Chapter 143
Chapter 143
[Isn’t the Villain Tempting? Not Really – 13]
He Xiangji lay immobile upon the bed, but his mind still worked normally. He could hear the undisguised mockery and contempt in his daughter’s words. Yet with his life at stake, how could he care about that?
Hope filled him. His eyes shone, his throat rasped, and he panted like a broken bellows, praying his daughter would rescue him from this cage.
Lady Pan had managed the He household for years and believed her plan flawless. When Lady He arrived to visit He Xiangji without alerting anyone, she knew at once that her scheme had been exposed and all her efforts had failed at the final step.
Unlike He Xiangji, she shared no blood with the He siblings, and their grudges ran deep. Even if she begged, neither Lady He nor He Zhenkui would spare her.
As for begging He Xiangji…
Ha. After all their years as husband and wife, did she not know this man?
As long as his interests remained untouched, you were his heart, his treasure, his very life. The instant you harmed him personally, he would deny you whether you were his own flesh and blood or an immortal from the highest heaven.
Now He Xiangji knew she had harmed him. Asking his forgiveness and help?
Pure fantasy.
Lady Pan knew it was impossible and had no desire to bow before him again. For her natal family, her children, and herself, she had humbled herself enough over the years. Why should she grovel before death, offering her face to be slapped when not the slightest hope remained?
It was only death.
Close her eyes, harden her heart, and it would be over. What was there to fear?
Her face turned moon-pale, like a winter crescent sheathed in frost. She raised her chin slightly, cold, disdainful, and faintly arrogant.
Lady He’s attendants brought in two chairs. She sat beside He Kanglin and ordered the physician she had brought to examine He Xiangji and determine whether anything could still be done.
Mockery filled Lady Pan’s eyes. “Your family beat him into this state. Your family abandoned him outside and ignored him. Now that I mean to take his life, am I not fulfilling your wishes? Why rush in now and pretend to be dutiful children?”
Lady He smiled, unoffended. “He was beaten because he invited trouble. He had driven my brother from home and erased him from the genealogy, yet later shamelessly went to provoke him at his own gates. We left him outside to lure out those harboring wicked intentions-and to let him see what sort of person you truly were. As for stopping you from killing him, it was hardly because we wished to play dutiful children…”
She met Lady Pan’s gaze, all laughter gone from her eyes. “He may be worthless, but you are no decent soul. You borrowed his power for years, swaggered beneath his banner, and stirred trouble everywhere. Then, for your own interests, you kicked him aside, struck from the shadows, and passed righteous judgment upon him. How are you any nobler? You are equally vile, a match made in heaven. Neither of you has any right to despise the other.”
Lady Pan’s brow twitched, though she looked more dismissive than concerned.
Lady He pointed toward the door. “I heard everything you said. He Xiangji lies mute upon the bed, so I will ask several questions in his place.”
Coldness entered her expression. She went straight to the point. “You keep claiming you were wronged-that you were a young girl sacrificed as his second wife. Tell me, did the He Family abduct an innocent woman? Did He Xiangji use his power to force the Pan Family to marry you to him? What a joke!”
Without waiting for an answer, Lady He scoffed. “It has only been a little over a decade. Do you imagine everyone has forgotten those sordid affairs? Your elder sisters may have been concubine-born, but they still came from an official family. They could have married scholars as principal wives. Your family preferred climbing upward and sent every one of them to become concubines in great houses. Who wronged you? When my mother died and He Xiangji wanted to remarry, wasn’t your mother the one who eagerly paraded her daughter before him? What respectable family presents a good young woman directly for an unrelated man’s inspection? Only yours.”
He Xiangji lay upon the bed making repeated sounds of agreement.
The ashen cast faded from Lady Pan’s face. She bit her lip and remained silent, embarrassment impossible to conceal.
Lady He sneered. “Your Pan Family pursued this marriage, and you willingly became his second wife. Yes, He Xiangji is selfish, lustful, and no young gentleman. But he was not some worthless pauper. Even a wrecked ship has three thousand nails. Great clans might disdain to offer him a daughter, but smaller houses willing to give him a beautiful second wife were as numerous as fish crossing a river. Had you shown him one cold look and scorned his concubines and swarm of children, would he still have married you? You were beautiful and young, but the world held countless beautiful young women. Only one could enter the He Family as its second mistress, wear gold and silver, and bring glory to her natal clan!”
He Xiangji thrashed violently, wishing he could recover on the spot and perform a flying spin to demonstrate his wholehearted agreement.
