Volume 1: This Heart is Bent Chapter 4: Promotion and Wealth, Dead Wife

  Still this night.

  That night, some people were promoted and others became rich.

  "I won't go..." In a humble room, a woman wiped away tears in front of a tray full of silver coins. "My child is dying from illness, how can I have the heart to enter the palace and become Your Majesty's wet nurse?"

  "What nonsense are you talking about!" Her husband was so anxious that he kept waving his hand, "This is an imperial edict, how dare you disobey it?" He dragged her out by the sleeve, "Don't dawdle, the eunuchs are waiting outside!"

  "Don't!" The woman's voice was mournful, grasping the edge of the child's bed tightly. "Let me stay with him, let me stay with him for one more night... half a night... a moment... just a moment!"

  "Water girl, said to be looking at the child and coming, how did you drag on until now." The eunuch's gloomy voice sounded outside, "Your Majesty remembers you, the Empress Dowager specially summoned you, that is a blessing that you cannot cultivate for eight lifetimes, yet you still cry and whine, unlucky!"

  The man heard the impatience and anger in her words, flinched, and grasped the woman's hand even more tightly. The woman lowered her head and bit his hand fiercely.

  "Ah yo." The man let out a low cry, but didn't let go, and trembled as he said in his wife's ear, "Shuiniang, rein in your stubborn temper... the imperial court isn't our family home... this is defying an imperial edict... defying an imperial edict means the punishment of nine generations, Shuiniang!"

  The woman listened but did not hear, turning her head to look at the child on the bed who was struggling for breath. The man steeled himself and dragged her out, her heels scraping against the ground inch by inch, leaving a long deep mark.

  The people outside had already gotten angry.

  "Can't bear to part with it? Then let me help you finish it off!"

  Before the words had fallen, a dark light flashed, and with a whooshing sound, the blue cloth door curtain was torn apart like a wave by a hurricane, exploding into two halves. The strong wind howled past, colliding with the small body on the bed, that body was smashed upwards, then heavily fell back, half of the blue cloth slowly falling down, covering his face.

  "Good boy!"

  The woman's heart-wrenching cry was immediately muffled, and that group of expressionless people casually waved their hands to cover the woman's mouth and roughly pushed her into the car.

  "Return to the palace!"

  The car drove away with a rumble, and someone inside was struggling. The body crashed against the car with a loud thud, and the curtain was slightly opened by the impact, revealing a thin slit at the edge of the seam, where a woman's scarlet eyes flashed with hatred.

  That night someone died of an old illness.

  "Guo Gong. Miss Sun Shilang's family just... left." Anzhou, the steward of the Jin Guo Gong's estate, bowed his waist and carefully observed his master's expression, knowing that his master's mood wouldn't be too good after having his underwear stolen.

  "Sun's family sent a message to the public office, Li Da Zong Guan quickly sent a letter asking if you will return to Beijing in person or send a funeral ritual over?"

  "Oh?" Under the dim yellow lamp, someone was trimming their fingernails, with a thin knife between their fingers, shining brightly, as slender as a beautiful woman's glance. The hand holding the knife was even whiter and more delicate than the knife itself. The soft light of the lamp cast a thin layer of pale golden glow on the fingertips, making them seem as if they were coated with a layer of glaze, exuding elegance and luster.

  Her fingers were as slender as jade, but her face was hidden in the dark shadows of the lamplight, with a smooth outline that was stunning at first glance.

  His response was only one word, and it was impossible to discern his emotions. However, the butler seemed to have understood immediately and explained, "Miss Sun, your fiancée who became engaged to you half a year ago, passed away three days ago."

  "What's the number now?" asked in a still careless tone.

  "The third one." The butler lowered his head and pursed his lips bitterly.

  The man smiled, the jade crown hung down, swaying gently beside his cheek, the deep purple ribbon set off his skin, warm and bright, like a shining pearl in the dark.

