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

"Do you know who I am? Let me out! Let me out!"

Zhao Fugui shouted, his eyes were covered by a black cloth, and he couldn't shake it off no matter how hard he tried. He tried to pull it off, but his hands and feet wouldn't move. Then he heard the clanging of iron chains.

Fear was like a soaked cloth, clinging tightly to his heart and soul. The more afraid he was, the more he kept talking, hurling increasingly vulgar insults.

"Damn it, which bastard dares to touch me?! I'm one of King Liang's men! King Liang knows who you are, he'll make sure you regret it!"

The screams bounced off the wall, hollow and resonant.

Zhao Fugui got tired of cursing and started breathing heavily. The other half of his curse was stuck in his throat, he couldn't shout it out or swallow it down, so he could only yell, over and over again, his voice sharp and broken.

Suddenly, the black cloth covering their eyes was ripped off.

Zhao Fugui was stunned when he saw it.

Where is this?

He looked around; the four walls were solid, the only light coming from a torch on the wall, and various torture instruments of different colors hung in the corners, all of which he had never seen before.

Zhao Fugui suddenly realized, "Isn't this the dungeon?!"

Just then, he heard a rustling sound beside him. Zhao Fugui turned around in a panic and saw a tall man picking through a pile of ironware. The man had thick eyebrows and big eyes, dark skin, and looked quite young, but his demeanor was very mature.

Zhao Fugui had never seen this person before. He opened his mouth and asked in a hoarse voice, "Who are you?"

Amo didn't speak. He turned to the side and gestured to the person behind him.

Zhao Fugui followed the gesture and could vaguely see a tall figure standing in the corner. The person also made a gesture, and Amo bowed and stepped aside.

Zhao Fugui's heart leaped into his throat. He squinted and saw the man slowly walking out of the shadows. Light and shadow flowed across his face inch by inch, first his nose, then his eyebrows and eyes, and finally his whole body was bathed in the firelight, revealing a handsome face that looked like that of a celestial being, with a pair of peach blossom eyes that were beautiful even when he wasn't smiling.

Zhao Fugui finally recognized him. His eyes widened suddenly, and his voice rose sharply, "It's you! I knew it! I knew it was you! You're in cahoots with that wretched woman!"

Before he could finish speaking, Amo punched him in the ribs, making his face contort in pain.

"Don't go too hard, or you'll leave a mark." Pei Jinxuan said softly, his voice pleasant to the ear, but it was actually quite chilling.

Zhao Fugui coughed in pain, cursing intermittently, "You bastard... still pretending to be mute! Back then, all I did was steal some silver, and you let your crazy woman set my house on fire... Let me tell you, Prince Liang knows all about it, and he will never let you get away with this!"

Upon hearing the words "pretending to be mute," Pei Jinxuan frowned slightly. After thinking about what followed, he found it strange, so he gave Amo a wink.

Amo took a soft leather pad and placed it on Zhao Fugui's stomach, then punched him again. This punch was powerful, causing Zhao Fugui's internal organs to twist together. He vomited a mouthful of sour water and curled up in pain.

"Tell me the truth about what you told Prince Liang. Otherwise..." Pei Jinxuan turned his head and glanced at Zhao Fugui out of the corner of his eye, "I'll make you mute."

Zhao Fugui was horrified by that look.

He shrank his neck, closed his eyes tightly, and shouted repeatedly, "I'll talk, I'll talk! I told King Liang about the madwoman burning down my thatched hut..."

"How did the Prince of Liang reply to you?"

"He said... he said he would seek justice for me and find out the truth..."

Pei Jinxuan put his hands behind his back, took a few steps, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "What else did the Prince of Liang say? Or what did he teach you?"

"No, I didn't teach him." Zhao Fugui's eyes flickered.

"Was the Jing'an Prince's Mansion never mentioned?"

"Not mentioned."

Pei Jinxuan nodded to Amo.

Amo pinched open Zhao Fugui's chin with one hand, grabbed the water bag with the other, then bit off the stopper with his mouth and spat it onto the ground.

"What...what are you going to do?!" Zhao Fugui struggled involuntarily, like a pig on a chopping board.

Amo pressed Zhao Fugui's chin down and raised the water bag high, pouring it into his mouth.

Zhao Fugui choked and couldn't breathe. He struggled desperately, and the iron chain scraped against the stone ground with a piercing sound.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" Zhao Fugui couldn't hold on any longer and began to wail incoherently.

Amo let go.

Zhao Fugui coughed violently, like a fish thrown ashore, as if he were coughing up his lungs. His voice hoarse, he used his last ounce of strength to confess: "Prince Liang ordered me... ordered me to publicly identify you and your wife, saying that the Jing'an Prince's Mansion was harboring murderers and arsonists... He also said that if I did as he said, he would give me silver..."

Pei Jinxuan tilted his head back slightly, took a deep breath, and burst out laughing.

"I thought it was some brilliant idea."

Amo then made another hand gesture to Pei Jinxuan.

Pei Jinxuan replied with one hand.

Zhao Fugui couldn't understand what they were saying, his face turned pale, and just as he was about to beg for mercy, everything went black...

**

"Your Highness, Zhao Fugui has disappeared."

On the waterside pavilion of the Liang Prince's Mansion, the opera "The Single-Sword Meeting" was being performed on the stage.

Guan Yu crossed the river in a lone boat, the drumbeats were rapid, the gongs were urgent, and the banners on the stage fluttered like clouds.

King Liang leaned back in his rosewood armchair, his fingertips lightly tapping the armrest, keeping time with the rhythm, his gaze fixed on the performers' graceful movements, unmoved. After a long while, his fingers finally stopped.

"Have you looked for it?" he asked, his voice hoarse and low.

"He showed up in the West Market this morning and got into an argument with someone."

The King of Liang's fingertips returned to the armrest, tapping it twice slowly. On the stage, Guan Yu was singing a stirring melody, his voice as powerful as metal and stone. He squinted, listening to the lingering echo of the last line, before slowly opening his mouth.

"With whom?"

"People from the Jing'an Prince's Mansion. One is Princess Yongle, and the other is..."

"understood."

King Liang interrupted him, raising his hand and waving it gently.

The guard swallowed the rest of his words, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and silently retreated.

The drumbeats on stage were as rapid as rain.

King Liang continued to gaze at the stage, his hands moving with unwavering precision.

Xuan Jing sat beside him, her empty eyes fixed on the stage, it was unclear whether she was listening to the opera or pondering her words.

He turned his head slightly, and at the point where the drumbeat stopped, asked softly, "Is Your Highness angry?"

"Some people are just hopeless. You tell them to stay quietly in the mansion and wait, but they insist on going out."

King Liang picked up his teacup, blew away the foam, and took a small sip of tea.

The performers on stage, observing his expression, noticed that his interest had waned and quickly pulled out all the stops to win a cheer from him.

Xuan Jing lowered his eyes, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Your Highness need not worry. It's just a matter of losing a pawn that has crossed the river; the game remains the same." With that, he clasped his hands together and nodded slightly to King Liang. "Leave the rest to this humble monk."

King Liang turned his head and glanced at him.

On the stage, Guan Yu suddenly shouted, his voice as sharp as tearing silk.

King Liang laughed and clapped his hands in approval.

"reward!"