Lady Pan’s position in the He Family had long been unshakable. No one dared mention the old events except to flatter her: she had chosen wisely, enjoyed great fortune and her husband’s favor, borne fine children, and need not fear the first wife’s two children. In time, the entire He Family would belong to her son.
The gentry might have declined, but decline was relative. As the saying went, a centipede remained standing even in death. Managed well, the He Family could remain wealthy and noble for several more generations.
Praise left Lady Pan floating upon clouds, delighted and proud. Yet late at night, watching her husband snore in bed, she inevitably felt disappointed, melancholy, and inexplicably wronged.
Of all the fine men beneath heaven, with all her gifts, why had she married him?
It was truly a choice cut wasted on a dog.
Now Lady He described their marriage as nothing but an exchange of beauty for advantage, with neither party owing the other. Lady Pan felt as though her face had been ripped away. Shame and fury filled her. “You make your father sound perfect. Was only a heavenly fairy worthy of him? Now you polish his reputation, but have you forgotten what he said when you returned home weeping?”
“I neither consider him perfect nor believe only a fairy deserved him. Nor have I forgotten a word He Xiangji said when I came home in tears.”
The sharp reply pierced Lady Pan’s pride like a blade. Savagery flashed across her face. She twisted her handkerchief and said nothing.
Lady He smiled derisively. “How proud you’ve been all these years, Lady Pan. Through the He Family, the Pans finally held their heads high. How many benefits did you send your natal relatives? Even you probably cannot count them. For that alone, the He Family owes you nothing. And later…”
Lady Pan’s face turned purple-red. She wished to argue but lacked any reason. Knowing she had reached the end of her road, she simply hardened herself. “Say whatever you like. I am doomed either way. I do not care.”
Lady He smiled. “You may not care about yourself, but what about your children and natal family?”
Lady Pan’s eyelid twitched. She immediately answered calmly, “They bear the surname He, not Pan. What are they to me? As for my natal family, I can barely save myself. How could I consider them? Kill me or carve me apart as you please. I do not care!”
Lady He shook her head gently. “No. You care.”
An almost imperceptible crack appeared in Lady Pan’s composure.
Lady He watched her. “If you truly cared for neither your children nor your natal family, you would have risked everything when I entered and tried to take us down together. You might not kill me, but you could certainly kill He Xiangji. I called you Madam for more than a decade and know your nature. You would rather shatter like jade than survive as broken tile. You would certainly take someone with you before dying. Why haven’t you acted? Because you fear something. What is it?”
Cold sweat appeared upon Lady Pan’s brow. Lady He merely smiled and said no more.
After a long silence, Lady Pan bowed first. Looking disheveled, she gritted out, “What do you want?”
Lady He did not answer. She asked the physician, “How is he?”
He Xiangji abandoned the effort to murder Lady Pan with his eyes and looked hopefully toward the man.
The physician’s expression was grave. “This gentleman first suffered severe damage to his vitality. Then he failed to take his medicine properly, exhausted himself through women, and afterward…”
He sighed. “Put plainly, his body resembles a pair of padded trousers worn for more than a decade. The outside still appears sound, but the lining has rotted away.”
Most of the light vanished from He Xiangji’s eyes. When he looked at Lady Pan again, his hatred burned more fiercely.
Lady He asked, “If every possible effort is made, how long can he live?”
After considering, the physician answered, “A year and a half. No longer.”
“Can he stand again? Can he speak?”
The physician shook his head. “Even if he lives another year and a half, he will remain confined to bed. His throat itself is unharmed. Medicine caused his inability to speak; several proper doses should restore his voice.”
Lady He nodded and thanked him. An attendant led the physician away to write a prescription.
She sighed and addressed her son, who had witnessed everything. “This is the harm caused by disorder in the inner household. The saying that a man must marry a virtuous wife has reason behind it. But beyond that, the head of a family must think clearly and act uprightly. That is the true foundation of a house. You experienced the Hu Family’s affairs yourself, while I experienced the He Family’s. I brought you here so these two real examples would teach you this lesson. Remember it well.”
He Kanglin nodded solemnly. “Mother, I understand.”
Lady He smiled and patted his shoulder. “Wait a little longer. After a few final words, we will return to the capital.”
Hearing that his daughter meant to leave so soon, He Xiangji felt a rare pang of parting. Lady Pan looked even more astonished. “You aren’t going to kill me?”
“Why should I kill you?”
Lady He said calmly, “You are no good person and did harm my brother and me. But at least neither of us died. We remain alive and well, don’t we?”
