Chapter 78: Trial Marriage Prince

Inside the gloomy prison, darkness and cold permeated the air. In this dungeon that never saw daylight, rats and insects crawled in the damp. Only a faint, flickering candlelight illuminated the eerie, cold instruments of torture, along with the intermittent, piercing screams of agony echoing from within.

Yue Guanyi, dressed in his official brocade robe with fierce auspicious beasts embroidered on the front, stood before the candlelight, his murderous intent fully exposed. The killing and ruthless gleam in his eyes grew increasingly fierce.

“Yue Guanyi, on what grounds are you arresting me without evidence? You don’t even have the Emperor or Empress Dowager’s approval, yet you dare arrest an official of the third rank. Yue Guanyi, you treacherous scoundrel!” Li Liang, hands bound in iron chains, had already been tortured to the brink of death by the methods of the Imperial Guards. Her face was ashen with the pallor of death, but as soon as she saw Yue Guanyi enter the torture chamber, she immediately burst into a torrent of curses.

“You insolent wretch! How dare you insult His Highness the Crown Prince!” Chang’an stepped forward and delivered a vicious slap. Li Liang’s face had already been subjected to branding, and with Chang’an’s slap, half of her facial skin instantly tore off, leaving only a small, horrifying, blood-dripping piece of flesh barely connected.

“Haha… A lowly man… wielding power to wreak havoc on the court, throwing his weight around…” Li Liang’s eyes were filled with malice, her bloodied mouth and teeth gnashing with every word, as if she wanted to tear apart the face of the man before her.

“Insolent!” Chang’an grabbed a nail and viciously drove it into Li Liang’s finger. The excruciating pain caused Li Liang to curl up in agony, howling and screaming.

Li Liang’s heart-wrenching screams did not evoke the slightest emotion in Yue Guanyi. He didn’t even bat an eyelid.

Fools will always be fools, she couldn’t even figure out why she was in prison, yet she opened her bloody mouth to spew venom. Indeed, it was time for someone else to take her position.

Chang’an had brutally nailed all ten of Li Liang’s fingers, and her eyes were filled with boundless hatred.

“Yue Guanyi, don’t be so smug… You’ve committed numerous evil deeds, your sins are piled high, your body is full of poisonous karma. One day, it will all come back to haunt your descendants. They will be slaves and servants for generations, and no one will ever truly care for you… Your fiancée… Qiu Shuzhi, right? Cough cough… She doesn’t really want to marry you either. She’s just after your power. Once you’re no longer useful, she’ll discard you like an old shoe, just like me, with three thousand beauties in her back courtyard…”

Yue Guanyi’s eyes snapped open. He could have spared Li Liang half her life, but she dared to curse his and Qiu Niang’s children, to curse Qiu Niang’s heart to change! Rage surged in his eyes like a tidal wave, and a bone-chilling hatred cut into Li Liang like a knife in the bitter wind.

What did it matter if he was full of sins? What did it matter if his body was laden with karma? He cared nothing for any of that.

But Qiu Shuzhi was his everything, his very life!

For Li Liang to dare curse him like this was to cut into his flesh, to smash his heart piece by piece. He clenched his fists tightly, hatred shooting from the depths of his eyes.

“Lady Li’s tongue is quite glib. Let’s pull it out for this prince to have a good look.” His tone was low and vicious, his expression even more sinister.

“Yes.” Chang’an gave a look to the Imperial Guards nearby, and immediately a pair of tongs, heated until red-hot, was thrust before Li Liang’s face.

“Yue Guanyi, you wouldn’t dare! I am an official of the court!” Li Liang retreated in fear, but behind her was only the damp, cold wall, leaving her nowhere to escape, only emanating waves of chilling air.

Chang’an held the red-hot tongs and sneered: “Dare or not, my lady can find out for herself, can’t she?”

“You… Ah…” Li Liang’s jaw was forcibly held open, and the scorching hot tongs were thrust into her mouth, gripping her tongue. On contact, steam rose, and the pain caused Li Liang’s pupils to contract. No matter how desperately she struggled, it was to no avail.

Chang’an, seeing the time was right, gave a slight tug with the tongs gripping the tongue, and the scalded, softened tongue was ripped out, discarded onto the blood-soaked ground.

“Mmph—” Li Liang was nearly rendered unconscious from the pain, yet somehow still clung to a breath of life, her mouth a bloody mess, splattering Yue Guanyi’s clothes.

“It seems these punishments are not enough for Lady Li?” Yue Guanyi took out a handkerchief to cover his nose, extremely disgusted.

These tortures alone were far from enough.

He had yearned for so long to finally be united with Qiu Niang, to bear children for her, yet Li Liang dared to curse their children to be slaves for generations, and that Qiu Niang would never be true to him. How could he tolerate this?

The rage in Yue Guanyi’s eyes was nearly scorching, his gaze like blades scraping Li Liang’s vile skin alive, picking clean her evil bones. Only this could quell the hatred in his heart.

“Your Highness, Lady Qiu is outside requesting an audience,” Chang’an, having received word from a messenger, whispered in his ear.

Yue Guanyi’s cold eyes glanced at the half-dead Li Liang, full of vicious malice: “Feed Lady Li boiling lead to drink. It would be a shame to waste such a glib tongue without scalding it beyond repair.”

“…Mmph…”

With that, Yue Guanyi left the torture chamber, leaving behind Li Liang’s heart-rending screams.

