With her deceased husband as her dowry, would Your Highness dare to marry her?

King Liang's hand froze in mid-air.

He gazed at Consort Chang's gentle and beautiful face, tilted his head slightly, and his dark blue eyes swept over her. Then, a smile appeared on his lips, as if he had found something very interesting.

"Since you're Emperor Yan's concubine, why are you coming to me?" King Liang scoffed, his hands behind his back. "You should speak to His Majesty. Wouldn't it be more legitimate for him to make you Empress?"

Consort Chang lowered her eyes, a faint sadness emanating from her breath.

She had tried before, and she didn't know if the Emperor of Yan had understood her difficulties. He simply patted her hand gently and smiled softly, "You are the most favored concubine in the harem, no one can compare to you."

But if he couldn't compare, why didn't he protect her when the Empress bullied her?

Afterwards, he would only reprimand the Empress a couple of times in front of everyone, without any real repercussions, as if it were just a casual task to be done.

Consort Chang harbored resentment but had nowhere to confide in, so she sought out Pei Jinxuan, who disregarded their past friendship.

She was all alone.

"If I hadn't been desperate, why would I have come here?" Consort Chang frowned, a hint of sorrow appearing on her beautiful face. "His Majesty's health is deteriorating day by day, and the Empress is doing nothing. As a concubine, I am extremely anxious and have no choice but to come to you. I am only thinking of His Majesty's well-being."

After hearing this, King Liang closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He pondered for a long time, and Consort Chang also scrutinized him for a long time.

She knew she was gambling—gambling on the Liang King's ambition, and on her own and her son's future.

Finally, King Liang opened his eyes, and when he turned around, his dark blue eyes were bright and alert.

He asked with a smile, "Aren't you afraid I'll tell the Queen?"

Consort Chang's heart clenched suddenly, and she involuntarily bit her lip.

The King of Liang pressed himself against her, leaning over her. "The Empress, with the power of three prefectures, is far more useful than you."

His voice was low and husky, like the sand beyond the Great Wall, rustling softly against her ears and her heart.

Consort Chang was in a state of turmoil. She felt that the Prince of Liang was not joking, but she dared not place any more bets. One thought kept running through her mind: escape.

Consort Chang suddenly stood up and performed a grand salute.

"I've come to the wrong place today, farewell."

With that, she turned and left.

Suddenly, a large hand firmly wrapped around her waist. Her face paled, and before she could react, she was pulled back into the embrace.

"What are you doing!" Consort Chang pounded on Prince Liang's shoulder, but couldn't move him. She then reached out and pushed his chest, but his body was like a wall, completely unmoved.

She turned her head away from him, her voice trembling, and said, "Let me go."

King Liang lowered his head, his lips almost touching her ear, "To make a deal with me, you have to give me your full price."

As he spoke, he raised his other hand, hooked his index finger around the knot at the front of her dress, and slowly pulled it out. The knot loosened, the outer garment was no longer restrained, and slid down her shoulders, revealing her apricot-colored inner garment and a small section of her fair collarbone.

"You..." Consort Chang hurriedly covered her chest with her hands and pulled up her outer robe. "I am His Majesty's woman, you mustn't be rude!"

She exerted all her strength and finally broke free from the King of Liang's grasp.

She turned around and staggered toward the beaded curtain.

King Liang stepped on the hem of her dress with his toes, and with a "whoosh," the outer garment embroidered with phoenixes and peonies fell to the ground, piling up like a withered flower.

"Ah!" Consort Chang hurriedly squatted down to grab her clothes. Prince Liang looked at her as if she were his favorite prey. He slowly walked forward, grabbed her arm, and pulled her back again.

"A beauty like you...shouldn't be left alone in an empty room." King Liang looked into Consort Chang's eyes, his gaze sweeping over every inch of her face. Then he carefully removed the golden kingfisher from her hair, as if afraid of ruining its beauty in the slightest.

Consort Chang's black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, her face instantly turned deathly pale, her eyes brimming with tears, fragile and delicate.

She refused.

But he deliberately stripped away her last shred of morality and shame.

He pressed her down onto the table without any room for doubt.

