that everything was under control.”
“Do you really think I failed to consider the consequences before acting? If that were the case, why would I have caused such a scene in the mourning hall?”
A chill ran through Jiang Xun’s heart. It was true. What she wanted was for the Jiang and Cao families to become estranged and unable to form an alliance, while the powerful and talented Jiang family sank into chaos and became too busy looking after itself to interfere elsewhere.
Pei Liang smiled. “Senior Brother, those women may be pitiful, but I’m not the one who put them in their current predicament. Everyone has to bear the risks of their own actions.”
“You, the true culprit, feel no guilt whatsoever. You can even use their suffering as a bargaining chip to attack my conscience. It wasn’t me who enjoyed myself with them back then, so why should I feel guilty?”
Each and every one of those people had tormented the original Pei Liang in the original story, simply because she occupied the position of Jiang Xun’s wife.
Pei Liang did not think the original host had anything to pity, but neither did she have any reason to deliberately spare the women of the Jiang family from the fallout.
Jiang Xun was about to say something else, but Pei Liang cut him off. “I know why Senior Brother came here.”
“Don’t worry. I can promise you right now that I, Pei Liang, will never break off my engagement with the Jiang family.”
With that, she gave Jiang Xun a meaningful look. “I’m quite satisfied with my status as the Jiang family’s fiancée.”
“Senior Brother can go back and report to Uncle Jiang. You may leave now.”
Jiang Xun hesitated, genuinely unable to understand what Pei Liang was thinking.
He had assumed that everything she had done was meant to give her a respectable reason to cast aside the Jiang family. Yet she had no such intention.
Then again, if she had wanted to break off the engagement, the incident in the mourning hall would have been the perfect opportunity. She could have brought it up after making such a scene. The Jiang family had also been baffled as to why she had not simply demanded an annulment after tearing things apart so thoroughly.
Jiang Xun could not make sense of it. Someone outside was already urging him to leave, so he had no choice but to withdraw for the time being, unwilling though he was.
Pei Liang did not even lift her eyes. In her hands was the Moon-Splitting Sword Manual, the secret technique of the Moon-Splitting Sect, passed down only through the male line.
It was said that the sect’s founder had once unleashed a sword strike of such magnificent force that no army could stand against it, as though even the moon hanging in the heavens had been cleaved in two.
Thus, the technique had come to be known as the Moon-Splitting Sword Art, and its founder had established the Moon-Splitting Sect, which had stood firm for a century and never fallen.
Pei Liang had inherited the original host’s foundation and possessed a rudimentary understanding of martial manuals. Grasping the technique’s underlying concepts and intent was no problem, but achieving true mastery was not something she could accomplish simply by puzzling it out on her own.
Pei Liang was reading with rapt fascination when someone suddenly appeared beside her.
It was neither Hongxiu nor Qingyi, but a petite maid with delicate, attractive features.
Interest sparked in Pei Liang’s eyes. She glanced at the girl’s slender build and chest, then asked, “Is that the Bone-Shrinking Technique? Is your chest the result of actually altering your figure, or are you stuffing steamed buns in there?”
As she spoke, she even reached out, intending to touch it. The girl slapped the back of her hand away and glared at her.
Han Weiliu’s disguises had grown increasingly sophisticated. After staring at Pei Liang for a while, he suddenly asked, “Why won’t you break off the engagement with him?”
“Is the Jiang family’s current predicament still not enough to make you abandon them?”
Pei Liang nodded matter-of-factly. “Of course not. Right now, I only regret that I can’t have two engagements at once. Otherwise, I’d have to make arrangements with the Cao family as well.”
“With the Jiang family keeping them in check, that fellow surnamed Cao shouldn’t dare to break off the engagement in the short term. My older brother may be dead, but as long as the betrothal remains intact, there’s still room to maneuver.”
Han Weiliu was stunned by her shamelessness, but he was not stupid. It was obvious that her words carried another meaning.
So he asked, “What are you planning to do?”
Pei Liang looked at him in confusion. “What am I planning to do? Aren’t you the one seeking revenge?”
“Once you kill the heads of the Jiang and Cao families, won’t my identity allow me to swallow both families fair and square?”
“If you ask me, Jiang Xun has nothing to worry about. He’s afraid I’ll break off the engagement, but I’m afraid he’ll break it off too.”
“Playful bickering is one thing, but don’t joke about breaking off the engagement.”
Han Weiliu’s brows twitched violently. He could not resist mocking her. “Yes, indeed. Even if you extort money, loot their wealth, expose his affairs, and ruin the Jiang family’s reputation, you are still a virtuous woman who keeps her marriage vows.”
Pei Liang smiled. “You flatter me!”
Han Weiliu was so furious he nearly died, but he had to admit that he found Pei Liang’s actions satisfying.
At the time, while hiding inside the mourning hall, Han Weiliu had originally thought he would be unable to maintain his disguise and would lose control of his hatred.