  "Family has a child, beautiful and extraordinary, green sea pearl shines, long sky bright moon."

  This is a folksong of his, sung by everyone in Southern Qi, but I heard that the lyrics have been changed recently.

  "A family with a child, pure and beautiful, like a pearl swallowed by the blue sea, born with a magical charm under the vast sky."

  Pearls are treasures; demons are evil spirits. Since those precious and noble ladies all became demons, this song also became eerie and terrifying.

  Within three years, he had lost three fiancées, and there were eighteen different rumors circulating among the people. The most popular ones were: "The Duke of Jin was cursed to death by his wives", "The Duke of Jin was obsessed with dark magic and used the souls of beautiful women to practice a beauty-preserving technique", and "The Duke of Jin was actually a eunuch and hated women".

  The housekeeper sighed silently.

  Nonsense, all nonsense.

  Is it the beauty's essence and soul practicing the art of retaining youth?

  Have you seen the bright moon borrow the light of fireflies?

  What's wrong with the sky?

  Do you know how ridiculous it is for carrots to mock radishes for being too thin?

  However... if things continue like this, the master will probably really not be able to get married. The dignified owner of the Jin State Duke's Manor, the hereditary and irreplaceable first marquis, the duke who controls the South Qi Dragon Soul Guard and the vast underground power that no one can understand, actually cannot get married.

  Is this still reasonable?

  The housekeeper sighed a few times, thinking that the things in the world are like this. The reasons on the surface are never the truth, and when the truth is revealed, no one dares to believe it. It's just like these old women dying one by one. Rather than saying they have strong lives, it's better to say...

  "Anzhou is fine, I'll stay for a while." The person who was about to get married but didn't have an old wife had no sad expression at all, and casually blew on his fingernails. "Let Li Fu Zhou go." After thinking for a moment, he said, "Tell Old Sun that I'm very heartbroken."

  He sighed "heartbroken" and felt that his left index finger's nail wasn't trimmed well.

  The housekeeper withdrew and went out. The heavy curtains gradually fell, and this independent warm pavilion with four open sides became quiet again.

  After a while, Rong Chu stood up and walked slowly to the south window, leaning against the windowsill, gazing into the distance.

  In that direction, the Southern Qi dynasty's center, one morning dragon energy was thick and heavy, several generations of golden dust were flourishing, the most majestic and mysterious place in the world.

  Rong Chu gazed intently at the center of the void, raised her hand, and pointed with her slender fingers, slowly directing them towards the direction of the imperial capital.

  The knife's light reflected thinly under the moonlit lamp, like a cold gaze flashing once.

  His eyes pointed south, his face wore a smile, but his tone was as cold as ice.

  "Have you had enough fun?"

  The moonlight is really good tonight.

  Rong Chu's knife was really too sharp.

  The moonlight was too good and the knife was too sharp, so the thin knife in Rong Chu's palm reflected the moonlight and shot out far away, forming a dazzling light spot, which shot onto someone's face on a certain wall of a certain mansion in the distance, making that person squint their eyes.

  "Whose kid is playing with a mirror?" The man on the wall turned his head impatiently.

  A flash of light, illuminating a face.

  Not pale but healthy and moist skin, straight nose, thin lips with a faint pink color. A short hair was blown by the night wind, revealing a pair of narrow and bright eyes, the corners of which were slightly raised, neutralizing the slightly sharp arc, three points cold, three points disdainful.

  The woman's facial features, when viewed separately, seem to have hardened somewhat, approaching a neutral beauty. However, when combined on a standard oval face, they suddenly become sharp and elegant, with a hint of wildness and subtlety that creates a contradictory beauty.

  Like spring light, warmth is hidden in the sharpness, and a few scattered pear blossoms float by in the cold wind.

  She raised her wrist, on which a black cord was tied, with two thumb-sized objects strung on it. One was an ancient silver skull, inlaid with green turquoise, emitting a faint green glow in the dark night, and no matter how she turned her wrist, the skull seemed to be staring at you. The other was a white sharp tooth, like an animal's fang, and if someone had good eyesight, they could see two characters carved on the tooth - "Tai Shi".