He Xiangji rasped indignantly. Had his body allowed it, he looked ready to find an ax and split Lady Pan apart himself.
Lady Pan, however, relaxed as though she had escaped disaster.
Lady He watched coldly and sneered inwardly. “Before coming, I spoke with my brother and sister-in-law. We will kill neither you nor He Xiangji. You two colluded in evil and neither is worth dirtying our hands. Remain together and torment each other. He Xiangji has little time left. Let him drag that broken-bellows body through his remaining years. As for you, Lady Pan…”
Remembering the wrongs she and her brother had suffered, malice sharpened her face. “How will he treat the deranged second wife who tried to kill him-and her children? My brother said you should taste what we once endured. Raising several half-grown children alone is difficult, Lady Pan. You must hold on.”
All color drained from Lady Pan’s vivid, beautiful face. “You!” she hissed.
She knew He Xiangji too well. He had treated his blameless, highborn children by his first wife with such cruelty. What would he do to the second wife who had reduced him to this living death, and to her children?
Lady Pan dared not imagine it.
Some thought rekindled the light in He Xiangji’s dim eyes. He cried hoarsely and stared fixedly at his daughter.
Lady He smiled. “Do not worry. I will leave men here for you. My brother and I would fear more trouble if we simply walked away.”
He Xiangji’s eyelids relaxed. The vicious malice in his gaze made Lady Pan shudder.
Lady He tucked the quilt around him. “One more matter before I leave. To whom do you intend to leave the He Family estate?”
Lady Pan’s cheek twitched.
“You cannot speak, but you can blink. I will offer a proposal. Blink twice if you agree; remain still if you do not.”
Lady He continued, “My brother and I want none of the estate. You clearly do not mean to give it to Lady Pan’s children. Your other younger sons and daughters have not yet married. Upon your death, divide nine-tenths among them and reserve one-tenth to support the He Family elders and conduct your funeral rites. What do you think?”
He Xiangji blinked twice.
Then he blinked furiously, looked toward Lady Pan, and rasped.
Lady He did not understand. Lady Pan did, but would never explain. She clenched her fingers and regretted not killing the old bastard sooner.
He Kanglin guessed. “Does Grandfather want to recover everything Lady Pan sent to the Pan Family over the years?”
He Xiangji cried out in delighted approval and regarded his grandson with unprecedented admiration.
Lady He laughed and stroked her son’s hair. “What do you intend to do with that money? Who should receive it?”
He Xiangji stared at her silently.
After a long moment, understanding dawned. “You mean my brother and me?”
He Xiangji blinked twice.
“Very well. No reason to refuse free money.” With self-mockery, she added, “At the very end, you finally did something decent. Are you regretting everything because you’re dying? No. I don’t believe that.”
He Xiangji was speechless.
Lady He sighed. “We survived the hardest years already. What meaning does this little kindness have now? Neither my brother nor I will be moved. You were never a good father. You were not one before, and you are not one now.”
At last she said, “I will not spend the money upon myself, and my brother will not value it. Let it support homeless children. You committed too many sins against your own children. You may descend to hell after death. If I accumulate merit for you, perhaps once you reach the Underworld, they will boil you in oil one fewer time.”
He Xiangji stared in baffled disbelief.
What a dutiful daughter. Her filial devotion had truly overwhelmed him!
Lady He rose and left with He Kanglin. The great door slammed behind them, shutting He Xiangji and Lady Pan inside. The house became a prison that would confine them for the remainder of their lives.
On the return journey, He Kanglin quietly asked, “How will Grandfather treat Lady Pan and my younger uncles and aunts?”
“I don’t know,” Lady He replied, “but he will choose whatever wounds Lady Pan most deeply.”
She smiled mockingly. “Your grandfather excels at such things, and he will act efficiently. He has little life remaining; if he delays, he may regret it even in the Underworld. But none of that concerns us now.”
…
More than half a year later, Lady He learned the news from Xing’an through her sister-in-law, Lady Zhu.
After three days of medicine restored He Xiangji’s speech, his first act was to open the ancestral hall. He had himself carried inside and, before all the clan elders, removed Lady Pan’s two sons from the genealogy. Without a single coin, he drove them straight out of the He Family.
It was exactly what Lady Pan had once urged him to do to his eldest son.
Lady Pan nearly blinded herself weeping, but nothing could undo it. She wished her natal family to adopt her sons, yet no message could escape the He residence. She could only suffer through endless uncertainty, embracing her sole remaining daughter and shedding tears each day.