Who could have imagined that Pei Liang would unleash one devastating blow after another, leaving even him completely stunned?
There was no denying that the events of that day had also opened Han Weiliu’s eyes to many things.
The Han family had never been particularly close to the Jiang family. In recent years, their interactions had increased largely because of the Pei family. Han Weiliu had always heard that the Jiang family upheld strict principles, that its members were upright and proper, and that it enjoyed an excellent reputation throughout the martial world.
This was also why, even after discovering that the Pei family was one of the culprits, Han Weiliu had never suspected the Jiang family.
At the funeral that day, if the person they had crossed paths with had not been Pei Liang—a woman whom it seemed no one had ever truly understood, and who never played by the rules—the outcome might well have been different.
Considering the Jiang family’s talent for calling a deer a horse and twisting right and wrong, along with their crowd of blindly obedient and credulous supporters, even if Han Weiliu had been lucky enough to kill them without any evidence, he still would have been unable to clear his family’s name.
Han Weiliu could never tolerate the murderers dying beneath the halo of heroes or victims.
And so, despite the agony that felt like being slowly flayed alive and the torment of his divided soul, he had withdrawn the hand he had raised to strike several times.
At that moment, Han Weiliu’s feelings toward Pei Liang were complicated. She was the daughter of the enemy who had wiped out his entire family, yet at the same time, she was also his lifesaver—and even the person who had helped him take revenge.
Even now, Han Weiliu had not realized that he seemed to have already been tied to her war chariot.
After holding it in for a long while, he finally asked, “Do you really believe I can kill them?”
Pei Liang nodded. “Of course. But not yet.”
“You already took the secret manual and treasured sword from that old woman’s room, didn’t you? Find a cliff, a deserted island, or even a vast desert, and spend a few years training in seclusion.”
“Otherwise, whenever you talk to me about revenge right now, I can’t help wanting to laugh.”
“You—” Han Weiliu was furious, but then he suddenly noticed a flaw in Pei Liang’s words.
“Why didn’t you mention the treasure map?” As he spoke, Han Weiliu moved closer, looking straight into Pei Liang’s eyes. “You’re ambitious and intend to swallow up both the Jiang and Cao families, yet you have no interest in the treasure map?”
Pei Liang shook her head and corrected him. “Wrong. I’m not interested in merely swallowing up the Jiang and Cao families.”
“However, I really have no interest in your treasure map.”
Suspicion appeared in Han Weiliu’s eyes, but Pei Liang merely smiled. “More precisely, I’m curious why all of you are so convinced that it even exists.”
“The Han family has continued for centuries. Its ancestors’ origins are perfectly clear, and the family’s wealth has increased in measurable increments. It wouldn’t simply gain an enormous fortune out of nowhere—one large enough to tempt even a hundred-year-old aristocratic clan.”
“Setting aside the possibility that the wealth was accumulated by your family itself, there are only a few explanations. Someone might have entrusted you with it for safekeeping. That someone would have to be either a nation’s war chest for restoration, a corrupt official of the highest rank who had amassed a lifetime of ill-gotten wealth, or a century-old noble clan’s accumulated fortune.”
“The tattoo concealing the map began to be carved onto the body of each Han family head during your grandfather’s generation. In other words, if you look back only fifty or sixty years, you can identify the target by going through your grandfather’s closest friends and confidants from that period.”
As she spoke, Pei Liang leaned toward his ear and lowered her voice. “As it happens, that surviving old servant of your family should already have been accompanying your grandfather in those days. He ought to be able to give you some clues.”
Han Weiliu stared at her in shock, never expecting that what she said next would be even more startling.
“But let me pour some cold water on you in advance. If another family entrusted the treasure to the Han family for safekeeping, then after the Han family was wiped out, that family’s descendants should know about it as well.”
“Yet for several months, they haven’t made the slightest move. They haven’t even sent anyone to contact you. Clearly, they don’t seem particularly anxious about this treasure.”
“Besides, what about the treasure’s condition after fifty or sixty years? I’ve never heard of wealth buried deep underground in damp soil for decades without maintenance somehow retaining its original value.”
“Even if part of that treasure has survived intact, in my opinion, the cost of digging it up would be far too high. Why would I go to all that trouble?”
“Wouldn’t it be much more satisfying to rob the Jiang and Cao families?”
Pei Liang spoke in a light, offhand manner, but Han Weiliu felt cold from head to toe.
For a moment, his breathing seemed to stop. The expression on his face fractured for an instant.
A shadow appeared to descend over him, and a voice arose from somewhere within his body—
“Kill her!”
Han Weiliu abruptly came to his senses. His face had gone deathly pale, and he hurriedly backed away from Pei Liang.
Pei Liang noticed that something was wrong with him, but it was hardly unexpected. Who could stand the thought that the “jade” making their family a target might not even exist?
Sure enough, Han Weiliu soon seemed to recover as well.
He looked at Pei Liang and said in a grave voice, “No. Someone has contacted me.”