  Tai Shi Lan with his legs crossed on the wall, looked rather unpleasant.

  She rushed to the riverbank on horseback, but didn't ride a horse. She walked into a town and sold the horse, using the money to buy clothes inside and out. She didn't like wearing other people's clothes, but accidentally escaped Qianli Xiang's pursuit for the time being.

  Tai Shi Lan took out a white silk package and weighed it in her palm, which was the treasure she had searched for by the river, but it wasn't convenient to take it out for now.

  As she was fiddling with the package, she suddenly felt that the shape of the cloth bag was a bit special, but she didn't pay attention to it.

  She fell into deep thought, the most crucial question now was where to go. Looking for people? The vast other world scattered three people, like a drop of water entering the ocean, and there was no clue for the time being; looking for dogs? That's not as reliable as looking for people.

  Let's find something to eat first, it's late at night, the restaurants are all closed, Taishi Lan, who is used to eating midnight snacks, has a rumbling stomach, so she chose a large mansion with heavy eaves and climbed up to a wall near the chimney, thinking that wealthy families should have midnight snacks ready.

  As expected, a rich aroma wafted up from below, smelling like mushroom chicken soup - the most tempting food on a hungry and chilly night.

  Tai Shi Lan didn't move, her eyes filled with impatience.

  Because they were secretly dating behind her back.

  Yes, an affair.

  Downstairs, the kitchen was not small, with three spacious rooms. The innermost room even had a bed, presumably for the cooks who stayed up all night to tend the fire. At this moment, the window of that room was half open, revealing a corner of the bed, where a red blanket was rumpled, and faint sounds of muffled moans could be heard, accompanied by occasional glimpses of snow-white limbs suddenly appearing from some strange angle, suspended in mid-air and trembling wildly, with bright red nail polish flashing in the lamplight, amidst spasmodic cries and gasps.

  Having a wild time.

  The Haicheng Palace has always been a good touchstone for revealing the true nature of the audience. For example, when the four people from the research institute saw it, Jing Hengbo would definitely jump down to observe on site, Junke would definitely turn red and escape, Wen Zhen would exclaim "Ah, so shameless and lustful, I'm going to die!" while covering her eyes and peeking through her fingers, and then mutter "Too small...". As for Tai Shi Lan...

  He lowered his head, propped up his legs, drooped his eyelids and fell asleep.

  By the way, count the numbers.

  "The third one," she said.

  The door creaked open and a half-naked man, clutching his outer garment, slipped out stealthily and disappeared into the darkness.

  Tai Shi Lan didn't move.

  As expected, the man had just left, and from another corner, another man flashed out, lightly knocking on the kitchen door. A soft giggle came from inside, "Come in..."

  The man slipped in with a mysterious expression, closed the door behind him, and before long, the room was filled with the sound of spring rain...

  "The fourth one." Ta Shi Lan said.

  In other words, this is already her fourth time waiting here.

  These women down here have great physical strength.

  This large brothel is doing great business.

  This boss likes to receive guests in the kitchen, a bit tacky.

  Tai Shi Lan only liked to look at plump and naked chickens, but didn't like looking at naked people, neither men nor women. She thought the most beautiful figure in this world was hers, Tai Shi Lan's, and looking at others was an insult to her eyes.

  So she cooled her face and touched her belly, looked at the sky again, decided to wait a little longer, just this one, if it's over and he doesn't roll away, she'll hit the gong on the wall.

  Whoever doesn't let her eat her fill, she won't let sleep well.

  Suddenly there was a loud rumbling sound from below, sounding like the bed had collapsed. The person on the bed tilted their body and slid down, sliding into Tai Shi Lan's line of sight.

  Tai Shi Lan suddenly felt a jolt throughout his body and almost fell off the wall.

  She saw that face!