He Xiangji’s revenge was not finished. Before long, he had his daughter forcibly taken from Lady Pan as well. Too ill to manage the inner residence, he chose the concubine who hated Lady Pan most and placed her in charge. Every decision aimed to cause Lady Pan pain, and he succeeded.
The physician had said He Xiangji might live eighteen months, but reality seldom matched theory. About a year later, Emperor Gaozu received word that Lady Pan had died in Xing’an. He guessed He Xiangji would not last much longer. Several days later, the death notice arrived as expected.
During dinner, Emperor Gaozu told Lady He the news. After sipping his soup, he said, “They died so close together that we may as well bury them together. As for Mother, once the situation stabilizes, I intend to choose an auspicious day, return to move her grave, and bring her to the capital…”
Lady He exclaimed, “Wouldn’t Mother be all alone?”
Lady Zhu laughed. “Mother was clever and farsighted. She understood what kind of man He Xiangji was, or she would not have planned an escape for you so early. In the netherworld, she cares about you siblings, not a heartless husband. If we buried her beside He Xiangji, she might be displeased instead.”
Lady He brightened at once. “That is true.”
Emperor Gaozu had no fear of death. Smiling, he said, “Once we choose burial grounds for the two of us, we will place Mother’s grave in the middle. She can watch her son on one side and her daughter on the other. Her eyes will hardly know where to look.”
Lady He laughed and nodded. “Whatever you say, Brother. We will do exactly that.”
…
Seven years later.
Time flew, days and months passing like a shuttle.
During those seven years, Emperor Gaozu consolidated his armies and launched successive campaigns south and west. The northern tribes dared not stir, the western road to the Western Regions opened once more, and in the south, the front advanced to the outskirts of Jingzhou-the heart of Prince Su’s power.
Prince Su was an imperial clansman of great reputation, and Jingzhou was the stronghold he had cultivated for years. Taking it in a single campaign would be exceedingly difficult.
After capturing Fuzhou north of Jingzhou, Emperor Gaozu therefore returned to court. He left elite forces to guard the border between the two powers, led by none other than his sixteen-year-old nephew, He Kanglin.
Whatever Hu Guangshuo’s character, he had been handsome, and Lady He was a beauty. As the child of two striking parents, He Kanglin naturally possessed exceptional looks and bearing, truly handsome and distinguished.
Lady He and her children lived in the Great General’s residence for two years. When He Kanglin and He Jiaojiao turned ten, they moved into a separate residence. The siblings remained close, and all the children were good friends, so their daily relations never changed.
As for talent, Emperor Gaozu and the other emperors had personally watched this child grow alongside the two He brothers. Calling him accomplished in both letters and arms was no exaggeration.
This was the original novel’s male-lead setting, after all.
Emperor Gaozu felt entirely at ease leaving him in Fuzhou.
Though young, He Kanglin governed with seasoned skill. After taking charge of Fuzhou, he surveyed the land, prosecuted powerful local clans, and reformed official administration, sweeping fresh air through its bureaucracy.
Snow had fallen throughout the night. At dawn, He Kanglin heard his attendants outside exchanging auspicious sayings and declaring that timely snow promised a bountiful year. He smiled.
Just then, his adviser Tan Yan arrived carrying wine. “Congratulations, Young Master. With this snow, however anxious Jingzhou may be, they will not dare send troops recklessly.”
He entered the inner room, his smile fading slightly. “Furthermore, bitter cold is hardest upon the sick. News of Prince Su’s illness emerged before the New Year. The residence summoned famous physicians one after another, yet none ever came back out. His health must be poor, and his condition may be far from favorable.”
He Kanglin invited him to sit and shook his head. “Even if Prince Su is ill, Yu Sixian possesses endless stratagems. Conquering Jingzhou will not be simple. It will take at least three years.”
Tan Yan laughed. “You need not be so modest on the Chancellor’s behalf. The people possess hearts and eyes and will judge for themselves. The Chancellor loves them like his children, and his soldiers do not take so much as a needle or thread. Popular support points toward him. Prince Su’s faction, however, has repeatedly massacred cities. His heir Yu Sixian is especially unrestrained-wicked by nature and a killer of countless men. Who would willingly serve such a lord?”
At that very moment inside Jingzhou, Yu Sixian was discussing affairs with several subordinates.