He quickly left the foul-smelling prison and went to a room in the back courtyard. There, he removed his clothes, stained with the stench of blood and rot, and changed into clean, fragrant garments that had been prepared in advance.

“How long has Qiu Niang been here?” he asked while changing, not wanting to keep her waiting. She was busy with military affairs, and it was already quite rare for her to find time during the day to see him.

“Not long. The servant boy came running to inform us as soon as Lady Qiu arrived. We didn’t dare delay even for a moment. You’re just in time if you go now,” Chang’an said, carefully tying his belt.

“That’s good.” Yue Guanyi sniffed himself, confirming that the nauseating smell from earlier was gone, before heading to the front hall.

“Qiu Niang.” As soon as Yue Guanyi entered the hall, he saw a young, naive servant boy leaning close to Qiu Shuzhi, pouring tea for her. His eyes darkened, and he cast a glare at the boy.

The servant trembled, spilling the tea, and quickly knelt on the ground. “Greetings, Your Highness.”

“Leave,” Yue Guanyi said, towering over him, his manner stern and gloomy.

The servant scurried out of the hall, shaking with fear.

Qiu Shuzhi observed all this but dared not say anything.

She knew Yue Guanyi’s temperament well. In front of her, he was as soft and pliable as an overripe persimmon, easy to handle. But in front of others, he was a different person entirely.

If she didn’t speak up for the servant boy, Yue Guanyi might not dwell on it. But if she were to say a few kind words in explanation, it might provoke his wild speculations and end up harming the boy instead.

She took Yue Guanyi’s hand and sat down, feeling his fingers curl and tremble slightly. She noticed a faint fragrance about him. “What perfume did Your Highness use today? It smells so nice.”

Yue Guanyi’s body tensed. This was the first time Qiu Niang had complimented his scent. He remembered that today’s clothes had been fumigated with orchid fragrance prepared by the servants. Since Qiu Niang liked it, he would make sure to use orchid fragrance every day from now on.

“By the way, Your Highness, I heard that you’ve invited Minister Li Liang to the Imperial Prison today?” Qiu Shuzhi’s words were tactful. Li Liang wasn’t invited by Yue Guanyi at all; she was clearly arrested.

Not only arrested, but her entire household had been confiscated. The beautiful servants in her household were either exiled or made into official courtesans, with nothing left.

“Yes,” Yue Guanyi nodded. “Li Liang was corrupt and has been imprisoned in the Imperial Prison.”

Qiu Shuzhi slowly curved her lips. Among the high-ranking officials, not a single one was truly clean. For Li Liang to be imprisoned for corruption, there must be other reasons. Qiu Shuzhi understood all too well that Yue Guanyi simply wanted to avenge her.

Moreover, Li Liang had already gone this far. If she didn’t strike back, it would make her appear weak and easily bullied. The court was a place of intrigue and deception, not a place for courtesy and yielding.

“Thank you for your efforts.” She gently squeezed his soft palm, which was as soft and smooth as jelly, making her want to take a bite.

Yue Guanyi’s ears turned red, allowing her to take liberties as she pleased. “It’s no trouble, as long as I can help Qiu Niang.”

“By the way… Her Majesty has set the date for our wedding…” Yue Guanyi’s voice was somewhat shy, like he was holding a piece of soft cotton candy in his mouth, gentle and muffled. “…It’s on the fifteenth of September, an auspicious day for weddings.”

“That’s wonderful, it’s coming up soon then.” Qiu Shuzhi didn’t quite understand the concept of auspicious days, but as long as Yue Guanyi was satisfied, she had no problem with it.

“There are many rules in the imperial family. I know you don’t like things too complicated, so I’ve already instructed the etiquette tutors to keep everything simple.” Yue Guanyi carefully observed Qiu Shuzhi’s expressions, ready to change his words at the slightest sign of displeasure.

After all, those imperial etiquettes were tediously complex, from choosing an auspicious day to enter the palace, to the imperial selection ceremony, then paying respects to the Empress Dowager and Empress in Qingning Palace and Kunning Palace, followed by a welcoming banquet. With all these complicated procedures, Yue Guanyi truly feared tiring Qiu Shuzhi, and even more so, feared that she might lose interest in him because of it.

Pleasing Qiu Niang was the most important thing, and if Qiu Niang didn’t like something, it would be discarded entirely. After all, no one in the palace dared to criticize him.

To his surprise, Qiu Shuzhi frowned and shook her head. “There’s no need to simplify. You are the Crown Prince, and your wedding day must be grand and lively. We must not shortchange you.”

She had already prepared the ‘Nine-Nine Gifts’ in advance, just waiting to be presented at the Wumen Gate on his wedding day.

Yue Guanyi bit his lip, secretly delighted by Qiu Niang’s words about not shortchanging him. The light in his phoenix eyes was soft and gentle, and the corners of his mouth lifted uncontrollably.

But… he quickly suppressed his smile.

If everything were to be done according to palace rules, the pre-wedding trial marriage with a prince would surely be unavoidable.

The thought of some lowly palace servant from who-knows-where getting to serve Qiu Niang first, and then legitimately becoming a concubine in the future, made his heart feel as if it were being gnawed and corroded by countless venomous insects, eating away at the boiling blood in his heart that was nearly seething with jealousy. The respectful look in his eyes instantly turned into a raging storm, tearing everything apart in the depths of his ice-cold gaze.