The candle flame flickered suddenly.

I can't see anything clearly anymore.

The two shadows merged together, swaying in the dim light.

Under his control, she slowly melted away, becoming a pool of spring water, rippling and undulating.

He boldly swept his arm across the table, knocking the teapot and the golden kingfisher flower that were in the way to the ground.

"No..." Her hand climbed onto his shoulder, and in her confused state, she managed to squeeze out a sentence, "Don't... leave any marks."

He listened to what he was told.

**

Even though it was past 5 PM, the study in the Jing'an Prince's Mansion was still lit.

There were two stacks of official documents on the desk. One stack contained recently approved military intelligence from the north, and the other stack was still untouched.

For days, Emperor Yan's health had been fluctuating, leaving Pei Jinxuan with many affairs of state. He was originally a carefree prince, and if Emperor Yan hadn't contracted a serious illness a few years ago, he would probably still be enjoying himself somewhere, indulging in pleasure.

He had just put down the last military intelligence report when a case file was presented to him. It was from the Court of Judicial Review, and the cover bore a few neat characters in regular script: "The Zhao Family Arson Case." He glanced at it, then set it aside on the corner of his desk and picked up his pen to review other cases.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in." He didn't even look up, his pen still moving.

The door creaked open.

The sound of wood rubbing together was long and rough, quite different from usual.

Pei Jinxuan paused, then slowly raised his eyes.

Behind the plain screen, a slender figure swayed gently, hesitated for a moment before taking a step, walking around the screen, and quietly coming to his side.

It was Lin Ci, who was holding a steaming bowl of rice porridge, smiling broadly.

"It's so late, you must be hungry, right?" she said, placing the porridge in front of him, her eyes gentle and tender.

Pei Jinxuan, however, showed no sign of a smile. He frowned slightly, then placed the brush on the jade brush holder, took a clean handkerchief, and casually wiped his hands.

"Who told you I was here?"

"Princess Yongle. She said you're too busy to pay attention to her." Lin Ci smiled more brightly than usual. "You caught a cold before, I don't know if you're fully recovered. I made some porridge to help regulate your stomach."

The candlelight illuminated her face. Perhaps because she was laughing too hard, revealing two rows of small, white teeth, she looked somewhat terrifying.

Pei Jinxuan stared at her silently for a while, then suddenly said, "You're the kind of person who can't lie. Everything is written all over your face."

Lin Ci's heart tightened.

No wonder he always had her under his thumb before; it turns out he could read her mind.

"What is it? Just say it." Pei Jinxuan brought the bowl of porridge to him, scooped up half a spoonful, blew on it, and put it in his mouth. The rice was cooked until soft and sticky, and in addition to the aroma of rice, there was a very faint fragrance, which seemed like medicine but was not. He couldn't tell at first, so he ate a few more mouthfuls.

Lin Ci took two steps forward, about to speak, when her peripheral vision caught sight of the "Zhao Family Arson Case" scroll on the corner of the table. She froze on the spot, and the words she had just prepared suddenly became jumbled up.

Pei Jinxuan waited a moment, but when she didn't move, he put down the bowl of porridge he had only eaten half of, looked up and asked, "Why did you stop talking?"

Lin Ci's face paled. She stared fixedly at the scroll, then suddenly walked around to his side and reached out to take it. Just as her fingers touched the edge of the paper, another hand covered hers, gently pressing her hand and the scroll back into place.

"You can't touch official business." He looked at her without smiling. Joking and joking around in normal times was one thing, but once inside this study, he was Prince Jing'an, and rules were rules.

Lin Ci slowly withdrew her hand, letting it hang at her side, and then she walked back to him and stood still.

"I want to talk to you about official business."

"Oh?" Pei Jinxuan leaned back in her chair, looking somewhat curious.

Lin Ci lowered her eyes, staring at the bowl in front of him, not daring to look him in the eye. Her back, however, was ramrod straight, with a hint of stubbornness.

"Yesterday at Cheng'an Hall, I recognized the burned man who stopped the horse and cried out for justice. His surname is Zhao, and his name is Zhao Fugui. He's a notorious thug in town... I set that fire to his house."