“That man was originally a recluse in the mountains. No one knows how He Kanglin persuaded him to emerge. He has made the situation exceedingly difficult…”
“The war has gone badly. The He traitor’s army is less than two hundred miles from Jingzhou. With an enemy beside our very bed, how can we sleep at night?”
“This cannot continue. The people inside the city are unsettled. Disorder could erupt at any moment!”
Yu Sixian sat at the head of the room in a red outer robe that did not make him look feminine in the slightest. Seven years had fully matured his already wickedly handsome features. Whenever his lashes lowered or his eyes lifted, a breathtaking beauty pressed upon everyone around him.
Zhou Shuhui knelt at the lower end of the room, listening to the strategists. Her gaze kept drifting toward Yu Sixian’s face. After only a few glances, his cold, indifferent eyes swept over her without warmth, as though he were looking at a corpse.
Her heart tightened. She hurriedly looked away and shrank her neck. Drawing upon palace-intrigue dramas and television shows from her old life, she offered, “Fortresses are often breached from within. Perhaps we could approach the problem from another angle…”
Her years beside Yu Sixian had not been pleasant. He was capricious and unfathomable. Only her usefulness kept her alive. Even so, slaps were common, and several beatings had left her bedridden for months. In dignity, she lived worse than a dog.
Zhou Shuhui had partly awakened to reality. She no longer fantasized about romance with the villain. She only wanted to survive and, when possible, admire his magnificent face.
As a transmigrator, she remembered a few small inventions and possessed ideas uncommon in this age. Over several years, she won a little standing before Yu Sixian. She became the lowest sort of adviser-qualified to pour tea during meetings.
Her remark had been casual, but Yu Sixian listened.
He narrowed his eyes, looking dangerous. “If Tan Yan was a mountain recluse, he must have family and friends. Did any accompany him to Fuzhou?”
A subordinate understood immediately. “His parents died young. His father’s friend adopted him and later became his teacher. No one knows where that teacher is now.”
Yu Sixian’s eyes brightened. “Investigate. This may be our opening.”
He smiled thoughtfully. “A teacher who raised him must be precious. With that hostage, how could Tan Yan refuse to act as our agent?”
The meeting ended. The advisers departed, and Zhou Shuhui hurried out rather than remain alone with Yu Sixian. The first thing she saw was the bright hem of a red skirt.
Bai Lu sat upon the opposite roof, a sword at her waist and arms folded. Childhood softness had vanished, replaced by brilliant, aggressive confidence.
“Zhou Shuhui,” she called, “you may be stupid, but occasionally you say something sensible.”
They had lived together for seven years. At first both were tiny girls, neither able to overpower the other. Then Bai Lu began learning martial arts.
Secret manuals, leaping over roofs and walls-how marvelous! Zhou Shuhui wanted to learn too.
An hour in horse stance, three laps around Prince Su’s residence, and three thousand cuts every day.
Zhou Shuhui lasted one day. On the second, she could not get out of bed.
Bai Lu endured.
Zhou Shuhui could not imagine what drove a child of seven or eight so fiercely. She even tested Bai Lu in secret and regretfully confirmed the girl was not a transmigrator.
That resolve simply lived in her bones.
Seven years later, Bai Lu wielded a saber in her left hand and a sword in her right, with profound inner power. Zhou Shuhui, meanwhile…
Zhou Shuhui had grown taller!
Seven years later, Bai Lu had defeated everyone in the residence. Zhou Shuhui, meanwhile…
Zhou Shuhui had grown taller!
Seven years later, Bai Lu had single-handedly destroyed a bandit stronghold without a scratch. Zhou Shuhui, meanwhile…
So what if Bai Lu had taken down a stronghold alone? What was so impressive about that?
Zhou Shuhui had grown taller than the heavens!
Whenever she thought of it, she wanted to sigh, half admiring and half envious.
Yet she could not understand why Bai Lu made life so hard for herself. “Girls have to marry. What use are martial arts? I cannot understand why you push yourself like this.”
She had watched Bai Lu spar with her instructor using staffs. It was real combat. One blow to Bai Lu’s leg left her limping the next day.
Zhou Shuhui muttered sourly, “The heir likes you so much.”
Smiling down from the roof, Bai Lu said, “I cannot understand how your heart can be so carefree or your head so stupid, yet every so often you produce a profound truth.”
“What profound truth?”
Bai Lu smiled and shook her head without answering.
“You’re insane.” Having gained nothing, Zhou Shuhui turned away.
Bai Lu watched her disappear. The light in her eyes slowly faded. She lay back upon the roof and silently repeated, “Fortresses are often breached from within.”